Community Options Annual Report 2013 | Page 15

15 | ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING REPORT Our summer was, again, extremely eventful; we averaged 2-3 field trips per week. Our staff and children attended many of the Edmonton’s festivals and parades and several other outings, including outdoor swimming and splash parks, touring the Jubilee and the Aviation Museum, visiting the libraries and parks around the City, the Prairie Garden Corn Maze, and making our own pizzas at Royal Pizza. This is just a few of our field trips that we participated in. The children also organized lemonade stands for the community, played on our own homemade slip and slide and joined the “Green Shack” for their daily programming, including the Flying Eagle program. Our summer was awesome and eventful. We also participated in Red Friday National Event, a celebration to honour our troops. Every Friday during the summer months, everyone at the OOSC wore a red t-shirt for our Canadian soldiers and we are very proud to be listed on The Red Friday website as a supporter. (www.redfriday.ca) We were joined by special guests including The Honourable Minister Heather Klimchuk- Minister of Culture and Community Spirit, Officer Kelly from Edmonton Police and Connie Marciniuk, The Net Team Official at Inglewood. Staff Our staff build their knowledge and skills through professional development; it is part of our mandate to ensure that all of our staff are continuously learning new ways to educate. All staff attended the Annual Childcare Conference at MacEwan University this year. Andre attended the Incredible Years Training, which qualified him to be a parent-group leader. We are in our second year of Accreditation. All staff at the OOSC are dedicated professionals building capacity by enhancing quality in programs and services that support children and families. We will continue to provide the best quality care for our children. Shimi Mani was nominated for the Early Childhood Award of Excellence this year. Way to go Shimi, we are so proud of you! Something new We started a penny drive at the centre in March 2013. To date, we have approximately $25 dollars. We are using this money to help with our summer program. We also held a Fun Draw in Inglewood School. We created a variety of baskets to be put on display in the hallway and children and their families bought tickets to win the baskets. The winners were chosen at the end of March assembly at the school. We raised $150.25 and these funds will also go towards our summer program. Our volunteers “Worth their weight in gold.” In 2013, we started a wonderful relationship with Goodwill Industries of Alberta. Every Monday and Wednesday, individuals from Goodwill come with a job coach to room 9. Their duties are sanitizing and cleaning our toys, equipment and the room. This program has helped us tremendously! Our equipment has never been cleaner, and our toys have never been more organized and germ-free. Because of our great relationship, Edmonton Northwest Out of School Care has been awarded the Goodwill Greatness Award.