'Changed my life,' How this Sudbury program is helping students return to school
CBC
The Rainbow District School Board in the Sudbury region is encouraging more people who have left school to return and finish high school at Barrydowne College.
The school helps young people aged 18 to 21 earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma through smaller class sizes, individualized instruction, and flexible timetables. It offers high school courses, including electives such as art, food and nutrition, Indigenous education, and a specialist high-skills major in arts and culture.
Located at Cambrian College, Barrydowne College also provides dual credits that count toward both a high school diploma and post-secondary education. Students can earn paid co-op credits as well.
Lara Thompson, who left traditional high school in October 2022 due to anxiety and mental health challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, credits Barrydowne College with changing her life.
"I don't think I would have been able to graduate without Barrydowne. I don't think I'd be able to be as confident as I am without Barrydowne," said Thompson.
"The teachers have taught me so much besides just academics. They've taught me confidence and kindness. They taught me enthusiasm."
Thompson says she thanks the program for helping her graduate from high school. She is now pursuing post-secondary education at Laurentian University, and is one of many success stories since the school's founding in 2011.
Principal Laurie-Ann Lielkalns said the school supports students who have fallen behind, faced challenging life circumstances, or thought they could never finish their courses.
"Every student has their own story, their own life and our program caters to that individual approach," said Lielkalns.
She says the school typically has around 200 students each year.
"We have students who have families, they have young children as well. So every situation is unique. We have some students who also, you know, struggled after coming out of COVID and are still struggling to get back into a routine even a few years later," said Lielkalns.
Thompson added, "It was my dream to get a degree since I was really young, but I never thought I'd actually be able to accomplish it since I dropped out. I'm just really grateful that I'm able to go to Laurentian and Barrydowne really brought that for me."
Local politicians and waterfront users say the province's sewage plan for the redevelopment of Ontario Place could make a popular part of the waterfront a health risk for beachgoers, rowers and swimmers.
The P.E.I. government has halted plans to purchase more electric school buses due to the financial uncertainty surrounding Lion Electric, the company that manufactures most of the vehicles for the province.
A city councillor is suggesting the City of Calgary do an external review of how its operations and council decisions are being impacted by false information spread online and through other channels. Coun. Courtney Walcott said he plans to bring forward a motion to council, calling for its support for a review. He said he's not looking for real time fact checking but rather, a review that looks back at the role misinformation played on key issues. Walcott cited two instances in 2024 where factually incorrect information was circulated both online and at in-person meetings regarding major city projects: council's decision to upzone much of the city, and the failed redevelopment proposal for Glenmore Landing. "Looking back on previous years, looking back on major events and finding out how pervasive misinformation and bad information is out there and it's influence on all levels of the public discourse is really important," said Walcott.
Quebec's public security minister said Tuesday the province was sending more officers to the U.S. to help fight organized crime near the border.
Ontario officials estimate that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on Canadian goods could cost up to half a million jobs, Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday, as he called for stronger and more visible action from the federal government.
A 37-year-old man from York, P.E.I., who was reported missing in New Brunswick yesterday has been found dead, the New Brunswick RCMP said in a news release.
The number of Londoners seeking community housing is on the rise, according to the city's latest homelessness data.
The union representing mechanics and labourers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. says 99 per cent of its members have voted in favour of strike action.
Last spring, Caio De Naday Hornhardt believed his former landlord had done him wrong, with a same-day eviction.
Blair Davis says he was in the paddock of his West Lawrencetown, N.S., farm several years ago when he first heard a buzzing noise and looked up to see a drone hovering overhead.
It's January and that means residents of Miramichi are experiencing a now-annual round of anxious speculation: will the Centennial Bridge close completely this year?
Police say a man who was shot in a parking lot in Lévis on Saturday night was likely not the intended target.
A judge has dismissed comments a Manitoba woman made during her arrest about consuming alcohol before hitting her boyfriend with a school bus because her Charter rights were breached.
Two Saskatchewan families say they felt more like hostages than guests of a resort in Mexico when they got severely ill and were pressured by staff to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in exchange for medical help.
Edmonton utilities company Epcor has dropped part of a fee charged to customers who opt out of the installation of new water meter reading devices.
Many, including B.C.'s premier, have called for a Team Canada approach to Donald Trump's tariff threat. But it seems some provinces are going it alone.
Homelessness in northern Ontario has grown four times faster than in non-northern communities in the last eight years, and new research suggests the region's rates could more than quadruple over the next decade.