A new leadership program designed to empower local elementary and high school students through entrepreneurship and social justice workshops is already being viewed as a model of success by the St. Clair Catholic District School Board (SCCDSB).
The One Future program, led by Enactus Lambton, was piloted at five local Catholic schools in September 2019 including St. Michael in Brights Grove, St. Joseph Corunna, Wallaceburg’s St. Elizabeth, and Holy Trinity and St. Patrick’s Catholic High School in Sarnia. The goal of the program is to provide hands-on knowledge to assist students in the development of entrepreneurial skills through a series of workshops facilitated by members of Enactus Lambton.
In mid-January, Lambton College hosted 184 SCCDSB students as the first cohort of students involved in the St. Patrick’s Catholic High School Leadership program presented their pitches to local elementary students, the Enactus Lambton team, and other members of the SCCDSB.
For the past semester, secondary students involved in the One Future program have been working with members of the Enactus Lambton team on a weekly basis, exploring entrepreneurial approaches to social justice challenges, and then developing presentations to share plans for future change.
“The day was an outstanding example of how Enactus Lambton is working with community partners to identify and solve real world challenges,” said Deb Crawford, Director of Education for SCCDSB. “This learning opportunity aligns with our mission – Learning together today, transforming tomorrow – by helping students to develop critical thinking skills to resolve real world problems. It also enhances our community partnerships by expanding relationships with our post-secondary institutions as we respond to environmental and social justice challenges.”
The elementary students who participated in the pitch day will use the presentations as a guiding example as they continue their own work with Enactus Lambton in the classroom.
Both the elementary and secondary students will return to Lambton College in the late spring for a final round of competition that mimics the global Enactus circuit, with students presenting their projects in rounds of live presentations.
During the day-long event, the students were provided with tours of the College’s newly renovated facilities including the Athletics & Fitness Complex and NOVA Chemicals Health & Research Centre, and also participated in group reflection activities led by elementary teachers and support staff.
For more information about the One Future program, or to learn more about collaborating with Enactus Lambton, please contact Jon Milos at jon.milos@lambtoncollege.ca.
For more details on Enactus Lambton and its globally recognized projects, go to enactuslambton.org.
