Martin C. Barry

If laughter is the “best medicine,” as an old bit of folk wisdom maintains, then a group of volunteers from health and social services establishments in Laval got a good dose of it on Sept. 20 when the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de Laval held an event where the volunteers had a chance to upgrade the knowledge and learning for their tasks.

Laughter as medicine

During one of the morning sessions given at the Centre for the protection of children and youth on Cartier Blvd. West, Isabella Bitetto, who is responsible for volunteers and leisure activities at the Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital and who is also certified in laughter specialist, led a presentation in the importance of laughing.

Bitetto gave the session participants a taste of the training she received from the World Laughter Tour, an organization with local chapters which, according to their website, are part of a “worldwide movement for health, happiness and peace by encouraging everyone to tap into the positive benefits of laughter and humor.” Bitetto took part in a laughter workshop in Montreal in 2009.

Some serious laughter

“The importance of laughing is very serious,” she said without any intentional irony. “Children don’t question and they do it with all their hearts. We the adults we control ourselves because it isn’t always appropriate. But laughing from the heart is a universal language which is understood the world over for the message it expresses: joy, peace and enjoyment.”

Bitetto led the group through a number of physical laughter exercises. While some may have found them a little silly at first, before long it was obvious the mood in the room had grown lighter and that everyone – including yours truly – was more relaxed.

Bitetto’s session prepared the group for the workshop that immediately followed hers, which was on a far more serious topic: how to deal with patients or health and social service clients who are agitated or who are being aggressive.

Dealing with aggression

Josée Meunier, a clinical councillor at the CISSS’s multidisciplinary services department, provided some very valuable tips on recognizing when people are very upset and how to deal with such incidents in the most appropriate manner.

Meunier is a certified Omega trainer, specialized in maximizing the security of employees working in health and social service establishments against any type of aggression they might be exposed to. She summed up four days of information provided during the training in on hour.

“I feel certain that many among you since you have been volunteers have had to face situations involving aggressive behaviour,” she told her audience. And indeed a show of hands revealed that the majority of the volunteers knew exactly what she was talking about.

‘Understanding’ is key

A key message in her talk was that health and social service workers and volunteers should make efforts to try to understand exactly why clients or service users are angry. Among other things, she said body language can also be very important when dealing with tense situations and that workers or volunteers should learn to position themselves in potentially non-threatening ways when facing the unknown.

As well, she said that keeping a measured distance physically from clientele can also be useful as this is less likely to heighten the level of tension when such is the case. As such, she suggested not standing too close to patients or clients so that they don’t feel overwhelmed or don’t end up making the worker or volunteer feel physically overwhelmed.

Meunier noted that some volunteers have been known to resign after being involved in verbal or even physical confrontations with patients or clients because they were so upset afterwards. She suggested that even volunteers need to be prepared for this sort of thing as aggressiveness by some patients and clients has unfortunately become part of life in health and social service establishments.

Martin C. Barry

Sacred Heart School of Montreal is growing again. The school’s international program is growing. The school’s enrolment has grown for a third year. And now Sacred Heart is one of a few select high schools in Quebec – and the first all girls’ school in Montreal – to offer a Grade 12 program.

“Our growth is proof to me that people want values-based education,” says Shawn O’Donnell, Head of the school for the past decade.

“They want an education that is more than just academics and that involves true values and character building,” he says. “We believe there is more of a need for our education and our values-based program than ever.”

Faith-based, but inclusive

With a total school population of 230 girls, Sacred Heart School of Montreal offers boarding for 16 students, with room to accommodate 20 more boarders. The school prides itself on the small class size it offers, as well as a low 6:1 student/faculty ratio. One-hundred per cent of Sacred Heart School of Montreal graduates advance to post-secondary education.

While Sacred Heart School of Montreal was founded and continues to be based on traditional Catholic beliefs and values, girls from a wide spectrum of faiths are enrolled as students. “We’re very inclusive and various faiths are represented at the school,” says O’Donnell.

“Studies show that girls learn differently from boys,” says Director of Advancement Lili Le Fèvre, explaining some of the reasons the school offers single-gender education. According to O’Donnell, the girls are able to learn in a natural environment where they don’t feel pressure from the opposite gender. “They are free to be themselves,” he says.

The Grade 12 program

As of August 2019, Sacred Heart School of Montreal will become the first all girls’ school in Montreal, and one of a select few high schools in the entire province, to offer a Grade 12 program. The program, offered in English, will be delivered online through a partnership with the Ontario Virtual School (OVS), in conjunction with physical classes taught by teaching specialists at Sacred Heart School of Montreal.

Students will be able to choose between a Commerce and a Science stream. Girls must have completed Grade 11, but do not require a Certificate of English Eligibility to attend. At the end of the one-year, full-time program, students will receive a Grade 12 diploma (OSSD) from the Ontario Ministry of Education, enabling them to apply to universities in Quebec, other Canadian provinces, the United States, and throughout the world.

In Montreal since 1861

As part of a world-wide network of Sacred Heart schools operated by the Society of the Sacred Heart in more than 40 countries on six continents, Sacred Heart School of Montreal has been providing faith-based education since 1861 when the Convent of the Sacred Heart first opened its doors as a school for young girls.

At that time, the school was located on St. Hubert St. in Montreal and the enrolment was just 15 pupils. It was only after several changes of location that the current building on Atwater Ave., which has been a landmark for generations, opened in 1928 and started to receive students.

In 1982 the former convent was renamed Sacred Heart School of Montreal, as it underwent a transformation that installed a lay administration, with an understanding they would continue abiding by the mission and philosophy of the founders.

Vast educational experience

Sacred Heart School of Montreal is well-positioned to lead among providers of education in Montreal, in an increasingly crowded domain where some relatively new private educational institutions have no more than a few decades of experience behind them.

A strong point in Sacred Heart’s favor is its direct affiliation with hundreds of other Sacred Heart schools all over the world. With the sort of globe-trotting, fast-paced lives that many successful parents now lead, knowing there’s a Sacred Heart School in a distant city can be comforting.

Using its international network, Sacred Heart School of Montreal has a well-established exchange program that can provide enriching travel and learning experiences to senior students. Some of these exchanges have seen girls from Sacred Heart pursue studies in England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, France, Taiwan, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Martin C. Barry

To celebrate Centre du Sablon’s 25^th anniversary, members of the Chomedey community were invited to the centre on Sunday Sept. 16 to take part in a Family Fun Day that included a range of activities and a picnic lunch.

Those who’ve lived in Chomedey longer than a quarter-century may remember a time before Centre du Sablon, when the building and its facilities were operated as the Chomedey branch of the Montreal region’s YM-YWHA organization.

A new beginning in 1993

In the early 1990s when YM-YWHA officials were increasingly finding that keeping their Chomedey centre open was no longer sustainable, a grassroots effort began in Chomedey, with assistance from the City of Laval, to take over the centre with a new mandate to serve a wider spectrum of the population.

“We’re here to stay and we invite families to come in,” said Angelo Faraoni, general manager of the centre, who was hosting the Family Fun day along with Liisa Shafer, Centre du Sablon’s director operations and human resources.

Activities for all

On the grounds behind the centre, staff and volunteers helped conduct demonstrations of yoga as well as exercise “boot camps.” There was also a bake sale, with proceeds going towards reinvesting in the centre’s activities, and there was face-painting for the kids and inflatable games. Strolling magician Blair Marshall was also there to demonstrate some of his powers of illusion.

“After 25 years, Centre du Sablon is, of course, a very important presence in the Chomedey community,” said Chomedey Liberal MNA Guy Ouellette who came during the afternoon to enjoy some of the festivities.

Chomedey city councillor Aglaia Revelakis sat on the first board of directors that was set up to oversee Centre du Sablon when the centre first came into being. “I am very happy to see how it has evolved over the last 25 years and where we have taken it,” she said.

Thanks expressed to board

“And I would like to congratulate the board of directors,” she continued, “as well as Angela, for the tremendous work they do to keep the centre going and to have activities for the community at large – the English community most.

“The focus is on the English community. It’s open to everybody, but we need an English centre, and this is the focus in Chomedey. We continue building and growing the centre and taking it towards newer paths in the future.”

Du Sablon has lots to offer

According to Shafer, the centre meets the needs of a wide range of residents from Chomedey. “It brings sports and leisure activities to people who might not necessarily be able to afford it,” she said.

“And we offer a vast variety of activities for all ages and all ethnicities. We have Arabic classes, English classes, French classes. We have all sorts of sporting classes, and of course our aquatics. Almost every one of our aquatics classes is full. And we have many special needs classes. There is something here for everyone.”

(TLN)

Once again this year, the Terry Fox Run to raise money for cancer research will be taking place in Laval. The popular event will be held at Parc des Prairies on Sunday Sept. 16 beginning at 10:30 am. Members of the community are invited to take part in this non-competitive family event by walking or jogging to raise money for the cause.

A number of schools in Laval are holding Terry Fox Days for their students, although on Sept. 16 the Terry Fox Run in Parc des Prairies will be open to all. Participants can solicit donations online beginning from the web site terryfoxrun.org, by gathering donation pledges from friends and family members, or by making donations in person on the day of the Terry Fox Run.

Research paying off

The work done by participants in Terry Fox Day has led to some tremendous results. “We have visited research centres in Montreal where the Terry Fox Foundation financed research projects on cancer,” says Jeffrey Marshall, who has spearheaded organization of the Laval Terry Fox Run in the past few years.

“We must continue to support this very important cause and contribute to helping make Terry Fox’s dream a reality,” he added. “Let’s do our part while participating in Terry Fox Day on Laval this year.” Those wishing to serve as volunteers can get in touch with the organizers qc@terryfox.org, or by calling 1-888-836-9786. For additional information, the web site is www.terryfox.org/fr/.

Martin C. Barry

“Politics is not democracy,” Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Manon Massé told a boisterous crowd of supporters who got together on Sept. 4 at the Dallas Bar on Cartier Blvd. West to launch the party’s 2018 provincial election campaign in the Laval area.

Defining democracy

“Democracy is you,” said Massé, who shares spokesperson status with Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. “And if you don’t concern yourself with it, you can be sure that the politicians will be taking care of it. We’ve known for a long time that the system as it is currently organized, that the system with the decision-makers we have now, is offering us solutions which make no sense whatever.”

The message from Massé and her party was that “it takes a change of direction with people who have enough courage, like the people from Québec Solidaire, like you, people with enough courage to go and find the money necessary to make the necessary economic change to make sure that our water, our natural resources, and even the relationship between us and nature, is taken care of.”

A ‘radical’ alternative

Massé said the QS members who now sit in the National Assembly don’t want to be there just to vote for a system that never changes. “What we want is to take power because we want to change things profoundly, and I am going to use the word ‘radical.’”

Originally from the town of Windsor in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, Massé grew up in a family whose existence depended largely on the paper mill which was and remains that municipality’s principal employer. In talks to Québec Solidaire members, she often emphasizes her working class roots and the necessity for Quebec’s economic strategy to increasingly reflect the needs of workers.

Environmental issues

Québec Solidaire candidate in Laval-des-Rapides Graciela Mateo, who was one of several speakers during the rally, said QS shares the same environmental preoccupations as a large segment of the Quebec population and stands ready to take action.

“The resources of this planet are not inexhaustible,” she said. “Its various eco-systems can’t go on being disturbed indefinitely. There is no time left. Each act counts. We can no longer accept the unacceptable, doing nothing, the absence of political courage to make things happen.

Time to act, says candidate

“We know that if we had better public transit by making it more accessible, we would use our cars less often and we will pollute as well,” she continued, pointing out that Québec Solidaire recently proposed cutting public transit fares in half across the province. She said the party also wants to encourage local and urban farming as another way of reducing pollution while contributing to healthy lifestyles.

“You will find when you see our platform that our plans are ambitious,” she continued. “But there’s a reason for that – there’s no time left and we must act right away. Climate warming is affecting our lives and quality of living in each instant. But only one MNA in the National Assembly isn’t good for much. So we need your participation. But what else do we need? We need Manon Massé in order to have the courage to change things at the root.”

Martin C. Barry

The eleventh annual Notte in Bianco, a dress-white fundraising event held on Sept. 6 at the Terrebonne home of Maria and Vincent Guzzo of Cinémas Guzzo, raised around $300,000 to help support innovative children’s mental health research.

Summer white tradition

Based partly on a summertime party tradition the Guzzos brought back to Montreal from the Hamptons on the ocean coast of New York State where they have spent many summers, dress white is considered ‘de rigueur’ each year for Notte In Bianco.

Several hundred guests pay $1,000 a ticket each year to take part in an event that is regarded as a must on the Montreal social calendar. The guest of honor this year was Steve MacLean, a Canadian astronaut who served as a mission specialist on the International Space Station in September 2006. MacLean is also a former president of the Canadian Space Agency.

Shared concern for youth

The Guzzos discovered recently that MacLean shared their concern for youth mental health causes and decided to invite him aboard for their event. “A lot of youths look up to him since it’s every boy’s or girl’s dream to one day become an astronaut,” said Maria Guzzo. “We decided he was the perfect fit.”

MacLean said in an interview with Newsfirst Multimedia that when he was asked, he accepted without hesitation, “because it is an important issue. But especially there are now ways to deal with youth mental health problems. It’s something that if caught early enough, intervention can really make a difference. I’m here to support that.”

Guest star Gloria Gaynor

The evening’s star musical guest was 1970s-era disco queen Gloria Gaynor, best known for her hits ‘I Will Survive’ and ‘Never Can Say Goodbye.’ In the past, Notte In Bianco has welcomed Corey Hart, Taylor Dane, Ginette Reno and many others. This year’s guest list also included Hydro Quebec CEO Michael Penner, Parasuco Jeans founder Sal Parasuco, as well as Nadia Saputo, a member of the Saputo family of Saputo dairy products fame.

Although proceeds from Notte In Bianco went for the first eight years towards a research chair at University of Montreal investigating links between environmental causes and cancer, in 2015 the Guzzos decided that goal had been attained and shifted the focus of their fundraising towards youth mental health.

Numerous causes supported

However, according to Maria Guzzo, part of the funds raised each year through Notte In Bianco continue to support an imaging unit at the Jewish General Hospital’s Pavilion K emergency department, as well as to the Shriners’ Hospital which they also furnished with equipment used for medical imaging.

The imaging units were donated to better accommodate patients at the hospitals’ emergency departments as well as to provide a more functional working environment for health professionals. The units reduce test wait times for patients in emergency, thus shortening waiting times for test information coming from external clinics.