News-Community-Learning-Backgrounder

News-Community-Learning -Backgrounder

The University of Winnipeg is dissolving the line between our campus and our downtown community. The goal of The University of Winnipeg is to break down the barriers to post-secondary education and provide academic opportunities for students, regardless of socio-economic background.

We organize inner-city summer Eco-Camps, mentor grade school students in our labs, share our state-of- the-art fitness facility with nearby community members and office workers, and offer free public lectures, conferences, workshops and computer access to inner-city residents, among other things.

For several years, we have also been working actively with inner-city schools to close the graduation gap through innovative programs such as:

Eco-Kids on Campus

encourages inner-city elementary school children to learn about Indigenous and environmental sciences through workshops, labs and fun activities. Children visit the University once a week over the course of 10 weeks to engage in science-focused activities with University faculty and students. The activities are chosen specifically to connect to the school curriculum, reinforcing the material learned in the classroom. The students are from many different schools throughout Winnipeg who have shown academic promise and the desire to participate in school activities that promote science and environmental stewardship.Eco-Kids on Campus provides opportunities the students would likely not otherwise have, with one of the major goals being to make school, and science in particular, more fun and relevant. The program hopes to plant within these young students the idea that education, both at the grade school and post-secondary level, will open up their lives to many exciting possibilities.One grade six class of Eco-Kids prepared a 4 minute video, A Tap on the Shoulder.

Eco-U Kids Summer Camps is one of the largest day camp programs for children in the City of Winnipeg. Since 2007, approximately 1,800 inner-city children from more than two dozen participating schools attend the day camps, where everything is free as a result of support from the Winnipeg Foundation's Moffat Family Fund. Children learn about science, the environment and participate in cultural arts and crafts and a variety of skill-building games.

Enviro-Tech course for high school youth allows students to obtain a Grade 10 student initiated credit while learning about environmental science. So far, 100 students have completed this course and several high school have now adopted the Enviro Tech course.

The Model School is a new, pilot project on The University of Winnipeg campus. In September 2008, a model school with 20 students opened on the 4th floor of Wesley Hall to provide select high school students with the environment they need to do well. Students who show potential but need a different kind of learning environment are referred to the model school by community and school organizations . Individualized learning plans are written for every student which assists them to develop to their fullest potential. The school, which shows much promise, continues in 2009.

The Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre aims to bridge the digital divide by providing Aboriginal and inner-city students and community members of all ages with access to computers, classes, meeting space and other resources, free of charge, in UWinnipeg's Helen Betty Osborne building on Ellice Avenue. Approximately 1,000 people use the centre each month.

The Global Welcome Centre provides support to prospective and current immigrant and refugee students to help them succeed personally and academically. The drop-in centre is a welcoming place that offers many services including mentoring, study skills workshops, free computer classes and recreational events.

The Opportunity Fund is an initiative to help youth dream big. Unique among Canadian universities, the goal is to create a $10 million endowment fund that seeks specifically to offer support to Aboriginal students, new Canadians and students from inner-city neighbourhoods. To date, almost $ 3 million has been raised to support fast-track bursaries, tuition credits and micro-financing for young entrepreneurs. Since the program's inception, more than 400 students have received Opportunity Fund fast-track bursaries

On October 14, 2009, University of Winnipeg President and Vice-Chancellor Lloyd Axworthy released a discussion paper aimed at strengthening Community Learning.