fbpx

Blog

photo of GISS youth

An End-of-Year Thank You!

June 28, 2021

As another school year comes to an end, The Circle Salt Spring Education Society would like to thank all of its members, donors, and funders for their unwavering support over the last year.

Everybody has felt the highs and lows of this past year as we all navigated the challenges of the pandemic. The Circle was fortunate to discover the silver linings of COVID-19 and be able to continue providing its social-emotional programs to youth in the community. The organization adapted its traditional delivery of programming to an innovative online platform that, for many teachers, proved to be more powerful. Says one teacher, “I love the interactive aspect of the video delivery—I didn’t expect it to be so engaging for my students. Another perk is the flexibility of timing—I could fit the program anywhere into my weekly schedule. It was fun and super relevant.”

logo

You may have noticed that The Circle rebranded a year ago. When the program facilitators noticed that the challenges students were facing had changed in the 24 years since SWOVA—Saltspring Women Opposed to Violence and Abuse—began, they suggested that the organization should change its name. Its new name—The Circle—reflects a key feature of the organization’s long-time work. When facilitators meet with students, they gather in a circle! In a circle, everyone is equal, able to look one another in the eyes and listen fully.

The rebranding gave the organization the exciting opportunity to renew its commitment and refresh its approach to the organization’s original vision: inclusive and gender-equitable communities living violence-free. How? By offering social and emotional education to children and youth. Within the safe space of the circle, young people are equipped with skills and language to create healthy relationships.

Says one youth, “The Circle’s programming has helped me start the journey of taking care of myself which has, in turn, helped me to help other people and help me grow stronger friendships and relationships. I don’t see any reason why someone wouldn’t want to be a part of a program like this.”

Other notable achievements from this year include the development and delivery of The Circle’s first facilitator training for educators and people who work with youth. The Circle also ran its second annual Giving Tuesday campaign and its first-ever Purse Auction, which combined raised over $13,000 towards supporting youth in the community. The Circle is excited to offer its first summer camps, Y.E.L.L. & The Trust Project, this July and August. Registration is still open, and you can find more information on PARC’s website.

From everyone at The Circle, thank you for your ongoing support. Without you, The Circle’s work of helping to create inclusive and gender-equitable communities living violence-free would not be possible.

Guy Talk

One of the most important reasons why I work with youth around gender, stereotypes and healthy relationships, is that I get the opportunity to engage in complex and thought provoking conversations with young men.  Speaking of self- esteem, emotions, conflict...

Bridging The Distance

Jennifer Quam is the Mentor Supervisor for the Pass It On Project in Valemount/ McBride, British Columbia. McBride has a population of 710 while 90 kilometers away is Valemount, with a population of 1100. The school population for both communities hovers around 100...

It Is So Emotional To See These Girls Shine

The Pass It On Project - Phase II is occurring simultaneously in 5 communities throughout British Columbia - Salt Spring Island, Uclulet, Valemount/McBride, Prince George and Kamloops. Kamloops is in the Southern Interior of the province with a population of 85,000....

The Pass It On Project Goes on the Road in British Columbia

This winter, I had the privilege of traveling around British Columbia delivering workshops with rural girls and young women as part of Phase 2 of the Pass it On project. These workshops were originally written for youth here on Salt Spring Island and thanks to the...

Exciting News at SWOVA

We recently found out that the Department of Justice Canada is funding us to work in partnership with the Musqueam Indian Band.  As part of their Justice Partnership and Innovation Program - Access to Justice for Aboriginal Women, we will look at existing data from...

It’s Like Being Matched with Themself at That Age

As Pass It On Phase II is being implemented across the province, young middle school girls are meeting up with their high school mentors.  When asked to respond to 3 questions, 2 mentor supervisors from our most Northern communities involved in the project and 1 from...

Even Mentors Need Mentoring

What makes mentoring work for young women and girls? - having a supportive network. The 10 young female high school mentors on Salt Spring Island had their opportunity to test out their own expectations of what mentoring is this past week. Of the 10 mentors, half were...

R+R Program evaluated in International Journal

We're pretty proud of SWOVA’s R+R program and it turns out that we have reason to be.  Recently a review of the evaluation results for our program by Buote and Berglund, was published in the international Journal of Education, Citizenship and Social Justice.  The...

Name(Required)
Email(Required)
Please let us know what's on your mind. Have a question for us? Ask away.
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.