FOUNDATIONS - Community Relations Education Week Education Week will be held February 13th to 18th offering a wide array of activities, mall displays, and presentations, including visual arts and music.  In addition, Education Week has expanded to include the Third Annual Career Options Fair at Cambie Secondary, an elementary Science Jam event, and a Multicultural Fair at Aberdeen Centre. Learning and the Brain Conference “Learning and the Brain” is a unique conference that celebrates the collaborative contributions of parents and educators in the development of children.  This year, the 7th Annual Conference is delighted that the keynote speaker will be Kathy Champion, Director of Instruction (Learning Services), Richmond School District.  In her keynote address, she will focus on  how children learn and the importance of the partnership between parents and teachers in supporting success in school. In addition, there will also be three sets of breakout sessions which will address a number of issues and topics related to early child development, as well as topics that are relevant to parents as they learn more about how to support their children’s success in school. The Conference Planning Committee, consisting of a team of educators and parents, welcomes all parents, educators, and caregivers to attend this 7th Annual Conference, which is being held on Saturday April 8, 2006, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., at MacNeill Secondary School in Richmond. LearningLinks Newsletter The LearningLinks Production Team, consisting of support staff, teachers, and administrators, is proud to produce this year’s LearningLinks employee newsletters.  The purpose of LearningLinks is to share stories, practices, and ideas from people who work within our district.  This year's issues will focus on:  February - Inspirational Mentorship and May - Looking Back/Looking Ahead.  Staff have enjoyed reading regular features of "Reflections:  Stories from the Heart," "Professional Development Updates," and "Did You Know." Richmond Schools Response Team (RSRT) After the Tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia in December 2004, Richmond schools rallied to raise funds for the families in the disaster area.  Many schools held a variety of fundraisers to build awareness of the disaster and to show the people there that the district cared and wanted to help.  Most of the funds raised were donated to the Red Cross, UNICEF, and Doctors Without Borders.  It is close to a year now since this disaster happened. A number of concerned people in the district wanted to do more than just immediate relief for the people in the disaster area.  It was felt that, after a few months, the disaster would be no longer a headline in the media and people would have forgotten the need for continued help in the area.  Therefore, a long term project was sought through which the district could make a long term commitment to make a lasting difference. A call went out in late January to the entire district for volunteers for this committee.  There was a good response and the committee had representatives from many groups (students, teachers, educational assistants, school administrators, trustees, district administrators, and parents).  A first meeting was held and members started to develop a plan for the project.  Tasks were assigned and plans were made to establish a response team that would be able to help with any disaster in the world.  A logo was created by Kelly Thompson at Burnett Secondary and the response team is now known as the RSRT "Richmond Schools Response Team - Responding as Global Citizens."  The first project undertaken by RSRT was the Tsunami Disaster. The committee felt that assisting a school or school district in the affected area would be a good fit for Richmond and enable the district’s students and staff to connect with a school or district in the area and see the Team’s fundraising dollars at work. In subsequent meetings, committee members brought back pieces of information regarding different groups that could be supported. It was felt that it would be better to work with an established group rather than go through an NGO that was not known. The committee heard of a group called Free the Children who had done some work with building schools around the world.  By coincidence the founders of the group, Craig & Marc Kielburger were presenting in Vancouver in the next month.  A meeting was arranged during their visit.  Five members of the committee spent an hour with Marc discussing his foundation and a possible connection with the district’s long term project.  He was very excited about the collaboration and he provided details of how that might work.  After the meeting, all members of the committee were impressed with Marc and the possibility of working with him to help rebuild a school and enable it to be self-sufficient in a five year time period.  The plan involved assisting with construction of the building as well as other amenities.  More extensive research into the group was conducted and they were found to be very credible. Free the Children has found RSRT a school to assist in the Ampara District called Thirukkovil Kumara Primary School.  A detailed school profile and photos of the principal and students were received.  Free the Children has also provided a summary of the extent of the damages and the proposed activities and budget. After formation of the Response Team, schools were informed of the long term project and the process of researching and planning.  Some schools inquired about what they should do with the money that they had raised and were informed that they could donate it to UNICEF schools in a box program, to the Red Cross, or hold on to the funds until the Team’s plans were finalized.  After the project was established, schools were asked to forward their money to the school district.  The funds were collected and a Richmond Schools Response Team Account established at McNair Secondary.  At the end of January 2005, a call was received that the Richmond Chinese Mandarin Lions Club wanted to do a Loonie Drive to support the Tsunami Disaster victims.  A member of district staff served on their committee.  The Richmond Chinese Mandarin Lions Club wanted to donate all the funds raised in their drive to the long term project of the school district.  The Lions Club placed donation bottles in many locations throughout Richmond and also held a Walkathon on March 13, 2005.  Donations from this drive totalled $5,578.75.  At this time, in total,  there is $13,989.55 in the RSRT account. A donation of $10,000 was made to Thirukkovil Kumara Primary School last year  The committee held a "Toonie Tuesday" on January 17 to renew awareness and raise additional funds.  This will was extremely successful and will be continued annually.  (The funds have not yet been counted.) Multiculturalism Multicultural Friendship Clubs continue to occur as extracurricular activities at approximately half of the district's elementary schools.  Some secondary schools have also begun to offer such clubs to their students.  Parent volunteers and sponsor teachers and administrators, who attend a series of workshops on new crafts and activities, continue to be active participants in supporting these clubs.  Secondary multiculturalism and antiracism clubs continue to have access to some funding for school-based initiatives.  Most secondary schools have some form of Social Justice extracurricular committee or club. This year, during Education Week, schools will have a chance to celebrate the cultural diversity that exists in the community through a Multicultural Fair in a local mall.  Schools will showcase a variety of modern and traditional activities that reflect the rich, cultural mosaic that is Richmond. Multicultural Extravaganza On Saturday, February 18, 2006, as part of the Richmond School District’s Education Week, there will be a Multicultural Extravaganza showcasing Richmond students at their best!  This event will take place at Aberdeen Centre Mall from 11:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.   Student groups will perform on stage by the fountain and will include jazz bands, choirs, and cultural dancers.  Also, there will be information booths that feature Richmond School District programs, services, and parent groups.  Other booths will feature:  Science World interactive activities; Richmond Leisure Services information; craftmaking with the Richmond School District’s Friendship Club; and a celebration of breads, storytelling, and instruments from around the world. Richmond Association of School Administrators The Richmond Association of School Administrators has been pleased to continue to work alongside our stakeholder partners (RTA, RDPA, CUPE, and Excluded Staff), senior staff, and the Board to bring a broad perspective to the issues facing our district.  The inclusive approach our school district has taken is very much appreciated and has helped not only to result in better decisions being made, but to foster a better working relationship between the stakeholder groups.  A key goal of our organization is to foster educational leadership as a means of promoting and advancing quality education at all levels throughout the district.  We look forward to continuing to work with our partners as we strive toward the fulfillment of this goal. Richmond Children First Richmond Children First is a community partnership that brings together all sectors in the community to focus on the service delivery system for children up to the age of six and their families.  Enhancing such partnerships can only result in better outcomes for children.  The Richmond Children First Steering Committee has coordinated/supported a number of events in support of its mandate.  These include: • The establishment of action teams in the areas of community mapping, growth, and development and family action. • The organization of a concert and resource fair. • Collaboration with the school district in the Ready, Set, Learn initiative. The Richmond School District has a representative on the Steering Committee of Richmond Children First.  This collaboration has strengthened the partnership between schools and outside agencies as they try to make sense of our public school system. Richmond Middle Childhood Project This project is aimed at exploring and supporting the development of community priorities for school-age children, enhancing cooperation and planning at the local level, conducting research about school-age children through UBC, and providing funding for initiatives that have identified priorities and gaps.  The Richmond School District has two representatives on the intersectoral reference group. Richmond District Parents Association The Richmond District Parents Association (RDPA) continued to be a valued partner in the district and actively participated in many events, committees, parent education sessions, and other projects.  The RDPA is committed to strengthening relationships with all stakeholders by participating in meetings with the RTA, RASA, CUPE, Board, and MLAs.  These relationships were maintained throughout an exciting year and parents received letters of appreciation for their support during the various challenges faced this year. The Richmond Chinese Parents Association (RCPA) is an affiliated sub-group supported by SUCCESS which works in close collaboration with the RDPA as a sub-committee specifically devoted to the needs of parents who speak Cantonese or Mandarin and are not yet sufficiently comfortable in English to participate in regular RDPA activities. Communication continues to be a very important goal of the RDPA and it continues to use a newsletter, updated website (www.rdpa.bc.ca), and PAC contacts as tools to reach the broader parent community.  (The RCPA also produces a Chinese language newsletter.)  The goal of the RDPA continues to be to provide increased awareness, understanding, and support for the public school system in order to unite educators and the general public in securing the highest advantages in education for all students.  This belief guides the Association in its many activities in the district. Richmond Teachers’ Association The RTA continues to support teachers through proactive involvement in local and district level governance, as well as ongoing participation at the provincial level through the BCTF.  In keeping with the collaborative culture of the Richmond School District, the RTA and other stakeholder groups have input on the many issues facing public education in Richmond.   The RTA participates regularly within the district on committees such as Core Relations, Continuous Improvement, Performance Assessment, the District Convention, Personnel & Finance, Education, Health and Safety, and Presidents’ Council. <<Prev -- Table of Contents -- Next>>