Three new board approved courses are being included in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith curriculum for some students beginning in September, including financial literacy and Indigenous Connections. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

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Financial literacy, forensics & Indigenous connections courses coming to Nanaimo-Ladysmith schools

Jun 7, 2024 | 4:14 PM

NANAIMO — Three new, locally developed and teacher-driven courses have been approved for the upcoming school year.

Financial Literacy 12, Forensic Science 11 Immersion and Indigenous Cultural Connections 10-12 will be available to some students beginning in September 2024, with the goal of widening the scope of all three programs in the years ahead.

Don Balcombe, assistant superintendent of secondary programs, told NanaimoNewsNOW each course was developed and pitched by teachers keen to add to the provincially-mandated curriculum, with financial literacy top of the list.

“Often students will graduate and come back to their high school to visit and say ‘geez, I wish I knew more about this or more about that’. It’s how to understand their personal financial responsibilities, setting financial goals, just all of those things that adults are have to deal with as someone who’s out there adulting.”

The program was developed by Ladysmith Secondary teacher Tracey Teneycke and will be offered to Ladysmith students immediately.

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Budgeting, saving and investing as well as understanding banking and credit are all topics set to be covered in a more structured way than currently offered through other programs.

Balcombe said these additional courses, dubbed Board/Autority Authorized (BAA) courses, typically then spread to other schools as teachers review the materials made available through the District’s network.

He expects after spending a school year at Ladysmith Secondary, the program will get implemented at other secondary schools in the District.

“They always start with one teacher that’s interested then from there usually they spread to other schools. We’ve had other courses, West Coast Wilderness as an example, that originated at one school and then other teachers have picked up the course in other schools and now it’s offered at multiple schools.”

Forensic Science 11 Immersion will be offered at NDSS beginning in September, with Eric Cizeron developing the materials for his French immersion students.

They’ll cover scientific methods for collecting physical evidence, deductive reasoning, DNA testing and more.”

“The forensic science 11 immersion course is one that is going to be super exciting for those immersion students to engage in allow them to continue with their language acquisition. but in a very exciting scientific field,” Balcombe said.

Like the financial literacy course, materials will be made available to other teachers in the District with the possibility of it growing from there.

Pre-interest from a group of students at a school is key for implementation of BAA courses, Balcombe said.

The third course set to debut next school year, also at NDSS, focuses on Indigenous Cultural Connections.

It was developed in partnership with NDSS teacher Emily Magyar and vice-principal Elena Kemp, as well as work with Snuneymuxw, Snaw-naw-as, Stz’uminus First Nation and Mid-Island Metis.

Coursework will include teachings that Indigenous students receive in their own cultural communities, improving connection to land, language, community and self.

“We have lots of our students who have engaged in hundreds and hundreds of hours of traditional teachings in knowledge and cultural acquisition so it’s a matter of finding those students to see whether they want to formalize that through this BAA course.”

Students taking the course will work closely and learn the teachings from the First Nation territory they are studying in.

Each of the three new BAA courses offer graduation credits and were supported unanimously by the District’s education committee on Wednesday, June 5.

They’re set to be formally adopted for inclusion into the local curriculum at the SD68 Board meeting later this month.

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