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On August 7, a group of grade 9 students from the Jane and Finch community who completed a six-week summer program run by\u00a0Success Beyond Limits (SBL),<\/em>\u00a0were celebrated at a special graduation ceremony at Moot Court in York University\u2019s Osgoode Hall Law School.<\/p>\n Over 100 grade 9 students participated in the high school preparatory summer program, earning a high school credit focused on literacy, numeracy and life skills. The program, which was hosted by York\u2019s Faculty of Education, is a joint initiative between the University, the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) and the Jays Care Foundation, in partnership with the Toronto District School Board.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe had an absolutely incredible time with the more than 100 Grade 9 students, 25 mentors and 30 volunteers who participated in the program this summer,\u201d says Chris Penrose, executive director of SBL. \u201cThere are so many external factors that students from Jane and Finch face outside of the classroom that affects their immediate and future learning, one of them being a lack of exposure to post-secondary institutions. Our summer program helps to shrink this \u201cachievement gap\u201d in education by bringing youth from the community to York U to be exposed to the post-secondary environment, and empowering youth (who have often been overlooked as leaders) in mentorship roles. \u00a0In the long-run, two of the main objectives of our work are to support policy updates that will provide the types of supports and programming options to students facing similar barriers across the system, and to have the young people that have come up through the program take over the leadership of the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Students spent their mornings working in small classes where they had the additional support of youth mentors from Westview Centennial. \u00a0 During the afternoons, they made the most of being on campus participating in arts activities, sports, recreation and music in different locations across campus . \u00a0Transportation to and from the community, as well as breakfast and lunch were included at no cost to the students.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy classroom experience was great! We just didn\u2019t learn math, we learned math in a fun way,\u201d commented grade 9 student Gayathiri Rathakone. \u201cThe teachers made what we learned in the program fun and interesting and I made a bunch of new friendships that will last a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n Since its inception in 2010, SBL has positively impacted the lives of 100\u2019s of kids in the Jane\/Finch community. \u201cOne of the main reasons for our success has been the ongoing support that we have received from the Faculty of Education and in-particular professor Don Dippo,\u201d commented Penrose. \u201cProfessor Dippo has been there from the very beginning, when we first began having conversations about the major gaps in the education of youth in Jane and Finch with the community and local schools back in 2005. Without question he has been one of the most dedicated and committed supporters of this work, offering insight and helping us to navigate the university structure in order to deliver our program at York.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSBL at York is a good example of what it means to be a community engaged university,\u201d said professor Don Dippo. \u201cYouth, their families, community-based organizations, and the university all share in the benefits of this collaborative effort.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, education is in the lifeblood of all that we do at SBL,\u201d comments Penrose. \u201cIt\u2019s not just education in the sense of learning and credentials, but education from the perspective of ownership and empowerment. \u00a0Our programming and supports are designed to travel along the journey with youth in the community while fostering the conditions that they need to see education as the process of discovering and tapping into potential, rather than something that just happens to them.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Chris](\"http:\/\/edu.yorku.ca\/files\/2014\/08\/Chris-Penrose-SWAY-Headshot-244x300.jpg\")
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