Learning for a Cause is a nonprofit student press founded in 2004 by Canadian educator and photographer

Michael Ernest Sweet Michael Ernest Sweet (born 1979) is a Canadian photographer, writer, and educator. He is the author of two books of street photography, ''The Human Fragment'' and ''Michael Sweet's Coney Island.'' Teaching Sweet was born and raised on his famil ...

. The initiative operated from Lester B. Pearson High School in Montreal until autumn 2010 when it merged into Youth Fusion Quebec. Sweet regained control of the imprint in 2014, effectively demerging from Youth Fusion. It continues to intermittently release titles, the most recent in 2018.

Details

Learning for a Cause aimed to increase and strengthen the social and moral sensibilities in high school students by providing them with genuine opportunities to engage as citizens. The flagship project of the initiative was the Publishing Program which allowed Canadian high school students to write and publish on real-life issues in books, with the goal of inspiring change in their communities. More than 1500 high school students were published and made authors through this initiative. More noted publications include Down to Earth, a collection of more than 100 high school students writing in response to global warming and environmental destruction. The volume featured guest writers

Roberta Bondar Roberta Lynn Bondar (; born December 4, 1945) is a Canadian astronaut, neurologist and consultant. She is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space. After more than a decade as head of an international space medicine ...

and Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

. Down to Earth was endorsed by a number of celebrities including

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

, David Suzuki,

Farley Mowat Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...

and

Marc Garneau Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau (born February 23, 1949) is a Canadian politician, retired Royal Canadian Navy officer and former astronaut who served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, Garneau was the mini ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Philosopher

Maxine Greene Sarah Maxine Greene (née Meyer; December 23, 1917 – May 29, 2014) was an American educational philosopher, author, social activist, and teacher. Described upon her death as "perhaps the most iconic and influential living figure associated wit ...

has said that the project "is a significant opening to possibility" and legendary Canadian artist Robert Bateman added that "Learning for a Cause is what every young person should be doing." ''Down to Earth'' was a finalist in two categories at the 2009 World Indie Book Awards. Other publications include Raising Humanity, which features introductions by actor

and Canada's First Astronaut

. The fifth anniversary compilation edition, ''FIVE'', featured the "best of the best" from more than 1000 student writers. This volume was endorsed by Hollywood socialite Candy Spelling who also wrote an introduction to the book. ''We Who Listened'' is about Survivor Alex Levin and this book was a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History in 2011. The project and its publications have been featured in the ''Globe and Mail'', ''Montreal Gazette,'' and Concordia University's papers ''The Link'' and ''The Journal''. Features have also appeared in ''34th Parallel Magazine'' and ''Canadian Teacher''. Again in 2009 both ''Montreal Families Magazine'' and ''The Montreal Gazette'' profiled the project and its new publication ''Raising Humanity''. Learning for a Cause received a 2006 and 2009 Quebec Entrepreneurial Award and was featured in a Quebec Ministry of Education documentary video. In 2009, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper recognized its founder, Michael Ernest Sweet, with a Prime Minister's Award and again in 2012 with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his significant contributions to public education in Canada. Youth Fusion Quebec, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that establishes partnerships between high schools and universities, in an effort to counter high school drop-out rates, will continue the publishing project with the Learning for a Cause imprint beginning in 2011–12. Michael Ernest Sweet regained control of Learning for a Cause and its imprints in 2014, effectively demerging from Youth Fusion. The press released a new title in 2014, ''Our Memories, Our History'', which features a foreword by former

Canadian Prime Minister The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as such ...

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

. Learning for a Cause ceased operations in late 2014, following ten years of publishing young writers and charting the way for classroom print-on-demand publishing in Canada. In 2017, Sweet reinstated the student publishing initiative at the

Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan Schechter Manhattan is a K-8 independent Jewish day school located in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. The school adheres to a progressive or constructivist educational philosophy, which espouses the value of experiential lear ...

, where middle school students published On Democracy, an anthology about the American republic featuring a foreword by actor

, a long-time supporter of Learning for a Cause. The late

Max Keeping Winston Maxwell "Max" Keeping, (1 April 1942 – 1 October 2015), was a Canadian broadcaster. He was vice-president of news and public affairs at CJOH-DT, the CTV station in Ottawa, Ontario. Keeping was anchor of the local evening news broadca ...

of CTV Ottawa was the official patron of Learning for a Cause for more than a decade. Keeping was also a long-time friend and mentor to Sweet.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Learning For A Cause Organizations based in Montreal Youth organizations based in Canada Child welfare activism Alternative education organizations Pedagogy Education reform Human rights organizations based in Canada