Fort St. James Community Literacy Plan 2015
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Fort St. James
Community Literacy Plan 2015
Table of Contents 1. Task Group ............................................................................................................................ 2
Who takes part?........................................................................................................................... 2
How is the work of this group organized? .................................................................................. 2
2. Community Context .............................................................................................................. 3
Describe your community in one or two short paragraphs (e.g. size, economy, demographics,
and trends). Are there any major changes that have taken place over the last year the impact
the ability of organizations to support literacy development – positive or negative? ................ 3
3. Community Development and Literacy Collaboration ...................................................... 4
Provide an example of an important collaboration that has taken place to support literacy and
the work of the task group. ......................................................................................................... 4
4. Goals and actions for the current year: ............................................................................... 6
What priorities, goals, or objective have you addressed in the past year? .................................. 6
What actions were taken to reach these? What organizations and groups participated in these?
..................................................................................................................................................... 6
What adjustments were made to the plan? .................................................................................. 7
5. Indications of Success ............................................................................................................ 7
How do you know that actions taken are working to support literacy? ...................................... 7
What impact have the literacy initiatives had? It is important to include examples to illustrate
the impacts. ................................................................................................................................. 7
6. Challenges............................................................................................................................... 7
What are the difficulties? ............................................................................................................ 7
What would help? ....................................................................................................................... 8
7. For the Coming Year: ........................................................................................................... 8
Are there new opportunities, challenges or issues in your community? ..................................... 8
What goals, priorities or objectives will you work on in the coming year? What actions are
planned against those goals? ....................................................................................................... 8
What will be required to meet those goals and effectively employ actions for the coming year?
..................................................................................................................................................... 9
How will you measure the success of actions taken to address those goals? ............................. 9
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1. Task Group
Who takes part?
Members of the Fort St. James Literacy Advisory Committee are:
College of New Caledonia
Nak’azdli Health Center
Northern Health Interior Health Unit
Fort St. James Public Library
Fort St. James National Historic Park
School District 91 - Local teachers and principals (current)
First Nations Representatives – Nak’azdli, Tl’azt’en, Yekooche, Takla and
Binche Keyoh
Parents
Early Childhood Development Committee
Fort St. James Municipal Office
Fireweed Collective Society
Local Businesses
StrongStart – Fort St. James
English as a Second Language group – CIC and Welcome BC
Community Adult Literacy Programs
How is the work of this group organized?
Regular Meetings ( three times a year)
Regular E-Mails
Literacy Outreach Coordinator drafts responses to the Guiding Questions
Draft is circulated to our sponsoring agency (College of New Caledonia) for
input
Draft is then circulated to literacy task group members by e-mail for input
LOC coordinates with community partners to deliver planned initiatives
Task group members are encouraged to spearhead particular initiatives
A new LOC was hired in September 2014, she has spent a great deal of time meeting
people, agencies, and service providers.
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2. Community Context
Describe your community in one or two short paragraphs (e.g. size, economy,
demographics, and trends). Are there any major changes that have taken place over the
last year the impact the ability of organizations to support literacy development –
positive or negative?
Geography:
Located on the beautiful shores of Nak’albun (Stuart Lake), the community of Fort St.
James is a gateway to the region.
The area population includes the District of Fort St. James (population of 1,691 - Census
2011) municipality and its adjacent Bulkley Nechako Regional District Area “C”
(population 1,429 – Census 2011). The Regional District population disbursed in various
pockets of rural and farming settlement areas. Additionally the Regional District
includes four First Nation communities, Nak'azdli Band, Tl'azt'en Nation, Takla Lake
First Nation and Yekooche Fist Nation with an estimated total on-reserve population of
±1,380.
Fort St. James is the service hub for all these populations to access banking, medical,
social health, education, retail, grocery and many other services.
Economy:
Fort St. James is experiencing an economic shift in the Forestry Industry as the New
Biomass Energy Plant is under construction with expected production to begin January
2016. That being said, the announcement of the finger-joint stud mill closure in July
2015 will bring 43 residents to being unemployed.
Student Population:
Declining enrollment in Fort St. James has resulted in the announcement of the closure of
Sowchea Elementary School, therefore these students will be starting the 2015-2016
school year at David Hoy Elementary school. In addition to the Fort St. James High
School, the community also has 4 independent elementary schools.
David Hoy Elementary/Sowchea 300 students
Fort St. James Senior Secondary School 310 students
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Nak’al Bun Elementary School (Nak’azdli) 120 students
Eugene Joseph Elementary School (Tl’azt’en) 55 students
Jean Marie Joseph School (Yekooche) 17 students 31 Adult Learners
Nus Wak’eezuch School (Takla) 25 students
Literacy Supports:
There also has been a change in coordinators in the past year. Our coordinator began
her work in September 2014 and has spent a great deal of time meeting people,
agencies, and service providers. LOC funding for 2014-2015 is a positive factor in
support for community literacy in Fort St. James. As the stigma attached to
addressing literacy issues decreases, the College of New Caledonia and the Learning
Hub are seeing an increase in learners which represent a more mainstream population,
rather than only those with multiple barriers.
3. Community Development and Literacy Collaboration
Provide an example of an important collaboration that has taken place to support
literacy and the work of the task group.
There are currently 27 families that are part of the Family Literacy Program, which has
been restructured and now being distributed. The LOC also recently travelled to the
remote First Nation of Yekooche in June to present the Family Literacy Program, this
small village is 75 km Northwest of Fort St. James on the Cunningham Forest Road.
Plans are being made to travel to the village again in the October. Nak’al Bun school’s
Parent Advisory has expressed interest in starting Family Literacy program within the
school.
An important collaboration involves the Nak’azdli Social Development Department and
the Learning Hub in Aboriginal Adult Literacy, the Nak’azdli Learning Group consists in
ten men and women from the Nak’azdli First Nation that come in once a week to learn
about Healthy Living, Computer Literacy, Goal Setting. Budgeting, and Job Readiness.
We have also been working closely with the Fort St. James Public Library as we donated
books to the youth reading club, we have also had a Lego Night at the Library during
Family Literacy Week.
With the help from Mt. Milligan and Decoda Literacy Solutions, we were able to provide
every child with a new book, whose family receives Christmas hampers in the First
Nation communities of Fort St. James, Nak’azdli, Yekooche, Tla’zten, and Takla Lake.
Over 500 books were distributed in time for Christmas.
The Fort St. James Adult Education Center in Fort St. James closed at the end of the
school year in June of 2014, therefore the Learning Hub has been helping clients sign up
for EBUS, BC Online School.
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The KEY Resource Center’s focus is now on “lifelong learning” and literacy. This social
enterprise supports the most marginalized community member in Fort St. James. This
program is an entry point for the community to be engaged in literacy initiatives and then
are often referred to the Learning Hub.
The Early Childhood Development Committee hosted a Preschool event which the
Learning Hub was able to profile all the literacy supports available within the
community.
The Learning Hub (CNC) was successful in continuing to secure funding for CALP for
the next three years. For our ESL learners we continue to have CIC funds and Welcome
BC funding. This ongoing funding ensures that more formal programming can be
accessed as the Literacy message is set out into the community.
The new LOC participated in the DECODA network session in Prince George which
enabled her to put her work in perspective. This also assisted her with forming a regional
network. Both the Vanderhoof and Fraser Lake programs made a visit to the Learning
Hub.
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4. Goals and actions for the current year:
What priorities, goals, or objective have you addressed in the past year?
Increase community awareness of literacy
Increase literacy participation at The KEY
Engage representatives from the local First Nations on how to address literacy
and reading motivational issues within the aboriginal community.
Continue with the ongoing Family Literacy Program, outreaching into the
community to support early childhood reading readiness.
Build capacity by recruiting more tutors and providing tutor training
Looking for partners to build book bins for “Give a Book, Take a Book” to
ensure access to books
Continue with our “Coffee Talk” and Seniors “North of 50” easy read
newsletters by recruiting a volunteer to type the month newsletters.
Network and collaborate at the quarterly Fort St. James Interagency meetings
to address literacy awareness within the community agencies.
Continue to support “Best Driver’s Program” and “Aboriginal Financial
Literacy” program.
What actions were taken to reach these? What organizations and groups participated in
these?
The LOC met with local organizations and groups in the community to promote and support
literacy awareness:
College of New Caledonia
Early Child Development Committee
Fort St. James Public Library
Decoda Literacy Solutions
Mt. Milligan Mines (Thompson Creek Metals)
Yekooche First Nation
Tla’zt’en First Nation
Nak’azdli Social Development
Nak’albun Elementary School
District of Fort St. James
School District 91
The Key Resource Center
Nechako Valley Community Services
Uloo Khoh (Mother Goose Program) Nak’azdli Health
Nak’azdli Family Bonding
Volunteer Fort St. James
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What adjustments were made to the plan?
The Family Literacy Kit has been restructured to include 26 different
modules, from the previous small literacy kit that was offered.
There has not been a Native Translator available to continue with the “Yinka
Dene Dust’lus: People of the Earth Newsletter
5. Indications of Success
How do you know that actions taken are working to support literacy?
What impact have the literacy initiatives had? It is important to include examples to
illustrate the impacts.
At the beginning of September 2014, The Family Literacy Program had 9 families
participating. By the end of June 2015, the program now has 18 more families
participating for a total of 27. Also being able to host “Kitchen Table Learning
Workshop” from Prince George, attendance was successful.
Creating a Digital Environment for everyone. Participation in Seniors Computer Literacy
has also being successful with 4 different programs (Beginners, Facebook 101, Shopping
Safely Online, and Working with Photos)
These learners then met every Thursday afternoon at the Learning Hub for informal
classes where they took ownership and shared with each other their computer skills.
Increased attendance at the Learning Hub this year, as 568 people accessed the services
over the 10 month period. Events that kept our learners busy were: Children’s Fair,
Beginner Seniors Computers, Financial Literacy Workshop, Christmas Book Donation,
Cultural Awareness Workshop, Plain & Clear Language Workshop, Customer Service,
Assertiveness & Self-Awareness, Facebook 101, Shopping Safely Online and Working
w/Photos.
Increased awareness and interest in literacy within the community.
Ongoing collaborations with Fort St. James Library, District of Fort St. James, and
others. The District of Fort St. James continues to support the “Literacy Lives in Fort St
James” campaign.
Invitations to continue participation in community events such as the Children’s Festival
6. Challenges
What are the difficulties?
Uncertainty of stable funding, need to broaden our financial base
Shortage of staff and/or volunteers to move our many initiatives forward.
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Although we have had some success with engaging industry, we need to build further
relationships with this sector.
Large geographic area presents logistical problems.
Literacy work needs time and patience from the whole community, measures of success
come in many different shapes and sizes.
Due to the fact there has been a lot of change in Program Coordinators the past couple of
years, building trusting relationships with our learners are key. Making the Learning Hub
a safe, comfortable atmosphere for them is most beneficial to their learning experience.
What would help?
Sustainable funding which would also for long term planning, because yearly funding
only limits what program building takes longer than a year to enhance literacy skills in a
community.
Industry investment in literacy
7. For the Coming Year:
Are there new opportunities, challenges or issues in your community?
Take the opportunity to focus more on increasing the level of literacy and numeracy
proficiencies among adults to meet the increasing demands of our labour market. Work
more directly with industry.
Increase Family Literacy Projects and being able to provide our services to those in
remote First Nations’ communities in the outlying areas of Fort St. James.
Support the 5 core Parenting literacy behaviours to support early intervention.
Support the focus on literacy through Labour Market Training
Implement the Collective Impact initiative with our literacy advisory committee.
Continue to work to build relationships with our literacy programs.
We can all take ownership of Literacy Awareness in Fort St. James.
What goals, priorities or objectives will you work on in the coming year? What actions
are planned against those goals?
Look for new opportunities, building new partnerships. Engage the Fort St. James
Chamber of Commerce, local churches and NFP organizations.
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Strengthening existing programs and partnerships already in progress. Collaboration is
key. Ensure ongoing outreach through monthly newsletters and email information
sessions.
Work to become more visible in the community through outreach, partnerships, and
participation. Ensure all our literacy information is hosted at The KEY, business and
industry lunchrooms and with our First Nation communities.
Continue to build out our Advisory attendance. Preschedule the meetings for the year.
What will be required to meet those goals and effectively employ actions for the coming
year?
Renewable Funding
Practical timeline for implementation of goals
More strategic use of LOC hours
How will you measure the success of actions taken to address those goals?
Attendance and participation in our workshops/programs
New partnerships
Maintain programs with current partners
Ability to develop community awareness to the needs of the community
Building trusting relationships with the learners and partners
A common community understanding of literacy
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Children’s Fair, October 2014 Family Literacy Week Selfie Challenge 2015
Family Literacy Day 2015
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Seniors Computers, November 2014
Basic Computers, April 2015
Family Literacy Week 2015
Year End Crafting Project, June 2015
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