Celebrate!

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Prairie Valley School Division pvsd.caSeptember 2016

In recognition of National Aboriginal Day on June 21, Fort Qu’Appelle Elementary Community School and Bert Fox Community High School teamed up with Elders Norma Jean and Dick Byrd. Six Grade 8 girls volunteered to set up a demonstration tipi while Elder Norma Jean shared tipi teachings with students from Kindergarten to Grade 10. Students from Fort Qu’Appelle Elementary led a round dance using hand drums made earlier in the year with Elder Wayne Goodwill.

National Aboriginal Day

Lumsden High School raised $5,350 with the help of Capital Buick and parent Matt Fischer at the Drive For Your Students Event. Staff and community members came out to support the school and Buick donated $20 for every valid test drive taken. The funds raised will go to support Lumsden High School student activities.

Drive For Your Students

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In Memory of Benjamin

Salvation Army DriveThe Balgonie Elementary School Student Leadership Council led a community donation project in the school to collect 5,500 lbs or more of used clothing and other items for the Salvation Army as one of their WE Day “WE Act” projects. They exceeded their 2016 target and collected 14,620 lbs of goods, thanks to the generosity of the people of Balgonie and area.

Battle of the BooksIn June, the closing event for “Battle of the Books” was held at James Hamblin School. The event was to thank EVRAZ for the generous grant which makes this event possible and featured book readings and plays by Grade 5 & 6 students. In attendance were Board member Frank Thauberger, Library Consultant Regan Williams and representatives from EVRAZ.

In a corner of the Kipling Athletic Field, which is shared by Kipling School and the community, the Batters family erected a bronze statue of a lion in memory of their son, Benjamin Batters, who was a Grade 6 student at Kipling School. The lion depicts the main character, Aslan, in C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series, which were Benjamin’s favourite books. The Batters family hopes that the lion will inspire students to be brave and kind, like Aslan and their son, Benjamin.

The Grade 3/4 class from Balcarres Community School took the Grade 2/3 class on a whirlwind tour of eight cities in China. The Grade 2/3 students got on the “plane” with their tickets, passports and bags. As soon as the plane landed the Grade 3/4 class started to teach their friends all they had learned about this huge country. The students ate with chopsticks, did calligraphy on scrolls, made Terra Cotta Warriors and learned other interesting facts about China and Chinese culture.

Art Central Education Centre is featuring photographs from the Circle of Courage year end gathering at Grenfell Elementary School, which were graciously donated by a student’s mother from Papermoon Photography. Throughout the year, the school used Elder account funds to build relationships with Elders and First Nations neighbours. At year end, they all worked together to create a gathering with performances by the drumming group, Buffalo Lodge, and youth dancers of Sakimay First Nations.

Balcarres students “Visit” China

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• Kaylee Francis, who graduated from Greenall High School in June, was selected to Songs 4 Nature, an all-expense paid, year-long songwriting program and camp through the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.

• Balgonie Elementary School Kindergarten student, Alexis Weslowski entered the Love Math Calendar Contest, and her “cat family” was selected as one of the winning entries!

• Matthew Leippi, who graduated from Greenall High School in June, signed a bull-riding scholarship with Dawson Community College in Montana. He is taking Welding Technology.

• Grade 9 students at Lumsden High School, Jackson Fraser, Riley Schick and Adam Zimmer made the Bantam Selects Zone 5 Baseball Team for the Saskatchewan Summer Games in Estevan.

• Pilot Butte School had its 125th birthday party on June 6!

• Tamara Brodziak, Grade 10 student at Lumsden High School, won the Grand Champion - Minor Hunter Division at the Ebon Trophy show in Saskatoon (pictured right).

• Provincial Track and Field wins:

• Greenall High Bryden Trakalo Bronze Senior boys’ 100 m hurdles Bryson Boliantz Gold Wheelchair 100 m and 400 m Gillian Romanow Silver Midget girls’ 100 m Joely Welburn Gold Junior girls’ high jump and triple jump Silver Junior girls’ long jump Bronze Junior girls’ aggregate• Indian Head High Rebecca Russell Bronze Junior girls’ 1500 m and 3000 m• Kipling School Leslie Thomas Gold Senior girls’ javelin• Lumsden High Kaitlyn Harrison Bronze Midget girls’ 1500 m Madison Wickenheiser Bronze Junior girls’ quadathlon (four events)• Milestone Ethan Ohrt Gold Junior boys’ discus• North Valley High Hayden Schutz Bronze Senior boys’ high jump Sklar Smith Silver Junior girls’ 400 m

Congratulations!

Prairie Valley students from Greenall, Indian Head High, Kipling, Lumsden Elementary, McLean, and Whitewood competed at the Canadian High School Rodeo finals in Alberta.

Students Attend Rodeo Finals

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School Community Councils (SCC) are advisory bodies that contribute to the learning success and well-being of all students within their school and community. They also encourage and facilitate parent and community engagement. This section features examples of the great work our SCCs are doing.

Celebrating School Community Councils

The School Community Council for École White City School organized a Tree Legacy project to beautify the playground. One student from each homeroom helped plant nine trees around the playground to represent each of the K-8 grades.

Illustrated History Challenge

Congratulations to Breanna Ziegler, a Grade 8 student at Sedley School, for being a finalist in the Kayak Kids’ Illustrated History Challenge. Breanna wrote her story about the Regina Cyclone at the end of Grade 6. We wish her luck in when the winners are announced this fall!

MADD Canada

The Balgonie Elementary School Grade 7 and 8 students watched a presentation from MADD Canada entitled “24 Hours”. The presentation included a guest speaker and video.

TASCAP Key Turning

A key turning ceremony was held in June in Fort Qu’Appelle to present the Delorme family with a new home and congratulate the 23 students who were in the Trades and Skills Construction Apprenticeship Program to build the house. Well done, students!

On January 1, 2016, Prairie Valley School Division had its tenth anniversary. Each 2016 issue of Celebrate! will share milestones from a decade of Leadership in Learning and Life.

May-June 2014 - The Board of Education awards the first Student Success Awards to graduating students who overcome barriers or challenges.

Summer 2013 - Major renovations are celebrated at three schools:

• Vibank Regional School receives a new elementary wing and student servery, renovated high school wing and administration offices, expanded library and up to date life safety systems.

• Kipling School is consolidated into one building for Grades K to 12 with a new elementary wing, common spaces, media lab, student servery, library and up-to-date life safety systems.

• Balcarres Community School is renovated to consolidate Grades Pre-K to 12 in a single building and a new resource centre, offices and Cultural Room are added.

Celebrating 10 Years of Prairie Valley

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Embracing our DiversityPrairie Valley introduced a policy in spring 2016 on accepting and respecting human diversity—the differences in people and their unique circumstances. This section includes stories to increase awareness and celebrate all aspects of our human diversity, including gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ethnic origin, ancestry, culture, socio-economic status, religion, family status, and mental and physical disability.

On June 25, a number of teachers, along with their families and friends, walked in the Queen City Pride Parade. The Prairie Valley Teachers’ Association organized the group in an effort to show support for students, colleagues, friends, family and community members who are part of the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) community.

Making a Difference

Prairie Valley School Division’s dedicated employees impact the lives of students every single day. Their contribution and hard work truly make a difference!

This month, we celebrate the contributions of Jeff Moore a Teacher at Greenall High School.

What does a regular day look like for you? In Semester 1, I lead two sections of an integrated course that we call Outdoor Experiences 10. In Semester 2, I work with the Greenall Outdoor School program. There is nothing regular about most days in either program. On any given day you can find us doing things like traditional hide tanning, learning and practicing other traditional skills, hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, canoeing or learning from any of a number of amazing community partners.

How long have you worked with Prairie Valley? I have been working at Greenall High School for 14 years.

Can you share one moment that stands out for you in your time with Prairie Valley? It takes an amazing school division, filled with supportive and enthusiastic people, to support so many great outdoor education offerings. I am very grateful to be able to provide the learning experiences that I do for students. My one moment, without any hesitation, is the day that the Outdoor School dream became a reality.

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It takes an amazing school division, filled with supportive and enthusiastic people to support so many great outdoor education offerings.

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Leadership in Learning and Life

Let’s Celebrate Together

Send us your celebration items. Stories should be 80-100 words (about four sentences) and answer who, what, when, where, why.For each story, please send your best photo and include for each person: 1) first and last name 2) position/title or grade/class3) school or organization

Send your stories to communications@pvsd.ca

by September 23 for the October issue.

Super Band

Students from every Grade 6 band program in the Division gathered at South Shore in June for Super Band!