History of PELC

In February 1993, Quinte Literacy (Belleville) and Prince Edward Board of Education began a partnership to create a literacy centre within Prince Edward County. The project was funded by the Labour Adjustment Initiative. The name of this new literacy program was Reading Plus, and was a satellite program of Quinte Literacy. The office was located in a building across from the A&P. Coordinator Cathy Asselstine, was the only staff member. Volunteers worked one-on-one with students. Jean Conley was hired in 1994 as an instructor. Cathy left the position of Coordinator several months later, and Jean took her place.

Later that same year, Christine Chapman transferred from Quinte Literacy to Reading Plus, in order to organize the office and act as secretary. Quinte Literacy advertised for a new Coordinator for Reading Plus. Linda Conley was hired for this position in 1995. We moved to King Street, behind the Health Unit. This gave us more room. Soon after, Keith Harford was hired through an HRDC contract to facilitate a seven month Employment Preparation Program. At the end of the seven months, his contract was extended until the end of the fiscal year. The next year he wrote Finding the Right Job, a job search workbook which has been used extensively across Ontario. Our funding switched to Prince Edward Board of Education. We were funded for a year and half under that board. In 1996, we partnered with Hastings Prince Edward Catholic School Board, to organize and provide adults with high school credit correspondence courses (Independent Learning Courses). We became incorporated in 1996 because the Ministry told us that we would soon have to apply for our own funding. We recruited our first board members.

It was at this time that we changed our name from Reading Plus to Prince Edward Learning Centre. The reasoning behind this was that we wanted to have a name that reflected a broader educational outlook. In 1997, the Ministry of Education (Literacy Branch) changed its year-end dates and told us that we had to apply for funding under our own name. By this time, our staff consisted of an Executive Director, Executive Assistant and two instructors. We began to teach within a classroom setting, in addition to one-on-one. In January 1998, Lori Farrington began a 5 week volunteer position through the Vocational Rehabilitation Program. At the end of the five weeks, it was decided that we would hire Lori. Our student numbers were increasing and we needed the coordinator of the Independent Learning Courses to teach full-time. We were also getting ready to move again.

We rented the whole downstairs of the Armoury Mall. This new space was 4 times the size of our previous office, and offered classroom space, computer lab, kitchen, and storage. The staff, along with several board members, worked very hard to clean the space up and create a new and better learning environment. We continue to strive for that today.

Soon after moving, our partnership with the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board ended when Loyola Learning Centre started a full- time adult learning high school credit centre. We no longer coordinated the Independent Learning Courses. Lori was asked, along with our returning summer student, to create a computer manual for WordPerfect. We partnered with Ontario Works, and in June 1998, taught our first computer course. Since that time, we have developed a second computer course which has also been taught. In November 1999, we began teaching three different computer courses to senior citizens in the community. We received money in 2000 from the National Literacy Secretariat for two projects. Keith updated and articulated his Finding the Right Job manual, and Lori wrote and articulated a manual called Customer Service, It’s more than just thank you...come again. We hired a person for a short contract to organize and facilitate a project in which students are recruited and then worked as a team to come up with a business idea. They planned, organized, and soon opened Rising Stars Gift Shop. The store ran for several months, but closed its doors after an unusually quiet summer season. The students learned a lot about starting and running a business, as well as about themselves. We now have one Literacy Basic Skills classroom which Keith runs. The number of learners in the classroom varies from day to day. Lori works two days a week organizing the Trails Woodshop project, which is a participatory learning program in which the students take leadership roles. The group is working hard at fixing up the Millennium Trail, which is a recreational trail that runs across Prince Edward County. They have a woodshop in Bloomfield at the Don Baxter Memorial Building.

We received two years of National Literacy Secretariat funding to write curriculum based on the Essential Skills. Lori wrote Skilled Trades Helpers and Food Processing Labourers and Christine wrote Health Studies. Keith wrote a Supported Job Search manual.

We are always looking for new and innovative ideas. We hire a summer student each year who helps out in almost every aspect of the Learning Centre. We participated in the Canada World Youth program for two years and the Katimavik program for four years. Both programs have been a rewarding experience.

We believe that true learning is experiential. We strive to create and maintain healthy working relationships with community partners. This is very important to us. We are very proud of where we have come from, and are looking forward to what the future will bring.