Every year as part of my work with Success By 6 I get to do outreach at the local fairs and events. Last year I had a great time doing face painting, but found that despite my best efforts there were often long lineups, and not much time for me to talk to parents.
This year, since it is also Success By 6's 10th birthday we are doing a birthday party theme.
the ladies from the Hat shop putting on a mad hatters tea party Edie is on the far right. It was odd that when I started google image searching I found this pic of my former colleagues...I guess the world of hats is a small one :)
I spent a good portion of my young adulthood working at a hat store, Edies Hats, (Now the granville island hat shop) where my amazing friend and honorary Auntie Edie taught me all kinds of things, in particular, lots of things about hats. Both of my brothers also worked there, and I think that all of us have a deep love of hats as a result.
Given this history it's not surprising that when I needed to come up with a craft, I decided on, PARTY HATS! At the Old Masset Health Fair I had a huge time making party hats with the kids. I mostly used old file folders from the school that were free for the taking, and in a range of interesting colours for the hats, and then got streamers, feathers, stickers, and markers to decorate with. Here are some links I used for inspiration.
Oh Happy day had some great ideas, and even a pretty good template. I needed to tweak it a bit, but not bad. Here is a link to a website with 18 great party hat ideas.
I forgot how much fun it is to wear hats and make crafts. Honestly probably 2 of my favourite things.
these ones are leather but inspired me to make paper crowns, which were a huge hit
As some of you may know, I have embarked on a new adventure in learning. I am currently training to become a certified sexual health educator through Opt's SHEC program.
Before beginning the program I needed to complete a pre requisite, the Comfort, Attitudes and Values Evaluation CAVE (formerly the Sexual Attitudes Reassessment -SAR) weekend, which I would highly recommend to anyone. This was a very liberating experience and there were many people after the weekend who said "this is the best thing I have ever done for myself".
I haven't posted on this blog for a while, but thought that since I am in school again, it would once again be a great place to share some of what I'm learning since I find myself talking about it a lot, and having access to a lot of great new info I didn't before. So stay tuned!
To start off here are a few links worth checking out:
Kerri Isham. Kerri is the one who got me into all this. She is a terrific educator from Nanaimo who we brought to Haida Gwaii last year to teach body science and abuse prevention, and who did such a great job that the school board brought her back within 6 months. Despite her success she realized that Our budgets would not allow us to do this every year, and so encouraged me to take the training she had done so that I will be able to offer similar workshops. She has a great website with tons of amazing resources.
Scarleteen: a great website geared to teens and 20 somethings. This site is run by a very dedicated woman who happens to be the author of one my textbooks for the course. She tends to be a little wordy, but is very passionate and goes into great detail.
I also want to plug the sex sense line, which you have no doubt seen ads for if you ever use public transit in the lower mainland. if you call 1-800-SEX SENSE you will be connected with nurses and trained professionals whom you can ask anything. They can tell you where the nearest clinic is, and answer all kinds of questions that might stump others. They are open from 9am-9pm monday to friday.
Laci Green. This 20 year old from Berkley is the embodiment of Sec positivity. She is the best friend you wish you had had in University. She is one of my new heroes. She is funny, dynamic, whip smart and very loveable.
Meg Hickling is a Public Health Nurse who revolutionized sex ed in BC and whose impact has been felt all across Canada. She used to come and teach on Haida Gwaii until she retired. Her books are amazing, and give terrific language parents can use to speak to their kids (of all ages) about sex.
Alright, It's time for bed. There will be more soon, but check these out and let me know what you think.
