Steering teens on the right track
High schoolers get taste of college campus life in ‘life-changing’ program
At first blush, the plan sounds almost counter-intuitive: Take troubled teens at risk of dropping out of high school, then enroll them instead in a program that immerses them in a post-secondary setting at Durham College. How much do kids who quit high school stand to gain from a more mature academic experience?
Plenty, as it turns out. And a change of environment could help in a big way.
That’s the thinking behind Durham College’s Centre for Success at School-College-Work-Initiative, an immersive “school within a college” program designed to give underachieving secondary school students a taste of the campus lifestyle.
“They walk around here pretty proud, just like they’re college students,” explains Gail MacKenzie, manager of strategic initiatives for Durham College. “They have their student IDs, they go to the gym here, they go to the cafeteria, nobody really knows they’re in high school.”
All the while, they’re studying in a college-level curriculum and working towards getting credits both on their college and high-school transcripts at the same time.
A secondary school instructor teaches high school students the classes they need for their diplomas; instructors at the Oshawa campus lecture on the college courses.
MacKenzie says the main goal of the initiative, which is jointly funded across the province by the ministries of education and training, colleges and universities, is “to reengage” youth with learning opportunities.
“It’s motivation, it’s building selfesteem, and helping them realize, ‘OK, maybe I can do college, too. I’ve just been successful at college, I can do this,’” she says.
If the stats are any indication, the program works.
Last month, Durham College announced an 85 per cent success rate for students enrolled in the dualcredit courses, between September 2012 and January 2013.
Ontario high-school graduation rates currently stand at 83 per cent, but the government wants to raise that to 85 per cent.
MacKenzie believes the program is one way to steer troubled teens towards getting their diplomas while giving them a head start with college.
“It’s pretty phenomenal when you think they’re the highest-risk students in their region, students who could have dropped out,” she says, “and in as little as six months, it turns those kids around.”
Elizabeth Beauparlant, 17, dropped out of high school shortly after her family moved to Bowmanville. At her new Catholic school, she became a target of pervasive bullying.
“I was honestly just done with school. I didn’t want to do anything,” Beauparlant says.
After a guidance councillor flagged her as an “at-risk” student who could benefit from the program, she started attending classes at Durham.
She picked up quickly where she left off, eventually finding herself heading home on the bus to study trigonometry and solve ratios problems. Now she’s also on track to earn a college history credit for a course examining popular music through the ages. “The whole experience here changed my life. If it weren’t for this, I would have probably dropped out,” Beauparlant says. “It’s definitely a nice feeling.”
“The whole experience here changed my life. If it weren’t for this, I would have probably dropped out.” ELIZABETH BEAUPARLANT, 17
Outside of the classroom, Beauparlant also began taking advantage of her campus gym membership, hitting the squash courts every week with her classmate Elly James. Like Beauparlant, James is also 17 and dropped out of the high school she was attending in the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. “I dreaded going there every day,” she says. But her old high school anxieties never followed her to the Durham campus. Free of the drama and stresses that made most of her previous years in school so difficult, James says she was able to finally focus on furthering her education. “Here, you’re more focused on your goals, we’re having fun, we’re learning, there’s no bullying,” she says. “I met a lot of new college students. Unlike high school, you’re not feeling like you’re being judged. There’s a lot of individuality.” James says she’s motivated now not because her teachers are pressuring her, but because she expects herself to accomplish more. “It’s exciting crossing something off, saying I got this assignment done,” she says. “I’m proud of my work now, whereas before I had apathy.” By the end of May, she expects to have her high school diploma as well as a college intro-to-psychology credit under her belt. She’s currently averaging 80 per cent in that course. For the first time, James is actually considering college. Her transition semester at Durham College makes the prospect of succeeding at a post-secondary level a lot easier to envision.
As for Beauparlant, the program helped her realize she wants to become a nurse. She’s applying to George Brown College and is also thinking about returning to Durham College.
“A lot of high-school students don’t know what they’re getting into when they go into college. Now I know I like it,” she says. Durham College welcomes 150 students to campus for the program each semester.
Students can choose from more than100 dual-credit classes, including skilled-trade courses on sheet metal and welding, and classes on marketing and stress wellness.
The program is open to students within the following school boards: Durham, Kawartha Pine Ridge, Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic, Trillium Lakelands District and Durham Catholic.