Calmar Secondary School Spirit Assembly

In the afternoon of March 26th, applause, whoots, and cheers filled the gymnasium.  Opening the assembly were two grade twelve girls encouraging others to join the Interact Student Rotary Club; the girls shared a power point presentation with the student body highlighting the many great activities performed by participants in the club: students helping communities.

Next, Mr. Dunlop congratulated various sports teams for their efforts and terrific representation of Calmar Secondary School.

Finally, Mr. Dunlop, staff, and fellow students recognized students who continued to maintain honours standing in term #2.  The support of their peers and the pride the students have in their school was obvious; many times I heard, "Good job!  You rock!  Today is your day!" - it was great to see classmates supporting classmates.

The assembly ended with an impromptu dance party: the grade sevens loved my "sprinkler" moves. Great things are happening at Calmar Secondary.

Warburg School PD

On March 6, 2015, Warburg School staff spent the day acquainting itself with Inspiring Education's Ten Cross-Curricular Competencies exploring embedding them into their daily lessons.  In groups, teachers developed lessons identifying the competencies students would be able to demonstrate upon completion of the lesson.  Great things are happening at Warburg School.

Thorsby Elementary School Assembly

The TES gymnasium was buzzing with excitement Monday morning in anticipation of the school's morning assembly.  Mrs. Jubinville welcomed everyone and began by announcing the month's birthdays.  The birthday students and staff stood, and everyone sang them happy birthday.

An exciting, beautiful presentation was when grade four student, Shirley, sang the folk song, 'Blow The Wind Southerly' to her peers and staff - she did a wonderful job.  Next, Mrs. Schmidt invited her SWAT team to speak about the activities it was planning for the month and they finished with singing the 'Banana Song'.

Finally, Mrs. Maxwell spoke about the school's Mozambique fundraiser.  The school raised $1500.00 and were sending the money to its sponsor school in Mozambique so the school could purchase books for its library.  Donating money gave students a chance to be selected to smoosh a cream pie into the face of Mrs. Jubinbille, Mr. Larson, and Mr. Warren - the students loved this!  Great things are happening at Thorsby Elementary School.

Robina Baker Elementary Assembly

What a joy it was to attend Robina Baker School's assembly last month.  It began with the students, parents, and staff singing happy birthday to Ms. Betty, the school's custodian.  Next, grade 3R and 1K sang two songs: Tell the Truth and You'll Feel Good & the Honesty Theme song, then Principal Kloschinsky presented students with the student of the week awards, and finally, Ms. Betty presented the Golden Garbage Can Awards to classrooms for keeping their classrooms clean and tidy.

BGRD No.18 Administrators Review the Principal Quality Practice Guidelines

During this month's Administrators' Association Meeting, Principals, Assistant Principals, and Central Office staff used the Professional Learning Community time to address the Seven Dimensions of the Principal Quality Practice Guidelines.  The administrators perused the document adding, deleting, and altering the accompanying Black Gold Quality Indicators.  "The provincial document, with Black Gold's additions, is a fabulous tool imbuing the role of the principalship; kudos to BGRD admin," said Principal Cable.

Warburg Students Honour Volunteers & Staff

Warburg School Leadership students hosted a Celebration Assembly recognizing volunteers and staff for their commitment and dedication to the students and school community.  Tucked in with the formal awards were a number of lighthearted ones: best story teller, most likely to start a conversation that never ends, and, my favourite, most likely to call your mom if you didn't do your homework.

The Leadership students did a fabulous job presenting, and students, staff, and volunteers enjoyed the fun, laughter, and recognition.

A Little Fun at Fall Planning

Black Gold's Board of Education took a few minutes during its fall planning sessions to have some fun together playing "Minute to Winit".  The activity and the laughter was a great way to begin the afternoon.

ÉCPS Choir Performs at EIA Remembrance Ceremony

Staff, students, parents, and families from École Corinthia Park School joined Edmonton International Airport staff in remembering the Canadians who selflessly defended our freedom.  The choir opened the ceremony with the singing of O'Canada and ended with In Flanders Fields.

BGRS/ATA Healthy Interactions Program

On November 7th, 90 teachers participated in the "Healthy Interactions Workshop" offered collaboratively by Black Gold Regional Division and the Alberta Teachers' Association.  The program provides participants with a toolbox of communication and problem-solving skills that will assist in handling concerns.  The feedback received was very positive and suggested the training was timely as parent/teacher interviews are occurring later this month. Thank you to everyone for participating, and thank you to both Principal Zane Chomlak and Division Principal Norm Dargis for presenting.

Student Recognition at ÉCPS

I spent 45 minutes this morning at École Corinthia Park School's assembly, and what a treat it was. Many students were recognized for demonstrating their "Cougar" values, for "filling the buckets of others", and for being caught speaking French - our students are top-notch!

Grade 3J sang a wonderful song called "May There Always be Sunshine", Mr. Deverdenne's grade 5 class, under the tutelage of Mlle. Sorensen, performed a beautiful piece on the xylophones, and Mrs. Lyall's speech about the upcoming medieval themed book fair culminated in a joust between two worthy horsemen: Mr. Maron and Mr. Cable.

Amazing Assemblies

I miss the ability to walk down the hallway and step into a classroom or the gymnasium and see students working with their teacher and each other enjoying learning, so when I get invited to visit a school and observe our wonderful students and staff in action, I accept with excitement and anticipation.

This past week I was fortunate to attend assemblies at Leduc Estates School, East Elementary School, and École Dansereau Meadows School: I wasn't disappointed!  The grade 3's "Scarecrow" song, Halloween story, and grade 4 cooking demonstration at LES, the grade 6 leadership team's YMCA dance and the students' overwhelming joy when receiving their student of the month certificate at EAST, and the grade 2's magnet song, the Jr. High "Be Proactive" skit, and the school support staff's air band at ÉDMS were all completely amazing!

Great things are happening in BGRD No.18!