By Adam Eisenbarth
Just weeks after receiving a grant to further their trades program, the Rimbey Junior/Senior High School has captured more funds to improve another program.
The school received $5,000 from PennWest Energy that will go toward purchasing hardware and software for the CTS computer technology programs.
Schools are being encouraged to broaden their computer programs with a new curriculum that has been phased in over the last two years.
“There was a bunch (of curriculum changes) that came in this year and next year is the new year for communication technology, which is the video and photo editing kind of stuff. It’s also the first year for the robotics curriculum which is part of the computer science,” says assistant principal Chris Oram.
Thanks to the funding, the school is hoping their enhanced programs, along with the advanced curriculum, will pique the interest of students and help them decide on a career.
“It’s dealing with video editing, photo editing, that kind of stuff as well as we’re taking advantage of new computer science curriculum which allows us to bring robotics into the school.”
The improvements to the program at the school will set students up nicely for the next level of school.
“Some of that computer science credit at the Grade 12 level will be accepted as science credit for some post-secondary schools.”
With technology steadily increasing in most industries, it was important to update the program.
“Information processing is traditionally what we’ve offered in the area of computers. That’s spreadsheets, word processing, that kind of thing.”
But now the school is expanding their technology programs and has already gotten a head start with an earlier grant to go along with this one.
“This year thanks to some money from ConocoPhillips we purchased some cameras. We just purchased a couple but it’s enough to get us started and next year we’re looking to expand that even more and put this equipment in these kids’ hands.”
It can be a challenge for schools to keep with the times but with the money raised, Oram is comfortable with the opportunities Rimbey Junior/Senior High offers.
“We’re trying to diversify the program so that our kids get to take advantage of new curriculum.”