Second chances are offered at Portage centre

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/09/2015 (3858 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Age is no barrier to learning at Portage Learning and Literacy Centre, and the staff believe in keeping the door open for those who want to return to the classroom.

“There are always opportunities to come back and try again,” said program director Cathy Dowd.

“We want them (students) to feel safe and comfortable,” said education director Caroline Cannon.

This open-door policy has prevailed at the centre, located at 110 Saskatchewan Ave. W in Portage la Prairie, for 20 years. The staff and students recently celebrated the centre’s 20th anniversary. About 400 centre students have earned their high school equivalency in that time.
Cannon said the centre’s programming has changed over the two decades to reflect Central Plains Region residents’ needs. It began as a job-finding club, and now offers services in four main areas: employment, settlement, Mature 12 diploma and literacy.

The centre works with Employment Manitoba to help people with their job search. Staff work with
approximately 300 job seekers each year to identify job opportunities, practise interview skills, and prepare resumes and cover letters.

The Newcomer Welcome Centre’s settlement services were added to the centre’s programs about eight years ago. Cannon said recent immigrants who move to the region can have a needs assessment done to determine what type of help and training they need. Centre staff work to integrate them into the local community and offer English language classes twice a week.

Some are well-educated, but require help in accessing training needed to have their education recognized by Manitoba employers.

“That opens up a whole set of issues,” Dowd said.

Dowd said while most immigrants to the area were once agricultural labourers, they now see more people moving in to be with their families, with many coming from India, Ukraine and the Philippines. They work with about 200 newcomers each year.

Daniel Fleiter, 41, is a truck driver, originally from Germany, who now works for a local company. He said he appreciates the social support that the centre’s staff give to newcomers to Canada. He’s had help in filling out paperwork and had opportunities to meet local residents and make new friends.

The Mature 12 diploma program is a Grade 12 equivalency that adults aged 19 and up who have been out of school for more than nine months can take. Cannon said graduates earn a diploma that is accepted by post-secondary institutions. Certified teachers at the centre instruct in English, math and other subjects, with a few subjects offered through online instruction.

Cannon said that since the centre switched from mostly providing online lessons to classroom education, the number of graduates has grown. “When we switched to the teacher-based classes, we do have a better success rate.”

The centre’s literacy services are designed mainly to help people who’ve been out of school for many years.

“Some people come here because they’ve never learned how to read,” Dowd said. They have had students in their 60s and 70s.

A 50-year-old Portage resident, who asked not to be named, recently started his second year of educational upgrading through the centre. He said he left school in Grade 9 because of a parent’s death. At that time, he didn’t value education, but after years of working as a seasonal labourer, he’s aiming to enter a trade after he earns his diploma.

“I’m motivated to learn now,” he said.

“The majority do go on to employment,” Dowd said. “We work really hard to keep track of our students.”

The centre has an on-site daycare providing service for their students and clients. Centre literacy co-ordinator Bev Melnychuk understands the extra barriers single parents face when working to upgrade their education.

The mother of three children, she began working at the centre as a teacher assistant in 1995, but had to earn her Grade 12 diploma. She later bussed in to Winnipeg a few evenings a week to take educational assistant training at the University of Winnipeg, finishing a five-year program in two and a half years.

For more information on Portage Learning and Literacy Centre, see www.learningcentre.net