| ET9 Stewardship Project |
|
ET9 (Exploring Technology for Grade Nine Students) is a program that was developed by Gordon McMurtry. Mr. McMurtry believed that first year students should have to take a course that would expose them to all the different programs a comprehensive has to offer. Once the students finish grade 9, they have a good idea of what courses interest them so they can better select appropriate classes for themselves when they are filling out their grade 10 class schedules.
The section I was given only had two requirements, and introduction to photography and a stint in the woodshop where students will build a CD crate. The other twenty days in my section were left to my own discretion. I instituted a section on graphic arts through Adobe Photoshop, construction of concrete stepping stones, and problem solving group activities such as spaghetti bridges and toothpick towers.
In my last ET9 section of my final semester teaching at the comprehensive, I decided to take on a larger more visible project. We began landscaping the area of the school in front of the main entrance doors. The area had become an eyesore as time had taken its toll on the area and the rock garden had started to slump onto the sidewalk. I contacted the cities rail yard and had them donated 20 railway ties which Mr. Palmer, Daryl, and I picked up before school one morning in Mr. Wrights old beat up pickup truck. The students started by moving gravel off of the lower area of the garden and washing the rocks. We then cut ties with Swede saws, drilled pilot holes, leveled the land with shovels, placed landscaping fabric down, then backfilled with rocks.
 |
| A before and after picture of the work area |
The project required continual communication between the different work crews that were formed fresh every morning (first to class have first pick of tasks...no one was ever remotely late). The students received an education in landscaping and construction techniques. They learnt what it is like to work on a large, busy project site. But the most important lesson was the understanding huge tasks can be completed with ease when we learn to work together. I should also mention, it also got us outside for some much needed fresh air and sunshine at the end of a very productive school year.
Click on the photo to see a collage of the class at work