The Port au Port Community Education Initiative (CEI) is an alliance of education, funding and human service agencies working in partnership with community members and groups to promote social and economic change in the Port au Port peninsula, the Bay St. George area, and other communities along the southwest coast of Newfoundland served by School District #4 (Stephenville-Port aux Basques School Board). The Community Education Initiative, working from a community school philosophy, operates as an umbrella organization bringing together a wide range of community and government agencies representing education, health promotion, social services, human resource and economic development to initiate partnerships and collaborative projects in order to better address community needs. This profile will give an overview of the school-based family resource centres, the Youth Corps and the major community education and development projects that have been developed through their joint efforts.
COMMUNITY CONTEXT
The Bay St. George area, on Newfoundland's southwest coast, has a population of about 22,611 people (1991 census) living in about fifty small communities. It includes the Port au Port district, Stephenville, Stephenville Crossing, and the communities south to Flat Bay-St. Theresa's. Formerly a territory of the colonial 17th century French fishery, the Port au Port Peninsula continues to be home to a significant Francophone population; there is also a Micmac population in the Bay St. George area. During the early 1940's, the American government leased land from the British to build an air base in Stephenville, which provided an important economic stimulus to the area for a number of years. Although the United States closed the Harmon Air Force Base in 1966, the airport they left behind continues to serve both domestic and international traffic. Stephenville is also the location of a newsprint mill operated by Abitibi Price, employing about 700 people in its various operations. The communities in the Port au Port peninsula and along the southwest coast hug the coastline, leaving the interior of the region relatively uninhibited. Especially in winter, many of these communities can become quite isolated.
Like other regions of Newfoundland, the Port au Port communities have suffered from the collapse of the cod fishery. Many residents lost their jobs when the local fish processing plant closed in 1987. Unemployment is high, especially for young people, and averages about 50%, rising as high as 80% in the fall and winter. Many families rely on social assistance benefits as their only source of income; those more fortunate in obtaining seasonal employment may receive federal employment insurance benefits. In the past, employment was concentrated in resource-based industries such as fishing, forestry and mining, which did not require formal education. This historical situation has resulted in high levels of illiteracy - approximately two-thirds of adults - and the need for basic education and retraining. Poverty (average per capita income was under $10,000 in 1986) and rural isolation have contributed to social and family problems. Over a six year period from 1988 to 1994, between one-half and three-quarters of all births in the Port au port area were to single mothers, and of these, one-half were to teenage mothers.
Program Sites
- Offices of the Port au Port Community Education Initiative and the Bay St. George Community Action Committee are located in the L.S. Eddy Complex, 31 - 37 Gallant Street., Stephenville.
- Family resource centres are presently located in elementary schools in Cape St. George/Degrau, La Grand Terre/Mainland, Piccadilly, Lourdes, Stephenville Crossing, Flat Bay, Upper Ferry, St. Fintans, Stephenville, Port au Port and St. Georges.
- Various other community education and community development programs are offered in schools throughout the School District #4 area.
HISTORY
The Port au Port Community Education Initiative was founded in 1991, bringing new initiatives together with existing programs and resources under a community education umbrella. During the early 1980s the Port au Port Economic Development Association carried out a youth survey which indicated a high rate of migration of skilled people out of the region. This finding was of particular concern because it indicated an erosion of the human resource base needed for future development. The high dropout rate and low numbers of students graduating from high school were additional causes for concern, and the Lourdes Retention Committee was initially established to address these issues. Subsequently, the Port au Port Economic Development Association joined together with twenty other community partners including the Appalachia Roman Catholic School Board (now District #4), Westviking Community College (now College of the North Atlantic), the local Department of Social Services and the Canada Employment Centre to form the Port au Port community Education Initiative, which continues to work collaboratively for social and economic change in the area. The CEI adopted the philosophy "that educational goals, in concert with economic development initiatives must provide the initial movement leading to growth." In their view, "it was clear that education in its traditional guise would not provide the change element requisite for long-term economic development. The decision was to take a holistic approach, using multiple strategies to create a learning culture where the learning system encompasses early childhood education, formal schooling, and ongoing training and education."
In 1993, as part of a prevention and early identification initiative to address serious problems of illiteracy in the are, the Port au Port Community Education Initiative and the Coalition to End Violence formed a partnership to start the community Action Committee for Bay St. George, Inc. They received funding under the federal government's Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) to develop eleven school-based, parent-driven family resource centres in the Bay St. George area beginning in May 1994. While the Community Action Committee for Bay St. George is a separate organization with its own working group and parent advisory committees, in practice it continues to be closely linked with its founders, sharing information, staff, program space and other resources.
The main function of the Community Education Initiative is to provide a framework to support co-operative programing and inter-agency collaboration in the development and operation of a variety of programs and projects. Activities include information gathering and shcaring, regular meeting with partner agencies, and community forums. The CEI coordinator also provides and information clearinghouse service. The CEI is best described as a partnership that is structurally fluid, with the partners and the funding sources constantly evolving. This fluidity, however, is firmly anchored by the shared philosophy of the community education and the common belief in the need for a collective approach to address the challenges faced by area communities.
MISSION
The mission of the Port au Port Community Education Initiative is "to support educational change through an integrated community support system that will, in time, lead to a more highly education population, and a more economically viable region." A fundamental aim of the CEI is to support families and to create a learning culture through a life-long learning process that promotes personal enrichment and healthy, sustainable communities.
Community eduction is viewed as "a process whereby learning is used for individual and community betterment. It is characterized by the involvement of people of all ages; the use of community learning, resources, and research to bring about community change; and the recognition that people can learn through, with , and for each other to create a better world." The CEI has endorsed and seeks to practice the following principles of community education which ae also consistent with a number of family support principles.
- Self-determination - Local people are in the best possible position to determine what they need and want, and, to the degree possible, they should be empowered to make those decisions that affect them, their families and their communities.
- Localization - Those services, programs, event and other community involvement opportunities that are brought closest to where people live have the greatest potential for high levels of public participation. Whenever possible, such activites should be decentralized to location of easy public access.
- Self-help - People are bese served when they ahve the capacith to serve themselves, and peopls should be encouraged to assume ever-increasing responsibility for their own well-being thereby building independence and interdependence rather than dependence.
- Integrated service delivery - Organizations and agencies that opeate for public good can better utilize their limited resources, meet their own goals, and better serve the public through the procative involvement of their respective constituencies, as well as through active co-operative and collaborative relationships with those other organizations and agencies with related purposes.
- Maximum use of resources - The physical, financial and human resources of every community must be interconnected and utilized to their fullest if the diverse needs and interests of communities are to be met.
- Inclusiveness - The segregation of people be virtue of age, income, sex, race, ethnicity, region or other factors inhibits the full development of the community; thus, community programs, activities and services should involve the broadest possible cross-section of community residents.
- Institutional responsiveness - Public institutions have been created to serve people and they have a responsibility do develop their respective programs and services around the cintinually changing needs and interests of their constituents as defined in concert with these same constituents.
- Life-long learning - People learn from birth to death; both formal and informal learning opportunities should be provided for people throughout their lives in a wide varitey of community settings.
- Leadership development - The identification, development and utilization of the leadership capacities of local citizens is a prerequisite to the full development and empowerment of any community. Thus, all community eduction efforts should incoporate a leadership development strategy.
PROGRAMS AND THEIR COMPONENTS
Programs in Action
The CEI has been the catalyst for initiating a wide range of communty-based programs and partnerships in the areas of community education and promotion of early identification, prevention, and community economic development. Some of these projects have become separate programs with their own advisory groups, while others continue to receive administrative and other support from the CEI. In practice the various groups work closely together at the administrative and program levels, so that the boundaries between various programs and initiatives are not immediately obvious. For purposes of this profile, eamples of the various program components will be listed under the following headings: 1) Community Action Committee for Bay St. George - Family Resource Centres; 2) "Endless Possibilities" Youth Corps; and, 3) Community Schools and Community Education.
1) Community Action Committee for Bay St. George - Family Resource Centres
Family resource centres are presently located in eleven elementary schools in southwestern Newfoundland, and plans are underway to develop additional family resource centres in the Port Aux Basques and Burgeo-Ramea areas on the south coast in 1997/98. Funding to start the resource centres was provided by the federal government's community Action Program for Children in 1993. Subsequently, additional funds have been made available through the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, allowing the programs to be offered on the Port au Port peninsula to strengthen early intervention and outreach efforts to families with babies and preschool schildren. The Community Action Committee for Bay St. George is committed to supporting community-driven family resource centres which help meet the health and developmental needs of young children and their families.
While the specific programs offered in each of the resource centres vary somewhat according to the needs of each community, the availability of space and other local resources, they typically included the following components.
Parent/Caregiver Education and Support
- Drop-in playgroups: are offered to parents and caregivers, providing opportunities for informal play that encourages parent-child interaction. Reading circles are alco organized so parents and volunteers can meet weekly to share the enjoyment of reading with children. Home visits are made by staff, who bring along a craft package with activities for children.
- Parent/Caregiver education: courses such as Nobody's Perfect; Childsafe (a first aid and accident prevention program); How to Talk So Kids Will Listen; STEP (Strategic Techniques to Effective Parenting) are offered. Mini workshops on a variety of topics are also presented on an occasional basis. All of these education programs provide information and opportunities for discussion about safety, child development and other essential parenting issues. Child care is provided by Youth Corps participants while parents are attending sessions.
- Parent resource and toy library: books, videos, and toy lending, as well as informal equipment exchanges take place in a number of centre.
- Babysittitng courses: provides 1-3 year olds and their parents/caregivers with activities to enrich thier development and family life.
Children's Programs
- Pre-kindergarten program: is offered to four year old children in communities without a formal kindergarten program. It provides a Head Start experience with opportunities for play, early learning and socialization to counter illiteracy and better prepare young children for kindergarten.
Health Education and Care
- Prenatal nutrition program: is based in the Piccadilly centre and offered throughout the Port au Port peninsula. A resource mother carries out home visits and offers support to twelve pregnant mothers (referred by the Public Health Department) at at time. The objective of the program is to improve the health of low-income pregnant women and the birth weight of the baby. The program is also targeted to pregnant adolescents, to pregnant women who abuse alcohol or other substances, to pregnant women who live in violent situations or who may be isolated with poor access to health services. Services offered include the provision of food and nutrition supplements throughout the pregnancy, individual nutrition counselling, referral to medical care if required, and opportunities to take part in group activities and cooking sessions. Family and friends are also welcomed at prenatal classes.
- Healthy Baby Club: is based on a province-wide family support model and continues the service offered by the Prenatal Nutrition Program once the baby is born. In addition to home visits by a resource mother (who is a trained nurse), monthly group activities include cooking sessions (based on the book and program The Basic Shelf, a model for low- income families), discussion groups, tips on nutrition, breastfeeding, and friendly support. Because many of these communities are quite isolated, transportation and child care are provided to enable new mothers to take part in the group. Parents are also encouraged to take part in the Baby talk program. A small case-planning committee consisting of the public health nurse, the resource mother, a nutritionist and the coordinator from the Bay St. George Community Action Committee meets monthly to share information and plan activities.
- Baby Talk Program: is offered to infants and their parents and/or caregivers, in conjunction with public health nurses in a number of locations. Various games and activities are provided to promote bonding between parents and children, as well as opportunities for discussion and support about health, child management and other issues. Guest speakers are invited to discuss specific topics parents have indicated they want to learn more about.
Material Support and Nutrition
- Community kitchens: help single parents learn about nutrition and healthy food choices, plan nutritious meals, and become more skilled in budgeting, shopping for and preparing food.
Community Education and Leadership Development
- Parent volunteers and participants take an active role in the planning, coordination and delivery of programs. To promote parents' involvement, the Community Action Committee established a volunteer training and community leadership development team called "People Helping People" which provides an initial orientation and ongoing training for community volunteers in an effort to develop community volunteers in an effort to develop community leadership. This group has also been active in the evaluation of the project, as well as in the development of work plans and planning for further expansion.
2) "Endless Possibilities" Youth Corps
This project, funded by Youth Services Canada, is administered by the CEI, with project staff being supervised by the coordinator of the Community Action Program for Bay St. George. Eighteen participants, aged 18-24 years, who have been unemployed and out of school, are offered meaningful work experiences for a nine-month period by taking part in developing and offering community services. Divided into five teams, each team works with two of the family resource centres, assisting resource centre staff with various aspects of their work, taking part in organizing activities, home visiting and other duties. The youth also participate in-service training workshops on early intervention and parenting support. In addition to practical work experience, participants are offered career counselling based on the resource kit Building Better Career Futures which help them to develop career plans by exploring their personal interests and strengths and by analyzing the job marker.
3) Community Schools and Community Education
The Port au Port Community Education Initiative views the school setting as an integral part of community life. Community education is seen ecologically, as a process that concerns itself with everything that affects the well-being of all citizens at all life stages withing a given community. This approach extends the role of the community school from the traditional concept of teaching only children aged five through eighteen years, to that of using all the strengths and resources of a community to meet the education needs of a community. In this approach: "one of the main goals of community education is to change the long-held negative attitudes towards education by providing opportunities for parents, school and community residents to work together for common goals and outcomes."
In other profiles in this study, the program components of community education and leadership development, literacy and employment support have been discussed separately. In this case, they will be described together under the four major programs that make up the various facets of the Port au Port community Education Initiative: Youth Corps Community Literacy Teams, Communities in Schools project, Communication for Survival and the Pathfinder Learning Centre.
Community Literacy Teams
These teams, an initiative of the youth Corps, address both the need for young adults to obtain employment and work experience, as well as the need to improve levels of literacy. Six teams of four young adults, who have completed high school or post-secondary education but who have been unemployed, have been hired and trained to work with students and their parents. Youth Corps participants are also involved in career counselling sessions. The teams offer the following community supports:
community public relations strategy emphasizing the importance of literacy
basic literacy training and computer literacy for interested adults
career awareness for parents and students
homework help for students who need academic support
mentoring for students who need guidance and support.
The advisory committee for this project is drawn from members of the Bay St. George Literacy Action Team, which in addition to the CEI includes groups such as the Bay St. George Laubach Literacy Council, the College of the North Atlantic, the John Howard Society and Corrections Canada.
Youth Corps participants, parents and community volunteers work together to offer a variety of literacy programs including:
- Reading Recovery: is an early intervention program for young readers who experience difficulty in their first year of reading instruction.
- Reading Rescue, or Junior High Reading Tutor Program: provides individualized tutoring in five district schools.
- Reading for Fun: the goal is to create a summer learning culture by providing supplementary reading and writing activities to elementary and high school students, as well as fun activities for preschoolers during the summer break. This program is supported by the CEI and Laubach Literacy of Canada.
- Breakthrough to Literacy: based on the premise that improving the achievement level of students requires a collaborative effort from both the school and home, a teacher was identified to work with the grade 1 students and their parents over the three primary grades. The program works to ensure that children acquire basic literacy skills by focusing on reading, writing and vocabulary.
- Parents as Teaching Partners: the goal is to break the cycle of family illiteracy by strengthening parents' literacy skills, increasing children's reading levels and providing information about literacy services. The four-day workshop offers parents a forum to discuss problems in a non-threatening environment. It also aims to develop a love of reading in children and to increase communication between home and school. Over twenty parents have been trained as facilitators.
- Books for Babies: is sponsored by CEI, the Community Action committee for Bay St. George, the College of the North Atlantic and Laubach Literacy of Canada. The purpose of the program is to help parents understand the benefits of reading to children from birth and to provide information about literacy services to adults with reading and writing needs. Volunteers visit new mothers at the hospital giving them a package that includes a book, growth chart, Born to Read calendars and a registration card that will enable them to take advantage of follow-up programs designed to nurture the love of reading.
Communities In Schools
This program began as a pilot project in St. Stephen's High School, Stephenville, in 1996. A service coordinator works with school staff to connect community health, education, social and other supportive services with students and their families, It enables a young person experiencing difficulties to access a "one-stop shop" of coordinated services. The philosophy of helping young people to help themselves and an emphasis on mentorship are also key elements of the project. Some of the program components offered are an information and resource centre for parents and school-aged children, a parent newsletter, Making Connections program (a career awareness program to help children understand their career choices) and a Homework Haven group. This project is linked with the national organization Communities In Schools.
Communication for Survival
This project brings communities together through community-directed communications activities and the promotion of leadership development. In an effort to establish a concrete mechanism for dialogue and community participation, the CEI initiated a series of community television forums in 1993. People in the communities of Ramea, Burgeo, Lourdes, and the francophone communities of Port au Port made use of community television, radio, video exchanges and photography as the mechanism for creating discussion and dialogue about important community issues. More recently the CEI and the Long Range Regional Economic Development Board have joined forces to involve communities in planning new regional economic development initiatives and to promote community leadership skills by offering workshops and round tables, providing various skill development opportunities, and creating opportunities for networking.
Pathfinder Learning Centre
The Centre provides an alternative way of learning for youths, aged 14-25, who have been out of school for some time or who have had difficulty with the traditional school system. The computer-based Pathfinder Learning System allows students to work at their own pace; courses are tailored to meet an individual student's needs and interests. A partnership with the College of the North Atlantic makes it possible for returning adult students to study near their home communities. The Learning Centre coordinates programs such as:
- Youth internship program: aims to create an entrepreneurial focus for students by exploring occupational opportunities in tourism, aquaculture, agrifoods and information technology. Students gain experience through job placements and are also helped to move directly into training programs withing their career choice.
- Co-operative education: integrates productive work experience in the private or public sector with a course of academic study at a secondary institution. Originally piloted by the Pathfinder Centre, it has since expanded to several local schools.
- Linkages: assists youth aged 18-24 in their transition from school to post-secondary training and/or the workforce. For 26 weeks, youth participants are matched with a local employer who provides them with on the job experience. A one hundred percent wage subsidy id funded by the Department of Development and Rural Renewal; the employer is responsible for employer costs such as CPP, Employment Insurance, Vacation Pay, and Workers Compensation.
- Work Orientation Workshops (WOW): a series of workshops for high school students at risk of not completing their high school education. The goal is to encourage students to complete their studies by making connections between their studies and future jobs and careers; work placement are arranged with local employers.
- Employability Skills Portfolio program: helps students to discover, develop and document their employability skills by using a personalized system of external assessment and self-assessment tools.
OTHER COMMUNITY LINKAGES
Community linkages are extensive, and vary according to the needs of a particular project. Community partners active in the Community Education Initiative include: Abitibi-Price Inc.; Western Region Telecentre; Air Atlantic, West Coast Regional office; Stephenville-Port aux Basques School Board, School District #4; Bay St. George Community Employment Corporation; Bay St. George Literacy Council; Newfoundland department of Human Resources and Employment: Piccadilly, Stephenville, and Stephenville Crossing offices; Newfoundland Department of Development and Rural Renewal (formerly Enterprise Newfoundland and Labrador Corporation); Association Regionale de la Cote Ouest (ARCO); Federation des Parents de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador; Long Range Regional Economic Development Board; Long Range Community Futures Corporation; Bay St. George Mental Health Unit; Community Health, Western Newfoundland Region; Newtel Company; Port au Port Economic Development Association; RCMP, Piccadilly; College of the North Atlantic; Bay St. George Coalition to End Violence; and the Status of Women Council.
The Coordinator of the Community Education Initiative also takes part in a number of provincial and regional planning and development groups. She is a member of the Social Policy Advisory Committee for the provincial government's Strategic Social Plan, a member of the Regional Integrated Services Management Team (for the coordination of services to children and youth); and at the national level, a member of the Canadian Association for Community Education (CACE), a regional representative for Communities In Schools, Canada and a board member of the Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs.
GOVERNANCE
Advisory Committee: made up of approximately thirty representatives from community partners and local agencies. Community forums are held three times a year to bring together all the partners to maintain contacts and good communications, and to build community support for current and future initiatives arising from the CEI. Televised "town hall" community meeting have also been held in various communities is an effort to broaden community participation and involvement in the SEI. (See Communication for Survival program described above.)
Bay St. George Community Action Committee Working Group: meets bi-monthly and is open to interested parents, volunteers and community resource people. Executive committee meetings are held monthly. Each family resource centre has a local parent advisory committee, and parents are represented on the Working Group.
People Helping People: the Community Action Committee for Bay St. George has developed a community leadership program that meets twice a year offering orientation and leadership training to volunteers to enable them to take an active role in the planning, coordination, and evaluation of programs in the family resource centres.
"Endless Possibilities" Youth Corps: has an advisory committee, with members from the CEI, the Community Action Committee for Bay St. George, Community Health Western Region, and the Bay St. George Status of Women Council. The Community Literacy Youth Corps advisory committee members are from the CEI, the Bay St. George Laubach Literacy Council, the John Howard Society and Corrections Canada.
STAFFING
Port au Port Community Education Initiative and Community Schools and Community Education projects: a full-time coordinator; other staff in schools, and additional project staff when funding becomes available.
Community Action Committee for Bay St. George: a full-time program coordinator, two full-time family resource workers; a full-time administrative assistant/bookkeeper, a full-time home visitor (the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program). Other support and child care staff are hired on an occasional basis. Staff have been supplemented by Youth Corps participants.
"Endless Possibilities" Youth Corps: a full-time coordinator
Volunteers: Volunteers are a vital part of all CEI programs, and training and education for community leadership are an integral part of a number of the programs that have been developed. The philosophy of the CEI is to build and strengthen volunteers and community involvement as much as possible so that programs could continue even if funding is withdrawn in the future.
Student Placements: Many elementary schools in the Port au Port area receive fourth and fifth year social work students on placement from Memorial University. Students from the College of the North Atlantic studying regional economic development, community studies, corrections, and developmental disabilities may also have a student practicum in one of the projects. There are usually several short-term summer projects such as Summer Career Placements and the Student Work and Service Program which provide funds to hire students to work in literacy and other programs.
FUNDING
The funding for the Port au Port Community Education Initiative is complex, not only because of the number of different funders and projects, but also because the funding is administered by different partners in the project. In addition to the funding listed in the chart below, CEI also receives additional indirect financial support by the following means:
- Space for all family resource centres, including janitorial services and use of any available furniture, has been donated by District #4 School Board, and is rent free.
- Donations in kind are received from local businesses and other community agencies. For example, local fire departments have donated toys; local businesses donate items for parties and special events.
Parents and family resource centres are also involved in a variety of fundraising activities to supplement project grants.
Budget Year (1996/97)
| PROGRAM | FUNDING SOURCE | $ | ADMINISTRATOR |
Port au Port Community Education Initiative (CEI):
- Community Literacy Teams
- Communication for Survival
- Communities In Schools
- Pathfinder Learning Centre |
SRDA
DDRR/HRE/HRDC
HRDC
CIS/HRE
HRDC |
56,300
180,000
90,000
25,000
100,000 |
CEI
District #4 School Board
REDC
CEI
District #4 School Board |
Community Action
Committee for Bay St.
George (CAC) | Health Canada:
CAPC
Prenatal Nutrition |
185,000
30,000 |
CAC |
"Endless Possibilities"
Youth Corps |
Youth Services Canada, HRDC |
130,000 |
CAC |
| Expressing Our History | Newfoundland Dept. of Tourism |
28,000 |
CEI |
| Summer Career Placements | HRDC/HRE | 10,000 | CEI |
| Family Literacy | National Literacy Secretariat | 25,000 | CEI |
Legend
CAPC: Community Action Program for Children
CEI: Port au Port Community Education Initiative
CIS: Communities In Schools
DDRR: Newfoundland Department of Development and Rural Renewal
HRDC: Human Resources Development Canada
HRE: Newfoundland Department of Human Resources and Employment
REDC: Ramea Economic Development Corporation
SRDA: Strategic Regional Diversification Agreement
This is a reproduction of the case study that appeared in Case Studies of Canadian Family Resource Programs: Supporting Families, Children & Communities, 1998.
