About Us
Bee Me Kidz is an educational, non-profit organization that offers learning, growing and connection for the whole family. Kids and their families learn the skills they need to succeed with fun social and emotional learning in our FREE program on Saturdays and in schools during the school year.
Our mission is to inspire and support children and their families to be the Best ME they can BEE!
Our vision is to empower children, strengthen families and transform communities.
What makes our program different?
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Bee Me Kidz uses the accredited PATHS® Curriculum, which has been proven to strengthen the social and emotional skills that are crucial for school success. Bee Me Kidz provides PATHS® in a unique context by offering it in our Saturday program AND through our partnering Bee Me Kidz schools throughout the week AND by educating parents to reinforce the learning at home.
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Bee Me Kidz is more than a program to help children. It is a partnership with parents, communities and schools that wraps children in a positive atmosphere of love, support and education.
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Many programs address one area of child development. Bee Me Kidz addresses four areas in one program: social and emotional skills, nutrition, parenting skills and community connectedness.
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Bee Me Kidz is not a limited, short-term program. We operate Saturdays throughout the school year for children in grades K to 5 and their families, and at our partnering Bee Me Kidz schools throughout the week.
What We Believe
Children First. Bee Me Kidz believes in the potential of every child. That’s why the needs, interests and aspirations of children are at the core of every element of the Bee Me Kidz program.
Support & Build Leaders Within Families. We believe families are most likely to succeed when they receive adequate support. Therefore, all Bee Me Kidz programming includes elements designed to support families and build leaders.
Be Unique & Accessible. Bee Me Kidz levels the playing field by addressing the unique challenges faced by children every day. The program is specifically designed for all children and families.
Partner & Collaborate With Communities. We collaborate with parents, schools and community partners to ensure that Bee Me Kidz meets the needs of the communities we serve so those communities can grow and thrive.
Meet the Leadership Team
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BRYAN ELLIOTT
FOUNDER & CHAIR OF BOARD
Bryan Elliott, P.Eng., Co-founder and CEO of FLō Energy Solutions by CES, is an entrepreneur and innovative leader. A highly respected veteran in the food retail industry, Bryan holds numerous patents for leading technological developments.
As the leader of FLō, Bryan has instilled a corporate culture that reflects his desire to create a better world. Based on a foundation of agape, love in action, giving back is more than a value – it is built into the business model with FLō as an engine to improve lives.
Our success becomes the success of many who may not otherwise have the support they need to create meaningful and fulfilling lives. Bee Me Kidz is a key initiative in realizing this vision.
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BOB OWENS
BOARD MEMBER
Bob Owens has over 40 years of experience in the financial service industry. Bob is the CEO of Owens MacFadyen Group, which he started with his partner in 1995. With years of financial service experience and his vast knowledge, he has become a leader in the industry and is a coveted speaker across North America.
Bob graduated from Acadia University. He is a board member to national and local charity boards because of the vast array of knowledge and passion he brings to helping children reach their full potential. This is how he became involved with Bee Me Kidz. Bob joined the board of Bee Me Kidz in 2019 and has been instrumental in helping Bee Me Kidz move towards our long-term goals.
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DEREK PANNELL
BOARD MEMBER
Derek Pannell has half of a century of experience in the mining and metals industry. Derek is an engineer by trade, and over his career, worked his way up to being the Chief Executive Officer and led some of the largest mining and metal companies in the world. Now retired, Derek is a Corporate Director and was the Board Chair of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Limited.
Derek holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Imperial College in London, England. Derek is passionate about education and helping individuals reach their full potential, which is why he became involved in Bee Me Kidz and later joined the board in early 2020. Bee Me Kidz feels extremely privileged to have Derek on the board; his expertise is helping take Bee Me Kidz to the next level.
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BOB YOUDEN
BOARD MEMBER
For over forty years Bob Youden has held leadership roles in a variety of industries, with the last ten years focusing in Environmental engineering and contaminated soil treatment. Bob is a retired Executive Chair of Englobe and corporate director. Previously, he served as a Chief Advisor to the Premier of New Brunswick.
Bob went to Dalhousie University, then completed his Chartered Accountant degree. In 2012, he was awarded the “Queens Golden Jubilee award” for public service. After a two-hour flight talking about the organization, Bob was sold on the importance of helping Bee Me Kidz. He joined the Board in late 2019.
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DR. WENDY STEWART
BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Wendy Stewart is a pediatric neurologist caring for children throughout New Brunswick. She initiated the Humanities Program in New Brunswick, and is very involved in the undergraduate medical program at Dalhouse Medicine NB. Music is her passion outside medicine and she is a member of a number of diverse musical groups. She has an extensive background in the area of grief and loss with children and youth and has served on numerous boards in the community to support the integration of the humanities into health and medicine. We are grateful for Dr. Stewart’s extensive volunteer services along with her expertise in the integration of humanities and creative arts as a critical component of holistic health and healing. Seeing the correlation of how Bee Me Kidz can support many of her patients and families, Dr. Stewart joined the Board of BMK in 2022.
Centre Staff
The Bee Me Kidz program is run by an enthusiastic team of teachers, early childhood educators and educational assistants who care passionately about helping children to grow and learn while having fun.
Each Saturday, they arrive early to help prepare the family brunch before the program begins. Afterwards they can be found leading a game, class or physical activity, all of which are designed to give their Kidz the inspiration and skills they need to perform at their best in school and life.
In addition to our regular staff, we often have a guest visitor who brings a new skill or perspective to the lesson of the day. Everyone is totally dedicated to helping our Bee Me Kidz be the best Me they can Bee!
How We Came to BEE
With a lot of research, hard work and passion , Bee Me Kidz first opened its doors in 2014 to provide measurable, positive change in the lives of children, families and communities.
Over ten years ago, Bryan Elliott and Victoria Elliott began planning and creating the Bee Me Kidz program. Combining their own experiences with programs for children with a study of other existing programs, they analyzed what worked and what didn’t worked. Based on the best practices uncovered in this research, the beginnings of Bee Me Kidz was born!
From the outset, the goal was set that Bee Me Kidz would be unlike any other program of its kind. It would be based on a combination of heart and science – a sincere passion for helping children married with a desire to measure the program’s ability to improve the lives of the participating kids and families.
Bee Me Kidz Takes Flight!
Bee Me Kidz opened its doors for the first time on September 20, 2014 at the Nick Nicolle Community Centre in Saint John’s North End with 28 grade one and grade two aged children and 20 parents attending. Kids and parents seemed to sense from the beginning that Bee Me Kidz was something different, and word spread in the community. Soon the numbers began to swell as new kids and families heard about the program.
The success of Bee Me Kidz grew steadily and on January 24, 2015, a second location opened at St. John the Baptist/King Edward School in the South End. In 2016, our third and fourth locations opened at Beaconsfield School and Glen Falls School. Unfortunately, in 2018, we had to close two locations: St. John the Baptist/King Edward School and Beaconsfield School. This was due to an unexpected cut in our funding. This required Bee Me Kidz to look for outside funding to help sustain the program.
Today, more than 700 kids, parents and family members attend our four locations each Saturday.
Serving North/West Saint John – Nick Nicolle Centre, Saint John, NB
Serving East/South Saint John – Glen Falls School, Saint John, NB
Serving Charlotte County- Milltown Elementary School, St. Stephen, NB
Serving Sussex Region - Sussex Corner Elementary School, Sussex Corner NB
Positive Results
We measure our program’s success! An independent program evaluation was carried out by the University of New Brunswick- Institute for Research, Data and training. A few of the buzz-worthy results include:
100% of participants enjoyed the program and found it educational
98% of our parents feel hopeful about the future
91% of children who attend Bee Me Kidz have improved self esteem
89% of parents said their mental health improved by attending Bee Me Kidz
92% of parents felt more connected to their community
72% of parents reported an improvement in their relationship with their child
48% of parents reported their children improved their academic performance
Feedback from the Parents’ Group and schools has also been extremely favorable.
Moving Forward
Bee Me Kidz will continue to evolve and improve as we learn from our results and listen to the valuable input of our kids, their parents & guardians, our staff and schools & teachers. The one thing that will never change is our passionate belief that all children have much to offer the world if given the opportunity and skills to learn and thrive.
