Marcus Callaghan photo From left standing, Nick Downer, Andrew Chom, Caitlin Allison, Keri-Lyn Fehrenbach, Karin Lee, Emily Thiffault, Brian Wallace, Hephzibah Kamara; from left sitting, Fahma Ali, Krystal Sayer, Katie Diotte, Hamdi Ahmed: ROAD to Success ambassadors.

Twelve Algonquin students trained as college ambassadors will begin visiting regional high schools this month, in a government-funded mentorship program designed to inform teenagers about the benefits of post-secondary education.

The program, called ROAD to Success, is the first of its kind in Ontario.

The initiative is targeted at helping both first-generation students, meaning those whose parents did not attend a post-secondary institution, and students who may be at risk of dropping out.

“ROAD stands for results, opportunities, achievement and direction,” said Bruce Armstrong, manager of academic partnerships.

Armstrong, a former high school principal, is part of the Algonquin team overseeing the program.

Each of the college’s ROAD to Success ambassadors will enter a high school about once a week between February and May and speak with groups of three students who have been selected by their school.

The ambassadors will not only discuss benefits, but will also make the high school students aware of the barriers to post-secondary education and present strategies to overcome them.

The Algonquin students, who will be paid to represent the college, have been carefully selected and thoroughly trained in their role as mentors, said Armstrong.

He said most of those acting as ambassadors are very interested in being part of the helping industry.

“They want to do things that are going to help other people, and many are in programs where in fact that will be the case.”

Katie Diotte, first-year recreation and leisure student, said she can relate to the students she will be mentoring.

“I had a lot of problems throughout high school, and challenges, so this just seemed like a good way to help people who were like me in high school.”

Brian Wallace, a first-year fitness and health promotions student, said he faced difficulties in high school that made pursuing post-secondary studies harder.

As an ambassador, he hopes to get students thinking about the future early on, and show them how to avoid roadblocks to success by taking advantage of the opportunities available to them now.

The proposal for the program was made by Janet Stewart-Lussier, a consultant working for the college. A specialist in human performance improvement, she helped design and implement the same kind of program in New Brunswick.

Stewart-Lussier said she loves working with this program more than anything else, and that the project is an opportunity for personal development for everyone involved.

“We’re having an impact not just on the high school students but also on the 12 Algonquin College students who are going out as ambassadors.”

While the program is only a one-year pilot project, Stewart-Lussier said the expectation with its development was that the plan could be used by other institutions.

“It’s something that could be transferred and used across the province,” she said. “Algonquin has been good enough to take the lead on assembling it, trying it and putting in the administration time required to make it happen.”

The ROAD to Success program is funded by the Ministry of Education and by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, under its School/College/Work Initiative (SCWI).

“We’re trying to make sure students understand all the different post-secondary options that are open to them,” said Rosann Mullins, chairperson of the Eastern Ontario Regional Planning Team for the SCWI.

She said the project’s small-group approach is a great way to establish a dialogue in which the students can learn both from each other and the ambassador.

“I think that there’s many ways to find out what you can do when you leave high school, but the best way is to talk to people.”