Teachers Go to Entrepreneurship Summer School

Educators are coming from as far as Finland and all across Nova Scotia to a summer school in Halifax that will help them teach entrepreneurship.

Twenty-eight educators are registered to attend the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development's (CEED) seventh annual Summer Institute.

Summer Institute is offered in three streams for educators from elementary, junior high and senior high schools. Sessions focus on the approach, philosophy and implementation of entrepreneurship education.

Sessions will be conducted by CEED facilitators using resource materials they have developed. When educators return to their classrooms in September, they will have a new set of skills and resource materials to help their students develop enterprising skills and characteristics.

This year, Summer Institute became an accredited course in the master of education program at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.

Matt Haliburton teaches Entrepreneurship 12 at Shelburne Regional High School and was named Atlantic Canada's Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year for 2000. He has attended Summer Institute and now acts as an adviser for it.

"The course helped me become a better teacher," he said. "I've applied many of the suggested instructional techniques in my other courses. This week is eventful, fun, and challenging. It will definitely prepare teachers for the rigours of facilitating and teaching the entrepreneurship course."

Nova Scotia's excellent reputation in entrepreneurship education and development is spreading quickly in the international entrepreneurship community. CEED's programs are operating in many countries using resource materials developed by the centre's facilitators in Nova Scotia.

Summer Institute will be held from July 30 to Aug. 3 at the Westin Nova Scotian in Halifax. The registration fee is $300 for Atlantic Canadian educators and $1,000 for educators outside the region. Master of education students register through Mount Saint Vincent University and pay regular tuition fees.

CEED is a joint venture funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Education and the Canada/Nova Scotia COOPERATION Agreement on Economic Diversification. The agreement is managed by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Nova Scotia Economic Development. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency has also provided additional support for Summer Institute.

For more information on Summer Institute or to register, call 1-800-590-8481 or visit www.ceed.ednet.ns.ca/summer/ .