Our Latest News
Check out what’s been going on in our world!
Check out what’s been going on in our world!
On April 13, 2018 Astonished! was honoured to receive the Distinguished Fieldwork Award from the University of Regina Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies (KIN) at their Annual Distinguished Alumni and Awards Night. The Fieldwork Award recognizes the contributions an organization has made to the professional development of Kinesiology and Health Studies students through the fieldwork experience, which is considered to be the cornerstone of their undergraduate degree.
The Annual Distinguished Alumni and Awards Night recognizes the important contributions made by many alumni. The event also celebrates the contributions community-based partner organizations make to student development, and allows KIN students to reconnect with one another.
Thank you to our Executive Director Bonnie Cummings-Vickaryous, our Program Coordinator Katherine Taylor, and our KIN practicum students; Elisa Wong, Jessica Opdahl, and Kevin Mah; and our KIN mini-placement students Rhea Boysen, Ben Rumpel, Kennedy Gauley, and Parker Florell.
PHOTO: Rhea Boysen, Katherine Taylor, Bonnie Cummings-Vickaryous, Jessica Opdahl, Elisa Wong
What are some of your dreams, the things you want to make manifest in your life? For A! Student Researcher Kennen Dorgan, photographing light in the dark is a dream. As part of her spring semester PATH (planning alternative tomorrows with hope) she enlisted her sister Tanys, of Tanys Rae Photography , and her dad Dean Dorgan, to help her manifest her dream. Kennen invited some A! Student Researchers and others to join her on April 10, 2018. They were her models and assistants. It was crazy fun.
To check out the light creations ……… To see the team having fun ………
PHOTO:
Back- Elisa, Tanys, Julia
Front- Katherine, Kaitlyn, Hannah, Rebekah, Shannon, Kennen
Our February newsletter puts all our news and events in one easy place. Check out ‘The Swing of Things at Astonished!’ by clicking here……
Changing your life path is not easy at any age but sometimes life swoops in and invites you to make a change. Four years ago, Hillary Moffatt was a third-year apprentice electrician, pregnant with her second child, and living with excruciating back pain. Yoga was the only thing that helped alleviate the back pain, and yoga became the path that intrigued Hillary. Now twenty-four, the mom of two children (5 and 2.5), half way through her third year in Health Promotion in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina, Hillary is volunteering with Astonished! in our Yoga for Everybody class.
Hillary has completed her 200 hour Yoga teacher training and is currently working towards her 500 hour Yoga teacher certification. She teaches yoga at Oxygen Yoga and Fitness where she runs a kids Yoga program, and also teaches yoga to a boys’ basketball team (13 and 14-year old’s) for an hour each week. Her dream is to create an inclusive yoga program for children and youth ages 2-18, so volunteering with the Astonished! Yoga for Everybody, which is led by Rebekah Lindenbach and Ruth Blaser, seemed like the perfect place for Hillary to volunteer.
Hillary says “I love what I am learning about how people practice yoga in a wheelchair. When I teach yoga, the hardest part is to get people to feel relaxed and feel grounded physically and mentally. At Yoga for Everybody, everyone is able to come into shavasana (the final pose of any yoga class) in a way that is comfortable and relaxing for each individual participating.”
Welcome Hillary, we look forward to what we will learn together on this place where our paths cross.
Photo: Rebekah Lindenbach and Hillary Moffatt
Elisa Wong is a 4th year University of Regina student in the Kinesiology and Health Studies Program. This semester, Elisa is doing her Fieldwork Placement (560 hours) with Astonished! Elisa is particularly interested in the program areas of Astonished! She is focusing on the Astonished! Teaching and Learning Centre and the Astonished! Social Club. She is also developing her skills writing grant proposals and assisting with preparation for the Astonished! Spring Gala. Although she has volunteered with Astonished! in previous semesters, Elisa says her current role is new to her and she is happy for the guidance Bonnie Cummings-Vickaryous and Katherine Taylor offer her.
Elisa loves volunteering and the opportunities it provides to meet new people. Her outgoing personality is a real asset and she is open to adventures. She travelled to Anaheim, California in 2015 to take part in VidCon. VidCon produces events and experiences for people who work in online video and for the people who love it. Elisa has a Vlog of her travels and adventures. In the summer of 2017 she was part of a French immersion program at Université de Montréal. Click here to see her Vlog of that adventure.
Elisa hopes to do future studies in Occupational Therapy at the University of Alberta. We wish her all the best in her application and are delighted to have her with us this semester.
Photo: Elisa Wong and Sean Davis
A Future Maker acts now, for the future, not only for their personal future, but for the future well-being of the wider community. In November 2017, Doug and Barbara Mader gave a generous donation to the Astonished! Endowment Fund through transfer of shares in a stock. The Astonished! Endowment Fund was established in 2015 through the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation. Donations to the Astonished! Endowment Fund are invested in perpetuity, the capital is never touched. It is left to grow. A portion of the annual investment income from the fund may be used for Astonished! operations and programming, thus providing a legacy for Astonished!
If you are considering transferring stocks this is Doug’s advice. “There is no capital gain for either the donor or the charitable organization, a transfer of shares in a stock is a win-win for both. The donor receives a charitable tax receipt for the donation and the charity has annual income it can count on.”
We are deeply grateful to Future Makers Doug and Barbara Mader.
To learn more about transferring stocks, check out this article from the Globe and Mail.
Photo: Barbara and Doug Mader, and Pepper
We work in inclusive community to address barriers facing young adults with complex physical disAbilities (core members) by creating opportunities for teaching and learning, social, recreational and cultural engagement, and for employment and housing.
The Big Sky Centre for Learning and Being Astonished Inc.
University of Regina
3737 Wascana Parkway
Regina, SK S4S 0A2
Phone:
Bonnie Cummings-Vickaryous, Executive Director, 306-737-9560
E-mail:
BCV@beingastonished.com