Project Sunset, a one-of-a-kind youth enrichment strategy lead by the Ontario Provincial Police, is expanding to three more communities.

The program offers the 350 participants, who are students in Grades five to eight, a variety of experiential learning opportunities — everything from canoe trips to being a reporter for a day — all with the purpose of building skills, self-esteem and strong relationships. It strives to address the root causes of youth crime and substance abuse.

Connection to the community is an integral part of the project. The idea is for the young people to build relationships with trusted adults in their community — parents, teachers, police officers — and then turn to those adults for support and guidance when they encounter problems and difficulties in the future.

"If you're being taught how to tie a Figure 8 knot for the first time, you'll understand that it can be frustrating, but it helps teach the kids to ask for help, and the stakeholders in the room are the ones they're asking for help, or their peers," said Sgt. Anne McCoy, who heads the project.

"That's ... pretty powerful how that metaphor for life can be drawn back to the people in their community, who can help them."

At the heart of Project Sunset is the "Full Value Commitment" said McCoy, explaining that it consists of five main principles:

Be Here - This asks the children to be in the moment, both mentally and physically.

Be Safe - This applies to thinking about safety not only for yourself but for others in the group, and safety in all its aspects including what to say to other people, and how you treat them.

Speak Your Truth - Children are encouraged to become comfortable in sharing their emotions and feelings, both positive and negative.

Set Goals - "It's important that we dream and that we set our goals so that we can learn how to stretch our comfort zone and take safe risks together in a supportive environment," said McCoy.

Let Go and Move On - "Sometimes we fail so letting go and moving on allows us to practice that resilience building and it's okay to fail. That's an important part of life that we can learn from that situation so we can succeed the next time, or take a different strategy or learn there's a different perspective of things," she said.

Care for Self and Others - Reinforces strategies of resilience and connecting with others in a positive way.

Project Sunset has five components including both in-school and after-school sessions, as well as community service, music, arts and culture events and the police athletic and activity league which brings together children and adults to play sports in a fun setting.

Students from Crossroads school in La Vallee, Ontario, did some rappelling near the Bluffs Scenic Lookout in Thunder Bay in 2016 as part of Project Sunset.

The project, which began in Fort Frances, Ont., in 2014 and was launched this fall in Kenora, Dryden and Sioux Lookout, is based on Indigenous culture and values but is open to any child from any cultural group.

The benefits are already obvious, said McCoy, noting that schools involved in the project are reporting better attendance, and more engagement from students and their families.

And although the program is aimed at children who are just heading into puberty and adolescence, the adults involved in Project Sunset are also noticing changes.

Project Sunset changes parenting and policing

"I have two kids and it's changed my parenting. I use that Full Value Commitment all the time," she said.

The project may also help build bridges between Indigenous people and the police services operating in northwestern Ontario, because it offers all sides the opportunity to build "those meaningful relationships in a proactive capacity ... ahead of a crisis."

"I'm sensing we're on the right track," said McCoy, adding police leaders have told her, "'I don't know what you're doing, but keep doing it' because the officers' performance level is increasing and more positive."