Fifty-eight students are part of an endeavor that is the first of its kind in Saskatoon.

They are the second graduating cohort of Saskatoon Tribal Council’s Pathways to Education Program.

In 2018 the Saskatoon Tribal Council, Saskatoon Public School Division and Saskatoon Greater Catholic School Division applied to Pathways to Education Canada to establish the first Pathway program to be offered in partnership with a Tribal Council in Canada and a first for Saskatoon.

Pathways to Education Canada delivers programing to communities where there is disproportionately low graduation rates and low student retention. Barriers for students and families have been identified like poverty and lack of peer supports so the Program works within the community, alongside local schools, to provide supports like staff who serve as advocates, counsellors, mediators, and confidantes to help students reach graduation.

The 58 graduates who celebrated their milestone in Saskatoon remained part of the program even with the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.