The provincial government has come through with $200,000 for Thrive, and has pledged an additional $175,000 annually for the critical work they do.
Thrive was born in 2001 and is part of the province’s Community Youth Network, educating and supporting youth aged 16-29 who live in poverty and would otherwise have no access to the schooling, and thus less chance of college or a job.
The immediate $200,000 will support Thrive’s delivery of the Canadian Adult Education Credential test, a high school equivalency assessment. It replaces the former General Educational Development test which ended in May of last year.
Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell was joined by Waterford Valley MHA Jamie Korab and Thrive executive director Angela Crockwell for the announcement at the organization’s offices where Water Street meets Waterford Bridge Road in St. John’s.
Shelby Arnold, education team leader with Thrive, qualified the value of the funding.
“The impact of this announcement means that the learners we work with today, as well as those we have yet to meet, will continue to have access to a program that no only provides educational and outreach support to a group that relies on it, but helps tp shape and craft their understandings of themselves — no longer failures, or people who can’t, but youth who are capable, passionate and skilled, who are ready to build futures that work for them and their unique situation,” said Arnold.
The funding should enable Thrive to employ an additional teacher and support another two dozen youth.
