The new school year has started and The Circle Salt Spring Education Society is gearing up for their Pass it On programs. New this year is the collaboration with Bullock Lake Farm for the Pass it On Boys program.

Pass it On is a safe and trusted space to develop core skills in the area of healthy relationships such as trust-building, acceptance, active listening, and boundary setting.

The Circle is excited for the new partnership with Bullock Lake Farm for the Pass it On Boys program. This collaboration will offer participants the opportunity to explore concepts of care, independence, leadership, and responsibility for themselves and others through hands-on, farm-based activities and projects.  Using a new delivery model, The Circle’s Kate Nash will lead a team of mentors, including local farmers, a filmmaker and some senior youth to take participants along the journey of an impactful curriculum in support of self-development.

“Bullock Lake Farm offers a playful and dynamic landscape for participants to engage with the outdoors, practice new skills, and develop a sense of belonging through team building, acts of service, and connection to the local food system,” says Sophia Gregory, CSA Manager at Bullock Lake Farm who is working on a fellowship with the Pathy Foundation to explore farm to school programming.

Funding programs like these is not easy at a time when funders are needing to re-prioritize to address imminent areas of need. “Programs for boys are particularly hard to fund, even at the best of times,” says Janine Fernandes-Hayden, Executive Director of The Circle.

“If we want to create meaningful change, especially when dealing with issues of gender, it seems a given that boys and men should be included into the equation in talking about healthy relationships with self and others.  It feels deflating to have to struggle so hard to justify the need for programming for boys,

Thankfully, a grant to The Circle from the Federal Department of Women and Gender Equality has come to recognize this and will fund the Pass It On Boys program for the next three years.  “At the beginning of the summer, we were at a place of having to charge fees for our after-school program,” Fernandes-Hayden continues. “While many youth recreational programs recognize this as a reality, it felt uncomfortable for programming that really needs to be accessible to all youth. We are thrilled to be able to continue to offer our Pass It On programs at no cost and to be able to have the funds to be a bit more creative.”

Pass it On Boys will start October 22^nd and runs until the end of June. Participants meet once a week on Friday, from 2:00 until 4:30 pm, at Bullock Lake Farm for outdoor and farm-based activities, challenges, and dialogue.

Pass it On Girls program will start on October 5th and runs until the end of May. Participants meet once a week on Tuesday, from 4:15 until 6:30 pm, at the SSE outdoor class, for activities, games, and circle discussions.

Both programs are free of charge. Send an email to info@thecircleeducation.org for more information and registration.