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1) Category:
Specific program
3) Objectives:
Help students who have been suspended to use their time constructively and benefit from the experience. Empower them to identify what is important to them and what motivates them in school. Help them with their schoolwork so that they are not behind when they return to school. Empower them to gain new knowledge and acquire aptitudes and personal and social skills through workshops tailored to their lives and applicable in school. Enable them to develop self-esteem and self-sufficiency. Make it possible for them to job shadow or have vocational education internships.
4) Environment:
Community (CSSSs, youth centers, Carrefours Jeunesse Emploi, etc.) Secondary schools
5) Target Group:
Secondary-level students having recurrent or sporadic trouble socially and in school. (These students frequently come from difficult socio-economic environments and different cultural communities, populations that are often weakened by the school dropout phenomenon.)
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6) Key Words:
Alternative Suspension, curaction, school-family-community partnership, specific program, dropping out, suspension, perseverance, motivation, self-esteem, selfsufficiency, social skills, personal development
7) Description:
Alternative Suspension (Qubec YMCAs) is a resource at the disposal of secondary schools, offering them support for students who, for different reasons, are temporarily suspended from the school they attend. More specifically, the program makes it possible for suspended students to be supervised at a point of service. The goal of the program is to decrease the number of repeated suspensions by offering young people the opportunity to transform the time they spend on suspension into a positive experience favoring self-development and self-reliance. The program has two components that dovetail and are aimed at the same outcome, namely, improved learning and social conditions for young people so that their chances of going back to school successfully and joining the mainstream of society are increased, and a decrease in the number of risk factors leading to dropping out. o o The first component targets participants acquisition and enhancement of personal and social skills and the promotion of self-respect and respect for others. The second component enables the young people to change how they feel about school and to make the time spent away from school an overall success.
8) Steps:
I. Contact between the school and the point of service: When the decision is made to send the student to the program, the school phones the program worker to make sure that intake is possible. Then the school and the worker discuss the situation, including the conditions of suspension and, if required, certain details concerning the student`s profile. Planning the suspension: The next step consists of faxing the Le ncessaire form, which the school completes and sends to the point of service before arrival of the student so that the worker can plan workshops tailored to the student`s needs. By having an accurate profile of the student, of what drives him and of where the challenges lie, and by knowing what action the school has taken, the worker does not needlessly repeat what was already done and is able to connect with the young person quickly. Intake (individualized and non-judgmental approach): The student may be escorted by one parent or both parents or by the teacher. They are welcomed warmly by the program worker, who introduces himself, explains his role, how the program works, and the rules that apply, and then double-checks certain information with the student (for example, how he views the suspension, how he feels about being put in Alternative Suspension, what he knows and thinks about the reasons for the suspension, what he feels he can learn from Alternative Suspension, etc.). Point of service: Being in a setting that is not academic or institutional, the young person quickly grows to trust the program worker in most cases. The student remains in this environment for at least three days to do schoolwork and participate in workshops and activities. Preparing to return to school: On the last day at the point of service, the young person and the worker meet to plan for the young persons return to school by filling out the evaluation document. A positive recap of the suspension and the intervention is done, followed by time for the student to think about what returning to class means. The
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worker helps the student with this process of reflection and suggests courses of action, but the student is the driving force. VI. Return to school: Before the student returns to school, a meeting takes place between the student, his parents, the school principal or vice-principal, and, at times, the remedial teacher and homeroom teacher. This gives the student the opportunity to express what the suspension has taught him about his behavior and how his attitude towards the school and its rules has changed. Here, the program worker acts mainly as a mediator between the school and the principal by smoothing the way for the student to report on the suspension and to talk about the process of reflection that occurred at Alternative Suspension. The presence of the parents at this meeting is crucial so that they can understand the situation and the solutions proposed and, ideally, so that they can play an active role in their child`s education. Follow-up: The program worker sets up a meeting with the student approximately one month after he returns to school. The purpose is to talk about the situation and to measure how much progress there has been in terms of the commitments made at the return-to-school meeting. Before the meeting, the worker contacts the parents and the school principal to find out about the student`s post-return behavior. This follow-up meeting strengthens the intervention because the student knows that the worker will be checking in on him, cares about him, will oversee his commitments, and that his parents are partners in the process.
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9) Activities/Actions:
Schoolwork: Schoolwork has an important place in the program because students who fall behind academically risk multiple failures. The program workers are therefore trained to help students with all secondary curriculum subjects and ensure academic continuity during the period of suspension. The group size (maximum six) and individualized assistance enable the students to continue their schooling and, in some cases, to brush up on certain subjects. Group workshops: These workshops, generally held in the afternoon, provide the suspended students with a forum for expressing their opinions on diverse topics and situations, for analyzing their reactions, and for finding courses of action. The program also fosters the positive influence of peers. The workshops are organized around various themes but are all designed to meet the needs of the students and are customized to their profiles. The primary objective is to get the students thinking. Some of the main themes are self-esteem, anger management, responsibility, conflict resolution, relationship to authority, and the student`s place in school. Other activities may include, as needed, visits to vocational training centers or social economy companies, or career or guidance counselling.
Financial resources: o
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costs. (Starting up a new point of service requires sustainable funding. The sponsor could, for example, approach other organizations for support, material or other forms of backing.)
School principal:
Parents:
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15) Contacts:
George Kalimeris, National Director Alternative Suspension Les YMCA du Qubec 5550, avenue du Parc Montral (Qubec) H2V 4H1 Tel.: 514 271-3437, extension 4290 Email: george.kalimeris@ymcaquebec.org tienne Pag, Director, Province of Qubec Alternative Suspension Les YMCA du Qubec Tel.: 514 271-3437, extension 4290 Email: etienne.page@ymcaquebec.org
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