April 23rd, 2015

The WRDSB Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) hosted their annual family event ‘Building Skills to Navigate the School Years’ on Saturday, April 18 at Bluevale Collegiate Institute. They saw record numbers this year with 300 attendees registered.

The event kicked off with keynote speaker, Canadian singer, actor and artist, Lesley Andrew. Lesley embraced the audience with a mixture of stories, humour, lessons, singing, and inspiration of how she overcame the odds to follow her passion in life and how parents can help their children to do the same.

Following the keynote, parents/guardians attended sessions throughout the day with topics ranging from getting ready for kindergarten, easing the transition from high school to university, anxiety in children, emotional intelligence, nurturing the scientists in your family, math enrichment and many more. Resources from the sessions will soon be available on the PIC website.

A huge thank you goes out to the presenters, volunteers, University of Waterloo childcare group, WRDSB staff, and Mark Hunniford and his team at Bluevale Collegiate for helping to make this day a great success!

This event was made possible with funding by a Parent Reaching Out (PRO) regional grant from the Ontario Ministry of Education.

About PIC

PIC is a volunteer group committed to organizing resources for parents/guardians to help support their children’s learning. For more information about PIC or the event, email pic@wrdsb.ca.

 

Left to right: John Bryant, director of education, Laurie Tremble, PIC Co-Chair, Lesley Andrew, keynote speaker, and Chairperson Kathleen Woodcock.

Left to right: John Bryant, director of education, Laurie Tremble, PIC Co-Chair, Lesley Andrew, keynote speaker, and Chairperson Kathleen Woodcock.

 

Thank you to the organizing committee for all your hard work. The event was a huge success!

Thank you to the organizing committee for all your hard work. The event was a huge success!

 

Lesley Andrew captivated the audience with her stories, singing and lessons.

Lesley Andrew captivated the audience with her stories, singing and lessons.

 

Great group discussion and attendee turnout.

Great group discussion and attendee turnout.