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Programs Offered YOUTH SUPPORT PROGRAM Inner City Youth Support Program provides youth with the tools, attitudes, and resources that they need to change their lives. From popular theatre to bus tickets this program makes it possible for youth to succeed. The Youth Support Program provides counselling to repair damaged lives, meals to feed hungry youth, transportation when needed, housing referrals, and other preventative programming. INNER CITY HIGH SCHOOL Inner City High School is an independent senior high school accredited by Alberta Education. The success of Inner City High School in creating opportunities for Edmonton's marginalized urban youth to succeed is built on a solid foundation of experience. We have learned in over 20 years of providing educational programming for Edmonton's marginalized urban youth that we must create the conditions for pedagogy to take place through our wrap around programming before academic studies can begin. Many youth carry years of unsuccessful experiences, lack of support, lack of resources and have long since given up on school. They require encouragement, small successes, flexibility, understanding and respect. The purpose of the Youth Support Program is to introduce Edmonton's marginalized urban youth to the possibilities that an education can bring, to replace hopelessness with hope, and to enable youth to develop basic skills, habits, and attitudes that will make academic success possible. Inner City High School provides opportunities for Edmonton's high risk youth to earn a high school diploma, pursue post-secondary education and/or full time employment; as a result, prevent their return to a life on the street. We offer a flexible but structured environment with small classes that average between 4 and 8 students with a teacher and a teacher aid, small group and one-on-one support. Without this support many youth who are now completing an education program would be statistics in our social service and/or justice system. In the words of well-known educator Ira Shor, "this [Inner City High School] is a municipal gem." We have an active partnership with the Journeys Cultural Exchange Program which pairs university students with youth from our programs in an ongoing cultural exchange and analysis of their cultural realities. This past year we served 314 youth many of whom, as the outcome data shows, added a degree of stability to their lives, developed plans and hope for the future. Eight students graduated with academic high school diplomas which make it possible for them to pursue post-secondary education. EDUCATION AND THE VIRTUAL WORLD This past year seven staff members working through avatars participated in a virtual world project that transported them through time to an Alberta pre-contact virtual environment where they experienced the impact of colonization, residential schools and the "Sixties Scoop" on Canada's indigenous population. The latent impact of the colonial and residential school experiences on Edmonton's high risk youth was the focus of this project. A secondary focus was to create a deeper understanding of the colonial process among our staff members. The project concluded with an exploration of ways our staff could contribute to a more hopeful future for the Aboriginal youth who come to our programs. OUTREACH PROGRAM The Outreach Program ran Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The program serves youth who are involved in other ICYDA programs and from the community. Sports, graphic arts, music creation and recording, digital photography and digital video are offered through workshops and open access programming. Attendance averaged at 8-15 youth. Supper is provided each night. Helping Youth Help Themselves ANNUAL REPORT 2015/2016 Programs Offered 9

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