PWPSD Good News Report - December 2021

PWPSD News

TAQA North makes donation to nutrition programs

TAQA North has added a boost into two PWPSD schools’ nutrition programs. Penson School and La Glace School were each recipients of $826.50, which has gone toward providing healthy snacks for students. We thank TAQA North for their generosity in supporting our schools!

December marks the beginning of PWPSD’s Literacy Round Table

Pictured: Teachers Ashton Kyle (Hythe Regional School) and Jaime Baker (Harry Balfour School)

The first official meeting of the Literacy Round Table group was held on December 1, 2021. A group of eight teachers, representing Grades K-6 from a variety of schools throughout the Division, gathered to discuss all-things literacy. As a kick-off, and to provide common literary language amongst the group, each group member was gifted a copy of Lyn Stone’s book, Reading for Life. The group plans to meet bi-monthly for an ongoing discussion focusing on programming and resources for Elementary Literacy.

Congratulations Kaori Doble, PWPSD’s 2021 Christmas Card Art Contest winner!

The PWPSD Communications Committee voted Kaori’s submission as the winner of the 2021 Christmas Card Art Contest. She has won a personal prize pack and a pizza party for her class! Thank you to everyone who submitted their art for this year’s contest. There were a total of 25 submissions and each one embodied the contest’s theme, “The best thing about Christmas is…” Congratulations on a job well done goes out to everyone who participated!

Merry Christmas from Peace Wapiti Public School Division

Christmas break is coming up! The holiday break will run from Friday, December 24 until students are welcomed back to class on Monday, January 10, 2022. We wish all of our students, staff members, families, and communities a safe and merry Christmas and a very happy New Year!

School News

Alternative Education

Grade 5 science students learn from dad

Selah and Greyson Schroeder learn all about electricity and magnetism from their Master Electrician dad.

Beaverlodge Elementary School

Curling is in our blood

Mason Teare follows his rock as he tries to land on the button.

The grade 4 students have now completed their curling unit. They enjoyed playing the sport while simultaneously cheering on BES Alumni Geoff Walker as he and his team fought their way to the 2022 Beijing Olympics!

Scooting around

Junior Kindergarten student Hope Bye has fun scooting around the gym with classmates.

Golden Tickets found at BES

Oliver Tychoniak, Lola Riendeau, Paisley Kyle, and Averi Mulligan are the first four to find a Golden Ticket!

The 3LT students have been enjoying reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Things got even sweeter when they found their own Golden Tickets!

Bezanson School

Another successful Movember

Students and staff at Bezanson School proudly showed off their moustaches to raise money for their Students’ Union and Movember Canada. Enough money was raised to donate $143.50 to each cause! Congratulations!

Bonanza School

CBC’s Music Class Challenge finds its way to Bonanza

The Grade 5/6 students at Bonanza School have been working together to create their own cover version of the song Salvation by the Strumbellas. They are a very musical group and can often be found playing instruments during recess and their free time! The performance is their submission into CBC’s 2021 Music Class Challenge.

Clairmont Community School

Jigging their way into the holidays

Students spent some time enjoying jigging lessons from Ms. Benning.

CCS preparing for non-traditional Christmas concert

The students and staff at Clairmont Community School have been busy getting ready for their non-traditional Christmas concert. This year’s performance will be aired live on the school’s Facebook page. The performance will take place on Tuesday, December 21 for all CCS families to enjoy!

Helen E. Taylor School

Find Felix!

Spotted: HET’s Elf on the Shelf, Felix, doing his best to avoid the lava!

Hythe Regional School

Grade 9s learn about space

The grade 9 students at Hythe Regional School have been learning about space exploration, and recently had the pleasure of hearing from Canadian astronomer Wilfred Buck. Students learned about the constellations and stars from an îyinîw perspective.

La Glace School

Students hit the ice

Mr. Kyle’s grade 5/6 students enjoyed being on the ice for some physical education! Off-site PE activities have been supported by the local La Glace and District Agricultural Society.

H is for Hairdresser

Professional stylist Jennica Moretto took a break from the salon to visit the Kindergarten class at La Glace School. The students enjoyed having their hair done in celebration of H Day!

Indigenous studies at La Glace School

Students experience a Blanket Exercise

With guidance from the PWPSD Indigenous Education Services team, grade 7-9 students participated in a Blanket Exercise; an interactive learning experience that guides students through the history of Canada through the perspective of Indigenous peoples. Local plants and Indigenous artifacts were used as props in the educational exercise.

Drum workshop

In culture class, Mrs. Smith and her students worked alongside Sarah Burke and Natascha Okimaw to make handcrafted Indigenous necklaces and authentic deerskin drums.

Students experiment with colours

Grade 1/2 science just got a whole lot more colourful! Students have been learning how to make observations and conclusions about colour change.

Caroling for Christmas

This year, students and staff will make their way around the hamlet of La Glace to partake in traditional caroling for the holidays! Everyone is invited to join them outside on Wednesday, December 22 between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. at a number of stops throughout the community.

Christmas themed performing arts activities will also be filmed and uploaded to the School Wide Google Classroom for families to view.

Spirit River Regional Academy

Congratulations Sabres!

Congratulations to Erik Oltmanns, Kurtis Noble, Nate Oltmanns, Reese Tomkow, and Coach Letawsky as they and the rest of the Sexsmith Sabres, celebrate bringing home the title! The Sabres beat WR Myers Rebels 51-7 on November 27 to win the Tier 4 Provincial Football Championship.

Family Game Night

Elementary students decorated their very own Family Game Night themed Christmas tree for Spirit River’s Festival of Trees.

Whispering Ridge Community School

New modular classrooms arrive at WRCS

Two new modular classrooms, which are replacing those lost in the fire that broke out earlier this year, arrived on November 27. Crews are now working on the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work, as well as tying in all the units with roofs, floorings, skirting, etc. The grade 1 and playschool students and staff are anticipated to move into their new classrooms in January.

Upcoming events

• First Day of Winter: Tuesday, December 21
• Christmas Break, no school: Friday, December 24 – Sunday, January 9, 2022
• Day in lieu of Christmas, all PWPSD offices and shops closed: Friday, December 24
• Day in lieu of Boxing Day, all PWPSD offices and shops closed: Monday, December 27
• Day in lieu of New Years Day, all PWPSD offices and shops closed: Monday, January 3, 2022
• Classes Resume: Monday, January 10, 2022
• Next Board Meeting: Thursday, January 20, 2022
• Semester 2 begins: Monday, January 31, 2022