York/Seneca Summer Science and Technology Program (YSSSTP)
Beginning as an initiative between Westview Centennial Secondary School, and York University in 1992, this program has grown over the years to become the York/Seneca Summer Science and Technology Project, which includes four local area high schools in two school boards. In 2008, 12 students came together for a five week intensive Co-operative Education experience, coordinated by Rachel Kennedy, a graduate student in the York University Graduate Programme in Education. Faculty and staff at York and Seneca mentored the students, and shared time, talent and expertise. In addition to acquiring new knowledge and skills, students also learned about the world of work through a series of “in-class” sessions leading to the successful completion of a co-operative education credit.
To begin, students participated in a three-day orientation session. The sessions focused on building a cohesive and dedicated community of learners. Students also worked on teambuilding, created resumes and cover letters, practiced interviewing skills and participated in a workshop on assertiveness training and interpersonal skills for use in the workplace. Over the subsequent five-week period, students worked in a wide range of science and technology placements that focused on areas such as chemistry, web page development, physics, astronomy, and computer systems.
Weekly journal assignments, in-class discussions, reflections, presentations and co-operative learning activities provided students with the opportunity to reflect on and synthesize their learning. Not only did students gain proficiency in technical skills related to their work placement, they also improved their communication, interpersonal, initiative, and problem solving skills. Each weekly session focused on strands from the Co-operative Education Curriculum and included such topics as: communication skills and Assertiveness Training, workplace safety, and WHMIS training.
Some of the highlights of the in-class sessions included the students’ presentations about careers of interest to them. PowerPoint presentations reflected students’ commitment to higher learning and a high level of communication and presentation skills. This year also saw the evolution of the Legacy project: a series of culminating tasks designed to have students reflect on their experiences and to provide information to future students, supervisors and potential sponsors. Teams created a web page, a promotional video, and a digital yearbook of the program. All three projects were designed to give the students additional technology based skills to include in their resumes while also promoting the YSSSTP to future participants, supervisors and sponsors. The projects were an unparalleled success.