Classroom on wheels earns Grasslands School Board $5,000 Premier’s Award for School Board Innovation and Excellence
Release date: November 22, 2002
Transforming a 53-foot semi trailer into a Career and Technology Studies (CTS) classroom on wheels so students in remote areas of their jurisdiction can attend automotives and welding classes, earned the Grasslands Regional Division Board of Education the 2002 Premierís Award for School Board Innovation and Excellence. The $5,000 award, sponsored by the Document Company Xerox, was presented on November 19 at the Alberta School Boards Associationís fall meeting.
The Grasslands School Board proved that if you canít get the students to the classroom – bring the classroom to the students. Faced with a lack of facilities, the scarcity of CTS teachers and long bus rides to a central location, the school board supported a project to design and build a 900-square foot, self-contained, mobile welding and automotives classroom that literally delivers components of the CTS program to Grade 7 to 12 students in four of the divisionís schools.
The semi ‚ the first of its kind in Canada ‚ features all the amenities found in a permanently constructed classroom. It rolled into action this September. A full-time CTS teacher moves with the portable classroom from school to school and teaches the class on site. Currently, 45 students are registered in welding and automotives classes. Another 100 students are registered for CTS components later in the year.
In launching the initiative, the Grasslands School Board, which is elected to serve Bassano, Rosemary, Tilley, Duchess, Gem, Rolling Hills, Alcoma and Brooks, wanted to provide opportunities for students in smaller rural schools where conventional modes of delivery were not possible, said board chair Gordon Krinke. "We are proud to have been selected as the recipient of this award with so many worthy projects out there. This project reflects Grasslands' commitment to providing all of our students with the type of education that will enhance their ability to be successful when they enter the world of work. The Mobile CTS Lab allows us to overcome the obstacles of distance, cost and facility to give our rural students access to programs that have traditionally been available only to students in much larger school settings."
ASBA President Michele Mulder congratulated the Grasslands Board of Education for coming up with an innovative solution to a local challenge. "This project is an outstanding example of the creativity and ingenuity school boards across the province bring to the table as they strive to give the students they serve the very best education possible," said Mulder. "We also thank the Document Company Xerox for making this award possible."
Nineteen school boards were in the running for the 2002 award. Three school boards were also finalists: Edmonton School District No. 7: Amiskwaciy Academy; Horizon School Division No. 67: Horizon Student Leadership Council; and Lethbridge School District No. 51: Board Poverty Intervention Committee.
Summaries of all the entries
For more information contact: Suzanne Lundrigan, Communications at 1.780.451.7122 or Lee Ann Woods, Grasslands Public Schools at 1.403.793.6700.
The Alberta School Boards Association serves and represents all Alberta’s public, separate and francophone school boards.
