This course is designed for grade 10 students. Depending on the number of applicants it will run both semesters or Semester 2 only. Please see the Interested? page for information for current grade 9s regarding how to apply.
This course is designed to meet the Ministry of Education’s objective, as described in Achieving Excellence, of “creating more relevant, applied and innovative learning experiences that spark students’ curiosity and inspire them to follow their passions” (p. 4); and to provide students with “more flexibility and ownership in their learning, allowing them, for example, to determine whether they want to spend more time on e-learning or on learning outside of the classroom” (p. 6).
Why did we develop this course?
Foremost, we believe that 15 year olds are capable and competent critical thinkers who can contribute to their community. Secondly, we believe that there's a lot to learn from interacting with the local landscape!
We're excited to bring together a group of student leaders from various secondary schools, and empower them with engaging experiential learning opportunities.
(In case you haven't noticed, alliteration is a fun writing tool, we'll play with that too as part of the English curriculum!)
What would a typical day look like?
That's tricky! Here are some example days. One day we might be planning for a week of visits from grade fours who will come snowshoeing at the Environmental Education Centre. We'll draw on our Physical Education curriculum and definitely our Writing and Oral Communication skills from the English curriculum. Another day, we might work with the Conservation Authority to mark trails, and develop interpretive signage and pull from our Civics and Careers curriculum (as well as English and Phys Ed). A third day we might be learning about local bird identification and submitting our data as part of a Citizen Science project. We could also work on developing a website outlining procedures for one of our Thames Valley District School Board school gardens that we may have helped to set up. In order to learn about the health of the Great Lakes, we'll conduct our own research alongside local experts. Some of our course readings will come from current research and some will come from historical works of Thoreau, or Leopold, and our writing will always relate to the work of our projects.
We have no bells, or transition time between 'classes'. In order to get in our instructional minutes plus 40 minutes for lunch, we'll start at 8:35 and depart at 2:15.
Who should take this course?
You should probably have some of the following qualities:
an interest in making a difference in your community
an enjoyment of the outdoors
an inquisitive nature
an excitement for sharing your passion
What will I get out of this?
What are you willing to put into it?