Riverton Family Centre

This internship meets the teacher candidate criteria as outlined in the 2008-2009 Teacher Education Program Information Booklet by:

·	fulfilling the Graduation Outcomes (pg. 3)
·	providing the teacher candidate with experience at a school site as well as a non-school site (pg. 33)
·	involving activities that exceed the minimum of 3 Standards of Practice (pg. 49)

General Details of the Initiative:

·	Student teachers travel from Canada to Kingston, Jamaica to share and develop their teaching and leadership skills with Jamaican youth.

·	Candidates will be billeted with a local family or at St. Theresa’s residences which is in a safe, central location of Kingston. Breakfast and dinner is included.

·	In Kingston, the Canadian teacher candidates work in local schools within the St. Patrick’s Foundation, a charitable organization consisting of schools and community centers seeking to empower citizens in needy areas of Kingston. Candidates will provide programming for students and assist teachers in a variety of ways such as teaching literacy, remedial programs, themed units that are prepared in advance, drama, physical education, “Success for All” programs, art and music.

·	Included in the Internship, teacher candidates participate in a five-day overnight camp experience for twenty children (age 12-15) from the Riverton community, led by Toronto teacher Maureen Roe and Mr. Junior Rowe, principal of the Riverton School. The twenty children and chaperones travel by bus from Riverton to a camp location in a beach setting in St. Ann, Runaway Bay, located approximately 3 hours from Kingston. Children participate in various camp activities (swimming, arts and crafts, sports) under the leadership of the Jamaican and Canadian teachers and enjoy a typical camp experience. At the same time, children engage in motivational activities to raise social conscience and encourage them to become conscientious citizens.

·	Upon their return to Kingston, the teacher candidates continue to provide educational programming and, where applicable, leadership training, at their host school for the remainder of the stay.

·	The entire cost of the trip, excluding flight, is $1,800.00 Canadian.

Background Information:

Riverton: The community of Riverton, situated in Jamaica’s capital city of Kingston is considered to be one of Kingston's poorest neighborhoods. Riverton is located beside the Kingston City garbage dump and consists, for the most part, of one-room huts that do not have running water and few have electricity. Many of the 5,000 residents of Riverton sustain themselves through the useable items they can find and sell among the garbage that is brought in by trucks several times a day.

The Riverton Family Centre Initiative was established in 2003 by Maureen Roe, an Ontario secondary school teacher, and Nathalie Lovasz, a psychology graduate student, to address the need for programs in Riverton. Since the establishment of the family centre, a wide variety of programs and initiatives (Youth Program, Community Outreach program, Counseling, Leadership Training, Resource Library), have been established to help alleviate some of the many problems plaguing the Riverton community. Each year teachers and skilled individuals travel to Kingston to volunteer in the Riverton School as well as in surrounding schools where they are supported by Mr. Junior Rowe, principal of the Riverton School.

Camp and Leadership Exchange: One of the annual programs offered by the Riverton Family Centre is a camp and leadership exchange. Teacher candidates will participate in this initiative which helps make a difference in the community at the grass roots level by providing community youths with leadership skills and camp experiences at a non-school site outside the community. It occurs in collaboration with community members and the Riverton Family Centre initiative and Camp Ekon, a co-ed summer camp 250 km north of Toronto on Lake Joseph.

Objectives:

The Riverton Family Centre provides opportunities for Canadian teachers to develop their teaching skills at an international level. The teaching experience in Jamaica builds skills that will prove valuable in a professional capacity as well as a personal capacity.

A five day overnight camp for twenty children from the low-income community of Riverton in Kingston, Jamaica provides teacher candidates the opportunity to apply their teaching and leadership skills in a non-school setting. It provides children from Riverton a camp experience, a five-day respite from the daily stresses of life that these children experience living in Riverton, and exposure to new experiences, thus broadening their horizons and motivating them to strive to make a difference.

Interested? Contact Maureen Roe to arrange a meeting.