By rdnewsNOW staff

Expanding Programming

Olds College signs two new school divisions to dual credit program

Aug 19, 2020 | 3:12 PM

Olds College has announced the signing of two new school divisions into its dual credit program offerings for Alberta high school students in the upcoming academic year.

Prairie Rose School Division and Holy Spirit Catholic School Division will join 19 other divisions already partnered with Olds College in the decade-long dual credit program, for a total of 21 school divisions across Alberta.

Jackie Taylor with Chinook’s Edge School Division says the expansion in response to increasing interest from students seeking career pathway planning.

“Given the current climate, many high school students have found themselves in a state of uncertainty — unsure of what direction they would like to take for their education and future employment. Our dual credit program offers students the opportunity to explore career pathways that they may want to pursue, while providing them with course credit in high school and post-secondary,” Taylor said.

Olds College also announced the expansion of their dual credit program offerings to include several new online courses.

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High school students enrolled in any of the 21 school divisions for the 2020-2021 academic year will be part of the first student intake to be offered 11 dual credit courses for online delivery. Courses are available in Hospitality & Tourism, in Horticulture, in Agriculture Techgronomy, Animal Sciences and Land & Water.

According to college officials, enrollment for the 2019-20 academic year saw a total of 159 students registered in the Olds College dual credit programming, with 300 students projected for 2020-21.

In-person course offerings will continue to be offered for the Veterinary Technician Assistant Certificate, Meat Processing Certificate, Agriculture Equipment Technician courses, along with Pre-employment Certificates in Heavy Equipment Technician and Welding, for students enrolled at Chinook’s Edge School Division, Calgary Catholic School Division, Calgary Board of Education, Wolf Creek School Division and Red Deer Catholic School Division.

“It is great to see the continued success and expansion of Olds College’s dual credit program offering through the Community Learning Campus,” adds Stuart Cullum, President, Olds College. “Our coordination with the K-12 system continues to expand as we work to provide post-secondary learning pathways for young people and these two new agreements signify that Olds College will continue to be an active partner with Alberta’s School Divisions to support hands-on skills training that lead to jobs and successful careers.”

In 2007, Olds College and Chinook’s Edge School Division partnered to establish the co-owned Community Learning Campus, a unique initiative merging secondary and postsecondary institutions together to assist in post-secondary transitioning for rural students.

From 2010 to 2017, as part of a provincial pilot of dual credit programming, Olds College partnered with Chinook’s Edge and the Calgary Catholic School Board to provide high school students with dual credit opportunities in Trades, Hospitality & Tourism, and the Veterinary Technician Assistant Certificate (VTA) program.

Since then, Olds College has steadily grown it’s partnership base to comprise 21 school divisions, which include the expansion of the VTA certificate to the Calgary Board of Education, along with expanding the Animal Health Technician (AHT) courses to the Edmonton Catholic School Board.

Olds College is in partnerships with the following 21 school divisions: Chinook’s Edge, Calgary Catholic, Calgary Board of Education, Edmonton Catholic, Black Gold, Canadian Rockies, Golden Hills, Livingstone Range, Palliser, Westwind, Wetaskiwin, Red Deer Catholic, Buffalo Trail, Northern Lights, Sturgeon, Wild Rose, Evergreen Catholic, Prairie Rose, Holy Spirit Catholic, Battle River, and Wolf Creek.

“We are so grateful to Olds College for our ongoing partnership in the Community Learning Campus which provides our high school students with a unique connection to post-secondary learning,” remarks Kurt Sacher, Superintendent of Schools, Chinook’s Edge School Division. “One of the most powerful spinoffs in this strong relationship has been their ability to share the expertise of their instructors and support students across our division with timely, relevant and life changing learning opportunities through dual credit programming. Students are deeply impacted by these career pathway experiences that lead them to more confidently choose their career direction after high school graduation.”