Raising an Honest Child

Raising a child to always tell the truth should be straight forward.  Yet children (and adults) can fall short of the truth at times.  This article from Yahoo! Voices offers helpful steps to raise an honest child.  Click here and let's keep them honest!

HOJA Success... Again

Another great session with the team from HOJA was enjoyed at the school earlier this month.  The popular performers sang (a cappella) a wide variety of tunes from singers including: Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Alabama (see pic), Mrs. Karlson was regaled with 'Brown Eyed Girl', and the crowd joined in on 'YMCA' - Mr. Barkley's favourite.  The performance ended with a great message to follow your dreams, believe in yourself and never give up.

There was also an unidentified 'volunteer' performer from the audience who by all accounts was enthusiastic if a little perplexed.

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.

Klondike Rag a Huge Success

On February 10th, the school hosted a presentation by the Canadiana Musical Theatre Company entitled The Klondike Rag. As outlined in the synopsis, “When down and out vaudeville performers hear about the discovery of Klondike gold, the rush is on! But when they unearth no gold and face starvation, the "Flim-Flam Brothers" must resurrect their failed vaudeville show at the newly built Palace Grand Theatre in Dawson City. With Soapy Smith, Sam Steele, Arizona Charlie Meadows, Klondike Kate, and a cast of incorrigible wheeler dealers, this rollicking Ragtime musical is a fast and furious turn of the century vaudeville comedy written by the "Ragtime Kid" from the Palace Grande Theatre in Dawson City.”

A great time was had by all with many teachers commenting that this was one of the most unique, educational and entertaining presentation to grace the gym in quite some time. Remember, parents are always welcome to attend these events so check the calendar, check in at the office, and enjoy!

School Newspaper

Mrs. Yee is an Area V learning leader who has been working with a few of our writers at the school on a newspaper project. The paper is called Through the Kids' Eyes. You can have your children sign in to D2L so you can read the stories.


There are sections about the School Community, Upcoming Events, Virtues, Movie Reviews, and even an Advice Column all written by Haultain students. The perspective, clearly, is "through the kids' eyes".

Check it out when you can.

Science Fair Participants

Here are some of the participants of this year's Haultain Science Fair. To protect the identities of the students, no names have been listed, and their faces have been covered up. If you don't feel comfortable having your student's image posted on this blog, please let me know and it'll be removed promptly. You can click on each image to enlarge it.

The Science Fair was a big success - congratulations to all participants on a job well done!