Education Plus......Outreach Outriders

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The staff at Education Plus is now coming to the end of another challenging, invigorating and dynamic year. Alternative education has become an indispensable part of the fabric of schooling. It has become a lifeline to success for some and hope for others. As an outreach teacher from Bridges Outreach School said, “it changes lives and extends the hand of possibility.” It is what we do here at Education Plus and the students are not the only lucky ones.

Our students deserve good teaching and great teachers, but they also need the human touch more than most. We believe in them and encourage them to dream. “The United Way: Towards Resiliency for Youth” report “urges removing barriers to ease return to high school.” Many of our students start out in life with few choices and according to Valerie Fortney's in her article “City's 'Invisible' Youth Deserve Compassion,” (Calgary Herald, April 5th, 2011), “many youth start out in life with an alarming lack of choices; and they're all too familiar with that catch-22 of trying to find and hold down a job while juggling a complex array of issues.” For many of our students, that also includes school. Our goal is to give students the resilience they need to succeed, to alleviate some of their pain and to affect their lives in a positive way.

Our Wild Things Program is reaching out to students to help build relationships and to see new possibilities. Under this program they have completed the High Ropes Course at Camp Horizon, skiing at Lake Louise, cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. We thank the Foothills Lion's Club for its generous donation of $2000 to help make this program the success it was.

We celebrate our Nathon Lyons who received the Royal Canadian Legion, Turner Valley Branch #78, first place, senior poster (black and white) award and first place award for the Royal Canadian Legion, Alberta – N.W.T. Command area for the same poster. He also received the Certificate of Honour for his outstanding artistic contribution from the Sheep Creek Arts Council. The presentation evening was Thursday, May 6th.
If you are interested in summer school please, email us at: fsdsummerschool@fsd.ab.ca or visit us online at www.alt.fsd38.ab.ca.

Please call or visit our school for more information at Education Plus, 112 Centre Avenue, Black Diamond. Phone 403-938-4576.