FURTHER EDUCATION SOCIETY'S NEWSLETTER    ~   NOVEMBER 2007   ISSUE 8

Message from the Co-Executive Directors

A picture from the Symposium - more on Page 3

Fall finds FESA, as many other non-profits, scrambling to fulfil the many well meant, but ambitious dreams, cooked up during the still moments of a hot summer vacation. In this issue you will get a glimpse of the result of those dreams. Our new pullout “LAPS in Review” section will highlight the symposium held in June involving 17 of our Western Canadian LAPS Trainers, the results of the LAPS Survey conducted by the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education. The FESA News & Views will inform readers about our casino held in September, our fundraiser in November, and introduce you to one of our Board members, Jane Stothers.

Exciting new developments include the proposal put forth to the Office of Literacy & Essential Skills (OLES) to expand the important work begun in partnership with Wal-Mart. Small celebrations have also been conducted at the completion of our policies & procedures governing our office and policies guiding our Board of Directors as well as the securement of additional insurance, supporting our Board, Facilitators, Staff and Trainers—minor victories, but important to an overworked small non-profit charity.

We wish you well in your work and look forward to your comments about anything you read in this issue.

Laureen MacKenzie & Elaine Cairns

Rotary - A Friend of Literacy Indeed!

Rotary, Downtown Calgary Chapter, has been a consistent supporter of our work with marginalized learners since FESA’s founding. Encouragement, dollars, consultations, and yes, even performance roles in our LAPS video have all been part of their generosity and concern for our welfare. Now a new chapter, Calgary West, has contributed to our outreach program, to attract isolated learners to several new initiatives. On July 20th, 2007, Mike Carlin, a very committed Rotary member invited Laureen MacKenzie of FESA to accept a cheque of $3000 to further our work. Thank you to Mike and Rotary Board of Directors for this generous support. Thank you also to Marg Henschel for her recognition of our work and efforts to put our proposal forward for consideration.