Learning comes in all shapes and sizes.
Last week, Grade 3 and Grade 4 students of Ardmore School took their learning to a whole new level.
They spent the better part of four days at the Bonnyville Centennial Centre C-School, where they learned how to take what they study in the classroom and apply it to real life.
“This is a great program because it gives kids not only the academic part of it, but also the social part. It involves teamwork, problem solving, which are things I think need to be taught in and out of the classroom. It also teaches them social skills in an environment outside of the classroom setting,” expressed Waqas Mubashiur, a Grade 3 and 4 teacher at Ardmore School.
The program was started 11 years ago, and offers students a unique learning experience.
Laura Tuttosi, C-School coordinator/educator, said, “There are different things that they do depending on their grade. There are things that everyone gets to take part in like wall climbing, skating, and cooking, but it’s all curriculum-based, based on their grade.”
For the students participating last week, they had the chance to climb the rock wall, skate with the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs, and made traditional Métis bannock.
Carter H. and Autumn C. were two of the students involved.
They enjoyed the hands-on approach and said it was really fun to see how their in-class learning applies to everyday activities.
Every year, C-School grows a little bit more.
For 2018, Tuttosi is expecting about 600 students from Grades 3 to 8 to take part in the program.
Because they’re applying their curriculum to real-world scenarios, Tuttosi said in most cases their subjects merge together.
“It definitely teaches them what they’re learning in school applies to the real world,” she expressed. “They’re constantly having those ah-ha moments where they understand why they’re learning things.”
It also takes topics that can sometimes be tough to learn in school and makes it fun.
“It brings things alive and takes some of the dryness out of a topic,” Tuttosi expressed.
Mubashiur agreed, “They’re doing a little bit of academic, a little bit of sports, like badminton and skating, and getting to do it with the Pontiacs, is just a life experience.”
But C-School is more than that. Mubashiur said it’s also an opportunity for kids to get out in the world and put their social skills to good use.
“For some kids, coming to the C2 is out of their comfort zone. This gives them that safe-net because they’re with their fellow classmates who they’re familiar with. They learn how to behave and how to engage in a social environment. There’s a lot more than just the academic part going on,” he said. “This is something they’re going to remember for a really long time.”
