Homework Club is now recruiting for September

School holidays are almost here (yay) but VIRCS is already looking ahead to the next Fall term (boo). But school can be way more fun with your very own homework buddy. If you are a maths whizz, history buff or excel at English and would like to get involved in the after school drop-in program on Tuesdays from 4-6pm at VIRCS then get some paper out, sharpen your pencils and...oh, all right then, e-mail Danny at danny@vircs.bc.ca or call on 250-316-9433 ext 245 to get your name on the register! Whatever your area of knowledge there is someone who needs your help.

If you can't make the Tuesday class and are interested in the tutoring program, Danny runs that too.

Enable Program Seeks Volunteers to Work With Children, Youth and Young Adults

The Enable Program is for children and youth under 25 years old. Volunteers are needed for the following activities and programs:

• Children's English Language Classes
• Youth Summer Training Camp

For more detailed information on the program please check out the Enable information flyer:
http://www.vircs.bc.ca/youth_young/files/enable/Enable_Flyer_2010_FINAL.pdf

or have a look at the VIRCS main website at:
http://www.vircs.bc.ca/youth_young/enable.php

Enable Coordinator:
Megan Thom
(250) 361-9433 x 203 or
mail: enable@vircs.bc.ca
637 Bay St. (3rd Floor)
Victoria BC
or
Danny Tes
(250) 361-9433 x 245
mail: danny@vircs.bc.ca

Fossil Fair for Kids!

Our next group event is:
Fossil Fair for Kids!!The Victoria Paleontology Society is hosting its 15th Annual Fossil Fairon March 26-27th at the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary (3873 Swan Lake Rd)
The Fair has a display of diverse ancient fossil animals and plants, including:dinosaur bones, corals, mollusks, insects, giant palm leaves, and more!

This Fair is educational and open to the public! Children can do these activities: sandbox fossil dig, fossil scavenger hunt,fossil coloring, rubbings, and more!
Date for our group: Saturday, March 26th. Meet at VIRCS at 10:30am (or, if you prefer to drive, meet us at the Fair at 11am) to take the bus.Fair is Free of Cost for us!
Please, let me know if you are coming, and how many persons you will be! Also, ask your family match if they are interested and plan to join!
Thank you,
-- Francina Potes

Program Coordinator

Cultural Bridging Friends Program

Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society

637 Bay St, 3rd Floor. Victoria BC

(250) 361-9433 x.242

francina@vircs.bc.ca

Enable Program Giving Tree

The Story of the Enable Giving Tree

Thirteen years ago a seed was planted. It was the seed of the Enable Tree that would grow bit by bit into the tall, healthy tree it is today. It is strongly rooted in our community and the Enable Tree supports many different creatures and plants who find shelter and nourishment in its branches. But, as we all know, trees need water, food and sunlight to grow. Every year we ask you to help us take care of this tree and all its creatures. We ask you to pick up the watering can and help us grow.

Every year the Enable Program for Children and Youth helps over 250 children and youth by providing academic support, social activities, and safe places to express themselves and build new skills and self-confidence. The Enable Program is growing rapidly, with more participants and new services every year. Our programs include art therapy and English language support for children, tutoring services, a weekly Youth Activity Night, a new youth-led theatre project and our ever-popular Youth Strides Summer Camp.
We need your help to make newcomer children and youth feel at home in Canada.

Whether you can donate $2, $10, $100 or more, what you give makes a difference! Your support will help us reach our goal of $5000 by March 31, 2011.

$10 buys snacks for the Homework Club
$50 buys snacks and supplies for Youth Activity Night
$200 is enough for a whole month of Youth Nights, Homework Clubs and English classes
$500 sends a youth to our Youth Strides Summer Camp

Your donation will buy a leaf for our Giving Tree, located in the VIRCS office. Each week the leaves will grow and the progress will be posted here on our website. Make your donation in person at VIRCS or Donate Online!

Thank you for helping our Enable Giving Tree grow!

The Enable Theatre Project Presents: Where is Home?

A performance based on the real-life experiences of immigrant and refugee youth in Victoria, followed by an interactive discussion with the performers. Join us for a powerful evening of sharing, learning, and community building!

Intrepid Theatre, 2-1609 Blanshard Street

Friday Feb. 4^th Sunday Feb. 6^th Saturday March 5^th

Saturday March 12^th Friday March 18^th Friday March 25^th

^{All shows at 7:00 PM}

Tickets: Regular $10, Students $5

^{Email theatrevircs@gmail.com for ticket reservations}

SPARKS start date and time announced

SPARKS is our fun, language and arts learning program for elementary school-aged children. It is also one of our most fun volunteer opportunities. parks has just been announced beginning October 7th, from 2:30-5:00, every Thursday at a local elementary school.

If you love to play with children and aren't afraid to finger paint, this is a great opportunity. To sign up for our upcoming training session, contact Megan Thom at enable@vircs.bc.ca, or 250-361-9433 x203.

Homework Club and One-on-One Tutoring starts again!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the years' Homework Club! Right now we are looking for tutors to help in this drop-in help session on Tuesdays from 4-6pm at VIRCS, and will be holding an orientation session for all tutors on Thursday, September 23rd.

If you love helping kids and sharing your knowledge, this is the volunteer opportunity for you. Contact Danny at danny@vircs.bc.ca, or 250-361-9433 x245 to sign up.

Students are ready to get back to school - tutors needed!

Calling all tutors! We had such a great program last year that parents and students are already lining up to have your help again this year.

If you would like to begin tutoring in August, please contact Danny Tes, who will be running the program again this year. Danny can be reached at danny@vircs.bc.ca, or 250-361-9433 x245.

School-based programs closed for the summer

It is that time of year when all of the grade schools are shut, and children are free to delight in summer. For VIRCS, that means many of the Enable and I Plan It program services will be closed until the end of August.

Services that are closed for the summer are:

• Homework Club
• Conversation Club
• Youth Activity Night
• Life Skills Workshops
• Social Night
• Sparks

Services that continue throughout the summer are:

• 1-on-1 Tutoring (existing matches only)
• Strides Summer Camp
• I Plan It Youth Employment Coaching

Thank you everyone for your help, and we hope to see you all again in September!

Volunteer Needed: we're looking for a lifeguard to help with this year's Summer Camp

If you're are a qualified lifeguard looking to have fun this summer, consider helping out at our Youth Strides summer camp! We are looking for an NLS certified lifeguard to come to camp for 2-3 hours a day from July 19th to 23rd, preferably in the afternoons.

This year Strides is a t Camp Barnard in Sooke. During the week you'll get a chance to meet and have fun with immigrant and refugee youth aged 13-18, help them stay safe as they explore the great Canadian outdoors, and enjoy lunch with us before you go.

If you would like to help out, or know someone who can, please contact Danny Tes at danny@vircs.bc.ca, or 250-361-9433 x245.

Help VIRCS without losing a penny - Pick up a Thrifty's Smile Card from us!

Thanks to Thrifty Foods, there is a new way to help VIRCS just by doing what we already do - buying groceries. Thrifty Foods has provided us with special Smile Cards, cards that can be loaded with money from a credit card, debit card, or with cash, and spent on groceries at any Thrifty Foods store.

When you use a VIRCS Smile Card at Thrifty's, Thrifty Foods will donate 5% of the total to VIRCS. That means you spend 100% on groceries, and VIRCS gets 5% from Thrifty's.

Though it is a small amount each time, over time these donations can be a huge support for hard-to-fund programs, such as our Enable program for Youth and our ESL classes. If you shop at Thrifty's, and would like to help, please consider picking up a card at VIRCS on your next visit.

Cards can be obtained at VIRCS through me (Chris), Danny (our Enable youth worker), or from our receptionist, Anna.

Thank you for your support!

Enable Program: Summer Schedule

As many of our long-term volunteers know, the Enable program for youth changes completely after the end of the grade-school year. The last day for Homework Clubs until September will be June 22nd, and June 24th. One-on-one Tutoring will be decided on an individual basis. Instead of studying, it will be time to get out and enjoy the sunshine and festivals that make Victoria famous :)

One of the funnest things to do in Victoria is help out at our Strides Summer Camp for newcomer youth. This is a free, week-long camp where newcomer youth get to know the natural environment, learn leadership and survival skills, play music, develop leadership skills, and help cook and clean for each other.

This year, Strides is taking place by the water, so we are looking for a lifeguard to help supervise the youth in the water. The camp takes place from July 17th to 24th. If you, or someone you know, can help, please contact me.

New Homework Club is up and running

Thanks to the efforts of Danny Tes and some great volunteer tutors, the new in-school Homework Club is well on its way. The group started small, but continues to grow every week, and will run until the end of the grade-school year in June.

This project marks a new level of cooperation between VIRCS and School District 61, a partnership we hope to build on in the next school year.

Enable keeps growing with a new Homework Club

After long negotiation, our new Homework Club time and place have ben finalized. Danny Tes will be bringing his talents to a new Homework Club at Vic High, every Thursday from 3:30 to 5:30pm. Danny and I will be spending the next few weeks assessing the student volume of the new Homework Club, and we will start opening the Club up for volunteers as the students start coming in. Look for updates here later this month!

Homework Club #2 starts in April

We have confirmed that Homework Club #2 will start in the first week of April. This Homework Club, run in partnership with e School Board, will operate every week, most likely on Thursdays after school.

This Homework Club will also be expertly led by Danny Tes, and will build slowly to allow parents time to become aware of the new service.

This expansion was made possible y the great work that the Homework Club volunteers and One-on-One Tutors have done such an amazing job!

To get involved, contact Danny Tes at danny@vircs.bc.ca, or 250-361-9433 x245.

Tutors Needed!

While our Homework Club is full to capacity, we still have many students in need of tutors. These students are in need of help understanding the Canadian school system, improving their written or spoken English, or catching up on a subject after an absence from education. Many of the students cannot attend our weekly Homework Club, but are able to meet at other times during the week, evenings or weekends, and at other places in the city.

One-on-One Tutors are matched with students based on the subjects, grade levels, and times they are comfortable tutoring. Then, they meet once a week for 1-2 hours at a time and place that are convenient for them and their students.

To become a One-on-One Tutor you can:

• Contact me at volunteer@vircs.bc.ca or 250-361-9433 x212
• Contact Danny Tes at danny@vircs.bc.ca or 250-361-9433 x245
• Or come to our weekly orientation at 4pm every Thursday.

Great Youth Theatre Performance

The highlight of January for many of us was the fabulous theatre performance by our Enable Youth group! On January 15th and 16th, the group performed a series of short plays that they wrote as a group based on their own experience.

It was a great and moving performance that demonstrated just how talented and courageous our youth are. Thank you to all the volunteers that helped during this project!

For those of you who missed out, the performance will be available on DVD later this year.

New Homework Club in March

VIRCS has a fabulous Homework Club Team this year, and the word has spread to the Victoria School District. The District has asked us to begin a new, second Homework Club beginning in March. This new weekly event will happen in one of our local schools, and be on a different day than our current Homework Club.

Don't worry, we will still run our awesome Homework Club every Tuesday from 4-6pm at VIRCS.

Check back here next month for more details!

New Sparks program for elementary-aged children begins

Sparks is a fun afternoon for elementary school-aged children focusing on language, learning, and fun!

Sparks has begun for the year, and this year VIRCS is proud to be going to George Jay Elementary School for the event every Wednesday, from 2:30pm to 4:30pm.

If you know newcomers with little ones, this is a great safe space to meet other children, learn English, and make friends.

For more information, contact Negin or Danny.

Youth Fundraising Campaign a success: over $5,000 raised in 6 weeks!

Thank you to all of those who donated to our Giving Tree for Enable. We raised over $5000 before the end of December 2009!

Because of this support, we are able to continue running Homework Clubs, One-on-one Tutoring, Youth Activity Nights, and Sparks services. Our youth program, Enable, is not out of danger yet, and is still in need of funds to run our annual summer leadership camp, Strides.

If you would still like to make a donation, click here!