HomeMy WebLinkAboutBritannia’s Streetfront program brings at-risk Vancouver students to Patagonia - Metro Ottawa - 03/12/2017 - Metro Ottawa - 03/12/2017 - Metro Ottawa - 03/12/20173/13/2017 Britannia's Streetfront program brings at -risk Vancouver students to Patagonia
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Britannia's Streetfront program Ibrings at.-irlslk Vancouverstudents to Patagonia
Alternative program gives students a chance to explore Patagonia, Chile on 14 -day trip.
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By: Ashley Singh For Metro, Published on Sun Mar 12 2017
Britannia Secondary's Streetfront alternative program, for local at -risk youth, will be taking 15 students to
Patagonia, Chile to the southernmost city in the world, Puntas Arenas.
The project Street2Peak developed in 2012 with the goal to take students from Britannia Secondary to
explore five continents over the span of 10 years. In 2015 its students climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Trevor Stoke, a teacher at Britannia for 17 years, said he's dedicated himself to ensuring his students who
come from non-traditional backgrounds are reaching their best potential through physical activities such as
running and hiking.
Street2Peak:
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"My entire motivation as an educator is to make these kids as independent as possible, to make them as
resilient as possible, to make them successful as possible, but also to give them as many good memories
as possible, that they can latch on to so they can be participants in the global world because they're not,"
Stokes said.
"They might see something through the internet but they don't know what it smells like, they don't know
what it feels like, they don't know how different voices sound but once they've done this trip, they will."
http://www. m etronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/03/12/bri tanni as-streetfront-br i ngs-at-risk-kids-to-patagoni a. pri nt. htm I 1/2
3/13/2017 Britannia's Streetfront program brings at -risk Vancouver students to Patagonia
Streetfront works with a group of at -risk kids, from Grades 8-10, who've faced disadvantages from a young
age. Almost 50 per cent of students have been involved in the criminal justice system and all at some point
have been asked to leave their high school, or have been selected for academic intervention.
Student Ibin Ardia will be one of the 15 students going to Patagonia.
"It's exciting to get the experience to just see a new place on this planet, to get a change of scenery
outside of Vancouver and to experience something new," said Ardia.
For most of the students, the trip is the first opportunity they've had to travel outside of the city and to get
the full-fledged experience of putting their skills to the test.
"For our little school to do it and all of the fundraising and all of the organizational stuff and also all of the
other kids that didn't make it, it was the most massive outpouring of emotion I've ever had. The kids were
in the exact same moment, experiencing exactly the same thing, that `we did it', and that really ... life is
pretty much summed up by that, believing that you can do it and achieving that goal," he said.
Students will head to Patagonia, Chile the weekend of Mar. 11-12 for 14 days and hike through the Torres
del Paine National park. The 120 -kilometre hike will take six days to complete.
http://www. m etronews.ca/news/vancouver/2017/03/12/bri tanni as-streetfront-brings-at-risk-kids-to-patagoni a. pri nt. htm I 2/2
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