All Posts – Page 23 – The Big Sky Centre for Learning and Being Astonished Inc.

Five Year Memorandum of Understanding

June 3, 2015/0 Comments/in News

“I believe that Universities should not reflect the society we live in. They should reflect the society we WANT to live in.” This is how Dr. Vianne Timmons began her address to the community gathered at the University of Regina (U of R) on June 2, 2015 to celebrate the signing of a five year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U of R and Astonished! Inc.

It was wonderful to share this significant occasion with U of R faculty, administrators, and staff; Astonished! Core Members, Board Members, staff, and the wider community.

The MOU, which will carry us to April 30, 2020 states that the U of R and Astonished! Inc. are committed to exploring a number of areas of common interest and benefit, and will use their best efforts to encourage contact and co-operation in these areas (MOU). This is our third MOU with the University of Regina.

Speaking on behalf of Astonished!, Ruth Blaser, former Board Chair said “We are delighted to be celebrating this partnership between Astonished! and the U of R. Any sturdy partnership creates mutual benefits as well as challenges. Here are some early benefits and differences we are beginning to witness:

Astonished! Core-Members have more opportunities to make choices about being involved in meaningful and inclusive activities related to education, employment and self discovery.

The A! TLC, Social Club and Jake Sawa Dance Project are contributing to improved physical and mental health of Astonished! Core Members and U of R Student Volunteers.

We are seeing increased self-determination and social skills and more confidence among and between Core Members and U of R Student Volunteers.

Currently there are two (2) Applied Research projects which are contributing to the body of knowledge related to social inclusion.We are seeing more capacity among University of Regina Student Volunteers and Faculty in working and interacting in meaningful ways, both personally and professionally, with Core Members.

This partnership between the University of Regina and Astonished! Inc. reflects the society we WANT to live in. To read more…..

Photo credit: Trevor Hopkin, U of R

My Dream Trip by Kennen Dorgan

May 31, 2015/4 Comments/in Core Member, Student Researchers

I am a Student Researcher in the Astonished! Teaching and Learning Centre (A!TLC). I graduated from Grenfell High Community School in 2011. I am the youngest in my family (except for my dog). I have two sisters and one brother. I also have one niece Zoey who I like to cheer on at baseball games. My brother Reed and his wife Renee are having a baby so I will have another niece or nephew by the end of this year!

Two and a half years ago, when I started at the Astonished! Teaching and Learning Centre (A!TLC), I was nervous because everything was new and the University of Regina is a big place. Now I am confident and comfortable with both the people and the place. I am so happy for each day that I spend at the A!TLC. It is a place where I can see my friends and a place where I can give and receive lots of support. Everyone there helps me reach for my dreams and we all have lots of fun together.

Making decisions can be hard for me, but once I know what I want I am focused and go for it. With the support of my family, friends, and Astonished! staff I take on all kinds of adventures. My sister Tanys is a professional photographer and I really like what she does. I want to become a better photographer so I do regular photography exercises as part of my work in the A!TLC. I have a special clamp that holds my iPad to my chair and I use a remote control to compose and take my photos. This helps me keep the iPad steady while I decide what I want in the photograph.

Last fall I was a mentor in the University of Regina Social Work class Issues in DisAbilities Studies. I liked mentoring the social work students in my team. Because I am developing my photography skills we photographed places in Regina that were inclusive. At the end of the course I told my mom “We aren’t focusing on disAbility, we are focusing on ability. I am helping them focus on what they can do to be good enablers in community.”

As part of the Astonished! Summer Literacy program I wanted to learn to text so I could send messages to my sister Lynice (you probably figured out my family is important to me). With the support of the Astonished! staff I really expanded my literacy skills and hope to keep doing so.

Right now I am planning a road trip to Alaska with my mom, dad, and my companion Silvia. It would be easier to fly to Alaska but the airlines won’t let me use my seat insert on the plane and I can’t travel without my seat insert. It provides the support that is necessary for my spine. My dad can make almost anything so he made a way for my seat insert to fit in the truck. We are going to drive to Alaska with our travel trailer. I have already started a blog for my trip. You can follow me at Kennen’s Dream Trip. I chose Alaska as a destination because Lynice and her husband Kris live there.

My next goal is a trip to Mexico! My companion Silvia is from Mexico and I would like to see her country. I have already met a lot of Silvia’s friends and family through Skype and Facetime, and am excited to say “Hola!” in person! There is so much to look forward to.

Moving Chairs … still the same old shoes

May 29, 2015/0 Comments/in Board of Connectors, News

Ruth Blaser writes…..After six years in my role as Co-Chair and then Chair of the Astonished! Board of Connectors I am thrilled to announce that, as of the AGM 2015, Dr. Brenda Rossow-Kimball is our new Chair of the Astonished! Board.

I am moving to the position of Past-Chair (for one year) with responsibility for Donor Relations and Major Gifts.

I have been reading again, Lynn Twist’s book The Soul of Money. For more than 40 years, Lynne Twist has been a recognized global visionary committed to alleviating poverty and hunger and supporting social justice and environmental sustainability.

She says …

“I see fund-raising as Sacred Work. It is the privilege of facilitating the allocation of the world’s resources away from fear and toward that which we love. Philanthropy is not the accumulation of wealth, rather the word comes from the root meaning …. Love of human kind.”

Astonished! is about being and becoming inclusive community. It’s about creating opportunities based on people’s strengths, dreams and needs. It’s about self-determination, personalization and full citizenship. It’s about creating and sustaining organizations structures and governance that support planting these visions and core value in our lives, relationships and community, and more!

I am a lucky woman to be part of the Astonished! community, still with the same old shoes and now in a different chair.

Linda Stumpf

May 25, 2015/0 Comments/in Donor of the Month

I was introduced to Astonished! initially through my friend Sue Bland’s blog. She had been doing some work with one of the researchers and Kennen Dorgan’s picture appeared on her blog. I had known Kennen and her family when I lived in Grenfell so I was very interested in her connection with Astonished! I did a little research myself and was indeed astonished by the dreams and possibilities of this determined group of people! When I last saw Kennen she had graduated from high school and was looking forward to moving on as her sisters had done. The question was “to what?” She seems to have found an answer to this question! The work of Astonished! continues to enable her to discover and pursue her goals. As a former educator I am encouraged by the good work I see happening here and want to support it for Kennen and the other amazing people at Astonished!

Big Hero 6

May 25, 2015/0 Comments/in Social Club

An animated movie, really, are we going to watch an animated movie about a plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes? I expected to be bored; instead I was fascinated, both by the movie and by the group of us watching the movie.

The A! Social Club event ‘Lunch and a Movie’ turned out to be a perfect mirror of audience and movie. In both the movie and the audience we witnessed trust, courage, humour, and friendship. You might not think it takes courage and trust for lunch and a movie. But both are often required when you have a complex physical disAbility and you’re going to have lunch with others. A complex physical disAbility can impact a person’s ability to chew and swallow with ease. Eating together can be stressful. But this doesn’t stop the Astonished! Core Members and their friends from getting together for lunch and a movie. Like the friends in Big Hero 6 we trust each other to get it right, and when it doesn’t quite work the way we thought it would, we trust each other to find a different approach.

Oh yes, we could have also used the help of a high-tech hero to fix some of the quirks in two power chairs. Calling all high-tech heroes!

Three cheers for Rebekah Lindenbach!

May 19, 2015/5 Comments/in Social Club

A tribute to Rebekah Lindenbach from the A! Leadership Team:

Let’s have three cheers for Rebekah Lindenbach! This hard worker and all around great lady has just completed her final contract as a member of the A! Leadership Team. While on this team, Rebekah enthusiastically planned and implemented many fantastic monthly events for the A! community. Rebekah is a true leader and she worked hard at each event to ensure that all A! Core Members had lots of fun and were able to fully participate in whatever activity that was taking place. And she did (and continues to do) it all with a big and bright smile on her face. Rebekah, your diligent effort and joking ways will be truly missed on the team and we hope, no we expect, to continue to see you out at many future events. Now though, you will able to take it easy and soak up all of the well-deserved fun as an honoured guest. Although we continue to welcome any suggestions from you that will help to keep us in line. 🙂

True to her passion for planning and hosting events, Rebekah threw a lovely spring BBQ to celebrate her work with her team. A big thank you for having us, Rebekah and a big THANK YOU for your great work over the past 5 (WOW, 5!) years. We will see you around very soon! Hip hip hooray!

Our Latest News

Five Year Memorandum of Understanding

My Dream Trip by Kennen Dorgan

Moving Chairs … still the same old shoes

Linda Stumpf

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