Green Certificate Program

I would like to take this opportunity to make you aware of an amazing program available to Grade 10 – 12 students called the Green Certificate Program.  This is an agricultural based program where students get to choose an area of study in one of the following programs:

This program is offered through the Northern BC Distance Education School at the Key Learning Centre in partnership with the Fairview College (although any college in Alberta can offer testing services for Green Cert students).

This program appeals to students interested in most any area of agriculture because it values and recognizes, through academic credits, the knowledge and skills they possess or are in the process of developing through their home or other farming experiences. The program is primarily hands-on learning with few pencil/paper assignments because students work with their trainer (often their parent) to cover the program content to earn credit for three Grade 12 courses. The 12 credits gained, count toward the electives on their graduation transcript.  Also of great appeal is that students complete the program at their own pace at home, rather than following a pre-set classroom schedule.

So how does this all work?

Once a student has a trainer and has signed up at the Key Learning Centre, the Fairview College representative holds an induction meeting to outline the program.  After the student completes a few short online safety assignments, he/she will receive the program manual, and can develop a plan with his/her trainer to learn/experience all the content.  When the student knows the content, he/she is ready to attend an oral testing session at the Fairview College.  Since the student gets credit for three courses, there are three oral tests to be completed at any of the four offered testing sessions throughout the year.  When all requirements have been met, students will receive a mark on their report card for each of the three courses.

I have found that students who are very involved in their family’s agricultural operation, often bring extensive knowledge to the program, reducing the amount of new content to be learned.  Students are telling me, that when they do have new content to learn, they find that it is relevant and have enjoyed learning about industry standards.  Furthermore, students are earning excellent marks on their graduation transcripts.

While our school offers most of the same core courses as at North Peace Secondary School, we also offer amazing electives that are not available at the high school.  One in particular is the Veterinary Science course that gets great reviews from our students.  In the event that you are looking for courses outside of the agricultural field, we also have many interesting electives such as Photography, Early Childhood Education, Culinary Arts, Forensic Science, Psychology, Sociology, Cosmetology, Music Appreciation, and many many more.  Just tell us what you are interested in, and we may be able to offer a course of interest.

Please find more information about the Green Certificate Program in the attached flyer or contact me directly.  If you would like information about any of our other courses or programs, please call 250-261-5660 or email:  info@keylearning.ca.