CAPSTONE PROGRAM NEWS | NOVEMBER 2015

Social Justice, Service and Sustainability

By Jeff Cole
One of the questions I frequently get asked about the
program is: What does CAPSTONE mean? or How did you
come up with the name? Im going to share a little secret
with you: CAPSTONE wasnt always the programs name.

Illuminating Minds

For a period of several months in the early phase of

development, the working title for the program was simply
CAP, which stood for Community Ambassador Program. I
always knew that CAP wasnt a name that was going to last,
as I never felt it was marketable enough, or encompassing
enough. CAPSTONE is much more symbolic, as it refers to a
crowning achievement or culminating experience.
Nevertheless, as you have probably noticed, CAP is still
very much a part of CAPSTONE literally and figuratively.
Temporarily naming the program CAP was significant in that
it represented an important idea. From the very start, there
was a clear vision that this program would strive to connect
returning graduates a.k.a. ambassadors to their
community on issues of social justice, through service
learning, to the end of achieving greater sustainability.
This vision still holds true, and we now have many tangible
examples of students embracing this vision through their
service in the program, as ambassadors for social justice and
sustainability.

Inspiring Hearts

Empowering Hands

The October issue of CAPSULE featured project work by

students in the Environmental Inquiry and Sustainability in
Action course. While there is a clear link to the theme of
environmental sustainability through the project work
undertaken by students in this course, it goes one step
further for students enrolled the in Applied Social Research
course. Considering sustainability in broader terms includes
issues not only of an environmental nature, but includes
issues of a social, economic or cultural nature as well. As a
result, students in the Applied Social Research course have
looked at issues of youth empowerment, voter apathy,
homelessness, mental health and stigma, food security and
poverty. Moreover, they have had various chances to
address these issues, through research and action.
As you read this issue of CAPSULE, I hope you can
appreciate how the students have become empowered
through their work, seeking to identify and address issues
that they see in their school and community.

APPLIED SOCIAL RESEARCH:

AMBASSADORS AT WORK

By Rachel Blackwell, Madelaine Dagenais, Stefania

Stachura, Shelby Williams, Stephen Valiquette

Members of the Applied Social Research team have been working on a number of projects this semester.
Our Canada Project Ambassador Program
Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is a Canadian
charitable organization whose goal is to integrate
sustainability learning into the education system. The Our
Canada Project was created by LSF to encourage youth
to participate in sustainable living, and to develop
environmental, social, economic and/or culturally-focused
projects that contribute to more sustainable communities. As
trained ambassadors for the Our Canada Project, we were
given the opportunity to travel to local schools to teach
students in Grades 4 to 6 about sustainability and to help
them start student-initiated class projects. We visited 7
classes at 5 local schools. Each class came up with a new
and exciting idea for their schools or communities. You can
see their projects here: www.OurCanadaProject.ca.

Dress for Success

Dress for Success is an international volunteer-driven
charitable organization, with an affiliate serving Barrie and
Orillia. Members of our team have been volunteering this
semester by organizing inventory, fundraising, and fitting
women with professional clothing for interviews and newly
earned jobs. The women who benefit from the Dress for
Success program are either underemployed or seeking
employment through referral agencies, such as Ontario
Works or Couchiching Jubilee House. We are also
conducting a professional clothing and shoe donation drive to
support the organization. This opportunity has allowed us to
build our experience with volunteering, organization, improve
our confidence in public situations, and to network with
people who are involved with the charitable / non-profit sector
in our community.

Orillia Youth Homelessness Survey

Over the past several months, members of the Orillia Youth
Opportunities Committee, the Director of Youth Opportunities
at the Orillia Youth Centre and members of the general public
have been meeting to discuss the issue of youth sheltering in
Orillia, as part of the Youth Homelessness Task Force. The
task force was in the midst of revising a youth homelessness
survey that was last completed in 2011, and approached the
Board about conducting the survey at Patrick Fogarty to
update its statistics for a report to be submitted to City
Council. The Applied Social Research team took on this
initiative. We revised the survey, developed a methodology
for distributing it to students within the school, carefully
gathered and analyzed the data, and recently presented a
professional report back to the task force. This was an
excellent experience for our team that gave us experience
with the research process and proper ethical procedures.

Live Different Assembly

Live Different is a movement focused on changing
ourselves and the world around us by embracing a lifestyle
that cares for people, not stuff. Going beyond traditional
motivational speaker presentations, Live Different offers a
live, concert-style, motivational assembly complete with
music, skits and stories. Our team is working with the
organization to host a school-wide assembly on Monday,
December 14. The organizations theme for 2015-2016
focuses on helping each student to embrace his/her life story,
find hope within it, and recognize the power they have to
change its direction. By steering students inner dialogue to a
hope based outlook, we are addressing many of the
underlying factors of mental health, bullying, and identity.

Researcher Diane Hedin indicates that one of the biggest problems students must overcome in school is a lack of motivation.
Service learning that is tightly integrated with ones course of study provides students with the motivation necessary to
put forth effort in academics, it gives them more opportunities to integrate and elaborate on their knowledge, and it increases the
likelihood of transferring theoretical knowledge to actual practice. Briefly, research indicates that service learning can:
increase students' personal, interpersonal and social development (Billig, 2000);
increase motivation, student engagement, and school attendance (Billig, 2000); and,
lead to new perspectives and more "positive lifestyle choices and behavior." (Civic Literacy Project, 2005)

Womens empowerment initiatives, such as Dress for

Success, help to educate and empower women, who may
be homeless or living in poverty, with the skills and
confidence necessary to secure a job, create a healthy
lifestyle, and regain a home for themselves and their children.
Shelby Williams and Madelaine Dagenais are pictured
above at a recent fundraising event. With their teammates
they are also conducting a clothing donation drive.

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have

physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and healthy life. Helping with the
Orillia Community Garden is one way to help ensure this
happens, and so Katie Brown, Taylor Fischer, Marshall
Murphy, Stephen Valiquette, Andrew Makey-Heindl,
Madelaine Dagenais and Ashley Lee lent a hand.

The case for nature conservation is more than simply

environmental or aesthetic, it is increasingly economic, as the
value of the services our ecosystems provide are beginning
to be understood. Tye Carnahan and Andrew Makey-Heindl
got first hand experience with the Couchiching Conservancys
renovation at Grants Woods, helping the organization grow
and green for the future.

A team of students recently presented the results of their

youth homelessness study to representatives from the
Orillia Youth Opportunities Committee, building
community awareness and knowledge on this issue.

For more information, contact:

The mission of Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is
to promote, through education, the knowledge, skills,
perspectives and practices essential to a sustainable future.
The organization offers a number of innovative programs that
empower youth and educators to create more sustainable
communities. CAPSTONE has been fortunate to be
partnered with LSF on several initiatives, including:

Climate Reality
Speaker Event
On September 25th,
Samantha Gawron and
Joanne Huy from LSF
came to speak to
students about the
realities of climate
change, and how students could get involved in various ways
to promote sustainability in their own lives, and community.

EcoLeague Youth
Forum, Milton
Students had an
opportunity to assist
LSF with its EcoLeague
Youth Forum in Milton
on October 20.
EcoLeague is a youth
empowerment program that challenges and motivates
students across the country to help save the planet through
community and school-based sustainability action projects.

Our Canada Project

Ambassador
Program
As trained ambassadors
for the Our Canada
Project, students have
travelled to local schools
to teach students in
Grades 4 to 6 about sustainability and to help them start
student-initiated class projects. The ambassador team
conducted workshops with 7 classes at 5 local schools.

Mr. Jeff Cole

CAPSTONE Coordinator
Phone: 705.722.3555 ext. 391
Email: jcole@smcdsb.on.ca
Program website:
www.smcdsbcapstone.ca
Program blog:
www.smcdsbcapstone.ca/blog
Twitter:
@smcdsbCAPSTONE
#CAPSTONEblog
Instagram:
smcdsbCAPSTONE