(!) PUNNICHY CAREER TRANSITION INITIATIVE I BY KEN SOGGE

(!)
PUNNICHY CAREER TRANSITION INITIATIVE
I BY KEN SOGGE
he Punn ic hy Caree r Transit io n Ini t iative deve lop ed
in Hori zo n School Division has reali zed co ntinu ous
grow th and success si nce the progra m bega n in the
spring of 2009. This initiat ive offers stud ent s alte rn atives
to the standard classroom and guides stude nts to take
res po nsibility for their perso nal s uccess by de mo nstrating
a co mmit me nt to lea rnin g, By focusin g o n wo rk skills and
providin g stud ent s with a unique lea rning enviro nment,
al ong with a ded ica ted staff, students have becom e
moti vated to succeed. Imp roved student re tenti on rates
have already bee n rea li zed and many stu de nts have
reac hed goals necessa ry to ea rn pro moti on to th e next
grade, acc rue credits in o rder to grad uate from high
sc hoo l, acc rue credits towa rd pos t-secondary edu ca tion
and /o r achi eve s uccess in th e workfo rce.
T he form al par t ners in th e agree ment t hat led to the
development of the Ca ree r Tra nsition Ini tiative are Day
Sta r First Nat ion, Geo rge Gordon First Nati o n,
Muskowekwan First Nati o n, the Saskatchewa n Ministr y of
Educa tion and Hori zo n Sc hoo l Di visio n. Se tting up a
prog ram such as the Punnichy Ca reer Tra nsitio n In iti at ive
invo lves many resources and also re qui res cooperation,
tea mwork and a cornmitn1 ent to student s uccess fr o m
many levels and o rga ni zati o ns.
Larr y Bedel, superinte nde nt of schools fo r Ho ri zo n
Sc hoo l Divisio n, sta tes, "As a res ult of va r ious
sta kehold ers worki ng toget her in a ge nui ne partn ershi p,
high sc hool stud ents at PC HS have bee n provided with
the opportunity to be engaged in a more hands -o n
approac h to lea rning. The do ors to future ca ree r
oppo rtuniti es are being more read il y opened throug h thi s
mea nin gful edu cati onal experi ence:'
Alth ough the prog ra m bega n offe ring classes in the
spring, the official g rand ope ning was held in Novemb er
of 2009. Excitement and pride filled the room as
di gnitaries, co mmunity memb ers, stakeh olde rs, staff,
stude nts and partn ers in edu cati on gath ere d to celeb rate
th e laun ch of thi s gro undbreak ing prog ra m.
Speakers wh o addressed the audi ence in cl uded the
Ho no urabl e Ken Krawetz, then Deputy Premier and
M inister of Educa ti o n, who spo ke o n behalf of the
Gove rnment of Saskatchewa n. "Progra ms li ke th e Career
Tra nsi tio n Initiative are what make the Ho ri zon Schoo l
Di vision a t rue co mmunity of learnin g and ac hi ev in g:' sa id
the Ho no urable Ke n Krawe tz at the grand opening.
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81Saskatchewan Association of School Busi ness O ffi cials 1www.sasbo.com
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DIVI SION
PUNNICHY
CAREER
TRANSITION
INITIATIVE
Represe nt atives from the First Na tions and Hori zo n
Schoo l Di vision also add ressed the audien ce.
Former Chi ef Ke n Sinclair of George Gordon First
Nation added, "The endeavour to beco me self-suffi cient
starts with ed uca tion. The benefits to young people, the ir
families, and th e co mmunity will be great. As Chi ef of the
Geo rge Go rd on First Nation, I am proud to be part of this
partn ership:'
The Punnichy Ca reer Transition In itiative has now
entered a new sc hool yea r, and continues to grow and
succeed. In March 20 10, the program began a new course
offering ca lled the Travel and Tourism prog ra m. One of
th e co mponents of the program deals with the res taurant
industr y. The Geo rge Gordo n First Nation ge nerously
don ated th e "640" Diner loca ted on the rese rve for the
class, a nd two professional instructors from th e
Saskatchewa n Tourism Education Cou ncil were hired to
work with the students for a three-week period. Ten
stud ents from the region joined the class; using
Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council's re so urces,
students will be able to ga in Level 1, Level 2 and Go ld
Level ranks of th e Ca nadian Academy of Travel and
Tourism's ce rtifi ca tion program. Skills gained wi ll ready
students for either further education or the workplace.
During the res taurant portion of the co urse, st ud ents
lea rned man y valuable skills including proper food
pre parati on, food storage, proper clea ning proced ures and
service skill s. In o rde r to gain real work ex perience, the
class prepared, cooked and served eight fu ll-co urse meals
to 30 local invited guests, per meal. "\Y/e have neve r
wo rked with high sc hool students before and we had a
pre tty shaky start to begin wit h;' states Chef Tauno
Lindner. "\Y,fe quick ly reali zed that this was not th e type of
cl ass to which we were accustomed, and that we needed
to lead by exa mpl e. Once we broke down a few barriers,
the students re ally came around and we developed an
excellent relationship with each of them. They're really a
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I!I PUNNICHY CAREER TRANSITION INITIATIVE
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great bu nch of kids, and I ho pe th ey app reciate t he
exper iences they have been provided and use them to
thei r adva ntage."
W hile so me students we re invo lved in the Travel and
Tou rism program, anoth er class wa s hard at work in the
Carpe ntr y prog ram. Overall, the resul ts of the progra m
have been very positive to date. In one group, there were
at least fo ur stude nts who were at risk of qu itting schoo l,
but who stuck with it because of the programs ava ilable.
St ude nts have co mm ented that the progra m was very
good and that they look fo r wa rd to continuing existing
cou rses or enrolling in ot her progra ms.
Six students who went th roug h the Carpentry prog ram
were employed over th e Sti mm el' by Geo rge Gordo n Fi rst
Nation; under the di rectio n and tu telage of Tony Blin d,
journey man carpe nter with Geo rge Gordo n, they buil t a
hOllse from the gro und up. T he students were ab le to gain
appren ti ceshi p cred its towa rd their G rade 12 dip loma
while ea rnin g mo ney. Two of the stude nts have been hi red
by the Ho usin g Depar tme nt at Geo rge Go rdo n and a re
continu in g t heir appre ntices hip, wh ile the other four are
back at sc hool work in g towa rds their Grade 12
co mp letio n.
T he missio n of the Initiative - "to ensure every student
has the opportunity to succeed, proudly building on
strengths and celebrat ing diversity, ill a Inutually respect/Ill
atmosphere" - is the dri ving fo rce. So fa r, all evalua ti o ns
of the programs offered have bee n ve ry positive. St udents
who o nce struggled academica lly have prove n to be a
gifted in non -traditiona l areas of study. Overall, the
ha nds-o n lea rning approac h of the Pu nnichy Ca reer
Transition Init iative has bee n very we ll received and
employment rates have bee n excell ent.
"It has become appa rent that beca use of the support
and visio n show n by our leade rs, schools are now more
ab le to respond to the needs of all studen ts. T here are so
many types of sk ills and ab il ities out there - we just need
to give stude nts the o pport uni ty to discove r them. It is so
g ratify in g to see students engage d in thei r learnin g and to
see the m go on to be successful in the wo rkfo rce;' says
Ju li e Bedel, career gu idance coun sell or,
"We all know that educatio n is critical to everyo ne's
succeSSj we also know that no single approach to lea rn ing
wo rks fo r all learners , T he time is long past due for us to
ensure all st udents ac hi eve success;' states Marc
Danylc hu k, d irector of ed uca ti o n at Hor izo n Sc hool
Divisio n, "We also know that for all students to succeed, it
is so met imes necessa ry to change oUl' teac hin g met hods.
Tha nks to our excell ent part nerships, we now have a
prog ram th at does exactly that!"
For more in/ormation about the Punnichy Career
Transition I"itiative, please visit the Horizon School
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to ISaskatchewan Association of School Business Officials I www.sasbo.com
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