Mary Barter
Community Communications Facilitator
Community Communications Facilitator
Mary now has her own website.
More reports can be found on the Sharing Our Future discussion board.
Report from Lourdes and Area, Port au Port Peninsula
Click here for the Lourdes and area community mapping assessments.
Televised the Bay St. George Sick Children's Telethon on April 1st over the Lourdes Community Channel.
Started groundwork for Peninsula video profile. Researched community strengths and attributes and began list for each community on the Peninsula. Looked through ³Understanding the Early Years² research for information, and began video introduction dialogue.
Did a breakdown of my activities (for discussion, clarification and personal direction. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.) It helped put me back on track.
Invited Lourdes Town to use community television. I e-mailed and talked to the mayor of the town, who also is a leader in the Lourdes Cadet Movement. I invited him to include participation of the cadets and the Town in regular shows.
Attended and taped a forum in Stephenville around the issue of family violence and violence against women.
Taped 10th anniversary meetings and celebrations of the Community Education Network in Stephenville.
Attended meetings around the Youth Engagement Program. Has discussions about youth forum. Talked to Sandi about program and faxed her Deannaıs CIS survey. Passed on survey results (grade 7's and 8's) to Kim.
Attended meetings around ³Leadership North Atlantic². Began list of potential candidates, and met with Vanessa and Ann to talk about other potential candidates.
In the process of updating list of CAP sites and CEN/SOF/CIS people responsible for those sites as per the agreement between CNL-CAP and SOF.
Downloaded information from Volnet and compiled a booklet.
Sorted and distributed CAP information and promotional materials.
Met with Debbie Benoit at CAP site at Cape St. George.
Discussions about what the next big issue to tackle is. I want to do the youth forum first though. (I think)
Had regular monthly show with grade 7 class. We originally had chosen ³Drugs² as our topic of discussion and had requested that Addictions Services and the RCMP attend an interview. Addictions services agreed to attend, but the RCMP couldnıt. The students then decided to not go with this topic. We (reps from SOF, CIS, CYN, CEN, HRE, CONA, LLREDB) are having meetings around a Youth Engagement program for the area, and a Community Studies student is doing her work term around this. Some work has been done ahead of time i.e. student surveys, to determine what interests the students have. For the show, we(the students and I) had this Community Studies student come on the show and talk about this program and what the anticipated outcome of it would be. Other show content included an interview and tour with the Lourdes Fire Department which turned out to be a very informative 24 minute video. The student had a video interview with Mrs. Greene who is in charge of the Lourdes Elementary school breakfast program. Another on camera interview was done with Mrs. Bowers, the school music teacher, who talked about cuts to programs in the school and how it will effect students and their learning. The students also did up a news and sports package, and some greetings. They had a list of about 50 greetings, so we did them in between videos. As well as the videos mentioned, they also had videos of an Easter lip sync and a basketball tournament. I felt that the students did a great job, and it is beginning to feel like the community is becoming more involved. The show was at 2:30 and I told the students Iıd be there around 11:00. There was one young guy who had been there since 9:30 a.m.! He co-hosted and loved being in front of the camera. There was a good turnout of students. It was a good show.
What would I have done differently
Nothing I donıt think. Itıs a hard question to answer because by the time the month is over, I usually forget the bumps along the way and everything usually works out anyway.
What worked best
Having the student to go out and request the interviews and tours. It is their families, relatives and friends.
Three issues in this area
Unemployment, lack of youth activities, and unconnected services.
One suggestion for sustaining SOF process within the community.
Getting as many people involved as possible.
Here is my report of activities for March
*Preparations for and production of oil forum at Cape St. George. This included meetings at Mainland, Cape St. George, Piccadilly and Stephenville. It also included things listed for the February report as well as press releases for the event.
*Interviews about forum after it was done with the Western Star correspondent, Human Resources and Development and Human Resources and Employment.
*Tallied up attendance sheets of people who attended the forum. We had 163 names of people who signed, but there were more than that there. Not everyone had the opportunity to sign. Estimates say there were about 200 there.
Feedback from the forum stated it as a success on different levels. It was the first web cast which is a major feat in itself. Local leaders saw it as the peninsula showing a common front (they have already made suggestions for other forums). Locals saw it as an chance to get information, likewise the oil company and government officials saw it as an opportunity to give information. Personally, from a communications perspective, I saw it as a chance to clear up some misunderstandings and misinformation about the developing oil play. All the people with the questions and all the people with the answers were in the same room at the same time giving everyone a chance to get on the same page.
*Taped speakers corner at the Middle School in Stephenville at a Communities In School Leadership Conference.
*Worked on a VolNet application and letter and GOT A NEW COMPUTER!!!!!!!! I have been set up on account. I havenıt really had time yet to see what is on it.
*Got my business cards done. A Million thank youıs to Jesse. *Did SWASP application and looked for student for Sharing Our Future summer project.
*Meetings around having youth forums and beginning discussions around youth issues here on the peninsula. One big issue is boredom, and lack of facilities and things to do.
*Meetings and discussions around developing a community leadership project. These leaders could help alleviate the problems facing youth.
*Set up the equipment at the library to practice doing it myself. I DID IT! I set up everything and actually got it out over the community channel. (Many thanks to Fred for the diagrams)
*Did report of Sharing Our Future promotion activities.
*Was included in Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School newsletter again this month.
*Faxed information about the Community Education Network and the Sharing Our Future Program to Canadian Imperial Venture Corporation and CBC radio upon request. *Sorted through CAP materials and divided it up. There were tee-shirts and caps for the new sites at the Crossing and St. Georges. There was also on of each for me. There werenıt enough for everyone and only one of each extra, so I donated it to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters fund raiser. I think itıs called the Bowl-for-Millions.
*Tallied up the Cape St. George CAP site interest assessments. Results were:
The forms were left at the sites and sent home through both the English and French schools. There were 40 respondents. Aged 16-25 there were 8, aged 26-40 there were 22, aged 41-55 there were 8 and in the over 56 category there was 1. Highest areas of interest in order were in: E-Mail, Educational Opportunities; How to use a computer; Word Processing and Arts and Crafts. Of the 40 respondents, 24 had used a computer before, 14 hadnıt, and two didnıt respond. When asked if they would be willing to share their computer experience as a volunteer, 11 of them said yes.
*Did community television show schedule for Library board. Shows will be held on the last Sunday of each month.
*Did a show with the grade 8's. The topic they chose was vandalism. Like other shows, I meet with the students as part of their Language Program. They are given tips on interviewing and camera use. They are shown how a show is put together and what content is needed. All the students have to have at least one news item. They also all have to have a greeting (birthday, anniversary etc.) They also take part of video taping events. For the topic of vandalism, they has a panel in to talk about the issue. The panel consisted of an R.C.M.P. officer, a parent, a teacher, a school representative and a moderator. Another guest to the show was our local M.H.A. who is also Minister of Human Resources and Employment. The students enjoyed doing the show.
*As usual, there is lots of e-mail and regular visits and postings to our web board.
As for those questions...
What I did is listed above.
I think what worked best is inclusion. Try and get as many people involved as possible.
I donıt think there is anything I would have done differently. I donıt remember regretting anything or saying ³if only I had done it this way instead of that². So no, I donıt think I would have done anything differently.
Three issues in our community (the Port-au-Port peninsula) are (1) lack of things for youth (2) unemployment and (3) lack of community leadership.
One suggestion for sustaining Sharing Our Future in the community is NOT LETTING GO OF THE FUNDING PURSE STRINGS. (Kidding). Thatıs a tough question. I guess, in my view, the best way to secure SOF having a place in the future is to get our there, promote it at every opportunity, and make it a household name.
I think thatıs all folks. Take care,
Mary
Hi folks,
I am late with my report this month. Busy, busy, busy!!! Anyway, here it is.
Most of the month of February has been spent working on "Oil: What it Means to the Peninsula" web-cast preparations. We do have confirmed for the panel:
*Gerald Smith, local member and Hon. Minister of Human Resources and Employment.
*Steve Millan, President and CEO of Canadian Imperial Venture Corp. *Ken Dominie, Assistant Deputy Minister of Environment. (No longer environment and labor since the shuffle).
*Wayne Young, Chairman of the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association
*Bob Cormier, President of the Long Range Regional Economic Development Board-Zone 9.
*Cyril Organ, Assistant District Administrator with the College of the North Atlantic.
*Tony Cornect, Mayor of Cape St. George
*Glenn Kirby, with Community Studies at the College of the North Atlantic, who will moderate the panel discussion.
*??? Mines and Energy. There is a commitment to send someone but they are not sure whom. It may be the Honorable Minister Lloyd Matthews, but they have to meet first. They will get back to me.
*Bill Matthews, our local Member of Parliament. (Depending on the weather. He is now on the Burin Peninsula.)
We are still waiting on confirmation from:
*Bill Haynes, Instructor with the College of the North Atlantic, who deals with province wide initiatives in oil field training.
Other responsibilities included discussions, telephone calls, faxes and e-mails with panel participants and other involved individuals; confirmation of date, time and place; invitations to various organizations; production meetings; visiting site for show; securing phone line for web-cast; and everything in between. For more details check out the posting on our production meeting posted earlier.
The web-cast is to be on Wednesday, March 7th (two days away). I'll let you know what happens.
Other activities include:
*Sorted, viewed and categorized all Lourdes Channel 9 community television archive tapes.
*Picked up, sorted, packaged and delivered information from CNL-CAP to sites.
*Wrote up notes from CAP focus session at Cape St. George.
*Reviewed SchoolNet Support Parents Trainer's Manual. (CNL-CAP)
*Re-wrote summer program proposal.
*Did resource/needs assessment for Sharing Our Future capabilities.
*Meeting at Black Duck Brook to discuss development of "Emile Benoit House" proposal. I was invited to attend because of my involvement with the Local Service District, but felt it would that if the project went ahead, it would be a great idea for a web-cast. We'll see what happens.
*Set up meetings for and attended meetings with Kelli Penney, CAP Development Officer who is responsible for various zones within the province including zone 9. These meetings were held at Stephenville, Cape St. George and Mainland.
*E-mailed CAP Work Plan to SOF/CAP facilitators. (Zone 9)
*E-mailed CAP Interest Assessment to SOF/CAP facilitators. (Zone 9)
*Discussions with Zone 9 Development Officer in regard to electronically linking CAP sites to the zone board web site. A firm has been contracted to update the RED board site, and a request has been made to make the link.
*Preparations for Grade 8 community television event. Met with class and had a production meeting. The show will go ahead on Sunday, March 25th. The show is done as part of the students Language Arts Program.
*Did interviewing and camera skills classes with the grade 8's.
*Did video taping of Kelli Penney, CAP Development Officer, for promo of CAP sites to be used as part of the Cape St. George web-cast.
*Discussion with Librarian at Cape St. George about getting CAP site interest assessments into the school for students to take them home to their parents. Made enough copies for both the French and English Schools at the Cape. At last contact, this had been done. The librarian has given a deadline for the forms to be back.
*What would I do differently?
I probably wouldn't have agreed to be CAP regional facilitator. There is a whole lot of expectation there that I wasn't expecting. I don't mind the work, but having to weave my way around everyone is very stressful.
*What works best?
Persistence. In getting government officials to the web-cast, I had to make several calls, faxes, etc. and not take no for an answer.
*Three issues in this area at this time?
1. High rate of unemployment
2. Dissension between communities
3. What is happening with the oil???
Here is my report for January.
1. Continued work on Logo for CAP/Zone. Visited Sandi at Mainland to see if we could fix up the Logo, but the program she has there is different from the one here at the office. I decided to leave it for now, and will re-visit it when the need arises.
2. Liaisoned between CNL/CAP and SOF
3. Met with Debbie Benoit, librarian at Cape St. George to discuss CAP sites.
4. Worked on list of government services web addresses. Most came from the GOVERNMENT OF CANADA SERVICES FOR YOU booklet. The idea was to compile a list and e-mail it to my sites, so that they would have the addresses on-line. Most of these have quick links. I also contacted the Government of NF Communication and Consultation Branch to see if there was a similar list of provincial web addresses. I was informed that there isn't, but there may be one in the next few months. I have requested that if it does come through, they let me know. I will check back in a few months to see. I will wait until then before I complete the list.
5. Re-did questionnaire about the Cape sites for CAP.
6. Reviewed development videos at P.A.P.E.D.A office.
7. Negotiated date for airing show with the school.
8. Did a report for CAP.
9. Worked on presentation for, and met with, Stephenville High's Robotics Team to discuss video production. As part of a Canada wide Robotics competition, each team has to do a video highlighting the steps they took to make their robot come to life. I gave them some tips on putting it together, lighting tips, camera tips, and basically got them thinking about how to make it unique. I also showed them how to use story boards. Emphasis was to be placed on creativity. I went back the following week to see if they were on track, and gave them my e-mail so that if they had any questions or needed help they could let me know.
10. Attended public meeting at Cape St.George. The focus of the meeting was to promote Community Access Programs.
11. Did up an interest assessment for CAP sites. I translated it in French, and got Bob Cormier, Executive Director for L'Associatoin Regionale de la Cote Ouest, to check it over for me and fix up the (many) mistakes.
12. Aired grade 8 show.
13. Screened ALL the videos that had been shown previously at Lourdes. I haven't counted them, but there are a lot. I will get them catalogued, and bring them back to the council office. (I brought them here to the office to do)
14. Established that the shows at Lourdes will be the last Sunday of every month.
15. Put some thought into what summer programs I will do. I have started a proposal and will let you know what happens.
I am in the process of planning a web-cast from Cape St. George. The theme for the show will be centered around the oil production here and what it means to the Peninsula. The show will take place sometime during the week of March 5-9, but the exact day is yet undetermined. I have contacted Gerald Smith, and he is clear for that week, although he did ask that I get back to him as soon as I can with a date. I have made a request to the Department of Environment and Labour to attend also, and am awaiting a reply from them as to what day is good. Once I receive a reply, I will set things up and let everyone know. I have spoken to the mayor, Tony Cornect, and given him an update. We are also looking at inviting someone from the Regional Economic Development Board, a rep. from the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association, an Oil Company rep., someone from mines and energy, and a moderator. I will keep you posted.
There were a few problems with airing the show at Lourdes this time around. We run the show from out of the library which is a very busy place. While I was airing the show, a teacher has scheduled some testing in one of the rooms off the library and commented on it being a bit noisy. Also, after school, while the show was still running, there has been a meeting scheduled for the library. It was a pretty important meeting which dealt with a students progress and involved the students, the principal, the guidance counsellor, the students parents and teachers. It was a bit awkward. We then decided that the best time to air the shows would on Sundays. There won't be any heat there but we can live with that. The school is a very busy place and I understand totally that school stuff is priority. The main reason we thought it would be a good idea to have it during school time was to be able to include all the students (as some of them are not from Lourdes). Maybe I can work something out by pre-taping (OOPS the bad word) segments with the students who are not from Lourdes, and getting the Lourdes students to do the show live. I really have to try to do something like this for this show as the other grade 8's are looking forward to having one of their own. Once this show is done, I am looking at starting at video or media club. I have to do this show with them first though.
Sorry to be so long winded. Thats it for now. As usual any suggestions or comments are welcome.
Hi folks. Happy New Year,
Here is my report of activities for SOF for December.
* Contact with Regional Cable
* Reports for SOF
* Copied Logos on disks for CNL-CAP (Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Community Access Program.)
* Did list of contacts of Sharing Our Future Regional Facilitators for CNL-CAP.
* Contact with Lourdes Town Council about equipment they had stored there for community television. Got the equipment and learned that they, as well as the Lourdes parish, were looking at getting the "old school" building and fixing it up.
If and when this is done, (it is only in the talking stages yet), they want to include Channel 9 in the building. This will be great and I hope it happens! I'll keep you informed. I think the important things is that they have a renewed interest and are looking forward to working with us again.
* Negotiated space at the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association for Channel 9 equipment storage.
* Distributed community access signs and mounting instructions to facilitators and libraries for CNL-CAP.
* Attended Community Youth Network Meetings at L.S. Eddy.
* Contact with Sharing Our Future facilitators about CNL-CAP and shared information until contact list was done. (Many e-mails, forwarding, etc.) Mainland still has its system down so I just fax pertinent information there in the meantime.
* Requested answers to questions from CNL-CAP by community access sites at Mainland(Centre Ste. Anne) and Stephenville (Kindale Library). Forwarded answers to CNL-CAP.
* Did a Christmas Community Television event with grade 8's at Lourdes Elementary.
Content included local news/sports package, birthday and anniversary announcements, a stained glass demonstration (one of the grade 8's does this as a hobby), a video about economic development, and one about a visit to the grade 8's by veterans during Remembrance. One thing of interest for me was that there had been some incidents of vandalism at the school, and it gave the Principal a chance to address this issue publicly.
* Show preparations included equipment training and set-up for the students by Ryakuga.
* And as usual, many e-mails and regular visits to the webboard.
* Visit to CAP site at Mainland and Stephenville. Contact with CAP sites at Mainland, Stephenville and Cape St. George.
November
1. Finished Sharing Our Future press release and article for the newspapers. Faxed it to the Georgian and the Western Star.
2. Helped develop an information pamphlet and news release for the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association.
3. Meetings with the Community Youth Network about their information sharing.
4. Developed programs for grade 8 students to incorporate community television into the class.
5. Made several presentations to grade 8's class including preparations for a Christmas television show.
6. Attended a four day conference in Gander for Community Access Programs.(CAP)
7. Reported information about CAP back to Sharing Our Future working group.
8. Participated in The Youth, The Environment and The Economy conference which was held in Stephenville at the Lion's Club on November 30th and December 1st.
9. Use of web board and extensive use of e-mail.
10. Circulated list of questions to Sharing Our Future working group about CAP sites in their areas.
11. I e-mailed list of questions to CAP sites in my area which are at Cape St. George, (which is located at the library), Stephenville (which is at the Kindale Library), and Mainland where the site is located at Centre Scholaire et Communautaire Ste. Anne.
L'Association Regionale de la Cote Ouest, who are located at Centre Scholaire et Communautaire Ste. Anne, are partners with the Sharing Our Future program, and have had a communications facilitator hired there for several years.
At Lourdes, the Parish and the Coucil are planning to use the old elementary building and fix it up. They want to include Channel 9 in the plans, so it looks like we may have a studio after all. This of course is just in the planning stages but please keep your fingers crossed for us.
October
Bev and I talked and decided that my monthly reports could be put on the discussion board. That way we all know what is happening in my neck of the woods. Here is the report for October.
1. Established contact with groups and organizations including Community Youth Network (CYN), Communities In Schools (CIS), Port-au-Port Economic Development Association (PAPEDA), Lourdes Elementary, Ryakuga Grassroots Communications, L'Association Regionale de la Cote Ouest
2. Acted as a liason between the Community Youth Network and a youth participant for the YouCan conference in Ontario. I met with the youth and his mom at their home to gauge interest in his attending the conference.
3. Met with the principal at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary about doing community television with the grade 8's. He requested a proposal.
4. Did a proposal for the elementary.
5. Acquired work space at the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association.
6. Acquired use of video camera and tripod from partnering local organizations.
7. Cleared use of video camera for students in grade 8.
8. Video taped economic development presentation at Piccadilly Central High. Presentation made by Vanessa Glasgow, Regional Economic Development Officer in Zone 9.
9. Met with grade 8 teacher at Lourdes Elementary.
10. Started work on press release/newspaper article about Sharing Our Future.
11. Negotiated date for Christmas show with school and Ryakuga. (Technical support and training for students.
12. Use of web board and extensive use of e-mail.
