Here are excerpts from our current quarterly newsletter (May 2000)

Read the Past, Write the Future

City Hall was a mixture of colourful banners, fabulous music, delicious food and good company as Prospects celebrated its 20th birthday. It was a wonderful evening's entertainment with over 200 people attending.

Standing room only under our lovely program banners designed by Theone Adachi

Our Master of Ceremonies, Lynda Steele, did a terrific job of introducing the program participants and sharing the past twenty years of Prospects. There was a good selection of program highlights with Readers Theatre, showing the comedic talents of Tim McCaskill, Candice Smuda, and Gail Lewis. The personal story from Dave Brown, an adult student with Prospects, on how he has been able to overcome the stigma of low literacy and achieve personal goals was especially touching and well received.

Rhymes That Bind facilitator, Miranda Fung, together with mothers and babies performed nursery rhymes in both Cantonese and English on stage to everyone's enjoyment and delight. No one will forget the adorable babies who were so entertaining and so well behaved!

Another highlight of the evening was the unveiling of the beautiful quilt that was designed by Sue Stein and University of Alberta Faculty Women Quilters especially for Prospects anniversary.

Many thanks to our keynote speakers: Councillor Michael Phair, Barbara Leung, Alberta Learning, and Christine Mowat, Prospects Board Chair, who announced the plans for the new Centre for Family Literacy.

A special thanks must go to Sheila Rich, owner of Upper Crust Café and Caterers, for the delicious food that was enjoyed by everyone in attendance, and to Shawn Kaminski of Starbucks Coffee Company who provided the great tasting coffee.

The evening came to a wonderful conclusion with the sounds of Parkallen Elementary School Choir singing "Look Ahead to Your Dreams." A well chosen theme to start writing what looks to be a very bright future!

Wendy Grasdahl conducts the Festival City Winds Concert Band

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Books for Babies is 3 Years Old!

The Books for Babies project, a family literacy program which began in Edmonton 3 years ago, has become a well established and successful program thanks to the support and dedication of many people.

Firstly, Prospects wishes to thank the Junior League of Edmonton for its partnership over the past three years, which has provided both financial and volunteer support of the project. The project began at two main sites, bringing parents and babies together to talk about sharing books and to become familiar with their local library. It has also offered information about other community programs available, such as Rhymes That Bind, and has given the parents a social time with other parents. Clareview area has been opened with two more main sites being added in the past year. The participants have grown over the past three years with several dads now attending.

We also extend our appreciation to Alberta Learning, Edmonton Lotteries Board and Edmonton Rotary Clubs for their financial support of the project.

Our sincere thanks to the many Junior League members who volunteered at the sessions, who served on the committee, and who chaired the Books for Babies Committee over the past three years. We also thank the members for their financial support and food donations for the sessions this past year.

Prospects also wishes to acknowledge the support from the dedicated staff with agencies and organizations, who have been a strong contributing factor to the success of this project.

Special thanks to:

• Jasper Place Library team

• Norwood Child & Family Resource team (Healthy Families workers) and Success By 6 team

• Partners for Kids & Youth and Candora staff

• Several public health centres staff, Health for Two workers and Healthy Beginnings nurses

• Edmonton Public Library support from Abbottsfield, Highlands, Jasper Place, Londonderry, Sprucewood and Woodcroft

• Shaw Cable for their donation of hundreds of teddy bears!

• The many local businesses that have donated food for the sessions - Dominos Pizza, Pizza Hut, Panagopoulos, Serafina's, Subway, Safeway, Pizza 73 & Boston Pizza

Thank you, everyone, for helping to bring the Books for Babies program to hundreds of families across Edmonton.

Ann Wylie, Books for Babies Coordinator

"Mom, can we write another word?"

The first-ever Learning Together: Read and Write With Your Child programs wrapped up in mid-April. The twelve-week program was piloted at McDougall School in Edmonton and Centennial School in Wetaskiwin. Although the evaluation is still underway by the University of Alberta, feedback from the families involved has been very positive!

Learning Together starts again in September, with a total of ten programs being offered in Edmonton and the Wetaskiwin area. If anyone would like more information, please contact Sharon at 424-1660.

We Have Met, What Happens Next?
Comments from a student/tutor pair

The beginning of a student/tutor relationship can be a scary thing. Will we get along? Will the student understand? Will my student like my approach? Will the tutor be compatible with me? Will my tutor expect too much? These types of questions go through our minds as we mentally prepare ourselves for the first meeting. But don't worry, we all fret about these things.

For us, it was very important to get to know each other. We find this gives a common ground to work from. Dave and I both like hockey, so often the stories we write will have a sports theme. This is helpful for keeping it interesting, and helps prevent the sessions from growing boring. Even though after a game we sometimes talk too much about last night's action!

We don't get upset if one of the parties cannot make a meeting. Sometimes unplanned things come up. Remember, Life Happens! Both Dave and I run our own companies, so often projects or unexpected things come up. We have an unwritten rule: "It's no problem, see you next time."

Sherry's suggestions:

An important aspect is flexibility, not just in meeting times but in your methods of tutoring. We have used games (like Scrabble), spelling tests, reading, site cards, work-book activities; we have made Christmas cards and lots of other things. I never limit my activities to guidelines; if it seems to be working, I continue on that path. Dave and I have been meeting twice a week for 7 to 8 months now, so I can sense if a method is of interest to him. If it's not, I move on. I try to remember it's not about what is easy for me, it's about what works for him.

We keep the communication going. Neither one of us is "afraid" to ask the other something, ask to reschedule an appointment, or anything else. I think it is very important to have an open communication channel, and to be open to suggestions. For example, Dave wanted to try having spelling tests, so now once every couple of weeks I give him one. (Note: he has not gotten under an 80% in months.)

Our meetings are more than just two-hour tutor sessions. We have fun and enjoy each other's company. I don't think of it as a service to someone &endash; it's rewarding for both of us!

Sherry

Dave's suggestions:

I think the most important aspect of being a student is being honest with yourself. Don't pretend you know more than you do or have done homework if you haven't, but remember always try to do your very best. For example, it is important to try to read a book no matter how small the book is; the most important thing is you are reading. Start small and build on it, don't bite off more than you can chew. Just remember: not all of us had the opportunity to go to school when we were younger, but now we have found help, so let's make the best use of it!

"Thank God for this opportunity. Now my eyes can be open to the world because now I know for sure that I can read and spell. I know I am not the best, but I am working to be the best I can be. Thank you Prospects for this vision and I want to thank my teacher for taking all the time out for me."

Dave

So Long, Farewell...

More changes are happening at Prospects. Our Volunteer Coordinator, Lana Olsen, joined our team in April, 1998. During her two-year stay, she interviewed and trained many of you when you joined our organization. And to those who make use of our facility, you were witness to her talent of creating eye catching bulletin board displays. Lana left her position on May 4th and will pursue a Masters of Education degree with a focus on literacy and music.

What other changes are happening, you ask? Well, Stephen, who joined Prospects Literacy Association in November, 1998, has accepted the position of College Librarian at the College of the North Atlantic in Newfoundland. He is staying on as our librarian until the end of June.

Hi...

Special Meeting - March 22, 2000

It was a great turn-out at the special meeting of Prospects Literacy Association on March 22, 2000. The reason for the meeting was to discuss the changeover of Prospects Literacy Association to the Centre for Family Literacy.

Randy Boissonnault, a Prospects Board member, gave an overview of Prospects' history and programs. Maureen Sanders gave a presentation about the development of the Centre for Family Literacy Project.

There were some questions about how new adult students would find the organization if the name is changed to Centre for Family Literacy. Christine Mowat, Board Chair, explained that the publicity around the name change and the fund-raising campaign which will start soon after the name change, will make people more aware of all of the programs offered by the Centre. Maureen Sanders said that the adult tutoring program will continue to be called Prospects Adult Tutoring Program for at least a few years.

The following 2 motions were passed unanimously:

1. Motion: Resolved that Prospects Literacy Association transfer all of its programs, funding, staff and resources to the Family Literacy Society of Alberta as soon as it is incorporated and has obtained its charitable license.

2. Motion: Resolved that after the transfer, Prospects Literacy Association dissolve as an organization.

When the Centre for Family Literacy receives charitable status from the federal government, Prospects will turn over its programs and staff to the centre and the name will change to the Centre for Family Literacy.

Welcome!

The Centre for Family Literacy board members met for the first time on May 9th. We all look forward to meeting you and are pleased to announce that Randy Boissonnault will be the Chair for the coming year.

My Trip To Montreal
by Tammy Schultz

©2000, OM Corporation