PSBC tours North Peace Commercial Driving Academy
It was all hands on deck this morning as the Peace River School Division welcomed nearly 60 trustees representing the Public School Boards Association of Alberta's (PSBAA) Public School Boards Council (PSBC) to Central Operations in Grimshaw to learn about the newly opened North Peace Commercial Driving Academy.
Trustees were welcomed into the Board Room, where Superintendent Adam Murray provided a brief overview of the 18-month process the PRSD undertook to create the driving academy in Grimshaw. From the spark of an idea gleaned from conversations with the public, to receiving government approvals to move ahead with our vision of a collegiate school, to developing a training yard, a classroom, and certifying driver trainers, the Peace River School Division remained focused on their goal to provide high quality driver training to the people of the Peace Region, and yet another avenue to set our students up for success when it comes time for them to access the world of employment.
"Whenever you make sense to the community, the community will come together for you," said Murray as he spoke about the ways the Grimshaw and surrounding communities have supported the driving academy through its creation and start up.
During the tour of the driving academy's facilities, Trustees heard the reasons why what looks like a gravel parking lot is actually a sophisticated and professionally engineered training yard. They got to sit in the classroom the PRSD had built specially for the driving academy, and had the opportunity to witness how the air brakes training board will provide our students a hands-on learning experience before they even get into one of our trucks. Finally, Trustees also toured the Division's parts and mechanical shop area where they learned about how we maintain not only our trucks for the Class 1 program, but also our own fleet of busses.
Peace River School Division thanks the PSBC for traveling to and from Grande Prairie today to tour our new facility and providing us an opportunity to share this success.
