GRADUATION COACH ON DUTY
Graduation coach inspires minority students in pilot program
Program to keep kids in the game
Venus Olla will eventually know just about every inch of Essex County as she makes her way around to all 15 high schools and alternative learning sites within the Greater Essex County District School Board in her new role as a graduation coach.
Olla will work with students who self-identify as black, African and/ or Caribbean in order to improve their academic performance and general well-being as part of a pilot project by the board.
“The main point is to touch base with each student, making sure they know they have someone rooting for them,” Olla said. “I have my batmobile and I will be there.”
Olla is based out of Kennedy Collegiate where she’s working with 21 students but she’s also got 22 students at Leamington District and 10 at Westview Academy. Having just started this semester, she’s still gauging student interest at Herman, Riverside, Sandwich and beyond.
“The vision is big,” she said. Olla has been with the public board since 2004, starting as a Change Your Future counsellor and then as a science teacher at Herman.
“Dr. Olla’s personal lived experiences as a female of African descent, an immigrant to Canada and as an educator provides her with the unique knowledge, understanding and experiences to meet the challenges of this new position,” said Rachel Olivero, the board’s equity and inclusion officer.
The board received funding from a special grant provided by the Ministry of Education for a pilot program that runs through the end of August.
Having a graduation coach “is a huge step forward for our CYF program,” Olivero said.
The Change Your Future program supports minority students to help them stay in school. “CYF helps keep kids in the game,” Olivero said. “Our graduation coach helps get them to the finish line.”
As an Ontario Certified Teacher, Olla has access to student records, something not available to the CYF counsellors as support staff.
“With access to information, Venus can help design individualized pathways for students to graduate,” Olivero said.
She can arrange opportunities to work with community-based black mentors.
Kennedy principal Kim Rocheleau is confident of the impact Olla’s work will have on students.
“Her additional supports focused on academic achievement and well-being will serve to empower student participants to further improve attendance and graduation rates and therefore advancement in their chosen pathways,” Rocheleau said.
Olla said the first step at each school is to meet with a student and discover their purpose, intention and goals.
“I want to know what they see life like, what they want as an adult,” she said. “A huge part of the role is parent engagement. I want parents to feel comfortable coming into the schools and being part of the student’s life.”
Olla will work with students who are struggling with the day-to-day demands of school and those who are doing well in class but may be facing other systemic barriers to success.