With the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre becoming a success story in the community, Holy Trinity Catholic School Division wants to see the organization receive provincial accolades for its activities.
During their recent board meeting, Catholic trustees voted unanimously to approve the nomination of the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre partnership for the 2022 Premier’s Award for Innovation. The award recognizes educational innovations and improvements that focus on student achievement and that boards of education have advanced or directed.
This is year 3 of Holy Trinity’s partnership with the centre, so the submission package will highlight the centre’s programming, the Kinsmen Café and the Kinsmen Inclusion Garden.
The Kinsmen Inclusion Centre is at 335 Fourth Avenue Southwest, the Café is at 431 Fourth Avenue Southwest, while the garden is at the Holy Trinity board office.
Moose Jaw Families for Change (MJFFC) started the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre in 2018 to provide day programs for people with intellectual disabilities and a safe and inclusive place for them.
MJFFC then opened the Kinsmen Café in 2019. The café offers people of various disabilities the opportunity to work and be productive in the community. They handle everything from food prep to serving tables to greeting customers at the door with menus.
Meanwhile, Holy Trinity and the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre opened the garden this past June. The garden is an accessible garden with raised garden beds, paved pathways, accessible seating, accessible shed — everything an individual who can’t use garden beds on the ground could use.
Submission information
Xerox Canada sponsors the award and provides one $3,000 prize to the winner. The Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) administers the prize and hands it out during the annual fall general assembly in November. The money must be used to support or extend the innovation or project.
The SSBA will later ask the winner to describe how the funds helped extend the initiative.
The “broad purpose” of the award is to recognize and celebrate the involvement of boards of education in improving learning opportunities for children and youths, the SSBA says.
As part of the nomination process, school divisions must describe how the program addresses certain criteria, such as:
- Evidence of direct board influence and participation in the innovation
- Innovative nature of the program or project
- Sustainability of the innovation within the system or school
- Client — teachers, parents, students, school community councils — support for the innovation
- Partnerships in support of the innovation
- Evidence of improved student achievement
The next Holy Trinity board meeting is Monday, Oct. 24.
