2025 Highlights: A Year of Growth and Achievement

This year has been defined by visionary planning, remarkable expansion, and deep engagement with our community. Here are some of our key accomplishments:

📅 January – March: Setting the Course

• The year kicked off with an outstanding PATH planning session, uniting all educators and the Board to establish a clear direction and achievable goals.

• ULC successfully opened ULC was August 2024 becoming a wonderful addition to the Splash Community. In June we successfully filled all 31 spaces for our summer program, with it being the first full 8 week summer  program for ULC.

• The "I Love to Read" program was a huge success, filled with the joy of reading and support from local media, partners, community members, and politicians.

• In March, the Management Team began drafting the summer curriculum, including the exciting Forest School program.

• We successfully applied for several key grants and began planning for a major objective: the first-ever Splash Educator Conference at Fort Whyte.

• Progress on the Balmoral project was underway, now proudly named Splash Mino Pimatisiwin Children’s Centre within the newly formed Pimicikamak Wellness Centre, designed to add 96 new child spaces.

• Our participation in a job fair at RRC Polytech was successful, leading to new employee recruitment and a valuable connection for a future project.

• We celebrated many personal milestones, including birthdays, anniversaries, new Canadians, cultural celebrations, and my own 30th anniversary with Splash!

💰 April – June: Investment and Education

• We were successfully awarded several large grants, which we proudly celebrated at a reception hosted by the Winnipeg Foundation.

• We secured 11 summer employees thanks to a Service Canada grant.

• A significant grant from ELCC allowed all our sites to improve their surroundings, purchase new children's furniture, and help fund the inaugural conference.

• ECE Celebrations Week in April, planned by the Management Team and generously budgeted by the Board, was an unforgettable success.zzses, and hosting major Pride Parades in both the North and South Ends.

• The connection made at RRC Polytech resulted in filming at Splash Early Learning Centre for "The Science of Early Childhood Development," a testament to our commitment to Inclusion and Diversity. This footage will be a powerful educational tool for future educators.

• We concluded June with a wonderful Forest School Orientation for all educators and new summer staff, which included an opening blessing and teachings from Elder Winston and hands-on training led by Forest School Practitioners at Bunn’s Creek.

• The Splash Faraday School Satellite Site is underway with around 42 new spaces for school aged children and 5 new educators. We are awaiting the occupancy permit.

🗓️ September – December: Transition and Future Planning

• Following another excellent summer, we concluded the fiscal year in a strong position for a positive start to the next one.

• The Hiring Committee is actively working with Staff Max to find the next Executive Director for Splash.

• Board vacancies were quickly and successfully filled.

• October was a month of celebrations and thankfulness, recognizing the many blessings we have received.

• Some educators had the opportunity for professional growth by changing environments and neighborhoods while remaining within the organization.

• November focused on licensing our new centre, purchasing necessary supplies, and site visits. The spaces at Splash Mino Pimatisiwin Children’s Centre  are already full!

• The immediate next step is hiring and setting up in December before the Open House.

• The Board had a productive orientation, dinner, and networking event at the end of November, marked by a great exchange of ideas and camaraderie.

• In December, all sites will celebrate the annual Holiday Luncheons with invited guests, and the Management Team will finally be honored with their own celebratory luncheon.

• We are now organizing the PATH session for our January meeting to set the goals for 2026.

Here’s to another year of the good life at Splash!

FRIENDLY REMINDERS

Reconciliation is a journey for all Canadians.

Solidarity Statement  2025

“Splash Child Care Inc. acknowledges that the land on which we gather is stolen land, the original inhabitants driven off, forced to relocate. This is the reality of colonization. Covenants were formed, in the languages of the colonizers, called treaties, but these were amended and broken by the colonizers as desired. This land knows sorrow. But this land also knows joy and hope. Hope that the future will not be like the past. And so with humility and respect we commit ourselves to the continuing promise of reconciliation, the reclamation of dignity, the restoration of just relationships. We are all Treaty People.”