Hazelton Secondary School is one step closer to getting some new courses added to the curriculum next year after the Coast Mountain School Board has agreed to seek permission from the Ministry to add four programs.
At the CMSD meeting last Wednesday, the Board approved the acceptance of four new classes put forth by the Hazelton school and they are; Film and Television 10, Food Management, Food Experiments and Kitchen Skills.
This was brought to the table after HSS teacher Barb Janze sent the Board a letter stating that Film and Television 11/12 has been part of the curriculum at HSS since 2007 and many students have gone on to study these in post secondary eduction. She stated that those that have continued on in this field “indicated that they would have liked to start earlier at the High School level learning and gaining experience in this subject area.”
She also added that many of the Grade 10 drama students have done more Film and Television assignments than they have drama which furthers her case that students not only enjoy this course direction but they should get credit for it and it should be recognized as a separate class from drama.
In her submission to the Board she outlined the potential course as an introduction to the basics of film and television and students will be asked to develop shore films, public service announcements and documentaries using a variety of techniques. In addition, students will also learn and use programs such as iMovie, Adobe Premiere, Final cut, Windows Movie Maker and more.
The Food Management course put forth by HSS teacher, Patricia Jones, would teach students to learn basic food management skills in both a professional and home kitchen. Currently she stated that more than “75 per cent of the students who enter the senior Foods and Nutrition Courses in the school have not taken a food course since Grade 8 mosaic and do not cook at home.”
She also added that many students take food courses in order to develop employability and/or household skills or even to “fill a time table” oppose to having a passion for working with food. However, she said the course would be taught in a lab structure with time management, recipe adaptation and speed skills that will aid with family, college and the workplace and they will complete FoodSafe Level 1 and 2.
The second course Jones put forth, Food Experiments, will differ in the fact it will be of a hands on approach and focus more on the reasons behind the methods and techniques used in preparing foods. They will also learn the principals of baking and how nutrition applies to cooking procedures.
The third and final course Jones has suggested, called Kitchen Skills, is designed to “introduce students to foods not readily available or used locally to encourage students to learn the terms and fundamental foods and recipes that are necessary to produce quality stocks, soups, sauces, pastas and grain dishes.” There will also be emphasis on safe food, equipment handling and supportive group work in a lab she said.
Although the Board acknowledged that there is a need to add all of the four new classes, they will have to seek the final approval from the Ministry which is required to offer anything outside the standard Ministry Authorized Curriculum.
