Superintendent’s Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers:

Thank you for investing in welcoming back students and families through celebrations like anniversaries and welcome back barbeques. In this update, I focus on the core value of relationships and connections and the Grandfather Teaching of Humility in the 2022-2027 District Strategic Plan.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – September 30

Students and staff have experienced a week of learning about residential school histories as shared by individuals locally and nationally. District Principal Bowden provided a list of virtual learning opportunities to provide choices to students, parents, and staff to take part in virtual sessions with elders and renowned speakers. Two examples include: A Community Perspective of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Speakers Marilyn Buffalo and Megan Lewis), and How Do We Address Barriers of Reconciliation (Dr. Eva Jewell, Levinia Brown).Thank you to everyone for wearing orange on September 27th and spending time reflecting together on what it means to acknowledge the truths of such a tragic history while making a commitment to more hopeful futures for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally.

Ralph Bell Elementary School – September 24

Ms. Janzen, Administrative Assistant, greeted me as I entered the school, and she shared that it had been a good and busy day.  Principal Hawkins and I started in the hallways just outside the office, where she pointed to a display that showed how the school community had fundraised a record amount for cancer research. She was very proud of everyone’s commitment and credited the impetus as Ashly Vicars.

Principal Hawkins and I started our classroom visits in Ms. Langton’s Gr. 6-7 class. They had just come in from recess and were about to start their journals. They were reflecting on what happened during lunch and recess. As we walked to the next class, I learned that on the staff ProD day, Ralph Bell, Raft River, Marion Schilling, and Barriere Elementary staff members came together to learn about Executive Function strategies to engage every learner. One strategy that we saw in more than one classroom was the use of yellow-green-red mats displayed on white boards: the “Get Ready” mat is yellow, the “Do” mat is green, and the “Done” mat is red. The red “Done” mat signals students to imagine what something will look when it is done. Principal Hawkins explained, “It was such a good day because we provided an hour within that day for staff to collaborate on how to implement what they had learned, and I saw such excitement to try these strategies.”

Ms. O’Donovan was on a prep when we stopped in to learn what she had done with this strategy, and she shared, “I had used this before, and it was good to revisit it. I tried it with counting, and everyone was engaged.” As we visited other classrooms, I noticed other applications of this ready-do-done mat, which showed how it worked well across subjects and grades. We visited Mme. Wild’s KIndergarten class who was enjoying a read aloud about a T-Rex. Ms. Jobson’s K-1 class was engaged in partner and individual reading while some students completed individual letter sound assessments. 

Ms. Davey’s Gr. 1 students were writing letter sounds on white boards, and Ms. Sharp’s Gr. 2 students were preparing to go outside for Science. We watched them count bubbles that she blew into the wind. They recognized that there are different ways to blow bubbles to increase or decrease the number and size of the bubbles based on push and pull forces. Ms. MacInnis’ Kindergarten students were building things, colouring, creating tracks for toy vehicles, and reading.

Sa-Hali Secondary 50th Anniversary

Sa-Hali Secondary School is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. The school recently hosted their school-wide Terry Fox Run, where each year they take a school photo. This year, to commemorate the 50th anniversary, students and staff gathered in the shape of a 50 for the 2024-2025 school photo.

David Thompson 50th Anniversary – September 26

David Thompson staff, parents, and students celebrated their 50th anniversary this week.

Board Chair Heather Grieve and I shared opening remarks at the 50th anniversary Welcome Back BBQ and Principal Gunnlaugson had students celebrate Cambria Edgecombe for creating their 50th Anniversary design for their hoodies.

We also met alumni, Mr. and Mrs. Gellowitz, who taught at David Thompson in its early years and who had created a display of pictures that they said inspired many memories and discussions of wonderful teaching and learning moments in the past. Children gathered to get their faces painted with tiger designs to celebrate the school logo, and many also enjoyed their time in the bouncy castles. The finale was the entry of a tiger mascot, which was a student who had won this opportunity through a rigorous application process. It was an afternoon of festivities and joy for everyone. Thank you to the David Thompson students, parents, and staff! Read more.

Kamloops West Rotary Club Presentation – September 26

Thank you to City of Kamloops Councilor Nancy Bepple for the invitation to speak at the Kamloops West Rotary Club. We shared information about the opening of Parkcrest Elementary School and the Re-opening of George Hilliard Elementary School to start the year. Chair Grieve emphasized how the rapid growth of our district has been especially considerable in the south west sector of Kamloops making the need for a secondary school in Aberdeen a top capital priority. She thanked the City of Kamloops Council for inviting the Kamloops-Thompson Board of Education to join them at the Union of BC Municipalities to collaboratively advocate for this new school to the Minister of Education and Child Care, Rachna Singh. I continued by sharing the results from 2023-2024, which reflected growth over the last three years in literacy, numeracy, high school completion, and students feeling safe, welcome, connected to two or more adults at school, and belonging. Thank you to Vice President Rob Lemire, Treasurer Brant Hasanen, and Member Nancy Bepple for your company at the table. Thank you to all Rotary West Club members for your warm welcome.

District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC)

Welcome back to all Parent Advisory Council (PAC) volunteers. PACs are open to everyone connected to a child in school so if you are interested in joining, please reach out. The District Parent Advisory Council is here to help – visit the DPAC page on sd73.bc.ca for DPAC’s contact information, meeting schedule, and meeting Zoom link.

Board Notes

For those who would like to keep track of major events discussed at Board meetings, I will reference Board Notes (summaries of board meetings), which are available on the District website under “Our District/Board” under “Board Communications”. See Board Notes for the Regular Public Board meeting on September 23, 2024.

Please enjoy reflection and community on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Rhonda Nixon, PhD
Superintendent