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The annual Literacy and Learning Awards Banquet was held on Thursday, September 26th in conjunction with the 2019 Symposium at the DoubleTree by Hilton in West Edmonton. This was a fabulous evening to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments in community-based literacy and learning in Alberta.
The Honourable Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Alberta Advanced Education was in attendance to present the prestigious Council of the Federation Literacy Award to the Project Adult Literacy Society (P.A.L.S.). Monica Das accepted the award.
P.A.L.S. supports adult learners in the foundational learning areas of reading and writing, math, English language, and digital learning opportunities. The impact of their work is far-reaching as they empower students to improve daily living, build social support networks, and reach further learning and employment.
Left to right: Monica Das and The Honourable Demetrios Nicolaides
The CLN Board of Directors also presented two "Outstanding Contribution to Community Adult Learning" Awards this year.
Jana Thomson, Program Coordinator with Rocky Learning Centre was recognized for putting her "all" into everything she does. She designs new programs for community families, she creates connections and relationships, and she believes that literacy programs for adults and families improve her community.
Left to right: Jana Thomson and Mona Crocker, Exectuive Director of Rocky Learning Centre
Roberta Rogers, Chair of the Brooks Community Adult Learning Council Board was recognized for her outstanding commitment and contributions to the community. She has personally impacted the lives of students, clients and co-workers with her commitment to adult learning and promoting lifelong learning in the city of Brooks. Roberta is also a true advocate of bringing mental health concerns and discussions to the forefront, being the prime organizer of the Rural Mental Health Conference held in Brooks.
Unfortunately, Roberta was unable to attend the banquet, but we are so happy she was recognized at the Banquet.
The Centre for Family Literacy also presented the Ruth Hayden Family Literacy Practitioner Award to Kimberly Cairns, Adult and Family Literacy Program Manager with the Grande Prairie Council for Lifelong Learning, for the compelling work she does in her community.
Left to right: Kimberly Cairns and Kim Chung from Centre for Family Literacy
The awards portion of the evening is always inspirational, but hearing an adult learner speak is always so motivational and emotional. This year we had so many amazing submissions that we had 2 adult learner speakers at the Symposium. Eddy Piche from P.A.L.S. spoke at the Opening Ceremonies and Riley Neal from Medicine Hat College, ABLE program spoke at the Banquet.
Eddy Piche
Riley Neal
Congratulations to all of the award winners and speakers, and thank you for all that you do in your communities. We look forward to celebrating with you all next year!
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We can't extend enough of our appreciation to all of you who attended, presented, facilitated and helped plan another amazing Symposium this year. We hope that all of you enjoyed the week and took from it as much as we did. 
building practitioner skills in delivering adult literacy programming. This project is supported by CLN’s PD Development grant funding from Alberta Advanced Education. The overall objective of the project is to build capacity within CALP-funded organizations to provide relevant and practical literacy instruction to English-speaking adult learners.