Welcome to C School!         

C-School 101

This year the C-School program has been up and running again! C-School is a Northern Lights School Division program run at the Centennial Center for grades 3 to 7 and sponsored by Cenovus, Imperial Oil, Northern Lights School Division, the Bonnyville Pontiacs and the Centennial Center.

C-School presents students in the Bonnyville area with the exciting opportunity of using the Centennial Center to compliment and enhance their educational experiences.  C-School is unique because it’s based on the idea of experiential learning, or “hands on” learning, which is a method that many students can learn easily and can feel success from.  C-School gives students and teachers the opportunity to learn curriculum in a fun and exciting way that isn’t available to them in a classroom. There is a focus on science and math, and all lessons are curriculum based and match the particular grade that is attending C-School for that four day week. 

This year the program is in operation for twenty weeks, starting November 1, 2011, and running until April 13, 2012.  There is a wide range of students attending from various schools in the area, including: Duclos, Ardmore, Glendon, Notre Dame Elementary, Ecole Des Beaux-Lacs, Art Smith Aviation Academy, the Bonnyville Home School Group, as well as North Star Elementary.

During a typical week students will: race the track, which includes estimating, timing with a stopwatch, collecting and writing data, and also graphing the results in a bar graph.  Students also get the opportunity to use the climbing wall, skate on the Cenovus ice arena with the Bonnyville Junior “A” Pontiacs and interview them afterwards, and also take part in a scavenger hunt of the Centennial Center, which incorporates timing, measuring, answering questions, recording data and team work. 

Each grade has different lessons that fit into their respective curriculums.  The grade seven program includes a lesson called “The Zamboni Crime Scene”, where students investigate a crime and attempt to uncover the culprit.  This falls under the Science unit on Evidence and Investigation and allows students to use their skills learned in the classroom and apply them in a fun and exciting atmosphere.

The grade four program also brings curriculum to life and allows students to experience it “hands on”.  In the “Fur Trading Game”, students get a chance to live the life of a voyageur and trade their furs to the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company.  During this process they learn the importance of teamwork, and also learn how to bargain and barter.  Another authentic experience students get to explore while at C-School is the opportunity to put their baking hats on and prepare bannock, which is experiential learning at its highest. 

There are many other activities that students participate in during their four day adventure at C-School.   If you haven’t done so already, come and try experiential learning out!