CBE Year-end Financial Report

The Calgary Board of Education delivered the year-end financial report Monday. Although the budget anticipated a $19.2 million deficit, the result was a surplus of $49.8 million.

Read the full report here.

Should Alberta Fund Private Schools?

Do you think your tax dollars should fund private schools?

Liberal MLA Kent Hehr said Monday that the province could save up to $50 million a year by stopping the subsidies. Hehr believes in the public system and states that although it is a right to not take part in the public school system, it is not a right for taxpayers to fund that choice.


Read the story here.

Some Important Upcoming Dates

Showcase Assemblies November 30

Grade 9 9:05-10:05

Grade 8 10:25-11:25

Grade 7 11:40-12:40

Field Trip

Ms Stiles and Ms Williams are taking grade 7,8,9 dance and drama students to the musical grease at Strathcona Tweedsmuir School the afternoon of November 29. Students are leaving at 11:30 and returning for the end of the school day. Thank you to all parent volunteers who are supporting this  enrichment program.

Grade 8 Science Field Trips

The grade 8 science classes under the direction of Ms. Stiles/Ms. Caceres and Mr. Jackins will be attending a Zoo school for the day as an enrichment activity connected to our current unit of study-Fresh and Salt Water Systems. This year the new  penguin exhibit will be our focus. If you have not already returned your acknowledgement of risk and payment of 20$ please do so immediately to your science teacher.

8C/D will be attending December 3

8A/B will be attending December 5

Thank you to those parents who have already volunteered to attend. We would welcome anyone else who would be able to support their child’s class.

See the handy-dandy calendar at the bottom of the page for these and other important dates and information.

Anti-Bullying Program

On Tuesday, November 20, parents at Haultain Memorial School had the incredible opportunity to listen to an informative, interesting and helpful talk on bullying. Expert Lisa Dixon-Wells facilitated the session, Dare to Care: Bully Proofing Your Child. On a personal note, when I arrived at the school Tuesday evening, I was not looking forward to sitting in a chair, in the gym to listen to someone speak about one topic for over two hours. However, almost immediately after Lisa began to speak, I became completely engaged with every word she said.

The time flew by, as she spoke with so much knowledge, energy and passion. According to Lisa, the two biggest issues today surrounding bullying are, what she called, "the girl issue: the hidden culture of aggression" and cyberbullying. Before getting into details about the issues, Lisa clearly defined the meaning of bullying, pointing out that the word can be overused which, inevitably, minimizes the real issue. She also acknowledged that bullying is a learned behaviour from home and can be corrected if parents are open to work with their child.

Lisa addressed three major changes in bullying that has happened over the past twenty years. The first change is that children are presenting more challenging behaviors than before. The second change is the younger age at which bullying behavior is occurring in children. The final change in bullying Lisa pointed out is the maliciousness that now exists. Factors such as media, breakdown of families and breakdown of communities have contributed to these changes. The good news is that parents and communities have the power to control these factors and inevitably fight bullying.

An interesting segment of Lisa's talk was centred around, what she calls, "provocative victims." These are children who often are bullied or are misunderstood to be bullies themselves. A provocative victim is often gifted, bright, bored, complex, restless, academic and has a strong sense of fairness and justice. These children socially struggle and tend to be avoided by others because of their lack of understanding with concepts such as personal space and the ability to read body language and tone of voice. Provocative victims will often take a long time to explain things and may tend to make silly noises and gestures. Again, however, the good news is that parents have the power to help these children by teaching social skills. Lisa highly recommends the books, Nobody Likes Me Everybody Hates Me by Michele Borba and Perfect Targets by Brenda Smith Myles for parents of provocative victims.

Other books recommended by Lisa are Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons, for parents of girls and Odd Girl Speaks Out by Rachel Simmons, for girls of grade four and up. These books address the issue of bullying amongst girls. For parents of boys, Lisa recommends Real Boys, by William Pollack. She also highly recommends children, parents and educators see the movie, Odd Girl Out, available from amazon.com. Lisa suggested a website for parents, www.getwebwise, that breaks down the lingo children and teens are using with their digital communications. The site reveals the meanings of hundreds of acronyms now used for texting, on line chatting and emailing.

Lisa ended the talk by addressing a concrete formula victims of bullying can use. The acronym, "HA HA SO", stands for: Help, Assert, Humor, Avoid, Self Talk and Own It. Each word is a tool that victims can use in situations of bullying. Our children were taught these valuable tools when Lisa worked with them in the school. She had the students role play and practice the different techniques, depending on the bullying situation.

Thank you to Haultain's Parent Association for funding this invaluable program and thank you to Mrs. O'Connor for bringing the idea to the floor. Finally, thank you to Lisa Dixon-Wells for sharing the Dare to Care program at Haultain and teaching staff, students and parents the life changing skills, facts and concepts around the issue of bullying.

For more information on the Dare to Care program, go to www.daretocare.ca

Important Due Dates for Fundraising

Fundscrip Gift Cards

Dollar for dollar you get your gift cards, and the school benefits.  We all buy groceries and gas so this is an easy way to help the school with your day to day purchases.  Find the order form on the school webpage, in the important dates section http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b685/ or click here to go straight to the order form.  All orders due by noon on Friday, Nov 30. (no exceptions)

Silpada Jewelry

Ordering online is easy, just follow these simple steps:
1. Go to www.mysilpada.ca/dalyn.sjogren
2. Click on Shop Silpada Catalogue to view the jewellery

3. Select Wilma Hansen as the party/fundraiser by clicking on:

Invited to a Party? Find your Hostess Now

THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT TO ENSURE ORDERS ARE PUT TOWARDS THE FUNDRAISER
4. Click on Continue Shopping to view the catalogues and jewellery

5. Add the items to your Shopping Bag and check out when you are ready

Support Wilma Hansen and place your order by December 7^th to guarantee arrival before Christmas!