A video entry from St. Michael School into the “Follett Challenge” for a chance to win a grant has inspired other classes around the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division, said education director Gwen Keith.
St. Michael’s principal, Dean Loberg, spoke to the Holy Family board of trustees at their monthly meeting on Wednesday, about the entry they made about the school’s Deeper Learning Lab and the 21st century learning they practice and enjoy in the lab.
The Follett Challenge invited video entries that show how 21st century education is making a difference at their school, said Loberg, who was excited when he saw the opportunity come up, and he shared it with staff member Judy Holyer.
“We put together some ideas, and she worked with students and other staff for the video,” he said, and the video was posted on the Follett site for voting. There was a very short window of opportunity for votes of five days, which the school promoted through local media, social media and notes home, and then the site closed.
Loberg said he can’t even view their video on their site any more, and they will not release vote results until March 23, but they are hopeful they might win something.
There will be a number of prizes granted to schools from this competition, with 10 people’s choice winners each getting $5,000, nine semi-finalists who will get $15,000 each, and one overall grand prize winner of $30,000, said Loberg, “so we’re hoping for whatever support we can get.”
“This challenge has had a ripple effect throughout the entire school division,” said Keith, noting as an example when students at St. Augustine School in Wilcox saw the video, “they were really inspired by the leadership shown.”
The video was shown to the trustees, and it showed how the Deeper Learning Lab at St. Michael covers the six global competencies. Those are collaboration, citizenship, critical thinking, creativity, character and communication.
The video showed students working on a variety of projects while a narrator explained the range of equipment and programs that are available for students to use, from a 3-D printer to video equipment, sewing machines and laptops, and programs like extracurricular robotics and the girls STEM club as examples.
One unique project shown briefly in the video was a harness used for figure skating training, and another was a spaghetti fork that twirls the noodles on, said Loberg.
“We’re very proud of how deeper learning is articulated at the school,” said Keith.
Asked what the most creative thing was made on the 3-D printer, Loberg said one project was the pieces for an automatic cat feeder. They had to provide some extra parts, such as a sensor, but everything was made on the printer.
He explained that Holyer has developed a certificate program, where students have to first learn about a piece of equipment and be certified before they will be given full access to use the equipment.
“When they get to Grade 9, they can work on their passion project, where they get to work on things they’re actually passionate about, like a figure skating harness,” he said.
