Durham College and partnering school boards honoured 150 secondary school students who successfully completed the Centre for Success program on January 16 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre (CRWC). The program, hosted on Durham College’s Oshawa and Whitby campuses through the School College Work Initiative, offers secondary school students another route to graduate by engaging them in a college environment.  In addition, most of the students earn a college credit alongside their secondary school diploma requirements.

“I’ve always been told I have great potential but I never realized how much until I joined the Centre for Success,” said Jade Evans, one of the students selected to speak about their educational experiences at the ceremony. “The teachers are great and the environment is unrestricted which is exactly what high school should be.”

From its humble beginnings in 2006 with 14 students the Centre for Success has continually grown to offer more students the opportunity to succeed. This year was no exception as the program introduced the first provincial pilot project dual credit class. Nine students from the Learning and Life Skills program at Clarington Central Secondary School took part in the Community Integration through Co-operative Education (CICE) dual credit program. These students were provided with the opportunity to experience college life and enhanced academic learning by enrolling in the program modified to fit their academic abilities.

“The pilot program was such a great success because these students would not normally have the opportunity to think about college,” said Gail MacKenzie, manager of strategic initiatives. “With them being immersed in a college credit they know they have an opportunity to come to college in the future which allows them to acknowledge and prepare for it.”

Plans are in place to continue the provincial pilot project alongside the Centre for Success in fall 2014 with additional school boards beginning to show interest in joining.