Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/134411
Grants at a Glance Here are a few of the projects Vancouver Foundation and our donors recently supported Voices on Main Street Wolf Mountain Collective, a group of young writers on Vancouver's east side, has a mission: "to make poetry tough again." And, with a little help from Vancouver Foundation's Neighbourhood Small Grants program, they've taken their project to the street. With a grant of $650, the collective created the Wolf Mountain Poetry Trail on Main Street in Vancouver, stencilling their work on the sides of buildings at 11 locations. Everyone is welcome to join in this unique poetry "scavenger hunt" that runs the length of the Mt. Pleasant neighbourhood. Nature Kindergarten Located on the southwest tip of Vancouver Island, Sooke is part of a beautiful temperate rainforest in one of the mildest climates in Canada. But sadly, with playtime often indoors or technology-focused, the number of local children enjoying this natural bounty is in decline. The Sooke School District (No. 62) sought to change this by launching the Nature Kindergarten program last fall, after receiving a $60,000 grant from Vancouver Foundation. Nature Kindergarten aims to help young children spend more time connecting with nature by providing students with outdoor learning every morning, rain or shine. It increases students' physical activity, and helps them develop connections to nature and aboriginal ways of knowing. Nature Kindergarten will be taught by both a kindergarten teacher and an early childhood educator – a unique teaching model for BC public schools. The Sooke School District is using this program as a pilot to test the concept over the next two years. If successful, it may be replicated in other BC school districts and beyond. p4-5 GAAG.indd 4 13-05-22 12:30 PM