A Post-Pandemic Deep Dive into Motivation and Academic Success

The “summer slide” is when students lose academic knowledge and skills over the summer break. This phenomenon particularly affects students who are new to the country, as they face additional language and cultural barriers and may have problems adjusting that can affect their learning.

Thanks to the Youth Success Project, 10 summer camps that run social and language programs worked with over 350 children and 115 teens from recent immigration backgrounds to prevent the “summer slide.” Supported by the Fondation de lutte au décrochage scolaire de Montréal and developed thanks to a financial contribution from the Ministère de l’Éducation, Montreal Hooked on School and the Ville de Montréal, the project has helped young people from 13 Montreal neighbourhoods.

© Westhaven Elmhurst Community Recreation Association

Four neighbourhoods identified as priority sectors in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce face significant poverty issues that range from food insecurity and housing poverty to social isolation. Residents in these sectors, and particularly youths aged 6 to 12 who are mainly from Anglophone and Allophone areas, require special attention.

Four community centres in these vulnerable areas (Walkley Centre, St. Raymond Community Centre, Westhaven Elmhurst Community Recreation Association and Jeunesse Loyola) have come together to strengthen programs to support educational and social success through initiatives such as improving local homework assistance services and adding a mental health resource.

© La Maison des jeunes de Boucherville – La Piaule

Concerned about the impacts of the pandemic on young people, the youth-family emergency unit launched the community outreach project in the urban agglomeration of Longueuil in summer 2020. As a complement to the street outreach done by Macadam Sud, this project spearheaded by La Maison des jeunes de Boucherville – La Piaule reaches young people aged 6 to 18 directly where they hang out to create meaningful connections, proactively prevent problems, and refer them to available resources. The project also reached many young people who do not go to community agencies, have little to no knowledge of available resources, and were in very vulnerable situations.

Now carried out by about 15 agencies that have incorporated community outreach into their intervention approach, the project has led to a change in practices that has benefited not only these young people but also the agencies involved. Weekly meetings to track issues, training, and moments of discussion create bonds of trust between these partners, who are all working toward the same goal of helping youth.

© Philo-Boxe

Despite a rich and dynamic tradition of community action in Côte-des-Neiges, this neighbourhood has few resources for 12- to 18-year-olds. Philo-Boxe fills this gap by gearing its services to young people mainly from immigrant backgrounds who are facing specific issues: how they fit in with their new society while belonging to their society of origin, family tensions due to the transformation of traditional roles, and more.

Philo-Boxe gives them a space for philosophical discussion about themes that address identity, emotions, and values, while a boxing class lets them apply life skills such as openness, respect, mutual support, commitment, personal excellence, humility, effective communication, and healthy emotion management.