Community Literacy of Ontario - Our Voice - November 2004

A Fresh Start, Refresh and Renew and Re-Boot Naturally

By Catherine Mochrie, Red Lake District Adult Learning Centre

The Red Lake District Adult Learning Centre held three special interest weeks this past year. The intent of these weeks was to stimulate our brains after some time away, to do something different and to learn something new. We also used these weeks to promote our Centre by inviting the public to join us for our workshops.

During the first week back from Christmas holidays we offered "A Fresh Start." Every morning we worked through "A Dream That Walks - A Goal Setting Workbook" by Myrna Hanna. Volunteers from the community offered other workshops on topics relating to resolutions and goal setting. Job Connect came in for workshops on "Job Search, Resume and Cover Letter Writing", "Body Image" and "Interview Skills". The public health nurse did a presentation on nutrition, someone from the bank spoke about "Balancing Your Chequebook" and a board member did a workshop on "Balancing Your Life Using the Medicine Wheel". As we were here all day, nice hot lunches of homemade soup, beans and chili were served. It was a welcome break from our regular routine. This week was so well received that we offered another special week after the March break called "Refresh and Renew". Every morning we did money budgeting exercises, many from, "Living on a Shoestring Budget" by Dorothy Silver with Jan Greer Langley. Community Counselling did a workshop on "Stress Management"; a diabetic educator spoke on "Living With Diabetes"; Job Connect did "Dressing for Success"; a dental hygienist spoke on "Dental Hygiene" and someone from Family Futures spoke on "Taking Care of Your Self Esteem". A friend of mine led us through a "Yoga and Meditation" session and we almost fell asleep! Our local grocery store gave us a tour of their store pointing out yet more money saving strategies. We certainly finished the week feeling refreshed and renewed - just in time for spring to arrive.

In the evaluations of these special interest weeks, students requested a week dealing with environmental topics. So, the second week after summer break we offered, "Re-Boot Naturally". We wanted to kick off the year by getting ourselves back into ‘learning gear'. This week was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources. We had fascinating workshops on a variety of topics. What do you do when you encounter a bear? How do you use a compass and a map? What are the names of some of our common trees and shrubs? Why were the lake trout eggs not hatching in Pipestone Bay? We also learned about fighting forest fires and how fire can benefit the forest. Another presentation was on a study that was taking place on the sturgeon, a prehistoric looking fish that some thought were cute! We ended the week on a golden note - a geologist spoke on the rocks in the area and why there's lots of gold in ‘them thar hills'!

These weeks recharged our batteries and introduced more people to the Red Lake District Adult Learning Centre.

November 2004	OUR VOICE

A Fresh Start, Refresh and Renew and Re-Boot Naturally By Catherine Mochrie, Red Lake District Adult Learning Centre The Red Lake District Adult Learning Centre held three special interest weeks this past year. The intent of these weeks was to stimulate our brains after some time away, to do something different and to learn something new. We also used these weeks to promote our Centre by inviting the public to join us for our workshops. During the first week back from Christmas holidays we offered "A Fresh Start." Every morning we worked through "A Dream That Walks - A Goal Setting Workbook" by Myrna Hanna. Volunteers from the community offered other workshops on topics relating to resolutions and goal setting. Job Connect came in for workshops on "Job Search, Resume and Cover Letter Writing", "Body Image" and "Interview Skills". The public health nurse did a presentation on nutrition, someone from the bank spoke about "Balancing Your Chequebook" and a board member did a workshop on "Balancing Your Life Using the Medicine Wheel". As we were here all day, nice hot lunches of homemade soup, beans and chili were served. It was a welcome break from our regular routine. This week was so well received that we offered another special week after the March break called "Refresh and Renew". Every morning we did money budgeting exercises, many from, "Living on a Shoestring Budget" by Dorothy Silver with Jan Greer Langley. Community Counselling did a workshop on "Stress Management"; a diabetic educator spoke on "Living With Diabetes"; Job Connect did "Dressing for Success"; a dental hygienist spoke on "Dental Hygiene" and someone from Family Futures spoke on "Taking Care of Your Self Esteem". A friend of mine led us through a "Yoga and Meditation" session and we almost fell asleep! Our local grocery store gave us a tour of their store pointing out yet more money saving strategies. We certainly finished the week feeling refreshed and renewed - just in time for spring to arrive. In the evaluations of these special interest weeks, students requested a week dealing with environmental topics. So, the second week after summer break we offered, "Re-Boot Naturally". We wanted to kick off the year by getting ourselves back into ‘learning gear'. This week was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources. We had fascinating workshops on a variety of topics. What do you do when you encounter a bear? How do you use a compass and a map? What are the names of some of our common trees and shrubs? Why were the lake trout eggs not hatching in Pipestone Bay? We also learned about fighting forest fires and how fire can benefit the forest. Another presentation was on a study that was taking place on the sturgeon, a prehistoric looking fish that some thought were cute! We ended the week on a golden note - a geologist spoke on the rocks in the area and why there's lots of gold in ‘them thar hills'! These weeks recharged our batteries and introduced more people to the Red Lake District Adult Learning Centre.