General Pages

General Information

The Outreach Program was established in 1985 to provide assistance to the membership and to new groups of Scottish country dancers. Its objectives are:

  • To provide information and material assistance in the form of publications,
    recorded music and limited financial support to newly formed groups and to small
    existing groups, particularly those in remote areas.
  • To help sponsor workshops for teachers, dancers and musicians.
  • To assist small or fledgling groups obtain qualified teachers.

There are two types of support offered by the TAC: start-up kits and outreach grants. Details are given below. Completed application forms should be sent to the Outreach Coordinator, Ken Saunders at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

1. Start -up Kits

Start-up information kits can be provided, free of charge, to applicants who are starting new groups in an area where there is currently no existing Scottish country dance group. Kits will be made up according to the needs of applicants and will usually consist of published dance descriptions, dancing instructions and recorded music on compact discs. The total value of the items in any kit will not exceed CAD 200.00. Note that the Teachers' Association (Canada) requires recipients of start-up kits to report on the progress of their dance groups in order to ascertain whether or not the material provided is proving beneficial.

 

2. Outreach Grants

Grants can be made to groups in accordance with the objectives of the Outreach Program. The amount of a grant may vary according to the needs of the applicants and the availability of funds but only up to a maximum of CAD 600.00 (Please see guidelines below for specific dollar amounts). Note that the Teachers' Association (Canada) requires any group receiving a grant to report on the supported activity afterwards, including a full financial, income and expense statement.

a. Workshops or Special Events

Grants may be given to assist in offsetting the expense of teachers and/or musicians for workshops or special events. Such grants are aimed at helping groups with new activities that expand dancing opportunities in their areas, particularly those involving young dancers, or to help dancers experience teaching or music that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive owing to travel costs. Grants will not normally be given more than once to support a recurring event except in the case of Youth Activities.

b. Support for Teacher Candidates

Grants may be made to assist teacher candidates with travel expenses in years when there is a TAC sponsored examinations tour. Grants may be made also to assist small groups with travel expenses incurred in bringing tutors to prepare candidates in areas where there is no local tutor available. Grants will not be given to assist candidates attending classes at TAC Summer School as these are available from other sources.

c. Other Activities

Any application for a grant to support other activities, which may not be mentioned above, but which are consistent with the objectives of the Outreach Program will be considered by the Outreach Review Committee.


Outreach Program Guidelines

The maximum level of any one grant is CAD $600.00 (Please see each section below for specific dollar amounts). This level, and annual budget is established by the TAC executive at the first executive meeting of the season.

The eligibility guidelines for each of these categories are:

1. Start -up Kits

Applicants must be starting new groups in an area where there is currently no existing Scottish country dance group.  These kits can be made up of various items such as:

RSCDS books
CDs
TAC Notes
Dance Indexes

Each kit to be tailored to the teachers needs, but not to exceed the value of $200.00 CAD.

2. Outreach Grants

a. Workshops or Special Events

1.  The grants are to be given to assist in offsetting the expenses of TAC teachers, and musicians used by newer start-up groups who have not had a workshop before, or if the group is less than 5 years old.

2.  Grants will not be given to groups who have been in existence for 5 years or more.

3.  Grants will not be given to groups for more than 3 occurrences of the same type of event except in the case of Youth Activities.

4.  Grants will only be awarded to groups who have less than 30 members.

5.  Grants will be given to support outreach events which are aimed at special categories of dancers, teachers and musicians.  Some examples include:

Area Youth Workshops

Area Musicians Workshops

Area Teachers Workshops

Other special events which may be a high financial risk

b. Support for Teacher Candidates

1.  This is intended for students who are under instruction and who will take the examination in the year there is an examination tour.  It is not for candidates taking instruction at summer school. They are already subsidized.

2.  The grants for this purpose will be for travel expenses only. It is not for accommodation or meals etc. They require pre-approval and will be limited to a maximum of $150, or 50% of travel expense, which ever is lower, and the distance must be greater than a 40Km radius from home to class.

3.  Moneys will be paid after the examination has been taken, and supporting information supplied.

c. Other Activities

 Any application for a grant to support other activities, which may not be mentioned above, but which are consistent with the objectives of the Outreach Program will be considered by the Outreach Review Committee.  Please complete an application form with as much information as possible and it will be considered.

Send your questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Purpose for a Single Source person
  • To track the usage of the program by managing the inquiries and the responses to the inquiries.
  • To field the inquiries to the appropriate resource teachers.
  • To keep a record of the inquiries and the replies.
  • To supply appropriate inquiries and replies to TACTalk editor for possible publication.
Single Source Job Description

All questions for the Teacher Resource Program will be directed to the single source person whether they are emails, letters or phone calls. The single source person shall record pertinent data for each inquiry and then direct it to a resource teacher that is listed under the inquiry's topic. If the inquiry is by phone, the single source person will send it on to a resource teacher by email. The inquiry will be in print form from then on. The resource teacher could respond by calling or writing the inquirer but send the single source person their reply via email for the record. The single source person shall record the day the inquiry was received, the question, the inquirer and to whom the inquiry was sent and when. The single source person shall receive a copy of the reply, record the day the reply was received, the file with reply with the copy of the inquiry.

 

Note 1:  Members of the Teacher Resource Program need to deal with all inquiries and responses in a timely manner.

Note 2: TRP member will act as the single source person who will be responsible for fielding inquiries. The inquiries will then be sent to one of the resource teachers depending on the nature of the inquiry. The Resource Teacher would then respond directly to the inquirer in a timely fashion with a copy to the single source person as well. The single source person will then maintain a file of the correspondences for future reference, for tracking the program usage and for possible publication in TACTalk.

AskTAC is intended to give support to, but not limited to, new and/or isolated teachers who may not have access to other teachers in their areas.
This program is comprised of experienced teachers who are willing to respond to questions. At present this program is limited to Resource Teachers who live in North America.
The resource categories listed below are provided to help you select an area that reflects your inquiry. Your question will be sent to a single source person who will forward it to one or more of the teachers in the category you choose.

Resource Area Categories:

  • Beginner's Class
  • Children's Class
  • Dances
  • Demo Team
  • Music
  • Programs (devising)
  • Seniors Class
  • Social Class
  • Teaching Methods
  • Technique
  • Workshops

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. now.

Please note: Teachers needing assistance should first try to find answers in RSCDS materials, copyrighted materials should not be compromised, and inquiries should be specific as opposed to requesting a general opinion. You may be asked permission to publish your question for a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document in the future.

For more information please see the AskTAC Guidelines and the AskTAC Resources


Questions or comments regarding this program can be directed to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..