They\u2019re clearly too young to be post-secondary students, but the halls, green spaces and athletic areas of Brock University are filled with energetic youths wearing brightly coloured T-shirts.<\/p>\n
Brock Youth University is a wide-ranging program that brings thousands of young people onto campus throughout the year. They\u2019re taught life skills, they\u2019re challenged to get out of their comfort zone, and they learn about the value of lifelong learning.<\/p>\n
But mostly, they\u2019re having fun while learning about post-secondary education and life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to break down the barriers to education, and we\u2019re recognizing the importance of starting very young. Most kids start making their decisions on post-secondary prior to Grade 9, and soft skills development must start at a young age,\u201d said Kate Cassidy, Director, Brock Youth University & Community Learning at Brock.<\/p>\n
Those \u2018soft skills\u2019 are a big focus for Brock Youth University.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmployers are saying the soft skills are what really matter to them right now. That\u2019s where the skill gap is,\u201d she said. \u201cThese are really just foundational skills \u2014 self awareness, communication skills, problem solving and interpersonal skills. Developing these skills doesn\u2019t start at 18, it starts when they\u2019re much younger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those soft skills are also what many schools are looking for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were looking for a different experience. A lot of these kids are very academic and need to have some fun experiences,\u201d said Heather Purcell, the vice-principal at Castlemore Public School in Markham, an elementary school with some of the highest standardized test scores in the province. Instead of the usual Grade 8 trip to Montreal, Purcell and teacher Karen Styles decided on an overnight camp at Brock.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur kids are under a lot of pressure and we needed them to learn life skills, not academic skills,\u201d said Styles. \u201cThey found the activities really fun and the kids said they were really bonding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cassidy is expecting a record-high of nearly 6,000 youths from Grade 2 to Grade 10 to come to the University this summer in a variety of Brock Youth University programs.<\/p>\n
The activities and camp themes vary widely from Zombie biology to 3D design to leadership.<\/p>\n
But the overarching focus this year remains on those transferable skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cResearch is showing that key soft skills and dispositions are malleable and can grow throughout a lifetime. The research also emphasizes the importance of developing these skills early,\u201d said Cassidy.<\/p>\n
She said even while learning about science, for example, the instructors are helping students to focus on gaining those transferrable skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might be working in a science lab, but for us it isn\u2019t about the science, it\u2019s about developing the interpersonal skills that will translate to positive outcomes down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They\u2019re clearly too young to be post-secondary students, but the halls, green spaces and athletic areas of Brock University are filled with energetic youths wearing brightly coloured T-shirts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":39772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,4052,1],"tags":[4228,4229,4230],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39771"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39775,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39771\/revisions\/39775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}