{"id":3105,"date":"2013-11-14T10:49:36","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T15:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/?p=3105"},"modified":"2013-11-14T10:49:36","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T15:49:36","slug":"academic-perseverance-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/academic-perseverance-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic Perseverance Centre Now Open in Verdun"},"content":{"rendered":"

An organization that has been helping students stay in school for 34 years has a brand new three-storey building. A generous donation from a private business made it possible.<\/p>\n

Toujours Ensemble opened the Marcelle and Jean Coutu Academic Perseverance Centre on Second Avenue in Verdun last Monday.<\/p>\n

\"Launch<\/a>
Launch attendees in front of the donors’ wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the many spokespeople at the launch was 19-year-old Maria-Daniela Rojas Rincon. Rojas Rincon credits Toujours Ensemble (TE) for her current success in CEGEP.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve been coming here since I was nine years old and this place is the reason I’ve always done well in school,\u201d she said. \u201cMy goal now is that I want Mathieu Sage\u2019s job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sage is second in command to Pierre C\u00f4t\u00e9, president and executive director of Pathways Quebec (http:\/\/www.pathwaystoeducation.ca\/en\/montreal%E2%80%93verdun<\/a>). Pathways is the provincial wing of a national program that aims to stem Canada\u2019s high school drop-out rate. The five-person team rents offices on the third floor of the new building.<\/p>\n

Verdun Drop Out Rate Too High<\/h2>\n

Rojas Rincon is on track for her dream now, but her path towards success wasn’t so rosy when she joined TE\u2019s Parcours program a decade ago. One of every two students in Verdun doesn’t finish high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cVerdun has one of the highest drop-out rates in Montreal and that\u2019s not often known because it includes Nun\u2019s Island and that means the statistics are skewed,\u201d says Rachel Renaud, TE\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n

Parcours Program Helps<\/h2>\n
\"Academic<\/a>
Rachel Renaud speaking at the Academic Perseverance Centre launch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Renaud\u2019s team works hard to lower those statistics one student at a time. Any person aged between 6 and 17 years who lives in Verdun can join Toujour Ensemble\u2019s Parcours program. Parcours offers drop-in homework help, a library, a computer room and funding for school supplies and scholarships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve graduated two cohorts of students and we\u2019re on our third group in May,\u201d she said<\/p>\n

The much-needed programs cost about $2 million dollars to operate every year, and the Coutu Foundation has been sponsoring the organization since its inception.<\/p>\n

In the past couple of years, students started crowding into various rental spaces around town, so the organization began looking at possibilities for expansion. Yet they were reluctant to take their emphasis off operational fundraising.<\/p>\n

Coutu Family Makes\u00a0Academic Perseverance Centre Possible<\/h2>\n

To help, the Coutu family offered to donate an old medical centre building that they originally planned to sell. Toujours Ensemble planned to renovate it, but asbestos and other challenges made that impossible. Foundations operated by the families of the Steinburg’s, Renaud\u2019s and Zeller’s chipped in to ensure that the new $3.1 million building can be fully paid off.<\/p>\n

\"Perseverance<\/a>
Marie-Jos\u00e9e and Jean Coutu during launch of Academic Perseverance Centre in Verdun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The entire Coutu family attended the launch last Monday. Renaud said they were visibly moved as students and parents thanked them for all their help. Marcelle, Jean and Sylvie Coutu even got up on stage next to Foundation spokesperson Marie-Jos\u00e9e Coutu as she spoke of their commitment to education success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so blessed,\u201d said Renaud.<\/p>\n

Toujours Ensemble Turns 35 Next Year<\/h2>\n

Now that the new building is launched, Renaud is busy organizing TE\u2019s 35th<\/sup> Anniversary next year. Plans include the official inauguration of their older building on Verdun Street.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More Information<\/h2>\n

For more information about Toujours Ensemble, refer to their website at\u00a0http:\/\/www.toujoursensemble.org\/site\/index.php?lang=en<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Note: This article appeared on pages 13 and 16 in yesterday’s City Edition of The Suburban. It also appears automatically on http:\/\/www.vitalverdun.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An organization that has been helping students stay in school for 34 years has a brand new three-storey building. A generous donation from a private business made it possible. Toujours Ensemble opened the Marcelle and Jean Coutu Academic Perseverance Centre on Second Avenue in Verdun last Monday. Among the many spokespeople at the launch was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verdunposts","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-O5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15712,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/toujours-ensemble\/","url_meta":{"origin":3105,"position":0},"title":"Run for Toujours Ensemble on April 27 and 28th","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"March 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A running group from one of Verdun's key youth aid groups, Toujours Ensemble, has challenged everyone to join them in the The Scotiabank Charity Challenge on April 27, and 28, 2019, at Parc Jean-Drapeau. 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Last year, 13 youth participated in the project, including Tasha, who spoke to me for Unapologetically Canadian. 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