Today we are going to hear about one lower-mainland school district community schools’ approach and model, and we will focus on one aspect, especially, that is quite unique. Our guests today are actually colleagues of mine and Bal’s, so we know them well and know that you will find this really interesting and inspiring, as you hear about one of the roles this district has created, to add to the strength of their school district’s approach. I will introduce our guests in just a moment.

We hope you see that on the podcast, our central aim is that we are trying to look at how schools put care and connection at the centre of what they do – and why that is so crucial. We believe that the deepest learning occurs when there is a strong relationship between the student and the teacher and when the learner feels safe to take risks, has choice and feels agency, feels connected to the school and community, and can be seen for who they really are and for the strengths and possibilities they bring.


RESOURCES:

- https://earlylearning.ubc.ca/monitoring-system/mdi/mdi-overview/ (Middle Years Development Index)

- https://chartlab.ca/about-ydi/ (Youth Development Index)

- https://www.gov.nl.ca/education/earlychildhood/edi/ (Early Development Index)

- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10888691.2018.1537791?scroll=top&needAccess=true (Linda Darling-Hammond Article: "Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development"


QUOTE:

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BIO:

Sheri Brattston is currently the Managing Director of Community Education with the Burnaby School District. Her work involves supporting and developing informal and formal programs in the K-12 system, as well as the community. The purpose of these programs is to promote learning, enhance well-being, build capacity, reduce equity gaps and improve the quality of life of individuals and groups of all ages. She began her teaching career as an Early Childhood Educator in 1991 and later, she joined the Burnaby School District where she taught as an elementary teacher, continuing education teacher, and Community School Coordinator. After completing her Master’s in Education, Sheri joined a Provincial organization as the Director of Early Learning and Family Literacy. Across the Province she had the pleasure of working alongside early learning and community-based literacy organizations to help strengthen partner relationships and work together to build program capacity. The best part of her career so far has been the deep and joyful relationships she has made with diverse educators, children, families, and communities.

Kevin Herd has been working with children & youth for 20+ years in every capacity from coach to recreation program development to the classroom. His passion for fostering connections finds him in his current role as Community Connect Worker in an Elementary school setting for the past 11 years. Kevin knows firsthand that the key to healthy physical and social development is having positive role models to learn from and strives to be one to all his students as well as his two young sons. In his role he is responsible for building long term connections with kids and parents from which the groundwork of mutual respect, trust, openness & accountability can grow.