Annual Report 2021-2022
The Power of Words
Without words, we couldn’t express ideas. Without ideas there would be no stories. Stories reflect our values and build understanding. Through understanding comes enlightenment, and it all starts with literacy.
Further Education Society has been bringing the power of words and the importance of literacy to children, adults, families, and communities for 26 years. But perhaps this past year stands out as exceptional, characterized by three powerful words:
Successful, transformational, Influential
Calgary programs
Our IMPACT in NUMBERS
952
adult learners and
families engaged
814
children reached through
family literacy programs
83
facilitators trained to
deliver FESA programs
94%
of learners showed
increased confidence
91%
of learners applied their
skills outside the classroom
96%
of learners progressed
towards their learning goals
Calgary programs
This year, as we began returning to in-person programs our focus was on building partnerships and engaging learners in new and fun ways, inspiring and building confidence in the capable learners they are.
We held various community events and activities to introduce literacy and essential skills in different ways including: week long Children’s Spring and Summer Programs, Family Day, Financial Literacy Day and National Children’s Day events, a Children’s Public Speaking program, a colouring competition and delivering holiday gift baskets and literacy kits to our program partners.
Fun with FESA
For our last children’s programs of the summer, we were able to meet for two hours each day from August 2nd to 5th at the Nepalese Community Society of Calgary. Participants joined in-person to develop social and literacy skills through interacting with each other and fun activities.
MEET SUSIE
Susie is from our Reading and Writing Circles program that's delivered at the Women in Need Society.
Reading and Writing Circles provides a safe environment where learners can read and write freely, at their own pace, and receive non-judgmental, personalized help with reading, writing and conversational English.
This year at the Women in Need Society, we delivered a hybrid program with a small group of participants in-person and a small group online simultaneously. We did this for several reasons: some participants were not comfortable coming in-person due to COVID-19, prior commitments like work, and problems with transportation. In addition, participants had grown to know each other and wanted to continue in the same group.
‘There were specific times where learners would struggle to answer a question on their worksheet and through guiding questions, they would reach the answer and instantly
have an ‘ah ha’ moment. Other enjoyable moments included the learners completing their worksheets and sharing their sense of accomplishment, taking a break from working and enjoying conversations, and making mistakes. My favourite part of the program was the way we all laughed together when words were mispronounced and misspelled, and all the learners helped each other build on their skills in a fun way. As a facilitator I misspelled and sometimes made small errors and was corrected by the learners. This created alighthearted, easy going, and non-judgemental environment where mistakes were learning opportunities.’
- Minahil, FESA Facilitator
MEET THOMAS
Thomas first joined FESA as a practicum student completing his Social Work Diploma. He returned as a summer student the following year as the Education Assistant.
Each year students from the Department of Child Studies and Social Work at Mount Royal University are referred to us to complete their practicum. This year we had 11 students learning about our programs, facilitating, creating lesson plans and activities and developing program partnerships.