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Halton Learning Foundation funds the future By Kathy Yanchus SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER One way the Halton Learning Foundation (HLF) implements its mandate of supporting quality education for Halton District School Board students, is by providing valuable funds for the Bronte Creek Project, an outdoor educational program with the potential to transform young lives. Operating through the HDSB for 30 years, and connected to Burlington's Gary Allen High School, the Bronte Creek Project (BCP) offers a one-semester, four-credit environmental leadership program for Grades 11 and 12 students. The program is a combination of academics and experiential learning and is a model for other provincial programs, said Jodie Schnurr, Gary Allan's program leader for alternative programs. Students who are accepted into the BCP spend every day for five months at Sidrabene, a 100-acre property on Appleby Line, which houses two classrooms, a dining hall and kitchen. Past student testimonials on the BCP website, www.brontecreekproject.org, speak of tremendous personal growth, lasting friendships and impacts on post-secondary educational pursuits. "The benefits are huge," said Schnurr. "It builds a sense of community for kids, helps 11 · Friday, October 19, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com "The benefits are huge. It builds a sense of community for kids...." Jodie Schnurr, program leader, alternative programs, Gary Allan High School them understand the impact of their behaviour on not just the community in front of them, that is, their classroom, but also their larger community, their city, their town, their country and the world. It also helps them build relationships and understand what good relationships look like." From an academic standpoint, BCP supports the idea that things are interconnected, allowing students to learn in a classroom with an immediate opportunity to transfer and apply those lessons outside the classroom, added Schnurr. For example, students would develop an in-depth understanding of a novel because as they're reading "about a young man stuck in the woods, they would then have the opportunity to go out into that environment, hear the same sounds and feel the same cold as the character in the book," she said. BCP students also teach an Earthkeepers program, a two-day overnight environmental program for Grades 4 and 5 students, and are involved in ongoing civics projects, including food and clothing drives. Last year, a class visited Hamilton's Good Shepherd Centre where they spent "a life altering" day sorting food and packing Christmas hampers. This year, students will work alongside staff from Trout Unlimited on a Bronte Creek rehabilitation project, so they can experience environmental concepts and apply them, plus discover career possibilities, said Schnurr. Those initiatives can be undertaken when the students are together all day, every day, with the same teacher, she said. "There's a real sense of family." Not only does HLF provide bursaries for financially-challenged students to participate in the program, but its financial support helps purchase much-needed equipment and supplies, items such as camp stoves, first-aid kits, backpacks and physical education equipment, said Schnurr. Support for the BCP is provided through the HLF's environment initiatives, one of four Enrichment Funds divisions, which also include Arts and Music, Technology and Healthy Active Living. See Enriching page 12 As the days get shorter and the weather turns cooler, we are reminded of the comforts of home. Shona Fitzgerald More Recent Projects in Your Neighbourhood I look forward to discussing your decor and design projects with you. Call 905.334.3583 shona@fitzbydesign.ca Will Yours Be Next?