- Learning for a Cause
=About Learning for a Cause=
Learning for a Cause [http://www.learningforacause.org] is a non-profit educational initiative founded in 2003 by Canadian educator and writer Michael Ernest Sweet. The initiative operates from Lester B. Pearson High School in Montreal a campus of the English Montreal School Board [http://www.emsb.qc.ca] [EMSB Press Release] .
Learning for a Cause aims to increase and strengthen the social and moral sensibilities in high school students by providing them with genuine opportunities to engage as citizens. The flagship project of the initiative is the Publish Program which allows Canadian high school students to write and publish on REAL issues in REAL books and thereby inspire REAL change in their communities and indeed their world. To date, nearly 1000 high school students have been published as authors through this initiative.
The most recent publication Down to Earth [http://www.trafford.com/07-2868] is a collection of more than 100 high school students writing in response to global warming and environmental destruction. The volume features guest writers
Roberta Bondar andJustin Trudeau . Down to Earth was endorsed by a number of noted Canadians including David Suzuki and Marc Garneau. Columbia University Philosopher Maxine Greene has said that the project "is a significant opening to possibility" and legendary Canadian artist Robert Bateman added that "Learning for a Cause is what every young person should be doing."The project and its publications have been featured in the Montreal Gazette [http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/youthzone/story.html?id=20b249c1-1b80-4840-a4f9-d69935b667a9] Concordia University's papers The Link [http://thelink.concordia.ca/view.php?aid=40500] and The Journal [http://cjournal.concordia.ca/archives/20080612/students_in_print.php] . The project and students have also appeared on radio and television on CBC, NPR and CTV on numerous occasions as well as in Canadian Teacher and 34th Parallel Magazines.
Legendary Canadian Artist
Alex Colville and CTV PersonalityMax Keeping both sit on the projects Board of Directors along with former Canadian Cabinet Minister W. Heward Grafftey.Learning for a Cause is the recipient of a 2006 Quebec Entrepreneurial Award and is the feature of a Quebec Ministry of Education documentary video. The Founder, educator and writer Michael Sweet is a honorary inductee of the Teachers Hall of Fame in both the United States and Britain as well as an appointed member of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.
External Links
* [http://www.LearningforaCause.org Learning for a Cause] The Initiative's Official Website.
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