Mary Barter
Community Communications Facilitator
Community Communications Facilitator
Report from Lourdes and Area, Port au Port Peninsula
Click here for the Lourdes and area community mapping assessments.
Promotion and dissemination.
Partnered with the Community Action Committee to do a program evaluation video. This included site visits to all the Family Resource Centres sites to do video shooting and take digital pictures. Site locations are: Mainland, Cape St. George, Ship Cove, Port-au-Port East, Stephenville, Stephenville Crossing, St. Georges, St. Fintans and Flat Bay. Also helped out with compiling evaluation information.
Attended a "Community Economic Development Forum for Women"in New Brunswick.
Partnered with various organizations to coordinate and promote a "Get Connected" day at Piccadilly Central High. It was a career and services fair with presentations and booths.
Partnered with various organizations to coordinate after school activities at Lourdes Elementary as a follow up to the Youth Activities Day organized by Sharing Our Future in January.
Helped with promotion for the Annual General Meeting of the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association. I give a verbal activity report at PAPEDA monthly meetings, and typed up an annual activity report that was distributed at the AGM.
Organize meetings for and reported to the Lourdes TV/SOF committee.
Organized a Health Care Forum. It was held at the Lourdes auditorium and had some key note speakers. Promotion included radio/newspaper/flyers/letters. This was in partnership with the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association and Understanding the Early Years.
Organized, in partnership with PAPEDA, an economic development forum which was held at Cape St. George and included guests from various economic, social, and funding agencies as well as towns and local services.
Set up presentation for Lourdes elementary with RCMP canine unit.
Had regular monthly shows with the Lourdes Elementary Media Club. The last show was in May, and all the student members received a certificate signed by me for SOF, and the school Principal. Parents and the SOF/TV committee were invited to participate, and the Zone 9 RED board supplied pizza and pop for the event.
Obtained parent permission for media club students to participate in the SOF event in August.
Set up a Sharing Our Future display at the L.S. Eddy Complex in Stephenville.
Interview Wayne Young, Chair of PAPEDA, for the SOF participatory evaluation video.
Met with Communities In Schools and the Community Education Network to discuss SOF summer project. It was decided that I would promote CIS summer programs, visit sites to do video footage, and do community television events in both Lourdes and Stephenville (partnered with Jesse).
Partnered with Understanding the Early Years to help facilitate community mobilization around issues and programs for children 0-6 and their families. This include sharing information and data; researching additional information; organizing meetings, presentation and focus sessions; setting up community committees; contact with various government department for consultation and information; etc. I also helped organize the UEY data release "Launch".
Of course there is always lots of e-mails and posting to the SOF web discussion board. I also post all my reports to my web page.
June Activity Report
What did I do?
Worked in partnership with the Community Action Committee to produce an evaluation video for their CAP-C funding. This included visits to all the resource centres to do footage, production of story boards and working with a person at the college for editing.
Partnered with Understanding the Early Years for the UEY Data Launch. SOF helped with media and promotions.
Met with Bev/Tracy/Karen/Mandy/ to discuss my summer project. We decided that it would be a good idea to promote the CIS summer programs. I’ll visit the sites to do footage, and then have shows in both Lourdes and Stephenville. Jesse and I are partnering with the one in Stephenville. We have decide on August 7th.
As with the last several months, the partnership between UEY and SOF continues. Phase 2 of Understanding the Early Years is about sharing information and community mobilization around issues that affect the lives of families in our region. Actions for this have included follow-ups to the UEY Presentation/Focus Session at Cape St. George with Public Health and the Principal at Our Lady of the Cape Elementary to determine want/need for pre-school. Other actions include attending a strategic planning session with the Community Action Committee, and an application to HRDC for funding for a community playground in Black Duck Brook. Contact was also made with Public Health to determine numbers and contact information for pre-school aged children in the catchment area of St. Thomas Aquinas school in Port-au-Port. Contact was made with parents to determine need for transportation. We are actively looking to find someone to provide transportation, as well as someone with an Early Childhood Education diploma to teach pre-school there.
Sharing Our Future held a Health Care Forum at Lourdes. Presenters included the Minister of Health, as well as the CEO’s for Health and Community Services Western and the Western Health Care Corporation, the Coordinator for Understanding the Early Years, and the chair for the both the Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital Foundation and the Bay St. George/Port-au-Port Community Health Advisory Committee. After the presentations, the floor was then open up for questions from the audience. Not a lot of people attended, but it was a good forum. The presentations were very informative and the people who were there asked some pretty tough questions. The forum was well publicized. It was in the papers and on the radio (freebie community calendar stuff), posters were put up in every corner store, and I faxed or mailed a flyer to each town and local service district on the peninsula.
What would I do differently?
After it was over, a person asked my why I didn’t include “the issues” on the poster. My response was that I couldn’t tell people what his/her issues were, only they know that. So maybe my promotion approach could have been different somehow?
Three issues in my area?
Unemployment
Lack of activities for youth
Personality conflicts and inflexibility among those who can make a difference in the social and economic development future of this area.
Sustaining SOF?
The concept of communication with and among communities and organizations in the social development process has taken on new life in this area and will continue on. Sharing Our Future has set (or re-set) a foundation for discussion and dialogue.
May Activity Report
Sharing Our Future
· Health Care Forum
I made preparations for Health Care Forum scheduled for June 14th at Lourdes Auditorium. This included contact and follow-up with participants. Speaking at the forum are Allan Kendall, CEO for the Western Health Care Corporation; Sharon Park, Coordinator with Understanding the Early Years; Gerald Smith, Minister of Health; Susan Gillam, CEO for Health and Community Services Western; and Tom O’Brien, chair for both the Bay St. George/Port-au-Port Peninsula Community Health Advisory Council and the Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital Foundation.
Promotion was done through flyers posted up in communities, and either mailed or faxed to towns, local services, and public service departments, i.e. RCMP, Public Health, etc. Also, it was put in the newspapers and advertised on radio. Contact was made with the Lourdes Parish to use the auditorium and to use the audio equipment there.
The forum is being planned in partnership with the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association and has been part of their monthly meetings. It has also been discussed with the Understanding the Early Years Coalition and coordinator, and the Bay St. George/Port-au-Port Peninsula Community Health Advisory Council.
· Attended TV/Sharing Our Future committee meeting. It was decided at this meeting that the committee would dissolve. The committee had concerns that cable was no longer being used in the community and over 90 % of the residents were using satellite systems and that community television is not an effective communication tool for the area. The members of the committee did request that the training done with the students through the language arts program with the equipment continue if I am around and available.
· Attend regular monthly PAPEDA board meeting. Gave verbal activity report and discussed Health Care Forum.
· Set up Sharing Our Future display in the conference room at the L.S. Eddy Complex
· Helped the Community Action Committee with their evaluation process. This included summarizing the results from the People Helping People questionnaire, and tallying the results from the Parent/Caregiver feedback questionnaire. This also included video footage for an evaluation video, and digital pictures
· Did an interview with Wayne Young for my participatory evaluation video.
· I had meetings with the media club and we had our last community television event at Lourdes. Parents were invited to attend, as well as the committee. Most of the parents attended. We had pizza and pop which was provided by the Zone 9 RED board. Our many thanks to them. I had approached my committee wondering if the school and town would provide it (both are represented on the committee), but they were unable to.
Understanding the Early Years
Because the mandate of Sharing Our Future includes information sharing, community mobilization, community education and communication, it was felt that this format was a perfect fit for the Understanding the Early Years second phase which shares the same objectives.
· Organized and attended meetings in Lourdes, Cape St. George, Port-au-Port with parents and community partners to discuss priorities for children in their areas. The Cape St. George event was a presentation/focus session.
· Organized and attended a meeting for the UEY Peninsula steering committee.
· Helped organize pre-school committees in Lourdes and Port-au-Port East
· Organized and attended a meeting at Lourdes between the Lourdes pre-school committee, school representatives, Health and Community Services Western representatives and Understanding the Early Years representatives.
· Polled parents in Lourdes and Port-au-Port East school catchment areas to determine numbers for transportation needs.
· Participated in discussions and preparations for the Understanding the Early Years Data Release Launch which is happening on June 12th (Two days before the forum!) This included media contact, compiling list of contact information for the invitees, etc..
· Helped prepare plans for playground in Black Duck Brook. Filled in an application for funding from HRDC.
· Contact with Health and Community Services for rules and regulations in regard to playgrounds and equipment.
What would I do differently?
Nothing
Three issues in the area?
(1)Unemployment (2)Lack of Youth Activities (3) Lack of support and open-mindedness from various agencies responsible for the areas social and economic development.
Sustaining SOF?
The ground work of opening up the lines of communication through the Sharing Our Future model will continue on in this area.
April report
"Get Connected"
Sharing Our Future partnered with various other parties to have a "Get Connected" services and career fair at Piccadilly Central High School on April 24th . Responsibilities included contacting and setting up speakers for the presentations, and setting up a services fair. The idea was to have all the organizations with services to offer under one roof.
Economic Development Forum
Sharing Our Future, in partnership with the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association held an economic development forum on April 20th. It was held at the Crosswinds resort at Cape St. George. The forum saw the representation from communities on the Peninsula, as well as from funding and service agencies and other government bodies. It was deemed a success and many of the participants would like a follow up to continue to explore new initiatives and partnerships.
Did up Sharing Our Future Promotion and Dissemination report and posted it to web board and web page.
From April 10th - 14th I attended a Community Economic Development Forum for Women in New Brunswick.
Acted as a resource for the Lourdes Elementary School. They would like the RCMP canine unit to come back and do another presentation. They would also like Sara Anderson, with the Stargazer Youth Theatre, to do a presentation.
Sharing Our Future is part of an ad-hoc youth committee for the Peninsula which saw us set up after school painting sessions for Lourdes Elementary with local artist, Michael Lainey. The sessions have now finished.
Lourdes Community Television
The Lourdes Elementary Media Club and Sharing Our Future had our regular monthly community television show. The content was a review of the economic development forum and the "Get Connected" day at the high school. The media club and I meet regularly every Tuesday after school.
Understanding the Early Years
Continued my responsibilities for UEY. This months activities included organization of various meetings and tours of schools to look at potential pre-school possibilities. Also attending meetings of the UEY steering committee, and visited Burgeo for a UEY presentation and focusing session.
Responsibilities also include contact with Public Health to get #'s of children for specific areas, and also to get contact information for their parents.
I am also in the process of setting up a UEY presentation/focus session for Cape St. George, and setting up a meeting for the peninsula UEY committee which meets every there months.
Interviews with Family Resource Workers and others for CAP-C funding evaluation video for the Community Action Committee. I contacted the journalism dept. at CONA to see if there were any students available to help with the CAP-C evaluation video but they are all finished. I made contact with ARCO and can use the equipment there.
Attended monthly meeting of the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association and presented a verbal activity report.
Set up SOF/TV committee meeting and had to re-schedule again because of lack of attendance.
As usual, extensive use of e-mails. I must admit I haven't been posting to the board as much as I should have this month. Busy, busy, busy.
Responded to Fred's request for the June SOF event. I approached the Principal at Lourdes to see if my media club members could attend, but it is being held the week before exams, so they cannot attend.
Sent an e-mail message to Fred, Tom, Terri, Bev, etc about the SOF event in June. A UEY event may have taken me away for a while, but that event is not happening now until the following week (tentatively).
What would I do differently?
Probably nothing.
Three issues in the area.
Unemployment Lack of Youth Activities Lack of Unity (Which, I believe, Sharing Our Future has helped a lot to change)
Sustainable Future?
Keep them partnering and talking without SOF.
Here are my weekly reports for March.
Monday, March 4th
(1) Went to office to check e-mails and to get video camera and digital camera. (2) Visited FRC at Ship Cove. I only did digital pictures, no video, because there was only one child there. (3) Drove to Stephenville to download pictures and recharge camera. (4)Spoke to Michelle Morgan about trip to New Brunswick.
Tuesday, March 5th
(1) Cleared trip to New Brunswick with Bev. (2)Confirmed Tracy Snows attendance to meeting (Youth ad hoc committee)tomorrow. (3) Visited FRC at Mainland to take video and still pictures. (4)Prepared for show. Loaded up equipment in car and brought it to Lourdes. (5) Had community television show. (6) Brought equipment back to office. (7) Charged video camera battery. (8) Re-wrote notes in UEY logbook. (9) Fixed the heading on the Petition to get pre-school in Lourdes.
Wednesday March 6th
(1) Interview with Tracy Drover about FRC centre at Mainland. (2) Visited FRC at Cape St. George to do video and digital pictures. (3) Meeting at Women’s Institute at Lourdes to talk about getting a pre-school at Lourdes. Established a phone committee. Distributed petition to parents present. (4) Meeting of Youth Ad Hoc Committee at Lourdes Elementary. (5) I contacted Neil Tourout about possibility of using his other bus for an additional run to Mainland and Black Duck Brook.
Thursday March 7th
(1) Re-organized mess of paper work! (2) Typed up list of parent contacts of children born in 98 and 99 for phone committee and sorted who would contact whom. Mailed list to Michelle Power and Joanne Jesso, and faxed Christie Petherick hers at the FRC. (3) Made some copies of the Petition. (4) Discussed peninsula information session with Vanessa and decided on the 24th of April. (5) Got contact info for art supply store - Under One Roof. (6) Began list of whom I should contact for open house.
Friday March 8th
(1) Visited FRC at Ship Cove to do video footage and take digital pictures. (2) Brought camera to Stephenville to download pictures
. Saturday March 9th
(1) Left another message at Under One Roof art supply store. (2) Wrote an e-mail to generate feedback about open house. Sent to various organizations. (3)Straightened up mess!
Period of Work : March 10th to March 16th , 2002
Sunday March 10th
(1)Spoke with Sandra Parsons from “Under One Roof” art supplies. She is located at 3A Hillview Avenue.
Monday March 11th
(1)Talked to Tracy about open house (2) Met with Sharon to discuss UEY - community follow-ups, meetings and SRDC (3) Meeting of ad-hoc youth committee to select names for after school painting sessions. (4) Contact Neil Tourout about using a second bus for activities. (5) Typed up weekly report and faxed to Patsy. (6) Did up promotions for PAPEDA AGM. Made posters and faxed information to radio stations and Western Star.
Tuesday March 12th
(1) Spoke to Anne about date of SOF/TV committee meeting. (2) Spoke to Shirley about meeting. It is rescheduled. (3) Followed up with Kristy Petherick about story time at Lourdes. (4) Contacted Lourdes Parish about getting auditorium for forum. (5) Contacted Minister Smith’s and Minister Bettney’s office to invite them to a health care forum. (6) Talked to Bob about health care forum and possible invitees (7) Typed requests for minister’s offices and faxed them. (8) Spoke to Sylvia Smith about taping comedy show. (9) Set up grade 8 presentation by RCMP Canine Unit (10) Spoke to Sandi about open house - they would like to bring students to participate (11) Talked to Christine Kendall about taxi for after school activities. (12) Met with media club to discuss next show. (13) Attended PAPEDA board meeting. (14) Attempted contact with Claudine Smith - update of UEY in Port-au-Port - no answer.
Wednesday March 13th
(1) Video taping and digital pictures at FRC in Stephenville. (2) Sent e-mail to Josh Carey about open house. (3) Received confirmation from Cyril Organ, CONA for open house. (4) Attended first youth after school activity with Michael Lainey (5) Typed up an update of activities and posted to board.
Thursday March 14th (1) Talked to Sharon about concerns with video production (time frame). (2) Spoke to Lorraine Sheehan about open house. (3) Talked to Stacey Sheppard, Community Health, about open house. (4) Met with Wayne Young to discuss participants for economic round table. (5) Talked to Melinda and Tracy about open house (6) Contacted Janice Bartlett, Residential Support Board, about open house (7) Typed list of invitees with phone #’s and confirmations. (8) Added Youth Ventures to list. Got contact info from Vanessa. (9) Talked to Michelle Morgan about trip to NB and open house. (10) Attempted contact with Claudine Smith - update of UEY in Port-au-Port - no answer.
Friday March 15th
(1) Talked to Marina White about health care forum and requested availability of auditorium at Lourdes. (2) Talked to Lib Greene, Principal at Our Lady of the Cape about a UEY meeting. (3) Invited RCMP to participate in open house. (4) Attempted to contact Mary Lambert - no answer. (5) Attempted contact with Claudine Smith - update of UEY in Port-au-Port - no answer. (6) Meeting with Tracy, Laura and Leanne about openhouse/workshops.
Saturday March 16th
Preparing report of activities to distribute at PAPEDA annual general meeting.
Period of Work : March 17 to March 23
Sunday March 17th
(1) Finished report of activities (2) Attended Annual General Meeting for PAPEDA and distributed activity report of SOF/UEY.
Monday March 18th
(1)Video taping and digital pictures at Stephenville Crossing FRC. (2) Reviewed Marilyn’s schedule and set times for visits to St. George’s, Flat Bay and St. Fintan’s. (3) Met with Sharon to drop off camera. We discussed a meeting time for Cape St. George. (4) Set up time to interview Vivian and Marilyn (5) Typed up report for last week (6) Caught up in the UEY “blue book”.
Tuesday, March 19th
(1) Checked e-mail and web board. (2) Posted reply to Sim’s radio posting. (3) Contacts for presentations at high school. Called Atlantic Minerals and CIVC. (4) Contacted Minister Bettney’s office for Health Services Forum. Angela (contact person) is not in. (5) Called government services centre for contact information for Gerry Byrne, Federal Minister of State (ACOA) (6) Spoke to someone in ACOA’s St. John’s office in regard to Economic Development Round Table. (7) Sent a fax to Minister Byrnes office in Ottawa (8) Talked to Michelle Morgan about NB trip. (8)Called for Lib Greene, Principal of Our Lady of the Cape School to set up meeting time. She wasn’t in.
Wednesday, March 20th
(1) Tried contacting Lib Greene, she is in class (2) Contacted Angela in MinisterBettney’s office. No response yet. (3) Attempted to call Mary Lambert, Youth Ventures. She wasn’t in. (4) Spoke to Anne Bullen about Economic Development Forum and Health Care Forum dates. (5) Typed an e-mail to Gerald Smith’s offices about the Health Care forum and Economic Development Forum. Sent to Anne in S’ville and Charlotte in St. John’s. (6) Tried Lib Greene again. No answer. (7) Went to Lourdes Elementary to help out with after school activities.
Thursday, March 21st
(1) Wrote students names on all permission slips for all Michael Lainey sessions. (2) Drove to Lourdes and dropped off permission slips at the school. (3)Talked to Shirley Snook about the SOF/TV committee meeting on the 27th. (4) Message from Wayne Gusswell, CIVC - They cannot attend open house. (5) Caught up in the “Blue Book” (6) Called Neil Tourout with dates for after school activities. (7) Photocopied February report for SOF/TV meeting (8) E-mailed committee about SOF/TV meeting. (9) Set up date with Sharon and Lib Greene for UEY at Cape St. George.
Friday, March 22nd
(1) Meeting at Piccadilly Central High to discuss open house/career fair (2) Meeting in Stephenville for UEY. (3) Changed title form Health Care Forum to Health Services Forum.
Saturday and Sunday
March 23rd and 24th Reviewed draft of “Results of Community Mapping Study for Southwestern NF”. Made notes and edits.
Period of Work : Monday, March 25th to Saturday, March 30
Monday, March 25th
(1) Spoke to Vivian about re-scheduling taping at Ship Cove (2) Attempted contact with Josée Bédard (Contact in Gerry Byrnes office). She is out until Wednesday (3) Spoke to Ian Atkinson RCMP about open house (4) Typed up letters to invitees about economic development forum. Got contact info on them and typed up labels. (5) Talked to Sandi Barter-Martin about open house. (6) Contact parents about Lourdes UEY follow-up meeting (7) Typed up announcement about meeting and faxed to CFSX (7) Cleaned out my e-mail box. I was almost out of room. Deleted all CAP stuff. Tuesday.
March 26th
(1) Drove to St. Fintan’s to do video footage and digital pictures of Family Resource Centre for evaluation. (2) Met with media club at Lourdes (3) Meeting with PAPEDA to discuss economic development forum (4) Typed up draft agenda for forum.
Wednesday March27th
(1) Drove to Flat Bay to do video footage at FRC. Weather Turned Stormy (2) Phone calls to Maria at office to cancel after school activities with Michael Lainey) (3) Meeting for SOF/TV committee got cancelled. (4) Met (On way back from Flat Bay) with Sharon at L.S. Eddy to discuss Lourdes UEY meeting.
Thursday, March 28th
(1) Drove to St. George’s to do video taping and take digital pictures at FRC for evaluation. (2) Printed letter for economic development forum. (3) Drove back to Lourdes for UEY meeting.
Friday, March 29th
Holiday. Good Friday
Saturday, March 30th
Went into office. (1) Typed up weekly report for this week and finished last weeks. (2) Caught up in UEY Blue Book (3) Started reviewing and began a list of “to do’s” for Tuesday.
Sunday, March 31st Easter Sunday
February Report
What did I do?
Prepared for and made presentation to hospital board about having a community forum on "What does it take to make a healthy community". The volunteer hospital board sits as an advisory committee and can help identify someone once the details are ironed out.
Through discussion with various groups and individuals, it looks like the forum will take place in April and will be a combination of a peninsula services information session/open floor/ forum.
Typed up list of UEY committee. Had meetings with Bev and Sharon around UEY, as well as attended overall UEY committee meeting in Stephenville.
Set up and attended peninsula UEY committee meeting at St. Thomas Aquinas.
Drove to Stephenville for Jesse t.v. show, but I wasn't needed
Set up and attended meeting of ad hoc youth committee to follow up on theYouth Activity Day and see where we go from here. Plans were discussed to set up an after school program. I contacted some facilitators to see if they were interested in doing an after school program.
Copied and faxed newspaper article about the Youth Activities Day to HRE and HCSW, who are involved with the ad hoc youth issues committee. I also brought a copy to the school.
I called HRE to get another contact person for the ad hoc committee. The person I e-mail to relay information is leaving the Piccadilly office.
Set up and attended SOF/TV committee meeting. It had been re-scheduled several times because of bad weather. Several members weren't present, so the issue of sustaining community television at Lourdes was deferred to the next meeting which is scheduled for March 18th.
Typed list of Recreation Committees, Local Services and Town in our area for Josh Carey who is with Sports and Recreation (?). He is interested in meeting with people in our area to inform them of services his department provides, and to also discuss funding sources for recreational activities. Sharon is making contact with him to see if he an UEY can partner in this endeavour.
Dubbed off Activity Day show for Bev.
Taped an interview with Premier Roger Grimes and Gerald Smith for community television when they were at Lourdes for a "meet and greet".
Because of exams, and bad weather hindering meetings with the media club, there was no show in February. It is scheduled for March 5th.
Set up RCMP canine unit presentation for school. This too had been re-scheduled several times.
Looked for Communication For Survival information on the net and posted site information to web discussion board.
Contacted Volnet with computer glitch and got it fixed. Also contact Newtel and Bev in regard to my account. (My one year free access is up in March)
Made several posting to discussion board, and as usual I used lots and lots of e-mail.
Met with Sharon and Vivian and got schedule for Family Resource Centres for my area. I visited the centre at St. Thomas Aquinas in Port-au-Port to do video footage and interview parents. I also did still pictures. UEY and The Community Action Committee bought a new digital camera, and I learned how to use it! It's pretty cool. (I ‘m going to visit all the resource centres to do video, still pictures and interviews.)
Made contact with Public Health Nurse for the Lourdes area to get a list of children born in 1998 and 1999, and parental contact information. (This list is to invite them to a meeting to discuss having a pre-school at Lourdes.)
Video taped a "Climate Change Forum" discussion held in Piccadilly which was facilitated by CED students from CONA.
What would I do differently?
Probably nothing.
Three Issues in my area?
Unemployment
Diverse population/large geographical area
Youth inactivity
Suggestions for sustaining SOF?
I have to get my committee to find space to set up and leave the equipment.
January Report
Sharing Our Future/Understanding the Early Years.
What did I do?
Organized an activities day at Lourdes Elementary. A run down of the play-by-play has been posted here on the board already. It is also posted to my web page.
Wrote an article for activity day for the newspapers. Edits have just been made, but I haven't sent it to the papers yet. The Activities Day made the front page of the school newsletter. I sent a copy to Bev.
A lot of my work this month, along with the Activities Day, was involved with Understanding the Early Years (UEY). This included attending meetings in Stephenville, getting space for a peninsula workshop/information session (which was the West Bay community centre), inviting participants to the workshop, finding someone to cater lunch, making follow up phone calls to those who attended, and setting up a committee for the peninsula area. The peninsula area includes Kippens, Port-au-Port East, Fox Island River and Point au Mal, as well as all the communities on the peninsula.
Posted regularly to the web board, and as always used e-mail regularly. My yahoo was down for awhile but its back working again. (I honestly don't know how I managed to get by before e-mails! Thanks SOF)
This months community television event was a wrap up of the events for Activities Day. It included interviews with participants including students, facilitators, organizers, staff, and as well Bev and Tracy. I have it dubbed off and hope to have it put on internet radio. We lost the first part of the video, but the sound is there.
As usual preparations for the show included regular meetings with my media club, show line up, preparing questions for the guests, equipment set up, etc..
The meeting scheduled for my SOF/TV committee was canceled this month because of bad weather. It is rescheduled for Monday, February 14th.
One success story has already emerged since and because of the UEY workshop. Parents, especially one in particular, in Port-au-Port East have organized and are running programs four days a week at the Family Resource Centre, as opposed to the one day it was being used before. They have gotten a micro-wave donated and are looking at getting a fridge donated also.
Sharing Our Future and Understanding the Early Years fit together in that UEY is at the stage where it needs to be promoted and the information gathered needs to be shared through community discussion and dialogue. An action plan is going to be developed for both the entire area and for individual communities (who express an interest in doing so), and SOF will play a big role in providing the opportunity for this to happen.
What would I do differently?
Nothing, probably.
What worked best?
Inclusion of as many people as possible.
Three issues in my area?
Lack of employment Lack of unity Lack of activities for youth. Suggestions for sustaining SOF in the future?
With the help of the committee, finding space for the "studio". Without this, it won't survive without me.
Youth Activities Day Report
Mary Barter Sharing Our Future Community Communications Facilitator
January 21, 2002
History
Through a series of meetings involving members of Sharing Our Future, the Community Education Network, Communities In Schools, the RED Board, Human Resources and Employment and the College of the North Atlantic, discussions were held in response to youth inactivity on the Port-au-Port peninsula. An interest assessment had been developed and given to the grade 7 and 8 students by me previously, to determine their interests. This piece of work was followed up by Kim Kendall, a community studies student who did a 3 week work placement at the Association's office as a Youth Engagement Facilitator. We had originally planned to have a youth forum to give youth an opportunity to tell us what they wanted. After some discussion, it was agreed that they had already done so though surveys and other means. It was decided that we would use the information we had to set up some activities for the youth using just those choices from the survey. After further discussion we decided to try and recruit as many facilitators as possible in order to provide as many opportunities as possible. The goal was to provide an activity day that utilized local people with special skills and abilities to facilitate a number of sessions for the children. The first date set was December 18th. After a meeting with school administration and others, it was pointed out that the time line was not realistic. Through some negotiation, the new date was set for January 15th.
Organization
The first step in organizing the Youth Activities Day was to identify possible facilitators. A number of individuals and groups helped in compiling a list. These people were then contacted to see if they had any interest in participating. Facilitators who agreed to take part were:
1. Harley Spirenburg - Artist (Sketching and drawing)
2. Michael Lainey - Artist (Painter)
3. Lloyd Durdle - Farmer
4. Paula Durdle and Darlene Martin - Simple Crafts
5. Judy Gaudon - Cookie Decorating
6. Henry Gaudon - Cadets
7. Eugene Barry - Woodworking
8. Gerald Hall - Physical Education Teacher (Badminton)
9. Regina Bowers - Music Teacher (Music videos)
10. Marina White - Stained Glass
11. Lourdes Fire Department - Fire truck tour and fire safety session
12. Sara Anderson - Stargazer Youth Theatre
13. Edna Hall - Beaded crafts
14. Valetta Jesso - Crocheting
15. Marg Gaudon - Vegetable preserving
The Lourdes Elementary media club participated. The students in my media club took turns taping the music videos for Mrs. Bowers. We also planned for a community television show that would be a wrap up of the days events. Once the facilitators had agreed, I met with the Principal, Terry LaVallee, to discuss how to proceed. We decided that with the number of facilitators we had, we would go with the full day session as suggested by the local steering committee. The intent originally was to place students in sessions that we thought would be appropriate to specific ages and grades. Mr. LaVallee suggested that the students would be better served by giving them the opportunity to choose. Because of the little interest shown in crocheting and preserving vegetables, the sessions were dropped and we included a movie as a session. I did another survey form which included all the names of the facilitators, and asked each student to prioritize their five choices. The survey was administered at the school. An example of the survey form follows below.
Survey Forms
Name: __________________________
Grade: _______
Teacher: __________________________
Please choose the top five favorite activities and number them in that order. For example, if stained glass would be you favorite, write 1 in the third column. If badminton is your next favorite, write 2 in the last column directly across from that, and so on until you have chosen 5 activities.
Facilitator Workshop/Activity Favorite activity (from 1 to 5)
Michael Lainey Art/Painting
Marina White Stained Glass
Judy Gaudon Decorating cookies
Lloyd Durdle Farming
Edna Hall Beaded crafts
Marg Gaudon How to preserving vegetables, etc.
Valetta Jesso Crocheting
Mrs. Bowers Making a music video
Henry Gaudon Cadets
Sarah Anderson
(Stargazer Youth Theatre) Drama
(grade 5 to 8 only)
Paula Durdle Simple easy crafts
Darlene Martin Simple easy crafts
Gerald Hall Badminton
Harley Spirenburg Drawing/Sketching
Media Club producing television shows
Fire Department Tour of fire truck and equipment
Eugene Barry Woodworking
The information received from the students then had to be compiled. This was accomplished by creating a form to identify each facilitator. The compilation of these forms took several days. On the last day, Kim Kendall came to the office to help. The compilation was done using this format.
Facilitator: ___________________
Subject: _______________________
Total: _____________
Name Grade Name Grade
Survey Results
Facilitator Kdg - 3 4 - 6 7 - 8 Total 5's
Michael Lainey (Art/Painting) 79 66 45 190 39
Marina White (Stained Glass) 17 41 37 95 21
Judy Gaudon (Decorating Cookies) 61 52 33 146 24
Lloyd Durdle (Farming) 32 18 10 60 14
Edna Hall (Beaded Crafts) 30 16 9 55 9
Marg Gaudon (Preserving Vegetables) 4 4 1 9 2
Valetta Jesso (Crocheting) 6 7 1 14 4
Mrs. Bowers (Music videos) 21 33 20 74 15
Henry Gaudon (Cadets) 4 38 15 57 11
Sarah Anderson (Drama) n/a 16 16 32 4
Paula Durdle (Simple Crafts) 36 15 6 57 17
Darlene Martin (Simple Crafts) 36 15 6 57 18
Gerald Hall (Badminton) 41 49 31 121 24
Harley Spirenburg (Drawing/Sketching) 28 62 30 120 17
Media Club (Community Television) 7 26 3 36 9
Fire Dept. (Tour of truck and equipment) 80 44 19 143 11
Eugene Barry (Woodworking) 28 52 35 115 21
Sarah Anderson requested to have older students. The option to have her as a facilitator was only extended to grade 5 to 8 students.
Sessions
The sessions were set up so that each student could participate in four during the day. They were asked to choose five so that each had a backup.
As it turned out, interest for some of the sessions was too high to be manageable. I then took the list back to Mr. LaVallee for suggestions and direction. With the numbers so high, we had to eliminate certain age groups from participating in some sessions to cut down on numbers. For the high number sessions, the question was asked "which grades would benefit the most from this particular session?" The others were eliminated (with a few exceptions as fill-ins). The next step was to set up a schedule. The first schedule took five days to complete. There were approximately 300-320 students with 4 out of 14 sessions each. The sessions were approximately 50 minutes each and were scheduled from 10:00 to 10:50, 11:00 to 11:50, 1:00 to 1:50 and 2:00 to 2:50. There were a few minor problems that arose with the first schedule. I had scheduled the kindergartens in for a full day, but they only have a half-day, and there were several students who were absent that day. In all the schedule had to be re-worked three times for a variety of reasons. One concern raised by the principal which hadn't been thought about originally was; how were the children going to get from one session to another? The sessions were not by classes and each had chosen different facilitators. This was a concern especially with the younger children. One way to rectify this was for each student to have their own little card with their name and the four sessions they were attending written on it. I had all sessions done up by facilitator, but no separate list per student. I typed up a list for every student and their sessions. This was then taken by the school, photocopied larger and laminated. They were then taken home by Juanita Snook, to put yarn on so the students could hang them around their necks. Juanita was on a job creation program and working at Lourdes Elementary, and took the cards home and did them over the weekend. Volunteering in the halls to direct children were Marjorie Glasgow, Vanessa Glasgow, myself, Juanita Snook, Peggy O'Quinn, and staff and administration from Lourdes Elementary.
Needs and Budget
Another responsibility was to determine what the facilitators needed in order to facilitate their sessions. Some of the facilitators picked up their own materials and submitted receipts, while I took care of getting materials for the other facilitators. I picked up everything from 2x10x16 ft. pieces of wood (for woodworking which had to be cut into 8x10 inch pieces and planed beforehand) to borrowing rolling pins for the cookie decorating sessions. Costs estimates were also needed so as I could do a preliminary budget for the day. I negotiated with the school as to what materials they could provide such as paper, pencils, etc.. I also had to make contact with suppliers for pricing and to ensure that we'd have enough materials for the day. The only thing that needed to be ordered were 100 canvasses for the sessions with Michael Lainey.
Preliminary Budget
Youth Activities Day
Facilitator Needs Estimated Cost
Paula Durdle/Darlene Martin Paula is picking up what she needs, and we will reimburse. She also needs 10-20 pairs of scissors, and some film canisters. $50.00
Fire Department Nil Nil
Michael Lainey 1 8x10 canvas per person, 25 fine tips brushes, 25 ¼ inch brushes, acrylic paints, (4 white, 1 blue, 1 red, 1 green, 1 brown) 376.35
Eugene Barry 2 pieces of 2x10 16ft long soft wood, 1 pencil per student, pencil sharpeners available, markers, chalk and 1 small piece of black construction paper per student $55.00 (wood) The school may have most of the other materials.
Harley Spirenburg Blank paper, erasers, sharpeners, 12" rulers, and pencils. If possible, 2 pencils per person - a HB and a 2HB. "It would be nice only if you have them. The school may have most of these materials on hand.
Mrs. Bowers Video camera Video tapes Camera Operators $10 (for tapes)
Sarah Anderson Nil Nil
Henry Gaudon TV/VCR Nil
Judy Gaudon She'll pick up the ingredients and we'll reimburse. Baking sheets, rolling pins. $100 (high est.)
Mr. Hall Nil Nil
Lloyd Durdle Space for his pony if the weather is good.
Photocopies of farm pictures and crayons. Nil
Marina White Table Water (For washing her hands) Nil
Edna Hall pipe cleaners - 80 silver and 80 red, tri-beads, 2,240 treen, 1760 red and 2640 clear, 560 clear faucet beads, 480 starburst, 640 red faucet beads $65.00
Many of the facilitators requested having chalk on hand for the boards in the classrooms.
Total cost for the Activities Day was approximately $614, which was paid for by the Community Youth Network.
Lunch
Once we decided to have a full day, we needed to provide lunch for those facilitating the sessions, and also for the volunteers. I made contact with Peggy O'Quinn, chair of the Lourdes Elementary School Council, who took it upon herself to call council members and others to help in providing lunch. Donated to the day were two pots of soup, a pot of chili, sandwiches and some sweets. The council provided the tea and coffee, as well as the bowls, etc.
Back-up Plans
I was also required to develop a back-up plan in case one of the facilitators didn't show up. As a first back-up, I purchased a bunch of art materials (straws, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, etc.), and as a second back up plan I reviewed the facilitators lists and made note of whom had spaces left. Both of the plans came in to use. The materials were used when a facilitator couldn't be there for the first session. I took the "bag of goodies" up to the class room and facilitated a session by letting them work on any art project they could make with the materials provided. It is important to note that there was a teacher in with each of the facilitators. They moved around during the day and had the opportunity to see four sessions each. The teachers schedule was done at the school. The second back up plan proved to be useful also when, on the 14th and 15th (the day of the activities), there were 15 (more) students who were absent on the day the form was given out and needed to be fitted in
. Media
Contact was made with the radio station to plug the activities day and t.v. show which followed. It was also to get out the message that if school had to be canceled on the 15th, we would go ahead on the 16th (weather pending). I also made posters and posted them up around Lourdes and area. I did an FYI and sent them to the two newspapers assuming they would cover the day. (First Rule of Journalism - Never Assume) They just printed the FYI as it was without including pertinent information. Vanessa Glasgow, took pictures of the days activities and developed the film. There will be a follow up story for the papers which will include some of these pictures. Further information was sent home to the parents via school means prior to the activity day. A follow-up article appeared in the school's January newsletter that was distributed to all the students families as well as the school board. The wrap up of the day was a community television show consisting of interviews with people connected with the days events. Those interviewed were Mrs. O'Quinn who is a staff member of Lourdes Elementary, Bev Kirby and Tracy Snow who are with the Community Education Network and Communities In Schools respectively, David Barter who is a student at Lourdes elementary, and Henry Gaudon who facilitated a session on the cadets movement. I was also interviewed. Preparations for the show include meetings with the media club, lists of questions, show line-up and equipment set-up.
Evaluation from Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary
The school administration, staff, and student population agree that the Youth Activity Day was well planned, executed efficiently and very enjoyable. All parties involved showed an interest in participating in future activity days. The careful planning of all key members of the steering committee, coupled with productive trouble-shooting along the way, were key in the days success. It was felt that recognition needed to be given to all members involved: facilitators, planners, staff and students. The children enjoyed the day because they had input, adults enjoyed the activities because of the virtual absence of off-task behavior and the motivation shown by students to the hands-on activities.
Sharing Our Future
December Report
What did I do?
Work involved in planning the Youth Activities Day at Lourdes Elementary included so far:
Telephone calls to participants that were identified through a series of discussions and meetings by various groups and individuals.
Meetings at the school with the Principal, Vice-Principal and others for discussions and updates.
Meetings with Mrs. Bowers, music teacher, and Gerald Hall, gym teacher, to talk about their possibilities for activities day.
Had discussions around the Principals concerns regarding the time frame involved in putting together this type of day. It was rescheduled to January 15th.
Made further contact with the facilitators about date change, and to see if they would still be available.
Developed a survey sheet of facilitators for the students so they could choose which workshops they wanted to participate in.
Tallied the survey sheets and sent information to principal for input. It was decided that, because the interest numbers for some facilitators were high, I'd have to eliminate some grades from participating in certain workshops.
Did a schedule for the activities day. This consisted of 14 facilitators, 300 + students at 4 sessions per student. (It took five days to schedule) We started out with 17 facilitators, but now have 14.
There is still a fair amount of work to do for this day, but I guess that will be in next months report.
I had contact with Regional Cable about the fact that the hook-up at Lourdes was not working. The technician had a look at it but couldn't see a problem. I brought the equipment out to Lourdes twice to hook up thinking it was something I was doing, but I still couldn't get it to work. I contacted the technician again, and set up a meeting time at the school. The principal cleared me for use in the library (that's where the hook-up is) for the afternoon. I brought out all the equipment again and set it up waiting for the technician. As it turned out, it was a problem on his end. It is now fixed and we are able to broadcast out over the community.
We had our monthly show and I continued my regular weekly meetings with the media club. The topic of this months show was the Activities Day. I was interviewed on it by the students. The show also included our news package, greetings, videos, etc. Preparations also included posters and radio spots.
We are looking at possibly having a regular show every two weeks, but that warrants further discussion with the students, administration, etc. The Activities Day will also be the topic for next months show, which will happen on the same day as the Activities Day. The plan is a wrap up of the days events with interviews with facilitators, staff and students, and also video footage of the sessions. This all happens on the 15th, (or the 16th if school is canceled on the15th).
Had a regular monthly meeting with the SOF/TV committee. Our next meeting is planned for January 31st. At this meeting I intend to ask the committee to address some of the issues concerning community television in Lourdes. Some of these issues include how to include more volunteers, school accessibility for volunteers, equipment location (I have it at the office with me in Piccadilly. It needs to be accessible without me). Next months report should be interesting. Seeing the meeting is scheduled for the 31st, it will probably be late too.
I made contact via e-mail with all the facilitators concerning posting to the board. I even posted a rotten egg challenge. You'll have to look yourself to see who it was!
The John Howard Society if finished with their program so after this month I no longer need to bring the camera back or pick it up in Stephenville.
I helped out with Jesse show in Stephenville on December 12th.
The school had a concert, so I helped out two of my media students set up for taping. They taped but the tape was no good. I brought the school camera to the office to test it out, but it seemed to be working fine. I think it was a faulty tape. I hope that's all it was. The camera will be used again to tape on the activities day.
I use e-mail regularly and post to the web board.
I attend monthly meetings of the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association. I update them on any new happenings with SOF. I have also been included in their semi-annual brochure which went out in December.
I had a half day to work on my special project, the video profile. I planned to finish the dialogue over the Christmas holidays, but can't get at it yet because of the other things needed to get done.
The activities day is taking most of my time. I also have to get caught up on UEY, and plan a presentation for January 7th to the volunteer health care board in preparation for a forum. The focus will be along the lines of "What does it take to make a healthy community". This way not only does health care get address, but other things like UEY (Understanding the Early Years)can get focus. Another suggestion for inclusion was the residential support board and some of their roles and issues. There have been no formal discussions around this yet. The forum will possibly be in March.
I met with Bev and Sharon to discuss Understanding the Early Years. This is a program that I will be doing half-time starting in January. All other community discussions, forums, etc. until August will be of UEY content. It will be my responsibility to have a community discussion in each of the communities on the peninsula in regard to UEY. SOF at its best.
What would I do differently?
Don't know. I really don't remember once the month is gone.
Suggestions for sustaining SOF?
The local committee should address the issue of needing the equipment set up and accessible at Lourdes. (Without me) It can't work without this.
Three issues in the area:
Unemployment Lack of Unity Negativity
SOF/TV COMMITTEE:
Vanessa Glasgow, LLREDB. Anne Bullen, Lourdes Council. Terry LaVallee, Principal. Shirley Snook, Vice-Principal. Cheryl, Staff person. Kim Kendall, volunteer member. My media club rep quit the media club, so I have to replace him.
VOLUNTEERS
Kirsten Retieffe Kate Snook Tammy Bridger Adrianna White Alexandra Dennis Cindy Hinks Kim Kendall
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
(Some of this is already in my report)
For the most part, Sharing Our Future will be front and center in promoting Understanding the Early Years. I will be responsible for having community discussions in each community in regard to UEY, therefore it will be the major topic of discussion until August.
I am in the early planning stages of organizing a forum around the issue of "What does it take to make a healthy community."
The media club will continue to have regular shows at Lourdes, and may touch on a variety of topics including those mentioned.
CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS
There are a whole bunch of cultural celebrations on the peninsula. I have already given a list (which I don't have a copy of). Some of the events include french festivals in each of the three french communities. The St. Paddy's Day comedy show at Lourdes is very popular also. The Port-au-Port Agricultural Fall Fair is an annual event which seems to be growing. Lourdes, Mainland and Cape St. George usually have winter carnivals. This year, there are two cruise ships from France coming here. They want to do a tour of the peninsula. How cool is that? If successful, it may become an annual event.
SUMMER PROJECT IDEAS
At the present time, I don't have any. I haven't had the opportunity to finish my last special project yet, and if things don't slack off, I probably won't get it done. Also, with UEY on the horizon, I don't expect to have much free time. I'm already full tilt. I thought two halves made one, but here it's more like one and a half.
PROMOTION AND DISSEMINATION
Discussions with school principal around Sharing Our Future, the media club, community television committee, and youth issues.
Visits to the grade 7 and 8 classrooms to promote Sharing Our Future and include youth in a SOF/Lourdes Community Television media club.
As the Sharing Our Future Community Communications Facilitator, I have attended meetings along with others from Communities In Schools, Human Resources and Employment, the Community Education Network, College of the North Atlantic, and the Long Range Regional Economic Development Board to discuss issues concerning youth on the peninsula.
Shot and aired footage of the Port-au-Port Agricultural Fall Fair. Dubbed a copy for the committee, who are also closely associated with the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association.
I made a presentation to the Lourdes Community Council about Sharing Our Future, who now have representation on the committee.
There are plans in place for two cruise ships from France to stop here and tour the peninsula. I have attended meetings in regard to this.
I have loaned Jesse some videos that I've done, so he can play them in Stephenville. I have also attended a live televised round table discussion in Stephenville in regard to community television and Sharing Our Future.
Spoke to members of the volunteer health committee board requesting an invitation to make a presentation at one of their meetings. Informal plans are in place to have a "health forum". The meeting is scheduled for January 7th.
In preparations for a youth activities day, I have contacted a number of possible workshop facilitators. The activities day is a Sharing Our Future initiative.
I video taped the Zone 9 Long Range Regional Economic Development Board's open house/annual general meeting/speakers corner.
I participated in a radio show at W.E. Cormack. Involved in this project were the Community Education Network, the Long Range Regional Economic Development Board, Sharing Our Future, Communities In Schools, Ryakuga, L'Association Regionale de la Cote Ouest, College of the North Atlantic, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, and others.
The topic for the media clubs November show was "The Importance of Community Communications".
There have been discussions around with the Community Education Network, the Community Action Committee and Sharing Our Future on how to fully use the potential of SOF to promote the Understanding the Early Years program.
I have been included once again in the PAPEDA brochure which went out in December. I attend regular board meetings of the development association and update them on SOF. They have include me as part of their office staff, and SOF as a community service. I have written a newspaper article for the association, and may do so on a regular basis.
As always, I use the web board and e-mail almost daily, and post to my web page once a month.
I also keep in contact with Regional Cable on a fairly regular basis.
November Report
Met with Bev for SOF review/Ramea follow-up.
Finished SOF October report and posted it to SOF web board and my web page.
Weekly postings to we page.
Finished final report for CAP. Preparations included e-mails, questionnaires and follow-up phone calls to all the sites in zone 9. Report included my (Zone 9 Regional Facilitator) report, and specific information on each site. Sent to Bev and Kelli.
Made requests to CNL-CAP from sites at Cape St. George and Stephenville Crossing.
Talked to Jesse about the possibility of posters for his up coming show.
Did a list of Sharing Our Future facilitators and e-mailed it to all involved. Also, e-mailed facilitators about the importance of posting and reporting.
Did participatory evaluation with Vanessa, LLREDB development officer.
Attended a meeting in Stephenville with the Stephenville community television committee.
Participated in round table discussion live on community television in Stephenville.
Loaned Jesse a variety of tapes to air on the Stephenville community channel.
Preparations for a Youth Activities Day. This included various meetings and discussions, as well as identification of, and contact information for facilitators. Typed one pager introduction and e-mailed to several people for review.
Spoke to member of health committee on two occasions to requesting an invitation to their next meeting in order to discuss having a health forum in the new year.
I have picked up and returned the video camera to Stephenville on a weekly basis. The John Howard Society Outreach Program needs it on Monday and Wednesday, and I need it on Tuesday. In December they should be finished with their program, and I will have it back full time.
Helped with the PAPEDA brochure. It is a bi-yearly mail-out, and has Sharing Our Future included in it briefly.
Wrote a newspaper article for PAPEDA, and sent it off to the Georgian and the Western Star. It was accepted to both, and through discussions with the editor at the Georgian, a PAPEDA update will be a monthly inclusion in the paper.
Met with my local SOF/tv committee. Got the agreement between my local committee an the steering committee signed.
Video taped LLREDB open house/AGM/speakers corner.
Reviewed footage for special project.
Took part in radio show at W.E. Cormack in Stephenville.
Had a show around the topic of "Importance of Community Communications". Guest for the show was the local zone 9 economic development officer.
Began discussions with the media club around the Christmas show and the Youth Activities Day.
Contact with Regional Cable about problems with airing show. I have to set up equipment and meet with them.
What would I have differently?
Probably nothing.
Suggestions for sustaining SOF?
Train the youth to train the adults.
Three issues in the area:
Unemployment Large geographic area with a small population. Health care issues. October report What did I do?
Attended a meeting with the school principal to discuss youth media club, t.v. committee, and youth issues.
Negotiated time with school gym teacher to have an evening for meeting with the media club, and did up permission slips for the youth who want to be involved. I also visited all the grade 7 and 8 classrooms with the principal to briefly talk about SOF and the involvement of a media club.
The Lourdes youth media club has been started. It is comprised of about 10 grade seven andeight students. We are meeting on Tuesdays after school, so this is when I'll be having the shows instead of Sunday. We have our first show scheduled for November 20th, and will be focused around the importance of community communications.
I have been really busy since we got back from Ramea, and really haven't had much time to work on my special project. I’ve done some, but not a lot.
I am attending meetings concerning youth with a committee consisting of SOF, CIS, CEN, HRE, LRREDB and others. We are looking at how to proceed with information compiled last year concerning youth activities and interests.
Shot footage of the Port-au-Port Agricultural Fall Fair to air on the community channel and dubbed a copy for the Fall Fair Committee who are closely associated with the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association.
I am working on a final report for Community Access. I sent a questionnaire to the sites, and responses are only trickling in. I am having to follow up with phone calls, and trying to catch people is a bit tricky.
I have set up my community television committee for Lourdes. We had our first meeting this month. It consisted of myself (SOF), Vanessa (LLREDB), Terry (Lourdes Elementary Administration), Cheryl (Lourdes Elementary staff), Kim (former Youth Engagement Facilitator and now a student in Community Studies). Since then I have secured a representative from my media club and one from the Lourdes Community Council.
I made a presentation to the new Lourdes Community Council on Sharing Our Future and the benefits of it for the town. They have a representative on my t.v. committee. I also bridged the idea of having a forum around the areas health care concerns.
I have attended a meeting at ARCO in regard to planning a cultural day on the Peninsula next summer for a visit from a cruise ship. This is in the very preliminary stages.
Canceled for this month is the peninsula information session schedule for the 30th. I was asked to help in the planning, but the people in the drivers seat have postponed it until after the new year.
I have started the participatory evaluation process, and done an interview with Terry, principal of the elementary using the questions given to us in Ramea.
I have dubbed off some videos. One is of a show done with the grade 7's, which was requested by Fred. I have also dubbed off a seniors video for a teacher at Lourdes who is covering the art of storytelling with her class. This video was done by me several years ago and includes interviews with seniors in Black Duck Brook, Winterhouses and Lourdes.
Attend a conference in Ramea concerning Sharing Our Future. While I was there I got a chance to visit the CAP site.
Sent information to our newest member, Patsy, on how I post to my web page.
Checked out school video equipment to see if it works.
The camera I use belongs to the Employment Assistance programs at the Development Association and John Howard Society. They need it on Mondays and Wednesdays. When I need it I pick it up in Stephenville and then return it. I usually have it with me, but they need it for these days up until and including December. After this, I’ll have full use of it again.
What would I do differently?
I don’t know. Nothing probably. I feel like I’m being productive and things are moving ahead. Probably too well, since I can’t seem to find the time to finish my special project or scan pictures for my web page. (It’ll happen though) For the record, I always find this question hard to answer. It requires remembering what happened this past month! (Good thing I have a daily log or I’d never know what to put in my report either!)
What worked best? & Suggestion for sustaining SOF in the future.
I think that changing my focus from the peninsula to Lourdes is better. Sustaining SOF will have a better chance if Lourdes community television is alive and kicking when I move on. Thanks for opening my eyes and helping me shift my focus there Fred. (Too bad it didn’t happen sooner, and too bad that community economic development summers seem longer than other peoples summers.) Oh well, I’m back on track now.
Three issues in this area?
Unemployment. Lack of community unity. Large geographic area. (Of course this I can’t change)
September report
Sharing Our Future
Mary Barter
1. Taping show at College of the North Atlantic with Jesse and guests.
2. CAP activities. E-mail contact to all the sites requesting activity reports from St. John's. Forwarded responses from sites that replied via e-mail. Followed up with phone call to some sites that had not responded electronically.
3. Attended meetings regarding Peninsula Services Information Session.
4. Attempted to install graphics program to computer in order to try and pretty up my web page. Didn't work. Couldn't get the graphics to open up.
5. Took some still picture of the peninsula to put onto my web page. (I have to get them scanned onto disk. Vanessa has a scanner, but we have to learn how to use it first.)
6. Regular use of electronic networking. E-mail and posting to web board.
7. Aided RCMP in getting information for peninsula, i.e. population stats.
8. There was no community television event in September due to the on-going strike. I have no access to the school.
9. I have members of the steering committee in place. We will meet as soon as the strike is over.
10. Contact with students who want to begin the media club as soon as the strike is over.
11. Most of this month was spent working on my special project. I have all the footage taken and I am working on writing the dialogue for the shots. I am using story board format which takes more time up front, but saves times in editing.
What would I have done differently?
Nothing.
What worked best?
Most of the work this month has been on the special project, and I think that using the story board format is slower but working better.
Three issues in my community are:
Unemployment Lack of Unity Lack of Activities for Youth
Suggestions for sustaining SOF in the future.
I have to get Lourdes to take ownership. It's the only way to sustain it.
Take care,
Mary
August Report Mary Barter
What did I do?
1. Posted July report.
2. Contacted intern at CAP site at Cape St. George for reports. Forwarded to Kelli.
3. Contact with zone 9 CAP sites re: exterior signage.
4. Downloaded screen saver with local pictures from Aiden’s Young’s home page. He gave SOF permission to use the pictures and link to his site if we wish.
5. Posted Aiden’s URL to website.
6. Contacted CAP sites re: packages with software for specific sites.
7. Took still pictures for PAPEDA of their scallop gear inventory.
8. Had contact with musician who wanted to put his music on internet radio. Played monkey in the middle between him and Fred, and then gave him Fred’s mailing address.
9. Worked on summer project. I have almost all the video footage done except for Black Duck Brook and Winterhouses. I have begun scripting dialogue and matching shots.
10. Held a community television event in Black Duck Brook. Preparations for the event included meetings with Chez Les Francais, meetings with and training for local youth, developing and mailing a flyer to all residents of Black Duck Brook and Winterhouses, reviewing videos with local content to use, and editing stories and videos. The show included a news package developed by the youth, greetings and interviews with two community leaders. It went well and the youth would like to do it again.
11. Took some still pictures of local scenery to use on my web page. ( There is a new scanner at he office, but we have to learn how to use it first.)
What would I have done differently?
I would have probably taken more video footage of some communities for my summer project. I may have to go back to some communities and take so more. (Not a lot, but some)
What worked best?
For the television event, including as many people as possible and inviting the entire community to participate.
Three issues in my area are:
1. Unemployment 2. Lack of unity. 3. Lack of activities for youth.
Suggestion for sustaining SOF in the future.
Making sure I get my advisory committee together.
Mary Barter
July report
What did I do?
· Passed on information about a Canadian Youth Television Network to an interested youth in L’Anse A Canards.
· Sorted out and distributed CAP innovation information.
· Got quotes about Community Access Centres from Sandi and Jesse for new Provincial CAP brochure.
· Did some video shooting for peninsula video profile. Video taped in Port-au-Port West, Boswarlos, Aguathuna, Felix Cove, Campbell’s Creek, Abrahams Cove and Piccadilly.
· Participated in discussions toward a Port-au-Port Services Information Session to be held at Mainland in October at the television studio. Partnering in this are Sharing Our Future, ARCO, and the PAPEDA Employment Assistance Services.
· Met with board members of Chez Les Francais to discuss community televison event to be held in Black Duck Brook at the end of August. No formal date has been set.
· Made contact with motor registration for to request more brochures on their on line program for CAP sites in the area, and to request if there are brochures in french.
· Was contacted by Grey River CAP site for information regarding innovations fund.
· Learned how to put information on my web page. Did some training with Fred, then posted June report.
· Had a conversation with Aiden Young, photographer, who has a web page with lots of pictures of the Port-au-Port Peninsula. He has agreed to let us link with his page or visit and download the pictures.
· Participated in dialogue around the next Sharing Our Future conference.
· Contacted CAP sites at CNL-CAP request to see if they have any unused signage that could be passed on to other sites.
· Forwarded messages to CAP centres at St. Fintan’s, St. Georges and Stephenville Crossing from CNL-CAP inquiring as to whether the sites were planning official public openings of the sites.
What would I have done differently?
Nothing.
What worked best?
I was off for two weeks, but I still shot some footage, and talked to Aiden about somehow including his work toward SOF goals.
Three issues in this area?
1. Unemployment
2. Lack of unity.
3. Lack of infrastructure for job creation.
I do not have an advisory committee set up yet and will set one up in September when school opens again.
June Report
· Drafted letter to advisory committee to be sent and set up in the fall.
· Letter to all Community Access Sites within Zone 9 introducing myself.
· Developed a list of contact information of all sites in the zone and sent them to the sites, the Community Education Network, and the Regional Economic Development Board.
· The CAP site committee at Grand Bruit had concerns about losing CyberPatrol off their computers. Talked to the head of the committee and forwarded the concerns on to St. John’s. Also, re-iterated concerns at CAP meetings in St. John’s. At the meetings in St. John’s it was pointed out to me that Grand Bruit is in Zone 10 and not Zone 9.
· Participated in discussions with CEN, CONA, REDB, and others about planning events for a visit from some Irish students taking part in a learning program.
· Preparations for and attended meetings in St. John’s for Community Access Programs. The preparations included choosing materials to include in a handout booklet. Made 28 booklets (at CAP’s request) to take, brought 28 copies each of Jesse’s pamphlets, and brought a video of the Cape St. George CAP site promotion which was aired at the Oil Forum held in March.
· Reviewed and sorted information received at CAP conference in St. John’s.
· Dubbed off copies of CAP video promotion for CAP in St. John’s and Industry Canada at their request.
· Visited CAP site at Stephenville Crossing with Jesse.
· Dubbed off six copies of a video for Community Youth Network.
· Wrote Sharing Our Future notes to be included in June school newsletter.
· Taped Pathfinder Graduation and 10th Anniversary celebrations at L.S. Eddy Complex.
· Video taped the “Irish Visit” during their five day stay to our area. Dubbed off a copy of the tape for them.
· Hosted the Irish in my community for a day.
· Wrote a letter to all the communities on the peninsula explaining my summer project, and offering them an opportunity to have input.
· Preparations for June show and began putting together a media club. Gave forms to the grade 7's and 8's at Lourdes elementary, out of which 12 were very interested in beginning the media club. Unfortunately, after a meeting with the Principal and Vice-Principal, it was decided that access to the school during the summer was a problem. Therefore, the media club and Channel 9 community television programming will be postponed until the fall when school reopens. I did up a poster and posted it in Lourdes to let the community know.
What would I have done differently?
When I made the request to have programs out of the school, I was requested by the vice- principal to provide a schedule of show dates. I did up the list and forwarded it. This list included shows during the summer months. When I didn’t receive a reply, I assumed that the dates on the list, including those for the summer, was acceptable. The second day before school closed, I called the school and asked the vice-principal if I could get access for that Sunday (the last Sunday of the month). I was then informed that access might be a problem and that I should meet with her and the principal the next morning, when it was decided that access was a problem. In answer to the question “what would I have done differently”- I would have double checked with the vice-principle after sending in the dates just to make sure the summer was okay. Rule #1 ... Never assume!
What worked best?
The high point and main priority each month is getting the program done. Even though it has been a very, very busy month, I don’t feel like I accomplished my objective. So, I guess what works best is getting a program done?!!?
Started writing dialogue and anticipating shots needed for summer project.
Three issues in this area are:
High unemployment. Lack of community unity. Trying to do community development during the summer.
Suggestions for sustaining SOF in the future.
On a personal note as a facilitator, I guess it would be to take things in stride. I was pretty disappointed in not having access, and having to put of the media club until the fall. I had my plan all laid out.
So to sustain SOF: WE have to keep faith and belief in the SOF vision, even when we feel like throwing in the towel. Also, I’ve been looking at SOF from the perspective of MY JOB. SOF, to be real and successful, should still be there without me long after I’m gone.
Take care,
Mary
May Report WHAT DID I DO?
· Did April report for Sharing Our Future our future and posted to web board.
· Did April report for CNL-CAP and e-mailed it to St. John’s.
· Met with SWASP student at his home for required information. Had discussions with
him about programs he would be assisting with over the summer months.
· Passed on information to SOF facilitators about CNL-CAP’s Youth Employment
Program. This information was to be passed on to their respective sites.
· Passed information on to Cape St. George and Mainland sites about CNL-CAP Youth
Employment Program.
· Re-did list of Community Access sites for Zone 9 to include new sites.
· Downloaded QuickTime Player to be able to listen to SOF internet radio events.
· Found out longitude and latitude of the Port-au-Port Peninsula for Fred.
· Worked on story board for summer project.
· Reviewed tapes and dubbed of 5 minutes of video for SOF conference.
· Wrote letter of support for HRDC’s Outreach position on the peninsula on behalf of SOF.
· Spent day in Stephenville taping “Take Our Kids to Work”.
· Attended SOF conference. Had the opportunity to discuss CAP at the conference.
· Was interviewed by Youth Engagement Facilitator for the Peninsula about youth
activities and the results of the Understanding the Early Years research project as it
applied to this area.
· Did CNL-CAP year end report for Zone 9. Used SOF/CNL-CAP agreement as a
guideline.
· Participated in discussions about “Leadership North Atlantic” and youth engagement.
· As usual, there is always an enormous amount of electronic communication.
· Community Television Show. This was done with the grade 7 language arts
class. As with other shows, I spend a lot of time in class with the students preparing
them. We discuss show topics, and determine who will be our guests. We decide if we
want interviews or a panel discussion. This month, we continued on the topic of youth
issues, and had the Youth Engagement Facilitator as our guest
The students are given interviewing and camera use skills. They are all then
responsible for getting a news item and a greeting. The are shown how to put a news
package together, how to do a line-up, etc. We then determine who will do which jobs,
i.e. host (s), news reader(s), equipment operators, etc.
This month the students had fun with the show, and interviewed each other on
superstitious beliefs and ghost stories. It turned out to be an interesting 35 minute video.
The show was aired, as usual, on the last Sunday of the month, which was May 27th.
WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
I would have addressed earlier the issues that both I and the other facilitators had with the community access program.
WHAT WORKED BEST?
Include as many people as possible. If you want people and organizations involved, have a genuine interest in them also.
WHAT THREE ISSUES ARE IN THIS AREA?
(1) Youth Activities
(2) Unemployment
(3) Lack of unity among communities
SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINING SOF IN THE FUTURE?
Create as many partnerships as possible. Let them know that SOF belongs to them and they have say into how it works.
April Report What did I do?
Televised the Bay St. George Sick Children's Telethon on April 1st over the Lourdes Community Channel.
Started groundwork for Peninsula video profile. Researched community strengths and attributes and began list for each community on the Peninsula. Looked through ³Understanding the Early Years² research for information, and began video introduction dialogue.
Did a breakdown of my activities (for discussion, clarification and personal direction. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.) It helped put me back on track.
Invited Lourdes Town to use community television. I e-mailed and talked to the mayor of the town, who also is a leader in the Lourdes Cadet Movement. I invited him to include participation of the cadets and the Town in regular shows.
Attended and taped a forum in Stephenville around the issue of family violence and violence against women.
Taped 10th anniversary meetings and celebrations of the Community Education Network in Stephenville.
Attended meetings around the Youth Engagement Program. Has discussions about youth forum. Talked to Sandi about program and faxed her Deanna¹s CIS survey. Passed on survey results (grade 7's and 8's) to Kim.
Attended meetings around ³Leadership North Atlantic². Began list of potential candidates, and met with Vanessa and Ann to talk about other potential candidates.
In the process of updating list of CAP sites and CEN/SOF/CIS people responsible for those sites as per the agreement between CNL-CAP and SOF.
Downloaded information from Volnet and compiled a booklet.
Sorted and distributed CAP information and promotional materials.
Met with Debbie Benoit at CAP site at Cape St. George.
Discussions about what the next big issue to tackle is. I want to do the youth forum first though. (I think)
Had regular monthly show with grade 7 class. We originally had chosen ³Drugs² as our topic of discussion and had requested that Addictions Services and the RCMP attend an interview. Addictions services agreed to attend, but the RCMP couldn¹t. The students then decided to not go with this topic. We (reps from SOF, CIS, CYN, CEN, HRE, CONA, LLREDB) are having meetings around a Youth Engagement program for the area, and a Community Studies student is doing her work term around this. Some work has been done ahead of time i.e. student surveys, to determine what interests the students have. For the show, we(the students and I) had this Community Studies student come on the show and talk about this program and what the anticipated outcome of it would be. Other show content included an interview and tour with the Lourdes Fire Department which turned out to be a very informative 24 minute video. The student had a video interview with Mrs. Greene who is in charge of the Lourdes Elementary school breakfast program. Another on camera interview was done with Mrs. Bowers, the school music teacher, who talked about cuts to programs in the school and how it will effect students and their learning. The students also did up a news and sports package, and some greetings. They had a list of about 50 greetings, so we did them in between videos. As well as the videos mentioned, they also had videos of an Easter lip sync and a basketball tournament. I felt that the students did a great job, and it is beginning to feel like the community is becoming more involved. The show was at 2:30 and I told the students I¹d be there around 11:00. There was one young guy who had been there since 9:30 a.m.! He co-hosted and loved being in front of the camera. There was a good turnout of students. It was a good show.
What would I have done differently
Nothing I don¹t think. It¹s a hard question to answer because by the time the month is over, I usually forget the bumps along the way and everything usually works out anyway.
What worked best
Having the student to go out and request the interviews and tours. It is their families, relatives and friends.
Three issues in this area
Unemployment, lack of youth activities, and unconnected services.
One suggestion for sustaining SOF process within the community.
Getting as many people involved as possible.
Here is my report of activities for March
*Preparations for and production of oil forum at Cape St. George. This included meetings at Mainland, Cape St. George, Piccadilly and Stephenville. It also included things listed for the February report as well as press releases for the event.
*Interviews about forum after it was done with the Western Star correspondent, Human Resources and Development and Human Resources and Employment.
*Tallied up attendance sheets of people who attended the forum. We had 163 names of people who signed, but there were more than that there. Not everyone had the opportunity to sign. Estimates say there were about 200 there.
Feedback from the forum stated it as a success on different levels. It was the first web cast which is a major feat in itself. Local leaders saw it as the peninsula showing a common front (they have already made suggestions for other forums). Locals saw it as an chance to get information, likewise the oil company and government officials saw it as an opportunity to give information. Personally, from a communications perspective, I saw it as a chance to clear up some misunderstandings and misinformation about the developing oil play. All the people with the questions and all the people with the answers were in the same room at the same time giving everyone a chance to get on the same page.
*Taped speakers corner at the Middle School in Stephenville at a Communities In School Leadership Conference.
*Worked on a VolNet application and letter and GOT A NEW COMPUTER!!!!!!!! I have been set up on account. I haven¹t really had time yet to see what is on it.
*Got my business cards done. A Million thank you¹s to Jesse. *Did SWASP application and looked for student for Sharing Our Future summer project.
*Meetings around having youth forums and beginning discussions around youth issues here on the peninsula. One big issue is boredom, and lack of facilities and things to do.
*Meetings and discussions around developing a community leadership project. These leaders could help alleviate the problems facing youth.
*Set up the equipment at the library to practice doing it myself. I DID IT! I set up everything and actually got it out over the community channel. (Many thanks to Fred for the diagrams)
*Did report of Sharing Our Future promotion activities.
*Was included in Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School newsletter again this month.
*Faxed information about the Community Education Network and the Sharing Our Future Program to Canadian Imperial Venture Corporation and CBC radio upon request. *Sorted through CAP materials and divided it up. There were tee-shirts and caps for the new sites at the Crossing and St. Georges. There was also on of each for me. There weren¹t enough for everyone and only one of each extra, so I donated it to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters fund raiser. I think it¹s called the Bowl-for-Millions.
*Tallied up the Cape St. George CAP site interest assessments. Results were:
The forms were left at the sites and sent home through both the English and French schools. There were 40 respondents. Aged 16-25 there were 8, aged 26-40 there were 22, aged 41-55 there were 8 and in the over 56 category there was 1. Highest areas of interest in order were in: E-Mail, Educational Opportunities; How to use a computer; Word Processing and Arts and Crafts. Of the 40 respondents, 24 had used a computer before, 14 hadn¹t, and two didn¹t respond. When asked if they would be willing to share their computer experience as a volunteer, 11 of them said yes.
*Did community television show schedule for Library board. Shows will be held on the last Sunday of each month.
*Did a show with the grade 8's. The topic they chose was vandalism. Like other shows, I meet with the students as part of their Language Program. They are given tips on interviewing and camera use. They are shown how a show is put together and what content is needed. All the students have to have at least one news item. They also all have to have a greeting (birthday, anniversary etc.) They also take part of video taping events. For the topic of vandalism, they has a panel in to talk about the issue. The panel consisted of an R.C.M.P. officer, a parent, a teacher, a school representative and a moderator. Another guest to the show was our local M.H.A. who is also Minister of Human Resources and Employment. The students enjoyed doing the show.
*As usual, there is lots of e-mail and regular visits and postings to our web board.
As for those questions...
What I did is listed above.
I think what worked best is inclusion. Try and get as many people involved as possible.
I don¹t think there is anything I would have done differently. I don¹t remember regretting anything or saying ³if only I had done it this way instead of that². So no, I don¹t think I would have done anything differently.
Three issues in our community (the Port-au-Port peninsula) are (1) lack of things for youth (2) unemployment and (3) lack of community leadership.
One suggestion for sustaining Sharing Our Future in the community is NOT LETTING GO OF THE FUNDING PURSE STRINGS. (Kidding). That¹s a tough question. I guess, in my view, the best way to secure SOF having a place in the future is to get our there, promote it at every opportunity, and make it a household name.
I think that¹s all folks. Take care,
Mary
Hi folks,
I am late with my report this month. Busy, busy, busy!!! Anyway, here it is.
Most of the month of February has been spent working on "Oil: What it Means to the Peninsula" web-cast preparations. We do have confirmed for the panel:
*Gerald Smith, local member and Hon. Minister of Human Resources and Employment.
*Steve Millan, President and CEO of Canadian Imperial Venture Corp. *Ken Dominie, Assistant Deputy Minister of Environment. (No longer environment and labor since the shuffle).
*Wayne Young, Chairman of the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association
*Bob Cormier, President of the Long Range Regional Economic Development Board-Zone 9.
*Cyril Organ, Assistant District Administrator with the College of the North Atlantic.
*Tony Cornect, Mayor of Cape St. George
*Glenn Kirby, with Community Studies at the College of the North Atlantic, who will moderate the panel discussion.
*??? Mines and Energy. There is a commitment to send someone but they are not sure whom. It may be the Honorable Minister Lloyd Matthews, but they have to meet first. They will get back to me.
*Bill Matthews, our local Member of Parliament. (Depending on the weather. He is now on the Burin Peninsula.)
We are still waiting on confirmation from:
*Bill Haynes, Instructor with the College of the North Atlantic, who deals with province wide initiatives in oil field training.
Other responsibilities included discussions, telephone calls, faxes and e-mails with panel participants and other involved individuals; confirmation of date, time and place; invitations to various organizations; production meetings; visiting site for show; securing phone line for web-cast; and everything in between. For more details check out the posting on our production meeting posted earlier.
The web-cast is to be on Wednesday, March 7th (two days away). I'll let you know what happens.
Other activities include:
*Sorted, viewed and categorized all Lourdes Channel 9 community television archive tapes.
*Picked up, sorted, packaged and delivered information from CNL-CAP to sites.
*Wrote up notes from CAP focus session at Cape St. George.
*Reviewed SchoolNet Support Parents Trainer's Manual. (CNL-CAP)
*Re-wrote summer program proposal.
*Did resource/needs assessment for Sharing Our Future capabilities.
*Meeting at Black Duck Brook to discuss development of "Emile Benoit House" proposal. I was invited to attend because of my involvement with the Local Service District, but felt it would that if the project went ahead, it would be a great idea for a web-cast. We'll see what happens.
*Set up meetings for and attended meetings with Kelli Penney, CAP Development Officer who is responsible for various zones within the province including zone 9. These meetings were held at Stephenville, Cape St. George and Mainland.
*E-mailed CAP Work Plan to SOF/CAP facilitators. (Zone 9)
*E-mailed CAP Interest Assessment to SOF/CAP facilitators. (Zone 9)
*Discussions with Zone 9 Development Officer in regard to electronically linking CAP sites to the zone board web site. A firm has been contracted to update the RED board site, and a request has been made to make the link.
*Preparations for Grade 8 community television event. Met with class and had a production meeting. The show will go ahead on Sunday, March 25th. The show is done as part of the students Language Arts Program.
*Did interviewing and camera skills classes with the grade 8's.
*Did video taping of Kelli Penney, CAP Development Officer, for promo of CAP sites to be used as part of the Cape St. George web-cast.
*Discussion with Librarian at Cape St. George about getting CAP site interest assessments into the school for students to take them home to their parents. Made enough copies for both the French and English Schools at the Cape. At last contact, this had been done. The librarian has given a deadline for the forms to be back.
*What would I do differently?
I probably wouldn't have agreed to be CAP regional facilitator. There is a whole lot of expectation there that I wasn't expecting. I don't mind the work, but having to weave my way around everyone is very stressful.
*What works best?
Persistence. In getting government officials to the web-cast, I had to make several calls, faxes, etc. and not take no for an answer.
*Three issues in this area at this time?
1. High rate of unemployment
2. Dissension between communities
3. What is happening with the oil???
Here is my report for January.
1. Continued work on Logo for CAP/Zone. Visited Sandi at Mainland to see if we could fix up the Logo, but the program she has there is different from the one here at the office. I decided to leave it for now, and will re-visit it when the need arises.
2. Liaisoned between CNL/CAP and SOF
3. Met with Debbie Benoit, librarian at Cape St. George to discuss CAP sites.
4. Worked on list of government services web addresses. Most came from the GOVERNMENT OF CANADA SERVICES FOR YOU booklet. The idea was to compile a list and e-mail it to my sites, so that they would have the addresses on-line. Most of these have quick links. I also contacted the Government of NF Communication and Consultation Branch to see if there was a similar list of provincial web addresses. I was informed that there isn't, but there may be one in the next few months. I have requested that if it does come through, they let me know. I will check back in a few months to see. I will wait until then before I complete the list.
5. Re-did questionnaire about the Cape sites for CAP.
6. Reviewed development videos at P.A.P.E.D.A office.
7. Negotiated date for airing show with the school.
8. Did a report for CAP.
9. Worked on presentation for, and met with, Stephenville High's Robotics Team to discuss video production. As part of a Canada wide Robotics competition, each team has to do a video highlighting the steps they took to make their robot come to life. I gave them some tips on putting it together, lighting tips, camera tips, and basically got them thinking about how to make it unique. I also showed them how to use story boards. Emphasis was to be placed on creativity. I went back the following week to see if they were on track, and gave them my e-mail so that if they had any questions or needed help they could let me know.
10. Attended public meeting at Cape St.George. The focus of the meeting was to promote Community Access Programs.
11. Did up an interest assessment for CAP sites. I translated it in French, and got Bob Cormier, Executive Director for L'Associatoin Regionale de la Cote Ouest, to check it over for me and fix up the (many) mistakes.
12. Aired grade 8 show.
13. Screened ALL the videos that had been shown previously at Lourdes. I haven't counted them, but there are a lot. I will get them catalogued, and bring them back to the council office. (I brought them here to the office to do)
14. Established that the shows at Lourdes will be the last Sunday of every month.
15. Put some thought into what summer programs I will do. I have started a proposal and will let you know what happens.
I am in the process of planning a web-cast from Cape St. George. The theme for the show will be centered around the oil production here and what it means to the Peninsula. The show will take place sometime during the week of March 5-9, but the exact day is yet undetermined. I have contacted Gerald Smith, and he is clear for that week, although he did ask that I get back to him as soon as I can with a date. I have made a request to the Department of Environment and Labour to attend also, and am awaiting a reply from them as to what day is good. Once I receive a reply, I will set things up and let everyone know. I have spoken to the mayor, Tony Cornect, and given him an update. We are also looking at inviting someone from the Regional Economic Development Board, a rep. from the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association, an Oil Company rep., someone from mines and energy, and a moderator. I will keep you posted.
There were a few problems with airing the show at Lourdes this time around. We run the show from out of the library which is a very busy place. While I was airing the show, a teacher has scheduled some testing in one of the rooms off the library and commented on it being a bit noisy. Also, after school, while the show was still running, there has been a meeting scheduled for the library. It was a pretty important meeting which dealt with a students progress and involved the students, the principal, the guidance counsellor, the students parents and teachers. It was a bit awkward. We then decided that the best time to air the shows would on Sundays. There won't be any heat there but we can live with that. The school is a very busy place and I understand totally that school stuff is priority. The main reason we thought it would be a good idea to have it during school time was to be able to include all the students (as some of them are not from Lourdes). Maybe I can work something out by pre-taping (OOPS the bad word) segments with the students who are not from Lourdes, and getting the Lourdes students to do the show live. I really have to try to do something like this for this show as the other grade 8's are looking forward to having one of their own. Once this show is done, I am looking at starting at video or media club. I have to do this show with them first though.
Sorry to be so long winded. Thats it for now. As usual any suggestions or comments are welcome.
Hi folks. Happy New Year,
Here is my report of activities for SOF for December.
* Contact with Regional Cable
* Reports for SOF
* Copied Logos on disks for CNL-CAP (Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Community Access Program.)
* Did list of contacts of Sharing Our Future Regional Facilitators for CNL-CAP.
* Contact with Lourdes Town Council about equipment they had stored there for community television. Got the equipment and learned that they, as well as the Lourdes parish, were looking at getting the "old school" building and fixing it up.
If and when this is done, (it is only in the talking stages yet), they want to include Channel 9 in the building. This will be great and I hope it happens! I'll keep you informed. I think the important things is that they have a renewed interest and are looking forward to working with us again.
* Negotiated space at the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association for Channel 9 equipment storage.
* Distributed community access signs and mounting instructions to facilitators and libraries for CNL-CAP.
* Attended Community Youth Network Meetings at L.S. Eddy.
* Contact with Sharing Our Future facilitators about CNL-CAP and shared information until contact list was done. (Many e-mails, forwarding, etc.) Mainland still has its system down so I just fax pertinent information there in the meantime.
* Requested answers to questions from CNL-CAP by community access sites at Mainland(Centre Ste. Anne) and Stephenville (Kindale Library). Forwarded answers to CNL-CAP.
* Did a Christmas Community Television event with grade 8's at Lourdes Elementary.
Content included local news/sports package, birthday and anniversary announcements, a stained glass demonstration (one of the grade 8's does this as a hobby), a video about economic development, and one about a visit to the grade 8's by veterans during Remembrance. One thing of interest for me was that there had been some incidents of vandalism at the school, and it gave the Principal a chance to address this issue publicly.
* Show preparations included equipment training and set-up for the students by Ryakuga.
* And as usual, many e-mails and regular visits to the webboard.
* Visit to CAP site at Mainland and Stephenville. Contact with CAP sites at Mainland, Stephenville and Cape St. George.
November
1. Finished Sharing Our Future press release and article for the newspapers. Faxed it to the Georgian and the Western Star.
2. Helped develop an information pamphlet and news release for the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association.
3. Meetings with the Community Youth Network about their information sharing.
4. Developed programs for grade 8 students to incorporate community television into the class.
5. Made several presentations to grade 8's class including preparations for a Christmas television show.
6. Attended a four day conference in Gander for Community Access Programs.(CAP)
7. Reported information about CAP back to Sharing Our Future working group.
8. Participated in The Youth, The Environment and The Economy conference which was held in Stephenville at the Lion's Club on November 30th and December 1st.
9. Use of web board and extensive use of e-mail.
10. Circulated list of questions to Sharing Our Future working group about CAP sites in their areas.
11. I e-mailed list of questions to CAP sites in my area which are at Cape St. George, (which is located at the library), Stephenville (which is at the Kindale Library), and Mainland where the site is located at Centre Scholaire et Communautaire Ste. Anne.
L'Association Regionale de la Cote Ouest, who are located at Centre Scholaire et Communautaire Ste. Anne, are partners with the Sharing Our Future program, and have had a communications facilitator hired there for several years.
At Lourdes, the Parish and the Coucil are planning to use the old elementary building and fix it up. They want to include Channel 9 in the plans, so it looks like we may have a studio after all. This of course is just in the planning stages but please keep your fingers crossed for us.
October
Bev and I talked and decided that my monthly reports could be put on the discussion board. That way we all know what is happening in my neck of the woods. Here is the report for October.
1. Established contact with groups and organizations including Community Youth Network (CYN), Communities In Schools (CIS), Port-au-Port Economic Development Association (PAPEDA), Lourdes Elementary, Ryakuga Grassroots Communications, L'Association Regionale de la Cote Ouest
2. Acted as a liason between the Community Youth Network and a youth participant for the YouCan conference in Ontario. I met with the youth and his mom at their home to gauge interest in his attending the conference.
3. Met with the principal at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary about doing community television with the grade 8's. He requested a proposal.
4. Did a proposal for the elementary.
5. Acquired work space at the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association.
6. Acquired use of video camera and tripod from partnering local organizations.
7. Cleared use of video camera for students in grade 8.
8. Video taped economic development presentation at Piccadilly Central High. Presentation made by Vanessa Glasgow, Regional Economic Development Officer in Zone 9.
9. Met with grade 8 teacher at Lourdes Elementary.
10. Started work on press release/newspaper article about Sharing Our Future.
11. Negotiated date for Christmas show with school and Ryakuga. (Technical support and training for students.
12. Use of web board and extensive use of e-mail.
