Peggy Revell
Fort Frances High School is branching out with more learning opportunities as Grade 10 students now have the opportunity to do three-week work placements at district businesses.
“From an educational point of view, it’s very cutting edge even though it doesn’t sound like it,” said Fort High co-op teacher, Kent Kowalski, who noted that as far as he knows, no other school in Northwestern Ontario has a placement program for Grade 10 students.
The program stems jointly from the Grade 10 shop class and career studies course, where selected students have been completing a three-week work experience programs as part of their course work.
First tested out last spring with six students, this year the number has more than doubled to 13.
“This type of placement is not done very often,” Kowalski explained. “Most of the placements that we have are with senior students, who are far more mature.
“They go through an interview process,” he noted. “There’s a number of things that are done before they’re put out there. The stakes are a lot higher.”
For Grade 11 and 12 students, a co-op placement is a full course that can be a morning or afternoon for a whole semester, Kowalski said. Whereas this program is more like a project within the career studies course which, he admits, can be dry for students.
“It’s one thing to see a career and someone working in a picture in a book, or to say ‘Do you like indoor stuff? Do you like outdoor stuff? What kind of education, etc., etc.’” he added. “It’s another thing to say, ‘Okay, you’re going to go get your hands dirty in a placement, now go and try.
“So this is an introduction. But this is important because the way education is going, there are all kinds of avenues, moreso than ever before, and co-op is one of those.”
“It’s been a good experience,” said Grade 10 student Tasha Wagner, who was able to do her three-week placement at Safeway here.
During her time there, she learned how to do things like bag groceries and face shelves. She said she enjoyed it because it got her outside of the class while still gaining her some good work ethics and how to work in a business environment.
Wagner added she liked the experience, and probably will continue on with co-op for the following year.
Alongside Safeway, other participating businesses include Canadian Tire, Sunset Ford, Sears, Lakewood Tire, Piston Ring, North American Lumber, Acklands, Mohawk, the Bargain Store, and La Place Rendez-Vous.
Being younger than most co-op students, the project gives 10th-graders the chance to learn how to interact in a business setting, Kowalski said. As well, most students don’t have a clue what they would like to do as a career, so this can help them learn about what they like and don’t like when it comes to a career path.
And while typically the participating students don’t have any work experience, Kowalski explained it gives employers a chance to “test drive” them—and even has led to employment for participating students.
Starting placements like this earlier also helps to promote the co-op program at Fort High once the students reach the next grade, he said, since it gives them the chance to see what a co-op placement is like.
“When we did this last year, nearly every one of the students came around after and said ‘I really like co-op, it works for me,’” Kowalski said.
“It’s a program that actually gets kids turned on about school,” he stressed. “That’s where the real trick lies . . . if you make it relevant, the light goes on.”
