Guide

Acceptance into the Post-Secondary Sponsorship Program:

•Applicants must apply for sponsorship through Student Services.

•To be eligible to receive sponsorship under the terms of the Post-Secondary Sponsorship Program, an applicant must be a beneficiary of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement as defined in Section 3 of the Agreement.

•The applicant must meet the entrance requirements of the recognized post-secondary institute to which he or she has applied, and be able to demonstrate a reasonable chance of success. Candidates are assessed by Student Services in the areas of: academic background, language level, maturity, motivation, and social responsibility. Student Services interviews and tests the applicants, and receives input from the applicants' teachers, principals, and from the local Education Committees.

•Applicants must be approved for sponsorship by the Executive Committee of Kativik School Board.

•A student accepted for sponsorship signs a Sponsorship Agreement Contract with Student Services. The signing of this agreement indicates that the student is able and willing to accept the responsibilities and obligations outlined in the Post-Secondary Sponsorship Program.

Pilot trainees and first-year college students live in student residences. Students with families, and students who have successfully completed two semesters at college, are eligible to move into one of Student Services' furnished and equipped apartments.

Residences: The residences are supervised in the evenings, overnight, and on weekends. In certain residences, supervisors are also available to assist students with their homework assignments. Residence students are expected to conform to the rules of their residence. These rules may include: respecting the curfew, participating in the housecleaning, and avoiding the use of drugs and alcohol.

Apartments: Apartment students and their families are expected to respect the rules of their apartment building. These rules include: respecting the peace and quiet of neighbors, avoiding violent behavior, supervising their children, and keeping their apartment in good condition. In addition, Student Services expects apartment students to refrain from abusing alcohol and from using drugs, and to demonstrate responsibility in caring for the furnishings and other items provided with the apartment.

Residence and apartment students receive a weekly spending allowance. In addition, apartment students receive money to pay for food, household supplies, personal hygiene items, and laundry, for themselves and their dependents. For students at the residences, these items are supplied.

All students receive a bus pass each month which permits them unlimited travel on the buses and metro.

The Sponsorship Program provides students with tuition fees, school books, and school supplies. Where necessary, babysitting services are also provided while the student is attending class, study sessions, and certain organized activities.

The Sponsorship Program does not provide students with clothes, knapsacks, telephones, T.V.'s, sports equipment, etc.

Students in some residences have their meals provided for them. Other residence students, and apartment students receive a food allowance, and shop for and prepare their own food. At the colleges, cafeterias offer good quality lunches at low prices, or students may pack their own bag lunches.

Students and their dependents are provided with return transportation between their home community and the locale of their post-secondary institution each year. They are entitled to travel to their home community at Christmas. There is also a third trip home available to them annually, which may be used during the second semester, at the discretion of the co-ordinator of Student Services.

Students and their dependents are entitled to a cargo allowance for the purpose of transporting personal effects to their post-secondary place of residence.

Each student is assigned a Student Services Counsellor, who is available to the student for personal, educational, and career counselling, depending on the student's needs. The counsellor is usually the student's most direct link to the School Board, and is concerned with the student's well-being, both in and out of school.

Personal Counselling. Students may choose to discuss a variety of personal concerns with their counsellor. Some of these concerns may include: budgeting difficulties, medical concerns, adaptation to the south, relationships, addictions, child raising, depression, life skills, family problems-including family of origin issues, family violence, and sexual abuse.

Educational Counselling. This area of counselling focuses on such issues as time management, procrastination, stress, shyness, discouragement and frustration, and responsibility.

Career Counselling. In career counselling students are helped to define their interests and their goals, make choices and decisions, and explore possible careers.

All counselling sessions are held in the strictest confidence.

According to the needs and requests of the students, Student Services provides information sessions on such topics as Alcoholism, Aids, Nutrition, etc. Interested students are encouraged to attend.

Student Services provides students with names, addresses, and telephone numbers of doctors, specialists, and clinics in the student's neighborhood. For dentistry, most students visit the dental clinic at the Montreal Children's Hospital.

In order to succeed in post-secondary education, students must be able to determine what is required of them, and be able to develop the skills and personal discipline necessary to meet those requirements. To assist students in making the transition from the high school system to the more challenging demands of college, Student Services provides an Academic Assistance Program. The choice of especially selected and developed courses, and the help of an Academic Assistance Counsellor, combine to make the first semester of college a guided experience. Students become increasingly independent as they demonstrate academic survival skills and responsibility.

First year college students come down in the summer to participate in an intensive 3-week college preparatory program designed to improve their study skills, acquaint them with their college, and give them the opportunity to adjust to life in the south before their semester begins. The three-week program also includes a 2 day orientation to Student Services. The College Preparatory Program is designed and delivered by Student Services.

Tutors are available to students who require this service at any time during their post-secondary studies.

Student Services organizes and sponsors regular outings and activities. All sponsored post-secondary students in and around the Montreal area are invited to enjoy these events.

Students coming south for Post-Secondary Education have a lot to deal with. College, pilot training, and other post-secondary programs of study are difficult and challenging. Life in the south is different and can easily become overwhelming. Students cannot deal with the pressures and responsibilities of school if they are under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Everyone is now aware of the devastating effects these addictive substances have on people's lives. For these reasons, students may not take drugs and may not abuse alcohol while they participate in the Sponsorship Program. Any student (or dependent) who feels that he or she has a substance abuse problem can turn to Student Services for direction and assistance.

1.Students are to consider school as their priority andtheir responsibility. Studies, assignments and examinations must be completed conscientiously.

2.Students attend their classes daily and on time. Absenteeism is only warranted with a valid reason.

3.Students are expected to abide by the rules established in their apartment building or those at the student residences.

4.Students should not abuse alcohol at any time. Students must not be in possession of, must not use, and must not traffic illegal drugs.

5.Students violating the rules of conduct can expect a serious evaluation, and risk losing their status within the Sponsorship Program.

Counsellors from Student Services visit the schools in Nunavik in the fall, and then again in the spring. The principle objective of their visits is to meet with the secondary 5 students.

During the fall trip, the counsellor meets the secondary 5 classes, and introduces Student Services and the Post-Secondary Sponsorship Program. He also presents the various options for post-secondary education, and conducts an interest exploration activity with the class. The counsellor interviews each graduating student to discuss her/his interests and goals, family situation, and personal concerns. At this time, the student completes the confidential interview form. During the same trip, the counsellor meets with the Principal, to review the students' credits, and discuss the principal's concerns and recommendations. There is also a meeting with the secondary 5 teachers to discuss the progress of each student. The teachers complete student assessment forms.

During the spring trip, the counsellor again meets with the graduating students, both as a group, and individually. They discuss the plans for the up-coming year that will be spent attending a post-secondary institute outside Nunavik. The college bound students are informed about the College Preparatory Program. The counsellor also administers the TOEFL test (Test of English as a Foreign Language), the results of which are used to place the students in the program most suited to their language level. Again, the counsellors meet with the teachers and principal to discuss their recommendations as well as the students' progress. Student Services also holds an information session with the parents of the graduating students and the Education Committee.

During the Northern trips, it is sometimes possible, depending on time constraints, for counsellors to meet with other groups of students, and they are occasionally requested to do so.

•Any student applying to college through Kativik School Board must make sure that Student Services has received all the necessary documents, including a birth certificate, by February 15th of the year in which they plan to attend college in the fall.

•Any application which is incomplete, or which is received after February 15th, will be considered to be a late application. As late applications are less likely to be accepted by the colleges, it is important to respect the February 15th deadline.

•Secondary 5 students who are applying to college must pay particular attention to their first and second term marks. Students who are failing courses at Christmas will have less chance of being accepted by the College, even if they do well in their third and fourth terms.

Anyone with any questions about Post-Secondary education is most welcome to call Kativik School Board in Montreal, and ask to speak to a Student Services' Counsellor.

The number is 1-800-361-2244.