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Over the last few months the Bliss Learning Centre has gone from an idea to a reality. Number 9 Bala Pines Plaza has been painted, doors have been hung and shelves built. The Learning Centre is looking very smart and welcoming, but that is just the structure. More important are the people, volunteers, employees and most important, the students.
Twelve students have applied to join us this summer, and while some are still arranging their funding, all have been accepted. Our students range in age from 16 to 60 and all have one thing in common, they are non-speaking persons with a great desire to improve their communication skills so that they can interact with others more readily.
Our application to the Trillium Foundation was successful and we have been awarded a grant for hardware and software adaptations to benefit our Bliss students. We have also received funding from the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy to cover all the expenses related to accommodation, transportation and the personal care of our students. We have been very fortunate to be supported by private donors.
Items for our gift shop have been carefully chosen and all items will feature Blissymbols in their design. Jonathan Cresswell-Jones has designed a great Bliss layout to go on the back of our T. Shirt and our logo designed by Tammy Flynn Seybold based on an initial concept by Susan Pryke, Mayor of Muskoka Lakes Township, will go on the front. We will also have for sale jewelry, pottery, and stained glass.
A corner of the Learning Centre has been set aside for a library. We have a coffee table and a couple of comfortable chairs for visitors to sit down and browse through our collection of books about Blissymbols, ACC and the people who use them. We’re delighted to have a new home for the Susan Foster Odell Communication Reference Library. We hope that visitors to the Centre will take the time to educate themselves about Blissymbolics and its users.
Five computer technologists gathered for a meeting in our Learning Centre on May 28th to plan the support they will be giving our students over the summer. We look forward to watching the results of all the individualized programs. Thanks to Peter Lindsay, Zeke Baker, Russell Galvin, Paul Marshall and Randy Puchala, we are now ready for our first student.
We will be providing orientation and training sessions throughout the summer to instructors and friends of Bliss users. If you would like to attend a session or have a personalized introduction to Blissymbols, give us two weeks notice and we will try to accommodate your schedule.
Michael Bedard from Parry Sound is eagerly awaiting his week at the Learning Centre and will join us June 5th. One of Michael’s goals is to become proficient in email use so that he can contact friends now living in Ottawa, whom he has not seen in many years. Michael also wishes to take a train ride and so a day at Huntsville’s Pioneer Village and a ride on the train that runs through it will be one of his holiday activities.
Our Inaugural Luncheon and Silent Auction will be held on Sunday, Aug 18th from 11: 30 to 3:00 at the Port Carling Golf Club, Muskoka. Watch for details on our website www.blissymbols.org or if you plan to be in Muskoka that weekend, call the Learning Centre at 705-762 0028 for more details.
On Sunday June 16th at 10:30 am, Lee Mehrlich, our second Learning Centre student will join Pastor Gord Rutherford in conducting the service at the Congregational Church at Glen Orchard on highway 169. Lee is a lay pastor at his home church in Indiana and is very excited about taking part in a Sunday service here in Canada. As plans proceed for our other students, we’ll post announcements on our website.
We invite all those who are able, to join us in celebrating the opening of the Learning Centre on Saturday June 8th. Come and meet Michael, our very first Learning Centre student, and the team who have made the Centre possible. This will be the first of our regular Saturday ‘Open Houses.’ Visitors are welcome at any time, though on Saturdays our student of the week will take special time away from their studies to chat with visitors and make new friends.
Community Relations Coordinators
Jacqueline Stirrup and Paul Marshall.
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