A 17-year-old from Black Diamond was about to quit school last spring, but rather than call it quits, Geoff Wieler is now on a quest to finish his education.
Wieler is one of 28 students enrolled in the Quest program at Oilfields High School in Black Diamond. The Quest program has students working at their own rate, while supporting one another through various life-skills lessons in and out of the classroom.
“I have never done that great in my studies and in a normal classroom, I would clash with the teachers,” Wieler said. “This program is the main reason I came back for my Grade 12 year. I was just going to stay home and work on my electrician certificate.”
Wieler has discovered that working on his own takes discipline.
“I am finding out now that it does take a lot more discipline. I haven’t done as much work as I should have this morning; I’m learning that I have to keep pace, ” Wieler said.
Quest is a bit like running a marathon. You have to maintain a pace and there is great satisfaction if you don’t quit.
“I was thinking about quitting at the start of the year, but I have since bought into the program,” Wieler said. “I have no thoughts about quitting now. I am doing better academically than last year.”
Oilfields High School began looking at alternatives for so-called at-risk students approximately three years ago. Quest is an offshoot of the school’s highly successful Outward Bound program, which gives all students the opportunity to learn teamwork and leadership skills through outdoor activities.
Turns out Quest isn’t just for those students who were at-risk of dropping out, according to the school’s vice-principal Cynthia Glaicar.
“To be honest, we couldn’t define what students at risk means,” said Glaicar. “Does it mean kids who might drop out? Kids who had behavioral problems or was it kids who weren’t reaching their full potential because they were under-stimulated? So we designed a program for kids who were interested in taking high school differently.”
The Quest classroom is like any other one across the foothills, you have students with high marks and those struggling to earn their diploma.
“It has turned into quite a mixed group of students, which is nice,” Glaicar said.
However, things do look a bit different. There are two teachers in the classroom, Jeff Ovens who teaches math and science and language arts and social studies teacher Mark Fredriksen.
The students and teachers are broken up into groups – cohorts – to work on their respective subjects. Quest isn’t on-line learning, the students are using the same textbooks and curriculum as mainstream students.
The difference is the students in Quest are helping one another in their cohorts.
“Some of the kids who are very academic will step up to the plate and help their classmates,” Glaicar said. “They are becoming leaders. They might not have had the confidence to do that in the past.”
That teamwork comes into play — and work – every Tuesday.
“The teacher and the kids are going out every Tuesday and they are experiencing physical and teamwork challenges. They are growing together and that is solidifying that relationship,” Glaicar said.
“I like it because it has brought us closer together,” said Grade 10 student Bailey Merkley.
Grade 10 student Branden Powell is a member of Quest. The only risk he faces academically is trying to avoid paper cuts when filling out applications to university.
“I chose Quest because I seem to excel at the math and science,” Powell said. “I had completed my Math 10 and Science 10 course before this school year and that messed up my timetable, and this seemed like an easy way to fix that. I am also good at pacing myself and taking responsibility for my work.”
He not only helps his fellow Quest-mates with math, he sometimes receives help from others.
“I do excellent in math and science, but I have trouble with social studies and English,” he said. “This Quest is definitely a team thing. The teachers are definitely leading it but the students are taking ownership.
“When they see someone falling behind, it’s like: ‘Come on catch up because you have to get this done.’
“There’s not really an option to not finish your high school work.”
However, the learning doesn’t start with reading, writing and arithmetic. It starts with some character building and life skills lessons.
“We have something called CREW where we focus on character habits and then the kids go to their academic blocks,” explained Fredriksen.
Those life lessons have allowed one Grade 11 student to continue his educational journey.
Cohan Clarke admitted he would have quit school if not for Quest.
He said he now feels part of something in which people care about him.
“I bombed Grade 11 and I got sent to Black Diamond (from Oshawa) to live with my grandparents,” Clarke said. “I’m actually attending school now, which is awesome... Quest has made me like school. The focus is on more than school. It’s about life skills.”
He is also passing.
“It’s feels good,” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”
