I. General Information
School Name: Smithers Secondary School
School District: SD#54 Bulkley Valley
Inquiry Team Members: Julie Krall: jkrall@sd54.bc.ca, Helen Erickson: helen.erickson@sd54.bc.ca, Talia Choy: talia.choy@sd54.bc.ca, Matthew Perry: matthew.perry@sd54.bc.ca, Karlie Lynch: karlie.lynch@sd54.bc.ca, Travis Hebert: travis.hebert@sd54.bc.ca .
Inquiry Team Contact Email: jkrall@sd54.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Career Education, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Writing, Physical & Health Education
Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Land, Nature or Place-based learning
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? The focus of this project is restructuring the delivery of the CLE and CLC courses to prioritize a successful bridging to post-graduation life.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: Our scanning effort was focused on two student populations; students in grades 10, 11 and 12 attending the Bulkley Valley Learning Centre and Interdisciplinary Studies at Smithers Secondary School. Many are Indigenous students living away from their home communities and disconnected from their cultural support systems. We felt our Indigenous learners would benefit from, or be engaged by, an experiential, holistic graduation transitions program. This would provide opportunities to strengthen their ties to the land, community, and culture. We did a scanning survey with all of the students in January 2025. We were able to ask students about aspects of the pathways so that we had more concrete information for planning.
Focus: We noticed that many of our students who live off reserve in Smithers and Telkwa and are in vulnerable living situations (poverty and homelessness) work hard to graduate, but once they graduate, they do not have an independent plan that they can follow to become productive and connected citizens in their communities. The focus of this project is restructuring the delivery of the CLE and CLC courses to prioritize a successful bridging to post-graduation life.
Hunch: One of the practices at the school and school district are the online CLE and CLC courses. These courses are separated from students’ other studies and are not connected to our community, to the land and are generic in nature. Another practice that may have been contributing to the experience of our learners is a semester course in grade 10 and a semester course in grade 12 vs. a methodically delivered course delivered over 3 years connected to community and place. Also including staff that are familiar with students’ work for 3 years.
Collaboration: Met with team and discussed our hunches to create an initial vision for the three years to come.
In-person experiences: Student voice – To test our hunch, we conducted a student survey, to gather baseline information and provide insight on learners’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and connections (school based, familial, and community wide). Survey questions focused on financial literacy, health habits, extracurricular activities, community connection, career plans, and general life skills. Additionally, student voice was garnered through regular check-ins before and after planned learning activities, such as the Employer Living Library.
Reflections for Year 1:
New professional learning:
- Collaboration of the team with BVLC, SSS and ABED and learning more in depth about our community, our land, and our place so that tasks are meaningful connected to students’ experiences and place. We had to increase our knowledge of our community, services, and instructional practices and to plan and to facilitate events like an employer living library and a health services scavenger hunt.
- Influenced by the goals and rationale in the Career Education rationale.
- Identifying aspects of a graduate – based on the Career Life Education Curriculum.
- 3-year co-current courses – working on capstone projects for 3 years.
- Collaborated with place – designed experiences that are unique to our community and place.
Checking:
- Students are naming and describing their pathways – this is my education pathway, my employment pathway, my independent living pathway…etc.
- Students are advocating and asking for support.
- Students are planning ahead (students in grade 11 reading requirements for scholarships).
- Students in grade 11 putting together their plan for grade 12.
- Students were able to secure employment after the employer living library.
- Increased engagement demonstrated by students.
- Respectful and mature participation in the in-person event.
- Increased level of maturity and respect.
- We applied the seven learning principles from the conclusion of The Nature of Learning in the overall planning of this three-year project. They are all reflected through the 3 main elements of this project: the instructional approach and the curriculum design, the planning and delivery of the experiences, and students’ personal transition plans.
- Transition planning tools – for example – https://findsupportbc.com/timeline/
- Digital portfolios that students use to document their learning journeys and become a tool that they can use after graduation.
- Ways to facilitate place-based learning experience.
- Taking time as teachers and individuals to develop a sense of place.
- Building local knowledge of the historical and current connections between our communities in and beyond the Bulkley Valley.
Photo Description: Employer Living Library Event summary
Date: Wednesday Feb 12th
Time: 11:00 – 1:00pm
Location: Coast Mountain College Campus, Smithers BC
Students Participating: Students in grades 10-12 that are enrolled in Interdisciplinary Studies at Smithers Secondary School or classes at the Bulkley Valley Learning Centre at Coast Mountain Collage.
Event description: Students will have the opportunity to speak to employers and organizations in the Bulkley Valley about employment, education and training, and/or volunteer opportunities. Students will sit with employers in small groups (approx 3-4 students) and representatives will:
· Share information about the business / industry that they are representing as well as their role in their organization.
· Share information about their personal journey (education, training, work experience) so that students can hear about many possible pathways.
· Share information about possible employment, services, and/or volunteer opportunities with their organization and requirements for those opportunities.
· Review students’ resumes and/or cover letters and provide students will some feedback about their employment documentation. They will give each student ‘two stars and a wish’.
Students attending the event will be responsible to:
· Attend 3 table conversations with 3 different employers / representatives.
· Bring a completed resume and cover letter to share with employers / representatives.
· Complete a short response page that they can hand in to be entered in the draw for door prizes.
Employers/representatives that are attending can choose to:
· Be one of our living library employers / representatives and speak with small groups of students throughout the event.
· Have a table that students can visit before or after small table conversations.
· Let us know if there is another way that they would like to participate in this event.
We are asking if employer / representatives can:
· Confirm attendance by Friday Feb 7th
· Provide a little information about their business / organization in advance. This information will be provided for students so they can select their table groups
Plans for Year 2: Year one was a good start, but we have more work to do to develop pathways with more concrete details and options. It took a long time and some students were helped more than others. We needed to work through the process to learn how to make it more possible, efficient and effective. We plan to work on creating a physical portfolio with students’ employment documents, transcripts, records, etc. with a digital storage included.
We planned but did not complete our health services tour and our independent housing tour in the Bulkley Valley. Our students ahead of the grads of last year, and we are curious to see where our current grade 10 students will be. Events will be easier to plan and execute. We have built staff capacity.
Good start, but more work to do to develop pathways with more concrete details, and options. It took a long time and some students were helped more than others. We needed to work through the process to learn how to make it more possible, efficient and effective. We plan to work on creating a physical portfolio with students’ employment documents, transcripts, records, etc. with a digital storage included.