Kingston initiative.
Partners:
Molly Brant Public School, Limestone Continuing Education, Loyalist Collegiate & Vocational Institute, Winston Churchill Public School, Central Public School, Youth Diversion, Lancaster Drive Public School, Maple Elementary School, Polson Park Public School, James R Henderson Public School, R. G. Sinclair Public School.
Focus:
The Kingston Initiative aims to facilitate peer to peer discussions throughout schools in the Kingston community with the goal of enhancing the awareness of a variety of health topics relevant to Kingston youth. Our Peer Educators work with one another to connect with a variety of young individuals in the community and provide a safe space to facilitate conversation within a wide range of age groups.
Current Goals:
Establish sustainable, effective programs in all schools/community groups with the hopes that our initiative can expand to other classes within the schools/organizations.
Foster new relationships with other Queen’s clubs and organizations to create more partnership and awareness about health promotion in the Kingston community.
Ensure a relationship between all the PEs throughout QHO (Kingston and International) and provide them with a way to share teaching tips and tricks.
QHO’s Kingston initiative is unique in that it runs analogously throughout the school year from October to April. Peer Educators are hired in the early fall and immediately undergo concentrated ‘crash course’ training, where they are prepared by their Initiative Directors, QHO’s Executive Team, and other experts in the fields of health and education. PEs continue their training throughout the year as well, attending initiative specific meetings and relevant QHO-wide education sessions. The Kingston initiative works with a variety of age groups (from upper elementary to high school), and in a variety of learning environments including alternate classrooms and expanding beyond schools, including Boys and Girls Clubs.
The Kingston initiative focuses on health topics relevant to the Kingston community on a needs-basis, achieved through consultation with stakeholders. Past topics have included sexual health and puberty, mental health, substance use and abuse, communication and leadership, healthy eating habits, and goal setting to sustain a healthy lifestyle. One of the highlights of the Kingston initiative is the length of time that Peer Educators get to spend in each classroom; PEs get to establish truly peer-to-peer relationships with their students over the course of the school year, lending to the effectiveness of health discussion and sustainability of the initiative as a whole.
Each year the Kingston initiative looks to foster its existing relationships within the Kingston community, and is always open to expanding its reach through new partnerships.
“Working with QHO this past school year was one of the most educational and enjoyable experiences. As a Queen’s student living in Kingston, I felt that it was important to get to know the people of the community, outside of Queen’s. QHO allowed me to make connections with the students of the community by discussing a subject that I am very interested in, in new and interactive ways. QHO focuses on health discussions rather than lessons and allows the students to open up to us and form a connection. They led the discussions and it was amazing to watch all of the students become excited about health. The students taught me just as much as I taught them, and I am very grateful that I was able to be a part of their classroom for the year.”