Fall 2015 Reflexions – Page 6

Education Officer’s Message

 

As fall colours usher in a season of change, so does it signal a season of many changes for the Learning Disabilities Association of New Brunswick (LDANB-TAANB). Among these changes are staff changes in our central office in Fredericton as we say a fond farewell to our Assistant Education Officer, Ashley Linden, who has recently accepted a position as a caregiver in a local special care home. On behalf of the staff and Board of LDANB-TAANB, I would like to sincerely thank Ashley for all the work that she did for us over the course of her placement at LDANB-TAANB and I wish her all the best in her new role. As with every ending comes a new beginning, it is with great pleasure that I welcome our new Assistant Education Officer, Leigh-Anne Bleakney-Long to our dynamic little team! Leigh-Anne brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience in office administration and fundraising that will surely be an asset to LDANB-TAANB as we move forward on exciting new and existing programs and initiatives. In her first two weeks, Leigh-Anne has already proven herself to be reliable, self-sufficient and resourceful and has been very helpful in getting our Barton tutoring service up and running for its second season.

 
Despite the advertising for the Barton tutoring service happening mostly through networking and word-of-mouth, interest in the Barton program is growing and enrollment has already tripled since the launch in March 2015! We currently have our first fall session under way with 6 students with an ever-growing waiting list of students interested in participating in the program. We are only limited by the availability of classroom spaces and we are currently in discussions with our various partners to find more space to accommodate all our students. I would like to take this opportunity to Linda Dempsey-Nicholson, the Community School Coordinator-Operations for the Anglophone West School District (ASD-W), for her assistance in finding us a location within the Fredericton schools for our Barton program. I would also like to sincerely thank Kurt Stiles, the principal of the Montgomery Street School, for opening his heart and doors to us and our students and for welcoming us into his wonderful school so that we could offer this very important literacy service. If you or anyone you know are interested in participating in the Barton program, either as a student or as a tutor (see p. 3 for more information on this program), please contact LDANB-TAANB at (506) 459-7852 or by email at admin@ldanb-taanb.ca.

 
Fall is one of our busiest times of the year as diligent parents contact us for information on how to help prepare their children with learning disabilities for another school year and as we get ready for another year of offering support, training and specialized literacy services to children and adults alike. We are working on a few different projects, including a pilot project with the department of Post-Secondary Education, Training & Labour to manage the client referral process for psychoeducational assessments. We are also working on improving our website, establishing more resources and services to better serve our francophone population, preparing for our Symposium happening in Fredericton on April 22, 2016 and taking part in several focus groups and consultation meetings with various government departments as part of an ongoing effort to improve education and literacy in New Brunswick.

 
On behalf of LDANB-TAANB, I wish everyone a wonderful fall season and a very Happy Thanksgiving! Don’t forget that October is also the time to renew your membership to LDANB-TAANB, so be sure to send in your membership renewal form & fee (donation receipt provided) because you will not want to miss any part of the exciting things happening at LDANB-TAANB this year!

 

Sincerely,
Natalie Bowley, Education Officer, LDANB-TAANB

 

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