By Andrea Nicholl
A local school has been recognized for helping their students catch their dreams and learn about their culture.
Holy Rosary High School’s Dream Catchers program has been selected as one of four organizations from across Alberta to be highlighted as a pilot project.
The Children and Youth Services branch of the Alberta Government approved funding for aboriginal student mentorship program two years ago at Holy Rosary, where the program has since operated and expanded.
“The program has helped many of our young students not only graduate, but move on to post-secondary education with a confidence in their Aboriginal background en route to becoming whatever they dream to be,” said Jessie Mann, teacher and aboriginal mentorship coordinator at Holy Rosary, in an email.
The Dream Catchers program aims to help aboriginal students become more successful and resilient through cultural education and job readiness sessions. During the first semester students participate in six information sessions including: Finding your Job, Keeping the Job, The Interview, Raking in the Cash, Oh Time Fly’s and What to Do When Things Go Wrong.
Throughout the second semester, students go into the community and shadow professionals in their field of interest.
“Without this community, this program would not be at the stage in which it is. The second half of the semester will see our kids within the community more than ever as students embark on opportunities to learn first hand about the careers options available to them,” said Mann.
The daily one-on-one mentorship has directly resulted in student success and graduation. Holy Rosary has one of the highest Aboriginal graduation success rates in Saskatchewan, with nearly 90 per cent of their students graduating last year.
“Our job is to help our students see that catching their dreams is absolutely possible no matter what,” said Mann. “Without the Alberta Government’s assistance and community involvement this sort of program would not be possible and seeing the changes and guidance it offers many of our students is beyond priceless.”
Mann says she and her colleagues, Doug Abrosimoff and Cynthia Young, are honoured and proud of the Dream Catchers program and the hard work and dedication their students have demonstrated.
The program will be reviewed throughout the next year and in March 2011 the final evaluation will be available as a resource to other schools and organizations as a model of program design.