The Community Learning Campus has announced Jackie Taylor as its new director.
Taylor grew up in Olds, and graduated from Olds Junior-Senior High School before working for both Chinook's Edge and Wolf Creek school divisions.
"It definitely feels like a special role to be gifted with. There are great responsibilities with it too, to give back to both organizations and our community," Taylor said.
She replaces Barb Mulholland, who became the new dean of agribusiness, land and fashion at Olds College.
Most recently, Taylor held the position of Chinook's Edge division principal, focusing on the areas of instructional leadership, educational planning, high school redesign, career connections and post-secondary transitioning.
Taylor's priority will be to prepare students for life after high school, carrying on with creating dual-credit opportunities with post-secondary institutions, including Olds College, Red Deer College, Norquest College and Lakeland College.
"We feel like it gives (students) that chance to get a start on their career path. They can either get that early start or start to understand areas of interest that they have," she said.
In a statement, CLC governance team co-chairs Lissa Steele and Jason Dewling touted Taylor as a candidate.
“In hiring a new CLC director, we were looking for someone who would treasure and steward this gift. We saw these attributes in Jackie, and we know she will contribute with passion and excellence,” Dewling said.
Reflecting on her own high school experience, Taylor thinks she would have had a better understanding of her career choices if the CLC and its dual-credit courses were available.
"I think our past high school experience was about completing just the courses and then deciding where we're headed," she said.
"I think today's high school is more about students exploring earlier who they are, interest areas, passion areas and helping them start having experiences with those, so they're more confident in their choices as they head out into the world after Grade 12."
"We feel like it gives (students) that chance to get a start on their career path. They can either get that early start or start to understand areas of interest that they have,"JACKIE TAYLORCOMMUNITY LEARNING CAMPUS DIRECTOR
