Manitoba's school boards have one purpose: to provide our students with the best schools possible.
School boards help students prepare for full and rich futures by providing expanded programming in cultural and life-skills areas such as music, physical education and art.
“But what does physics [or math, or history, or just about any other subject] have to do with the real world?!” It’s the rare parent or teacher who won't have heard that refrain from some disenchanted teenager, but thanks to the Connections Project, it may be a thing of the past in The Turtle Mountain School Division.
The Connections Project had its beginnings in 1995, at Boissevain School. It grew out of staff level discussions about ways in which schools could be made more relevant and meaningful for students. These internal discussions developed into a review of how other schools, both in Manitoba and elsewhere, were attempting to connect the curriculum to jobs and the community.
The Connections Project runs on a two-year cycle. High school students select a topic that interests them personally, and then develop a project that both relates to that topic and touches on multiple school disciplines. Connections culminates in a fair that is attended by hundreds of parents, family and community members, at which students showcase their projects. Students are so excited about Connections that they have been known to start their projects a year or more in advance, and their enthusiasm and pride is reflected in the high calibre of the work they produce.
To learn more about the Connections Project in The Turtle Mountain School Division, contact Shawn Kleebaum at 204.534.2494, or via e-mail at skleebaum@tmsd.mb.ca.