Chief SuperintendentReport

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JANUARY 18, 2017

Families Model Kindness and Mercy at Christ the King School The parent community at Christ the King School truly models our faith theme of ‘mercy’ as they support a positive school culture. An example is the traditional CTK St. Nicholas Store that was available for our students during the Advent season. This three-day event was organized by our school council with parents available to support students as they purchased or created Christmas gifts for special people and pets in their lives. The project involved both family and school commitment as students were encouraged to complete service tasks at home to earn money for the event and teachers linked curricular outcomes to support learning. During the Advent season families generously removed 160 gift tags off our Christmas tree and replaced them with Christmas gifts which were then donated to St. Albert the Great Parish for Christmas hampers. Our parent community treated staff to a Parisian dinner on the evening of our recent parent/teacher conferences.

Father Lacombe High School celebrates Centennial Year of Oblate Father Albert Lacombe’s Life December 12th was a very special day at Father Lacombe High School. One hundred years ago Father Albert Lacombe passed away. A celebration of his remarkable life was hosted at the school with Bishop Henry presiding at two celebrations. Students and staff at the school planned a full week of celebrations in honor of Father Lacombe, including a symposium recognizing his significant impact on our history. Pictures below include students progressing into the celebration, Bishop Henry, Principal C. Brochu, Area Superintendent M. Ross together with other dignitaries who attended the event.

Chief SuperintendentReport

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JANUARY 18, 2017

Legacy High School Boundary Focus Group

The new Legacy High School Boundary articulation focus group met on December 12th to review scenario options for the school scheduled to open in the fall of 2018. Pictured below are participants developing options for the new school boarders together with Trustees C. Low, M. Martin and C. Williams (not pictured). Nishka Waite, Planning Manager, Area Director J. MacDonald and Area Superintendent M. Ross facilitated the meeting. Boundary scenarios will be brought forward in a Help Plan our Future public participation session on January 30th.

St. Michael Tomatosphere Project 2016

On November 26, 49 of our Grade 7 students at St. Michael School (from both the French Immersion and English programs), planted 288 tomato seeds. Over the past three weeks, they have observed the seed’s germination and growth. All to answer the question, ‘how does outer space affect plants and seeds?’ This is all part of the Tomatosphere project (http://tomatosphere.letstalkscience.ca/) which engages students in real scientific processes that teach and reinforce inquiry skills, while they explore concepts related to plants, space, careers, nutrition and agriculture. At the end of the program, students receive a certificate of participate signed by former Canadian Space Agency astronaut, Dr. Robert Thirsk and the principal investigator of the Tomatosphere program, Dr. Michael Dixon from the University of Guelph.

Chief SuperintendentReport

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JANUARY 18, 2017

Art Therapy for Students At Bishop Carroll, we recently had Art Therapy for students representing Spectrum Club, Transitions, the Mental Health and Wellness Club and others looking to let their creative side shine! The masks created represent what you think others see (outside of the mask) and what you hide on the inside (depicted on the inside of the mask). Teacher Erin Boppre applied for a grant designed to support LGBTQ awareness and support. The grant received was $1500 which will see three different art-therapy projects between now and June, at no cost to students. Art teacher, Sheila Stacey, is currently working on her Masters in Counselling with a focus on art therapy.

How Grinch Tried to Steal Christmas at Monsignor JJ O’Brien At Monsignor JJ O’Brien, we worked to bring back the spirit of Christmas, as students worked to grow the Grinch’s heart through acts of kindness. Students of all grades listened to daily intercom clues in which different food items were requested. If the principal (ie. Grinch) determined on the following day that a student had brought the correct item they were awarded a heart. These hearts were placed on coloured pictures of the Grinch that each class created. As the campaign went on, the Grinch’s heart continued to grow!

Chief SuperintendentReport

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JANUARY 18, 2017

Alberta Track and Field Olympians Honoured St. Jude hosted the Alberta Track and Field athletes who went to the Olympic Games in Rio this summer. Athletics Alberta organized an award ceremony at St. Jude December 19th to recognize those track and field athletes who competed in the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro. The ceremony allowed the students to meet and ask questions of the athletes that were in attendance. The students created a banner during our play day last June for the athletes to take to Rio, the athletes were kind enough to agree, and the poster was on display in Canada house during the Olympics.

Calgary Catholic Students attend breakfast with Prime Minister Trudeau Four Student Advisory Council students attended the Calgary Chamber of Commerce breakfast with Prime Minister Trudeau on December 21st. Two students represented St. Martin de Porres with Principal Greg Masterson and the other two students from Bishop O’Byrne attended with Principal Tony Verna. The Prime Minister spoke on economic and environmental issues and the importance of community engagement. He also offered insight into his own leadership style and observations in his first year as PM.