In September 2012, the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board and Seven Generations Education Institute partnered to deliver adult education throughout Northwestern Ontario. The goals of the partnership include:
- Increasing opportunities for indigenous and non-indigenous adult learners throughout the KPDSB and SGEI communities to achieve the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD)
- Improving access for adult learners to high-quality curriculum resources on a full- or part-time basis
- Committing to excellence and innovation in serving the adult learners’ needs
We have worked cooperatively to share our partnership work at CESBA (Continuing Education School Boards Association), presenting, sharing, and advocating for quality regional Adult Education programs. 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. We have shared our successes and learnings from our KPDSB/SGEI Adult Education Partnership Graduate Exit Survey:
- Over 30% of our adult students are over 35 — it’s never too late to earn your diploma.
- Fifty-nine percent of our students 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 diplomas. Over half of our students only have 5–6 credits left to earn and spend less than six months with us to meet their diploma requirements — most of our students are closer to graduation than they think! Sixty-seven percent of our graduates identify maturity and a sense of responsibility to family 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.
During the 2021–2022 school year, 599 adults registered in our Adult Education programs, and we worked cooperatively as administrators, teachers, and site monitors to offer a variety of programs and support. At our fastest-growing site, the Sioux Lookout Adult Education Program, we host full-time teacher and site monitor support in a family-friendly, comfortable adult-learning environment.
Continued relationships across the KPDSB region with educational, community, and agency-specific partners assist in providing wrap-around support that reduces barriers for our adult students. Our partners include the Kwayaciiwin Education Resource Centre, Sioux Lookout Area Aboriginal Management Board, Ontario Native Women’s Association, Independent First Nations Alliance, Adult Basic Literacy Programs, Indian Friendship Centres, Northwest Employment Works, Ontario Works, Supportive Housing, Homeward Bound Program, the Métis Nation of Ontario, Lac Seul First Nation, Ministry of the Attorney General, women’s and homeless shelters, regional mental health programs, and many others. We continue to develop and strengthen partnerships in municipalities and First Nations communities to improve access and support to our adult learners in response to new or emerging needs to guarantee positive outcomes and improve life skills for our learners.
Adult Education Website
Launched in 2020, our new website continues to be a very popular and convenient resource for busy adult clients across the region for Adult Education registration, promotion, information and pathway guidance (www.nwoadulted.com). Housed online in a web-based portal, potential students can access site-specific Adult Education programs, graduate success stories, information about our KPDSB/SGEI partnership, post-secondary opportunities, an Adult Education credit calculator, and contact information for our Adult Education sites.
Adult Education Dual Credit Opportunities
The 2021–2022 dual credit opportunities support transitions to college programs and are engaging and motivating for adult students interested in post-secondary programs in our communities. With Confederation College, we offer a dual credit in which all of our Adult Ed sites can participate jointly. Dual Credit PPI4T–Wellness for Life through Confederation College will be offered online virtually to all Adult Ed sites. The major areas of study for the wellness for life course are physical, social, intellectual, occupational, emotional, environmental, and spiritual dimensions of health. This topic was popular considering the struggles adult learners have experienced following the pandemic.
Red Lake Expansion
We continued our expansion of Adult Education services in the two sites in Red Lake (Red Lake Adult Literacy Centre and the Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre). Both offer day-school adult courses and after-school tutorial services for RLDHS students and OSSD credit opportunities for their parents. We continue to see an increase in both the number of registrants and our potential graduates.
MAG–Bail Residency Program
The Adult Ed partnership continues to work with community partners to improve our region’s services. In partnership with the Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG), KPDSB and SGEI support an Adult Education classroom within the new Justice Centre pilot in Kenora. In spring 2022, the program produced six graduates. In the 2021-2022 school year, the Adult Education Partnership served 34 adult clients through the NeeChee Bail Residency Program. Registration and credit completion is ongoing with this program throughout the school year.
KAE Mental Health Videos
We understand that in the interests of mental health, it is important to reach out to our adult learners — who are very busy navigating through adulthood while at the same time finding the time to work towards completing their high school diploma or upgrade — on an annual basis. Our Adult Education team continues to reach out to our students who might be experiencing the usual demands of adult life but also continuing to navigate Covid, the return to the workplace, and home and in-class schooling. Sherice Nordlund, Site Monitor for Kenora Adult Education, participated in a series of mental health interviews with Alexis Doerksen, a KPDSB student counsellor. The resulting documentary videos address a number of very helpful topics that highlight the importance of continuing your education during difficult times and the health and safety and precautions enacted at our sites, and they provide valuable information about the support our program offers. The video clips can be viewed on our social media forums. https://www.facebook.com/– Adult Education KPDSB & Seven Generations FB Page.
SCH4U and ENG4C Teacher-Led Classes Offered via Zoom and Brightspace
In spring 2022, Adult Education continued its efforts to provide flexible course delivery options to support the needs of adult students who are learning, working, and juggling the demands of everyday adult life by offering ENG4C and SCH4U through Zoom and BrightSpace. The ENG4C Google classroom was delivered from the Lac Seul SGEI classroom to each of our sites, and SCH4C was offered from the Kenora SEGI classroom to all KAE sites. Our online course offerings, which were a combination of teacher-led and independent, allowed students to access netbooks for online courses, work in Google Classroom from home, or visit one of our four largest classrooms with portable web-conferencing systems that permit students in multiple sites to access a single class virtually.
End-of-Year Celebration in Sioux Lookout
On June 17, 2022, our Sioux Lookout site hosted an end-of-year celebration for graduates from not just 2021–2022 but also 2019–2020 and 2020–2021. We wanted to give them all the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments and hard work at our Sioux Lookout site with family and friends. It was wonderful to see graduates from the previous two years return to participate in person. They gathered for an evening of fellowship with recent grads and their peers. Students enjoyed catered appetizers, beverages, and decadent cupcakes, all provided by local small businesses.
DCO30 Co-Op Credit for Adult Education
There are co-op teachers at each of our community sites. Adult students can access Co-Operative Education credit opportunities to meet their OSSD requirements. The opportunity for busy adult learners to receive co-op credits towards their OSSD while working to provide for themselves and their families has proven to be a valuable addition to the Adult Education program.
Graduation
The 2021–2022 school year ended with the first face-to-face celebration in three years. Forty-six adult students earned their OSSDs. At this year’s graduation ceremony, the Brian Booty Memorial Bursary — named in honour of Brian Booty, who spent many years teaching and supporting learners of all ages — was awarded to Alice Keesic. Despite the many obstacles Alice experienced in her life and in her journey to receive her OSSD, she never stopped trying, demonstrating perseverance and the ability to deal with challenges while always retaining a sense of humour. These are all important qualities and strengths that the recipient of this special award and bursary should have.
2022 Valedictorian at the Adult Education Partnership Graduation — Percy Cameron
Percy Cameron was chosen as valedictorian for the 2021–2022 school year to spread his inspirational message. As a survivor of addictions, trauma, and abuse for over 20 years, he feels passionate about obtaining his OSSD — the missing piece of his educational accomplishments. His dream is to work independently as a motivational speaker while maintaining a healing journey of sobriety. The opportunity to share his wisdom and strength with his fellow learners is a natural next step as he is an accomplished writer, a published author of a book of poetry, and a practicing counsellor who relies on his faith, humour, and positive outlook to impart his message of hope and healing.
