This 4-day (virtual and/or in-person) intensive course introduces high school students to the most practical tools they need for school, personal projects and early career.
Key elements of the course include digital literacy, critical soft skills and on-line survey questionnaires to better understand each student’s learning styles and potential career options. The course will also include live interactive in-class questions (including fun topics) to reinforce learning and maintain interest. Content will be pre-defined for the first 3.5 days. The final session will be customizable based on feedback from both parent and student.
Format: 4 days × 5 hours per day, virtual. Specifically, each day flows as follows (all Eastern times):
Session #1 (on-line) - Morning: 90 minutes with a 5-10 minute break sometime during the session. 10am to 11:30am.
Session #2 (off-line) - Lunch Break and Homework: 120 minutes for mealtime and homework assignment. 11:30am to 1:30pm.
Session #3 (on-line) - Afternoon: 90 minutes with a 5-10 minute break sometime during the session. Includes review of the homework assignment. 1:30pm to 3pm.
4 day outline
Day 1 - Morning: Discover Yourself & Career Exploration; Afternoon: Task and Time Management
Day 2 - Morning: Excel Essentials; Afternoon: Personal Finance
Day 3 - Morning: General Soft Skills; Afternoon: Practice / Mock Interviews
Day 4 - Morning: AI Tools for Students and Basics of Technological Safety; Afternoon: Audience choice as per survey results (see below).
Customizable Content. Parents and students will be given an opportunity to suggest their own topics and/or choose from a list of existing topics. Topics can include PowerPoint and Effective Presentations; Canva & Digital Design; Word Essentials; Lean Management (Continuous Improvement); Mental Health & Wellness (Resilience) or other topics suggested by the parents / students.
Output will include a PowerPoint document, summarizing key results from the various surveys. Handy reference guide for both parents and student. Digital graduation certificate.
A summer program designed to provide high school students with an introduction to digital literacy, critical soft skills and on-line survey questionnaires to better understand each student’s learning styles and potential career options. Covers a wide range of topics.
Context: Provide an introduction to Digital Skills Literacy, as a combination of both learning and practical applications relating to computers and software. You will need to provide your own laptop or computer.
Purpose: To provide overall preparedness for High School Students.
Quantity: Follow the scope as shown below.
Quality: Stay at a basic / intermediate level, but covering many different areas to increase your area of exposure.
Resources: Carmine Ciriello and Rosie Ciriello will be your main contacts.
Time : Various options will be made available. The daily blocks will include teaching / lecturing (together, on video or in-person), and the rest is homework/review (on your own).
Scope
Preparation (prior to the course)
Learning style quiz
Pre-course survey
Prepare supplies: For on-line virtual offerings, student requires their own laptop / computer, video camera and microphone.
Learning and Exploration
Microsoft Excel
Discover Yourself and Career Exploration through various interactive surveys.
Basics of AI and Technological Safety
Various soft skills, preparation for interviews and personal finance.
Course Curriculum
Pre-Defined Content
Discover Yourself & Career Exploration
Self-assessments: skills, interests, strengths
Career clusters & industries
How interests map to career & study paths
Task and Time Management
Task Assignment
Time Management
Creating study schedules
Excel Essentials
Basic formulas (SUM, AVERAGE, MIN/MAX, IF statements)
Formatting & conditional formatting
Creating simple charts and graphs
Personal Finance
Understanding Income
Budgeting Basics
Banking and Debt
Applying for Bursaries and Loans
General Soft Skills
Leadership
Influence
Giving/Receiving Feedback
Practice / Mock Interviews
Elements of a good interview
Practice session for each participant
AI Tools for Students
What is AI and Why it Matters
The 2 types of searches
Practical Applications; AI Safety
Misunderstandings and Limitations
Hands-on: Using AI to support your studies
Technological Safety
Introduction and Threat Definition
Password Management
Post Hacking
Multi-Factor Identification
Using AI to help identify risks
Non-Email scams
Customizable Content (for the last half day)
Parents and students will be given an opportunity to suggest their own topics and/or choose from a list of existing topics for the last half day of the course.
PowerPoint Essentials
Introduction, including fonts and formats.
Insert: Pictures, Tables, Shapes and SmartArt.
Slide Show and View
Effective Presentations
Do’s and Don’ts for PowerPoint presentations
Do’s and Don’ts for Public Speaking
Canva & Digital Design
Intro to Canva: templates, graphics, fonts, layouts
Design principles: color, contrast, readability
Hands-on project: Create a poster, social media graphic, or presentation slide
Peer feedback & iterative improvement
Word Essentials.
Word Topics
Résumé & cover letter workshop (for jobs/volunteering)
Academic résumé / student profile: courses, grades, extracurricular, achievements
Introduction to Lean Management (Continuous Improvement)
Mental Health & Wellness
Other topics suggested by the parents / students.
Please note: Only the top voted topics will be included in the last session.
Confirmed dates for 2026:
Mon, July 20 to Thurs, July 23 (4 days; 10am-3pm). Virtual - Google Meets.
Tues, Aug 4 to Fri, Aug 7 (4 days; 10am-3pm). Virtual - Google Meets.
Cost: $500 + HST, per student
Includes PDF versions of all course material and a digital graduation certificate. Output will also include a PowerPoint document, summarizing key results from the various in-class exercises. Handy reference guide for both parents and student.
Inquire about our various early bird and rebate programs.
Centre for Skills operates as an independent charity. Their various locations in Halton and Peel deliver free government-funded programs to help people at various stages of life (youth, job seekers, second career seekers and newcomers to Canada) get on a path to career success.
I help deliver a variety of on-line virtual courses: Excel / Word / PowerPoint (Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels), as well as introduction to Outlook, Computer, AI and Tech Safety. Each module is one hour in duration.
Free virtual sessions can be booked through the Centre for Skills Development website.