The staff of Elwood Regional High wishes to extend a special welcome to the Level I's and any new students in Level II and III who will be attending our school in September 2000. This booklet contains valuable information about our school and especially about our program offerings and graduation requirements. We would hope that students and parents review the information so as to make the best decisions on course choices throughout the next three years.

Elwood High School has been very active in preparing young people for post secondary training, a changing career and labor environment, and life-long learning. During the last eight years our staff, students, and parents have been involved in a School Improvement Program. As a result of these deliberations, preparing students for the work force, the "world of change", and life-long learning is entrenched in our Mission Statement and Belief Statements.

Some of our locally designed programs intended to assist our students in preparation for life after high school include:

Employability Skills Porfolio Programs
Employability skills are those skills which employers identify to enable employees to get and keep jobs. This program helps students to use self-managed portfolios to identify, develop and document their employability skills by organizing and saving samples of their accomplishments.

Technology Education Program
Our school is heavily involved in Computer Technology, offering all the basic computer courses and more advanced computer courses such as Communication Technology and Computer Technology. We also have developed a Flexible Manufacturing System course. This course gives our students an understanding of how computers are linked to robotic equipment and manufacturing machines to efficiently produce quality products that can compete in the world markets. In addition we have a video editing suite, full page color scanner, multimedia presentation equipment and color printers which have enhanced the general technology program and the quality of student work and skill development.

Enterprise Education
At least 90% of our students complete our Enterprise Education course. This gives our students an introduction to the world of business and enterprising attitudes. This course provides the student the opportunity to practise entrepreneurial skills through the operation of student enterprises. This includes learning about what makes a good entrepreneur, self-assessment skills, teamwork skills, idea generation, generating a business plan, contract development, accounting, venture operation, and reflective thinking.

Co-operative Education
Elwood Regional High School has developed a Co-operative Education Program subject-based to Enterprise Education. The Elwood Co-op Program is a work-study program that enables Level III students the opportunity to reinforce the skills, values and dispositions acquired in the Enterprise Education Program through the use of these skills, values and dispositions in an actual work situation. In short, the Co-op Education program utilizes the work place in a manner similar to the physics program utilizing a laboratory. Students in the Co-op Ed. program spend a total of 200 hours in work site learning.

Tourism Program
Elwood High School has developed a local Tourism Course which has become a model for school boards across the province. This course looks at the potential, in the tourism industry, for growth, future employment and entrepreneurial activity. There will be comparisons made between our tourism product and that of the rest of Canada, and the world. Other areas of concentration include individual tourism site analysis, development and promotion of sites, as well as categorization of tourist sites into activity types.

Department of Partnership Education
Elwood High School has formed the province=s first Department of Partnership Education. The mandate of this department is to co-ordinate the Co-operative Education program as well as investigating and promoting mutually beneficial community-school partnerships.

Other areas where Elwood has acquired state-of-the-art technology to assist in the learning process include:

Library and Research
In the last few years Elwood has acquired several CD-ROM computers which make available encyclopedias, atlases, and other electronic books that are searchable by computer. The school has acquired SuperTom Junior, a CD ROM package designed to allow students to access and topic search journals, magazines and newspaper articles using the latest computer technology. We have networked the library to allow access to these programs in other areas of the school as well as allow the library access to the resources in other areas.

Science
The science department has acquired computer interface technology which can be used to gather and analyze scientific information, such as temperature, motion, sound and light. The computers, attached interfaces, and data collection probes have been placed on mobile carts which allows the flexibility of moving these to the necessary lab or classroom. This technology allows students to do experiments more quickly, accurately and efficiently in a more modern setting. As well, laser disk technology is being used to enhance the Biology Program, and other curriculum areas.

Internet
Elwood is presently connected to the Information Highway through its STEM~Net connection. Members of the teaching staff and students utilize this valuable information tool to access the most up-to-date information available. Elwood teachers are able to make professional connections with other educators, allowing us to develop the best teaching methods available.

All students at Elwood are able to access the Internet through the computers in the school. At the beginning of the year the student is given a contract to take home to be signed by both the student and the parent. This contract outlines what the obligations are of each student and what we require as Internet etiquette.

Elwood has developed its own home page on the World Wide Web. The home page profiles all the initiatives and programs available at Elwood.

Career Exploration
Elwood makes the Choices Career Information Program available to all its students. This computer program provides information which can help students make better decisions about possible careers. The Checklist component is a means by which students can, through a series of responses, identify possible career areas. It also gives a brief description of all occupations under each career interest area. The Occupations section can help students find specific information on any of the thousands of occupations in the program, compare it with other occupations, or find related occupations. The Education component helps students explore and gather information on hundreds of colleges and universities and program admission requirements. It gives students an opportunity to compare options and make better decisions.

Computers across the Curriculum
The ability to use the computer as a learning tool and access information technology is a necessary skill for today's young people. As well, computers and computer programs can be powerful educational tools in and of themselves. Elwood has continually encouraged its staff to avail, when possible, of the appropriate computer technology to augment and enhance educational experiences.