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Golden key opens door to lifelong learning
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March 21, 2003
SFU Golden Key International Honour Society vice-president Paul Gross wants to unlock the door to lifelong learning for a group of disadvantaged school children in east Vancouver.
Gross, who will graduate this year in kinesiology, is working with local members of the non-profit organization to launch an on-going service project intended to inspire a passion for learning in elementary school children. The "Lifetime of Learning" project officially kicks off March 28, with a visit to SFU by a class of Grade 3 and 4 students from Mt. Pleasant elementary school, near Broadway and Main. Between 10 am and 2 pm, two dozen children and their teacher will take part in an interactive Science Al!ve program in the SFU chemistry labs, followed by lunch and a tour of the campus.
The idea, says Gross, came to him last fall after he attended a speaker’s series on social inventors at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue. "It was a mind-blowing experience. I came away with the clear understanding that when you see a potential to make a difference in your community, you are, as a citizen, obliged to act."
The Golden Key Society, whose members have a cumulative grade point average in the top 15 per cent of their respective faculties, has a strong community service mandate. Since its charter year in 2000, the SFU chapter has donated substantial time and resources to support the YMCA Nanook child care centre, which offers preschool and daycare services to low-income families in east Vancouver.
"We’d been organizing clothing and book drives and painting projects for Nanook, but I wanted to find a way to make a more substantial impact," says Gross. "I thought, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could find a way to stimulate an enduring curiosity and inquisitiveness in these kids; if we could open their eyes to the myriad opportunities that learning offers?"
In consultation with his Golden Key colleagues, Gross conceived of an annual program that would bring the same group of children and university students together three times each year for different learning-focussed events. The staff at Nanook suggested the concept was best suited to school-aged children making the transition from primary to elementary education, and directed him to Mt. Pleasant.
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Contact
Paul Gross, Golden Key vice-president,604.936.6800; pagross@sfu.ca
Jacky Farquhar, 604.630.6000, ext 1555; jfarquha@sfu.ca
Gross, who will graduate this year in kinesiology, is working with local members of the non-profit organization to launch an on-going service project intended to inspire a passion for learning in elementary school children. The "Lifetime of Learning" project officially kicks off March 28, with a visit to SFU by a class of Grade 3 and 4 students from Mt. Pleasant elementary school, near Broadway and Main. Between 10 am and 2 pm, two dozen children and their teacher will take part in an interactive Science Al!ve program in the SFU chemistry labs, followed by lunch and a tour of the campus.
The idea, says Gross, came to him last fall after he attended a speaker’s series on social inventors at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue. "It was a mind-blowing experience. I came away with the clear understanding that when you see a potential to make a difference in your community, you are, as a citizen, obliged to act."
The Golden Key Society, whose members have a cumulative grade point average in the top 15 per cent of their respective faculties, has a strong community service mandate. Since its charter year in 2000, the SFU chapter has donated substantial time and resources to support the YMCA Nanook child care centre, which offers preschool and daycare services to low-income families in east Vancouver.
"We’d been organizing clothing and book drives and painting projects for Nanook, but I wanted to find a way to make a more substantial impact," says Gross. "I thought, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could find a way to stimulate an enduring curiosity and inquisitiveness in these kids; if we could open their eyes to the myriad opportunities that learning offers?"
In consultation with his Golden Key colleagues, Gross conceived of an annual program that would bring the same group of children and university students together three times each year for different learning-focussed events. The staff at Nanook suggested the concept was best suited to school-aged children making the transition from primary to elementary education, and directed him to Mt. Pleasant.
-30-
Contact
Paul Gross, Golden Key vice-president,604.936.6800; pagross@sfu.ca
Jacky Farquhar, 604.630.6000, ext 1555; jfarquha@sfu.ca