Making a Difference

Specialist High Skills Major secondary school program

"My son has always thought just getting by was okay - that getting 50 per cent was okay. He never had any aspirations for furthering his education. Though we always encouraged him and tried to build his self-confidence, it was not until he was in the Specialist High Skills Major program that changes happened.

"The program has given him something that other school courses could not. It gave him a realization that he could excel at something and love doing it!"

Ursula Russo, Parent of a Specialist High Skills Major Student

Urban and Priority High Schools

The Alternative Education Program (AEP) at W.F. Herman Secondary School in Windsor is giving another opportunity to those students who are struggling in the regular academic stream. Two students from the program provided the following anonymous statements:

(This program) has helped me stay in school and not skip my classes, this course made me want to stay and do my work and get my credit. The motivation the teachers gave me helped a lot and motivated me to behave and not act up. Thanks to them, I’m going to get my two credits.”

“This program saved me; I was screwing up, missing school and failing my current classes…I like this class ‘cause I can work at my own pace and on which subject I want…it’s a stress free environment. I don’t have to worry about keeping up with the class… instead of losing all 4 of my credits this semester; I was able to recover 2 credits through this class…”

Focus on Youth

Christina de la Cruz is having a great summer. She is a summer dance camp counsellor at the Cabbagetown Youth Centre (CYC), an opportunity made available through the Ministry of Education’s Focus on Youth program. She is gaining experience, making money and most importantly, playing a big role in the lives of the local kids she supervises.

Nobody knows better than Christina the value of summer programs for kids, because before she was a counsellor, she was a CYC camp goer. “This is where I learned how to dance,” she said.

Like other youth who have found summer employment at the CYC through Focus on Youth, Christina takes it upon herself to know everyone at the centre and to make it as comfortable and supportive an environment as possible.

“CYC is like a second home to me,” she said. “I have my house, I have my school and I have CYC.”

Focus on Youth has given Christina the opportunity to make summer a meaningful and positive experience for kids in one of Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods. In doing so, she is having a great summer of her own.