The new school year has started and at The Circle, we are gearing up for our Pass it On Girls and Boys programs. New this year is our collaboration with Bullock Lake Farm for our Pass it On Boys program. What hasn’t changed: Both after-school programs are still free of charge.
Pass it On is a safe and trusted space to develop core skills in the area of healthy relationships such as trust-building, acceptance, active listening, and boundary setting. This year, we are especially excited to announce our partnership with Bullock Lake Farm for our Pass it On Boys program. This collaboration will offer participants the opportunity to explore concepts of care, independence, leadership, and responsibility for themselves and others through hands-on, farm-based activities and projects.
“Bullock Lake Farm offers a playful and dynamic landscape for participants to engage with the outdoors, practice new skills, and develop a sense of belonging through team building, acts of service, and connection to the local food system,” says Sophia Gregory, CSA Manager at Bullock Lake Farm who is working on a fellowship with the Pathy Foundation to explore farm to school programming.
Participants meet once a week on Friday from 2:00 until 4:30 pm, meeting point at Bullock Lake Farm, for outdoor and farm-based activities, challenges, and dialogue. The program starts October 22nd and runs until the end of June.
Our Pass it On Girls program will start on October 5th and runs until the end of May. Participants meet once a week on Tuesday from 4:15 until 6:30 pm, meeting point at the SSE outdoor class, for activities, games, and circle discussions.
Both after-school programs are still free of charge, thanks especially to a grant to The Circle from the Federal Department of Women and Gender Equality that will fund the Pass It On Boys program for the next three years. “At the beginning of the summer, we were at a place of having to charge fees for our after-school program,” says Janine Fernandes-Hayden, Executive Director at The Circle. “While many youth recreational programs recognize this as a reality, it felt uncomfortable for programming that really needs to be accessible to all youth. We are thrilled to be able to continue to offer our Pass It On programs at no cost and to be able to have the funds to be a bit more creative.”
Registration numbers for both programs are limited to 15. All of our programs are safe, non-judgmental, and welcoming. We encourage participants to self-select based on their gender identity and gender expression. Send an email to [email protected] for more information and registration.
