Community Clean-up Day Saturday, June 16th

Do you take pride in your home, yard, or community? Do you cringe at the sight of garbage piles left in the alley? Do you have a pile of junk you'd love to get rid of? Would you and your family like to help keep the community clean? If you've answered yes to any of those questions, keep Saturday, June 16th open. (If you answered "no" to all of them, keep playing them online video games). There will be free "junk disposal" available at the Queensland Community Centre from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and while some items are NOT permitted, many items are. Volunteers will also meet to address park litter and some local graffiti. Students at HMS will be pitching in with a school yard clean up during the week prior, and if the kids are willing to do their part... how about you? Help us show care for our community. Click HERE for more details on the Community Clean-up Day, (or HERE for help with that video game addiction).

CAPSC Meeting

Please join the Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils for our first meeting of 2012, which will be held Thursday March 22nd at 7:00pm, AE Cross School.  We welcome all to attend.

- This month we welcome Chief Superintendent, Naomi Johnson, who will be discussing the budget

- Trustee Bazinet (Wads 12 and 14) will be joining us, as well as Trustee Ferguson (Wards 3 and 4), who will be discussing the Education Act

- We are also pleased to welcome a local Principal, who will be speaking on their involvement with parents and the school council

- Following the discussions we will be facilitating a conversation on the accomplishments of our school councils.  If your school council has a great example of a success story, please feel free to bring it to the meeting or share it with our Executive.

The Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils is an incorporated not-for-profit association that provides relevant and ongoing information and support to parents and school councils in the Calgary Board of Education. Our monthly meetings offer a forum for discussion of important education issues amongst parents and with key education stakeholders such as trustees, CBE administration and Alberta Education.  Check out our website at www.capsc.ca and make sure to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.  Please feel free to forward this information to any interested parents.

 

Leanne Long
Communications Coordinator
Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils

Two Interesting Articles

These were sent in by Roxane: "How to raise an appreciative child" and "Pack those lunch bags with tasty inspiration".  (I guess the second answers the first). 

Thanks Roxane, if anyone else comes across a story they'd like to share please send it in - we'd be happy to post it.

Pitfalls in Rumour; Stick to the facts

This is a post to discuss the pitfalls inherent in rumour. As an engaged community of parents involved in a fabulous school - it is only natural to be passionate about our issues. I know that a lot of conversation is inevitable and everyone is wondering what will happen next year. There are many things that are unknown at this point and speculation is bound to happen. This is the where we all have to be careful. It is important that when speculation about the future occurs that it isn't passed off as fact. That's how rumours start and rumours at this point are detrimental in all cases.

The CBE understands that the communities served by Haultain, Queensland, Deer Run, and Diamond Cove have many families, all those families have a keen interest in doing what it best for their children. At this time we have to trust that the CBE has the same interests. Your Council and Mr. Barkley are staying on top of the issues as they arise and all that we learn goes out to our community through the school, the email list and this blog.

With that being said, we want to be involved in the engagement and planning process that the CBE goes through when they plan for future accommodation. Mr. Barkley has assured me that we will have a voice when the time comes for community input. Until that time speculation is only that - we simply don't know for sure what will happen beyond next years school term. Here is what we have been told so far:

1: there will be a full school year at Haultain next year.
2: the McKenzie Towne kids, their principal, their teachers will all ship out as one unit in January of 2010 to move in to their new school.
3: Haultain will carry on with the school year and our remaining students.
4: Haultain will not be adding to the school's population from any community in January of 2010
5: the principal's position for MT has been posted and will be filled soon.
6: there has NOT been a decision to close any school in the area as of yet.
7: the CBE will make a decision (with eventual community input) for future planning and accomodation for our students and the students of Queensland/Deer Run/Diamond Cove ... sometime.

If you are confused or have heard rumours about closures or just want clarification on anything that is going on - send me an email and I will get you all the answers that are available.

Board of Trustees

The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees takes place tonight. Click here for full details. Also, don't forget that it's an inline skate night, and the CBE system meeting tomorrow night. Please see the calendar below for details.

Protest dropped after Calgary confirms breastfeeding allowed in pools

I found this on the CBC website this morning, and know of a few Haultain Moms who might find this interesting:

A group of Calgary mothers cancelled a protest over breastfeeding in a public pool after meeting with city staff on the weekend.

The women had told CBC News it's their right to breastfeed wherever they want, but lifeguards at Killarney pool had asked them to get out of the water or use the change room.

Click here to read the full story.

Edmonton AGM - April 24 - 26

We are still in need of volunteers willing to go to the ASCA AGM. The Alberta School Council Association represents parents to Alberta Education and gives us a direct voice to the government. We would like to have someone there to represent Haultain.

There are some seminars you are welcome to attend on the Saturday and the AGM itself where parents vote on issues is on the Sunday. Some seminar topics include:

1. School Council Operating Basics (should be of great interest to McKenzie Towne parents)
2. Respecting Diversity
3. Social Networking Sites
4. Internet Safety
5. Assistive Technology for Learning
6. and an Open Computer Lab (drop in)

Your expenses will be paid by the Association and you are welcome to bring your family with you. Everyone that I know who has gone has had a great time and met some interesting parents from around the province.

Please let me know if you are interested in representing us or want more information - scampsall@gmail.com.

BPA Baby Bottle Bans

There has been a lot of talk lately about BPA (bisphenyl A). BPA is a chemical found in some types of plastic used in many containers that store or deliver water, juice, pop, baby formula, etc. The charge against BPA is that its a toxic leaching agent found in certain types of plastic that adversely affect pregnant women, infants and children. There is also some evidence to suggest increased risks of certain types of cancer. Not surprisingly, there are detractors of these claims are out there. The regulation of food grade plastic will affect a billion dollar industry world wide so the spin doctors are at it. Unravelling the whole thing is difficult and often leads to contradictory claims and evidence. A quick skim through the google-powered inter-webs has led to some interesting items:

- BPA exists in polycarbonate plastic (some Nalgene or Avent baby bottles) but not polypropylene.
- April 2008 Health Canada proposed classifying BPA as toxic to human health and the environment.
- Canada has also banned the use of BPA plastic in baby bottles since 2007.
- Since 2006 German and Japanese regulators have pronounced polycarbonate baby bottles are safe and that BPA research has so far been inconclusive.
- A number 7 recycling triangle on your plastic indicates material that includes polycarbonates, a number 1 indicates a bottle that isn't meant to be re-used.
- The Canadian Government's official take.
- A more frantic appeal.
- In defense of BPA - tough to find since the FDA rescinded this decision on BPA and has recently decided to follow Canada's lead on banning the baby bottle BPA's.
- The US senate and house has this month introduced bills that would ban BPA altogether from the consumer goods market place.

If all this is confusing and irritating and you just want to choose something that doesn't require reading lab reports for determination, use stainless or glass.

Would love to your take on this - click on 'comments' immediately below this post and share your thoughts. You can even add links to the comment section to articles you may have found about this.

Save the Planet Effect

"When we all do one act, we act as one. That's the save the planet effect."

Every day there is another news story about the dire condition of our planet's future. Our children are growing up with a different fear than we did. We faced the possibility of the 'end of days' during the cold war, our kids are faced with a rapidly aging planet caused by human interference.

But...

Just as when we were younger there is much for our children to hope for. From emerging technologies and new ways of thinking there is a growing effort to rectify this mess so that our kids will inherit a greener earth. From the huge carbon reductions incentives of government to the small job of changing to different light bulbs -the times are changing. With that in mind, here is a web site that will challenge you every day to do what is right for the environment. Green.cbc.ca is a gathering place for people who are making a difference.

It started as a challenge to Canadians on the CBC show "The Hour". The challenge was to perform and log one million 'acts of green'. Acts that will help to reduce green house gases. They reached the million mark quickly and there is presently a log of over 1.2 million acts reducing greenhouse gases by an estimated 72 million Kg.

Join up and start logging your efforts at reduction today.

If people are interested we can even create a common account and challenge others to a reduction goal. Let me know what you think.

Superheroes in Queensland

On Saturday, some children decided to practice their graffiti skills on the side of our school. They were spotted by a Haultain parent. Instead of being a complacent and apathetic bystander she decided to do something about it.

Yelling at the kids to stop what they were doing, she then called the police non-emergency line to report what she was seeing. As the kids were running away, another Haultain parent got involved and stealthily followed the children back to their homes. She was able to determine their address and report to the police the description of the kids. We have a promise from the responding officer of a follow up. A third Mom got involved by photographing the graffiti and providing copies to the police. This may help in linking past graffiti crimes to these kids and hopefully some other habitual 'taggers'.

These Haultain parents displayed a showcase of stellar community awareness. If everyone could pitch in with some civic pride and passion as they did, it would spell the end of this type of petty crime. I'm proud of our three Haultain 'superheroes'.

Stay tuned for updates...

Our School's Future

A meeting was held last night that was to address the McKenzie Towne School opening. The meeting went from 5 - 6:30 , and even with this awkward time, there will still over 100 attendees. Here is a summary of the learnings:

-McKenzie Towne school is expected to be open for learning in January 2010.

-There will be MT students in Haultain (and Acadia) for the first 4 months of next school year.

-They will only be in grades 2, 3, 4 - there will be no K, grad 5, or grade 6 MT kids at Haultain. There will also be no grade 1 MT kids unless there is an existing attending sibling at the school.

-The MT kids will be in classrooms with only MT kids, there will be no integration with Haultain kids. This will allow for a smooth transition when the MT school opens.

-The MT classrooms will be staffed with MT teachers who will move with the students when their school opens.

-There will be a posting shortly for a principal and assistant-principal to staff MT

-Parents of MT students will have the option to leave their kids at Haultain if ther is room in an existing Haultain class - they will be responsible for their own transportation after MT school opens.

-Haultain will be left with 114-120 students after January (preliminary numbers only)

-There will be a CBE meeting shortly to discuss options surrounding Haultain and what the CBE may do with our school. We will hopefully have some further news about accommodation during our March 18 Council meeting.

-Any decisions that the CBE makes regarding Haultain's future will include parental engagement. (as I said before - community awareness and engagement are considerably important factors in this process, support your school as often and as vocally as you can, this blog is a great record of that support).

This meeting raised a lot of questions as well and I'm sure there are some concerned parents out there. Please use the comments section to bring up any other issues. I would love to hear your perspective of the meeting and any thoughts you have about the process.

Mackenzie Towne parents may provide feedback through an on-line feedback form to the CBE at www.cbe.ab.ca/schools/ceop/feedback.asp or by email at yourvoice@cbe.ab.ca.

A note for McKenzie Towne parents. It would be in your best interest to set up an association/society as soon as possible. I will be happy to help with materials and any guidance I can provide.

Food Recall

The following products described below are affected by this alert.
The affected products bear the establishment number 611.

Product: Maple Leaf Hot Dogs Original
Size: 450g
UPC: 0 63100 22356 4

Best before date: 09 AL 23
Product: Shopsy’s Deli- Fresh All Beef Frankfurters
Size: 450g
UPC: 0 64875 20730 8
Best before date: 09 AL 22 and 09 AL 23

The affected products have been distributed in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland & Labrador.There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

The manufacturer, Maple Leaf Consumer Foods, is recalling the affected products produced at its Hamilton, Ontario facility (establishment #611) from the marketplace because the products may contain Listeria species discovered as a result of Maple Leaf’s environmental testing program. The CFIA will be monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

Canwest Canspell 2009

Here's a site featuring the 2009 National Spelling Bee competition. Pay it a visit, if only to read about Calgary participants!

Neat Article on Technology

It's about the use of technology as a communication tool - and how it's quickly changing the face of interpersonal conversation.

This is relevant to parents of Haultain children, because a lot of our kids use .mp3 players, or are beginning to use cell phones to text each other.

Check out the article here, and feel free to comment. Your participation is appreciated.

Zoned Out!

‘ZONED OUT’ or maybe ‘TWILIGHT ZONE’ (in reference to Ald. Mar’s comments).

On February 19, 2009 there was an article in the Calgary Herald regarding some possible changes to signage and regulations for playground zones and school zones. See the full article here.

We know that the current system is not effective at Haultain School. The reduced speed Playground Zone is not in effect until 8:30am, so all our children are walking across the street or exiting busses for our 8:20am start time while traffic, including city transit, whizzes by at 50km/hr. A ‘School Zone’ would not be ideal either, because it ends at 5pm and the playground in the field between the school and the Community Centre is well used by local children beyond that time. There just doesn’t seem to be a good fit with any of the current options.

Down the street, our teens attending Wilma Hansen Jr High start at 9am, but it is within a ‘School Zone’ where reduced speeds start at 8am. Also in our community, Queensland Downs Elementary had to pull their student patrollers a few years back as there were safety concerns with no speed reduction zones on Canyon Meadows Drive. The City installed a playground zone (effective 8:30am) and now the City gets regular complaints as commuters have to slow to 30km/hr during evening rush hour when there are no children present. Clearly, the current system is not meeting the needs of our communities.

“Ald. John Mar said one zone would be an "enforcement and education nightmare." "Imagine trying to implement something no one has ever seen before," he said. "I don't think (the system) is broken.””

There have been many new regulations and bylaws put into place recently that ‘no one has ever seen before’ - reducing speed to 60km when passing an emergency vehicle, for instance. You would think that would be a nightmare to enforce…something that can happen anytime and anywhere. Yet, he thinks we are not able to handle one effective, consistent, well-marked system for slow zones within Calgary.

This is exactly what our community has been requesting for several years now. Reduced speed zones have often been a topic of conversation at our Queensland Community Association board meetings.

On December 11, 2007 Alderman Linda Fox-Mellway attended one such meeting and invited Cam Nelson, City of Calgary Traffic Safety Coordinator. The Board was informed of a project in which 2 reduced speed zones in each ward across the city would be chosen as part of a study to determine how best to control traffic in areas such as schools, parks, sports field and green spaces where children walk and play.

Here is the relevant portion of the minutes from that meeting:

5.1 Linda Fox-Mellway, Alderman Cam Nelson (Traffic Safety Coordinator) was invited by Linda to speak In 2003, province started a project regarding the definition of school and playground zones. Due to quirks in provincial legislation, in rural areas the speed can be no lower than 40 and in urban areas can be no lower than 30. Edmonton doesn’t have school or playground zones and has areas instead with no speed reduction. The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) has picked up where it left off. The reason for having a speed reduced area is where or when children are in the area. There will be 28 areas (2 per ward) which are going to be tested in a pilot. The new playground area signs will still be yellow. The area sign will be the same sign as the existing signs without the speed reduction. Cam provided paperwork suggesting two zones in Diamond Cove for the pilot program. This will include the soccer field and the tot lot in Diamond Cove. Communication can be assisted with the Queensland Crier. The zone hours are dictated by legislation, but school hours can be adjusted per the municipal government. 80 points is the magic number for weighting. In terms of the area, the number ranges from 41 to 80.
Motion was made to agree with the pilot suggestions for the revised playground zones and areas in Diamond Cove as proposed by Traffic Engineering.

This project was to be completed last year (April 2008 I believe). We have heard nothing since.

This is a complex issue to be sure, but the City Council needs to make an effort to work collaboratively and in good faith with School Boards, Parent Councils, and Community Associations to find the best solution.

Latest Key Communiqué

Here's the latest newsletter from the CBE.
Your comments and questions are welcomed! To comment, click on 'comments' at the bottom of this posting. If you have any problems, drop me an email, and I'll help you get them sorted out.

System Meetings:
The next System Meeting will be at the beginning of April. We will let you know as soon as we have the date and location determined.

Area Meetings:

Area I
Date: Thursday April 23
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Location: Parkdale Centre:
728 - 32 Street N.W. Conference Room 1
Topic: Understanding more about the 21st Century learning environments in my child’s school.

Area II
Date: Wednesday March 4
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m .
Location: Mount View School, 2004 4th Street NE
Topic: Coffee and Conversation with your Director

Area III
Date: Thursday March 12th
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Area III Conference Room
3rd floor-12 Manning Close
Topic: "Engaging the Community"

Area IV
Date: Wednesday, April 22
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Location: Area IV Conference Room - Lord Shaughnessy High School
Topic: TBD

Area V (Haultain's area)
Date: Thursday, April 16
Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Location: Area V Conference Room (Haysboro Centre) 1123 - 87 Avenue S.W.
Topic: Student Accommodation and Transportation

Summary of Trustees' Presentation (Jan. 22):
We have received a few requests asking for a written summary of what the Trustees spoke about at the last system meeting. You can find this information by clicking here.

Setting the Direction for Special Education in Alberta:
Beginning on February 23, there are four ways to participate in Phase 2 of Setting the Direction. They mirror the consultation process in Phase 1.

1. Submit a response through the online consultation process

2. Downloading a PDF copy of the discussion guide and fax it to 780-422-2039 or mail it to Setting the Direction for Special Education in Alberta, c/o Special Programs Branch, Alberta Education, 10044-108 Street, Edmonton, AB, T5J 5E6.

3. Conduct an informal consultation process within your organization, among staff and/or stakeholders. The Group Consultation Toolkit is a good guide.

4. Register for and attend a regional consultation session. Participation in regional consultation is by pre-registration only. Registration is now open.

In-person public forums for Phase 2 will be five hours in length. They will begin on February 27 and 28 in Red Deer and end on March 20 and 21 in Edmonton. There will be three Saturday sessions (Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton).

Further detail on the Phase 2 consultation opportunities is available on the Setting the Direction website at www.settingthedirection.alberta.ca.

WorldSkills Calgary 2009:
The CBE's Worldskills website is continually being updated as we receive more information regarding our schools and this exciting event. You can check it out here or visit the WorldSkills Calgary 2009 homepage at http://www.worldskills2009.com/

You can also contact Marsha Levy at milevy@cbe.ab.ca with your questions.

Blogs:
Nick Newton, Key Communicator at Haultain Memorial School has started a blog for his school council as a way to keep his parents informed. You can check it out at www.haultainparents.ca. If you want to start your own school blog or have any questions about the process you can contact him directly:

Nick Newton
Haultain Memorial School Key Communicator
(403) 271-9321
www.haultainparents.ca
gnarly_nick@hotmail.com

Resources:

CAPSC:
CAPSC is Calgary’s city-wide, public school parent association. CAPSC’s primary goal is to keep parents up to date and involved in their children’s education, and to help make individual school’s Parent Councils as effective as possible. CAPSC provides parents with resources, learning and sharing opportunities, and representation of parent concerns to the CBE and all levels of government. For more information or to subscribe to their newsletter, visit www.capsc.ca.

School Council Development
School Council Development (SCD) provides workshops and resource materials to assist school councils.

School Council Development provides the following services:

a.. Workshops for school councils anywhere in Alberta
b.. Toll Free School Council Consultation Line - 1-800-661-3470
c.. Instructor training to deliver workshops to school councils
d.. Resource manual and materials for school council

Alberta Education

School Council Resource Manual

Contact Information
Katie Young, BPR
Parent/School Communications Specialist
Calgary Board of Education http://www.cbe.ab.ca/
Email: klyoung@cbe.ab.ca
T (403) 294-8566
F (403) 294-8172
515 Macleod Tr. SE
Calgary, AB T2G 2L9

We are always looking for ways to improve communication so if you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to email them to me.

School Council Website & Hotline:
The School Council website is a great resource for information. Check it out at http://www.cbe.ab.ca/Parents/schlcouncils.asp. I have also been regularly updating our Key Communicator and School Council Chair Hotline. If ever you don’t have access to a computer but want to find what is going on, call 403-294-8244.

Your Alberta - eNewsletter from Premier Ed Stelmach

A monthly newsletter from government of Alberta.

Pretty In-Depth Wikipedia Entry

I found this article on Wikipedia - It's a pretty interesting read if you have a minute. There's a lot of good information on there.

Enjoy the weekend - and don't forget to send me anything interesting or notable that you've found online - I'll post it and give you the credit. Also, if you have photos you'd like to share with parents, or questions, concerns... just let me know. Your participation is what makes this site successful.

Can Technology Help Elementary Age School Students?

(In response to Annika's very valid comment regarding parent trepidation over the use of technology in elementary schools, and as a result of conversations during last night's Council meeting - please feel free to comment. Dialogue is welcomed.)

Written by SkyeDanzer, for Associated Content Op Ed. (Here's the link to the article online.)

Did you know they have special keyboards just for elementary and younger age children with color, picture and letter keys? Ipods, DVD players, CD players, laptops and more are part of technology today. We are surrounded by technology on a daily basis. Educational software is a booming business. But does great technology in elementary school benefit children?

First, let me say that anything to the extreme is unhealthy. Let's look at keyboard skills. Children are sponges. Some say that keyboard skills can be developed at the elementary school age or younger. Sure it can be learned but it is much more difficult at this age. Kids don't have the fine motor skills needed for keyboarding. They are still learning letters, words and language basics. Then to have the eye and hand coordination it takes to start learning keyboarding can be complex as well. The greatest benefit to keyboarding is to simply get them used to a keyboard. The other skills are learned much easier at a middle school age.

Pre-kindergarten and elementary school educational software has many advantages. Parents that are out of ideas of how to teach some of the basics can use these programs to help at home. They don't save time because the parent needs to sit at the program and help the child do the work of the program. But then again, they do teach quite a bit. Having invested the money in the programs the parents are more likely to stick to them and to use them with the children.

The use of DVDs and CDs is very beneficial in the classroom. There are many things that elementary children can learn through listening and viewing that they wouldn't get from other classroom activities. Hooked on phonics is a great example of how technology can benefit elementary school students. Many languages are learned at this age if the children can hear and/or see the language being used. Playing a DVD in the classroom that is entertaining but in a foreign language will develop language skills more quickly.

Interesting Article

I found this article, posted on Yahoo news, about an assignment handed out at a school in New Brunswick. Let's be thankful that we'd be hard-pressed to find the teachers and administration at Haultain in the same situation!

The professional staff at Haultain, who are charged with teaching our children, do a great job.

If you have any questions, issues, or concerns with any of the information posted on this blog, or would like to contribute in any way, please use the 'feedback' link at the top right hand of this page, or click 'comment' at the bottom of articles. All comments are moderated.