Not every graduating student wants to go to university.

In the last several years there's been a push to open up the opportunities for the skilled trades and that includes in the Foothills School Division.

Superintendent Chris Fuzessy says they got to show off their plans to the Province's Skilled Trades caucus.

"Several MLAs sit on that caucus and they are looking at reinforcing, highlighting the skilled trades across Alberta and we were invited in July to do a presentation with that group by our local MLA RJ Sigurdson, based on some work that we had done at the school division around an innovation and design framework."

They got to meet with the group the week of March 1 and Fuzessy says they highlighted the continuing evolution of that framework which has now evolved into a career futures framework that will be implemented across the division next year.

"It does have a focus on the skilled trades through the CTF and CTS courses but really is a K-to-12 framework to engage students in the early years around maker spaces and innovation and design and that concept of failing forward," he says. "When creating something more often than not there's an idea that doesn't work and what can you learn from that and implement from that in the next iteration to get to a final product."

He says the proposal seemed to be well received by the caucus.

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