RIVER JOHN SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL COMMITTEE: FEBRUARY 2015 HUB PROGRESS REPORT RJCS Students Soar
Our Mission Our Vision To create a sustainable educational A Vibrant Growing Community. centre that enriches the lives of the students and community as a whole.
“ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Meade “ We are at a unique point in our history. As Nova Scotians, it is incumbent on us to take stock of our strengths and face our challenges directly.” Ray Ivany River John SOS is an excellent example of Ivany in Action. Our members are participating in the exciting work of Pictou County 2020 which Premier MacNeil referenced in an interview on ATV as a positive example of citizen action on the Ivany Report. RJSOS
REFRESHER: WHY WE ARE HERE: THE HUB BUB RJCS was slated for closure June 2015 because of excess square footage, declining enrollment and costs UNLESS we could come up with a HUB proposal the Elected board might accept. Even the Minister of Education in our meeting with her admitted “At that time no one REALLY knew what a HUB was.” While waiting for a team of experts to establish Department of Education and Early Childhood parameters (no Elected Board members or community members were on this team) the community of River John met and asked hard questions.
WHAT TO DO? WHAT NOT TO DO? WHAT CAN WE DO? “We will not be a strip mall for our children if that is what they mean by HUB.” “We don’t have enough businesses to be a commercial HUB, we could get business partnerships maybe.” “But how can they commit to rent before we know we are open?” “Besides, we pay our taxes for school. We are a school and a good one. Let’s make it even better for our students!” “How can we use the space and find a way? We need a place for families and children in all Pictou County and the North Shore.” “Something to attract international students? Tourists? Make it energy efficient? “WE ARE ALREADY A COMMUNITY HUB!” Let’s use our rich heritage, celebrate our present, and embrace 21 st century learning and make RJCS even better!
NECESSITY IS THE MOTHERHOOD OF INVENTION RJCS took ownership of what a HUB was for their community: H for Health and Wellness U for Unity of our community B for Building a Brighter Future We started with re-imagining our current library space as a learning hub for families and children: The North Shore Scholar Ship Discovery Centre and Maker Space Community was born! Now we have an even bigger picture. “Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.” Nelson Mandela
NO ONE SAID IT WOULD BE EASY FIRST, we need to thank our elected board members who voted to give us an opportunity to work hard and keep our school open for our children. To have a chance as a community to develop a community school hub. Ground breaking! It has been extremely stressful given the time frame but we are now a hard working volunteer team of 17 people, all with different skill sets and strengths. We have had great support from so many. An overwhelming groundswell of support from our municipality and beyond! BUT…Really? We were blindsided and discouraged by CCRSB staff’s interpretation of parameters, the impossible financial askance, the way this process of evaluation was set up. It looked -from the outside- like it was set up for failure. Is the Board staff really asking small communities to pay to keep their doors open for their students? Do they see that “ show me the money first” criteria is impossible to meet and what is more, creates a two tier system of education? Do they really want operating costs and capital costs of $173,600 and $560,000 respectively? Do they want us to just give up?
In River John, we love our children and our community too much to do that ! “But with love, we are creative. With it, we march tirelessly. With it, with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others.” Chief Dan George AND SO…… RJSOS has worked on, hoping that the elected board who gave us this opportunity will let their voices be heard and their undecided colleagues will see now that what we are doing for River John’s children is best. Instead of shutting our school down, they can be partners with us in creating something truly new and exciting. It is entirely do-able. It requires hard conversations, not confrontations. A willingness to try and to risk. But first… some other words to take seriously before some cost -saving details..
Minister’s Message It is time. Time for action to build a better school system and a brighter future for Nova Scotia’s students, teachers, administrators, and parents. We have read Minister Karen Casey’s response to the Freeman Report. Although there is no direct mention of “HUB” schools; we continue to move forward with our vision of what a community HUB school will look like for the community of River John: We are a school first for our students! Our community HUB means shared use of our building for health and wellness, unity, and building a brighter future! We have new ways to utilize more space. Besides the Scholar Ship Discovery Centre and Makerspace Community, we have plans for the Wide Awake Art Gallery, a community HUB garden, and outdoor recreation HUB. We met with the Minister before her response. We asked four specific questions. She has not answered those questions directly but she has answered: she has left the decision of community HUB School proposals in the Board’s hands - not wanting to interfere at this point in the process. BUT…. Here is why we still have hope in our Minister:
HER WORDS: If there is a good idea, we will consider it. • At every step of the Action Plan, we have one guiding question: Is this decision in the best interests of students? • Provide students with hands -on learning activities for developing their technology skills • Add more Discovering Opportunities 9 programs in schools across the province • Parents need to continue to support their sons and daughters, to make sure the system is working for them, to be their advocates as well as their parents, to continue to push for improvements where they are needed, and to be positive forces in the lives of our schools. We need students, parents and guardians, teachers and education leaders, and our communities to do their parts. • Education cannot do it alone. Health, Justice, Community Services, and other departments and agencies contribute to the provision of school-based services and programs. Students and families benefit from being able to access these many different government services at their local school. We will rebuild our education system by creating more efficient structures and inclusive schools that better serve all of our students. • The structure will be reconstructed to become more student centered; efficient, flexible, sustainable, and integrated with other government departments and agencies that serve children and youth. WE ARE DOING ALL OF THIS AND MORE!
• The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development will work with school boards to increase community access to schools; design a new provincial policy for school boards for the delivery of programs and services to students by outside organizations and community groups. • More than 2500 students have participated in the Nova Scotia International Student Program in the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board. (If the River John School is kept open, there is capacity to accept international students thereby creating revenue for the Board.) “Transforming education isn’t about the ‘latest great idea.’ It is about imagining the best possible future for our students and putting our hearts into our work, so we can take the next steps on the path. It is about building on the research and finding ways to make the ‘seemingly impossible’ both possible and practical.” Davies, Herbst, & Reynolds, 2008 We want to do this and more!
H: Health and Wellness Addressing the social determinants of health • Literature clearly indicates the correlation between a lack of services in a community, and the well - being of its members; the fewer the resources, the weaker the community may become (Brown & Hannis, 2012). • The River John SOS committee has been working diligently to create a HUB school model which reflects our community’s needs, wants and desires. As a grassroots community group, we have consulted our community members, and have heard loud and clear, that the health of our community is at risk with the closure of our school . Literature clearly notes the importance that community schools have on the health and wellbeing of today’s youth, and the community as a whole (Brown & Hannis, 2012) The River John SOS committee foresees our HUB school model encompassing a variety of health • the wellness related components , which adds tremendous value to our children and our community as a whole.
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