Shop teachers throughout Chinook’s Edge School Division became students themselves, as they’ve worked alongside Olds College journeyman welding instructors for the past two years.
“It has been a great use of Olds College expertise and facilities, and our shop teachers have really benefited by coming together for this common purpose,” said Lissa Steele, associate superintendent of learning services for Chinook’s Edge.
“Our teachers were keen to do this work, not only to enhance their own skills but also to refine what to expect from students in their shop classes.
"They have been meeting at Olds College on collaborative days for the last two years, where mornings were spent in classroom instruction and afternoons in the welding shops. The college instructors have been supportive and accommodating, and this is a perfect example of CLC success.”
The Community Learning Campus (CLC) is a long-standing joint venture agreement between Olds College and Chinook’s Edge that has resulted in a number of successful projects for students and residents throughout the region.
CLC director Jackie Taylor advocated for the shop renewal project, knowing the valuable Olds College expertise would impact learning opportunities for high school students throughout the division.
“These two years of opportunity for our shop teachers was possible through a grant from Merit Contractors Association,” said Taylor.
“The training opportunity for our shop teachers was one focus. With this grant, we wanted to impact long- term trades-related experiences for students through improved school shop spaces, allow shop teachers to expand their understanding of the trades through connections to industry training expertise at Olds College, and support student access to trades courses at Olds College through dual credit programming.”
As well as staff training and skill development, the affiliation has led to the start of a shop classroom review at each Chinook’s Edge high school.
By working together to assess the equipment and infrastructure support in each classroom, including such things as electrical and ventilation access, the team is creating a common standard around welding.
The goal is that, no matter what shop a teacher or a student is in, they will have a standard level of facilities and equipment for teaching and learning.
The final training session took place last month and the classroom assessments are well underway, but Olds College instructors remain involved. They are participating in plans to move forward with such things as tool maintenance and repair, and shop organization and safety.
“On our visits to the shop teaching facilities, we noticed an inconsistency in the equipment and material that was available for teachers to give students a valuable learning experience that is on track with industry training standards,” said Dan Daley, dean of the Olds College school of trades.
“We also found the teachers considered a training program that would heighten their own skill level to be the first step in bringing consistency to the high school programs and provide students with industry-standard programming. It’s been a successful project and students will benefit from this extra effort.”
Welding fabrication is part of Alberta Education’s career and technology studies (CTS) curriculum, and is offered as an option course at each Chinook’s Edge high school.
Chinook’s Edge high school students also have access to apprenticeship level welding training through dual credit programming.
This allows students to earn credits at both the high school and college levels, and creates a comfort and understanding of future apprenticeship learning that enhances the success of high school students transitioning to post-secondary learning.
Bexon is a communications officer with the Chinook's Edge School Division.
