Adventure Class program could come to an end after 36 years

By Jessica Schmidt

BELLEVILLE – Parents and kids are disappointed at the possibility of the Adventure Class program coming to an end this year. 

Adventure Class, run out of Queen Victoria Public School on Pine Street in Belleville, is a hands-on, experiential learning program for kids in grades 1 to 6. It promotes family involvement and allows for students to learn outside of the normal grade structure. Adventure Class is split into two sections: the primary class includes kids from grades 1 to 3, and the junior class has kids from grades 4 to 6. 

Back in 2019, before the COVID pandemic, parents of kids in the program were sent a letter stating that it would be cancelled after the 2022-23 school year. Keelin Mayer, a parent with two sons in the program, said there wasn’t any warning or discussion prior to the letter being sent home.

“We were all shell shocked,” she said. “It was an awful feeling to feel like our voices didn’t matter, our children’s voices didn’t matter.” 

Ever since the news broke, Mayer said, parents have been advocating and fighting for the decision to be changed. Parents have gathered in protests outside of the Hastings Prince Edward District School Board offices, they’ve sent letters and done campaigning on social media, all in an effort to keep the Adventure Class program alive. She even created a petition in hopes of getting the school board to re-consider their decision.

Mayer said her hope for the petition is to start a conversation about what can be done to save the program. She also wants to show he kids that people outside of the program care, she said.

“If you look at the petition, there’s 1,181 signatures right now. So 1,181 signatures of people that don’t necessarily know my kids are standing up for them. And that’s really powerful for a child to understand.”

Before joining the Adventure Class, Mayer said, her eldest, Hunter, was scared to go to his kindergarten classes because he was being bullied. She and her husband looked at other alternative programs before Mayer attended an information night for Adventure Class, and after being surrounded by other parents whose children loved school they made the decision to enrol their son.

“My son has thrived,” Mayer said. “He feels comfortable. He feels supported. He feels that when he has an issue, he has a voice, and that his teachers and his peers want to hear his voice. And that they will work as a collective to problem solve – to find solutions, together.” 

As part of the Adventure Class experience, the kids go out into the community. They go to the public library and art gallery in Belleville, as well as to the Frink Center, an outdoor education park in Belleville. They also go skating once a week and are taught by parents. 

The program is built on family involvement. Parents can volunteer in the classroom to help the teachers and they can sign up to go on the adventures outside of school with the kids. 

Rachael Bertram said she and her wife enjoy being able to volunteer in the classroom so they can better help their son, Ryker. It’s easier to help him at home when she knows what he’s been doing in the classroom, she said.

Bertram’s son is in his first year of Adventure Class this year. She and her wife knew before signing up that the program might end, she said. 

“We had heard that it could possibly be cancelled, But we felt strongly that having even a year or two years or three years … would be very meaningful in his schooling experience. And we felt that it would be worth it to put him in, even if it’s just for, say, a couple of years.”

She’s noticed that her son has picked up positive behaviours from the older kids, and his problem-solving skills have improved, she said.

Galen Nuttal, a father whose two kids were also in the program, said that when his daughter, Katherine, first started she was really shy, and now as she’s finishing up her last year, he’s noticed her coming out of her shell.

His children benefitted in different ways, he said: his son, Logan, enjoyed the challenge of the curriculum, and Katherine gained a lot of confidence. 

He himself has been a teacher, and he’s never seen anything like the Adventure Class program, he said. He wishes that any kids who want to experience a program like it could do so, he added.

“It would be a huge shame and a huge loss for the school board (to end the program), because it’s really provided an experience for a lot of kids who’ve thrived in that environment.”

When parents were notified of the program’s cancellation, they were told it was due to a lack of space at the soon-to-be-built Easthill Elementary School, where students from Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth schools are to be moved. The parents were also told that there wasn’t a need for the program anymore, because what it offers is readily available in classrooms across Ontario already. Mayer disagrees.

“I think that it is really important to understand that, as in anything, education is not a one-size-fits-all situation … All of our children are unique, all of our children have unique learning needs, and that’s inside the Adventure Course program as well as outside of it. So to say that there’s a one size fits all for everybody in any circumstance, but especially education, is not something that I will get – behind because it is not true for my children.” 

The program has been running for over 30 years, and Mayer said it’s like one big family. The parents work together to do fundraising for trips and anything else the program needs. It’s very much like the saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ she said. 

With parents still not sure if the program will be back for the 2023-24 school year, Mayer said, they’re all looking at other options for schools. She’s considering home schooling for her kids, and other parents have told her they’re considering switching school boards, she said.

Bertram, whose wife is in the military, said they would be looking to be posted somewhere else should the program close, and will even consider leaving the province to find a school that can offer something close to what the Adventure Class has for their son. 

For the full interview with Keelin Mayer, use the audio link below.