South East Cornerstone has been actively preparing students for their futures through Career Development. Curriculum co-ordinator Susan Nedelcov-Anderson explained that the division is attempting to change past practices and help students prepare for the new world by supporting them in career development at earlier ages during the Board's last meeting.
The recent shift has been from lifetime employment to lifetime employability, which means providing students with the skills to be adaptable in the future. Students will most likely face a world in which they may change careers, rather than experience a world where they will be employed by the same employer for their entire career.
Four new basics of Career Development (CD) include digital age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication and high productivity whereby students have strong skills for future employability. In their presentation to the Board, Nedelcov-Anderson and Career Development Program Manager Moira Grayson based their report on the Ministry of Education's five elements for success in this area.
Those five elements include: the Career Education Curriculum (CEC); Personal Career Portfolios; Career Development Action Teams; Establishing partnerships with Education, Business and Industry; and Parent and Family involvement. Nedelcov-Anderson and Grayson discussed SESCD's successes and challenges in each area.
Some successes include the participation in the Pre-Health Professions Club, division-wide career fairs, division-wide student career portfolios, and participation in the transitions program, which is designed to support students with special needs making the transition from high school to post-secondary.
South East Cornerstone has three rural counsellors who work with Grade 10-12 students. One works in five schools with a total of 352 students to assist. Another works in five schools and assists 347 students. A third counsellor works in nine schools and assists 318 students. At the Weyburn Comprehensive, a half-time counsellor works with 527 students, while at the Estevan Comp, a three-quarter time counsellor works with 646 students.
Grayson explained there is a big need for Career Development and Education with the division's three First Nations communities. Some excellent links have been made with Pheasant Rump and White Bear. There have been discussions around creating after school programs, along with getting students more involved and comfortable in the school system. It has been a slow but positive experience so far.
The renewed Career Education curricula have been implemented in Grades 6-9. Career Education allows students to learn more about themselves in preparation for future decisions they will need to make.
