St. Stephen school lets students explore 'passions' as electives

A teacher in St. Stephen says a new personal interest learning program is improving student engagement.

The program allows St. Stephen High School students to use two, four or six electives to study a topic of their choice, said Scott Legge, who is also a technology teacher.

The student decides what outcome they're looking for and he, as the teacher, finds out from businesses and post-secondary institutions what could help them on that path, but the students are "crafting their own course." As with other electives, this course is for credit.

Several students have done weightlifting and fitness training, a student last year got his pilot's licence, one is working on a quilt business, another is in fashion design and someone is doing photography.

A couple of students are studying computer coding and are already doing university-level curriculum, Legge said.

Two students are working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on coding programs, "tracking oil spills and stuff like that." Another is organizing and working on video footage from summer research expeditions.

Grade 12 student Emmett Leeson has been studying 3D printing. He said this has made school a lot more interesting for him than it used to be.

"Other than math, there were really no problems that needed to be solved," said Leeson. "It was a lot of the teachers saying things, and then you would just write it down."

"Whereas, the 3D printing, we have people from the community coming to us saying, 'Hey, I need something like this built.'"

Leeson designs it, prints it out and makes adjustments as needed.

A way to get students interested

"I'm way more excited for school," he said. "There's a solid hour when I know I can work on what I love."

The program is "revolutionary," said Legge, and a way to combat student disengagement, which has become more common through the pandemic.

"When you have something you value, things become much easier," he said.

Legge's own passion is music and he has been travelling around the region to festivals and music events to provide opportunities for students from his rural school to learn from professional artists, as well as to practice video production skills.

They film and cover the events for a student television newscast.

"It's about providing opportunities," he said.

"After school it's not so easy to pursue passions. Life has a way of starting sooner than we expect."

Leeson said he's been able to develop skills not many kids his age have and that makes him stand out from the crowd.

He recently took a tour of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design where he was recruited and pre-accepted. That gave him even more motivation to continue his studies, he said.

Started small

Legge said he doesn't know of any other schools in the province doing exactly this, but the program is modelled after a similar one known as an Ideas Centre.

It allows students to use electives to run a business.

He didn't think there would be very many students in his small town interested in running businesses, so he broadened the concept so they could pursue other passions as well.

It started slow with a couple of kids doing robotics, and now he has 20 personal interest students over two periods.