CALP Connections: December 2024

A Message from Tanya Klappe, Vice Chair of the CLN Board

It was six or more years ago that I was participating in a Symposium workshop, led by the now retired Karen Plourde, where she walked us through her methods for supporting adults with learning disabilities. The workshop incorporated her Reading by Sight and Sound System as well as information on how to involve other senses in the learning process. With my own background being primarily EAL instruction, this was a lot of new and exciting information for me. It was a very engaging session and one that genuinely impacted and solidified my passion for the work we do in CALP.

Is that to say my confidence was also immediately impacted by Karen’s presentation? No, I’ll admit that wasn’t the case. But then, Karen informed the room that she was retiring soon and that it was important to share her many years’ expertise working with literacy learners. Karen commented that the people in the room were the future leaders in the CALP system and she wanted to impart her learned knowledge on us before retiring. After hearing this, I remember my exact thoughts…."me? I’m included in Karen’s statement about the future leaders in CALP? How can that possibly be? I mean, who am I?”

But wait, my second thought soon followed. “Actually, sure, why not me? I’m in the room, participating in order to contribute, aren’t I? So, why not me?!”

Fast forward six or so years, and I was being encouraged to join the CLN Board. My first thought, “Really?... Me?” Second thought, “Sure, why not me?!” And I am so pleased I did. My first weeks on the board have been welcoming and engaging.  I have been working in the system in various roles since 2006 and yet, this new experience is offering me a wealth of new learning and ways to contribute.

In fact, my experience on the CLN Board has led to a further consciousness of the CALP system as a whole and how all the moving parts come together to make it such a strong and impactful program in our province. The CLN Board is just one piece of this system and working together with all the individual CALPs and PD providers etc., we are making a difference in the lives of the Albertans we serve.

So, during this month of December, as we wrap up 2024, let’s all take a moment to reflect on colleagues’ and our own considerable contributions to the CALP system. There is so much knowledge and leadership coming from every corner of Alberta and I’m encouraging everyone to take notice. We’re doing great work around the province and we need to celebrate it with confidence!

With that, please be reminded that the CLN Board is currently accepting nominations for the 2025 Outstanding Contributions Award and we welcome and encourage internal nominations. Remember you and your colleagues are in the room ‘participating’ in order to contribute. So, why not you?!

Nominations can be made here:  https://calp.ca/resources/call-for-nominations-outstanding-contribution-award-2025.htm 

Deadline for submissions is March 14, 2025.

CLN Board Update

A Message from Monica Sczyrba-Davis, Chair of the CLN Board

On behalf of the CLN Board, I'm pleased to update our membership on the following:

As of December 1st, Natasha Bozek is moving into a new position outside of the CALP system. We are excited for Natasha's new endeavour and hope to reconnect on future projects. Natasha's leadership skills as Vice Chair and head of the Governance Committee will be missed, and we thank her for her contributions over the past year!

Tanya Klappe has stepped in to fill the Vice Chair role, Dave Albrecht will Chair the Governance Committee and Leslie Carbone is now our Secretary.

Please join me in welcoming our CLN Board members into their new roles!

Literacy & Learning Symposium 2025 Update

Dates: Tuesday, April 29 to Thursday, May 1, 2025

Location: DoubleTree by Hilton West Edmonton in Edmonton

Registration open from February 12 – April 9, 2025

Please mark your training calendars!

Get ready to make a splash! Our theme for the 2025 Symposium is "Making Waves," and we couldn't be more excited to share it with you. This year, we're all about creating a lasting impact, inspiring fresh ideas, and breaking new ground. We're thrilled to unveil our dynamic logo that captures the energy and innovation of what’s to come:

ANNOUNCING OUR OPENING & CLOSING KEYNOTE PRESENTERS

Our Symposium Planning Committee is excited to announce that we have selected our opening and closing keynote presenters for 2025!

Opening Keynote Presenter

About Jody Urquhart

Fed up with living a mediocre life, Jody wanted a memorable one instead. Her unyielding ambition led her into the world of stand-up comedy, where she learned to roll with the punch lines and turn life’s lemons into delicious lemonade.

Jody is a motivational speaker and participates in over 60 events yearly. She has a unique speaking style; she does not stand on a stage or use PowerPoint. Instead, she interacts with the audience using comedy and interaction around meaningful insights. Imagine your audience shedding self doubt and cynicism with every punchline. 

Her mission is simple: eagerly empowering worn-out professionals with humour, hindsight and hallelujahs. She firmly believes it’s not what you do that matters - it’s how you feel about what you do. 

With over 23 years of experience inspiring and entertaining audiences worldwide, Jody Urquhart delivers uplifting, engaging motivational speeches that help professionals cultivate a much-needed blissful can-do attitude toward fun and meaningful work.

Every keynote is a stepping stone towards building the work-life you have always wanted.

She is the author of All Work & No Say, a best-selling book that offers tongue-in-cheek insight into the rat race and how to reveal joy. Jody’s newest book, Bliss Out, shows hard-working people how to cure a hustle hangover. 

In her spare time, Jody loves to meditate and still performs stand-up comedy, but not at the same time. 

Jody does not use PowerPoint - just pure engagement, inspiration and clean, catered comedy.……

Closing Keynote Presenter

About Brandi Heather

People call me a “playful changemaker”—and I take that title seriously. We often forget the value of joy, I’m here to make play your greatest personal and professional asset.

As a best-selling author and award-winning college professor, I’ve seen that even the toughest workplace challenges can be transformed by playful solutions. My keynotes and training blend evidence-based insights from neuroscience and physiology with infectious energy, and unforgettable experiences.

I don’t just talk about how play boosts connection, rewires the brain, and builds resilience—I create live, interactive experiences where people feel its impact firsthand. Through hands-on activities, I help audiences shift their thinking, fostering adaptability, inclusion, and real-time innovation.

My work is rooted in personal experience. For years, I taught disability inclusion while hiding my mental illness. Rediscovering my playful side in a psychiatric hospital was a life-changing reminder: resilience doesn’t require perfection; it’s about letting go and embracing life’s messiness.

In a world where we’re constantly asked to be extraordinary, I’m here to remind you that we already have what it takes to thrive—if we let ourselves return to play.

COMING IN THE NEW YEAR

Get ready for more updates and details on how to register (starting in early February) for a Symposium event designed to inspire and engage. This is your opportunity to connect, grow, and join a vibrant community committed to ‘making waves’ in the world of literacy and foundational learning. Stay tuned – more information will be available soon!

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact Pat Halewich, Symposium Lead, at pdevents@calp.ca 

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

Register soon for these upcoming events!

• Small Talk and Big Talk (Presentation Skills) – Dec 12, 2024 Discover simple ideas that will increase your skill and confidence in one-on-one connections and making presentations for your CALP!  
• Family Literacy Day 2025 – Midday Meetup Dec 18, 2024 Join us to learn more about Family Literacy Day 2025 and get ideas for your own Family Literacy Day celebration!

Looking for something new?

• What's New in Adult Literacy Series Explore what’s new and effective best practices based on more recent studies for working with adult literacy learners.
• Indigenous Learners & Learning – Dec. 17, 2024
• Teach what is relevant to the learner-different ways of learning – Jan. 29, 2025
• Who is Paulo Freire and how is his pedagogy relevant today? - Feb. 18, 2025
• What is social justice? How does it connect to adult literacy learners? – Mar. 20, 2025
  
• Wellness Lunch & Learn Series: Self-Care…Because You Matter! December 3, 2024
  
• Truth & Reconciliation Faye Beauchamp, CLN and Lucille Provost, Pincher Creek Community Adult Learning Council Society, will host a 4-part series of dialogues on Truth and Reconciliation for CALP staff, boards, and volunteers. Save the dates: January 21, 29, February 12 & 26, 2025.

New to CALP?

If you have recently started working in a CALP role, be sure to register for required training. CLN also invites you to come meet other new staff to learn what supports are available to help you be successful in your new role!

• Welcome to CALP! – Jan 21, 2025 If you are new to CALP (or still feel new), come hear insights from experienced CALP staff about CALP operations, programming, learners and volunteers.
  
  
• Introduction to Adult Foundational Learning (Required Training) ONLINE
  Jan. 23 – Feb. 20 (10:00-11:15 am) (1:30-2:45 pm)
  May 21 – Jun 18 (9:30-10:45 am)

• CALP Essentials for Family Literacy Programs (Required Training) ONLINE  
  Feb. 25 – Mar 18, 2025 

The Art & Science of Helping Adults Learn

Join this 3-part Planning for Learning Series to explore the “art and science of helping adults learn,” based on Malcolm Knowles’ theory of andragogy and his assumptions of adult learners. Discover how to apply these assumptions within the work you do everyday with adult learners. Register once to join one or all sessions in this monthly series.

• Orientation to Learning with Corrie Rhyasen Erdman, CLN - Jan. 27, 2025
  
  
• Motivation to Learn with Allison McKee, Willow Creek Community Adult Learning Society - Feb. 27, 2025
  
  
• Self-concept with Heidi Grogan, Calgary Learns - March 31, 2025

Strategic Planning for CALP Boards

Is your board in need of a strategic plan refresh?! We are pleased to bring back Strategic Planning for CALP Boards which is both fun and rewarding. This online series will walk CALP staff and board members through the key steps for creating or updating your strategic plan. By participating, board members can work together towards:

• Developing a clear roadmap for the organization's future.
  
  
• Enhancing decision-making and setting priorities effectively.
  
  
• Motivating your team about your goals and future.

Dates: Jan 20, 27, Feb 10, 18, & 24, 2025 (evenings)
Contact Corrie Rhyasen Erdman if you have any questions training@calp.ca 

Personalized Coaching

Would you like some guidance in a particular area of your work? Don’t know who to ask? Book a coaching session with CLN staff in any of these areas:

• Literacy Programming and Instruction with Rebecca Still
  
  
• CALP Database with Cheryl Lovstrom
  
  
• Goal Setting with Learners with Cheryl Lovstrom
  
  
• Communications Skills in small talk, 'big talk' (presentations) and group talk (facilitation) with Tanis Harms

CLN’s training calendar is being updated regularly so check the Training & Events calendar on the CALP Portal often.

Communities of Practice

Join your peers in-person or online for informal discussions and connections facilitated by CLN Staff. Grab a coffee, bring a question, share a success or challenge, and settle in for five minutes or all sixty.

• Indigenous Practitioners' Learning Circle – Dec 10, 2024 Contact Faye Beauchamp to register faye@calp.ca 
• West Connections Café – Dec 10, 2024
• East Connections Café – Dec 11, 2024
• North Connections Café – Dec 11, 2024
• South Connections Café - Dec 11, 2024
• Coffee with the CLN Board - Jan 8, 2025
• Provincial Connections Café – Jan 28, 2025

Outstanding Contribution to Adult Learning Award Timeline

The CLN Board of Directors is pleased to announce we will be honouring the Outstanding Contribution to Adult Learning Award recipient at the Symposium on April 30, 2025. This change in timing means you will need to start thinking about who you want to nominate now, as the deadline to submit nominations is March 15, 2025. You will want to look at the achievements of an individual, or organization, over the past year between March 2024 – March 2025.

We recognize the timing is different than you have been used to for many years; however, as a board, we really feel it is special to be honored amongst your peers when we can all celebrate together, and an event like the Symposium is the perfect opportunity.

The nomination package is available now and can be accessed on the Portal. We will remind you over the coming months to submit your nomination prior to the March 15, 2025 deadline.

The CLN Board of Directors is looking forward to seeing all the great work being done in CALPs around the province.

Calling All CALPs!

Community Learning Network is participating in a grant proposal by NorQuest College. We will be issuing a call for letters of support in January. The project aims to help CALPs and other non-profits leverage their administrative data both at the organization and system level. There will be different ways to participate with different levels of commitment. Watch for the call in January, which will include more project information and details about Q&A sessions.

                   

Literacy in Action

If you are working with an adult learner who wants to know about different jobs and what would be suitable for their skillset, you can use a variety of tools from the Alberta Alis website. Many of

the resources and articles are Easy Reading and include easy to complete checklists that can guide an adult in deciding what to do for work.

Explore some of the Planning series for adults reading at an intermediate reading level.

• Make Some Job Choices - includes articles and checklists
• Training for Work – articles that help decide the training needed with easy steps to follow
• Job Profiles – 23 job profiles that can match a learner’s criteria; includes videos of actual adults on the job

Not only does this website provide accessible material about work, it also can improve skills in reading, such as chunking, using charts, reading lists and even writing!

You can reach out to me for ideas if you are interested in using this website with a learner but not sure how to include reading skills.

Rebecca Still
CLN Literacy Specialist
literacy@calp.ca 

This Month's Spotlight

We’re excited to announce the relaunch of the Answers May Vary Guidebook, a beloved resource for supporting adult learners with developmental disabilities. First introduced in 2015, this easy-to-use guidebook is now more accessible than ever, featuring new multimedia elements like videos, audio clips, and printable handouts, all embedded directly into the guide for a more interactive experience.

But that’s not all! As part of the relaunch, we’ve reached out to CALP staff and adult learners across Alberta who are already putting the guidebook’s strategies into action. Their stories and insights are now part of the updated version, giving the resource a fresh, real-world perspective.

What makes this guidebook stand out? It offers practical, step-by-step instructions for integrating literacy and essential skills into the daily lives of adults with developmental disabilities—strategies that are as effective today as they were when the guide was first created.

Explore the updated guidebook:

• View the interactive Answers May Vary Guidebook (2024)
• Download the original Answers May Vary Guidebook (2015)

Happy Holidays from CLN!

Season’s greetings and best wishes for a joyous holiday season, and a very happy New Year!

Please note the CLN office will be closed from Wednesday, December 25th, 2024 to Wednesday, January 1st, 2025.