[Broadening students’ horizons through the Special High Skill Major]
[Hamilton, ON]
[Cody Eckhart]
[Grade 12 student, Ancaster High School]
School is a little boring. It was a lot of bookwork and homework. There’s not a lot of hands on. I’ve always been interested in flying and always thought about being a pilot and as soon as I heard about the aviation aerospace course I knew I wanted to get into it.
[Kathleen Wynne]
[Minister of Education]
Three years ago we started to fund the specialist high school major. In the first year it served 600 students. This year about 20,000 students are going to be involved. This year it’s a $15.9 million dollar endeavor on the part of the Ministry of Education.
We really believe strongly that students in every corner of the province should have an opportunity for this kind of hands on learning. This has renewed their interest and its going to make it so they are committed to finishing high school. The future economic development of the province will be healthier because of these students education.
[Mike Sampson]
[Aviation Instructor, Ancaster High School]
Differentiated instruction is very important within the classroom. A program like this would help a student like Cody Eckhart obtain his dream job by allowing him to actually get experience in the field. And by allowing him to do some experiential learning at the Hamilton airport it allows Cody to see if its really going to be what he wants to get into.
[Cody Eckhart]
I feel great. I’m really happy that this course is being provided at my school. It’s a great way to start a career and test it out.
[For more information visit: Ontario.ca/studentsuccess]