A CEGEP sneak peak, Valley community nights begin, science video-conferences are a blast… literally CLC Wrap-up: News-notes (Oct. 2014)
Starting off with a bang!
Our first ever Soirée Communau-T « HSL » Community Nights event was a success with over 70 people visiting Ormstown Elementary School on Wednesday, October 8th to have an opportunity to see, first hand, the amazing services available to our communities. Thirty-four community organizations were proud to give out information about their services and meet new possible clients. The free spaghetti supper was also a huge treat.
Comments from citizens about the importance of evenings like this for people who attend…
« I really appreciated the initiative! I enjoyed discovering new services and especially meeting the people working around them. Phone is nice, but it is never like a real meeting! »
«In addition to being an opportunity to meet and inform the public, these evenings are a unique networking opportunity to meet with other HSL community organizations which offer support and with whom we work with on a daily basis. »
Finally, Guy Mayné, of Au Coin Chez Nous¸ sums up his first experience and was quick to say,
«I’m looking forward to inviting everyone back to St. Chrysostom on Dec. 10th. This is a great addition to our community. »
Off on the right foot!
Two new activities have started: Irish Dancing at C.V.R. with 14 students between the ages of 3 & 13 eagerly diving into the first steps of this amazing type of dance. Add to that the new Yoga courses at CVCEC where 10 participants are taking time for themselves to relax and exercise. This Yoga class initiated through a request from an employee of the Barrie Memorial Hospital to the Chateauguay Valley CLC, originated as some of their nurses were looking for this type of activity once a week at the end of their work day. CVCEC was happy to welcome them and host the much needed relaxation initiative.
Inaugural Health Fair a hit!
The first ever Health Promotion Fair, was held November 1st at the Brossard socio-cultural centre. The fair was put on by the Assistance Referral Centre (A.R.C.) whose mandate is to help promote the awareness level of the Health and Social Services available for (in particular) the Anglophone community of the south shore. The bilingual fair was a huge success as Quebec Health Minister, Gaétan Barrette was on hand and visitors were raving about the passionate speech on mental health done by special keynote speaker Ms. Margaret Trudeau. A few of our CVCEC students volunteered for the event and were a huge help in directing and answering visitors questions. http://nfsb.me/health-fair-volunteering/
Vanier Cegep prep discussions
CVR Grade 11 students are participating in a High School Outreach Project in which, through video conferencing, students have an opportunity to connect with staff and students from Vanier College who share information on many topics such as Financial Aid, A Day in the Life of a College Student, College-level Skills, Services and support and Urban Living.
Caisse Desjardins Financial Literacy workshops
The Chateauguay Valley CLC and Caisse Desjardins Ormstown have partnered up to offer all Grade 11 students a free workshop informing them of the benefits of budgeting and getting them ready to be out on their own. Some students comments were: “I learned more about how credit works”, “Learned more about what fraud was and how to calculate credit”, and “Be cautious and aware with your money”.
Science is amazing! Yes it is!
Two CVR Grade 9 science classes experienced a virtual visit from the Perot Museum of Nature & Science in Texas to participate in a video conference entitled “Fire & Ice”. Students had fun participating in many science experiments and blowing things up!
The Ormstown Elementary Grade 6 class were also trying their own experiments with the Science Centre from Fort Wayne, Indiana through a video conference entitled, “Shocking Science”. Students experienced first-hand with static electricity and found out which light bulbs are the best and why. Do you know?
Breakfast for Learning Program
For the 3rd year, Gault Institute received a grant from Breakfast for Learning to offer the breakfast program from Tuesdays to Fridays. Thanks to the parent-volunteers who come to Gault early in the morning to serve breakfast to the hungry stomachs!
Club Riverain keeping the Community active!
Club Riverain works out of St. Willibrord School twice a week to get individuals active and prepared for a 10k run. Individuals run up and down stairs, hallways and in the gymnasium while incorporating cross training and having a great time while sweating up a storm.
Delicious green tomatoes
The community garden was a success this year in Huntingdon giving families and the community access to fresh fruits and vegetables. On Monday October 27th, Heritage elementary Grade 3 class ventured outside their classroom to help with the garden clean up for the winter. The kids had a blast playing in the dirt and digging out all the plants to prepare for winter while learning the difference between annuals and perennials. Students not only came away with more knowledge about gardening they also found some onions and swish chard in which they took back to the school to make a simple healthy salad for their class. The group also gathered up over 20 green tomatoes and learnt what you can make out of green tomatoes: relish, fried green tomatoes, green salsa and many other healthy snacks. Big thanks to Jeunesse Rurale en Forme du HSL (JREF) for helping us prep the garden for winter!
You can ‘Crossfit’ too!
Cardio Actif is working with the Huntingdon CLC to offer more evening exercise classes for the community. An hour intense Crossfit training class is now offered on Tuesday nights from 4:45pm-5:45pm in the gym at HAECC. The first night was a hit with 10 participants and we are hoping to spread the word around town to offer more classes in January.
Halloween festivities at HAECC
The Huntingdon Adult Education & Community Centre (HAECC) took Halloween to a whole new level this year. The newly formed student council team and many staff members helped prepared a variety of Halloween events throughout the course of the week. Students participated in pumpkin carving, classroom decorating, and costume contests. The week finished off with a nice fall BBQ for everyone. The Sunshine class also participated and hosted an awesome Halloween party on Friday afternoon!
http://nfsb.me/halloween-festivities-at-haecc/
Building true positive Collective Impact for the community
This year’s provincial CLC conference was held in late October and was an inspiring experience as the 37 CLC projects form around Quebec came together to share best practice, gain some professional development and talk about collective impact from all around Quebec. This year school board administrators and community partners were invited and a record 160 individuals participated in the conference. The New Frontiers School Board had 7 principals, 2 school board representatives, our Director General and 4 CLC technicians in attendance. The entire team worked on understanding ‘collective impact’ and how they could integrate this concept into their communities to better build sustainable partnerships for the betterment of the students, schools and the community at large.
CLC activities are in full swing at Gault Institute!
After-school activities include: 28 students from grades 2 to 6 participating in sporting activities offered by Shannon Carson on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 10 weeks. Hip-Hop dancing: every Wednesdays, 42 students from multiple grades, split into 2 classes, are dancing with Melody from the ‘Académie de dance No Gravity’! In the evening Gault also has some action as participants take part in the English second language classes for adults (beginner and intermediate levels); fencing classes for youth and adults’ Girl Guides mingle about during their weekly activities and the monthly meeting for Multiple Sclerosis’ members.
CPS at its best
Centennial Park Elementary opened its doors to over 150 people with the theme “Living together” during this month’s Community Wednesday. Over 23 kiosks were displayed around the schools atrium with free babysitting, a $2.00 spaghetti supper and free activities for children in the gymnasium. The Veteran’s Museum with a student guide was open to the public and a free 30 minute Zumba class was also offered. The next Community Wednesday will be December 3rd at May Gardner School with a special visit from Santa Claus!
Previous CLC Monthly reports:
October 2014 – CLC News Edition 1 – “Arts Festival @ HSB, new partnership @ CPS, community evenings start up again and much more.”
‘Community Learning Centres’ are partnerships that provide a range of services and activities, often beyond the school day, to help meet the needs of learners, their families, and the wider community. Their aim is to support the holistic development of citizens and communities.