Northern Youth Abroad

Northern youth learn skilled trades and receive career coaching at Ottawa Campus

Students wear aprons and chef hands in a professional kitchen, holding cookies, salsa and guacamole.

Students showcase their culinary creations, including cookies, guacamole and Pico de Gallo. (DJ Porter/NYA)

Participants from the Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Next program have returned to Algonquin College to learn life skills and receive individual career coaching. Open to Nunavut and the Northwest Territories youth aged 16-22, NYA Next students reside at the Ottawa Campus for several weeks in July while taking classes in the applied trades and live as a post-secondary student. The twenty-three students in this year’s cohort will leave the program with high school credits, career preparedness and volunteer experience.

NYA Next participants gain valuable experience in constructions skills and culinary arts, where they learn to construct dog houses and mix recipes for cookies, guacamole and Pico de Gallo. New this year is the addition of welding, automotive, music, horticulture and finance classes.

A student welding while an instructor watches nearby

An NYA Next participant practices welding under the watchful eye of an instructor. (DJ Porter/NYA)

Students stand beside plant pots in a garden.

Participants transplant elephant ears (and dodge worms!) at the Horticulture Gardens.

Two students and an instructor look at a car on an auto lift.

Automotive class is a new addition to the NYA Next program. (DJ Porter/NYA)

More information about the NYA Next program can be found on the NYA website.

Students from N.W.T. and Nunavut learn carpentry, life skills at Ottawa Campus

Fifteen students from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) have come to Algonquin College to participate in this year’s Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Next program. Open to youth aged 16-22, NYA Next students live at the Ottawa Campus while receiving individual career coaching, volunteering in the community and learning presentation skills. They leave the program with high school credits, career preparedness, and the experience of living on a college campus.

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Northern Youth Abroad students learn culinary, carpentry skills at Ottawa Campus

For three weeks in July, Northern youth aged 16-22 from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut travel to the Ottawa Campus to build career and life skills in the Northern Youth Abroad (NYA) Next program. This year, 21 participants are living on campus while they volunteer in the community, receive individual career coaching, and develop public speaking and presentation skills. They leave the program with high school credits, career preparedness, and the experience of living on a college campus.  Continue reading