The Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) is a ministry-approved specialized program that allows students to focus their learning on a specific economic sector while meeting the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and assists in their transition from secondary school to apprenticeship training, college, university, or the workplace.

A SHSM enables students to gain sector-specific skills and knowledge in the context of engaging, career-related learning environments and helps them focus on graduation and on pursuing their postsecondary goals.

St. Edmund Campion offers a SHSM in Arts and Culture with a focus on Music Entertainment Technology (M.E.T.).  Please review the program requirements and eligible courses outlined below.

FIVE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

1. Students will complete a bundle of eight credits that include:

   • 4 Major Credits (2 grade 11 and 2 grade 12)
   • 1 Grade 12 English credit
   • 1 other grade 11 or 12 credit in Business or Canadian World Studies
   • 2 Cooperative Education Credits
   
   

2. Certifications and Training include:

   • CPR
   • First Aid
   • Fall Protection
   • WHMIS
   • Logic Pro
   • Passport to Safety, and many more
   
   

3. Experiential Learning and Career Exploration

   • Job shadowing and job twinning
   • Touring facilities and work places
   • Volunteering for events
   
   

4. “Reach Ahead” experiences connected with the pathway and can include:

   • Visiting a university and/or college
   • Completing a Dual Credit course at a college
   • Attending sector-specific conferences, trade shows and competitions
   
   

5. Development of essential skills and the use of the Ontario Skills Passport to document the skills that are learned through this program.

• A SHSM allows students to experience a range of customized learning opportunities in an area that interests them, and helps to engage them in their school program.
  
  
• A SHSM program gives students the opportunity to explore, identify, and refine career goals and make informed decisions related to postsecondary education or training and next steps towards a career.
  
  
• A SHSM helps students gain confidence in their ability to succeed, and see the connections between their studies, the world beyond high school, and their future careers.
  
  
• The experiential learning opportunities provided in an SHSM enable students to develop Essential Skills and work habits that are required in the sector, and have their performance of those skills and work habits assessed and documented, using tools connected with the Ontario Skills Passport.
  
  
• Through a SHSM, students begin to establish relationships and networks in their chosen field.
  
  
• Students who have earned a SHSM can provide evidence of their achievement of the required components (e.g., sector-recognized certifications and training programs) to prospective employers and postsecondary educational or training institutions.
  
  

• Successful completion of a SHSM is indicated on the student’s Ontario Secondary School Diploma by a red seal.
  
  
• The student receives a SHSM Record that documents his or her achievement of the required components, including sector-related certifications earned and/or training courses completed.
  
  
• Successful completion of a SHSM is indicated on the student’s Ontario Student Transcript (OST).
  
  

Several of our SHSM students have done some great work at their Co-op placements.

(Above) Aisling Gibson is happy to be working on the upcoming production of Scrooge!. She is helping in the design and construction process of the set and will even help as an assistant Stage Manager while the play is on.

(Above) Zach Guerreiro is working at Yellow Brick Road Music. YBRM and associates has been active in providing music composition, arranging, production, and publishing worldwide since 1978.

(Above) Adam Scott is working at Fatlabs Studio where he has been helping with marketing and editing video and sound clips. Adam also created his own soundtrack for a Muslim documentary.

For additional information, make an appointment with your Guidance Counsellor.