1. Students
a. GrlPower Girls in grades 6, 7, and 8 from all of our schools will participate in a leadership conference on September 14th. High profile women in sports will speak to the girls about empowerment and leadership.
b. Chatelech has a new Rainbow crosswalk. This was a true student-led, staff supported initiative of the SAGA (Sexual and Gender Acceptance) group who have been instrumental in making Chatelech safe and accepting of all students. The district continues to be engaged in providing SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) education in our schools to teach diversity and respect and actively support inclusive learning practices.
c. Terry Fox runs Most schools have some involvement with Terry Fox runs. Along with fundraising for the Terry Fox Foundation, (A single dream, a world of hope), students learn through Terry’s story and their participation about perseverance and wellness and that they can make a difference in their world.
d. Elementary Music Program Staffing changes have resulted in some modifications to our music programs including adding some flexibility at the school level to accommodate part time teacher arrangements.
e. The Professional Cook Program has started at Elpinstone Secondary with nine students and our Carpentry program currently has sixteen students registered. We are very pleased that all secondary schools are represented in our Professional Programs. Also, we are now able to enroll students who have recently graduated supporting them towards meaningful employment and training. We will have 6 recent graduates participating in our programs this year.
2. Staff
a. Inspirational stories of staff discussions to build culture and educational excellence are bursting from our schools. A wonderful start to the school year!
b. Our district has sent a team of 3 people to train under Dr. Stan Kutcher with the Mental Health Literacy program so we can bring it in to our secondary schools this year. This is an evidence-based well-researched program that is showing very promising results for both the students and the teachers who are involved.
c. Our maintenance team has done superb work during the first week of school following a mishap on seven of our fields. The district is truly fortunate to have such dedicated people taking care of the students in our care.
d. We have hired over 25 teachers since last June to fill our teaching ranks for this year. We will run postings as new positions are identified to take changing student numbers into account.