The Promise Partnership is a service that provides educational support to the community with the help of volunteers from UNB since 2010. The service aims to help youth in two of Saint John’s priority neighbourhoods.
The mission of the Promise Partnership is to close the educational gap related to low economic status, while providing UNB students with volunteering opportunities.
With the help of these programs, students can thrive throughout high school and graduate, be prepared for the workforce or a secondary institution, and achieve appropriate levels of literacy.
When participating, volunteers get to create close ties with the community, and get hands-on-learning and personal experience. The program has three volunteering programs: mentoring, the Homework Club and high school tutoring.
Mentorship
This program pairs UNB student volunteers with children from kindergarten to grade five at Hazen White-St. Francis School. Volunteers help their mentee for an entire academic year from Monday to Friday. The mentors and mentees go through structured activities designed to assist in literary skills for an hour.
Mentoring provides the youth with a positive role model and academic and social support.
If interested in becoming a volunteer for the mentoring program, fill in the form on their website. The Promise Partnership does not offer transportation for volunteers to the school.
High school tutoring
This program offers tutoring services to youth in grades 9 to 12 in Crescent Valley and the Old North End. Twice a week, volunteers meet with youth at the Saint John campus and help them ensure their high school graduation. The high school tutoring program is designed and supervised by certified teachers to ensure that the tutoring aligns with current high school curriculum.
Youth in this program are encouraged to attend post-secondary opportunities and are offered bursary aid. At the time of publication, 100 per cent of the participants have graduated (80 to 90 per cent within the four year model and 10 to 20 per cent graduated within five to six years). Furthermore, 67 per cent of the participants have been accepted into post-secondary institutions.
If you are interested in volunteering for the high school tutoring program, please fill out the form on their website.
For more information about Promise Partnership programs email promise@unb.ca.
