Career and Technology High School

Lord Shaughnessy School

A 50 year old school gets a face lift via renovations and education gets a rejuvenation via template shift. Along with the province's on-going attempt to attract student's to the technologies and trades career path, CBE's Lord Shaughnessy High School will be an innovative trade and tech education nerve center. 9.7 million dollars has been invested so far in upgrades and new innovative classrooms designed with a distinct purpose.

"The renovation of the Lord Shaughnessy is part of a bigger package of work being done across the province to reshape the type of schooling available to students." - source.

A Few Quotes

With sincere and heartfelt thoughts for the community at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, here are a few comforting quotes I found:
 "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."
Aristotle Onassis

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain."
Joseph Campbell

"If it were not for hopes, the heart would break."
Thomas Fuller

"Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit."
Bern Williams


Have a peaceful, safe and happy holiday with your loved ones. 

From Karen Drummond, Communications Advisor for the CBE:

Making school councils the best they can be

The Board of Trustees initiated some changes to how CBE school councils operate this year. This was part of an effort to strengthen the Board’s connection to school councils, and is meant to serve as a starting point for improvement. Some of the key changes are as follows:

§ the creation of the “council of school councils”;

§ a different approach to system-wide and area meetings with school councils;

§ the development of the 2012-13 school council handbook;

§ more opportunities to connect with the Board of Trustees; and

§ a new date and process for submitting school council annual reports.

Another significant change is less emphasis on the key communicator role. That does not mean the role has been eliminated. What it means is that CBE administration now needs to examine how the role functions in light of these changes.

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School council survey results posted

An online survey was circulated to gather information about school councils early in the school year. The survey was open Sept. 28 to Oct. 18. There were 49 people who started the survey and of those, 42 who completed all questions on the survey. Another school council survey will be done closer to the end of the school year to compare perceptions and opinions.

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Parents advised about possible bus delays

Our school bus carriers are currently experiencing a shortage of school bus drivers. While the carriers are working hard to recruit new drivers, this shortage of drivers combined with winter weather conditions can cause delays for some school bus routes.

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Grade 4-12 students to complete Tell Them From Me survey

Beginning this December, an online school survey calledTell Them From Me (TTFM) will allow students in Grades 4-12 to give their anonymous input into school improvement initiatives.

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Kindergarten registration begins Jan. 14

Kindergarten registration for the 2013-14 school year begins on Jan. 14.

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Buy tickets for a night with the Hitmen Jan. 18

CBE students, staff and their families can buy discounted tickets to the Hitmen game Jan. 18. A portion of all ticket purchases will support the Fuel for School Breakfast Program.

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School councils eligible for grants from The Calgary Foundation

There are upcoming deadlines of Jan. 3 and Feb. 18 to apply for Neighbour Grants.

To apply for Stepping Stones grants, you can apply by midnight of the first day of every month.



For more information on these issues click here.

WHSPA Update

The following is an update from Lynn, Chair of the Parent Association - there will be no meeting in December so here is a summary of PA business:
 
Just an update on what is happening with the PA:

1.      At the last meeting, we discussed changing our meeting dates to the 3^rd WEDNESDAY of every month to allow more members to attend.  There were only a few of us there, so please consider if this would work for you and let me know, so we can post the January meeting date to the blog.
2.      We have received our new cheques for only one of our three new CIBC accounts.  Hopefully the other 2 will arrive today or tomorrow.
3.      I have called the AGLC with regards to the approval for our SALTS trip.  Gaming is apparently quite far behind in processing requests and we may not hear back for a few more weeks. 
4.      Along these same lines, we should submit the paperwork for guest artists etc as soon as possible as the AGLC seems to need significant lead time.  Tammy  has offered to co-ordinate this and the school is working on gathering the background information for the applications.
5.      The Alberta Registrar has granted us an extension to revise our bylaws until the end of Jan 2013.  I requested this extra time due to the AGLC reporting and banking business that has taken so much time over the last several weeks and they were very accommodating.
6.      I have made the last Fundscrip deposit so our total receipts from this fundraiser stand at $6825.  Assuming an average of 2-3% profit, we should receive at least $150. Thanks to Kathy and office staff for coordinating this and collecting the orders.
7.      A SALTS letter has gone home with students to notify that the final payment is due at the end of January.  As we will not have the proceeds from our December SALTS bingos until mid-January, we will have only a short time frame to finalize our allocations and notify parents of their discounts for this payment.  Just a heads up that we will need to be on top of this right away.
8.      As we made the motion to continue with Bingos for 2013-2015, we now need to complete the paperwork and submit it to the Bingo Barn – I believe the due date is in February. 

I think that is all for now.  I hope everyone is getting in the holiday spirit.  I know I am after hearing our band perform at the Jubilee last night.   They did very well and the whole concert was amazing! Well done!
Lynn

Susan Mallett's Last Day...

Sad for us, opportunity for her; Susan Mallet is leaving Wilma - as she says, 'I am graduating to High School'.  Good luck to you Susan, its been a pleasure working the blogs with you.  Here is the full goodbye from Susan's blog:

"After 8 years at Wilma Hansen school i am graduating to High School!  I have accepted the position of Business Manager at Henry Wisewood school starting on Monday, December 10th. Saying good bye to my Wilma family - the amazing students, parents and staff is difficult, but i know i will certainly have opportunities for keeping in touch and seeing some of you in the future.Wilma is an amazing school and I am proud to have been a part of it for so many years.
Thanks to all the students for always brightening my day with your smiles, sharing your work or just being you.  Thanks to our amazing and supportive parents - you do so much for our students and our school and thanks also to our staff who truly make this a place of learning and caring.I will miss you all!"

The When, Why and How of Parenting Teens

From Calgary's Child Magazine:

"When something about your teenager is bothering you, stop and think for a moment before doing anything. Remember that adolescents take very unkindly to unnecessary intrusions into their business. Shooting from the hip can cause a lot of trouble.

You need to ask yourself two questions:

1. Does this problem really need my attention or intervention?
2. If it does, how involved should I try to get?"


Read the story here.

Lord Beaverbrook School Open House Tonight

Lord Beaverbrook High School is hosting an open house tonight with two different consecutive presentations:

The Advanced Placement Open House in the Main Theatre: 6:30 - 7:15
The Art Centered Learning Open House in the Main Theatre: 7:15 - 8:15

Location: click here for a Google map.

Some Follow Up From Workshops

Grade 8 CAWST Workshop

Six grade 8 students attended a workshop at the Safari Lodge at the Zoo November 7 to learn ways to promote responsible water usage locally and globally. They will be sharing this information with our feeder schools on December 6. The following students attended:

Devyn W, Skylar B, Gabby K, Taylor L, Abby G, Lyric A

A front foyer display will also be up in the next 2 weeks and posters have been placed above water fountains and in our washrooms at Wilma Hansen.

Grade 8 Destination Conservation Workshop

Six grade 8 students attended a workshop at Highfield Centre on November 8 in the afternoon to learn important facts about the food industry and the health implications for our world today. They will follow up this workshop with a poster campaign and presentations to their peers in grade 8 science classes. The following students attended:

Brooke B,Alexandra R,Megan B, Carrie J, Razan H, Anastasiya M

 WE DAY 

 

 Twenty two students attended the first ever We Day held at the Saddledome October 24. Special thanks to Darcy Whitaker for coming along as a parent volunteer. The day held amazing and motivating speakers , musical performances, cirque de soleil style acrobatics and video footage.

Students had to present a letter of application on why they should be chosen to fill the 22 spots and we had over 100 applications to sort through. The following students attended: 

Grade 8

Sara C, Devyn W, Lyric A, Megan B, Amelia C, Quinton M, Jakob B, Carrie J, Ayden I, Abby G, Skylar B

Grade 9

Abbey S, Brayden W, Nick S, Christian R, Nicole N, Jordan D,Mitchell S, Joel P,Mackenzie C, Callum M Danya W

The students will be speaking at our upcoming school assembly about their upcoming proposals and action projects.