As the children and youth searched for the lettered stamps and triple checked their spelling, their involvement in the growth of the Knick Knack Nook continued. Three large panels of multi-colored tiles depicting the names of over 100 people who helped in the creation of the Nook is now on display outside its front door.
For close to six months, regulars Brianna Forbes Crowe, SuIn Lee, Joshua Baker and Elizabeth Lee rolled out clay, cut out bricks, stamped in names and decorations, painted and then glazed the tiles, all under the gentle guidance of potter Jeanne Sarich. Jeanne not only taught the youth to make the tiles, she also provided space in her studio, Cloudflower Clayworks, and donated materials and firing.
Adult facilitators Rob Baker, Sarah Lee, Jayne Pivik and Jana Tubinshlak also got to play with the clay and create with the youth. John Willis, carpenter extraordinaire, constructed the panels and built the structure that houses the tiles.
Child and youth involvement in the Knick Knack Nook has been on-going since its inception. In March 2008, over 100 children and youth from Bowen Island Community School, Island Pacific School, Island Discovery School and the Montessori School, attended a visioning meeting to brainstorm on the design, implementation and name of the recycle shop. Grade 9 students from IPS facilitated the brainstorming and Grade 8 students served as scribes during this stimulating town hall meeting.
Then, for the next year and a half, students: Lissy Allan, Jasmine Gish, Conrad Heath, Perry Carroll, Mimi Jones, Joshua Baker, Kate Peer, Terran Trepanier and Hanna Beamer served as committee members as the Nook was imagined, designed and built. To this day, youth serve as volunteers in the running of the Nook.
Bowen Island should be proud of their support of child and youth involvement in community decision-making.
Not only are we complying with the United Nation's Convention of the Rights of the Child (that was ratified into Canadian law in 1991), we are also nurturing our future leaders to care about their communities, and teaching them collaboration, decision-making and conflict resolution skills. Our community has also benefited from their innovative thinking, their 'can do' attitude, and their strong commitment to environmental sustainability. The Nook is a wonderful example of collaboration between youth and adults and one, I hope, inspires others, in our collective effort to make Bowen Island special for all of its citizens.
Jayne Pivik
for the Knick Knack Nook
