Welcome to 'Coffee Talk' With the Principal

Thursday Update: with Ms. McGovern

Another community and school update from Ms McGovern:

Parenting for inattention/hyperactive children - January 29: 6:30 to 8pm

Concurrent Disorders in Youth: drug use and mental health - February 6: 6:30 to 8pm


Free Family Skate Party at Deer Run Community Centre - February 8; 1pm to 4pm

CPEP (Community Parent Education Program) is a Hull Services program open to all families that consist of children ages 5 - 17. All classes require pre-registration and Children's Groups are included. Upcoming classes include Transitional Warnings and When/Then Strategies (Jan 30), Planning Ahead (Feb 6), Motivation Systems (Feb 20), Effective Consequences (Feb 27), Problem Solving (Mar 6). See the website for more details.

Deer Park United Church is hostng a LGBTQ teen support meeting on Friday January 31 at 6 pm to 8 pm with guest speaker Becky Van Tassel from the Calgary Sexual Health Centre. If you have questions about this meeting please contact tommelvin@dpuc.ca. 

Thirteen Year Old Convinces Hasbro to Design a Gender Neutral Easy Bake Oven

I love this story:

A thirteen year old girl convinced Hasbro to design a gender neutral Easy Bake Oven. The teen's four year old brother wanted the toy for Christmas but was discouraged because the pink and purple design was clearly geared for girls. The thirteen year old started a petition on Change.org., asking Hasbro to offer a more gender-neutral color for the toy and to include boys in the commercials. The petition got more than 40,000 signatures. Hasbro has announced that the color change "has been in development over the past 18 months" and will become available next fall, 2013.

Watch the ABC News story here.

The Queensland Good Food Box 2013

What is the Good Food Box?

The Good Food Box (GFB) makes top-quality, fresh fruit and vegetables available in a way that does not stigmatize people, fosters community development and promotes healthy eating.

How does it work?

The GFB gives people in Calgary and surrounding areas a way to buy fresh fruit and vegetables at a very low cost. A hands-up as opposed to a hands-out program, the GFB operates by buying bulk quantities of fresh, top-quality produce directly from farmers and distributors through the Food n More program. The boxes, which are delivered according to a city-wide and surrounding areas schedule, contain the maximum produce possible for the price.

Participants pre-order their boxes from centralized locations in their communities. Once a month the boxes are delivered by community kitchen staff and dedicated volunteers to each depot. Depots include churches, community centers, senior centers, apartment complexes, etc. Currently there are 160 depots in Calgary and surrounding areas, 70 of which are public.

The boxes come in three sizes:

Small: $20, 25-30lbs, Medium: $25, 35-40lbs, Large: $30, 45-50lbs

~Orders for the Queensland Good Food Box can be made through the Queensland Community Hall
~ Payment for the Good Food Box is due on or before order date and can be made in cash and left at the hall with Linda Brown

~ All food boxes for the Queensland area are delivered to the Queensland Community Hall

~ Delivery time is not set so you will receive a phone call when they arrive

~ Your Good Food Box Must be picked up on the day of delivery

~ Please leave a contact number with your order

~The Queensland Good Food Box Depot operates October to June

Order Deadlines: Feb 26, Mar 18, Apr 15, May 6, Jun 10

Pick Up Dates: Mar 7, Mar 28, Apr 25, May 16, Jun 20

Thank you Amber V. for the information!

Making Healthy Food Choices as a Family

Last Wednesday, Chatelaine‘s health editor Laurie Jennings was on Cityline, sharing tips for incorporating more nutrients into your daily menus. Some of her excellent suggestions included serving raw veggies with a healthy dip (kids will eat 80% more veggies if dip is also served), adding fibre (such as bulgar) to your meatball recipe, making a vegetarian "meat" sauce and having theme nights (from Mexican to Japanese to Indian) because they allow for different foods and nutrients.

Read more ideas and/or watch the short video here.

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.

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.

Teens Need Sleep

According tho the National Sleep Foundation, teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to do their best in school the following day. Unfortunately, many teens find it hard to be alert and pay attention in class because they are sleep deprived. Lack of sleep may limit teens' ability to learn and concentrate in school, even interfering with memory of important information like names, numbers and dates.  The National Sleep Foundation suggests ways to help your teen get enough sleep each night, including keeping consistent sleep schedules on school nights and weekends. The website recommends that teens should opt for a relaxing activity before bed such as reading or taking a warm shower, rather than sitting in front of a TV or computer.  According to the foundation, schools with later bell times find that their students get more sleep each school night, improving enrollment and attendance.  These students are more likely to be on time and are more alert in the morning.

Check out the website here.

Youth in the Electorial Process

Does your teen know that the American Federal Election is today?  More importantly, does your teen know when a Candadian election occurs?  Does he understand how elections work?  Is she interested in getting involved as an active citizen?  According to Elections Canada, young adults choose to vote at lower rates than older citizens. Professor Jon H. Pammett at Carleton University explains that young people are not taught about politics in a way that encourages participation.  He outlines three areas to stimulate the involvement of youth in politics:  He reccommends "civics" be taught in a more participative mode, he explains how governmental institutions can be more participative and he suggests that the voting age be reduced.

Read Professor Pammett's artice here.

Elections Canada's website offers helpful information for teachers, students and young voters.  The site has resource materials and links on how elections work and on how youth can get involved as active citizens.  Check out the site here.

New Author: Roxane

Please join me in welcoming Roxane Bouchard to our list of blog authors. Roxane has one student in grade 8 at Wilma and a happy passel more at Haultain. She has been a contributor at the Haultain Parent's blog for a couple of years and here's hoping she continues her fine writing and thoughtful posts on our blog. Here is Rox's first entry:

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[Last] Tuesday night, I attended a free parenting class, Kids and Drugs: A Parent’s Guide to Prevention, at the Fish Creek Library.  The class was put on by Alberta Health Services.  It was geared to parents of children between the ages of eight and fifteen.  Some interesting risk and protective factors were shared in the class, such as the fact that the earlier a child experiments with substances, including alcohol, the more likely the child will fall victim to substance abuse.  The hour and a half session offered parents valuable tools for prevention against youth substance abuse.  Three of the major areas that were covered included: “the power of parents,” “talking with your kids” and “helping kids make good decisions.”  Positive parental modeling and involvement were described as major influences that help prevent youth drug use.  According to Alberta Health Services, parents communicating effectively will also play a huge role in the prevention of substance abuse.  Finally, the class taught that by establishing rules and boundaries, developing a child’s self- esteem and offering ways to deal with peer pressure, a child will be better equipped to make good decisions.  Inevitably, those good decisions will lower a youngster’s risk of becoming a substance abuser.  For more detailed information on this subject, go to www.albertahealthservices.ca .  Or click on the link below to view the parent's booklet:

Kids and Drugs: A Parent's Guide to Prevention

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A quick reminder that the series of parental workshops is continuing; more information can be found at this previous post.

Ground Beef Recall: E. Coli Alert

Although not education related, this is an important community issue.

The recall of ground beef from XL products in Edmonton has been vastly expanded.  Read details here and here.

Kids and Drugs Parent Workshop

A Parents Guide to Prevention
A free workshop for parents of kids 8 - 15 years old who are interested in preventing future alcohol, tobacco, and drugs use and abuse. Click here for more detail.  Register online at calgarypubliclibrary.com or call 403.260.2620.

Kids and Drugs: A Parents Guide to Prevention

Click the thumbnail for information on a free workshop for parents of school aged children to be held at Deer Park Church.  The workshop will address efforts to prevent your children from using drugs.  This is an Alberta Health Services program with more sessions planned for Queensland and Deer Run with dates/locations to be announced.

Register by April 3 and free dinner and child care will be provided.

Backyard Playground

 We are very fortunate to live next door to one of the world's largest and beautiful playgrounds.  The Rockies and Canada's Parks draw people from all over the world and even more people wish they could travel here.  Everywhere I've been the people I meet are envious of how close we are to such a class, world wide destination.  With that in mind, if you've been thinking you don't get 'out there' enough and want something budget-friendly, here is the article for you.  Many ideas and thoughts about how to enjoy the parks without having to re-mortgage the home to do it...

Thanks for the link Roxane, and the reminder.