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N.B. Comp programs prepare students for the real world

Dec 13, 2016 | 1:00 PM

North Battleford Comprehensive offers students more than the average educational experience, with classes that help them prepare for life after high school.

In grades seven to nine, students do a rotation of different courses over those three years, including woods, electrical, mechanics, welding, cooking, drafting, sewing, and machining.

According to Principal Bruce Friesen, the courses help students gain practical skills and prepare them for further classes.

“It gives students some skills for themselves at a young age and it also gives those students a chance to experience some of those life and trade type skills to make some better decisions so when they go into high school they know a little bit of what they’ll do in cosmetology or construction class or welding class,” Friesen said. “They have a better opportunity to make decisions that will be a little bit more meaningful to them when they hit grades 10, 11 or 12.”

When the high school years come along, students can take part in various electives offered, some of which are in high demand, Friesen stated.

“They’re quite popular, some a little more than others. Our commercial cooking, for example, we’re at capacity, or even slightly above in most of our classes there,” he said.

These electives, including commercial cooking, drafting and welding, can offer students career opportunities if they decide to embark in the youth apprenticeship program, and a chance to compete at Skills Canada, a national program where students compete in dozens of categories like computer animation, auto service, cooking and public speaking, first at the provincial level and then the national level if they qualify.

Friesen said that other high schools offer similar elective classes, but North Battleford Comprehensive offers some of them in a more extensive capacity, thanks to the teachers they have and their facility which allows them to do more.

“It’s a great opportunity for kids in the city to do some hands on learning, and if a student is not necessarily going into the trades themselves, just learning some of those skills for when they own a house or they’re working on their own car and things like that,” Friesen said. “It really prepares them well for the future.”

 

Katherine.svenkeson@jpbg.ca

@ksvenkeson