Mineral Resource Education Program of British Columbia
CIMF has supported Mineral Resources Education Program of B.C. (MREPBC) since 2000. The MREPBC is a charitable, grassroots, teacher-industry partnership program that was created in 1991 to help teachers, students and the minerals industry in British Columbia. Teacher written, delivered and driven, MREPBC is dedicated to promoting and encouraging teachers to teach about, and young people to learn about, geosciences, mineral resources and mining in school. Its goals are to foster a well-informed public through school education based on accurate and balanced minerals information, as well as to stimulate young peoples' interest in minerals industry careers.
MREPBC’s annual outreach for teachers and student teachers includes providing instructional workshops and comprehensive teaching kits, professional development geology field trips and mine site visits, as well as special programs at industry conferences. For students, MREPBC provides subsidies for field trips and in-class workshops, special hands-on programs at Mineral Exploration Roundup, and learning activities at the annual BC Mining Week Community Fair. MREPBC also hosts an educational Web site for teachers and students (www.bcminerals.ca), distributes a teachers’ newsletter twice a year, takes part in local career fairs, and helps secure work experience placements in industry for high school students. To date, MREPBC has assisted more than 7,500 educators who, in turn, have taught an estimated 650,000+ students.