So many students live with hunger, financial insecurity or unstable housing conditions
COURTENAY — Poor attendance is the most main reason many impoverished students fail to graduate, says Karma Taiji, co-principal of Glacier View Secondary, a Comox Valley alternate school with 190 students.
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Poverty can be demoralizing, and three-quarters of Glacier View students live with hunger, financial insecurity or unstable housing conditions.
So attending school might seem like a low priority given what they are dealing with.
But that can be overcome, says Taiji, if students can find support at school with food, clothing and help with their personal hygiene needs.
“We want to support students who need individualized approaches to allow them to attend school and obtain their high school certificate,” said Taiji.
She and co-principal Stephanie Baker are seeking $5,000 from The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School campaign in order to target impediments preventing attendance at the school .
“As an alternate school, poor attendance is often a main barrier to graduation,” said Baker.
“By having safe spaces and access to programs that support food and financial insecurity … we can encourage students’ attendance and their ultimate success.”
Many of the students need help.
“They need clothes — toiletries are a big one for them. They need personal-care items such as deodorant, shampoo, feminine hygiene products,” said Taiji.
“We have families who contact us and say, ‘We don’t know how we are going to make ends meet this week. This is what we are struggling with because costs have gone up so much.’
“So in order to get their kids to school, we need to be able to help them.”
This help can include providing grocery gift cards to help families when they run out of food and money.
Teachers in all parts of the province report that many families living on social assistance or working at low-paying jobs are finding it difficult to feed themselves due to the high cost of rent and inflated grocery prices.
Last year, Glacier View received funds from Adopt-A-School and used that money to provide impoverished families with grocery gift cards, and students with toiletries and clothes. It made a huge difference, she says.
Sometimes the help is as simple as paying to fix a broken bicycle that a student needs to get to school or buying a bike helmet for another student’s safety.
Last year there was some leeway on using provincial government funds for providing food for students outside of a school setting but that has since changed and now those funds can only be used for in-school food.
For students not living at home but in ministry funded low-income apartments, or those in recovery and in transitional housing and at risk of becoming homeless, there is a need for grocery cards and help with clothing and other necessities.
“We need to be able to give them what they need to get them to school. Get them here clean and healthy and fed so we can focus on the academic part,” said Taiji.
The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program has received requests from schools totaling almost $2.9 million this year. Most of the requests are for help with food, clothing and necessities.
How to donate
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