Apr 232018
 

Due to some recent facebook privacy issues, events are no longer linking to our page via our widget.   We’ve been told they are trying to find a work-around, but in the meanwhile we’ll be looking at other options for our events calendar on our website.

EVENTS CALENDAR

For now, here are the most recent upcoming events:

April 29th, 9:00am – Breakfast at Bonnie Doon Mall Albert’s Family Restaurant

May 1st, 7:oopm – Round Table event, Edmonton Health Clinic Academy, Room 1-121.   We will be voting on our bylaws that were amended at the AGM from 7:00 until 7:15pm, and then skyping with Paulogia from Calgary about his vlogcast.

May 1st, 9:15pm – Pub Night at Sherlock Holmes on Campus.

 Posted by at 6:38 PM
Apr 122018
 

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Annual General Meeting and helped shape the next year for our Society.   We are adding a quarterly volunteer event at the Food Bank, we will be having a 10 year anniversary party/1 year memorial for Michael Vester this year, and look forward to continuing to share events with other local like minded groups, including the Secular Humanists, Secular Ethics group in Stony Plain, and the Unitarian Churches in the city.   We also voted to include a low-income membership, on a case by case basis.  This will be added to our website soon.

A few bylaw concerns came up during the meeting, which we were too late to vote on that night as members need prior notice, however, we did work on the re-wording and will have an General Meeting prior to the next round table event in May to quickly vote on these so they can be submitted this year with our filing.  This would allow us to implement them for next April’s AGM.
Our current bylaws allow us to have one person sit as Treasurer and Secretary, which we wanted to update.   You can find the proposed changes in red here:   2018-BYLAWS PROPOSED CHANGES (changes include adding line 34, removing line 37,  updating line 43 and adding a word to line 46.)

A big thank you to our previous board members and congratulations to your new 2018-2019 board!

 Posted by at 10:58 AM
Feb 252018
 


Unfortunately, we didn’t get our goal of 20 committed SEA members signed up for marching in the parade by the deadline, however,  we did get enough to man the booth for the day.  So, if you volunteered to help with the booth we’ll be in touch once our application is approved with more news on shifts you can sign up for.

If you will really miss marching, the Unitarian Church has extended an invitation to march alongside with them (they have an atheist community within their congregation).   Just let us know and we’ll pass on your info to them for their waiver forms.

 Posted by at 10:00 AM
Feb 242018
 

A big thank you to our board member Mark T, for organizing our volunteer night at the food bank, and to all of you that came to help out.  A two hour volunteer shift was easy and there is something for everyone, regardless of ability, to help with.  Age limit for volunteering on your own is 14 years old, but one to one adult/kid ratio is allowed for kids 10 and over, so this makes it a great opportunity for family groups to get involved.

After our volunteer shift was over there was some chatter about doing this every 2 months or so as a group, so if you are interested watch for another event in the near future.  In the meanwhile, you can also sign up to volunteer whenever you’d like by visiting their volunteer page.

 Posted by at 9:00 AM
Feb 232018
 

TUESDAY, April 10, 2018 will be this year’s SEA Annual General Meeting (AGM), formally starting at 7:00 pm, Edmonton Clinic Health Academy at the U of A, Room ECHA  1-498.  We will be there from 6:30pm onwards for anyone that requires a membership or needs to renew.  Please note this is the SECOND Tuesday of the month, one week later than we usually meet.

Anyone interested is invited to attend; however, only paying members will be permitted to vote in the general election or on any other business.

If you are at all interested in running for the Board, please take a look at our explanation of the roles and responsibilities for each position, as well as some FAQs about joining the Board. This year all Executive positions and four Director positions will be voted on. Please bear in mind in order to run for President you have to have served on the board for at least one year (throughout the history of the group), so if you intend on running for this position in the future it is worth thinking about joining the board.  In order to run for Treasurer you must have been a member in good standing for at least a year.   You can email us to let us know that you’d like to run for a Board position (even if you will not be present at the meeting), ask another member to nominate you at the appropriate point during the meeting, or you may also self-nominate at the meeting.

If you would like to run for any of the board positions we also encourage you to send in your ”campaign”…including goals for the group and what skills you feel you will bring to the table.  We will feature them on the website and facebook page prior to the AGM so people can make informed decisions regarding who they want to vote for.

If you would like to see 2017 BYLAWS, they can be found on the website, under “About”.
If you would like to propose changes for consideration at the AGM, they must be sent to the Board for distribution to the rest of the membership in advance of the meeting.  Please try to have those into us before April 2nd, one week before the meeting.

We hope to have a large turnout as we will also be discussing the direction of the SEA, what types of events you are interested in and fundraising ideas.  As per usual we will head to the pub afterwards for sustenance.   See you there!

Karen
President, SEA

 Posted by at 3:58 PM
Feb 082018
 

Show Your Support for Pride!

As a group we march each year to show our support for LGBT+ community!
This year the Pride Parade is on June 9th, and parade participants usually have to arrive around 11am.

Unfortunately,  last year we had a poor showing for marchers and volunteer booth workers. We have come to the decision that if we don’t have enough commitment for 2018 we won’t be able to participate in both.

In order to apply to march in the Pride Parade we need a minimum of 20 committed SEA members plus one person willing to be a Pride Marshall (which will require a separate training event to attend).

In order to apply for a booth at Pride we need a minimum of 10 committed SEA members as volunteers for the day and we need at least 2 people willing to work the booth WHILE the parade is happening if we want to do both.   Generally the booth opens at 9am and runs until the festivities end at 7pm.

Please contact us via email or through facebook messenger to show your support and commit yourself to helping SEA have a strong presence at Pride this year.

Deadline for your reply is February 22nd

 

 Posted by at 12:42 PM
Feb 052018
 

UPCOMING EVENT OF INTEREST, hosted by the Centre for Constitutional Studies:
Debate:  Alberta Should Have One Public School System, Not Two

chicago-public-schools-lead.jpgFor the Motion: 
David King 
F
ormer Minister of Education and Executive Director of the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta

Against the Motion:
JK Donlevy 
Professor, University of Calgary Werklund School of Education 

 

 

Thursday, February 8, 2018 
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
TELUS Centre – Auditorium (Rm 150)
University of Alberta (87 Ave & 111 St)

 


Join us for a spirited debate on whether Alberta should change its dual school system of public and separate schools to one public school system. What are the constitutional considerations?

This event is free and open to the public.

Register Here (to help us estimate attendance) 

CCS logo (small).jpg

 Posted by at 11:15 AM
Nov 232017
 

Join the SEA in supporting OURIDEA.CA’s upcoming event.


Why do a Former Education Minister, Parent advocate, and former Catholic School Trustee believe it is time for a referendum on separate Catholic schools? Join Former Education Minister David King, Former Catholic School Trustee Patricia Grell and Public Education Advocate Luke Fevin for an evening of discussion and debate around the question:

What is the future of Catholic School Boards in Alberta? Continue reading »

 Posted by at 9:52 PM
Oct 242017
 

Join us on Saturday October 28th, 7pm for this special event!
University Campus, Alberta School of Business
Room 1-6

Dr Elliot Hanowski works at the University of Manitoba Libraries, and will be coming to talk to us about the History of Activist Atheism and Humanism in Canada. He is one of the founding members of the International Society for Historians of Atheism, Secularism and Humanism (ISHASH) which brings together historians worldwide who are contributing to this growing field. He is also an editor with the journal Secularism and Nonreligion.

Free event, although ticket-by-donation would be appreciated (suggested: $5 students and SEA Members, $10 everyone else)

 

 Posted by at 9:40 AM
Sep 072017
 

It’s back to school time and we cleared out all my kids closets to find a few bags worth of clothes they have outgrown.  I’m offering to collect that old shirt that you have meaning to donate or that pair of jeans that don’t fit anymore and you want to give away on Sunday night at our Coffee Night event.  Coffee Night is usually the 2nd Sunday of the month, at the Second Cup at Oliver Square from 7pm – 9pmish (sometimes 10pm).  Come when you can, you don’t have to be there right at 7pm.

Where will you be donating the clothing?
I’ll be taking our donations to Big Sisters and Big Brothers of Edmonton


So, why Big Sisters/Big Brothers? 
This non-profit has always been a favourite of mine, their mentoring program really can change the lives of the youth involved.   At 16 years old I called to volunteer, to be told I had to wait until I was older. Literally, on my 18th birthday, I called back and went through all their mentor training, and was matched up with a lovely young girl who shared interests in singing and acting with me.  We were matched up for 7 years until she finally became too old to be a ”little” anymore.   To this day we are still friends and in 2010 I attended her wedding!

Does it have to be kids clothes?
Nope, I believe they use what they require for lower-income families in their own organization, but the rest is sold to thrift stores at a set price per weight, so all sizes of clothing are fine.  You can even donate items in good condition like shoes, drapes, linen, toys, books and games!

 Posted by at 10:54 AM