Week of October 7—11, 2013

Superintendent’s Memo LET’S CELEBRATE!

This week BTPS is celebrating the achievements of those we work with every day! The Annual BTPS Celebration Day takes place at JR Robson on Friday, October 11th. This will be a day full of appreciation for the talents of staff and students alike! We are excited to welcome back the gold and silver medalists of the BTPS Superintendent’s Public Speaking contest. We look forward to hearing their speeches and sharing in the celebration of their tal-ents as speakers! Based on feedback from staff, your Board of Trustees has made changes to their Long Service Recognition Administrative Procedures. We are very hap-py to be able to recognize our team members who have served the students of BTPS for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years. In this inaugural year we will be taking the time to recognize those who are between 5 and 10 years of service with their 5 year award and those who have served beyond the pre-vious 30 year milestone! While we know that the morning will be a bit longer, we also know that it is important to recognize the hard work of these im-portant members of our team. We are especially proud to be able to pay trib-ute to those who have served beyond 30 years as a new part of the celebra-tion! This year’s long list of recipients includes: 5—9 YEARS:

Penny Clark Amisk Debbie Green KHS Krista Strom Delnorte Dave Sherbinin KHS Michael Plouffe Delnorte Kailey Moir KES Louise Lysons Delnorte Erin Garnier KES Kurt Caron E. H. Walter Alesha Campbell Edgerton Candice Brundage E. H. Walter Alicia Lacey Edgerton Kevin Elliott Hughenden Colette Prior Irma Ashley Swanson Hughenden Continues next page.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

From the Supt (cont’d) ............2

FSEAP ......................................2

Curriculum ...............................5

Peanut-Free vs Peanut-Aware .5

Celebration Day .......................6

Payroll & Benefits ....................6

Transportation .........................7

Technology………………………….7

Items of Interest………………….8

MISSION: Buffalo Trail Public Schools is committed to maximizing student learning, in

a safe and caring environment, supported by a highly effective team.

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT (FROM PAGE 1)

5—9 YEARS (cont’d)

Carmen Unland MJS

Marina Stafford MJS

Janna McLaughlin VES

Chris MacMillan VES

Pamela Pentelichuk VES

Michelle Tangen WES

Deborah Rhodes WES

Michelle Bishop WHS

Chris Demeule WHS

Travis Hartl WHS

Donald Spencer WHS

Donna Rodgers WHS

Judy Large WHS

Jen Golden WHS

Janet Marquart WHS

Charlene Dodds MJS

Robin Graham WES

Faye Dunne Central

Jodi Simmonds Clandonald

Sean Stromberg WHS

Leah Sacha Delnorte

Annette Dallyn Dr. Folkins

Carol Gabrielson Dr. Folkins

Joanne Skinner Dr. Folkins

Kristina Sayer Hughenden

Corinne Harbin Irma

Leah Larson Irma

Stu Harbak Central

Greg Smith VOS

Lori Wilhelm JR. Robson

Jamie Stromberg KHS

Brenda Cole KHS

Marci Labiuk KHS

Nicole Cusack Mannville

Kristin Presley MJS

Reuben Baker MJS

Kathy Voros Provost

Eryn White Provost

Kim Higdon Provost

Muriel Murphy Provost

Tammy Hoberg Provost

Kaleigh-Anne Strickland SOL

Ashley Verhappen WHS

Lori Goodwin Highland View

Jim Burnett Central

Randy Stewart Central

Bob Brown Central

Carrie Fornwald WES

Lori Knutson Amisk

Stacey Barber Delnorte

Michelle MacDonald E. H. Walter

Terri Moran Edgerton

Joyce Lord KES

Nicole Cey KHS

Renee Wallis KHS

Zane Polishuk Mannville

Gisele Amero Mannville

Darwyn Starner Mannville

Kym Person MJS

Colleen Hoegl MJS

Michelle Thor MJS

Dione Hudon Provost

Sherrilyn Spencer Provost

Rebecca McCullough VES

Raelene Tupper VES

Deirdre Myshaniuk VES

Selene Stang WES

FSEAP

Buffalo Trail Public Schools is proud to be a partner of the Family Ser-vices Employee Assistance Program. FSEAP provides caring and professional assistance for personal, family and work-related concerns. Services are free and confidential.

Employees wishing to contact FSEAP can do so toll free at 1-800-661-8246, or visit the employ-ee section of the FESEAP Website.

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“We are very happy to be able to recognize our team members who have served the students of BTPS for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years.”

Continued next page.

5—9 YEARS (cont’d)

Ashley Chaulk WES

Brynna Mannix KHS

Carmen Watt MJS

Jennifer Wagner Irma

Candice Braconnier Mannville

Velvet Morris WHS

Stephanie Cooper WES

Kerry Frissell WHS

Alysha Grosky WHS

Chad Marchand WHS

Mary Claire Miller WHS

Kara Yeo WHS

Sparks Tammy WHS

Linda Erickson Percy Lake

Lonnie Tipler Central

Gayle Hedley Central

Kevin John Central

Donna Rozka Central

Gerene Gilbertson Amisk School

Tracy Snider Clandonald

Karen Elliott E. H. Walter

Rick Dawson Irma

Martina Ruston-Carter KHS

Rachel Miller Mannville

Raelle Kissick MJS

Claudette Bast VES

Tracy Long VES

Marilyn Pospolita WES

Jill Westman WHS

Cody Machney Central

Jason Yaremchuk Central

Dallas Foxwell Central

Denise Mitchell Edgerton

Sherry Paulson Amisk School

Wendy Molle Dr. Folkins

Cathy Samson Hughenden

Monica To JR. Robson

Elesha Pinder KES

Kim DeFord Mannville

Marg Hatch Mannville

Tiffany Weninger Provost

Sheila Propp WES

Sean Pullen WES

Heather Rentz WES

Christine Martens WES

Katherine Campbell WHS

Karen Boyarchuk Autumn Leaf

Sandy Boomhower Creighton

Bart Hill Central

Bev Ragsdale KES

10 YEARS

Travis Stachniak WHS

Geralyn McCormack Clandonald

Anita Dutchak Clandonald

Anne Fehr Dewberry

Angela Golinowski WES

Jody Cook Provost

Karen King VES

Sharleen Moses VES

Connie Berg WES

Sarah Seymour WHS

Brad Romanchuk Central

Kristin Page VES

Janis McNalley Provost

Deb Froelich South Ferriby

Mary Ann Sparks Ribstone

15 YEARS

Sandra Grunow WHS

Bev Perry Dr. Folkins

Kimberly Selte E. H. Walter

Deanna Waddell Edgerton

Paula Waddell Edgerton

Lara Ledger Hughenden

Brenda Taylor Hughenden

Wendy Holt Irma

Diana Ratzlaff Irma

Terry Lynn King Irma

Valerie Paull KHS

Cindy Pylypow Provost

Aylene Jago Provost

Bonnie Doyle WES

Gail Koroluk WES

Rhonda Ward Dewberry

Kim Wasylyk-Nicoll VOS

Karen Evison Dewberry

Continued next page

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15 YEARS (cont’d)

Rae Beatty Dr. Folkins

Karen Hauff KES

Laurel Boxell WES

20 YEARS

Tarla Olson Dr. Folkins

Darla Fischer Irma

Craig Campbell JR. Robson

Tara Tod Mannville

Judy Walsh VES

Cheryl Brick WES

Guy Sharon WHS

Crystal Tower Central

Sandy Birch VES

Terry-Lynne Hines Marwayne

Mary Lou McInnis Provost

Jean Murie VES

25 YEARS

Leanna Orbeck E. H. Walter

Linda Rathwell KES

Diana Dixon KES

Daryl Venance KHS

Wayne Lewin MJS

Shirley Stuckky Provost

Lila Hermiston SOL

Debbie Marriott VES

Phyllis Tomkins VES

David Goddard WES

Becky West WES

Anita Sawyer WES

Vivian Locher Central

Laurie-Anne Erickson Irma

Mike Soucy Central

Randy Huxley Central

30 YEARS

Colette Johnson Amisk

Holly Garton E. H. Walter

Anne Gordon KES

Myrna Southoff Provost

Maureen Meyer WES

Doris McNally Provost

Gail Beck Marwayne

35, 40, 45, 50 YEARS (and in-between)

Beverly Haydu E. H. Walter

Eleanor Shaw KES

Neil Williams KHS

Lewis Young Central

Diane Wilkinson Edgerton

Mary Arnold E. H. Walter

Donna Smallwood Irma

Sharon Earl KHS

Stan Fox MJS

Sandra Miller VOS

Nadia Melynik Delnorte

Josie Tarapaski Delnorte

Teresa Motley Hughenden

Susan MacWilliam KES

Deena Forrester Central (Off-Campus)

As this week ends, we will be in preparation for

Thanksgiving. What a wonderful time of the year to

exhibit the characteristic of thankfulness as we ap-

preciate all that we have been given! On behalf of our

Board of Trustees, I would like to wish everyone a

very happy Thanksgiving and we hope that you have

many opportunities to share time with family and

friends.

Take care,

CURRICULUM

Authentic Learning and Collaborative Inquiry: Click here for more information

When: October 16 and 17, 2013 Where: Edmonton, AB

Who: Garfield Gini-Newman from TC2

Framing Inquiry as Reading and Writing Instruction: Click here for more infor-

mation

When: October 30, 2013

Where: Edmonton, AB

Who: Dr. Jeffrey Wilhelm

Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities from The Learning Network

can be found here

We are a member jurisdiction with the Critical Thinking Consortia

(www.tc2.ca). Included in this membership is online access to digital resources

that promote critical thinking (one of the competencies outlined in the Ministerial

Order (Alberta Education, May 2013)).

This week, I’d like to highlight the teacher tools that TC2 has created to assist teachers in teaching thinking strategies to their students. These include asking, investigating, sharing, constructing, and reflecting. Please create a user account at TC2 with your BTPS email address to fully access these wonderful re-sources. Once logged in, visit: Teaching Resources Tab, click on the Tools for Thought (T4T) icon, then click on “Browse” the Tools for Thought Collection. You will see the teacher strategies and resources for Thinking Strategies in the middle of your screen.

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“PEANUT-FREE” VS.

“PEANUT AWARE”

There appears to be some confusion as to the best signage wording to be used when a student or students in a school have a severe or life-threatening allergy to peanuts.

Although it is our duty to provide a safe and caring environment for all of our students, it is best to avoid using the term “peanut-free”. Legal advice received from the Alberta School Boards Association states that while a school can and should take every precaution to protect a child that has such an allergy, it is nearly impossible to enforce a “peanut-free” environment throughout a school building. The term “peanut-free” implies a guarantee. This poses a legal problem for the Board, because, as mentioned, it is virtually impossible to enforce throughout the entire school.

Declaring a school building “peanut-aware” is the safer term to use, along with practicing due diligence.

BTPS procedure 203.1AP Administration of Medication/Medical Assistance to Students and its exhibits contain all the information needed to help schools provide a safe environment for students with peanut or any other severe allergies, including a sample parent notification letter, peanut free lunch ideas and more.

If you have any questions on this procedure or any other BTPS policy/procedure, please email Rosanne.isberg@btps.ca.

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CELEBRATION

DAY 2013

WHERE: JR Robson

School

WHEN: Friday, October

11, 2013

Breakfast starts at

8:30 a.m.

Program starts

promptly at 9:15 a.m.

Long Service

Awards—new for-

mat!

Gold & Silver medal-

lists from the 2nd

Annual Superinten-

dent’s Public Speak-

ing Competition!

Continental break-

fast & hot lunch

courtesy of Mrs. J’s

Catering

(Vermilion)!

SEE YOU

THERE!

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PAYROLL & BENEFITS

Canada Savings Bonds—If you are interested in the Canada Sav-ings Bond Program you can sign up until November 1, 2013 with your first deduction beginning in De-

cember 2013. Please note to sign up you must go the link:

csb.gc.ca/employees

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LAPP

To view the full size image, please click here. GO BACK

“Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves.”—Ernest Dimnet

BUS DRIVERS WANTED BY LOCAL BUS CONTRACTORS: Buffalo Trail Public

School local bus contractors are in need of spare bus drivers. If you love children

and enjoy driving, please call our office and we would be happy to put you in con-

tact with a local bus contractor in your area and get you started on a rewarding

career as a school bus driver. Our office phone number is 780-806-2051.

REMINDER:

SAFELY ON BOARD SCHEDULE: Cindy House from Safely on Board will once

again be doing her Safely on Board School Bus Safety Program with students in

grades K-6. Teachers and principals, please make sure you review the schedule

for your school and if you see any issues please email Cindy House directly at

safelyonboard@interbaun.com. Click this link for the schedule .

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VIDEO CONFERENCING UPGRADE

This week marks the first week of use of our new video bridge. This bridge was installed to update our HD offer-ings in the video conferencing classes and the expanding use of CMA desktop. Also installed with this was a video recording capability that will allow our video users to record the video feed and content with the touch of a button. Work is now being done to create a web video archive that will be availa-ble on the World Wide Web.

iPAD PILOT: The iPad pilot is under-way and the carts are out and about in the division, and we are still accepting submissions for the other timeslots throughout the year. If they would like more information about the iPad Pilot, please go to: http://bit.ly/BTPSicart

We will also be releasing details on Chromebook carts next week and there will be 3, 10 week slots available for the Chromebook carts and there will be only 25 Chromebooks in each cart.

Xay also making the rounds and work-ing with teachers around the division.

If anyone has any interest in having him visit them to talk about integrating technology into their practices, just send him an email, and he can schedule a time to meet.

WIRELESS NETWORKING

Please look at last week’s Memo for tips on using wireless with large groups.

GAFE STATISTICS

5,681 GAFE created accounts

1,513 authenticated accounts

37.5% of accounts( 13% growth)

1007actual operating accounts (person has actually been working with it)

17.7% of accounts (1% growth)

Helpdesk

Call volume has been light and email volume is light . Please remember to contact us with any problems you are having. Technology collects all of these problems to monitor for trends.

Call: 780-806-2053

Text: 780-806-9228

Email: techhelp@btps.ca GO BACK

TRANSPORTATION

TECHNOLOGY

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COMMENTS ABOUT

THIS NEWSLETTER?

Please send your comments

or suggestions to

Rosanne.isberg@btps.ca.

We’d love to hear from you!

BUFFALO TRAIL PUBLIC

SCHOOLS

1041 10A Street

Wainwright, AB T9W 2R4

P: 780.842.6144

F: 780.842.3255

E: central_office@btps.ca

www.btps.ca

ITEMS OF INTEREST

REMAX Quest for Excellence 2014 School Bursary Program—The Quest for

Excellence program is a bursary program for grade 12 students in Western Cana-

da. It was established by RE/MAX of Western Canada to recognize the success and

ongoing pursuits of Western Canadian students in regards to leadership and com-

munity contribution initiatives. Once again 16 students will receive $1000 bursa-

ries; their names will also be entered into a draw for a REMAX hot air balloon ride

for two.

Deadline for applications is March 10, 2014. To enter online, go to www.remax.ca.

for more information on the program, please contact Kelsey Woodliffe, Senior

Administrative Assistant at kwoodliffe@remax.net or call 1-800-563-3622.

Safe & Caring Schools & Communities—Safe and Caring is a centre of excellence

that fosters effective networks and partnerships to improve the quality of life for

all Alberta children and youth.

HEROES Awards program recognizes individuals and organizations who demon-

strate a commitment to creating safe, caring, healthy and inclusive schools and

communities. Anyone is eligible for nomination – children, youth, teachers, adults,

schools, community organizations, government representatives and businesses.

The SCSC also invites Alberta’s children and youth to share their entry in our

annual “Art of Caring” Contest. Use your creativity to show us what represents a

safe and caring world through your eyes. Express your thoughts... in writing,

(poetry, essay, or story); in drawing or sculpture; song or sound; or video! The fun

thing about the Art of Caring Contest is that it is all about expressing yourself and

your vision of what a safe and caring world means to you!

For more information on HEROES or the art contest, check www.safeandcaring.ca.

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(from JR teacher Nicole Polishuk) On September 25 the JR Robson High School Pirate Crew

Executive went on their annual retreat. Time was given to discussing leadership and the importance in our school. The students also spent time brainstorming on ideas that could be incorporated into our yearly activities. In the end the students broke into their 4 teams and planned their major and minor activities for the year. The students came back energized for the year and excited about their

plans.

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