[1]Adventure Class students Weston and Hunter Mayer are children of Mother Keelin Mayer. She and other parents are excited to sit down for a conversation about the program with Director of Education Katherine MacIver on Monday. Photo courtesy of Keelin Mayer via Facebook. [2]
By Jessica Schmidt [3]
BELLEVILLE – Parents fighting to save a unique experiential learning program offered by the public school board are feeling positive about a meeting scheduled for Monday, says one of its members.
The Adventure Class [4] program is for students in grades 1 to 6 and offers hands-on, experiential learning with mixed-grade classes. The program has been running for almost 37 years out of Queen Victoria Public School [5] in Belleville.
In 2019, the Hastings Prince Edward District School Board [6] decided that the Adventure Class program would be cancelled. Director of Education Katherine MacIver said that after parents and classroom staff advocated for the program, the board called for a review.
To assist with the review of all education programs at the school board, MacIver said their curriculum department worked with Queens University [7] last year to develop a framework allowing it to review all their programs. The Adventure Class program will be the first where this framework is applied.
Keelin Mayer, the mother of two children in the program, said she and other parents are excited and grateful for the upcoming meeting on Monday. which is their first opportunity to discuss the program’s future with MacIver.
Mayer said that she and her son, Weston, also had the opportunity to meet with Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis. to talk about why the Adventure Class program was so important to him.
To be able to have his voice heard was really important to Weston.
The community supports this program, she said.
“I’ve had some conversations with some people that started the program 37 years ago that I’ve never met before, and they’re offering me their time and their knowledge in support of this program staying and thriving. So that kind of community support and that kind of love for a program that they have no connection to any more really is an amazing thing and such a gift.”
But still, many parents whose children are in Adventure Class signed a letter that was sent to the school board trustees. The letter references many concerns the parents have regarding the review process.
Mayer said they are worried about the application of the board’s new program evaluation framework.
“We do not feel that, as it stands right now, the evaluation that we were promised is going to run in an effective way,” Mayer said.
MacIver has faith in the review process.
https://www.qnetnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Adventure-Class-MacIver-Clip.mp3 [8]As part of the review process, parents and community members will have the chance to be heard. MacIver said this is a big part of the review process and will be included with all other data found when she and the senior team at the board make their final decision.
MacIver estimated the review would be done around March of this year.