At a recent board meeting, Medicine Hat Public School Division trustees heard about new partnerships that will offer more work experience and dual-credit opportunities for Hat students.--HANDOUT PHOTO
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Medicine Hat Public School Board trustees received a presentation on the division’s several dual credit and work experience opportunities that can open post-secondary education and career opportunities during its public meeting Jan. 28.
Corey Sadlemyer, associate superintendent of learning, spoke about career opportunities available to students, highlighting a dual-credit scholarship program that offers a significant amount of funding for students interested in attended the Vet Tech Assistant program at Olds College, or the Health Care Aide and Introduction to Trades programs at Medicine Hat College.
The program can offer tuition funding of up to $84,000 for the above mentioned post-secondary pathways for students starting in Grade 10.
Sadlemyer also spoke about a new partnership called Prairie Sky Collegiate between MHPSD, Grasslands, Lethbridge Polytechnic and other regional supporters that will offer more career pathways for students interested in learning trades, health-care aide and criminal justice, and will target students from Grade 7-9.
Another collaboration in being implemented to allow younger students to explore various career options. Methanex has sponsored the “Try a Trade” program for Grade 4-9. Summer transition programming for Grade 9 and 10 students is also being planned and will include a course on resume and cover-letter development, and a health and safety course required to participate in work-experience programs.
Sadlemyer says the division’s work-experience courses – 15, 25 and 35 – are shifting from a credit-driven learning to pathway-driven learning. A significant increase in career internship placements has occurred, up from 15 in 2022-23 to approximately 80 the following year.
Public school division to enhance psychological health for educators
The Medicine Hat Public School Division will work with a third-party contractor to facilitate upcoming focus groups as it aims to improve staff concerns around communication, support staff inclusion and teacher workload.
The decision was made by trustees after reviewing the results of a survey on Psychological Health & Safety that was administered by Guarding Minds at Work, and received 363 respondents from the MHPSD workforce, or 42 per cent.
The survey looks into employee perceptions of workplace psychological safety, identifying both the strengths and the weaknesses within the division.
Following a presentation by Sarah Scahill, health and wellness manager, MHPSD’s steering committee selected the main areas of concern to focus on, such as work-life balance, psychological competencies and demands, recognition and rewards and organization culture.
Key highlights in the presentation include: 93.1 per cent experiencing burnout in their roles, and 73.6 per cent feeling as if they have limited input into changes and aren’t receiving clear communication or reasoning behind organizational change.
The division is performing well in areas such as physical protection, psychological protection and engagement, with 87.1 per cent reporting a workplace free from harassment and discrimination, and 76 per cent stating they have what is physically needed for job safety.
In June 2024, an executive summary was published and shared with staff to provide insights on policy and decision-making to sustain a healthy and safe work environment, and included a breakdown on how the division compares nationwide.
MHPSD held three feedback sessions with staff in November, and says a third-party contractor will facilitate future focus groups to gather staff input and address communication gaps in the system. The plan is to have this completed by April.
Feedback sessions suggested employees feel more comfortable approaching direct supervisors than administrative staff for support, and some employees do not feel comfortable voicing concerns or opinions at all.
Staff attending these sessions also reported most schools are encouraging team-building and have employed wellness-focused initiatives. The sessions also suggest staff morale is being affected by online negativity toward the teaching profession, and discussion occurred about proactively counteracting biased through celebrating school success and sharing more positive messages.
