NEWS PHOTO JEREMY APPEL
Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education chair Dick Mastel, superintendent Dwayne Zarichny, and trustees Kathy Glasgo and Peter Grad at the board's Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 meeting.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
The Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education is looking into the possibility of offering dual credit courses in conjunction with the local college, trustees heard at their Tuesday meeting.
Superintendent Dwayne Zarichny says this will allow MHCBE to expand the range of courses available at Monsignor McCoy High School.
“Students who participate in the dual credit program don’t pay tuition, so there’s zero cost for the students to participate in the program,” Zarichny said, calling it a “tremendous opportunity.”
Some of the course offerings include introduction to aesthetics, health, safety and nutrition, introduction to oil and gas, environmental sustainability, health-care aid and a training course for teaching sign language, among others.
All the courses have been approved by Alberta Education for use at the high school level and will be taught by college instructors and high school teachers, says associate superintendent Chuck Hellman, who has been working with Medicine Hat College to bring the initiative to fruition.
Nutrition program will return for now
Although there was some uncertainty due to the provincial budget not being released until late-October, the government has confirmed it will maintain the nutrition program’s funding from last year.
At the final MHCBE meeting of the 2018-19 school year, trustees agreed the program would be put on hold until its funding could be guaranteed.
Since the budget doesn’t come out until Oct. 24, the precise funds haven’t yet been revealed, although last year’s grant was to the tune of $166,000, up from $141,000 in its inaugural year.
St. Francis Xavier School principal Nick Gale will be co-ordinating the program this year, which in addition to St. Francis Xavier will be offered at St. Michael’s, St. Louis and Mother Teresa schools.
