Contact
Sheryl Bruggeling
Mennonite Central Committee
905-646-3161
sherylb@mennonitecc.on.ca
Where
Althouse College, University of Western Ontario1137 Western Road
London, ON N6G 1G7
Driving Directions
Schedule
8:15 - 9:00 Registration
9:00 - 9:15 Opening remarks and tips for the day
9:15 - 10:00 Keynote Speaker: Kathryn Edmunds
10:00-10:20 Break
10:20 – 11:20 Workshop 1
11:25 – 12:25 Workshop 2
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch
1:35 - 2:10 Displays, resources, connections
2:10 - 2:25 Break
2:25 – 3:45 Workshop 3 & Evaluation
Thank you to the following organizations and agencies who have generously supported this annual event by delegating staff to the Interagency Networking Conference Committee:
Family and Children Services of St. Thomas and Elgin County
Grand Erie District School Board
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit
Mennonite Central Committee Ontario
Mennonite Community Services Aylmer Resource Centre
Norfolk Community Health Centre
Oxford-Elgin Child and Youth Centre
Thames Valley School District School Board
Windsor Essex County Health Unit
17th Annual Networking Conference
Rethinking Approaches, Challenging Mindsets
This conference is particularly helpful for service providers to understand the religious and cultural implications of working with the Low German populations.
The keynote speaker, Kathryn Edmunds, will be addressing the topic "We are tired of thinking and working with poverty:" Challenging Mindsets.
Ms. Edmunds has extensive experience working with the Low German Speaking Mennonites from Mexico population as a public health nurse with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit in rural southwestern Ontario. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing at the University of Western Ontario and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Windsor.
Sessions
Attendees will be able to attend three sessions:
Workshop Selections
Low German 101: Identifying, naming and exploring sensitivities when working with the Low German Newcomers with Anne Wall, Child Protection Worker, Family and Childrens` Services. This workshop will provide information about the history and migrations of the Low German population. Through storytelling, reflections, and discussion, participants will gain helpful insights into working with Low German families. This seminar is particularly beneficial for service providers who have never attended before and for those wanting to learn more about the culture.
Lost in Translation: Unique challenges for interpreting Mennonite Low German (oral language) with Abe Harms, Mennonite Community Services. Participants will learn about language euphemisms, idioms and questions that create interpreting challenges for Low German speaking clients and also for interpreters.
Learn Low German: Sorry this workshop is full. with Maria Dyck a Low German Radio host. Come and learn about the Low German language and practise some valuable terms and phrases that will help build rapport with Low German speaking clients.
Working Effectively with Trained Interpreters with Laura Comiskey from Across Languages, and Ohayla Al-Khatib from the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre. Often, when there is a language difference, practitioners rely on untrained interpreters such as relatives, neighbours, or children to interpret for clients. This often leads to errors in comprehension including erroneous assessment, inaccurate diagnosis, compromised confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and wasted hours. Join us in this workshop to learn how to effectively work with trained interpreters.
Migration and Religious Transformation in the Low German Community with Karen Campbell. In this workshop, participants will learn about the diversity of religious practice within the Mennonite faith. We will explore how the processes of migration, settlement, and integration into Canadian society have influenced this diversity, focusing specifically on youth and young adults.
Best Practices of Service Delivery with Kathryn Edmunds (Keynote speaker). Using discussion and through sharing of participants` own experiences, this workshop will explore themes related to practices of service delivery, agency engagement and advocacy, and social inclusion.
Building Bridges: A Learning Curve of Giving and Receiving with Teresa Tratnek and Loreen Plett. They will share their learnings from their work experiences as Immigrant outreach worker and public health nurse in Perth district.
Our Centre Peel School Community "Providing Pathways for Students" with Rhonda Gingrich, Principal. At Centre Peel, everything that is done reflects a belief of thinking differently to improve student learning. The story of the school is based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, efficacy, evidence and persistence all supported though conversation by concrete examples, and resources.
Reader’s Theatre as a tool for English Literacy Development with Julie Berry, Librarian, Aylmer Public Library. This workshop will introduce participants to the use of Reader’s Theatre in radio show production to enhance the literacy development of Low German speaking students. A risk-free environment is created for English Language Learners using the software available.
On the Road to First Language Literacy: Exposing LGS to reading and writing in Low German with Donna Pardy, ESL Resource Teacher, Wellington Dufferin Guelph School Board. This workshop will explore ways to introduce written Low German in a school setting where the goal is to increase student efficacy and engagement while creating an awareness of the possibility to read and write in the students` first language.
Give and Get: Sorry this workshop is full. Low German resources sharing with Suzanne West, Grand-Erie DSB and Catarina Vindasius A.S.P.I.R.E Program, Thames Valley DSB. Bring a sample of a resource or project that has worked successfully with the Low German speaking community and in return receive the benefit of learning of other projects from those in the session.