NorthStar Project nears capacity, seeks space

The NorthStar Project is outgrowing its temporary home at Vincent Massey High School.

The Brandon School Division’s after-school tutoring and mentoring program has been operating for 16 weeks and now has 43 students registered, just seven short of capacity, project facilitator Katey Rogowsky told the BSD board of trustees during its general meeting on Monday.

“During its first 16 weeks, we recorded 697 individual student visits and more than 2,314 attendance hours. Participants have also completed 316 volunteer and community-service hours,” she said.

“We were just a dream and a hope, but now it’s a reality.”

If all students meet the program’s volunteer requirement, Rogowsky said, the program could generate more than 1,700 community-service and volunteer hours by the end of the school year.

Launched in May, NorthStar initially operated three days a week before expanding to five days in July. It is open Monday to Friday from 3:30 to 7 p.m.

The program serves Grade 9 and 10 students and is intended to support them in reaching their academic and life goals and preparing for post-secondary education.

Funded by the province, the program is modelled after the “highly successful” Wayfinders Program in the Seven Oaks School Division, which has been operating for more than a decade and has served more than 1,200 students. Eighty-five per cent of Wayfinders participants graduate on time, and 85 per cent transition to post-secondary education following high school, the BSD website says.

Rogowsky said a second cohort of students, who were in Grade 8 when they joined during the summer, has now transitioned into Grade 9. The program hopes to add a third cohort next summer and eventually serve students throughout all four years of high school, she said.

The program employs two student-parent support workers, Jasmine Boehmer and Mitalben Gadhave, each with a caseload of up to 25 students. Volunteers, community organizations and professionals have also contributed tutoring, presentations and activities, she said.

The program’s growth is exposing limitations with its current location.

She said the home economics classroom at Vincent Massey accommodates students doing homework, receiving tutoring, eating meals and participating in recreational and skill-building activities.

“The space also lacks adequate storage, with NorthStar’s equipment spread across four locations. Staff must pack up the program’s supplies at the end of each day because the classroom is being borrowed,” she said.

“We don’t have a home base for this North Star program.”

A permanent location would allow the program to create separate areas for studying, tutoring and social activities while providing room for longer-term projects such as woodworking, sewing and art, Rogowsky said.

Transportation is a barrier for some participants.

While public transit is free for students, some take more than an hour to reach North Star depending on their school and route, and other students depend on parents for transportation.

“A more central location could make the program more accessible and reduce transportation and mileage costs,” Rogowsky said.

The project also provides students with a meal each day, but the current site has no dedicated refrigerator or adequate food-storage space. She said a permanent kitchen would allow NorthStar to buy food in bulk, store leftovers and reduce waste.

Attendance has continued to increase. Rogowsky said 22 students attended a recent back-to-school pizza party, while 25 attended the program on Monday.

Students told trustees the program has also had an impact beyond academics.

One Grade 10 student said NorthStar had helped her become more open and confident, while another said it had become a place where students feel “supported, encouraged, heard and accepted.”

Trustee Kim Fallis said she hoped the division could work with the program to find a suitable space.

“I really don’t want to see us lose this program,” Fallis said.

Rogowsky and her team have done a great job establishing the program and are encouraged by the students’ response, BSD assistant superintendent of student services Susan Gilleshammer told the Sun.

“Beginning with a smaller cohort allows us to launch thoughtfully, learn from the first group of students and guide future decisions about growth and long-term integration into student support services,” she said.

Success for the NorthStar Project, she said, was measured using both quantitative and qualitative benchmarks, including attendance, credit completion, academic achievement, graduation rates and feedback from students and parents on confidence, engagement and progress toward personal goals.

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