Summer program gives high-achieving out-of-province high schoolers a taste of university life in Winnipeg

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/07/2023 (836 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Ava Fischer stepped off the airplane in Winnipeg, she didn’t know what to expect during her month-long stay at the University of Manitoba’s summer enrichment program for high-achieving high school students.

Shad Canada’s program is open to both Canadian and international students at 21 participating universities across the country.

“I was really nervous in terms of socializing and making new friends,” said Fischer, an Ontarian heading into Grade 12 who is one of 24 students who completed the program in Winnipeg.

“Shad has helped me prepare for university by giving me space to be myself and have a little bit of independence away from my parents.”

Shad Canada offers students who’ve graduated from grades 10 and 11 a hands-on-learning experience to develop their skills in entrepreneurship and science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM).

Approximately 1,100 students are selected from about 2,000 applicants and sent to different campuses across the country where they live in residence and participate in workshops, lectures and various STEAM-based activities, including heart dissections, robotics, coding and art therapy.

It’s an opportunity for high schoolers to live independently, work collaboratively on a design project and be introduced to activities that a first- or second-year university student would experience, said Shad Manitoba program director Danielle Pahud, an instructor in the U of M’s physics and astronomy department.

“The students light up as you expose them to different things,” said Pahud. “They’re selected because they are ambitious, curious and engaged.”

This July, students in the Shad program were asked to reimagine living spaces for Canadians in ways that increase sustainability, accessibility and community connection.

The students were divided into four groups of six and given up to 25 hours to establish a creative solution to the nationwide housing crisis.

They showed their design projects to their peers, program assistants, directors, managers and parents Thursday.

Fischer’s group came up with the idea of creating a micro-district community for new homeowners in Toronto, providing all necessary services and amenities within walking distance.

Their cost-effective idea would minimize urban sprawl, use sustainable materials and reduce carbon emissions.

Similarly, Anthony Zhang’s group drew a blueprint for a community complex focusing on effective, economic, clean and environmentally sustainable housing for people between the ages of 18 and 30.

Each group came up with various perspectives to solve the housing crisis, ways to benefit humanity and foster community relationships, said Pahud.

Zhang, another Ontarian heading into Grade 12, said he’s enjoyed meeting new people, having the opportunity to live on his own for a month and learn basic life skills.

“The independence that we have at Shad simulates university life, but with boundaries, so that you feel safe and not in a lot of stress,” he said, adding he wants to pursue engineering after high school.

By the third day, many of the students in the program said they felt as if they’ve known each other for years.

They were able to participate in recreational activities and check out the Assiniboine Park Zoo, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the fringe and folk festivals and took in a five-day trip to Churchill.

“I think my biggest takeaway from this whole program is to put myself out there and be open to new experiences and meeting new people,” said Fischer, who participated in a Canada-wide science fair last year and won a Shad scholarship. She’s planning to pursue post-secondary studies in health sciences.

Shad Canada started in Aurora, Ontario in 1981 with 22 universities offering the program annually. The University of Manitoba has since rebooted its program, which hasn’t been offered since 1995.

The Shad program benefits more than 20,000 people who are a part of the alumni network.

tessa.adamski@freepress.mb.ca