Parents and students reacted almost instantly last week following a letter sent out by Bowen Island Community School (BICS) principal Scott Slater stating that this year would be the last for the Outside 45 program offered to grades six and seven students.
In his letter, Slater stated that the program has enriched the school over the past five years “but has also been challenging and a new direction is needed.”
The program aimed to provide experiential learning, with students spending time in the classroom and on field trips, often with an outdoor and environmental focus. It was created in part by Slater as a part of his masters in ecological education, but other teachers, including former principal Jennifer Pardee and current vice principal Laura Magrath, participated in its creation. During it’s first year (2012/13) 24 students participated in the program, but the second year it expanded to two classes of 28 students to satisfy demand.
“Our goal has always been to ensure that the program catered to a diverse group of students, and students who would benefit from a change in their programming,” says Slater.
Kieran Maryk participated in the program during its first two years and says he was stunned to hear that the program would be cancelled.
“I just couldn’t imagine why they would do that. Everyone who participated just totally loved it. There were so many things we did that we would have never been able to do in a regular classroom,” says Maryk. “For me, the hike up Garibaldi really stood out. That, and the way we bonded with our teachers and the closeness of the whole group were really amazing.”
Maryk says his brother Jeremiah is in the program now, but he is disappointed for his youngest brother who won’t get that opportunity.
While many parents of grade five students expressed a similar kind of disappointment, others expressed relief. One mother on Facebook mentioned that now that the program is cancelled, she wouldn’t have to tell her child the family did not have enough money to participate.
Dionne Finch says that even though her oldest son participated in Outside 45 and had an amazing two years in the program, and even though her second son also wants to participate, she’s okay with the decision to end it.
“I hated the application and interview process. It was far too stressful for a ten year-old,” she says. “Oscar completely blanked during the interview, and we had to take a break. They asked all these questions about why he wanted to participate and he just blurted out the truth, which was that he wanted to be with his friends. There is really nothing wrong with that, I think it’s what most ten year-olds want.”
Finch says she has spent the past year trying to dissuade her younger son from applying to Outside 45, but he has been determined to go so that he can be with his friends and because his older brother was a part of the program.
“Lewis is a really different kid, so I was worried about him not getting in,” says Finch. “I’ve heard people say that you shouldn’t shelter your kids from this kind of disappointment. It’s true, that as adults we face disappointment all the time, you might not get the job you want - but when you face that you are emotionally developed. The kids applying for this program are 10 years old. Also, if they don’t get in you can’t tell them it’s not personal because it is - anything you would say to your child to comfort him would be fake.”
Neither of Laura Higgins’ kids participated in the Outside 45 program, with the second child opting out by choice. Over the years, she has made regular posts on social media stating her opinions on the program.
“People say, you’re just upset because your kid didn’t get in, but for me it was what I saw even after my son left the school that made me upset,” says Higgins. “Not getting into this program is not the equivalent of not making a team, its more like telling a kid they are not accepted into society. School is their life, and the principal is like their prime minister. I don’t think you can call it an academy when the majority are in it and the few that are not are considered left-overs or unqualified, that’s elitism, and when you have to pay and qualify to have equal opportunity, I think you call that a two tier system.”
Amy Pennington, now in grade 9, chose not to be a part of Outside 45 while she was at BICS doesn’t see a problem with the system.
“I just didn’t want to spend my time climbing mountains,” she says. “In grade six, we had really the nicest teacher. In grade seven, our teacher was really passionate about the outdoors so we spent a lot of time outside and had a lot of fun, our class really bonded. We definitely didn’t feel left out.”
Principal Slater says that at an information meeting on January 17 for families of BICS students, he will discuss the highlights and challenges of the Outside 45 program. Slater adds that he will be looking for feedback from current grades 6 and 7 families as well as families whose children will be in grades 6 and 7 within two years’ time.
