FRIDAY NOV 01 2013 VOL. 40, NO. 22
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Compasses in Crippen
Favourite Things
Playing in the big league
IPS students students and their plans for the Park
Local musicians put the return of steady gigs at the top of the list
Local entrepreneur grows into a bigger market
Belterra prepares to break ground Council grants final approval necessary to move forward on development MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Michael and Ty Kenney participated in the Pumpkins and Dads event put on by Children’s place, Family Place and the Bowen Island Irly Building Centre. Debra StringfellowPhoto credit
Library begins journey to the 21st Century MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
W
ith a two-thousand dollar grant awarded this week by the municipality to the BICS Parent Advisory Committee, and a 5 thousand dollar private donation, the library at BICS is ready to begin its transformation into a learning space fit for the 21st Century. “At this point, a computer lab is outdated,” says Parent Advisory Committee member Cam Hayduk. “Computers are mobile now, and in the new library that will be reflected in a café-style area with I-Pad docs. It will be a gathering space that integrates media, online learning and collaboration.” Hayduk compares the vision for the future of the BICS library to the UBC Learning Commons. This transformed-library offers
a multi-media help desk, tutoring in math, physics, economics and chemistry, writing support and peer academic coaching. “The BICS Learning Commons would be age-appropriate, of course,” says Hayduk. “But the goal is to provide a space for hands-on learning, digital literacy, collaboration - and not just between students, but also between teachers.” The, “Learning Commons Model” tries to harness the inclination of today’s students towards emerging technologies, but seeks to teach them how to use these tools for learning and critical thinking. The librarian-teacher at BICS, Kalen Marquis, sees this as a lifeline for libraries. As a teacher with a graduate diploma in literacy, he’s a natural fit for this position.
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continued, PAGE 6
After twelve years of planning, applying, waiting and negotiating, Belterra Cohousing development is ready to break ground. On November 8th, the people who dreamed it up, alongside builders, future homeowners and the three mayors and councils who have helped grow the project will have the opportunity to put a shovel in the ground of the building site on Belterra Road, behind the Island Pacific School. “When we started this, we didn’t even know what cohousing was,” says Stephanie Legg, who started brainstorming about creative ways to develop the property with her partner Roger McGillivray in 2001. “We just wanted to build something other than a huge house on a big acreage. We wanted to do something community oriented.” McGillivray, who has built custom homes on Bowen since 1976, bought the land in 1990 with Wolfgang Duntz. Duntz developed the lower half, with Island Pacific School, Cates Hill Chapel and the Bowen Island Children’s Centre. “The intent was originally to build six to eight houses up there,” says McGillivray. “But that just didn’t feel right. I wanted to do something different.” What McGillivray and Legg dreamed up - a smaller community within the bigger one, that would share resources - fit into the idea of cohousing, originally developed in Denmark in the 1970s. continued, PAGE 2