Canalta Kids Choir Performance
The Canalta Kids Choir will be perfoming at the Salvation Army Fundraiser, Saturday, June 2, 2012 at the Mountain Christian School Gymasium.The money raised will go towards the Dawson Creek Hospital.
The spaghetti dinner will be served @ 5:00 for a charge of $5 per plate and $20 per family.The show will begin around 6:00. There will be various performances from the young people of our community. Come on out to show your support and a wonderful night of entertainment.
Board Meeting Highlights for May 16, 2012
School District 59 (Peace River South)
11600 – 7th Street
Dawson Creek, B.C. V1G 4R8
Phone: 250-782-8571 Fax: 250-782-3204
Tumbler Ridge
· _Changes Proposed to Student Transportation - Significant changes have been made to the Student Transportation funding we receive as part of our operating grant. The new formula has resulted in this funding being reduced by $750,000 – approximately one-quarter of our transportation funding. This is effective September 1, 2012, and is to be phased in over three years. Although, we have requested that the government review this new funding formula, we must prepare in case no changes are forthcoming. To this end, a number of changes to bussing are being proposed. The following will take effect September 1, 2012:
· _Increase monthly fees to private schools as follows:
Current Proposed
Single Student $20 $30
Family $50 $75
· _We will begin taking attendance of all students riding our busses, and will no longer maintain route deviations for student riding less than 60% of the school days. Students riding less that this will still be able to ride our busses, but will have to access them on existing routes. No transportation assistance funds will be available to them.
· _No new route deviations for students not riding to their catchment area school. This will include French immersion students. These students will still be able to ride our busses, but will have to access them on existing routes. No transportation assistance funds will be available to them.
· _Cancellation of Rolla Bus Run #43. We currently have four bus runs in the Rolla area with very few students. We will be cancelling bus #43 and revising the remaining runs to compensate.
Further changes to student transportation are still to be determined.
· _Chetwynd French Immersion Program - The Chetwynd French Immersion program will be moved to Windrem Elementary School in September 2012. This is in order to allow for the expansion of the French Immersion program into the high school so that the program can continue to develop and be successful. The closer proximity addresses a better way of sharing resources; more specifically, the change in venue allows for a fluid transition of students and teachers between schools.
French Immersion students would now be attending a dual track school at Windrem School. Don Titus School would become an English stream school and early learning centre with the addition of the Strong Start Program and possibility of other pre-school and daycare programs. Industry Impacts – District staff has been involved in a number of consultations regarding the development of projects that are contemplated to occur in the region. The purpose of these consultations is to exchange information with industry, on the impact a proposed development will have on School District No. 59 operations.
The Site C Power Project: Pending all approvals, the project will cost $7.9 billion and take 7 years to construct. During construction there would be an average annual workforce of 900-1000 workers on site, amounting to approximately 7,000 person-years of work by completion of the dam. BC Hydro has a target date of 2021 to have the dam producing.
Flooding 5550 hectares of land, the reservoir will cause highway 29 to be moved at 5-6 locations, totalling 30kms of new road.
The Murray River Coal Mine: Pending all approvals, this project will be developed 13 kms southwest of Tumbler Ridge. Initial development is expected to cost $300 million and the mine is expected to have a producing lifetime of 31 years at 6 million tonnes of coal per year, destined for China. The project would employ 450 underground miners and 150 surface workers. As many as 1,200 spin-off jobs are anticipated once the mine is fully operational.
Quintette Coal: is scheduled to reopen their operations in Tumbler Ridge by 2013. They are currently in the process of hiring their senior management for operations. They will be staffing at significant levels as well, although we are not aware of the shift pattern they will use.
Canadian Dehau Coal Mine: This company is planning to bring off-shore workers to staff the mining operations. The permits for “worker’s visas” are currently the delay for the full operations to commence. They are also looking at the development of land and facilities in Tumbler Ridge for their workers.
The Wapiti Coal Development: The consultation process has just begun for this proposed project. They have been inquiring about the capacity in our schools in Dawson Creek.
Thunder Mountain Wind Project: This project near Tumbler Ridge is currently installing the tower bases, and will be constructing windmills throughout this summer and fall.
Pipelines: Two pipelines projects have been proposed that would see development within the School District. One is a heavy crude pipeline that would move oil from Ft. McMurray to Prince Rupert (proposed) through the Pine Pass. The second pipeline would move natural gas from the Peace Region to Prince Rupert.
Oil and Gas: At this point in time the price of Natural Gas has slowed the activity in the region. Once it begins to regain value, the region will once again experience significant drilling and pipelining activity.
The Twinning of Highway 2: The development of a second traffic lane from the BC-Alberta border to Ft. St. John, will place extensive demand on the region with regard to travel and employment of equipment operators and class 1 drivers.
The concerns expressed by the District are that:
The additional industrial traffic increases the risk to our children when the bus fleet is on the highway mornings and afternoons.
· _While we are operating an essential service, we are challenged at times to keep all our operations fully staffed. We are unable to pay the wages that industry is offering, thus we may be forced to curtail services if we cannot find trades and skilled workers, similar to what occurred with our transportation department this year.
· _There is a negative effect on our students by having an elevated volume of drugs and partying that occurs with a transient, highly paid young population in the region.
· _Depending how the work shifts are established the schools could expect dramatic growth or very little growth. If the shifts are 5 days on, and 2 off, our schools will grow as it is worthwhile for a family to move into the area under that circumstance. Conversely if a shift is 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off, the workers are not likely to relocate their families, and will travel home for their time off.
· _Where a company intends to bring a significant offshore workforce, we need to know how many children may be involved to adjust our ESL staffing.
· _We also need to develop opportunities to integrate diverse cultures within our schools rather than have divided populations if large numbers of offshore students arrive.
· _The consultants have recorded the information presented. We are hopeful that as these projects commence, we will have the cooperation of industry to mitigate our concerns.
· _Admin Announcements – _the following Administrative changes were announced:
· _Christi Fowler – Vice-Principal of Little Prairie Elementary School
· _Wanda McIntyre – Principal of Canalta Elementary School
· _Focus on the Transportation of Students – School District #59 transports students within one of the largest geographic areas in the province. In addition, the environmental challenges are significant throughout the winter months. Nevertheless, the safe transportation of students is one of the most important operations that occurs daily. The person who oversees operation of the fleet and its maintenance is the Transportation Manager (Keith Trail).
Facts on the transportation of students:
· _There are 36 buses operating out of Dawson Creek, carrying 989 students daily.
· _There are 13 buses (under contract to the School District) operating out of Chetwynd, carrying 459 students daily.
· _Buses in Chetwynd travel a total of 2191 kilometers daily.
· _Buses in Dawson Creek travel a total of 5730 kilometers daily.
· _The combined travel of the bus fleet per-day is the equivalent of one vehicle driving to Honolulu, Hawaii and back per-day.
· _The Dawson Creek operation employs 3 full time mechanics and a . time person in the wash bay.
Overall, it is a huge undertaking to move (the above) volume of students to their classes 195+/- days per year, with multiple field trips in addition to regular runs. Clearly, the drivers are the keys to ensuring it all occurs safely and on time.
*Note: With recent government changes to transportation funding, the SD#59 transportation funding is being reduced by 25%. The District is looking at implementing measures to deal with this over the next few years.
Environmental Reviews - In the past few weeks the Superintendent and a Director of Instruction have been travelling from school to school to talk with teachers about their schools and work environments. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are carefully recorded as the teachers are invited to report.
The purpose of these meetings is for schools and the district to identify both common needs, and unique situations. With that information the Superintendent and school principals are better able to assemble long and short term plans that will support our teachers in providing the best quality education possible.
_Policy Committee –
The Board is reviewing the following policy/regulation and are circulating them for review and comments:
#3045: Qualifications - Primary
_Important Dates –
June 6 Board hosted dinner for long-service and retiring employees
June 20 Regular meeting of the Board (Dawson Creek)
June 20-29 Provincial exams
June 29 Admin day. Classes are not in session.
Next Regular Meeting – June 20, 2012 at 1:00pm
Dawson Creek
Classroom Happenings
Mrs. McKeen
The month of May has gone by too quickly! We have been enjoying our project based learning work on the topic of healthy living. We have now been tying this into the farm and learning why farms are important to us as well as what healthy foods we get from farms. The students are also very 'egg-cited' about hatching chicks. We hope to have many chicks arrive around the end of this month but we are abiding by the rule: "don't count your chickens before they hatch". We have finished our work with individual letters of the alphabet and we are now reviewing the alphabet. We are also reviewing numbers to 20 but focussing primarily on numbers to ten. It has been a busy month and we have had fun!
Ms. Lacarte
Our third and final term is in full swing. Students are writing stories and they are learning to add description. We are examining what makes us a good friend to others. Our bulletin board is brimming with bright flowers and a Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring poem. We are re-visiting patterns in math, and students are creating and extending some complex patterns with 3 and 4 attributes. We have been fortunate to have the students in Mrs. Hiebert's class join us for gym to help us learn to skip. Most of our class can jump short and long ropes, some can skip with hula hoops, and some K's and grade 1's have even learned double dutch. Our year end field trip to Sewell's Farm is planned for June 18. Come along if you are able. We always appreciate adult companions.
Mrs. Turner/Miss Nelson
Mrs. Delawsky
The year is quickly winding up. Academic work is still being completed until the end of the school year. However, the last week, we have a couple of field trips planned. Keep the following dates in mind:
- May 28th – June 3rd: the grade 7’s are off to Vancouver
- Monday, June 4th morning: both the grade 6’s and 7’s will be attending the Dawson Creek Secondary School Music Theatre production, “Legally Blonde”
- Tuesday, June 13th – Friday, June 15th: grade 6’s will be going to Gwillam Lake with Mrs. Aylward
- Wednesday, June 27th: both Mrs. Cork’s and Mrs. Delawsky’s classes will be visiting the Cork farm for a year end BBQ. We will be taking a bus out to the farm for the day. Students will be back at the school in time to catch their regular buses home.
- Thursday, June 28th: both Mrs. Cork’s and Mrs. Delawsky’s classes will be bowling in the afternoon after the year-end assembly
- Students will be presenting their ancient civilizations they have created. The date is yet to be determined. Parents are welcome to attend. Please watch for the date in your child’s agenda.
Parents, please help your children clean out their rooms in search of library books and textbooks. We are now trying to get most of our educational books back. We appreciate your help in getting all the books returned to help keep costs of replacing books to a minimum. Our class currently owes $355 of books to our library! This does not include lost textbooks.
Library News
Hear Ye Hear Ye
Calling All Library Books Home to the Library for the Summer
It’s Book Round-Up Time! Parents please help your children conduct a search at home, in vehicles or even Grandparent’s homes for library books. A draw box will be set up for prizes when your child has returned all of his or her books to the library.During the week of June 18th we will be sending home a list of the overdue books your child has not returned. Please have your child return these books to the library as soon as possible.
√LAST CHECKOUT DATE: June 8th
√LIBRARY DRAW: June 25th
Have a wonderful summer!
From Mrs. Aylward and Mrs. Currie
Summer Reading Tips for Parents
Efforts should be made during the summer to help children sustain reading skills, practice reading and read for enjoyment. Reading builds visualization, thinking and language abilities. Parents should remember that children need free time in the summer to relax and enjoy the pleasures of childhood. So summer reading should be fun. Following are a few tips to make reading enjoyable for your children this summer:
Read aloud together with your child every day.
Make it fun by reading outdoors on the front steps, patio, at the beach or park. Also, let your children read to you. For younger children, point out the relationship between words and sounds.
Set a good example!
Parents must be willing to model behavior for their children. Keep lots of reading material around the house. Turn off the TV and have each person read his or her book, including mom and dad.
Read the same book your child is reading and discuss it.
This is the way to develop habits of the mind and build capacity for thought and insight.
Let kids choose what they want to read, and don'tturn your nose up at popular fiction.
It will only discourage the reading habit.
Buy books on tape, especially for a child with a learning disability.
Listen to them in the car, or turn off the TV and have the family listen to them together.
Take your children to the library regularly.
Most libraries sponsor summer reading clubs with easy-to-reach goals for preschool and school-age children. Check the library calendar for special summer reading activities and events. Libraries also provide age appropriate lists for summer reading.
Subscribe, in your child's name, to magazines like Sports Illustrated for Kids, Highlights for Children, or National Geographic World.
Encourage older children to read the newspaper and current events magazines, to keep up the reading habit over the summer and develop vocabulary. Ask them what they think about what they've read, and listen to what they say.
Ease disappointment over summer separation from a favorite school friend by encouraging them to become pen pals.
Present both children with postcards or envelopes that are already addressed and stamped. If both children have access to the Internet, email is another option.
Make trips a way to encourage reading by reading aloud traffic signs, billboards, notices.
Show your children how to read a map, and once you are on the road, let them take turns being the navigator.
Encourage children to keep a summer scrapbook.
Tape in souvenirs of your family's summer activities picture postcards, ticket stubs, photos. Have your children write the captions and read them and read them aloud as you look at the book together.
Special Olympics BC – FUNdamentals
Get involved in our new youth program: FUNdamentals!
Special Olympics BC – Dawson Creek is starting a FUNdamentals sports program for youth aged 7 – 11 with an intellectual disability.
When: Saturdays, 1:30 – 3:30 pm (May 2 – August)
Where: Northern Lights College gym
Cost: FREE
To register: contact Kristin Webster at 250.570.1455 or at