Active Citizenship

Albert College promotes Active Citizenship by embracing the core values of participation and a caring community. A number of leadership and community service opportunities exist for students to become actively involved in the civic life of the school and the community.

Many students aim to achieve even higher than the required 40 hours of community service before graduation. Albert rewards the students for their hard work through a registration system which starts in grade seven. There is a bronze coloured pin for the student who achieves 40 hours in two years or less, a silver coloured pin for the student who achieves 70 hours, and a gold coloured pin for the student who achieves 100 hours.

In Belleville, there are plenty of opportunities for the students to help be involved, including the Terry Fox run where students walk, run, jog, rollerblade and bike through Belleville to raise money for Cancer research. Big Brothers and Big Sisters offers Albert students a chance to pair up with a child from the local community to spend some quality time together. Albert College also supports different National and International Agencies which require fundraising, such as a service trip to the Ecuador, Operation Eyesight, the Cancer Association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and many more. The 30 Hour Famine, in support of World Vision, is another popular activity with students.

Active Citizenship in Action at Albert College...

Albert College Children Helping Children

Having learned that four out of ten users of the Canadian food banks are children, Albert College Junior School students decided to make a difference this past Halloween. Inspired by the work of Craig Kielburger, students were organized by their French teacher, Madame Evelyne Proulx to take part in their first “Halloween for Hunger” campaign. Thirty-six girls and boys took to the streets Halloween night to collect cans of food instead of candies. The local community responded with an enormous outpouring of generosity. The food collected was delivered to the Gleaners Food Bank for distribution to families and children in the Belleville area.

Albert College Students Helping Students

One of the many perks of learning at Albert College is the multicultural student body. As a result, some of our students can appreciate first-hand the complexities of living and learning in a new country. Albert College has teamed up with Quinte United Immigrant Services of Belleville and the outcome is a programme affectionately known as The Homework Club. Albert students partner with young people new to Canada, to assist them with basic English and mathematical skills in an effort to ease the transition to our region. The Homework Club is the only such service in the local community and a welcome addition for families just settling into the community.

Preparing Global Citizens for the Future

This March Break, March 2 to 13, fourteen Albert College students and two staff traveled to Arizona and Mexico for a service trip and a once in a lifetime experience they soon won't forget.

Students volunteered on both sides of the U.S. - Mexico border and had the opportunity to meet and work with youth migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. They visited a fair trade coffee cooperative and discovered the challenges surrounding fair trade. Their placement at a youth migrant shelter and a primary school, provided an opportunity to processed their experiences with one another. The leadership and advocacy-skills training provided at the leadership centre allowed students to build self-knowledge, analyze global issues and "think outside the box". This service trip was organized through Craig Kielburger's world-renowned youth leadership organization, Leader’s Today, which delivers innovative local and international training experiences to more than 350,000 youth every year.