Arts Council

(Continued from page 22) what else would you like to add to the list? We want to expand the health service we are able to offer to our community.

Becoming a member means you are helping to bring health care and allied services close to home and supporting the services already provided and those we hope to provide in the future. Membership is $20 for a single membership or $35 for a family. Other donations are accepted too including donations of time, energy, talents and sweat labour. sshealthss@gmail.com or call 250-675-3661

Registration for Lessons at FACES is Now Open! Arts Council for the South Shuswap

Submitted by Jacquie Middlekoop

The Arts Council for the South Shuswap is happy to welcome back students and teachers for in-person lessons this Fall!

We have worked extremely hard over the summer to develop the FACES 2020 Health & Safety Plan. The health of our students and instructors amid the Covid-19 pandemic is our top priority. This is why we’ve introduced new health and safety measures at the studio for the 2020-2021 year. These include: no touch sanitizing stations, enhanced cleaning measures, shortened class lengths to allow for thorough cleaning in between each class, a maximum of 6 participants per dance class, the option to take private music lessons in either the art room or dance studio to allow for social distancing, disposable masks available at all times, temperature screening upon entry to the studio, and strict attendance reports to assist with contact tracing if need be. The full, detailed Covid19 Health & Safety Plan may be found on our website www.shuswaparts.com.

Registration is open for ballet, contemporary dance, private music lessons, and art. The choir and theatre programs are suspended for the time being. Complete class descriptions, schedules, fees, teacher bios and instructions on how to register may also be found on the website www.shuswaparts.com. Just a reminder FACES can bill direct to the Home Learning and Home Schooling programs in our area. If you have any questions about this process please email Jacquie at assist@shuswaparts.com.

ZOOM Music Lessons at FACES

The Arts Council for the South Shuswap offers ZOOM private music lessons to students wishing to continue with virtual learning this Fall. Though we’ve done our absolute best to ensure the health and safety of all who enter our studio, we understand if you’re not quite ready for that! A computer or tablet with a stable internet connection is required. To learn more please contact Jacquie at assist@shuswaparts.com.

The Long Road to an Education Restart Plan

By Greg Kyllo, MLA Shuswap

I first want to thank all the concerned parents, teachers and administrators who have contacted my office over the last months, sharing with me your frustrations and anxiety over the continuous lack of a clear school restart plan by this government. We have all felt a multitude of challenges during the past months due to COVID-19, but it is clear that school is providing the most difficulties.

Yet I feel that this government has simply made it worse by placing the majority of the responsibility around preparing for the coming year on B.C.’s 60 individual school districts, leaving them on their own to figure out how to adapt to the health guidelines from the province.

You can ask any small business owner who has done their best to reopen and provide services just how hard it can be to navigate those guidelines, so when you expand that to hundreds of schools and thousands of students, you can imagine the challenge downloaded to these districts this summer.

By waiting until the end of August, even though we have been in this since March, it has made it even more of a burden upon administrators, teachers and parents wondering what is going to happen in September.

This lack of leadership is also echoed in the outrageous decision by the NDP to cut $12 million in funding to Independent Distributed Learning programs during the pandemic. This effectively limited and cut access to a service that has never been more needed than right now. Remote learning is important to so many rural families and add to that the challenges of COVID-19 and that type of fiscal decision is truly asinine.

Our kids deserve the best access to education that they can safely receive, so I am pleased that all British Columbians have worked hard enough to flatten the curve and get us to this point, but that does not excuse a colossal misuse of resources and months of stress placed on so many of us due to a lack of leadership by this government.