The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was founded in 1956 by His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to help young people develop a sense of responsibility to themselves and to their communities. The concept of The Award is one of individual challenge. It offers young people a balanced, non-competitive programme of voluntary activities which encourages personal discovery, growth, self-reliance, perseverance, and responsibility.
The Award currently runs in 130 countries world-wide, and to date 7 million young people have challenged themselves by doing the Award. It is recognized and valued by employers and universities worldwide. As one of Canada’s leading private high schools, Columbia International College is proud to offer this program to our students, providing them with the opportunity to discover their potential and positively impact their community.
How to Qualify
To qualify for the award, students are required to participate in a full range of experiences, as listed below:- Service (helping people in the community)
- Skills (covering almost any hobby, talents and interest)
- Physical Recreation (sports, dance & fitness)
- Educational Expeditions (participation and completion in the training/planning of any journey on foot/horseback/boat/bicycle etc.)
Opportunities and Benefits Offered
[divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”25″]As students participate in this program and engage in physical and creative activities, they will:
[divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”25″][fancy-ul icon_type=”standard_dash” color=”Accent-Color” alignment=”left” spacing=”default” link_style=”default”]- Discover new talents and abilities
- Increase personal growth and self-confidence
- Interact with people from different walks of life and make new friends
- Experience and learn new cultures
- Discover a sense of achievement that comes from serving the community
- Understand their strengths and weaknesses and learn how to manage them effectively for success
- Learn teamwork, communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills
- Negotiate their own personal program of participation, and gradually take responsibility for their own learning
Students enrolled in the Gold program will automatically be registered and will qualify for the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Award by meeting the core requirements as listed below.
| Bronze Awards Requirements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Service | Physical Education | Skill | Adventure Journey |
| Volunteer somewhere (Sign up for Community service) | Exercise! (Join an atheltics club or team or go to gym) | Develop a skill (join a club at CIC) | Plan, train for and complete a 2 day, 1 night expedition (Bark Lake). |
| You must do 1 Major (ex: Physical Rec.) and 2 Minors (ex: Community Service & a Skill) as well as complete the Adventure Journey 1 Major: 26 hours over a minimum period of 26 weeks (roughly 6 months) 2 Minors: 13 hours over a minimum period of 13 weeks (roughly 3 months) | |||