Renfrew-Collingwood Community News

News stories from the Renfrew-Collingwood community in East Vancouver

Category Archives: People


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13th Annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival this Saturday, September 26

Moon-Festival-September-26BY SILING ZHANG

Fall is officially upon us and so is this year’s Renfrew Ravine Harvest Moon Festival, scheduled for this Saturday, September 26 at both Slocan and Renfrew parks! For those of you who just can’t wait, Still Moon Arts has organized a series of activities leading up to the festivities. This is your opportunity to get involved!

Local artist Yoko Tomita will be teaching lantern workshops at the Slocan Field House from 4-8 pm on the following days:

• Bamboo and Wire Frame Lanterns: September 14-18
• Globe Lantern: September 21-23
• Glass Jar Lanterns on September 23-24

The cost of these workshops is between $10 and $25. No reservations are required. For more information, check out our website stillmoon.org!

Due to the drought and dryness this year, we are also on the lookout for glass jar donations to minimize fire hazards within the ravine. We are looking for short jars, no longer than the length of your hand, with rims wide enough to fit a tea candle. If you have any such jars to spare, we would love to have them! Jars can be dropped off at the lantern workshops in Slocan Park Field House.

For the avid gardeners, don’t forget to bring your best vegetation to the Harvest Fair portion of the Moon Festival at Slocan Park. Categories include:
• Most sizeable sunflower
• Most bountiful flower bouquet
• Most gorgeous green bouquet
• Most creative fall display
• Tastiest homemade jam/jelly
• Most alluring Asian vegetable
• Most cumbersome cabbage
• Tubbiest tomato
• Heaviest zucchini
• Sexiest squash
• Beefiest bean
• Craziest carrot

Please visit the website at stillmoon.org for regular updates, or find them on Facebook, where they’ll be posting up-to-date details on all their activities, including a series of free preview concerts featuring musicians from the Moon Festival line-up!


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Meet Diana! An INTERactive connector

BY MELISSA CHAN

Diana, an INTERactive connector

INTERactive connector Diana. Photo by Brenda Zeimer

Through my own volunteer work with INTERactive, I’ve met some inspirational, dedicated individuals in the Renfrew-Collingwood community—people who want to make a difference in the lives of others.

Fortunately, I was able to meet with Di (Diana) Dyck: A lady who puts a tonne of effort into her volunteer work, despite challenges she faces due to a disability. But that doesn’t stop her. What caught my attention was the fact that Di was even able to communicate with another person who does not speak her language.

Di has lived in Renfrew-Collingwood for several years and has been an INTERactive connector for over a year, dedicating her spare time to helping Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH). She was originally referred to INTERactive by Sterling James, a member of the INTERactive Community Partners Circle who describes her as a “social butterfly.”

“What I like about the community is that it is safe and full of friendly people,” Di says. She reaches out by talking with new people, and starting conversations about opportunities through CNH and other agencies and community groups. From approaching businesses to providing information pamphlets, Di truly values the importance of getting to know and build a connection with other community members.

In her spare time, Di also enjoys baking cookies and going for walks around the neighbourhood. She has met many new friends, and has increased self-confidence through her volunteer experience. Di has built upon new skills which she’ll carry with her, throughout life.

Melissa Chan is involved with INTERactive as a connector. 

Copyright (c) 2015 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News


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Judy Payne one of Windermere’s secrets to success

BY MOHINI TAKHAR

Windermere's Judy Payne

Windermere’s amazing Judy Payne

Windermere high school does a lot of great things to help students thrive and be successful in all aspects of our lives. Honestly, high school is not the easiest time of a teenager’s life. There’s academics, relationships, extracurriculars and even sports! While balancing all the important things in a student’s life, we tend to feel a little stressed out. Well, more like a lot.

Fortunately, Windermere has a variety of places for students to go to receive support, such as tutorial Thursdays, homework club and the resource department. Thursday is the day where blocks are shortened every week so students are able to receive help before or after school. I think this helps students get support in certain areas they are struggling with. Homework club takes place every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays where students can go to receive help after school. The student support assistants (SSAs) are there to circulate around to help students with their academics. The SSAs are also part of Windermere’s Resource Centre.

The Resource Centre’s one and only Judy Payne does everything in her power to ensure that her students are getting the resources they need to do their best in everything possible. A short while ago, Payne received a $12,500 grant for Math Academy, which is a program that our grade 8 students use. I decided to have a one-on-one chat with the admirable Payne, not to just discuss the fantastic news but also to get to know her better.

“My goal is to change our special education so that we don’t have special ed classes, Payne said. “We have places where students can go for assistance and they get specialized support but we prefer to have all students be included in every part of the school.” Wouldn’t that be awesome? I think Payne is doing a fantastic job of making it work.

So I asked the determined teacher what Math Academy is. I don’t know about Math Academy and you probably don’t know either but Payne and Jeanette Inglis are here to solve the mystery. Inglis is one of the Math 8 teachers and has been using Math Academy for three years.

Payne explained, “Using the Academy of Math has allowed us to identify individual student weaknesses and allow the students themselves the opportunity to work on what they need to.” Inglis added, “The program figures out what level the student is at and what different things they need to practice and then expect them to be able to do those skills.” This is exactly what I would use if I travelled back in time!

Lastly, I asked Payne, “What is your number-one thing to do when you’re extremely exhausted?” She responded, “What I do is try to at least get up and move around and at that point it’s just getting up and doing things until the exhaustion passes.” Ms. Payne never surrenders!

I then asked, “What is your number-one priority as a resource teacher?” She replied,” I really try to have my door open as much as I can I try to work with any student who needs help.” As you can tell Payne is a very hardworking and dedicated teacher!

Mohini Takhar is a grade 11 Windermere Secondary student and writer-in-progress. “My biggest fear and thrill is public speaking because I strive to inspire people. I was privileged to have the opportunity to speak before three hundred people about myself multiple times on behalf of the Centre for Child Development. Being disabled never holds me back and that’s the best thing about me.”

Copyright (c) 2015 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News