Earlier in the month when the 29th Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan held their Debate on the Speech from the Throne, a Saskatchewan Minister praised the local Sun West School Division for their work over the years when it came to distance education, and how it has payed off for them since the start of the pandemic. 

“High school students in Lucky Lake, Dinsmore, and Marengo are taking animation.” shared Minister of Education Dustin Duncan, “High school students are taking animation classes that are offered through the Vancouver Animation School, and their instructors are employees of Disney and Pixar. That’s happening today.”

The Sun West Distance Learning Centre (DLC) is a stand-alone building located in Kenaston that has over 180 courses available. Courses such as animation or other high school electives like agriculture, business, trades, paleontology, forensic science, graphic design, astronomy and mental wellness are on the list, and students can also take part in core requirements through the DLC as well.

The impressive nature of Sun West’s distance learning program, even before the recent shift to a large amount of at-home learning, is one of the main reasons they were mentioned by the Minister. The Sun West website states they were in a strong position to provide online education, and it is mentioned that other school divisions have sought Sun West’s assistance when it comes to utilizing distance learning. 

Again while discussing online education in Saskatchewan, Duncan highlighted his own experiences as a parent over the pandemic, and shared how online learning assisted him.

“We have learned a lot through school shutting down now two academic years ago. I found out at that time I could not be a Kindergarten teacher,” chuckled Duncan and his assembly peers, as he spoke on how the division of responsibilities in his house led to him being the educator, “But we have a number of school divisions that have been offering online school before the pandemic and we have a number that have been offering it since the pandemic began. And I would say it’s been challenging for many and it has been successful for some, and some students have done well.”

That is when Duncan would then mention how the Sun West School Division has been operating distance learning for some time, and praised the fact that their courses can go anywhere from providing the base credits, all the way to endearing a student with new skills such as animation.

Those courses were presented at both the 20 and 30 level, and taught by Sun West DLC teacher Jody Polowick, who has been accredited by the Vancouver Animation School (VANAS) to teach the same content they deliver to their students. When it comes to their work with the pros from Pixar, the students were given access to instructional videos made by the Walt Disney Company property.

Watch Duncan speak, and check out some pictures of the students work in the course below:

One big takeaway from the class is creating an online portfolio to showcase their work when applying to post-secondary institutions, and when seeking jobs in the field.

Several students have already started on the path, including Dinsmore Composite School graduate Tyler Thomson took both the Animation and Graphic Design course through Sun West DLC.

““I was looking for another arts-based course and animation looked interesting,” explains Tyler. “I liked the idea that the course was connected to the VANAS and that the instructors knew what they were talking about.”

Thomson pursued his interests, and that lead to him receiving a diploma in 3D Animation from the Recording Arts Institute of Saskatchewan, where his final project was a collaborative team effort involving thirty people. He was a “rigger” on the project, meaning he added the full range of movement on objects, something that he was already familiar with thanks to his DLC experience.

Thomson’s interest in animation led to another Dinsmore Composite School student enrolling in the course. Grade 10 student Tiegan Wollen will be taking the course next semester.

“Before registering in Animation 20, I talked to Tyler about the course. I am interested in the ways that artists express ideas through animation and Tyler encouraged me to sign up,” Tiegan explains. “I grew up watching animated movies on VHS and was able to connect myself with other people’s stories. I already do some work with graphic arts as a way to express myself and do some commission work. Animation 20 will let me try a different form of art to create stories for others.”

Sun West also shared Linden Berndt and Ashton McIntosh from Lucky Lake School as students who signed up for the course because animation is an important part of the video game industry, something the pair have both always been passionate about.

Connor Warrington is a student at Westcliffe Composite School in Marengo, who wants to use the course in a way that can apply to what he does at home. He believes that animation can be used so people not involved in agriculture can have a better understanding of the important industry.

“I plan on using animation to make sequences and videos to educate people on agriculture. So I can use my two passions, agriculture and animation..., [and] that’s how I am planning on using this skill further into my future plans.”

Sun West is thrilled that the Minister praised their efforts for distance learning. The Sun West DLC has become synonymous with the division’s schools, being one of the best things Sun West has to offer to their students.

“It is gratifying that the Minister has taken note of the great work being done in our schools by our teachers and students,” stated Sun West Director or Education Randy Emmerson in a release.

He is happy to see the uptake and recognition for the mentioned Animation courses, and tabled similar success for many other programs across the board. Emmerson always tries to make sure the way they work means success for all, and the fact they can offer their students around the region programming that is sometimes not even available in larger urban centres is a great piece of evidence.

Content via sunwestsd.ca