Leadership Programs. Issue # 16 December, Submitted by Rachel MacIvor and Katie Grobler

Transcription

1 Issue # 16 December, 2015 Leadership Programs Submitted by Rachel MacIvor and Katie Grobler There are two main leadership programs in Yorkdale Central School, the WeAct group and the grade 6 to 8 Mentorship Program. However we also have a committee within Grades 6-8 called Student Voice, which shares ideas for change within the school. The mentorship program starts at grade 6. The grade 6 responsibility is to assist teachers supervise, at lunch, Kindergarten to grade 4 classes throughout the week. The grade 7 students take Kindergartengrade 4 students to play intramurals games at lunch throughout the week. There they play games and learn the importance of teamwork. This takes place in the Student Center, gymnasium, or outside, weather permitting. Lastly, Yorkdale has our grade 8 Mentorship Program. Volunteer grade 8 students are paired with a student that may benefit from an older friend. The pair meet every day 5. Mentors help them with some school work, play games, participate in various activities like coloring, tic tac toe, and hangman. Once the year progresses the partners go on to do more engaging activities such as cookie decorating, ice cream take outs, and trips to the park. The focus is on creating a strong bond between Yorkdale s younger and senior students. The WeAct group helps Third world countries, Yorkton, and Yorkdale Central School with various projects. So far this year the WeAct group has raised over $2500. Continued on next page

2 Leadership Programs Con t Funds have been raised for the mammas in Kenya and other different areas that need support like clean water, food, alternative income, health, and education. Yorkdale sent 12 WeAct students to Winnipeg for two days to be The Change. WeAct members went to the Human Rights Museum, homeless shelter, food bank, and shared the experience with another middle school from Winnipeg. Yorkdale WeAct learned how to take charge and help change the world one step at a time. Not only was the trip fun, but we learned a lot too! Other schools with leadership programs: Springside School Grayson School St. Alphonsus School If you have a leadership program in your school we would love to hear about it. Sturgis Station House Museum The 2015 season saw the completion of a few long-term projects for the Sturgis Station House Museum, including the finalization of job descriptions for the board of directors and museum staff. The museum's board of directors enlisted the help of two local women with extensive experience in business and management. The model used for the job descriptions was Developing Job Descriptions for Board Members of Non-profit Organizations published by the Muttart Foundation in collaboration with the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit Board Development Program. The model suggests specific duties for members of a board of directors. Through a long process of discussion, drafting, proofreading, and more drafting, the Sturgis Station House Museum was able to finalize job descriptions for the members of its governing board. Although the document has been finalized and filed, it is indeed a living document meant to be revisited at least once a year. It was through this process that the board of directors realized just how much work is actually involved in managing a small museum. For example, administrative tasks and fundraising planning continue all through the winter. During the summer, the grounds require many hours of manpower and an overseer to organize it all. These are just a few examples from a seemingly endless list. However, thanks to these job descriptions, committees have been appointed, and each committee is responsible for Page 2

3 They won $250 to put towards Sport, Culture or Recreation in their community. They returned the Annual Member Registration form by November 20, If your community has not sent in their Annual Registration form please contact the office to have a form sent to you. We want to ensure we are communicating with the correct people and that your organization /community is informed and up to date on opportunities that come available. Ice Skating listing as many duties as possible to be used as a guide by future committee members. Without proper written job descriptions, organizations (even non-profit organizations) lack direction and delegation, leading to volunteer burnout. Before the Sturgis Museum adopted its job descriptions, many small tasks were done by the president. Now, however, individual committee members are shouldering more of the load, making for a more balanced board of directors. Having job descriptions saves time in the long run and stimulates involvement and commitment. Although the process for the Sturgis Museum was long and involved many hours of discussion, analysis, and re-writing, it is a process worth considering for all non-profit organizations. The Muttart Foundation's model for job descriptions, along with other helpful resources for boards of directors, may be found on its website, Cross Country Skiing Making Snow Angels Shoveling Snow Building Snow Forts Page 3

4 District Dream Broker Hello. My name is Roy Personius and I am the District Dream Broker here in Yorkton. My position is made possible with help from Parkland Valley Sports, Culture and Recreation District, the City of Yorkton, and Sask Sport Inc. The Dream Broker program is committed to initiating and sustaining the participation of children and youth in new or existing arts, sports, cultural and recreational activities that help advance their like skills, enhance their sense of belonging, and foster pride in their accomplishments. The Dream Broker program is targeted to children and youth attending the elementary schools selected, and is constructed to work in close partnership with the community and the school staff to connect children, youth and their families to positive programming and other opportunities in Yorkton. The two schools that are a part of the program here in Yorkton are St. Mary s School and Dr. Brass School, in which I work with the school staff in connecting the children and youth with the service providers. I take referrals from school staff and connect with the families to see what interests they have, and what programs and activities are available during the time period. I can assist the children, youth and families with registration, nutrition, transportation and equipment when needed. An example of some of the programs and activities that I currently assist with are: Minor hockey Swimming lessons Minor soccer Dance classes Taekwondo Figure skating Girl guides Aquabatix Minor football Youth bowling Gymnastics Music lessons The Dream Broker position is a very fun and rewarding job, in which I play a very important and exciting role in these children s lives. I get to know the children, youth and families, and become involved in various school activities. Both school staff members are very easy to work along with and they often provide more than enough opportunities for the children and youth to become involved with. The schools often have various programs and activities for the children and youth such as after-school programs and different school sports for them to participate in within school grounds or hours. Page 4

5 Roy with the Dr. Brass pow wow group, singers and dancers performing for a high school group from Toronto Welcome to Chelsey Johnson! Chelsey joined the Parkland Valley Sport, Culture and Recreation District team on October 28th, Previously, Chelsey was employed by the Town of Canora as the Leisure Services Director for one and a half years. Chelsey also worked as a Summer Programmer for Parkland Valley Sport, Culture & Recreation District and the City of Yorkton s SCAPE Program. Chelsey attended the Saskatchewan Institution of Applied Technology (SIAST) Kelsey Campus where she received her Diploma in Therapeutic Recreation. She then continued her education at the University of Regina where she received her Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Studies Degree with a major in Therapeutic Recreation and a minor in psychology. Page 5

6 Disc Golf Submitted by the PADG at a meeting in Yorkton in early November. The growth of disc golf in the Parkland region has been rather dramatic in the past six months. We have seen dramatic growth in terms of the number of courses in the region in the past six, or seventh months and we wanted to build on that, said Calvin Daniels who accepted the role of interim chair of the new Parkland Association of Disc Golf (PADG) which was just formed Daniels explained that there have been three disc golf courses in the region for a number of years; Patrick Park Disc Golf Course in Yorkton, Kemoca Regional Park at Montmartre, and Shaker City Disc Golf at Benito, MB. This summer the sport mushroomed with seven new courses installed, and five more under development for opening in early spring The new courses which are now installed and playable include; Springside, Sandy Beach on Good Spirit Lake, Rocanville, Lemberg, Fort Qu Appelle, Carlton Trail Regional Park and Melville. Courses which are expected to be installed as soon as the snow goes in 2016 are Stockholm, Moosomin & District Regional Park, North Ridge Disc Golf Course (Birtle, MB), Ituna Regional Park and Ochapowace Ski Hill. And, there are six or seven other communities where courses are being discussed, and we are optimistic a good number of those will move forward with course development in 2016, said Daniels. The reason for the growth comes down to what the sport/recreation of disc golf can offer a community and participants. Daniels said a disc golf course offers a recreation opportunity at a low installation cost for communities of just about any size, and the new Association will certainly be available to help any community, regional park or First Nation in the area thinking about a course. The PADG covers an area within a 125 kilometre radius of Yorkton. A tonal course, which is a lower cost alternative to purchased baskets, but still highly enjoyable to play, can be installed for under $300 for nine, said Daniels. That makes it affordable for almost any community, or regional park. All a community requires is a park -like area with some trees, and a disc golf course is likely to be viable to install. And once installed maintenance on a course is largely grass cutting. As for players, it is a low cost activity which promotes being outdoors and walking. A starter set of three discs is less than $40, and in many communities with courses there are discs available to use either for free, or very low cost. Page 6

7 As for the new Parkland Association of Disc Golf, the idea grew out of the growth in the number of courses. The Association is a way to create synergies to grow the sport in the region by networking, said Daniels. Each course within the region will be able to appoint an interim director to the Board, with that process already begun. It will be the Board s job to move forward with incorporating the Association as a non-profit sports body. Having an Association will just make it easier for the next community that starts talking about a course. That said the new Association has other goals as well. We definitely want to encourage play at our existing courses, and that will mean helping where we can in terms of how-to-play workshops, said Daniels. Such workshops can be for the community at large, but we will also be targeting youth. We really hope to get schools involved as this is an excellent sport to learn as it can be played for a lifetime, and the cost of participation is low too. Plans are already under way to create an informational brochure on the sport, the Association, and member courses as a resource. The idea of a youth committee specifically geared to helping build youth participation has already been highlighted as a priority for the interim Board meeting early in The PADG is also launching a tournament series in There were a number of successful tournaments at courses in the region this year, and we want to build on that next year, said Trevor Lyons who is acting as Tournament Chair to oversee the series for PADG. The plan is for each course in the Association to host one tournament in 2016 where participants will earn points toward year-end awards, although the details of the events and series rules are still being worked on, a committee having been struck on the 14th with that as its mandate. We hope a series encourages some players to travel for events, which creates a level of disc golf tourism, said Lyons. It also raises the profile of disc golf to have a series of events. It shows this is a legitimate sport, as well as a great recreation. Since many of the tournaments are based around receiving discs as part of entry fees, it is a great entry point for new players and new courses. Lyons said having participants going home with discs means they can then participate in the great sport at any time. Membership in the PADG is $20 for adults and $10 for youth under 16 and are available from local directors now. Page 7

8 Together building healthy communities through sport, culture and recreation Yorkton Office: Box 263, Yorkton, SK S3N 2V7 Fax: Sheila Hryniuk, Executive Director phone: Kacie Loshka, Community Consultant Chair Person: John Chesney, RM of Cana Vice Chair Person: Clive Craig, RM of Orkney Directors: Lorraine Bucsis, RM of Cana Allen Glowa, Fenwood Darlene Stakiw, Yorkton Paul Keys, Yorkton Colleen Stinson, Grayson Shauna Stanley Seymour, Springside Garth Forster, Esterhazy Chelsey Johnson, Community Consultant Visit our website: