How many times have you been asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Do you answer "I want to go to university", or "Go to college", or perhaps "Work for a bit, then go back to school" or could be "I'm just not really sure yet". I know that this is a question many of us adults can't even answer, and we've been working for a while now! Imagine being faced with this decision without help, direction, or knowledge of what's out there for us. We as parents, family, friends, teachers, support staff, and many other influences can help you choose the right pathway and find the right answer to that, oh so, intimidating question. Our aim is to take that intimidation out of that question and provide our grade 12 students with a clear, directive answer, with purpose and ownership.
In grade 12, our students will experience numerous opportunities to assist them in decision making and planning that will be vital to their growth and development after graduation. Some of these opportunities include:
WORK EXPERIENCE- JANUARY 28 TO FEBRUARY 1
Grade 12 students will have the opportunity to explore another week of work experience once again. This is a week similar to the week of work students already experienced in the grade 11 level. Once again, students are allowed to set up their own work experience placements, but these need to be verified by the Career Prep. Coordinator. As well as student are encouraged not to contact the RHA's, RCMP, personal care homes, and other provincial placements, as they have strict guidelines to follow and extra paper work to get through. Grade 12 students may also use some of their work placement days to go to their post secondary school choices. This may be a great time to explore and do some orientation of their schooling choice. Students are required to fill out their journals everyday of their work placement regardless of where they are, so if a student chooses to experience a future school setting they can also reflect on that.
POST SECONDARY EDUCATION
Manitoba offers a wide variety of post secondary education facilities, through universities, colleges, military, apprenticeship, and many more avenues. We bring representatives from each of these post secondary choices to our school in order to allow our students to learn what each of these institutions has to offer. The students are able to collect information about each of these choices and sit in on two presentations. This is hugely beneficial to their decision making process which they are having to accomplish in their grade 12 year. An afternoon is dedicated to this early in October, in order to make the most of the presentations. Our grade 12 students must make important decisions regarding their post secondary education shortly after this day, which stresses the importance of having a variety of choices brought to them prior to the decision making process.
Our grade 12 students also meet with our guidance counsellor in the early part of the school year to discuss university options, scholarships and what is required for each of these options. This allows the students enough time to apply for, get the required elements in place for which ever path they choose regarding their education.