March 21, 2016 @ Taj Banquet Hall
Toronto West LIP Year End Event: Successes and Envisioning
The Toronto West LIP Year End Event: Successes and Envisioning was held on March 21st, 2016 at the Taj Banquet Hall. The event provided an opportunity for the community members in the Toronto West area to learn about the work of the TWLIP, and an opportunity for them to participate in the TWLIP envisioning session for the next TWLIP phase.
The event began with an opening remark from Heather Sant, Executive Director at JobStart, followed by the launch of the welcome2school website. The website was collaboratively developed by the Toronto West LIP (Education Resources for Newcomer Families Action Group) and Toronto South LIP; it is intended to help front-line professionals connect newcomer families to resources, workshops, and programs about the education system. After the launch of the website, the other five Action Groups of the TWLIP presented key highlights and successes of their work accomplished within the past year while also sharing challenges and lessons learnt in achieving goals.
At the second half of the event, attendees gathered into groups of 10 to partake in the envisioning session for the next TWLIP phase 2016/17. Each group were asked to share their ideas on the following two questions:
- What aspects/areas can TWLIP enhance what it’s currently doing?
- Based on the work that you do, please identify the emerging trends/initiatives that TWLIP could consider focusing on in the future.
During the reporting back period, a visual graphic recorder documented the responses on a 10 foot piece of paper. The visual representation captured an artistic representation of the ideas, discussion and thoughts of members on how they wanted to see TWLIP moving forward.
The event concluded with a catered lunch and participants enjoyed taking pictures at the photo booth.
- Opening remarks by Heather Sant, Executive Director at JobStart
- The launch of the Welcome2School website by Janet Hallett, Chair of the Education Resources for Newcomer Families
- Graphic recorder
- Group discussion report back
- Group discussion report back
- TWLIP Staff Team with emcee Jone Cher
- Group picture
- Graphic recording of the group discussion