Partnership information can be found through out this report and is not limited to this section.
Adult Education
In September 2012, the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board and Seven Generations Education Institute (SGEI) embarked on a partnership to deliver adult education throughout Northwestern Ontario. The goals of this partnership include:
- Increasing opportunities for both aboriginal and non-aboriginal adult learners throughout the KPDSB jurisdiction to achieve their Ontario Secondary School Diploma;
- Improving access for adult learners to high quality curriculum resources on a full-time or part-time basis;
- Committing to excellence and innovation in serving the needs of adult learners.
The partnership has proved to be an overwhelming success across the region. Below you will find some highlights from the past year.
Adult Education Partnership Facebook page
Early Years Partnerships
KPDSB’s community partners are integral resources for the success of the Kindergarten programs we offer. We have developed strong relationships with providers of child care and other services to support the early years in our communities. Our many partnerships can provide expertise, skills, materials, and programs that are not available through the school or that supplement those that are. Working closely with our community partners provides support to our students and their families, as well as to the entire community.
The school board’s Early Years Advisory Committee has been an excellent forum for the school board and the community to come together. The work of this committee has brought greater awareness of existing services and ongoing needs in our communities, along with a greater understanding of each other’s (and our own) roles in supporting the whole child.
In addition to the board’s partnerships with regional organizations, individual schools and individual classrooms develop creative partnerships with groups and organizations in our communities to meet specific goals for children. They say it takes a whole village to raise a child, and KPDSB is so grateful for the ongoing support and commitment from the many partnerships that we have. We look forward to continuing to cultivate our existing partnerships, and seek out opportunities for new collaboration, to best serve all children and families in the region.
Sioux Lookout Adult Education Site Growth
In 2019-2020 our Sioux Lookout Adult Education program has grown to now hosting half day teacher support, evening dual credits (English, TCJ/TMJ, Photography, and Employment Skills Readiness), a full-time teacher at the Sioux Lookout Area Aboriginal Management Board (SLAAMB), a site monitor, evening Language Circles, evening adult Co-Op programs, and breakfast and lunch programs provided by the Native Women’s Association (NWAO) in a family-friendly, comfortable adult learning environment in our new site.. Enrolment increased to over 500 students this year and 52 students graduated on June 12, 2019, with eight of these graduates earning their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) at our Sioux Lookout site. Joe Paishk, Graduate,and Adult Education Graduation Valedictorian is a 76 year old residential school survivor who wanted to honor all those who’ve gone before him.
Technology Pilots
We piloted our first blended learning, DCO30 Co-Op credit for adult education—an asynchronous BrightSpace course. We offered Eng4C, considered to be a barrier course, in a synchronous Google classroom delivered from Wabigoon/Eagle River to each of our sites. Students have access to netbooks for online courses and to work in Google classroom and our four largest classrooms now have wall-mounted projectors/white board surfaces for online course delivery. In October 2019, capital purchases now allow students in multiple sites to access one class virtually.
Sioux Lookout Aboriginal Advisory Management Board Partnership (SLAAMB)
We have committed to continuing our partnership agreement with SLAAMB into the 2019-2020 school year with a replica of the previous year’s contracted services agreement to support the Youth Pre-Employment Program. We are also currently working together to offer Co-Operative Education and an Adult Dual Credit/OYAP Level 1 Carpentry program with the building of new SLAAMB residences in Hudson. Adult students are earning their high school diploma, upgrading Construction Math skills, and are registered as Apprentices in the Native Residential Construction Worker program.
Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre, Red Lake Adult Literacy Centre
We are pleased to see the expansion of adult education services in two sites in Red Lake. Establishment of a three-year contract with Red Lake Adult Literacy Centre and a continuation of our service-provider agreement at Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre will ensure adult learners in the Red Lake area have easy access to our programs and staff. This program supports after-school tutorial services for RLDHS students and OSSD credit opportunities for their parents.
Staff Supports
We are thankful for the support of two PQP candidates in our partnership with SGEI and the certification of an adult education Co-Op teacher in each of our community sites this year. Adult students can now access Co-Operative Education credit opportunities to meet their OSSD requirements. As well, in our efforts to better meet the needs of our students, each of our site monitors, our front-line client supports, participated in Mental Health First Aide training this year.
Language Circles in partnership with Kwayaciiwin Education Resource Center (KERC)
We have provided regular language instruction in Cree/Oji-Cree in Sioux Lookout in our partnership with KERC. Adult students earn a Native Language credit, community feasts are provided through our partnership with the Ontario Native Women’s Association, Community members, students and their families participate in monthly Language Circles with teaching, translation services, and educational resources provided in our partnership with KERC. Language acquisition and preservation combined with cultural learnings and a community feast promote our KP/SGEI Adult Education programs in Sioux Lookout.
Adult Dual Credits (SCWI)
Dual Credit opportunities support transitions to College programs for our adult students. We have doubled our SCWI programs in Dryden and Sioux Lookout, providing evening courses in both semesters in Culinary, Esthetics, Building Skills for Success, Photography, Computers, Workplace Readiness and Construction. Kenora will host our first Dual Credit evening adult courses in land-Based Learning in the 2019-2020 school year.
Construction – Level 1 Apprenticeship
Sioux Lookout will host our first Apprenticeship Level 1 Carpentry certification as a dual credit opportunity in the 2019-2020 school year in a partnership with SLAAMB, the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development and SGEI. The project proposes completion of two student housing duplexes in Hudson within a Co-Op-OYAP learning model.
Adult Education Pathways – Online Registration Project
Adult Education registration, promotion, information and pathway guidance will be housed on-line in a quality, interactive web-based portal highlighting adult education programs, MyBlueprint tools, our KPDSB/SGEI partnership, post-secondary opportunities and an adult education credit calculator.
Developing & Strengthening Partnerships
Continued relationships with educational, community, and agency-specific partners to access wrap-around supports on-site for adult learners is a strength of the RPAE work and reduces barriers for adult students. Our partners include: SGEI, KERC, SLAAMB, NWAO, Independent First Nations Alliance, FNA, Adult Basic Literacy, Indian Friendship Centre, Ontario Works, Supportive Housing, NWOntario Employment Services, Lac Seul FN, and others. We continue to work with our existing partners to maintain program implementation.
CESBA (Continuing Education School Board Association) Promotion & Advocacy
We have worked cooperatively with SGEI administrators and teachers to share our partnership work at CESBA, presenting, sharing and advocating for the continuation of Adult Education funding. We formally recognize SGEI as our partner in Adult Education and have highlighted the unique and complex nature of the Kenora/Rainy River regions west of Thunder Bay including the inclusion of Indigenous partners and the importance of these partnerships beyond the traditional school board funding models. In June 2019, we conducted a KPDSB/SGEI Adult Education Partnership Graduate Exit Survey, some of the results can be found below.
- Over 30% of our Adult students are over the age of 35—it’s never too late to earn your diploma.
- 59% of our students voluntarily self-identify as FNMI and 25% of our students speak Ojibway or Oji-Cree at home—our Language Circles are key to language preservation and developing a sense of culture and belonging in our Adult Education classrooms. Adult students earn language credits for participating or speaking their language.
- The majority (>75%) of our students are highly motivated to earn their diploma, Over half of our students only have 5-6 credits to earn and spend less than six months with us to meet their diploma requirements—most of our students are closer than they think to graduation!
- 67% of our graduates identify a sense of responsibility to family and maturity as critical to helping them graduate.
- Our Adult Education programs change lives, 58% of our students are headed off to college or post-secondary education.
- A graduate suggests, “Don’t be afraid to step through the door—it’s different now.”
