Our primary focus, as always, has been on the safety of our membership. We have fashioned our policies and best practices based on what Alberta Health and the government have suggested are reasonable and prudent approaches. As we move into months where increased group numbers and loosening of COVID protocols may be possible, we hope to come to a point where club nights and regional activities will virtually be the same as they were pre-COVID, but for some extra hand washing and a mask or two.
The AJFWA Board spent much time discussing our plan going forward and coming up with contingencies, if the COVID situation improves or gets worse in the coming months.
Many clubs are struggling trying to find locations for their club nights given that the facilities they used to hold their meetings are no longer opening their doors to outside organizations, primarily because of the cleaning requirements that now come with letting others use their facilities. Some clubs have been successful by offering suggestions to facility managers such as one family per table with the appropriate distance between tables, wearing masks and implementing check sheets to ensure no one with symptoms is given access to the facility. Those clubs who are able to secure suitable indoor space will, of course, need to be mindful of the fact that the progression of this pandemic is constantly changing, and having a Plan B ready to roll out, if needed, should be thought out ahead of time.
We are hopeful that clubs will spend as much time as possible outdoors in the coming months, in any event. There are many ready-made lesson plans available on the AJFWA website that could easily be used with the addition of the social distancing protocol. Once winter hits, outside club meetings may not be practical.
We are also mindful of the recommendations that indicate families should be picking one activity and not co-mingling their children in multiple social groups.
With all of this in mind, here is what we have come up with for JFW going forward.
Registration/chartering will take place as usual in the fall
We encourage club nights to take place outside for as long as possible. Social distancing, and perhaps wearing masks, will ease parents’ nervousness about social interaction, and given that we are outside, we should not run into problems with families having to pick our group/cohort over another. If activities occur indoors, social distancing protocols should be implemented. As mentioned above, our website has many lesson plans ready to use, and if there is something in particular you are interested in, please reach out and we will make efforts to design a plan for you or put you in touch with someone who can help.
Email address for Club HELP enquiries: help@ajfwa.ca
The following links should take you to the most recent protocols set by Alberta Health. Please be mindful that these protocols are constantly changing and you must take a look at these often to ensure you are following the most recent guidelines.
Link to Alberta Health Guidance & Restrictions
Online meetings / virtual lessons
Commencing this fall, we will be offering online meetings to registered wardens. We have requested the assistance of our leaders and have asked that they consider taking on a night or two where they will offer an online session. If a leader isn’t comfortable teaching an online session, another option is to record the lesson and submit it for viewing by membership. We extend this call out for help to the parents as well.
Please give it some thought and reach out with your ideas. Demonstrate the simplest of crafts, do a short cooking lesson, teach something about compasses, play a game, do a campfire sing-a-long, take us for a hike in your community — the options are endless! The idea is to fill the calendar with as many options as possible to keep our children engaged in the JFW program and in touch with their fellow Wardens. A calendar of lessons will be posted, including information about the topic covered in each lesson and suggested age group. We will be asking members to pre-register for each session. An email list of any required supplies will be sent out before the class so families can prepare for their online session. We hope to record the online sessions as well and add them to the lesson plan resource page on our website.
Link to Virtual Instructor Questionnaire
Upcoming events
We continue to monitor protocols in place to determine when we will be able to offer in person activities such as PT Cruiser Camps, Fall Workshop, AC Conference, etc. Unfortunately, at this point in time, these in-person events are all on hold. We have reached out to the event organizers and have asked that they attempt to convert their weekend programs into an online format. Stay tuned for the release of information on the various activities that may be offered online.
AJFWA Committees
With the decrease in regular club nights the last several months, many of our volunteers have been meeting via online conferencing and telephone to catch up on committee work.
We would like to remind all parents that our committees need your help. There are many committees that could use more sets of hands to work on the tasks on their ‘to do’ lists. Below are links to learn more about the committees.
Link to Committee List (click on the Standing Committees tab)
Link to Committees section of AJFWA website
In general, most committees meet once a month for an hour or so to discuss their tasks, which range from computer work to by-law/policy drafting to fundraising and the list goes on. Please have a look and see if there is an area of interest that you could spare an hour, or two or more (as fits your schedule), a month to help us out. Many hands make light work and all the work done benefits the JFW program for our children.
As always, the AJFWA Board is more than happy to address any questions or concerns families may have. Please reach out to the Board at board@ajfwa.ca and we will ensure that your questions get to the people who have answers.
Monica Robinson
AJFWA President
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