A Place of Honour: Reaching Out to Students at Risk in Ontario Catholic Schools, by Tony Cosentino & Joe Bezzina

A Place of Honour: Reaching Out to Students at Risk in Ontario Catholic Schools, authored by Tony Cosentino of the Renfrew County Catholic School Board and Joe Bezzina of the London District Catholic School Board of Ontario, Canada, was written to serve as a resource for Catholic educators in Ontario in their efforts to serve a growing at-risk student population. More specifi cally, the document seeks to explicate the distinctive aspects of Catholic education that are particularly relevant in working with those youth who are most in need of quality educational services. Although the document was formulated for a specifi c purpose and population, the vision and rationale described in the paper offer principles useful to educators everywhere, particularly those in Catholic education. This volume was written for Catholic educators in Ontario to assist them in fulfi lling their “dual mandate” to implement the directives from the provincial Ministry of Education and to remain accountable to the Catholic faith community. The Ministry of Education has called upon the schools to “Build Pathways to Success” for at-risk youth in Grades 7 to 12 so that students will complete high school and make a successful transition into the world of work. Cosentino and Bezzina seek to justify the role of Catholic schools as publicly funded institutions in Canada, to explain why the distinctive characteristics of Catholic education are particularly well suited for serving at-risk youth, and to provide a resource that will enable teachers to “re-culture” their schools to meet the public mandate. The volume presents six foundational elements of Catholic education and relates these to the mission of reaching out to at-risk students. Throughout the United States, Canada, and perhaps worldwide, there is much discussion about the best ways to address the “achievement gap” that exists between those students who benefi t from the highest levels of economic and social resources and those who lack access to those resources and