Increasing community capacity through building youth resilience

Working with a group of ELL(English Language Learners)students and their parents to create a program that supports the development of healthy communities through the engagement of new immigrant families. ELL includes both English as a Second Language(ESL) and English Language Development (ELD) students. This after school program will offer students the opportunity to develop both their academic and personal skills while providing support and education to their parents around a range of topics including (but not limited to) citizenship, healthy and sustainable lifestyles, bullying, the 'ism's' (ex racism, sexism, ageism etc), community involvement and. High school students will work with university students, faculty and community partners through this program. Students will be given the opportunity to lead sessions, research topics and work with university students as mentors. At the same time, they will also receive support with their own homework and build stronger relationships with their parents and other families. Parents will be offered the opportunity to talk with other parents about their Canadian experiences, have access to school staff and community partners to learn about local resources and processes and also have sessions that will teach them about a variety of topics. At the end of the program, students and families will be asked to come up with one social action project that they would like to gift their community as a result of their learning and experience together. We believe by engaging newcomer students and their families we are investing in a healthy and diverse country.

Update (May 16, 2011)

For the past two months, parents of our ELL students have been meeting every week to discuss various topics of interest. We have discussed the Ontario school system, post-secondary options, taxation, mental health agencies and much more. At the same time, University of Waterloo students have been available to help our new Canadian students with Math or Science.
I think it has been a great opportunity to break down barriers and address parental concerns, as they arise.