“We got no food, we got no jobs. . . our PETS’ HEADS ARE
FALLNG OFF.”
In the 1994 hit movie, “Dumb and Dumber,” Lloyd Christmas
and Harry Dunne have fallen on hard times.
Upon finding their pet bird, Pettie, decapitated in its cage, Lloyd
delivers an emotional plea to his loyal friend to join him on a journey across
the continental USA to escape the miserable state of their affairs, and to return
a forgotten briefcase to Mary Swanson.
Lloyd paints a picture of the Promised Land: “I’m talking
about a place called Aspen“ he tells Harry.
 |
| Lloyd and Harry decide to go to Aspen |
Everything will be better in Aspen.
For the past six months I have been painting a picture of a program
called Aspen.
I received notice in March of 2014 that Unity Christian was going
to be a part of the first wave of schools on the new student records program
called Aspen. The Ministry of Education is systematically phasing out its
previous program called BCESIS; all schools in BC will be using Aspen by 2016.
When I first heard that the program is called Aspen I
couldn’t stop referencing the scene from Dumb and Dumber. I would catch myself describing the program
to teachers at a staff meeting and concluding with, ““I’m talking about a program called Aspen“
Thankfully, like Harry, the staff jumped on the bus (not a Shaggy Dog van) and
embraced the journey.
The switch from BCESIS to Aspen has been a significant
change for office staff and teachers. It
has vastly impacted the way in which we register and enroll students, create
timetables, complete attendance, and track student learning progress. The office staff went to a workshop in the
summer and continues to take part in online learning sessions. Teachers have
taken part in numerous online workshops, and have had tutorials to learn the
attendance and grade book functions. Teachers
will be updating their marks and assignments minimally every three weeks.
The rationale for switching from BCESIS to Aspen as part of
the first wave was to make use of the online reporting function. Effective Christian education involves a
strong partnership between the school and the home. You have probably heard the phrase that
education involves the home, church, and school; schools alone cannot address
all the development needs of a child. Our staff handbook highlights our schools
value on partnering with parents:
Unity
Christian highly values the parent-school relationship. Teachers are expected
and encouraged to take the initiative in communicating with parents. Our goal is to work together with parent to
best serve our students. Appropriate and
timely communication with parents is critical.
The central role of the parent in the education of their
child requires that we make use of all possible tools to communicate with the
home. The online reporting functions of
Aspen are a welcome addition to our communication toolbox. Although it has taken much longer than
anticipated, the parent portals are currently open and operational. The portal gives parents the ability to
track their child’s attendance and learning progress. Beyond seeing the up-to-date course mark,
parents are able to see each individual assignment and keep track of incomplete
and poorly done work. The objective of
the parent portal is meant to strengthen the partnership between the home and
school to the benefit of student learning.
There will be a time in near future when students will be
given their own portal. It is
interesting to note that students were extremely excited about the parent
portal. They want to know the status of
their learning progress.
All of this change is thanks to a short conversation in my
office with Mike Campbell on November 23, 2013:
Matt Van Muyen - “That’s
it. I’ve had it with BCESIS. Why are we using it? “
Mike Campbell:
“Ok. Calm down. What else can we use?”
Matt Van Muyen: “I’ll
tell you. A program with colour. A program that doesn’t lock you out for 90
minutes. A program with an online
portal.”
“I’m talking about a little program called A –S – P – E – N”
Mike Campbell:
“Ok Matt. Aspen it is.”
[Tears of Joy were shed]
Blessings
