Rotary to mentor youths
Students at two Morinville elementary schools will have new mentors this winter thanks to a deal signed by the town's Rotary Club.
The Rotary Club of Morinville signed an agreement today with Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools and the Sturgeon School Division to start a student mentorship program at the Morinville Public and Notre Dame Elementary schools.
The club decided to start the program this year as a way to give back to their community, said Gordon Boddez, former Morinville town councillor and vocational services director for the club.
"The intention here is to help students that are falling through the cracks," he said, whether through tutelage or simple friendship, and to help them do better in school.
The plan is to initially train 10 Rotary members to be mentors through The Boys & Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton & Area, Boddez said. Those mentors will pair up with Grade 3 students at Morinville Public and Notre Dame and spend about half an hour a week giving them whatever help they need.
Children with mentors do better in school and relationships and are less likely to turn to drugs and alcohol, said Liz O'Neill of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton, who is working with Morinville Rotary members on this mentorship program.
"If you've got a cheerleader in your life, somebody who cares about you, you're going to do better."
The mentors will be in Morinville schools by January, Boddez said.
Town wins health award (again)
The town of Morinville may need a bigger trophy case soon – it's picked up yet another award for its efforts to promote healthy living.
Melonie Dziwenka, community program co-ordinator for the Town of Morinville, said she received notice last week that the town had once again won an award under the Communities ChooseWell program.
Communities ChooseWell is a provincial program run by the Alberta Recreation & Parks Association (ARPA) that encourages healthy eating and active living.
The town won in the category of providing health education, which recognizes communities that provide residents with information with which to improve their health and wellness knowledge.
It's the third time in four years that the town has won a ChooseWell award, Dziwenka said.
"We did it again!"
The town has offered a lot of active living education in the past, so staff focused on bringing healthy eating to as many programs as possible this time around, Dziwenka said. That meant running parent-child baking nights, teaching kids to make fun, healthy snacks, and giving recipes to parents during recreation classes.
Dziwenka will accept the award on the town's behalf this Oct. 22 at the 2015 ARPA conference at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
New talk space
Kids young and old now have a place to hang out at in Morinville's community centre.
Morinville is holding its annual Active Living Fair at the Community Cultural Centre this Sept. 3. The fair offers residents a chance to learn about and join some 30 different community groups in town.
As part of the event, the town will be officially opening the centre's community coffee corner/youth centre on the centre's second floor balcony.
Community Services needed to find a new home for the town's youth centre, Dziwenka said. Staffers also wanted to draw more attention to the art exhibits regularly shown on the lobby's balcony and give parents a place where they could sit, chat and network.
The balcony area will now serve as a supervised youth space from 3 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and a coffee corner the rest of the time, Dziwenka said. It's been tricked out with couches, computers, tables (pool, foosball and regular), a mini-library and a coffee machine for anyone to use. (No, the coffee is not free.)
The active living fair runs from 6 to 8 p.m. Call 780-939-7839 for details.
