Hear from Students and Staff about the new programs and supports now available at the Saanich Adult Education Centre (SAEC)
In this info session we heard from SAEC students and staff on:
- How to earn $100 a week while you study
- Why W̱SÁNEĆ adults are choosing to upgrade at SAEC
- Important Dates
- What supports are available
- What the experience is like.
If you’ve ever felt limited by your current education and wondered what it would take to upgrade, this info session is for you.
Click to watch the info session replay above or read the transcript below
Host:
Good afternoon everybody. Thanks for tuning in. Today we are doing an info session to share with anyone who’s considering upgrading their education in 2023 to let them know what they can expect from attending the Saanich Adult Education Centre, specifically around the new programming and supports that are making it easier for learners to upgrade. In this info session today we are going to talk to some of the staff and students and we’re going to cover how students can earn up to $100 a week while studying, why W̱SÁNEĆ adults are choosing to upgrade at the Saanich Adult Education Centre (as opposed to any other institution out there), important dates that you need to know if you are thinking about attending and upgrading your education in 2023, what supports are available for adult learners and what the experience is really like. Today we are going to spend between half an hour and an hour getting answers to the questions that you may have, to help you understand what it might be like to attend school at the Saanich Adult Education Centre. The very first person that I’m going to introduce today is Kendra Underwood, who is the Director of the Saanich Adult Education Centre. Kendra, it’s so great to have you today. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and about the program?
Kendra Underwood:
Sure. Really good to see everyone today and ÍY SȻÁĆEL HÁLE. Good afternoon everyone. Happy holidays. Really nice to be connecting with everyone right before the holiday season is about to start. Really happy to be joining you all from the Saanich Education Centre. Today we’re just wrapping up an annual breakfast that our staff put on for our Elder’s advisory and our students. We’ve been coming together in this way for about 20 years, nearly two decades. Just to introduce myself, my name is Kendra Underwood.
My traditional name is SȽEMXÁMTENOT. I’m from W̱SÁNEĆ from Tsawout and I have the great honor and privilege of working as director of the Saanich Adult Education Centre here at the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board. The SAEC is part of the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board in Tsartlip, just outside of Brentwood Bay. Our centre serves the four W̱SÁNEĆ communities of Tsawout, Tseycum, Tsartlip and Pauquachin, and we provide programming for First Nations and indigenous learners as well as individuals that are connected to our W̱SÁNEĆ communities.
(02:12):
One of the streams, the programming that we provide support for at the Saanich Adult Education Centre is the Adult Dogwood program and that is primarily what we’ll be speaking to today. So just to share a little about what the Adult Dogwood consists of is, it’s a program that’s set up for students that are adult learners that are returning to their secondary studies. Oftentimes that’s for individuals that are working towards college and university entrance requirements or completing prerequisites. But the Adult Dogwood is equivalent to the Dogwood diploma that secondary students receive. So for adult learners, that is five courses, English First Peoples 12 or English Studies 12, Math 11, as well as three grade 12 electives. So really happy that we have some of our staff members on the line that can speak to their roles in the courses that they deliver in meeting the requirements for the adult Dogwood HÍSW̱ḴE. Thanks
Host:
Thanks so much, Kendra. Really appreciate it. Next up, I’m really excited to introduce Kim Linkard who has been teaching in the W̱SÁNEĆ community for close to 30 years. Kim, can you talk to us a little about who you are, your experience and also show us your fabulous holiday sweater?
(03:17):
Kim Linkard:
Well, well first of all we can’t ignore the sweater. I found this sweater, I think it was like Winners or Marshalls like five years ago. And then I slowly started to just sew different things on it. Anything I’d find on the ground after a Christmas party. So I’ve just slowly …and I take things off and add them. So yeah, if you have anything you find, you know, dead on the ground, feel free to sew it onto this thing. So yes, I’ve been here a long time. I’ve been part of this community for a very, very long time, almost 30 years. And I taught the high school, middle school, young Adult retrieval program it was called. And now I’ve been at the Adult Centre since 2009. And I really enjoy working with the adults and I predominantly was hired as a math instructor, and I’ve taken over an inclusive education as well, which is formerly known as special education.
(04:01):
So just assisting students with needs anywhere from vision needs to hearing needs to wheelchair needs to learning challenges and assistance. And so I really enjoyed that part of the job as well. And we do offer all those supports for adult learners who are coming back to school. And I think I was also supposed to talk about times that we are in session. So we follow basically a regular school day. We start at 8:45 and we go to about 3:15. And that works best for our adult learners, allows parents to drop their kids off at daycare or get them ready for school and then come to our classes and then we offer in-person instruction. And since Covid, we’ve uh, really stepped up our online options, our remote learning options. For example, I have one person who’s working at the high school right now I was over there supporting him in his math class, which he’s upgrading just one single math class. That’s all he can handle cause he’s a full-time worker. Yeah, we are very happy to help any time of the day if possible. And we do get questions on weekends and evenings and we will, we’ll do what we can. If I can answer a question, I will. Yeah, hopefully that answers that.
(05:05):
Host:
Definitely. Thank you so much, Kim. Appreciate it. So next up I wanted to introduce Kevin Monkman. Kevin is also an instructor at the Saanich Adult Education Centre. Kevin, would you like to talk a little bit about yourself and what you do over at the centre?
(05:16):
Sure. Thanks, Laurel. Yeah, my name is Kevin Monkman. I’ve been here since 2007, I believe so 15 or 16 years. And I’ve primarily served as the humanities instructor at the school. So generally English is my specialty, but I also teach a number of electives. I ran the young adult program that we had years ago as well. But everything in the afternoons from a work experience to digital media to digital photography in the past, social studies. So quite a wide variety. Uh, like I said, primarily my mornings are spent with English. Generally English studies 12 or English First Peoples 12 over the last couple of years. Yeah, it’s a wonderful place to work. I’m always happy we have a great family of students and staff. Yeah, it’s great.
(05:56):
Host:
Fabulous. Thanks, Kevin.
(05:57):
Next up we have Chelsey. And Chelsey is a former S A E C student. She is a graduate. She’s from Pauquachin Nation and Haida Nation. She’s a single mother of two and recently graduated as I mentioned, from S A E C. Chelsea is currently attending Indigenous College Prep through Camosun College and is working towards an Indigenous Studies Program. And from there she plans on applying to the Indigenous law program.
Chelsea, you wanna give us a wave and say hello to everyone? Awesome. Thanks so much for being here Chelsea. And last but certainly not least, we have Kaylim and Kaylim heralds from Sylvan Lake Alberta. He’s been a student for a total of 11 years, but just recently came back to start again after leaving school during his grade 11 year. Kaylim is now an adult student at the Saanich Adult Education Centre and is on track to graduate in June 2023, after which he plans to apply to University. Can you give everyone a wave Kaylim? Perfect. Thank you so, so much.
(06:47):
The very, very first question I do have is back to Kendra asking
“What wraparound supports can students expect to receive at the adult education centre?”
Kendra:
So a large part of the programming that we provide here at SAEC encompasses those wraparound supports that you just spoke to. And that’s in large part due to sort of the kind and gentle reminders from our Elder’s advisory around providing holistic learning opportunities for our students.
And so really ensuring that the supports and services provided support learners in their minds, bodies, souls and spirits. And so we’re very grateful to our SAEC Elders advisory. many of whom are in the building right now, which is fantastic. We have 12 W̱SÁNEĆ elders that come in and join us twice a week in pairs and greet students in our Elders and student lounge, have coffee and tea offer words of encouragement and are there as a support to learners in forming those relationships. Knowing that there’s that support from our elders and Knowledge Keepers that are here regularly throughout the week.
We provide some SENĆOTEN language culture programming here at the SAEC, and we are very grateful this year to be piloting the programming which is outdoor education coupled with an introduction to SENĆOTEN, which is our W̱SÁNEĆ language here. We provide morning protocol, a lot of drumming and cultural workshops take place as well as much time out on the land as we can offer as well. That’s a large part of our programming in terms of wraparound support.
Some of the aspects of those services to students is that we acknowledged for full-time students especially it’s really difficult to take time away from employment to focus solely on those university entrance requirements. And so we’ve created a structure in programming this year that we’ve called our student’s course progress bonuses, and those are awarded weekly to individuals that are attending regularly and making consistent progress in their courses. And so students are eligible for $25 per course, a week, which is usually $100 a week for full-time students amounting to $400 a month and what we’ve heard from some of our learners is that it really does make quite a difference for our students that are often the financial heads of their families and having something to contribute back to the household while they’re engaging in our educational journey can make a world of difference.
We also have a hot lunch program. We are really grateful to provide food and those nourishing aspects to our programming as well. So there’s a daily hot lunch program as well as our student lounge coffee services. First thing in the morning breakfast goods and things that start our day off in a really good way. We have an on-site daycare as well down on the bottom floor of our building, an infant toddler daycare as well as a space for three to five-year-olds. And then we also have transportation to and from the adult centre through our regular adult centre bus run. And then we’ve got our SAEC van that can be a little more responsive when things come up suddenly for students; the odd times they miss the bus and need a ride to school or if there’s something pressing they need to get home right away. We’ve got that van transportation that we’re so grateful to have. And lastly, a large part of what we try to do it to make it easy for folks that know our programming is that we try to create as many opportunities as possible, balancing our academics and ways of coming together as a school community at least once.
We try to create ways of engaging with one another outside of the classroom and in a way that really creates that sense of belonging for students and forms those strong connections between students as peers and then between learners and staff. So every once in a while you might see us out sort of skating or engage in camping trip or planning an overnight stay over in Vancouver to check out science world art gallery. We are really trying to be as responsive as possible to the students that are with us that year and their particular interest that’s always really exciting to see from year to year and our hope is this year, maybe a skiing or snowboarding trip or something along those lines. So finding ways to really balance that with academics of course find ways to create memories together.
Host:
Amazing Kendra, thank you for sharing. So I heard that you’ve got:
1. Financial supports for head of household members
2. Hot lunches and coffee in the morning which is so incredible, wonderful support.
3. Onsite daycare
4. Transportation is taken care of
5. Facilitating day trips and leaning on the land as well to help community connections with students.
That’s just fantastic
So my next question is for Kevin. I’m wondering if you could speak a little bit about how long does it take to get your dogwood?
Kevin:
That’s a question we often get from the students when they start with us. They’re curious about how long this journey will take. It’s a really difficult one to answer initially, but as we get to know students that answer sort of unfolds as they set goals and we understand more about where they are at. So really, honestly, it can take students a semester or it can take a couple of years depending on what levels they are when they come in, how long they’ve been away from school. Not only that but it depends on how comfortable they are. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to feel confident and comfortable with what they are doing.
Chelsey is a great example of someone who came to us last year and was basically ready to graduate by January. She stuck around for another couple of months just to get her skills ready so that when she transitioned into post-secondary she was able to hit the ground running. She’s a great example of one end of the spectrum. It’s a task to try to explain to students that you know, it’s not how long always, it’s just about the journey of getting there, right? Making sure that we’re doing things in the right order, in the right way. Not trying to jump into the deep end without knowing how to swim. So yeah, it really is an individual thing. And that really speaks to a lot of what we do in the classroom as well. There’s a lot of individualized programming and self-paced work.
Host:
Fabulous, thank you so much Kevin. Individualized programming and focusing more on the actual student and their needs is obviously a complete game changer, especially coming back as adult learners. Thank you so much for that. Appreciate it. My next question is I’m wondering, we are going to go back to Chelsey;
Chelsey, I’m wondering if you could speak to what motivated you to enroll in the SAEC?
For me it would be to be a better role model for my girls and to show my mom that I can do it. Even though she’s not here, she’s able to see me graduate. And then, having your dogwood enables you to help you figure out what you want to do with your life. If you want to be a carpenter. It enables to send you to college, you’re able to learn more. Thank you.
Kalem, same question for you; what motivated you to enroll in the Saanich Adult Education Centre?
So I heard about the school from my auntie and she was a big motivator for it. She kind of forced me into it. But I don’t really regret it. It’s been fun. If I get my dogwood, it would it would open up opportunities for post secondary, and University and just a better job in the future. Yeah. Thank you
Thanks so much, Kalem, really appreciate it. So my next question is, again for Chelsey, just to start.
What’s worked well for you as a learner at the Saanich Adult Education Centre? Can you talk a little bit about how your experience might be different than when you were in high school?
What worked well, for me, is the one-on-one. The classes are small, so the teachers are able to like sit in front of you or beside you and then work through it. Instead of high school where it’s like a full room of students, you’re kind of shy on putting your hand up asking for help. And at the Adult centre, you get close with Kim and Kevin so you’re able to just yell at them across the room. “I need help”. And they’ll just walk over and sit beside you and help you instead of like high school just a bunch of teenagers bugging you like “Oh you can’t do it” but Kim & Kevin are amazing for helping us.
That sounds like a major difference. Thanks for sharing Chelsey. Kalem, can you describe how what’s different for you compared to high school experiences, and what the experience has been like for you?
Well unlike High School, everyone is very supportive and patient. Like Chelsea said, there’s a lot of one-on-one, which helps a lot when you’re learning. In high school, I’d get thrown into detention if I fell behind, which wasn’t really fun. I’d have to catch up and I’d want to skip. But here, it’s like you form a family in a way, like your relationship with the teachers and it makes you come back. Thank you.
Thanks, Kalem. That definitely does not sound like high school.
Next question is for Chelsey again. Could you please share what’s been a memorable experience for you at the Saanich Adult Education Centre?
The most memorable? Well, when I graduated, we went to Russell Peters and they are accommodating for that to make sure all the graduates were able to have something to remember the school by. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. I’ll pass it back to Kalem, then. Kalem, can you share a memorable moment while you’ve been at SAEC?
Yeah, for sure. There’ve been a lot of memorable experiences as a school like we’ve done. We went camping at Goldstream. We’ve gone skating. We’ve been in museums. Just today we went for a movie as a class. That was very fun. We’ve done plant restoration. We’ve learned about the land.. just there’s a lot of good memories and very fun.
That’s amazing. Thanks for sharing my next question back to you Chelsey. What would be, what encouraging advice would you give to future Saanich Adult Education Centre students, anyone considering attending?
I would say don’t hold back, and don’t bring yourself down because I did that quite a bit at the start of my year last year, but the teachers and Kendra were really supportive. And not to be shy. I mean, the teachers when they walk in, they might look intimidating at first but they’re really encouraging. They you just want to see you succeed and keep on coming back.
That’s great advice. Thank you, Chelsey. Same question for you Kalem: What advice would you give someone considering attending SAEC?
I would say show up because in highschool I didn’t show up and I fell behind. This isn’t like high school a lot of it is showing up. Ask questions. Don’t be shy, like Chelsea said, Be curious and try to set a goal, just something to work towards. It will make your course picking so much easier, when you have a plan.
Thanks, Kalem. Next question is for Chelsea. Does the Saanich Adult Education Centre provide help in transitioning to post-secondary institutions?
They do. Yes. They host Camosun college prep just down the hall from the Adult Dogwood. I think it’s better for a smaller institute, when going into Camosun, most of the time where you don’t know anybody and it’s like all these students running around trying to get to their class. Then you’re more comfortable with the teacher so you’re able to just walk across to the next classroom and ask for help.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. I think for anybody watching is considering attending, you have helped to give a really good picture of what that experience might actually be like. So questions for the staff, Kendra, can you talk a little bit about the onsite daycare, but I feel like a common question might be about bringing children to school. Can you talk a little bit about how that might work?
Sure. So a lot of our learners are parents themselves, as well. And so we’re really happy to have a daycare just downstairs for infant toddlers. So that’s generally infant toddlers, They’re usually between one year old and three, and then the three-five as well. So very grateful to the daycare. That’s a separate department from our school, but we certainly work closely together and our adult learners are given a priority for the spaces that are available in those two centers, as well as our second priority are students that are engaged in our on-site post-secondary programs, as Chelsey mentioned, the Camosun Indigenous college prep as well as the visiting programs here from Camosun and SENĆOTEN program at the University Victoria.
And then for moms that have young ones that are under a year old, it is certainly not uncommon to see babies or infants in the classroom learning alongside mom and dad. So that’s something that we try to be as accommodating as possible to make it a comfortable learning environment for those moms or dads that have little ones that are too young to be cared for in the daycare. We’re really happy to call them our youngest learners and sometimes those babies are with us from day one and staff and students certainly lend a hand and helping baby when mom and dad mom or dad are working on assignments or getting ready to test or an assessment or something along those lines. Babies bring a lot of joy to us in the classroom and certainly in the school journey.
So very open to supporting parents with young ones and then certainly making referrals downstairs to the daycare center for any babies that are over a year old. We and really trying to sort of live up to the mission of the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board which is supporting lifelong learning and acknowledging that we have the daycare on-site through elementary school, secondary, adult education and post-secondary. So we really are providing or wanting to provide educational opportunities for all of those ages and being as accommodating as possible to the variety of needs that some of our adult learners have.
That’s incredible thank you, Kendra. That you can bring a baby into the classroom and it’s not just ok, but actually welcome is a huge, huge benefit. It’s another thing that makes the SAEC fabulous. I have another question, and this is where Kevin or Kim, whoever would like to jump in first. It’s about putting your studies on hold when you need to take a semester or potentially a few semesters off. Is there flexibility in learning?
Kim:
Yes, I really believe we’ve done a good job of making our classes very flexible. We do a paper-based, we have online-based. We have all kinds of options for students who want to push pause on maybe one class or — we talked about it last week — all about kids that may want to their job temporarily. Christmas is a popular time for people to pick up extra work to raise money for Christmas presents as it’s a stressful time of year, financially. So we will say things like okay, well why don’t you just pause this class? And often when that works really well and then they can just pick up until they come back. And luckily math lends itself to that because everyone’s at work at their own pace, so there’s no pressure to keep up with your classmates.
Host:
Thank you so much. I just wanted to share this with the folks on Facebook. If you were interested in registering for the January semester (or any semester as the SAEC is a continuous enrollment), the link is just below, it’s just below the video. You can click there to register. I’ll also post Kendra’s email address and also phone number if you have any questions that weren’t answered during this live broadcast today, I know all the staff are super interested in supporting whatever your journey is and answering any questions that may not have been addressed here today.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out, you can click that link and that’s your first step to enrollment. So that’s in the chat right there just below the video, and I’m just gonna take a look and see with some of our viewers and see what comments or questions we might have. Looks like we’ve got one from Sheila who said “Just thought I would share. I LOVE (in caps) all the staff at SAEC!! Huge support from all. Just popped by to say that and yes, I’m a student and I am doing just fine”. That’s for this and then we have another one from Tiffany Joseph who just says “hello as a former student of SAEC” as well. So it’s not just Chelsea there are a lot of former and existing students that have echoed what has been shared here today. So just thanks for that. Was there anything else that anybody would like to share with our audience, students might go back to their holiday festivities?
Kendra:
I’d be happy to share just a really quick note. If there’s anyone that’s online, I know I mentioned the link to our online registration form. But if by chance you don’t click on it, and you want to look back to it later on, you can find us under the Saanich Adult Education Centre subheading under the W̱SÁNEĆ school board website. So you’re welcome to fill out that online registration form at any time. That comes through to our admin office and then we just reach out and connect with you over the holidays or whenever we are back in January and then we’ll set up a time to come in and get to know a little bit more and what you’re interested in learning about if there are particular courses that you’re wanting to enroll in.
As mentioned, you do have the second semester starting up on January 30th. But for anyone wanting to start it, it’s just raring, sort of once we get back from the holiday break, we’re happy to welcome students as early as that first week back in January, but officially our second semester starts on January 30. We have new electives that will be delivered at that time as well so encouraging individuals to reach out sooner rather than later so that we can start having those conversations and connecting you with Kim and Kevin and members of our larger staff as well to help with course selection and in helping to make sure that we have you placed in coursework that you’re really excited about and that are supporting your goals.
Kevin:
I just wanted to echo quickly that as well. Don’t be afraid to come right on down to the centre as well and register in person. You know, there’s paperwork, a little bit of paperwork that needs to be done but its also a good way to meet with teachers and see the school a little bit and see how things are running. Yeah, so we’re always happy to welcome people in anyway, anytime throughout the day. Our classes start at 915 and end at 315. But we’re always happy to pop out and meet students as well.
Kim just before you jump in, because there’s more than one building on kind of a campus …and if it was my first time there, perhaps I don’t know where to go. Could you describe how to get there exactly?
Kevin:
Yes. So it’s the two-storey administration building the kind of beige gray color building. We’re on the second floor of the front entrance on the side of the building with the pole. So closest to the high school, the W̱SÁNEĆ leadership school. So if you come in that door and the white stairs or if you ask Diana at the reception desk downstairs, she can put you in the right direction
Fabulous, that helps a lot. Thank you so much, Kevin.
Kim:
I wanted to just remind people that we really respect the fact that it takes a lot of courage. To walk through these doors and register and we will make it a very painless and gentle. I will talk to you. We’re not going to throw a bunch of information in your face.
You may just say, you know, I just want to start in some way or something and just get my feet wet. And maybe that looks like doing some work from home or coming in once a week for a day or something but just come and chat with us if you want you can chat with former students like Chelsea, and we will start you out in a gentle nurturing way you’ll enjoy yourself. And if you’re thinking about making a new years resolution to learn fractions, I can help you with that!
Host:
I wonder how many people are resolving to learn fractions in 2023. But on a more serious note, there’s something so amazing about just how personalized and flexible, the intake experience is. It doesn’t have to be a lot of forms or paperwork or anything overwhelming.
And for anyone who is thinking about making a New Year’s resolution to potentially upgrade their education, to explore things like Indigenous Law, like Chelsey, or any other kind of education. The Dogwood opens a lot of doors as Chelsey said. I just want to thank everybody for tuning in whether you’re watching live or you’re watching the replay. As you spend time with family over the holidays and into January. It’s a continuous intake, so click that link anytime, pop by anytime, phone or email anytime.
The folks at the SAEC are really excited to hear from you to help you achieve your educational goals in whatever way works best for you. It’s been an absolute honor to host this session. I just wanted to thank everybody for showing up, for your time and I wish everyone a wonderful holiday.
