Caption: Life Education Program graduates at AY Jackson SS with System Superintendent Karen Murray and Social Worker Ryan Fuentes.
The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement is thrilled to have launched the Life Education Program at the Toronto District School Board for the 2022-2023 academic year. Initiated and led by Social Worker Ryan Fuentes and aligned with the Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement mandates, the purpose of the program is to provide students with culturally relevant and responsive mentorship spaces that help to identify and facilitate Black-affirming healing practices and strategies to address stigma, anti-Black racism and racial trauma within educational institutions.
The program was first piloted at AY Jackson SS this past fall for 12 weeks. Enrolled students were mentored and supported by System Social Worker Ryan Fuentes and Graduation Coach for Black Students Keisha Evans, in collaboration with staff from AY Jackson SS. And upon completion of the program, the Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement awarded 19 students graduation certificates. Due to the success of the pilot program, beginning in March 2023, the Life Education Program commenced with a new cohort of students at Shoreham Public Sports and Wellness Academy and Westview Centennial SS.
The coordination and facilitation of the program is a response to long-standing community organizing around increased access to appropriate mental health services and social-emotional support, particularly for Black boys. “Recognizing that anti-Black racism is embedded within diverse systems like education, which continues to adversely impact the mental health and well-being of Black students, culturally relevant mental health programs like the Life Education Program are needed within schools and communities,” says Fuentes.
The goal of the Life Education Program is to provide a safe space that focuses on prevention, healing, identity affirmation and building a strong sense of community where Black students can reach their full academic and health potential. The four central topics covered within the program through a preventative strength-based approach are academic achievement, mentorship, emotional intelligence, and mental health. Weekly sessions incorporate play therapy activities, resource sharing on access to appropriate Black mental health supports, and building mental health literacy through workshops.
The Life Education Program has been able to yield positive outcomes within the AY Jackson SS community. When asked how this program has made an impact in his life, Grade 12 student Jayvon Jeffers said, “I feel like it impacted my life because it helped me to process things that I am going through, it helped me to meet new friends, and helped me to become a better person.” In addition, Jeffers said, “I learned to not loose ball, which means not being late for class, and to make sure I am doing the right things, being in this program keeps me from getting in trouble... because where I was before was not a good place.”
Students enrolled in the Life Education Program are provided with the knowledge, skills, and tools for centering their mental health and well-being using an anti-Black racism framework. This includes:
- Improved understanding and knowledge of the anti-Black racism students may face within schools and society;
- Enhanced awareness of appropriate mental health resources in support of Black students;
- Increased emotional intelligence and mental health literacy;
- Identification and development of their own personalized coping and healing strategies;
- Increased awareness of how to advocate for student well-being at school.
By completing this program, students gain an improved sense of belonging and develop more positive attitudes toward schooling. The program also includes modeling and having critical conversations with staff on how to foster socially-emotionally nurturing environments for Black students. “The goal now is that more Black students from across the Toronto District School Board are able to engage with this program and that it continues to yield positive outcomes for as many students as possible,” says Fuentes.
Throughout 2023, Fuentes aims to support capacity building with other TDSB school-based staff, so that other schools will be able to implement the program and a larger number of Black students can be served.
Caption: Life Education Program participants at AY Jackson SS with Social Worker Ryan Fuentes.