Mission Public Schools (School District #75)

Community Literacy Plan 2015
Community Literacy Plan 2015
Through literacy people in the community are thriving …
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
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This Community Literacy Plan was prepared by the Mission Literacy in Motion (MLiM) Community
Literacy Outreach Coordinators in collaboration with the MLiM Board members. For more information
about the plan, or to find out how you can get involved in Community Literacy in Mission, BC, please
contact us: [email protected]
Community Literacy Plan 2015
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3
Reflections on the Current Year ................................................................................................. 3
Task group ............................................................................................................................. 4
Membership in the task group ............................................................................................. 4
How is the work of this group organized? ............................................................................ 4
Community context: ................................................................................................................ 5
Community Development and Literacy Collaboration: ............................................................ 6
Goals and Actions of the Past Year: ....................................................................................... 7
Past Year Priorities, Goals, and Objectives ........................................................................ 8
Adjustments, opportunities, changes................................................................................... 9
Indications of success: ..........................................................................................................10
Challenges: ...........................................................................................................................13
What are the difficulties: .....................................................................................................13
What would help? ..............................................................................................................13
The Coming Year: .................................................................................................................14
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Community Literacy Plan 2015
Introduction
Community Literacy Plans are multi-year, annually updated, plans submitted to Decoda
July 15th each year.
Community Literacy Organizations in receipt of Decoda Literacy Solutions funding are
required to submit a yearly Community Literacy Plan (CLP), directed toward improving
the literacy of all citizens in the community.
This document is intended to serve the reporting requirements of Mission Literacy in
Motion (MLiM) in regards to literacy work in our community and provide the community of
Mission with information on MLiM’s accomplishment and plans for the future. We believe
this document illustrates our effective partnership and collaboration with in the greater
community which makes our work very fulfilling.
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Community Literacy Plan 2015
Reflections on the Current Year
Task group
Membership in the task group
Mission Literacy in Motion (MLiM) consists of a broad representation of community
perspectives through a variety of associations. This year our Task group included the
newly elected MLiM Board members. This group brings a diverse level of experience
from a broad selection of service groups and organizations throughout the community of
Mission.
They include:
Executive
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Shelley Clarkson - Chair - Retired, Circulations Manager FVL
Rick Rake - Vice Chair - Local Immigration Partnership Coordinator
Cindy Miller - Past Chair – Bookkeeping and Accounting
Laura Wilson - Secretary - Mission ECD, Committee Coordinator
Corinne Jewer - Treasurer - Account Manager, VanCity Credit Union
Directors
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Judith Ray - H.R. Committee Chair Melinda Dempster - MPSD Representative - Principal at Hatzic Elementary School
Brenda Lavalle - Occupational Safety Officer at WorkSafeBC
Sue Antonson - Vice Principle at MPSD
Elyssa Lockhart - McQuarrie Hunter LLP
Diane Moran – Management, Health Care
Jacqueline Stasiuk – Library Technician
Community Literacy Plan 2015
How is the work of this group organized?
As a literacy-based nonprofit organization, Mission Literacy in Motion (MLiM) has been active
in the community for twenty-two years. MLiM has undergone growth, change and
restructuring that resulted in the following new Mission Statement: “Mission Literacy in
Motion will empower people by making connections.”
MLiM is organized through a voluntary committee with elected board executives and directors
as well as two Literacy Outreach Coordinators (LOC), and Program Facilitators.
MLiM’s Board Members and LOCs, sit on a broad selection of service groups and agency
committees.
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Community Literacy Plan 2015
Community context:
Mission Literacy in Motion (MLiM) acknowledges and honours that we offer our services
within the Stó:lō Nation in School District 75, located in the Central Fraser Valley of
British Columbia .The traditional territories include the following First Nation
Communities: Leq’ a:mel First Nation; Kwantlen First Nation; Matsqui First Nation; and
Scowlitz First Nation.
Overall, according the Statistics Canada 2011 census, MLiM serves a population of
36,426. Diversity in the community includes approximately 6% non-English speaking and
8.1% Aboriginal families. In Mission School District 75, 36% of the families have children
at home with 17.5% of these children dwelling in single parent families.
Community Development and Literacy Collaboration:
The relationship between Mission Public School District 75 (MPSD), University of the
Fraser Valley (UFV) and Mission Literacy in Motion (MLiM) sets the stage for significant
and successful literacy collaboration.
UFV provides the post-secondary stewardship required by the provincial government for
the Community Adult Literacy Program (CALP) grant.
Literacy programming such as: the Homework Club, Book Buddies, Riot of Reading,
Family Day Celebrations; as well as our office space, technical support and classrooms
are supported through an in-kind agreement with MPSD. This agreement includes an onsite meeting space at various schools that provide access to equipment, Internet,
supplies, library, gymnasium, and other items.
As a partner Mission Community Services Society’s (MCSS) Settlement and Integration
Program refer Adult Immigrant Learners to MLiM Adult Literacy Programs and children
and families to our Family Literacy Programs. In return MLiM also refers individuals and
families that qualify to appropriate MCSS programing.
As a member of the recently formed Mission Early Years Centre, we have the opportunity
to collaborate with MPSD Strong Start, Stó:lō Nation, Aboriginal Family Place, MCSS
Family Place, and MCSS Child Care Resource and Referral. This partnership has
allowed us to refer our clients to their programs and we in turn receive referrals from
them.
Mission Library, Fraser Valley Regional Library houses and provides in-kind materials,
publications, and staff support for our Family Literacy and Adult Literacy programming.
They provide support for our Reading Buddies Program and our Adult Tutors and
Learners who use the Library as their meeting and learning place.
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Community Literacy Plan 2015
Other groups that collaborate with us are:
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Centennial Place Clubhouse
Decoda Literacy Solutions
District of Mission
Early Childhood Development Committee
Empowered Living Services
Family Literacy Committee
First Book Canada
Fraser Health
Fraser River Heritage Park
Friends of the Library
Future 4 Nations Aboriginal Head Start
Hope Central
Leq’ a:mel First Nation
Lifetime Learning Centre
Mamele'awt Qweesome/To'o Housing Society
Ministry of Advanced Education
Mission Chamber of Commerce
Mission Community Services Society
Mission Early Years Centre
Mission Friendship Centre Society
Mission Medium Security Prison
Mission Library, Fraser Valley Regional Library
Postmedia Raise-a-Reader
Siwal Si'wes MPSD
Stó:lō Nation, Aboriginal Family Place
Success by 6
United Way of the Fraser Valley
WorkBC
Community Literacy Plan 2015
Goals and Actions of the Past Year:
Past Year Priorities, Goals, and Objectives
Priorities:
Our priorities, during this past year were to strengthen and increase existing MLiM
literacy programs as well as, raise our community profile. In addition, we were to increase
literacy awareness by committee membership participation, community presentations to
our partners and service groups as well as the general public.
Goals:
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sustainable funding
keep programs fresh with innovative ideas
expand existing programs
continued volunteer and learner recruitment
Objectives:
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maintain and increase relationships
partner with other service providers
share literacy resources and information
build relationships with local service providers
outreach at local community events
rebuild and establish affiliations with outlying communities that surround the
community of Mission
Actions:
Our marketing strategies included:
 outreach at many functions and events in Mission
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St. Joseph’s Food Bank
Safe Harbour Training
United Way Luncheon
Family Literacy Night
Riot of Reading
Connect Events
Youth Challenge Event
Presentations to Community Service Groups , Seniors Groups, and Friends of
the Library
Value Village
advertised in local print and digital media
updated our website
displayed posters and brochures in offices and public spaces throughout the
community
Community Literacy Plan 2015
Our training included:
 Volunteer Tutor Training :
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to tutor one to one
to facilitate our small group programs
to attend community outreach events
orientation for the volunteers in our Family Literacy programs
two of or staff members attended the UBC Aboriginal Storytelling workshop
MLiM Literacy Outreach Coordinator attended the Youth Challenge Day Event
MLiM Literacy Outreach Coordinator was successfully accredited as a Provincial
Literacy Outreach Coordinator
Programing:
Thanks to community partnership consultation, we have rebuilt the CALP program to offer
small group programs that are designed to fulfill our learner-lead mandate. These
programs include:
 financial literacy
 tutor training
 English Conversation and Grammar (ECG) program
 small group digital literacy tutoring classes
 book club support at Mission Medium Security Institution
Family Literacy programs have also improved in participation and volunteer numbers.
These programs include:
 Book Buddies
 Homework Club
 Mother Goose
 Reading Buddies
 Stat:waya – Thursday Club
Adjustments, Opportunities, Changes
Due to funding limitations we were unable to provide outreach to the geographically
remote areas in the District of Mission. Our concern is that valuable relationships,
opportunities to reach at risk populations, and partnerships with the rural communities
and band offices have been lost. We continue to explore new opportunities in this area.
A second adjustment and new opportunity occurred in the delivery of one of our after
school programs, Book Buddies. In years past, high school students finished school in
time to read with children at the elementary school, but due to a school exit time change,
there was an hour gap. In order to compensate for this we recruited volunteers from the
home-schooled sector of our community and included some adults in the program. We
also renewed a relationship with the Aboriginal Education Department Siwal Si'wes. With
their support we were able to continue the Book Buddies Program at École Mission
Central Elementary School.
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Community Literacy Plan 2015
Another opportunity arose when we established a new relationship with a private school,
Dasmesh Punjabi School, whose students have historically participated as ‘Little Buddies’
in our Reading Buddies program at the Mission Community Library. Once again, due to
our outreach endeavours, we now have high school students from this school
participating in the role of volunteer mentor ‘Big Buddies’ in our program. A dance troop
from this same school performs at our annual Riot of Reading held during the celebration
of literacy week in Canada.
The last change for MLiM included the way the Literacy Outreach Coordinator (LOC) role
was re-defined. The LOC role was broken into two separate areas, Family Literacy and
Adult Literacy. This was done to increase the scope of experience, effectiveness,
knowledge, and resources pertaining to both the Family Literacy and the Adult Literacy
programs.
Indications of Success:
New opportunities arose through expanding partnerships within the community.
Indications of success are the increased interest and participation in each program.
Examples include:
i.
This year’s Riot of Reading celebration of Literacy had the largest attendance in thirteen
years. The event is a multi-cultural affair with participation from community partners to
provide information, performances and refreshments. The participants that included:
 the Dasmesh Punjabi School performers
 First Nations drumming
 Turkish Dancing
 flash mob acting
 UFV Aboriginal Department – Language presentation
 Local Fiddling group - Jenny Bice and Prydwen
ii.
We maintained the number of volunteers who trained as tutors, and are working in oneto-one scenarios with our learners. We have some Learners who have been together with
their Tutors for a number of years.
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For example, one of our Learners is a young First Nation’s woman, who is profoundly
deaf and has slipped through the regular education system without having her needs
addressed. When she started with our Tutor, five years ago, she was tested and
classified as a non-reader. Since that time they have worked together and she is reading
independently at a grade 2/3 level. Although they still have a distance to go for her to
achieve her driving license goal they are enthusiastically working toward it.
Another example of an ongoing Tutor and Learner relationship pertains to a new comer to
Canada. She arrived in Canada with very low English language skills. In just over a year
this Learner has gone from being too shy to try to speak English to engaging in
conversation and being able to write reports for her job. This learner still has the desire to
learn more English language and grammar skills and is a very active learner.
Community Literacy Plan 2015
iii.
Volunteers are teaching small group classes like the ECG program.
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The ECG program is very successful with a consistent number of attendees, ranging
from four to ten. The two volunteers took the entire class bowling and to the local high
school production of Shakespeare’s “Midsummers Dream”. Strong team building has
happened between old and new members of this group, due to these outings. Also,
helpful linguistic knowledge was built into the excursion with vocabulary and grammar
lessons before and after each event.
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Homework club is in the fourth year of operation, and is facilitated by a Volunteer who is a
qualified Educational Assistant (EA). Attendance is high in the program with six to eight
students attending weekly. The students meet once a week at an elementary school and
the tutoring is open to all students in the Mission School District.
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There are more applicants than space in the Aboriginal directed Book Buddies program.
This program is a very important ongoing program that can only be accessed through a
referral from the school. The program was extremely successful. We were able to expand
the program by having home-schooled students and adult volunteers participate as Big
Buddies. Little Buddies and Big Buddies alike requested that they have the same
partners next year.
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An example of the program’s successful outcome is exhibited in, one Little Buddy’s
actions. He was a non-reader who, initially, wasn’t interested in reading with the
group, for the first four sessions. Then one day prior to the start of the session came
to the facilitator with two books in his hand and asked the facilitator if he could read to
her before the start of the program.
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Our Reading Buddies Program was another very successful program that had a high
participation rate. It was held at the Mission Community Library in Mission, BC. The
volunteers included adults and students from the three high schools in Mission, and
provided a mentorship opportunity for these students and support to the struggling
readers. We had Big Buddy Volunteers that were once Little Buddies themselves. And
have decided to match pairs that have requested to be re-matched in the fall when the
program continues again.
vii.
The Mother Goose program continues at capacity and is perceived as the gateway
program for both Mission Family Place and Aboriginal Family Place programs. We have
received positive feedback from our participants, through evaluations and ongoing
assessments. These assessments demonstrate both quantitative and qualitative
feedback allowing us to gather learner/participant outlook and responses. This year MLiM
took over program registration and provided a selection of free books to the families at
the end of each session.
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Community Literacy Plan 2015
viii.
MLiM distributes books that are new and gently used throughout Mission. We have given
away over 2000 books that we received from First Books Canada. We also have fifteen
Zebra Boxes located throughout the community and these boxes are regularly checked
and filled with gently used books by members of our Family Literacy Committee. Another
book distribution provides board books for new parents with children from zero to one
years old, this initiative is a collaborative effort between The Friends of the Library, Family
MLiM, Literacy Committee and MLiM.
Thanks to the following local businesses for their donations:
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Starbucks
Graba Java
Pete’s Pizza
Tim Hortons
Subway
Coffee News
Mission City Record
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Sue’s Copy Place
Safeway
Save-on Foods
London Drugs
Mission City Farmer’s Market
Lexi’s Treats
Staples Mission
Community Literacy Plan 2015
Challenges:
What are the difficulties?
Uncertain funding causes difficulty in the planning and delivery of our programs.
Valuable time and energy is spent applying for funding thus the real work of Literacy
becomes secondary as our value statement says, “Mission Literacy in Motion is
passionate about making a difference with integrity, inclusivity, accountability, and
transparency”.
It takes time to develop partnerships, begin programs, achieve success, and have
participants enjoy, become immersed, feel safe, and supported in their learning
environment. Successful programing requires strategies that encompass more than one
year at a time. Literacy programs are relationship based. Therefore, vulnerable
populations are slow to participate, as they must first develop a trusting relationship with
the facilitators. These experiences are very important components in any literacy
program. Honest and trusting relationships result in successful programs.
What Would Help?
Core funding should be designed to allow for three to five year program building as it
takes longer than six months or a year to enhance literacy skills in a community.
It is useful to have Decoda continue to facilitate seminars and training sessions to help
the community literacy groups learn how to reach and advocate to local and municipal
governments and businesses.
Community literacy groups should have free-of-charge access to grant and data base
websites that are be useful at the community level.
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Community Literacy Plan 2015
The Coming Year:
Opportunities, Challenges and Issues in the Community
We will continue to focus on programs for adults, youth, and children. As well as,
concentrate on the basic literacy needs, we have identified, in our community. We are
committed to making our existing programs stronger.
We will continue to make our presence known to the community of Mission; including our
service provider partners; educational institutions; provincial, municipal, and federal
government institutions; businesses and financial institutions, and the community at large.
Goals, Priorities or Objectives
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To coordinate our services with existing partner and community programs
To work to sustain programs already in progress
To look for new opportunities through strengthening existing and building new
partnerships
To work to become more visible in the community through outreach, partnerships,
and participation in community events
To promote increased memberships, volunteers, and learners
To use our new website, Facebook, and Mail Chimp, to promote MLiM in all media
forms
To partner with local service providers to facilitate English language learning and
enhance literacy skills
Community Literacy Plan 2015
Requirements to Meet Goals:
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Explore new ways to raise awareness of Mission Literacy in Motion (MLiM) in the
community so our goals, vision and mandate are universally known throughout the
community.
Maintain and retain staff levels
Continue strong MLiM Board leadership
Renewable funding stream
Strengthen the working partnership with the BC Early Years Centre
Maintain ongoing partnerships with committees and build new relationships
Sustain programming, while being creative and innovative to keep our programs
current. This will enable us to:
o reach new people
o enhance awareness on a broader level to Mission and the outlying areas.
Attend professional development opportunities.
Measuring Our Success
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Comparative attendance and participation in our program offerings for next year.
Expand our membership base by 10%.
Recruit 5% more Volunteers to participate in our programs.
i. Senior
ii. Youth
Maintain existing partnerships.
We will be getting referrals from agencies that we are developing new relationships
with, such as:
i. Triangle Community Resources
ii. Mission Community Services Society