Success Stories
The
Battle of the Restigouche
SchoolNet
Digital Collections Program Opens Doors for New Brunswick Students
![Link to The Battle of the Restigouche](../../images/restigou.gif)
With youth unemployment
running at around 40 per cent in northern New Brunswick, ten Grade 11
students in the Campbellton - Dalhousie area beat the odds recently
and succeeded in translating technology skills into job opportunities
thanks to Industry Canada’s SchoolNet Digital Collections program.
The project was
carried out under contract to Industry Canada’s SchoolNet Digital Collections
program, which gives people 15 to 30 years of age entrepreneurial and
technology-based job experience converting collections of Canadian material
into digital form for display on SchoolNet. The SchoolNet Digital Collections
web site has grown to become possibly the largest single source of Canadian
content on the Information Highway.
The students chose a subject
close to home. The Battle of the Restigouche in June 1760 that ended
the Seven Years War between the British and the French along with their
MicMac allies. The students all reside near the actual battle site.
Their SchoolNet Digital Collections project involved converting information
from a Parks Canada book collection into digital form and launching
it on the Internet. The web site describes the battle and its participants
in detail and comes complete with dramatic background music. The recent
excavation of one of the French battleships that sank in the Restigouche
River is also described.
Gilbert Cyr, coordinator
of New Brunswick’s School to Work Transition program in school district
14, says "the student team that built the web site is part of the
Multimedia Mentorship program (a three-year initiative funded by Human
Resources Development Canada). This program provided the students with
computers in their homes, rigorous training in technology and on-line
links to employer mentors. The SchoolNet Digital Collections
contract has given these students an added advantage", he said.
"They were able to develop some specific, job-related skills and
experience".
According to Cyr, the students
got some hands-on experience in how business actually works. They were
part of the process from the beginning. They learned how to put a web
site together, and how to work to exacting standards. They already knew
something about the software, but this was a first chance for them to
apply their knowledge to a real-life situation.
Cyr noted that some of the
more important lessons the students learned included how to be a team
player, leadership skills and how to cooperate with others. "These
students come from two separate ethnic and geographic districts, and
here that means a lot. They learned how to work together and how to
solve problems together", he said. "The interpersonal skills
they developed will help them in any job. I’ve never experienced a project
like this one for bringing out so many different skills at once".
Several of the project’s
team members have landed jobs related to their experience. Two young
native men developed web sites on this year’s Pow Wow for their community.
One young woman is now creating brochures for her school district on
her computer. Another has a contract with the local port authority to
develop a letterhead. "These students would not have been offered
these jobs were it not for their experience with SchoolNet Digital Collections,"
said Cyr.
Team members Brandon Mitchell
and Matt Metallic are enthusiastic about their experience on the contract
. "We’ve been able to develop several job opportunities as a result
of our work with Digital Collections. We’re hoping to set up a web site
for the new school on our reserve. Also, we plan to develop a site for
a friend who’s starting a business," said Mitchell.
Matt Metallic plans to continue
studying computer programming at the post-secondary level. "This
project was significant for me because it was my first real job,"
he said. "In addition to our web site work, Brandon and I plan to
set up a business producing CDs. This project gave us lots of ideas
and opened doors for us".
Other team members were James
Bernard, Sarah Peacock, Kate Doucet, Sara Hickey, Renee Arpin, Heather
Kelly, Justin Traer, and Lynn Roy. The instructor was Deborah Riordon.
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