SD8 to launch digital storytelling project documenting local culture, family heritage
By Nelson Daily Staff
The Province will be funding a digital storytelling project in School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) as they announced funding for the rural school innovation project Friday.
The $12,500 project will see students document local culture and family heritage through interviews with senior community members and by doing online research.
A similar amount of money will be going to the Arrow Lakes School District for a Values of the Doukhobor Community project, in which students will reach out to Doukhobor elders and produce films and web site material.
In the Boundary No. 51 School District, a $12,500 community partnerships project will focus on ways to support rural secondary students with special needs.
The funding is intended to support rural schools with a program ($300,000 overall) to enhance learning for rural students.
Out of the 61 submissions from 36 rural districts, 17 were selected with a focus on their impact on students in rural communities, innovation, and potential for research.
An 18th award, of $6,000, sponsored by the Eleanor Rix Professorship in Rural Teacher Education at the University of British Columbia, will go to George M. Dawson Secondary school in Masset for their proposal to build an outdoor classroom.
Last March, the Ministry of Education and UBC teamed up to launch Growing Innovation. The provincewide program provides grants to the districts selected so they can bring their innovative ideas to life and enhance rural learning.
Quick facts
- There are 1,610 public schools in B.C. this year, and 365 of those schools are in rural locations where the needs of local families are changing.
- This year 64,255 students are attending schools in rural communities.
- Forty-six districts receive rural factor funding under the unique geographic supplement -$22.7 million for 2011-12.
- A small community supplement will provide $63.2 million to 47 districts in 2011-12.
Learn more
- Learn NowBC’s Rural Education Strategy: www.learnnowbc.ca/educators/Rural_Education/
