By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

career pathways

Central Alberta school divisions and post-secondaries form collegiate institute

Apr 29, 2023 | 4:01 PM

Several school divisions and regional post-secondaries have come together to form the Central Alberta Collegiate Institute (CACI), a programming model focused on career pathways.

Partners include Chinook’s Edge, Red Deer Public, Red Deer Catholic and Wolf Creek school divisions, along with Red Deer Polytechnic, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, and CAREERS: The Next Generation, with plans to involve additional central Alberta school divisions.

“This is a collaborative partnership of school divisions and post-secondaries, which has been forging strong links between high school students and their career connections for over a decade,” said Kurt Sacher, Superintendent, Chinook’s Edge School Division.

“Our history of success with career programming shows that when high school students have a deeper experience with a career pathway, they are more likely to follow it through to graduation and employment. We begin extensive exploration and training with students long before they reach post-secondary age.”

The initiative is made possible thanks to $8.7 million from Alberta Education.

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“Red Deer Polytechnic is very excited about the opportunities the expanded collegiate model will provide to students in Central Alberta,” comments Dr. Paulette Hanna, Interim Vice President, Academic. “We have a proud history of collaborating with our partners to support high school learners’ needs, providing valuable applied learning opportunities through various programming that prepares students for diverse careers in Alberta’s labour force.”

It’s estimated that this model could impact over 42,000 students in grades 7-12, with Skilled Trades programming beginning as early as this September.

The CACI partnership has a collaborative governance structure that will oversee the funding that will provide collegiate programming to students throughout the region.