Staff Day
Hello EMCN,
The time has arrived for our next staff day. The agenda for the day, as well as the location are yet to be determined, but we wanted to send an email ahead of time so that everyone can book the time in their calendars. The next staff day, tentatively entitled “Teach Me Your Strength” will be held on Friday November 9th. The day will begin at 8:30 and will end at 1:00. The day’s activities will include tea and coffee breaks as well as lunch. More information will follow!
Emilie Coyle
Upcoming opportunity to create your own portfolio
Have you ever thought how your work, education and life experiences have shaped your personality, and how you can give meaning to the events in your life that have brought you to the point you are at now? Let us help you reflect…
What is PLAR? Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) is the process of identifying, assessing and recognizing what a person knows and can do. This process can take many forms, but here at the EMCN a person translates his/her life and work experiences into “learning” and creates a Portfolio.
What is a Portfolio? A portfolio is a package of accomplishments and skills. It organizes and documents education, work samples, skills and learnings from outside your professional life. People use portfolios to show transferable skills, to track personal and professional development, apply to college or training programs, get a job and get a higher salary.
Why make a Portfolio? How will it benefit me? It is sometimes difficult to identify and articulate your skills, interests and aptitudes. Perhaps we don’t know how to word what we have done, what we are doing now and what we want to do in the future; often we lack the confidence to share our learnings. Portfolio can help you make sense of life’s changing realities and empower you to take charge of your learning path.
Who can get involved and who supports this process? You are all invited to join in this process. A small group of facilitators, training to become Portfolio Practitioners, will guide you through the portfolio process. The lead team and your supervisors support portfolio development and are aware of the time commitment involved.
When and where do groups take place? Portfolio development is not something that happens overnight. You need time to discuss, to reflect, to write and to create. This process takes 10 weeks. You have an option of one of three groups:
- Friday afternoons from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, beginning Friday, September 21st location to be announced (HQ or 97 Street office)
- Friday mornings from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM, beginning Friday, October 5th location to be announced (HQ or 97 Street office)
- Friday afternoons from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, beginning Friday, October 5th, at Millwoods Welcome Centre for Immigrants.
What is your reward? Once the 10 weeks have been completed you will have a learning skills portfolio, which represents you and your life and work experiences, as well as an increase of your understanding of who you truly are.
We encourage you to join one of the groups and bring your life and your learnings together. Please reply ASAP to reserve your spot in one of the three portfolio groups, as space is limited. We look forward to guiding you in your process of developing this unique and expressive tool.
Please forward this information on to anyone in your team that you feel could benefit from this experience, and who may have not received this email.
Sincerely,
Laurie, Emilie, Qing, Siham, Cynthia, Christine, Hazel, Toyin and Rowena
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) - Learning Workshops
Canadian Mental Health Association / Edmonton Region
Workshop Dates: Sept., 29-30 / Oct., 27-28 & Nov., 24-25, 2007
Time: 8:30-4:00 / Location: #800, 10045-111 St., / Cost: $150.00
To register, please call: 414-6300.
The Canadian Mental Health Association-Edmonton Region is pleased to offer first aid training to help individuals at risk for mental health problems.
Context: Mental Health First Aid is the help provided to a person developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. The first aid is given until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis is resolved.
The concept is based on the model of medical first aid. Individuals requiring Mental Health First Aid could be at risk for developing depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis, and substance abuse problems.
Crisis situations covered during the workshop include: suicidal behaviour, panic attacks, reactions to traumatic events, violence associated with psychosis, & overdoses. MHFA is delivered as a two day weekend workshop in a supportive group learning environment. Practical skills are taught using a five-step model that is easy to remember/apply in real life-settings.
Audience: general public, teachers, health service providers, emergency workers, frontline workers dealing with public, volunteers, HR professionals, employers, community groups.
City of Edmonton – Boards and Commissions
The City of Edmonton is looking for many citizens to serve on some of its various boards and commissions. Full information about all the opportunities and the application forms are available at www.edmonton.ca/recruitment or at the Clerk's office at City Hall or by calling 442-4395. The deadline is September 28. These positions are a great place for people to begin getting involved in civic life.
Vacancies:
- Advisory Boards: Services for Persons with Disabilities; Community Services Advisory Board, Historical Board; Edmonton Transit System; Landlord & Tenant Advisory Board
- Decision-making boards: Edmonton Housing Trust Fund, Library Board, Taxi Cab Commission, Greater Edmonton Foundation for Housing for Seniors, Non-profit Housing Corporation
Immigrant labour market study
For Stats Can release on the study: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/070910/d070910a.htm
et en français: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/Francais/070910/q070910a.htm
Globe and Mail
Immigrant unemployment most acute in Quebec
University of Alberta International Photography Contest
Submission Deadline 4:30 pm, October 23rd
Submit your photographs from all corners of the Earth!
The University of Alberta’s Global Education Program is looking for striking shots from around the world to showcase in a photography exhibit as part of International Week 2008. The winning photographers will have their photo(s) included in the International Week program (over 11,000 copies are distributed), have their work on display in the International Centre throughout I-Week, receive two tickets to the International Week concert, an International Week T-shirt and a chance to attend an exclusive event with this year’s keynote speaker. The top winner will have their photograph featured in the International House 2008/2009 Calendar and receive a framed professional print of their photograph.
Submission Details:
- Photos should be at least 300 DPI at an 8x10 photo print.
- Photos should be submitted in JPEG or Photoshop RAW files if possible.
- Photos should be submitted on a CD that does not need to be returned.
- Each photo submitted should have a caption or a title, followed by the location and year it was taken.
- Please remember to include your full name, e-mail, phone number, current address, student ID#, program and year of study.
- Also include a short bio detailing what compels you to travel or what have been some of your most amazing international experiences (50 Words).
- Winners will be notified by e-mail after November 6th.
Please mail in or drop off submissions in person at the International Centre:
Att: Eilis Pourbaix
University of Alberta International
172 HUB International
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
T6G 2E1
For more information on the photography contest or International Week, please contact Eilis Pourbaix at 492-6442 or eilisp@international.ualberta.ca
Parkland Institute and the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) are co-sponsoring:
Treading Water: Workers, Wages and the Boom
A conference for workers, union activists and the public
September 28-29, 2007
Grant MacEwan College
Downtown Campus, Edmonton
Alberta is experiencing an unprecedented boom, yet most Albertans are finding their paycheques still don't stretch far enough. The combination of heated economic growth and stagnant wages spells big trouble for Alberta working families.
Find out why your wages aren't keeping up and what you can do about it. The conference will look at the state of wages in Alberta and how workers can make sure they get their fair share of the boom.
Featuring:
Sam Gindin, former economist, Canadian Auto Workers Union:
“The Politics of Wages: Who’s Holding You Back and Why”
Registration fees are only $50 for the entire conference, or $25 for low income and students.
For more information and to download the registration form: www.ualberta.ca/parkland
Send registration form to:
Parkland Institute
11045 Saskatchewan Drive
Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1
Phone: (780) 492-8558 Fax:(780) 492-8738
parkland@ualberta.ca
Physical Activity and Recreation Directory for Older Adults
The autumn edition of the Physical Activity and Recreation Directory for Older Adults is available for download: http://www.seniorscouncil.net/uploads/files/DirectoryAutumn07Final_(2).pdf
and also as an on-line searchable database http://www.seniorscouncil.net/content.php?id=200
Welcome to the Reel World film series
The University of Alberta’s Global Education Program invites you to the second Welcome to the Reel World film series.
The Reel World series seeks to raise awareness about global issues both on campus and in the larger Edmonton community. By pairing award winning documentaries with academics, experienced NGO partners and remarkable individuals with firsthand international experience, the series provides a platform for open dialogue on the most pressing issues confronting us today. These screenings are free of charge and everyone is welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesdays at 5pm in CEB 325.
Film: The Fog of War
Wednesday, September 19th at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara offers insights into the 1945 fire bombing of Tokyo, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the effects of the Vietnam War, raising deep moral questions about his role in history and critically examining decades of U.S. foreign policy. (120 Minutes, 2004)
Film: In Search of International Justice
Wednesday, September 26th at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
This is the first film about a crucial new commitment to the International Rule of Law - so victims will no long suffer without being heard, and war criminals will be punished. In 2002 the International Criminal Court was established in The Hague. So far 100 countries have signed on to the Court's mandate. For the first time war criminals are being forced to listen. The victims' voices now haunt them, telling them they will not be silent until justice is done. (66 Minutes, 2006)
Film: Disarm
Wednesday, October 3rd at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building, next to CAB)
Disarm presents a contemporary and provocative view of the forces challenging the achievement of a mine-free world. Disarm spans a dozen countries to look at how, despite a global ban, millions of antipersonnel mines continue to claim victims daily in more than eighty countries. Disarm juxtaposes government and public opinion, that of diplomats, mine victims, deminers, soldiers and aid workers to explore the issues that both hinder and further the case against antipersonnel mines. (53 Minutes, 2005)
Film: The Take
Wednesday, October 10th at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
The Take follows 30 unemployed Argentinian workers who stage a protest against their bosses, their government, and economic globalization by occupying their closed factory; there they take back their jobs, their dignity, and refuse to leave. (87 minutes, 2004)
Film: Mohawk Girls
Wednesday, October 17th at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
A glimpse into the lives of three Mohawk teenagers as they tackle issues of identity, culture and family, the film looks at modern Aboriginal youth culture and the complexities of growing up Native at the beginning of the 21st century. (62 minutes, 2005)
Film: China Blue
Wednesday, October 24th at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
Following a pair of denim jeans from birth to sale, China Blue links the power of the US consumer market to the daily lives of a Chinese factory owner and two teenaged female sweatshop workers, providing a rare, human glimpse at China's rapid transformation into a free market society. (88 Minutes, 2005)
Film: An Inconvenient Truth
Wednesday, October 31st at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
The truth about what Al Gore calls our "planetary emergency" is told through bracing facts and future predictions about the dangerous consequences of climate change, arguing that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is among the biggest moral challenges facing our global civilization. (96 Minutes, 2006)
Film: Enemies of Happiness
Wednesday, November 7th at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
This film follows Malalai Joya, a 28 year old woman from Afghanistan, on her dangerous parliamentary campaign to her election as a delegate in the National Assembly, giving a unique insight into the conditions the people of Afghanistan must live in a society destroyed by war and run by a tradition. (59 Minutes, 2005)
Film: Dam/age
Wednesday, November 14th at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
Dam/age traces writer Arundhati Roy's bold and controversial campaign against the Narmada dam project in India, which will displace up to a million people. It weaves together a number of issues that lie at the heart of politics today: from the consequences of development and globalization to the urgent need for state accountability and the freedom of speech. (50 Minutes, 2003)
Film: The Children of Leningradsky
Wednesday, November 21st at 5pm
CEB 325 (Civil Engineering Building , next to CAB)
The Children of Leningradsky follows a dozen children living in a Moscow train station, documenting the police brutality, substance abuse and panhandling that is part of their daily lives. (35 Minutes, 2004)
United Nations International Day of Peace
September 21st, 2007, Friday @ 12:00pm (noon)
The City of Edmonton has proclaimed September 21st "International Day of Peace" and we will be erecting a Peace Flag on the flag pole in front of CIty Hall for one week. A City Councillor will present the Proclamation to Project Ploughshares at noon on September 21st at the South plaza of Edmonton City Hall and there will also be several guest speakers. This International Day of Peace ceremony is being coordinated by Project Ploughshares Edmonton, The Edmonton Interfaith Centre, and Women in Black.
Location: South Plaza, City Hall
Cost: Free
Please join us!
Contact: kalman@interbaun.com or 988-2713
Website: http://www.worldpeace.org/peaceday.html#resolution and http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/
Canada West Foundation Release of Hard Times: A Portrait of Street Level Social Problems in Western Canada
The Canada West Foundation is proud to announce the release of its latest research report, Hard Times: a Portrait of Street Level Social Problems in Western Canada. Hard Times is the first in a series of six reports that are being prepared as part of the Core Challenges Initiative. Hard Times provides a powerful foundation for the subsequent reports by outlining current street level social problems in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. The report is based on feedback from 311 frontline workers and others involved in addressing street level social problems in western Canada.
To download a copy of the report, visit www.cwf.ca and click on “Publications.”
The Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life - Fall 2007 Events Schedule
Labour Force Statistics Highlights Sheet - August 2007
Community Solutions to Gang Violence - The Impact of Gangs in our Community
Diverse Voices - Family Violence Conference
Fondation Laisses Pour Compte
Caribbean and African Diasporic Initiatives Presents Derek Walcott, Nobel Prize winning poet
