Performance Review...

...workplace evaluations, goal appraisals, report cards.  Whatever you call it, evaluations of our performance measured against our goals and perceived roles is a very important part of our endeavours.  Whether its your workplace, your volunteer organizations, or your public office - a score card should always be a regular part of the process.  The CBE, last month, finished an honest and thorough self-appraisal and this article talks about their own perceived shortfalls. Out of the group of eight trustees, seven have expressed concerns about the group embarrassing each other. Six felt there were problems with honesty, issue focus, the fine line between public and private life, and integrity.  Sounds like an uncomfortable meeting.

I am in complete agreement with Chairwoman Cochrane's statement about the process:

“If you believe that evaluation and assessment are about improving, you can’t improve if you’re not really candid, really honest amongst ourselves and have a really open self-evaluation,” - source

I appreciate the candidness of the published result and hope that the trustee's can work together to address the concerns brought up by the process. This disclosure of this honest and open self-appraisal is a positive step for our elected representatives.  The trick now will be to work on these perceived shortcomings with as much honesty and openness and hope the next review will show progress.

Click here for the complete report from the minutes, the performance review 'meat and potatoes' starts on page 60 (8-14).

Should Big Kids Go 'Trick or Treating'?

How old is too old?  Should big kids go trick or treating?  Do you let your teens go out on Halloween?  Today's Parent magazine addresses the subject in this month's issue, offering helpful tips for big kids who still want to go door to door for candy. 

Read the story here and comment below with your opinion.

Alberta's New Education Act

On Tuesday, Alberta's new Education Act was introduced in the legislature. The new bill contains anti-bullying measures, acknowledging that all education partners, including parents, students, teachers, administrators and trustees, need to work together to ensure a safe learning environment. Bill 3 formally recognizes the role of parents as a child's most important teacher. In the new act, the mandatory age a child must stay in school was raised from sixteen years to seventeen.


Read all the details here.

Steven King Visits a Canadian High School

After a year long effort to have Steven King come to their school, students and staff at Sussex Regional High in New Brunswick had their invitation accepted.  The famous author arrived at the school on Friday after receiving 1,200 letters, videos and artwork for the past year.  A teacher at Sussex Regional commented that King's vast range of work includes several themes teenagers can relate to, such as isolation, looking for belonging, bullying and the perils of revenge.  Read the entire story at www.cbc.ca or click here.

Exercise in Schools

In his book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, Dr. John Ratey reveals how exercise improves brain performance. According to Ratey, research proves that rigorous movement before learning helps create optimal brain function. In response to Ratey's research, five Canadian cities have implemented exercise programs to improve academic performance, behavior and concentration of students. Read the full story here.

Ratey's website, www.sparkinglife.org, focuses on transforming America's sedentary lifestyle. The goal of the website is to improve children's capacity to learn by helping bring movement back into their schools and lives. The website claims that exercise reduces the negative effects of stress, manages mental health issues such as ADD, anxiety, depression and maintains cognitive ability.

Speaking of Fund Raising...

Wilma Hansen Fundscrip Giftcard Fundraiser

With the Christmas season coming soon this makes gift giving easy!

Purchase gift cards at No extra cost to you!

Fundscrip has hundreds of retailers to choose from!! 

Stay tuned for details – program to be launched mid November.

Wilma Fund Raiser: Magazines

Wilma Hansen Magazine Subscription Fund Raiser

Thanks to all who participated in this event - your participation made it a huge success!

You can still order on-line at any time if you are thinking of Christmas gifts or just a treat for yourself!

It is as easy as:

Go to www.ccrp.ca

Enter our school code : AB633

Start shopping !!!

Hawk's Girls Soccer Game Cancelled

Just a quick post for those who were making plans to either get the players to Nickel or coming out to cheer them on.  Due to weather and field conditions, the game has been cancelled.  Stay tuned for possible make up dates.

CBE Responds to Security Concerns

After the announcement this week of a stolen CBE laptop containing sensitive data, the CBE has responded with beefing up security by adding encryption protocols and reviewing security policies with employees.  

"A password is only a first line of defence and a “trivial” deterrent to anyone determined to get in, according to one IT security expert."

Click here for more detail.

Two in a Row For the Hawk's Girls Soccer Team

Another beautiful fall afternoon brought the Hawk's another win on the soccer pitch yesterday.  Beating the  David Thompson Tiger's 2-0 in a fabulous defensive effort, the girls improved their win record to three on the regular season. The Hawk's took full advantage of a 'sub-less' Tiger's bench and never let up pressure, pushing their tired opponents to the final minute.

Hawk's Girls Soccer Win Big Against Longhorns

The Hawk's girls soccer team pulled out a great win on Monday afternoon beating John Ware on a beautiful warm fall afternoon.  They won 5-0 exhibiting great communication, solid team play, good central field possession, and a stellar defensive effort highlighted by Kerena's shutout performance.

Come out this afternoon (a sunny 10 °C) and watch the girls play their last regular game of the season vs. David Thompson at 4:15 on the Wilma pitch.

CBE Privacy Breach

A Calgary Board of Education employee's laptop, containing over 2,000 student report cards from kindergarten to grade 9, was stolen from a vehicle this month. The report cards contained students' photographs, identification numbers and high school students' phone numbers and home addresses. The full story from the Calgary Herald is here.

Bullied B.C. Teen Committs Suicide

By now, everyone has heard the tragic story and most everyone has seen the video; a fifteen year old girl committed suicide last week, partly attributed to physical and cyber-bullying.  The B.C. teenager  posted a youTube video in September, describing the bullying experience she endured and ended with her clearly reaching out for help.

This horrible event is fraught with complication and many factors were likely at play; it is improbably simple to say bullying was the only cause.  That being said, there are deadly serious lessons for all our teens and pre-teens; vigilance and action by communities is the only real answer.

Obviously the bullying laws and efforts that have been put in place were not enough to help in this case.  In fact; BC's premier, Christy Clark has gone as far as to say that maybe we need even tougher laws in place to help with this problem.

“I don’t believe for a second that anyone who is bullied doesn’t want to report the fact that they were bullied; they don’t trust that the people to whom they’ll report it will use the information in a way that’s going to protect them,” - read more.

What is clear is that we need to stand as families, friends and as a community to help prevent any thing like this from happening. Mrs. Higgins says, "We are committed at Wilma Hansen to address bullying in an open, dignified way to ensure all our students feel safe." There are many resources at the CBE which can help anyone who is in distress - click here for all help that the CBE offers. 

Another important aspect in this and something that needs to be pointed out to our children on a regular basis is the never ending endurance of the internet.  No digital message sent in any form is ever secure or secret once it is sent.  A picture posted on Facebook or sent via IM or texted, a stray tweet about a friend, a joke comment at someone's expense on Instagram never goes away. If its mean/insensitive/embarrassing now, it will also be embarrassing in twenty years when you're entering a job interview, or about to get married, or your kids are checking up on you.

Infinite digital life is an aspect of the social experience that most of us parents are simply not familiar with and bears deliberate consideration.  It astounds me every time I hear about someone who is surprised that their 'secret' internet activity gets exposed. Amanda's ultimate decision points out that we need to remind our kids often about responsible digital behaviour. 

Do you think enough is being done about bullying?  Have you had an experience that will help our community?  Do you talk regularly to your kids about digital responsibility? Leave a comment by clicking on 'comment' below.

A Reminder From Ward 14 Alderman

Dear Ward 14 residents:

I will be hosting another ALDERTALK this Saturday, October 13th from noon to 2 p.m. at the Queensland  Community Centre, 649 Queensland Dr. S.E. ALDERTALK is an opportunity for Ward 14 residents to come and visit with their Alderman in an informal face to face setting. It's a chance to get to know each other, discuss problems or just brain storm for the future.

If Saturday does not work for you, come out for the next ALDERTALK  being held, in January 2013! Hope to see you on one of these occasions!

Peter Demong

ALDERMAN, WARD 14

CITY OF CALGARY

PH: (403) 268-1653

FAX: (403) 268-3823

peter.demong@calgary.ca

Parent Association: AGM

 The Parent Association Annual General Meeting will be held next week on Tuesday October 16th @ 7:30.  Obviously this is one of the most important meetings of the year as the budget will be presented and all parents have a chance for input, questions, and ultimately the vote.  The budget dictates how we will be spending the bulk of our casino money for the entire year so it's very important to get as many parents as possible involved with the input.
We will also be voting on the executive positions of the Association: Chair, Vice-Chair, Fundraising/Bingo/Casino Directors, Secretary, and Treasurer. If you are interested in any of these positions and want more information regarding responsibilities, please email me (scampsall@gmail.com) or Lynn (lejewitt@gmail.com).

"Good Canadian Kids"

Don Cherry would have been proud of our girls soccer team yesterday.  Braving the subzero temperatures, the snow, the frozen ground and a soccer ball that must have felt more like a bowling ball, the team never let up and actually appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely.  They faced a very strong Fairview team with an excellent first half where much of the play was in the Fairview third.  Unfortunately the half-time whistle saw the Hawks down 1-0 and they never fully recovered the drive they showed in the first half.  Outstanding defensive play by Brittany and some great chances offensively were not quite enough to bring the game to the Hawk's favour.  Come out to see the girls next game on Monday October 15 at 4:15 in Wilma's back yard.

Bullying Myths and Facts

bullying.org is a website designed to increase the awareness of bullying and to prevent, resolve and eliminate bullying in our society. There is valuable information available on this site, including a list of myths and facts about bullying. For example, the site addresses the fact that bullying is a learned behaviour and can be changed. Furthermore, the informative list explains that bullying can be stopped when adults in authority and peers get involved. Check out the website for more information and click here to read the "myths and facts" list.

Canada: The World's Most Educated Country

According to this 24/7WallSt article, Canada tops the list of the highest percentage of post secondary degree holders among its population.  Canada is the only country with higher than half (51%) of its citizens possessing a college or university degree. Coming in at second place with 5% less is Isreal, here is the breakdown:

1. Canada

2. Israel

3. Japan

4. United States

5. New Zealand

6. South Korea

7. United Kingdom

8. Finland

9. Australia

10. Ireland

PAT Results Lauded in Newsletter

This month's newsletter from Premiere Alison Redford outlines some great news about Alberta's learners. Showcasing the results of the PAT's from last year, the article reports:

"Students in Alberta’s schools are increasingly demonstrating excellence in provincial achievement tests and diploma exams."

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.

Boys Soccer: Hawks vs Nickel

The boys soccer team had a tough loss last week to the very strong Nickle team.  Just like the girls, the boys met a solid defense and exceptional middle field in the Nickle team.  Some very hard work and great tenacity was shown by the boys to take two goals on the game but it wasn't enough to overcome the steady offensive pressure of the Nickle side.

Join me in watching the Hawks team play this Thursday (Oct. 4) at 4:15 on Wilma's pitch.