Covenant Students Doing God's Work

I had the pleasure of spending part of last Thursday morning at Covenant Christian School enjoying the grade nine students' "Playing My Part in His-Story" presentations.  The confidence, maturity, and passion in their presentations were second to none.  As a graduation project, the students were asked to research a topic of choice, develop a "Big Question", use one of the school's "Throughlines" - God Worshiping, Community Building, Creation Enjoying, Idolatry Discerning, Justice Seeking, Earth Keeping, Beauty Creating, Servant Working, Image Reflecting, or Order Discovering making  connections between the throughline and the topic, and cite relevant biblical scripture passages supporting both the topic and throughline.  Finally, the students were asked to use digital story telling to describe their service learning that went along with the project.

One big question was "How do people with disabilitites affect our values?" another was "Are we helping or hurting the homeless?" and a third was "How are we taking care of sick children and their families?".  These students are doing God's work and were, as Philippians 2:4 suggests, interested not only in their own lives, but were interested in the lives of others. 

The love in that classroom was overwhelming: student to student, student to teacher, teacher to student, parent to child, and child to parent.  There is no better way to spend a morning than immersed in love, because God is love.  Thank you, Covenant Christian.

Concordia University College Welcomes BGRD No.18

Division Principal, Norm Dargis, and I attended Concordia University College's Career Fair, organized by Concordia's B.Ed. (After Degree) students, on Thursday, February 7th, 2013.  We were met with a very warm welcome, treated to unlimited homemade cookies, and given a brief tour of the Faculty of Education in its new location on the upper level of the Ralph King Athletic Centre. 

We presented the students with three twenty minute sessions providing a description of our division (location, size, programs), an indication of staffing needs for the 2013-2014 school year, and advice regarding interviews, portfolios, documentation required, and processes used for hiring teachers. 

Students shared with us Concordia's "Bridges Bursary Program" - a bursary program offered by CUCA to new graduates of the Bachelor of Education (After Degree) program to fund volunteer time in the classroom following completion of their studies (May & June).  The focus is to provide enriched experiences for new graduates as they transition from university to the teaching profession; the deadline for students to apply for approval is the first Thursday in April.  If you are interested in having a Concordia grad volunteer in your school this May and June, please contact the Dean of Education, Dr. Maureen Stratton, Bridges Coordinator at maureen.stratton@concordia.ab.ca 

Education Career Fair 2013/Foire d'emploi en Education 2013

Our Division Principal, Norm Dargis, and I attended the Education Career Fairs at both the U of A and Campus Saint Jean on Monday, January 21st.  We spent the day on the main campus and the evening at Campus Saint Jean representing BGRD No.18 and meeting many wonderful soon to graduate education students.  These young people were eager, prepared, and excited about beginning their teaching careers; education in Alberta will be in good hands.  We'd like to thank Jennifer El-Khatib, assistant principal of École Corinthia Park School, for assisting us at the Foire d'emploi en Education at Campus Saint Jean. 

                                                                                 

Principals New to Their Position Reflect: Would I Follow Me?

Seven new principals and three principals who transferred to new schools this fall met on the morning of December 19th learning about the 360 degree evaluation in which they all will participate and considering leaders' behaviours on a group's productivity.  Initially they pondered the quotation "The number one reason people thrive at work is their boss; it's also the number one reason they quit." 

From there, they participated in small and large group activities/discussions reflecting on inspiring behaviours, alienating behaviours, situations where misguided ideas resulted in unintended negativity, effective leadership practices, and servant leadership. 

The morning concluded with the group watching the following leadership video clip  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03o1JZ7c7gI&noredirect=1 and sharing key learnings.  Great things are happening in Black Gold Regional Division No.18!

 

Aspiring Leadership Team & the P.Q.P.G

After school on November 26th, Black Gold's Aspiring Leadership Team met to discuss the Principal Quality Practice Guidelines participating in a carousel activity sharing their ideas and thoughts.  They also had the opportunity to listen to a presentation from two Black Gold Leading Principals. 

 

BGRD No.18 Principals' P.L.C.

During monthly Superintendent meetings, Principals are given time for "Professional Learning Community" discussions and collaboration.  On Thursday, November 15th, the topic was "Teacher Professional Growth, Supervision, & Evaluation". 

BGRD No.18 Supports Ronald McDonald House

On November 14th, École Corinthia Park School staff, their children, and Central Office staff went to Ronald McDonald House and cooked dinner for the children and families staying there.  Ronald McDonald House is a compassionate, safe, and affordable home away from home for out-of-town families whose children are receiving treatment in a local Edmonton hospital.  The purpose of the house is to keep families together and provide a supportive environment while the family member is being treated for his/her illness.  Thank you, everyone, for your kindness.