Students get fresh chance with UNFC program

One of the first questions Tracy Jensen asks students when they come to the Alternative School Program is what do they want to do in their future.
“The majority of them don’t have a clue,” she said. “So we work on that.”
As the program’s education support coordinator, Jensen has seen the number of students coming in to get high school credits and a diploma rise since the program began.
They’re students who would have otherwise dropped out of school, or the ones who did drop out and are coming back to finally get a diploma. They’ve ranged from ages 16 into the 60s, said Jensen and include adults coming back to update their transcripts so they can go onto college.
“It should be interesting to see how many students we have this year, because we just keep growing,” said Sheila McMahon, executive director of the United Native Friendship Centre.
The program is a partnership between the Ministry of Education and Ontario Native Friendship Centres across the province. It started with four pilot projects back in 1990, and spread out from there, first opening up in Fort Frances in 2004.
From one graduate in the first year, to six this past year, and over 75 credits earned by students, the program’s success rates are comparable to similar programs in Toronto, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, once populaton is taken into account, said Jensen. The program even received a $10,000 increase in funding this year from the Ministry of Education.
“Last year first semester they marked as many lessons as we did the whole year prior,” she said. “and every year it’s just getting better, better and better.”
The program works by providing both full and part-time students the opportunity earn credits through independent studies.
“Everything is ILC, which is independent learning,” said Jensen. “So there isn’t a teacher and classroom instruction. So it helps the needs of the students a lot better because they can work at their own pace. They can sign up and they can do independent learning, so they can come in and receive their lessons and then they can take them home if that helps with their needs a little better.”
“We’ve found, with a lot of the people coming into the programs, there were issues of health, poverty, housing,” said McMahon. High schools are not equipped to deal with some of the social needs that some students have, such as parenting and support with children, she said, which is why these schools have been set up.
While the flexibility to take the work home is there, Jensen encourages students to spend time at the centre because it means access to the support offered beyond just the lessons. Students have access to both nutritious breakfasts and lunches, as well as school supplies, access to tutors, on site teachers, computers and other tools they might need for learning,
“It’s a very unique program because we are housed here at the friendship centre,” said Jensen, “and I guess what they call it is one stop shopping because they can come here and go to school and if they need help with parenting we can refer them to family support, or any kind of housing issues, or the youth centre. If they need help with any kind of court issues we have our court workers here, if they maybe need a little more tutoring than we can offer them, then they can go to literacy.” Transportation can even be arranged if a student needs help with that to make it to the centre.
Part of the program also involves cultural programs for students to participate in. Last year an elder came in twice a month to hold talking circles, and there were traditional crafts and food cooking. Students become involved with the UNFC’s drum ceremonies, feasts and pow-wows. McMahon hopes to eventually have Ojibway language classes offered, as well as bring in traditional outdoor activities such as trapping.
“It’s just to get them out on the land and having somebody teach them about how to properly do things on the land and such” she said, “how to give tobacco, why tobacco is given to Mother Earth, so they have a sense of responsibility in keeping with our teachings”
One thing that makes the program a success is the close relationship that the students develop with the teachers and coordinators, said Jensen.
“We have an open door policy,” she said. “They can come in and see us any time and sometimes they just need a break and need to vent or come to visit and you develop a trust with them, and develop a close relationship with the teacher and the coordinator. Whereas, [while] the high school is a very good program, sometimes they just need that different kind of structure.”
“I think that’s what makes us unique also,” said Jensen, “because we can individualize their work and studies to help them get their credits a little more easier.”
Many of the students they see coming into the program are shy and withdrawn, said McMahon, something that changes within a couple months of attending the school as the students build up their trust and self esteem.
“That’s important because it’s a smaller setting,” she said. “and when you’re feeling alone already and you have to go into a bigger setting [like high school] it can be intimidating and sometimes you can walk out the door and not come back, and sometimes they walk out this door, but we plant the seed and we see them come back.”
The program also has a close relationship with the local school board, and Fort Frances High School principal, Gord McCabe, with Fort Frances Highschool said it’s almost like a satellite campus of the high school. One of the Vice Principals, Dan Bird helps to oversee the program, and support through things like guidance teachers are always available. With the closing of the High school’s facility on Walker Avenue, McCabe said the Alternative School Program has expanded to help take in many of those students as well.
The program has grown substantially he said, including enough interest that they went from one to 1.67 teachers, he said.
“So we’re quite pleased with the way the program has developed,” he said.
“I think it’s especially important for this area because of our large aboriginal population. Roughly between 25 to 30 percent of the students at Fort High are of aboriginal background to some degree and just the fact that there is this program where cultural programs are readily available is important” he said. “We try to do some of that with our aboriginal awareness week and some of the things that we do at FFHS, but also there are just some students who don’t do well in a regular classroom setting and it also allows adult students who may have issues with work or whatever to come back and get their education.”
He also noted that it’s downtown location makes it more accessible to people who might otherwise have difficulty getting to the high school’s location on a daily basis.
“It’s something that the community should know about as an alternative way to get a high school diploma,” he said. “It’s so important, I’m not going to say that a grade 12 diploma is the key to being a millionaire, but there are a number of people in this community who do not have their grade 12 diploma and I think that the Alternative School Program might be a way for them to get it without having to sort of drop everything and go back to school.”
Student registration for the 2008-2009 Alternative School Program school year will take place Sept. 4 and 5, from 9:30 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the United Native Friendship Centre at 516 Portage Avenue. There will also be an two orientation sessions for registered students on Sept. 9, at 10 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. Students can also register throughout the year.
For more info, call Jensen at 274-8541 or drop by the UNFC.