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Kids & YOUTH Programs
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KIDS WELLNESS FORUM
Kids Wellness Forum, Wednesday, May 4, 2022 5pm Eastern in Partnership with Durham Catholic Virtual Elementary School in recognition of Kids Wellness Week May 1-7, 2022. Students, families and staff members' of Durham Catholic Virtual Elementary School are invited to join us for Fitness with Dr. Ian Horseman, Chiropractor focusing on ways to help keep our virtual student healthy, posture, texting advice and more; choir performance, Mental Health by Diane Mullane, Mental Health leader at Durham Catholic District School Board; student videos on what being healthy means, music by the Ukulele Club and Nutrition.
ST. MARY's Catholic School
Cooperative Education - St. Mary Catholic Secondary School Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) The Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) is a school-to-work program that opens the door for students to explore and work in apprenticeship occupations starting in Grade 11 or Grade 12 through the Cooperative Education program.
Cooperative Education
We partner with St. Mary's Catholic School to help mentor and support Youths through their Cooperative Education Program. Each year we take students from St. Mary's, where they work with our executive team in the areas of Administration, Business Management, Communications, Advertising, Marketing, Television and more. We help mentor each students, help them embrace and foster who they want to become by exploring career options before determining their future careers.
The Credits
Students in grades 11 and 12 have an opportunity to take a 2 or 4-credit co-op experience. Students earn high school credits while gaining work experience in a career field of their interest. Many students opt to explore fields that relate to their post-secondary pathway plan. In a typical school year, the co-op placements run for a whole semester; either half-day or full-day. Most students attend in-person co-op placements, however, since the pandemic, the board is now open to virtual or hybrid co-op opportunities for students.
The Experience
Ideally through their co-op experiences, students have opportunities to work with mentors and receive training to be able to assist with work/projects at the co-op placements. The co-op teacher acts as a liaison throughout the semester; whereby the student shares their learning experiences with the co-op teacher and completes related assignments for the high school credits earned from this experience. In addition to the work experience gained, the students also develop and enhance their learning skills and work habits in complement with 21st Century essential skills and see, firsthand, how they are utilized in a workplace environment. The co-op program provides a mutually beneficial opportunity for employers to share their expertise, experience, and skills with a student, while providing the student with an opportunity to work in a career field of interest. The student gains high school credits, work experience and a variety of new transferable skills from this experience as well.