Students new to Canada tour their new home at unique summer camp
A summer camp in Simcoe Muskoka is helping new students to the country become familiar with their new home and make new friends.
In recent years, hundreds of students new to Canada have enrolled with the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB), and this season, 15 students from all over the world are participating in the board's Newcomer to Canada Summer Camp.
"Our camp ultimately had two objectives, it was to allow students to get to know their new community as well as meet some new friends who are newcomer learners and to have the opportunity to practice speaking English with other students who are newcomers," said Erin Young, an SMCDSB ESL teacher. "We have students who have joined us from Uganda, Nigeria, Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, Chile and Mexico this year."
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Throughout the day on Wednesday, students had the opportunity to participate in an art workshop, ride on a city bus and take a tour of the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie.
"We had a lot of fun at the camp. We learned about a lot of things, like how buses work, how we can find buses, and how we can transport ourselves by bus. Meeting new friends was a new experience for me because I was at the same school for 10 years, so meeting new friends was like a new experiment," said Christeen Dauod, a newcomer from Jordan.
In addition to Wednesday's activities, the students also had the chance to explore Georgian College, tour Barrie's City Hall and participate in various sports.
The Newcomer to Canada Summer Camp is free for all participants.
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