PRINCE ALBERT — The Saskatchewan Rivers Students for Change (SRSC) has created a series of videos with the goal of helping students navigate work and education after high school.
Rural SRSC representative Taylor Henderson updated the board about their efforts at the regular meeting on May 12. The goal is to make it easier for students to learn about things like applying for university, applying for classes, seeking student services, and writing professional emails.
The group has been working with Secondary Years Curriculum Instruction and Assessment Consultant Patricia Bibby to create a three-minute-long video discussing those and other topics related to post-secondary education.
"With these videos it would benefit students because we can meet them at their own space and at their own pace,” Henderson said. “Whenever they're ready, they can watch these videos.”
They also plan to incorporate skills students will need regardless of what post-graduation path they choose. The list includes time management, problem-solving skills, emotional control, communication skills, empathy and more into schools' curriculum, teacher focus groups and student groups.
Henderson said these skills will benefit all students, and not just those who pursue a four-year degree. The goal is to incorporate the videos into classroom teaching all across the division.
Henderson said the SRSC has had a successful past school year. She credited advocacy efforts from the previous SRSC for the success. She said those efforts helped lead to the end of departmental exams.
"Looking to what it's come to is so amazing to see,” Henderson said. “I just hope that career education is one of the things that we as an SRSC we were able to leave a mark on and students will have a positive impact from our work.”
Henderson said students do receive some career education training, but it typically comes in Grades 6-8, where it isn’t always helpful.
“Students were researching these careers, but when I was in 6th grade I want to be a fashion designer, and I'm going to be an engineer,” Henderson said. “We all had experiences like that.”
After further discussions the SRSC tried to find ways to make career classes more inclusive. This led to the idea to research careers instead of picking a career and putting more career education emphasis in high school.
"You change so much over the course of your high school career that it's essential that at we keep learning and keep growing and doing and learning about what we want to do with the rest of our life,” Henderson said.
Saskatchewan Rivers director of education Neil Finch said he was pleased to see the SRSC’s progress.”
"I think they've had a really exciting year,” Finch said. “(It’s) not only what they're doing when they get together, but that they are leaning on each other outside of that work and trying to learn from each other.”
Finch said the SRSC has helped students from across the division connect with each other. He pointed to the work of Henderson and SRSC Urban Representative Coral Frenette over the course of the year as an example.
"The leaders that have come forward, that join us at our meetings, have been fantastic,” Finch said.
The SRSC has met for the last time this school year but will be in attendance at the board’s last regular meeting on June 16.
