Central Okanagan students are choosing new careers in forestry

Jayden Shkrabuik and Nova Kidder, like many high school students, don’t always find spending a day in class the best incentive to learn.

But Central Okanagan Public Schools offers alternative learning options that go beyond sitting in a chair behind a desk.

One such learning program is the school forestry program offered at Rutland Senior Secondary under the instructional leadership of teacher Marshall Corbett.

Shkrabuik and Kidder, both enrolled in the RSS forestry program, appeared before the Okanagan Board of Education meeting last Wednesday (April 24) to illustrate how their participation in the program has forged new career paths they never before envisioned.

Both spoke about the joy of learning that comes from being outdoors four days a week and the life lessons they are exposed to when learning about trees.

“Spending time outdoors and not being stuck in a classroom” was a common refrain from both students, as was seeing the potential for career opportunities they likely would not have otherwise realized.

Corbett, who joined his two students before the board of education, said the forestry program allows students to build life skills while learning about different forestry skills that can lead to related careers.

The forestry curriculum, a dual credit program, is based on certified arborist training, but can also lead to various jobs in the forestry industry.

The hands-on skill learning includes cutting log cuts, tree removal, timber crossing, tree planting and pruning, log removal, tree falling and using a chainsaw.

Corbett said students enroll in the second semester of Grade 11 and move on to the fall semester of Grade 12.

He said the program has been in existence at the school for 34 years, but maintains a continuity for today’s students, who can see the seedlings planted years ago by those who were in the program before them, and follow their growth cycle to achieve a day to become mature trees.

Local forestry companies such as Gorman Bros. and Tolko have also been partners in the program, providing logbooks to help students develop their chainsaw and equipment maintenance skills at the RSS Timber Complex, a well-known spot for school visitors in the southeast corner of RSS.

Students who share their knowledge with their younger peers have also proven successful. The most recent example was on April 11, when Grade 3 students at École Glenmore Elementary had the opportunity to plant trees with the help of the forestry students.

The tree planting took place in an area burned by the McDougall Creek wildfire last summer, five miles away on the Blue Grouse Forest Service Road.

The 3rd grade class received a safety presentation, learned why they planted the trees and how to do it, and used the field study to involve other aspects of math, science and social-emotional learning.

Kevin Kaardal, superintendent/CEO of Central Okanagan Public Schools, said Corbett’s forestry programs and dedicated instructional efforts are the embodiment of how the nature-based learning concept can be defined in the school district.

“What you do in promoting learning about our environment, planting (seedlings)…you live it out there,” Kaardal said.

“You illustrate how nature-oriented learning is more than just a course in the curriculum.”

He also noted that tree planting in particular is hard and arduous work, involving planting seedlings on unevenly harvested grounds.

“It’s not easy work,” he said.

READ MORE: RSS offers a careers course in forestry

READ MORE: ‘Rising from the ashes’: Planting trees in the Central Okanagan