Throughout the month of October, Grade 8 students from across the St. Clair district have participated in leadership-building experiential learning.

The Adventureworks School and Youth Program is a one day program offered in Hamilton, Ontario, where students have the opportunity to identify their own leadership skills as well as the qualities that promote effective, positive leadership.

“The aim of this program is to help our students to become outstanding community members and global citizens,” says Scott Johnson, Director of Education.  “The Adventureworks trip was an exciting kick-off to this learning journey.  Follow-up classroom activities will deepen our students’ understandings of the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations.”

Students were immersed in a series of problem-solving activities, large group initiative tasks and vertical climbing challenges, which provided opportunities to practice current and new leadership skills.

Students also engaged in structured reflection sessions designed to help transfer and apply their insights and observations from the day to their current settings and future pathways.

Student comments include:

• “It was challenging because some of the things I’ve never tried before and had to learn something new.”
• “I liked how we had to work together and it was a challenge, and we had to communicate to move on.” 
• “It was fun and a new experience, and good because it was a lot of physical activity and things you wouldn’t normally get to do.”
• “We had to use a lot of teamwork, like on the teeter-totter to balance.”

Funding support was available from the Board’s Outdoor Education and Student Success budgets, in addition to previous funds raised for Muskoka Woods, which reduced the cost to families to just $20 per student.  Families unable to pay the cost could access the Board’s Good Samaritan fund, to ensure the opportunity was available to every Grade 8 student who wanted to attend.

With just a couple of remaining classes still to go, nearly 660 Grade 8 students will have participated in the leadership event, with the support of Grade 8 teachers, educational assistants, principals and senior administration, pathways teachers, secondary curriculum consultants, the Board’s chaplaincy leader and parents.