Welcome to February!

Last month the CLN Board and Staff came together in Edmonton for a day of celebration, professional development and visioning. We celebrated with a team building experience by cooking Thai Food (of course we got to eat our creations) and having a Christmas Gift Exchange.

Have you, our CALP Membership, seen the variety of different personalities among the CLN Board and Staff Teams? This diversity adds to the hilarity of a gift exchange that includes being able to steal from each other, and seeing which of the heartfelt gifts were to be fought over until the bitter end.

Our professional development and team building assignment had a “Then, Now, Next” theme stemming from reflections on our growth in the past five years. Here is a short excerpt from our assignment:

Then (2013 – 2014):

• Number of Community Adult Learning Council Members: 82
• CLN Board restructures staffing at CLN
  • Director (Full-time)
  • Communications Specialist (Full-time)
  • Admin Staff (15 hours/week)
  • Finance Contract (5 hours/week)
• Budget: AE funding: $292,353 + $65,000 for Culture of Collaboration grant (year 2)
• 7 Regional Resource Leaders (5-15 hours/month)

Now (2018-2019):

• Number of Community Adult Learning Program Members: 101
• CLN Staff: 10 full-time and 2 part-time
  • Executive Director
  • Training Manager
  • Communications Specialist
  • Events Specialist
  • Indigenous Liaison
  • Program Support
  • Financial Coordinator
  • Regional Support Staff (North, East, West, Central and South)
• Budget: AE (Delivery Stream) Grant: $1,252,000 + AE (Development Stream) Grant: $345,000 (2018-2020)

Next (2025 only six years away):

I am not going to define what this vision board means. It holds a different meaning to everyone but I think every person in the room was amazed to see that, despite our multitude of backgrounds, we have common goals, values and desired outcomes. As you, our members and system partners, view this vision board, I hope each of you feel empowered and enticed to add to it. The vision board will be awaiting your arrival at the September 2019 Symposium where each of you will be able to add your own images and words.

The diversity of the CLN team is representative of our entire CALP system (much like our own communities). Every person has a different background; rural/urban, cultural, years of experience, professional field such as family literacy, adult literacy, some have children, some don’t. Our individual stories are so varied but we all come together with the same purpose and vision: to lead a visionary network of learning communities, where Community Adult Learning Programs are the hub for adult learning in every community.

Jana Thomson
Vice Chair, CLN Board of Directors

Symposium 2019 Keynote Speakers

CLN is excited to announce we have confirmed the Opening and Closing Keynote speakers for the Literacy and Learning Symposium 2019!

Our Opening Keynote Speaker will be Aaron Paquette. 

Aaron is one of Canada's best-known First Nations Metis personalities. He is active in his community, as he sits on various civic, provincial and national Boards and Advisory Councils. He is also an author of the bestselling book Lightfinder, a talented artist, illustrator and goldsmith. 

As an experienced facilitator, trainer and engaging public speaker, Aaron has worked with the Royal Conservatory’s adjunct program - Learning Through the Arts - as both a Mentor Artist and as the First Nations Representative and Consultant in Alberta. 

Aaron has collaborated with Ministries, Teachers’ Associations, and various community members and teachers, providing region wide teacher workshops and in-school experiences related to the art curriculum that also provide an FNMI perspective. 

A skilled communicator, Aaron has worked with Alberta Education in Professional Development, Reconciliation, Literacy, Overcoming Obstacles, Residential School & Forced Adoptions, Creativity, among other topics.

He is also fortunate to be alive. It was on a cold August night in Edmonton that Aaron found himself on the guardrails of the High Level Bridge. It was a moment of crisis.

Over the intervening years, through ups and downs and many mistakes and learning opportunities, Aaron found his way back. He found his a voice to his message that we all suffer, but none of us are alone. There is strength within us and around us that we can constantly draw on, not only to get us through tough times, but to propel us into the life we always wanted. When we use our courage to listen to it.

Plan to attend Aaron Paquette's Opening Keynote speech at Symposium on Tuesday, September 24.

Our Closing Keynote Speaker will be Maya Roy, CEO, YWCA Canada. 

Maya is a diversity specialist with 20 years of experience in a variety of sectors in public policy development, public health, adult education and social work. She has extensive experience working in marginalized and disadvantaged communities, and is skilled in human resources, financial management, grant writing and project planning as well as in strategic communications and marketing. 

Maya is fluent in English, French and Bengali. Her work has taken her to Thailand, Brazil, India and the UK where she worked with NGOs to support human rights and violence prevention. Her essays have been published in Going Beyond the Journey (2013) by Insomniac Press, and she is the winner of the 2013 CASSA Gender Advocate Award and the Toronto Community Foundation's Vital People award in 2014. She has a Bachelor of Social Work from the Ryerson School of Social Work, and has a Masters in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics. 

As an Executive Director, Ms. Roy ran a successful Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) programme, from 2009 to 2017. During this time, the learners worked with a writer-in-residence to publish three books; completed university classes for credit with a professor from Ryerson; and, recorded an award winning PSA to fight elder abuse.

As well, she has completed literacy training with Frontier College, and JUMP Math to support local volunteers to implement literacy and numeracy programming for marginalized children and youth in priority neighborhoods. She is passionate about mainstreaming the use of music, art, political action and popular theatre to enhance social equity and literacy outcomes for learners. Additional details can be found in Beyond the Journey, edited by Dr. Althea Prince, a textbook that can be found on Amazon.

Maya was a member of the Gender Equality Advisory Council for Canada’s G7 Presidency.

Plan to attend Maya Roy's Closing Keynote speech at Symposium on Friday, September 27.

Watch for more information on how to register, session descriptions and all the fun and excited events planned for the Literacy & Learning Symposium this year on March 1, 2019! 

Literacy & Learning Symposium

Tuesday, September 24 to Friday, September 27, 2019.

Upcoming Regional Trainings

With spring just around the corner CLN has a lot of upcoming engaging and meaningful regional trainings planned. Be sure to log onto the Portal and take a look at what is coming up.

One of the many we are excited about is Rising to the Reading Challenges of Adult Learners: Practitioner’s Toolkit facilitated by Dr. Anne Price. A registered psychologist at the CanLearn Society (formerly the Calgary Learning Centre). She has extensive experience and expertise in assessment and intervention for learning disabilities and ADHD across the lifespan.

This resource was developed to expand the capacity of adult foundational learning practitioners to work effectively with adults with reading difficulties. It includes a process for identifying and meeting the needs of adult learners with a focus on reading and red flags for learning disabilities, drawing on knowledge and instructional strategies from the field of learning disabilities. In this workshop, the focus will be on understanding the reading process. Assessment and instructional strategies will be explored. Complementary resources, including videos of instructional strategies in action, will be introduced. 

It is scheduled in the following locations:

• St. Paul - Thursday, February 28, 2019, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.
• Lethbridge - Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
• Wetaskiwin - Thursday, April 4, 2019, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
• Grande Prairie - Friday, April 26, 2019, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

We Want to Hear From You: Provincial Training Surveys

This month, CLN will be sending out follow-up surveys to participants who attended training coordinated or delivered by our team between July and October of 2018, including training sessions you may have attended at last fall's Literacy and Learning Symposium.

Under the CALP Professional Development Logic Model and Evaluation Framework, PD providers funded through the Community Adult Learning Program collect data that align to the intermediate level outcome:

• CALP staff integrate acquired knowledge and skills into practice

The surveys we will be sending out only take about 2 minutes to complete, and your input is invaluable. The feedback we collect will inform not only our evaluation of past training initiatives, but will also help us plan future professional learning opportunities for the CALP system. Your input also helps us tell the story of why it is important for CALP practitioners to have access to relevant PD that contributes to your work.

Our goal with these surveys is to gather information that paints a better picture of how the training and events CLN provides to the system serve and support you (or don't) over time.

Many of you will receive a number of surveys, based on the trainings you attended. We ask that you please take a few moments to share your feedback on each of the professional learning opportunities we ask you about.

Together, we can ensure that the CALP PD system is responsive and relevant, building capacity to benefit adult learners across Alberta!

Family Literacy Required Training Workshops Coming Soon!

Coming soon! A training workshop developed specifically for Family Literacy practitioners delivering Family Literacy programs within the CALP system will be available this spring. This training is based upon Family Literacy theory, principles and best practices and will help CALPs plan and deliver Family Literacy programs that focus on adult literacy and foundational learning outcomes. Dates for the pilots are:

• May 2 – Calgary
• May 9 – Central Region
• May 9 – North Region
• May 16 – South Region
• May 22 – Edmonton

Watch the CALP Portal for more updates in the coming months. Registration for the May pilots will open in early April.

Save the Date - Spring Regional Meetings

Just a reminder to please note when your Spring Regional Meeting is planned for. 

Regional meetings are an excellent way to network with others in your region, connect with Advanced Education and learn more about trainings happening in your region, and of updates at CLN. 

• West-Central: March 20, Stony Plain
• East-Central: April 4, St. Paul
• South: April 9, Lethbridge
• West-Central: April 16, Edson
• North: April 25, Grande Prairie
• Central: April 30, Big Valley

Your Regional Support Staff will be sending out more detailed information in the weeks to come. Also, please keep an eye out for information posted on the Portal.

Free Insurance Webinar

What is “Directors and Officers Liabilities” insurance?

Unlike a general liability policy that provides coverage for claims arising out of bodily injury and property damage, a D&O policy specifically provides coverage for “Wrongful Acts”.

On Thursday, February 7 from 10am to 11:30am join Doug Tweddle from Foster Park Brokers Inc. to learn more about the responsibilities and risks of your board members, and how a great insurance policy can protect their personal assets like their home and retirement savings.

Doug will help you start thinking about what kinds of questions to ask when you are considering your CALP’s risks and insurance needs.

The session will also include a Q and A, where you can ask any specific questions you have about D&O Insurance policies.

This webinar is offered at no charge, in partnership between the Community Learning Network and Foster Park Brokers Inc.

This would be a great time to pull out your current policy to see what you have covered, and may not!

To sign up go to the registration page and click on Attend. A link to join the webinar will be emailed to participants prior to the webinar. 

Volunteer Alberta - National Volunteer Week Grant Now Open

Volunteer Alberta, with funding provided by Alberta Culture and Tourism, assists organizations with hosting events and activities to celebrate National Volunteer Week (April 7-13, 2019) through the National Volunteer Week Grant.  

Applications are now open and you can receive $500 as a host site, $1000 as a feature site or $2000 as a regional feature. Click here to learn more about eligibility and funding guidelines. Deadline to apply is February 22, 2019.

The theme for this year is “The Volunteer Factor – Lifting Communities.” 

To learn more about National Volunteer Week or to download posters and images visit the National Volunteer Week page. 

Free CharityVillage Webinar: Addressing Psychological Health and Safety in Nonprofit Workplaces

CharityVillage is hosting a free 1 hour webinar addressing psychological health and safety in nonprofit workplaces on Thursday, February 14 at 11am (MT). 

You will join the Canadian Mental Health Association to hear more about how nonprofits are addressing psychological health and safety, about low or no cost strategies you can implement quickly to help create an environment that enables your employees to do their best and thrive at work. 

Registration is open to all, but attendance is limited to the first 1000 people who sign into the live session. The session will be recorded, so if for some reason you cannot attend the live session you will receive the full recording by email if you are registered. 

If you would like further information click here. Or visit the registration page to register directly.