WELCOME TO THE RCH WEBSITE! Posted on Wed Dec 4 @ 1:36:17 PM by Kaye Johnson

10 Annual Heritage Fair a Success!! Posted on Mon May 17 @ 9:59:37 AM by Kaye Johnson AVRSB held its 10th annual Heritage Fair on Saturday, May 1, 2010. In addition to the "edutaining" Opening Ceremony, there were a variety of workshops throughout the morning. This year, the afternoon had an excellent assembly on various aspects of Mi'kmaq culture by artist, educator, and storyteller Gerald Gloade. It was followed by a rousing performance by the band, Shoulder to Shoulder. There were approximately 125 students participating, with 85 projects on display. The students were in grades 4 through 9, from various schools in the region. The two projects which will be AVRSB representatives in the Provincial Heritage Fair 2010 are West Nova Scotia Regiment 1939-1945 by Orrie Goucher of Central Kings Rural High (top left) and Confederation Bridge by Christine Spurr of Hantsport School (top right). Alternate representatives, should they not be able to attend with their projects, are St. Mary's Anglican Church by Amy Litsas of Pine Ridge Middle School (bottom left), and My Planter Heritage by Johanna Gates of Port Williams Elementary (bottom right). Thank you to all the students who participated, and to the parents, guardians, and staff who gave their support. Thank you also to the presenters and judges, without whom this day would not be possible. Thank you to NKEC for opening their school to us. Your hospitality was more than appreciated. A special thanks goes out to the co-coordinators of Heritage Fair 2010: Ann Gould and Jude Gerrard. Their hard work, long hours, and dedication resulted in an outstanding fair, filled with creative and engaging ways to celebrate heritage!

Cultural Proficiency Excellent Workshops! Posted on Mon May 17 @ 10:31:34 AM by Kaye Johnson Randall B. Lindsey provided an excellent workshop for the RCH School Advisors on April 7, 2010. Also in attendance were the Student Support Workers and approx 15 other staff and administrators. On the following day, April 8th, Randall provided another full-day workshop for a variety of participants from AVRSB, SSRSB, and TCRSB. The workshop was held at the regional office of SSRSB. Randall Lindsey, co-author of the Cultural Proficiency series of books, has a practice centered on educational consulting and issues related to diversity. He has served as a teacher, an administrator, executive director of a non-profit organization, as Distinguished Educator in Residence at a university, and as Chair of the Education Department at the University of Redlands. As a person of European descent, Randall believes that “Cultural proficiency presents us with a moral imperative to make our communities and our world a place where justice and harmony are the norm.” Participants in this highly interactive session were introduced to and worked with the four tools of Cultural Proficiency. Knowledge of and facility with Cultural Proficiency enables school leaders to align their values and behaviours and their school’s policies and practices to serve demographically diverse communities. Randall Lindsey engaged participants in this “inside out” approach, focused on equity and social justice. A culturally proficient organization is an open and inclusive learning organization that also has a strong core culture that is clearly articulated to all. Thank you, Randall, for contributing to AVRSB's journey of striving towards proficiency! To order any of the series of cultural proficiency books through Corwin Press, click here http://www.corwin.com/ .

Frederick Alexander Meade's critique of the film Avatar Posted on Mon Jan 18 @ 9:29:16 AM by Kaye Johnson Author, Frederick Alexander Meade, addresses some of the racialist messages inherent in the film Avatar in the following link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFpYQktoMTA Frederick Alexander Meade is an educator and journalist providing analysis on social and political matters. For more articles, issues, information, visit http://fredmeade.blogspot.com/

Annual Mi'kmaq Cultural Education Retreat Once Again A Great Success! Posted on Tue Sep 15 @ 2:51:10 PM by Kaye Johnson The annual Mi'kmaq Cultural Education Retreat, held at Bear River First Nation on October 15 & 16, 2009, was once again outstanding! This two-day experiencial PD for AVRSB employees included teachings on Mi'kmaq traditional territories and modern lands, the Indian Act, Mi'kmaq language, traditional plants and nature, sharing circles, the medicine wheel, basket making, wooden flower making, and much more. (See the archive for the event's 2009 announcement for further links to the organizers.) Thank you once again to the facilitators and to the community of Bear River First Nation!

Tim Wise, Excellent AVID Series Presenter November 2009! Posted on Mon Jan 18 @ 10:10:26 AM by Kaye Johnson On Thursday, 12 November 2009, Tim Wise was the presenter for the AVID Series. It was an excellent session, that complemented perfectly the sessions on White Privilege he gave for the RCH School Advisors in-service on Thusday afternoon, and the Administrators meeting on Friday morning. The feedback from attendees has been very positive. Comments ranged from "This has been one of the best in-services we've ever had" to "Please bring him back!" Here is the info on his AVID Series presentation... Speech Topic: Between Barack and a Hard Place: Challenging Racism, Privilege, and Denial in the Age of Obamal in the Age of Obama In this timely speech, Tim Wise explores how Barack Obama's emergence as a political force is taking the race debate to new levels. According to Wise, for many whites, Obama's rise signifies the end of racism as a pervasive social force; they point to Obama as a validation of the ideology that anyone can make it if they work hard, and an example of how institutional barriers against people of color have all but vanished. But is this true? And does a reinforced white belief in color-blind meritocracy potentially make it harder to address ongoing institutional racism? Is black success making it harder for whites to see the problem of racism, thereby further straining race relations, or will it challenge anti-black stereotypes to such an extent that racism will diminish and race relations improve? Will blacks in power continue to be seen as an "exception" in white eyes? Is Obama "acceptable" because he seems "different than most blacks"? All of these possibilities and more are explored… Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. He has provided training to teachers, as well as government, corporate, media, entertainment, military and law enforcement officials on methods for dismantling racism in their institutions. Tim Wise is a gripping and compelling presenter, whether speaking on racism, white privilege, social class/labour issues, alliance building, multiculturalism, youth issues, or other social justice matters. Wise’s most recent book is Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama. He is also the author of other books, including White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, and a collection of his essays, Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections from an Angry White Male. For more info on Tim Wise, visit Speak Out Now at www.speakoutnow.org Or visit his site at http://www.timwise.org For more info, e-mail rch@avrsb.ca *********************************************************************** AVID is an acronym for Annapolis Valley Initiatives in Diversity. It is a series of guest lectures/presentations on Race Relations, Cross Cultural Understanding, and Human Rights (RCH) related issues. The Purpose of the AVID Series is to provide people within the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board (AVRSB), and its surrounding communities, opportunities to engage further with diversity issues in a meaningful and challenging way, from which the information and inspiration will be tools for reflection and action…

Minnijean Brown Trickey's AVID Series Presentation a Great Success!!! Posted on Tue Nov 18 @ 1:30:47 PM by Kaye Johnson Well over 400 people packed the hall to hear Minnijean Brown Trickey, our AVID Series speaker on the evening of 6 November 2008. It was an excellent and thoroughly engaging presentation, as she took us on a journey back to Little Rock. Minnijean was one of the infamous Little Rock Nine, who in September of 1957, along with eight other students, braved hostile mobs and the Arkansas National Guard to attend an all-white school, as part of the movement to desegregate schools in the United States. She was just 16 years old. There was plenty of opportunity for Q&A, followed by an informal reception. This gave people a chance to meet the presenter (as well as take numerous photos!). For many people, young and old, this was a memorable experience. As one high school student put it, "This is something I'll tell my kids about when I grow up!" Minnijean facilitated a thought-provoking full-day in-service for the RCH School Advisors on the Friday following the AVID Series talk. The accolades for her presentation (as well as for the preceding evening's event) continue to come in. For more info on Minnijean, click http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=720 for The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture direct link. *********************************************************************** AVID is an acronym for Annapolis Valley Initiatives in Diversity. It is a series of guest lectures/presentations on Race Relations, Cross Cultural Understanding, and Human Rights (RCH) related issues. The Purpose of the AVID Series is to provide people within the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board (AVRSB), and its surrounding communities, opportunities to engage further with diversity issues in a meaningful and challenging way, from which the information and inspiration will be tools for reflection and action…

Tom Jackson was at AVRSB for AVID Series November 2007!! Posted on Wed Jan 9 @ 5:00:25 PM by Kaye Johnson Mr. Tom Jackson (yes, that’s right, the Tom Jackson!) was at our Board for an AVID Series presentation on Thursday, November 22, 2007. It was an excellent night, filled with inspirational talk and then some song. Mr Jackson then joined the audience for a mini reception, where he chatted informally with students and adults. The respect and attention he showed the youth, as he sat down and spoke with a small group, as well as when speaking with individual students, was impressive. Thank you, again, Mr Jackson, for your generousity of spirit, your humour, and your excellent presentation and performance. AVID is an acronym for Annapolis Valley Initiatives in Diversity. It is a series of guest lectures/presentations on Race Relations, Cross Cultural Understanding, and Human Rights (RCH) related issues. The Purpose of the AVID Series is to provide people within the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board (AVRSB), and its surrounding communities, opportunities to engage further with diversity issues in a meaningful and challenging way, from which the information and inspiration will be tools for reflection and action… Stay Tuned for a future announcement about our next AVID Series presentation!

Beyond Diversity & Courageous Conversations about Race workshops Posted on Mon Jun 11 @ 10:34:34 AM by Kaye Johnson Glenn Singleton (founder of the California based organization Pacific Education Group, or PEG) delivered an outstanding three days of in-servicing for AVRSB. The two-day workshop, Beyond Diversity, took place November 7 & 8, with participants from various employee groups and backgrounds. The one-day workshop, Courageous Conversations about Race, took place on November 9, and was primarily for the RCH School Advisors. Typically described as a powerful and personally transforming two-day workshop, it did not disappoint! The sessions are designed to help teachers, parents, and administrators consider the implications of racism, exclusion, and prejudice on student learning, and explore how it manifests today in our culture and in our schools. Some comments from the Beyond Diversity Workshop were: • This has been the best in-service I have attended. Thank you for this experience • An absolutely thought provoking presentation • A lot of info to “digest” and help me improve my work as a school administrator with minority groups. Thank you! Feedback comments from the 1-day Courageous Conversations about Race Workshop included: • Thank you for an excellent experience. Made us feel stronger for change. Offered a clear picture of needs • What a wonderful day! Glenn Singleton is a wonderful presenter with so much to say! I was totally engaged from start to finish. He’s given me much to think about -- then comes action… • This was a fantastic session – a great facilitator and a very important subject for AVRSB Hopefully Glenn or someone else from PEG will be back to do some future work in our board. For info on the organization, visit Pacific Educational Group.

Foundation for the Advancement of Aboriginal Youth (FAAY) Scholarships & Bursaries Posted on Tue Nov 18 @ 1:50:19 PM by Kaye Johnson The FAAYscholarships and bursaries are available each year, with a deadline of October 15. All Canadian Aboriginal students (status, non-status, Métis and Inuit) who are studying full time in a high school, college, university, or technical institute in Canada (no age restrictions) can apply for a scholarship or bursary from FAAY. The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business typically awards bursaries of $750 to students pursuing a high school diploma. The scholarship program provides a minimum amount of $2,500 and is available to students pursuing a post-secondary education in any discipline. Applications are available on line at http://www.ccab.com. Any further questions? Call 1-866-566-FAAY (3229) or email faayinfo@ccab.com. The deadline for submission is October 15 . If you submit by mail/courier your application must be postmarked on or before the deadline date.