London Drugs brightens students’ Christmas with gifts and toys
Principal Lisa Jamieson didn’t hide her delight when the London Drugs truck pulled up outside Old Yale Road Elementary delivering bags of toys and gifts. “We are such a needy school,” said Jamieson, whose school on 132nd St. in Whalley is high on the list of Surrey’s inner city schools that needs all the help […]
Pre-kindergarten classes help kids get school-ready; StrongStart will also expose some parents to social, health programs
When Henry Peters arrived this year as principal of South Vancouver’s John Henderson Elementary, one thing he noticed was that some children entering kindergarten weren’t as prepared for school life as they should have been. “I see the kindergarteners every week and I could just tell at the beginning of the year that there was something missing […]
Helping Children Overcome Trauma Through Art
“We’ve all been broken before, but we heal. We do have the darkness still, but we have to learn to live without the darkness.“ A HANDWRITTEN SIGN PINNED TO THE WALL IN GUILDFORD PARK SECONDARY For many refugee students attending Surrey schools, their bodies may be safely in a classroom, but their minds are still inhabiting the dangerous places they fled. Surrey likely […]
Breakfast food for students a growing need
Robin Pilchak knows what it’s like being a single mother with young children and how hard it is to feed them when money is tight. “I’m a single mom with three kids, and I struggled for quite a while. It’s not easy to get good, healthy food for kids because it costs so much,” said Pilchak. […]
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 […]