This week I was finally able to get in touch with one contact from the Mother Earth's Children's Charter School in Canada that I found listed on the list of podcasts on the World Forum Radio. Jessica Liddell is a Kindergarten Teacher and coordinator of the Special Education program at MECCS. Since it doesn't seem that I will receive her response with any more information about the program, her position in the center, and poverty in the area, I decided to review the podcast on the World Forum Foundation Radio as well as the program's website and statistics on poverty in Stony Plain, Alberta from the official municipal website.
Mother Earth's Children's Charter School believes that there are four needs for every child to have to succeed - belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. They offer programs for children from Pre-Kindergarten through grade 8 (MECCS, 2011). Their goal is to provide support to children and guide them to discover their personal talents, responsibility, potential, and purpose in their lives. The MECCS program focuses on holistic nurturing, guidance, and challenging each child’s spiritual, intellectual, physical and emotional self through traditional Indigenous teachings. Their educators target each child's development and educate each child as they have been given created by a higher being (MECCS, 2011). The culture in Stony Plain, AB has become a huge part of the MECCS program. The core of the program is structured around the native Aboriginal spirituality and Elders that pass on the traditions of their culture. They also incorporate smudging into the curriculum which children learn about self-care and personal development through daily prayer and positive energy. MECCS also introduces children to the Indigenous language, celebrations, and natural land to solidify lessons and learning (2011). Although the MECCS website does not provide information about poverty in their region, I did find their mention about the adversity that many of the children MECCS serves suffer from. "Resilience is the innate human ability to rebound from adversity with even greater strength to face future obstacles" (MECCS, 2011). While so many families face poverty as we have also been discussing, many families also face the hardship of adversity. Families that immigrate to the U.S. from different areas of the world may struggle with learning a second language, being accepted into a new community, etc.
The World Forum Radio provided a podcast with the principal of MECCS, TJ Skalski. She discusses her role as the principal in the MECCS program and the unique qualities of the Canadian school. She came to Mother Earth's Children's Charter School through a personal calling and the inspiration from her grandmother that she would one day become a teacher. She became the fifth principal since the school's opening and faced many challenges in learning about the school and working among the administrators also changing over. She discovered that the main goal of the MECCS program and her personalis to reinvest in children and provide children with the opportunities to succeed in their personal goals and ambitions. "Many children come damaged, wounded, scarred, hungry, depressed, not feeling of any worth" (Skalski, 2011). TJ Skalski's depiction of the children that come into her care at MECCS shows that poverty and adversity take a huge role in the lives of these children and families. It seems that a big part of the MECCS mission is to provide support for these children and families and guide them grow into the strong people they are.
I was able to find the municipal website for Stony Plain, Alberta for information about the region. Stony Plain services a population of about 60,000 people. Families and children in Stony Plain are provided with support through Family and Community Support Services (FCSS). The goals of the FCSS group is to aid families with financial aid, community participation, self-help, counseling, and education classes.
I hope to hear more from Mother Earth's Children's Charter School teacher, Jessica Liddell, within the next weeks to share some new information about this Canadian school for children.
References
Mother Earth's Children's Charter School (MECCS). (2011). Retrieved March 17, 2011 from http://www.meccs.org/
Skalski, TJ. (Speaker). (2011). Episode 7: TJ Skalski [Podcast]. Stony Plain, AB: World Forum Foundation. Retrieved March 17, 2011 from http://www.worldforumfoundation.org
Town of Stony Plain. (2011). Town of Stony Plain. Retrieved March 17, 2011 from http://www.stonyplain.com/
Caitlin,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like religion plays a very significant role in their culture. I think prayere is a very important element when it comes to educating our children. I believe if we had been able to keep prayer in our schools, we wouldn't be having as many problems with our kids as we do today.
It is very difficult maintaining connections, but I hope that you hear from Jessica soon. I like the fact that you pressed on to retrieve related information. Good luck with your contact and I look forward to reading how things progress.
Hi Caitlin,
ReplyDeleteMECCS sounds like a really great program with its strength in incorporating and promoting the local culture! You mentioned that many families there face adversities, just as many do here in the US, it sounds like MECCS helps them face their challenges through providing them supports while respecting and helping maintain their culture. I also really liked the quote you shared from TJ Skalski about wanting to "reinvest in the children and provide them with opportunities," this really seems to capture the essence of working in the early childhood field. I too look forward to learning more about this program through what you share!