Bee Me Kidz participants (Image: Submitted)
Educational non-profit Bee Me Kidz (BMK) has expanded its free Saturdays At the Hive program to St. Stephen, which launched on Sept. 25 with nearly 30 participants taking part at Milltown Elementary School.
“It made sense geographically and also it’s an amazing community,” says executive director Missy Bewick, adding they began thinking about growing the program a couple of years ago.
“It’s been really good, it’s been awesome – I think the state of emergency sort of hurt our first week, but now that families have seen our protocols and how we operate, I’m sure this week we’ll be busting at the seams with new families and kids.”
BMK helps at-risk elementary school-aged children, grades one to five, and their families understand their emotions and cultivate the social skills and strategies for positive mental health to help them throughout their lives.
The organization has a Board of Directors consisting of Derek Pannell, (Corporate Director of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Limited), Bob Youden, (Executive Chair of Englobe), Bob Owens, (CEO of Owens MacFadyen Group) and Bryan Elliot, (Founder and CEO of Flo Energy Solutions).
Bee Me Kidz program children participants Richard and Brisyn Lively and Cerridwen Cali (Image: Submitted).
Owens said BMK’s long-view approach to intergenerational poverty and focus on helping and influencing children in their peak learning years was unique in comparison to other organizations he had seen.
“The Bee Me Kidz program are in the schools every day, they go into the communities with their community programs on Saturdays and they included the parents,” he said. “It gave us our best chance to have a really positive influence by going exactly where the children were and influencing them.”
The program uses the PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) curriculum, taught by paid educators and staff, and offers a free breakfast/brunch for attending children and parents.
BMK operates out of the Nick Nicolle Community Centre and Glen Falls School in Saint John every Saturday and has reached around 1,500 children and parents over the last seven years.
Bewick says they are prepared to host up to 200 children and parents at Milltown each week, and their five-year goal is to have BMK available in all four corners of the province.
“With the world changing and how rapidly it’s changing, it’s really good for kids to develop strategies to understand their emotions, problem-solve and develop positive mental health, especially during COVID time,” she said. “I think it’s extremely important in today’s society that we have programs like this.”
Anyone interested in learning more about Bee Me Kidz’ programs can check out their website and Facebook page.
