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Pathways to Education Recognized for Innovative Youth Initiative

Recipient of 2007 Ruth Atkinson Hindmarsh Award

Toronto, June 27 2007 – The Pathways to Education Program is being honored as the 2007 recipient of the prestigious Ruth Atkinson Hindmarsh Award, in recognition of its tremendous success in helping young people in the Regent Park neighborhood achieve their full potential and in replicating this successful program in other low income communities.

“The Pathways program has achieved groundbreaking results in the educational achievement and wellbeing of young people.  We are very excited to support Pathways as it moves to expand this very successful model to other communities across Canada by working in partnership with funders, schools, the community and the parents.

Nancy Hindmarsh & Shequita Thompson, Pathways Graduate

Pathways transforms communities and builds brighter futures for youth at-risk,” said Nancy Hindmarsh, a board trustee of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation and chair of the selection committee.

The Pathways to Education Program was first created and implemented in Regent Park by the Regent Park Community Health Centre in 2001.  It seeks to ensure that young people from at-risk and/or economically disadvantaged communities achieve their full potential by getting to school, staying in school, graduating and moving on to post secondary programs.

“Our Program has succeeded in dramatically reducing the high school drop out rate from 56% to 10%; and increasing enrolment in post-secondary programs from 20% to over 75%. When young people graduate we all benefit. Not only does school success translate into an enormous savings in health care, correctional and social service expenditure down the road, the benefits of seeing happy, engaged young people graduating from our program are immeasurable,” said Carolyn Acker, Executive Director, Pathways Canada.

Based on its success over the past five years, Pathways now plans to take this good news story and share it with similar communities across Canada.  Beginning in 2006/2007, the Pathways model will begin to be adopted by and implemented through community partners in different regions of the country.

“Pathways has offered new hope, new possibilities, and new success for young people like myself.  Many of us have learned that we too can go to university of college and that we too can become doctors, teachers, or lawyers.  Pathways has helped me find my passion for a better life,” said Joey, a 2005 Pathways to Education program graduate.

The Ruth Atkinson Hindmarsh, is presented annually in memory of Ruth Atkinson Hindmarsh who served as president of the foundation until her death in 1994. Established in 1998 to improve the lives of disadvantaged children, the award is the largest of its kind in Canada.

School program honoured

Regent Park's Pathways to Education helps kids stay in school and go on to college or university