Over two weeks, participants of the Breakthrough Course do more than just get ready for future employment – they learn valuable problem solving, leadership, and communication tools that set them up to build a foundation for employment and life. Like all of our courses, Breakthrough is about more than simple employment readiness. It’s about giving participants the tools they need to develop resilience and leadership, both at work and in their personal lives.

Throughout the program, participants engage in a variety of challenges and activities aimed at:

• Mindset development
• Overcoming challenges
• Employment readiness
• Financial literacy & digital awareness
• First Nations leadership
• Hands-on activities that build resilience

One highlight from our most recent Breakthrough course was the Spaghetti Challenge.

Teams had 7–10 minutes to build the tallest free-standing structure using 20 sticks of spaghetti and marshmallows — with one marshmallow on top.

Sounds simple. Until it falls over.

But that’s the point.

The point of the challenge isn’t winning or building the tallest structure – it’s about how you respond when things don’t go to plan.

Fail -> Try Again -> Get Back Up -> Grow.

That was the lesson we talked about and participants reflected on what failure really means and how resilience is built in the moment — not when things are easy.

We also created our class growth mindset slogan, combining ideas into a message that represents who we are as a group: “Back yourself. Trust the Process. Fail harder. Try again. Mistakes are proof we’re trying.”

Activities like this seem simple on the surface but every activity in Breakthrough is practical, movement-based, and real. Activities like the spaghetti challenge are about building inner strength so participants are ready for the challenges of work, community, and life.

To us, Breakthrough is about real mentoring, real accountability, and real growth.