Two BC Programs win Awards
Family, Workplace Progams in B.C. Honoured

The Delta School District...has won a Conference Board of Canada award for its Book p.a.l.s. family literacy program. The Conference Board National Partners in Education awards recognize partnerships between business and education. The school district won the award in partnership with the Delta Credit Union for the 1999-2000 Broad Community Collaboration category, sponsored by Human Resources Development Canada.

The district hosted a reception on May 8 at the School Board office to celebrate its success and honour its community partners.

The Book p.a.l.s. (partnerships for the advancement of literacy skills) intervention program provides direct support and resources to needy families and at-risk children with the support of a host of community partners, including the Delta Credit Union, the Rotary Clubs of Ladner and North Delta, Hellings Elementary School, and McDonald’s Restaurants. Through the program, parents and their kindergarten children attend Saturday morning activity sessions held at the elementary school that encourage an awareness of literacy and learning.

The partnership has also worked to promote community awareness of the importance of literacy by holding parent forums, publishing articles on the importance of reading, organizing a community-wide Recycle for Literacy event, distributing thousands of used children’s books, and supporting Family Literacy Day.

The Learning Centre (TLC) at Cominco Ltd. in Trail... is the winner of the Conference Board of Canada’s 1999-2000 Award for Excellence in Workplace Literacy. The Award, sponsored by the National Literacy Secretariat, Human Resources Development Canada, recognizes and rewards innovative and effective workplace literacy programs.

Cominco Ltd. is Canada’s oldest continually operating mining company. In 1996, it opened an employee-driven, on-site learning centre which delivers courses, conducts workshops and designs learning paths for its 1800 Trail employees. TLC, the local school district and Selkirk College work together to design programs that match the training and work histories of the employees.