Burnaby Central’s music therapy program at risk of playing last note
It’s a singalong jam session and dancing lesson, and for the seven special-needs students in Burnaby Central Secondary, the hour with music therapist Don Hardy is pure joy. “For these students, it’s all about stimulating the senses and selfregulation – helping them calm down. It improves their overall cognition and helps them focus,” says life skills teacher Inderjeet Ranu. […]
Chronic absenteeism falls after launch of Surrey’s Attendance Matters
Supported by The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund Adopt-a-School initiative since 2011, Attendance Mattershas resulted in a substantial drop in absenteeism among children from kindergarten to Grade 3, according to statistics collected by the Surrey school district. Statistics show the highest rates of chronic absenteeism occurred in 2010/11, before Attendance Matters was launched and supported by Adopt-A-School. Chronic absenteeism is defined as a […]
Attendance Matters program serves breakfast to get kids to come to school
Principal Angelo Morelli describes his North Surrey school as both fortress and sanctuary for the 606 children assigned to his care. The fortress consists of the locked exterior doors, the morning sweeps of the grounds to remove discarded needles and other unwelcome detritus and the vigilance by staff to ensure a feeling of safety. Sanctuary, […]
KidSafe a welcome spot when school’s out; At-risk children will have a place to go with program helped by reader donations
Almost 25 years ago a Vancouver boy was seriously assaulted during school holidays – an attack that would not have happened had he had a safe place to go instead of just wandering the streets to kill time. The incident led to the foundation of KidSafe by The Vancouver Sun and other agencies when it became clearthat at-risk kids should not be left […]
Company makes a difference for kids in ‘profound poverty’; Raven Hydronic Supply’s gift of $5,000 a year meets basic needs like food, clothes
Four years ago staff in a Surrey heating supply company were disturbed at discovering the extent at which impoverished students in their neighbourhood were suffering. “We were reading The Vancouver Sun about what was happening and decided we had to provide an inner-city school with emergency funds,” says Ashley Bouchard, general manager of Raven Hydronic […]
‘I Had Nothing For The Other Kids Who Were Hungry’; School near Ladysmith struggling to feed students
It’s easily the worst moment of the day when a hungry child comes to her for food and there is nothing to give. “It’s horrible,” says Christine De Vries, the secretary of Ecole North Oyster Elementary, a rural French-English school near Ladysmith. “Yesterday I told a child she was getting the last apple. I had nothing for the […]
Students Drive Breakfast Idea: Unique program at Van Tech feeds upwards of 100 kids each day
Each morning a small, dedicated group of students arrive at Vancouver Tech on East Broadway at least 1½ hours before classes begin. They aren’t there doing anything to advance their own academic performance – it’s more basic than that. Many kids, it seems, are arriving at school hungry every morning – due to a variety […]
Adopt-A-School: Vancouver Sun Children’s fund distributed $604,000 in emergency funds last year
Today marks the start of the seventh annual Adopt-A-School campaign during which we are again appealing to readers to consider the plight of children coming to school unfed, improperly dressed and suffering the psychological effects of living in poverty. We are not talking about a few children. We are talking about thousands. And they are […]
Thousands of students helped by Vancouver Sun Adopt-a-School readers and supporters
The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program has so far this year sent more than $623,000 to 85 schools across the province to feed hungry children and ensure they are properly clothed. Since it began in 2011 the program has raised close to $4 million to help teachers and principals struggling — with few resources — to […]
Telus donation funds technology for Vancouver special needs students
More than 1,500 special needs students in Vancouver will now have access to the latest learning technology, thanks to a donation from Telus and a grant from the Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School (AAS) campaign. Currently there is no money available to provide this technology — a combination of iPads, Apple TV and special apps and programs […]