As an educator and Adult Education Director at the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, it is a great pleasure for me to see our Social Integration Services Program continuing to expand in the Laval community.

In the short time we have been in operation, we have seen our classes expand to two full groups of adults over the age of 21 with intellectual challenges. We are proud of our program and the community recognizes the value of our efforts and the services that we provide to our 25 clients with special needs.

Social Integration Services is a Quebec Ministry of Education sanctioned program which seeks to develop life skills competencies in 14 different areas such as personal health care, financial literacy, communication skills, nutritional awareness, socialization skills, technology literacy as well as academic and language skills. Our team of dedicated and experienced professionals work on the development of individualized success plans for each client in order to support their growth and development as their situations allow.

With this in mind, we embarked on a new adventure with a program developed for our group of students which used digital photography as a form of therapy. Students learned the basics of photography with a qualified photographer as they took photos on their regular outings in the community. After the photos were developed, the students mounted them on cards and invited their families and community members to a vernissage and sale. They even presented their photos for sale at the school board offices in Rosemère!

This however, is just a small part of what the students experience in the program. We have expanded our curriculum to include the use of Smartboards and iPads in both classes where students create slideshows and their own movies. Our students are learning to speak French using Rosetta Stone software and working with a French teacher on a regular basis. Weekly yoga classes have recently been added to help with mobility and the reduction of stress and anxiety. Our dance, creative arts, music and movement activities are also very popular.

We are very excited about our newest activity with an SIS mobile canteen in our Vimont adult education centre. In teams, the students in the program will purchase healthy snack items at the local grocery store, price them for sale, and visit classes during break times to sell their canteen items to other students and staff members. The focus is on healthy snacks, communication, and of course, managing money. The students are excited to take on this activity which gives them many real opportunities to meet new people and develop social skills.

As educators, we discovered that through a variety of innovative activities our students were able to relieve stress and anxiety, develop social and communication skills and express their creativity in new and exciting ways. Our goal at the CDC Vimont is to support all of our adult students to enable them to be happy, responsible and productive members of the community, and this program supported our efforts.

As the Director of Adult Education, I am proud that our Social Integration Services students have the unique opportunities to showcase their talents in the Laval community. This is a wonderful way for others to see our center and what it has to offer adults of all ages and abilities.

Please visit our Facebook page and our website at bilingualtraining.ca for a sampling of their exceptional and inspirational photographs, as well as a description of our program.