A few weeks ago I headed south on Highway 28 to Cobourg. Now, driving is not unusual for me or my fellow Liaison Officers. Neither is visiting a high school to deliver a presentation. The difference in this case is that Brookside Secondary School is in a correctional facility for male young offenders. Hey, it’s not every day that I get to go to a prison.
I first went to Brookside about 5 years ago and have been back every year since. To deliver the presentation, I am set up in a classroom with between two and four students and then sent out via video feed to the 150 or so students across the campus. As someone who has presented to over 400 students at a time, two students is a nice change. After the presentation students are invited to call in to ask questions by phone.
The unique nature of this school is not what keeps me coming back year after year, it is the people. The teachers and staff at Brookside work in a very tough environment, yet they always seem to smile. They go above and beyond to reach out and help some of the most difficult students achieve their goals and offer them a wide variety of specialised programs in fields like masonry, culinary arts, furniture refinishing and graphic design.
This year one of the young men who was in the classroom with me spoke to me after the presentation. He said that he is on his way to becoming an apprentice electrician. He had already contacted his uncle about a placement and had downloaded the forms from the MTCU. He was close to completing his high school diploma and his time at Brookside. He told me that he had learned a lot while he was there, but he definitely wasn’t going to come back.
Because of students like him, I will.
William Howe
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