McRoberts secondary students are inviting community members to visit and give them feedback on their career-life projects later this month.
The projects, which are based on career-related topics such as art, digital media and scientific research, were created by Grade 12 students for their year-long Career Life Connections (CLC) course.
Richmondites will get to meet and hear from the students at an in-person and public open-house event on April 20.
McRoberts’ CLC Capstone course is a required Grade 12 course that is part of B.C.’s Grades 10 to 12 career education program.
Jonathan Malchy, career education facilitator and coordinator at McRoberts, said the open-house event is a chance for students to "deliver their topics openly" to members of the public.
“They get to talk to people who are going to be looking at their projects and explain to them all the things they’ve experienced while completing these projects," he explained.
Students are required to form “essential and central questions” to a general topic for their projects and they work on answering those questions. They must keep a series of “learning logs” throughout the process to explain what they’ve learned, and reflect on what they already know about the topic and how that has changed.
Malchy told the Richmond News the school implemented the guided independent study model, which they found was a better learning experience than simple written reports.
“It’s really about getting the students motivated to work on something they are passionate about,” said Malchy, adding the students can be more creative in their learning.
“During the school year, students also worked collaboratively where they shared ideas, strategies and information that they found useful during their capstone project.”
The project will ultimately benefit students in the long-term, Malchy said, as it mirrors scenarios in the working world.
“Having the public come in and provide the students the experience to explain their projects and learning process can help prepare them for their future studies and real work life.”
The showcase also allows Grade 11 students to look at the projects and see “what the expectations are for them” during their next school year.
The open house showcase is free for the public and will take place at McRoberts Secondary School on April 20 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
