Remi Poliquin
Counsel
Verdun Schools’ CLCs Shine and LEARN
by Julie Liebman
Last month, representatives from LEARN (Leading English Education and Resource Network) and Community Development Agents (CDAs) from the Western Quebec School Board held a professional development day with one of the LBPSB’s very own CDAs, Simone Viger of the Verdun Community Learning Centre (CLC) in Verdun.
Simone Viger, LBPSB’s multi-site CDA for Riverview, Beurling Academy, and Verdun Elementary led the tour and discussions to share her learnings and successes. This was a great opportunity to showcase a CLC school in action!
Learn Quebec, an educational non-profit organization, supports the development of Community Learning Centres (CLC) like Riverview. Emma Legault, is the Director of the Provincial Resource team at LEARN. She works closely with principals, community resources, provincial resources, and Community Development Agents like Simone to support them and help them make connections across different sectors that benefit the school and its students.
She was on site with her team as well as 2 CLCs from the Western Quebec School Board. She explained that her role is to support CDAs like Simone to roll out common events like community nights, bolstering extracurricular activities, and connections with resources.
Beurling, Verdun Elementary, and Riverview Elementary, they are tremendously fortunate to have a CDA like Simone who is active and involved in the community and who can identify opportunities.
The visitors were treated to tours of the Heart and Hands Clinic at Verdun Elementary and Suspicious Fish Creative Arts Centre along with the Trevor Williams Kids Foundation Basketball and Chill Zone, Les Scientifines, and the Kilomaitre Lasalle – Track Stars.
“The Verdun CLC is incredible! In fact, this is why I invited colleagues from Gatineau to join us: so they could get a firsthand look at what has been built in Verdun. I hope they return to their schools inspired from what they’ve seen,” said Emma.
Mackenzie Palmer, a CDA from the Western Quebec School, traveled to Montreal with a colleague to visit the three Verdun Schools. With 25+ years in teaching, he started a new role as a CDA last year and was eager to learn more about the well-implemented Suspicious Fish program on Wellington Street.
“I love connecting resources and supporting passion projects while partnering with community resources,” says Simone, who has been in this role since 2016. “I get to enhance and enrich schools and act as a bridge with the greater community. I work with passionate and talented people who are dedicated to making connections between our schools, students, and the Verdun English community.”
