Adele Mark arrived as a newcomer in this community at age 15. She had never been to a high school party before, but it didn’t take long for that to change. For this blog she sat down with Ruby and Sam, two recent graduates of Gulf Island Secondary School to hear their...
Blog
‘It is Important to Talk about Consent’
The Circle Education’s Pass it On Girls Program has been running for more than ten years. Facilitator Kate Nash has created a safe space where young girls talk about topics like identity, body image, relationships and consent. The program helped Mia Oliveira (now 19)...
Using Restorative Justice to Find Healing
One of our former Pass it On participants was sexually assaulted when she was nineteen. It was an experience that caused significant mental and physical suffering. Many things helped her find herself again after this event. However, the most powerful remedy came from...
Natasha’s Journey from Pass It On to Restorative Justice Circles
In high school, Natasha Wilson, was a participant in the Pass It On program from The Circle Education. Once a week, she gathered in a circle with other high school girls to engage in open and vulnerable dialogue about their life experiences. Before joining the group,...
6 Resolutions for 2023 that Benefit You and Your Loved Ones
Did you make new year’s resolutions for 2023? Most new year’s resolutions are meant to improve your life or lifestyle. These resolutions, based on the social-emotional learning principles that ground the programs we facilitate in schools, are less conventional. And...
‘What Do You Mean Violence on Salt Spring? This is Paradise!’
Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. With a vigil in Centennial Park, we remember the 14 young women who were killed in an act of violent misogyny at Polytechnique Montréal on December 1989 and all the other women who have...
Pass it On Boys & Bullock Lake Farm: Safe Space for Social-Emotional Learning
Bullock Lake Farm is going into its second year as a host location for the Pass it On Boys program. Zack Hemstreet and Eland Bronstein, the facilitators of the program, look back on their first year at the farm and talk about the (social-emotional) learning...
One Man’s Journey toward Mental Wellness
Monday marked World Mental Health Day, a day to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental wellness. Although more and more people are opening up, there is still a lot of stigma surrounding mental health....
What Educators Think of Social-Emotional Learning
The Circle Education has been providing social-emotional learning programs in schools for over more than twenty years. Why is it important to have those programs in a school environment? We’ve asked three educators about their experiences with social-emotional...
Max Akerman Reflects on Diverse Salt Spring Family History
This is the last interview in the Connecting the Dots series to celebrate World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. In the weeks that bookend this important day, The Circle Education talks with young people to celebrate different backgrounds....
You Are Worthy, You Are Valuable, You Are Seen… Pass it On
We don’t always know what impact our programs have on people’s lives until later, sometimes much later. We found out on a spring evening in a beautiful barn at Stone Bridge Farm where thirty former participants joined a reunion of our Pass it On Girls program. Kate...
From Beijing to Salt Spring Island; Rachel’s Culture Shock
Rachel Xie had just turned fourteen when she moved from Beijing, a city with more than 21 million people, to Salt Spring Island. All by herself. After four years at GISS as an international student, she reflects on the cultural differences she has experienced while...