PWPSD Good News Report – October 2021

RAP students Rylee Norton (left) and Graison Trodd (right)

Clairmont Community School

Students blow Terry Fox fundraising goal out of the water

Students at CCS more than doubled their fundraising goal of $3000 when they raised a total of $6835.65 for cancer research. Mrs. Danylchuk’s class raised the most money: $876! Thank you to everyone who donated!

CCS wears orange and black to show support for residential school survivors

Leadership helped create a bulletin board in Div. 2 of black silhouettes and orange handprints, while others painted rocks. 

Harry Balfour School

Young students get crafty in the kitchen

Ms. Lavalle’s Junior Kindergarten (JK) students put their efforts together and made some school-made stone soup!

In preparation for the big day, JK students brought small portions of cleaned and chopped vegetables from home as ingredients for their stone soup. On October 6, the students took turns pouring their vegetables into a large bowl, stirring the soup and sprinkling spices into the mixture. The students shared what they were thankful and grateful for and then enjoyed their soup over the colourful placemats they had created earlier in the week. Thank you to all the JK families for helping prepare for this fun activity!

Ms. Hutchison’s grade 2 students also enjoyed building community and connection over their bowls of stone soup!

Extreme classroom makeover

Thank you to Participarent for supplying a variety of flexible seating in a number of classrooms!

Sitting at school can be hard! Mr. Groff’s classroom was one of the lucky recipients of a complete classroom makeover. Students can now enjoy a variety of flexible seating to meet their comfort needs.

National Bring Your Teddy Bear to School Day

On October 13, HBS students celebrated National Bring Your Teddy Bear to School Day. The students enjoyed showing their friends their favourite stuffed companions.

Junior high volleyball action

The junior high volleyball team would like to thank Whispering Ridge Community School for hosting them, and their coaches and school supervisors for lending their time and expertise!

Students trot their way to the finish line

Students in grades 4-8 participated in the 2021 Turkey Trot, an optional cross-country run that was held before the Thanksgiving weekend.

Students take on STEM challenge

Ms. Gaucher’s grade 5 students started the year with a STEM challenge themed around apples. Students were placed into groups and had to complete a variety of challenges: build a tower with the apple at the top, create a ramp to roll the apple down, catapult the apple, and race with their apple attached to their head. The students had a great time figuring out the best way to tackle each challenge.

Breaking ground at new school site

Thank you to PWA student Leigha Haynes for supplying drone photos.

Equipment has arrived and the first bit of dirt has been moved at the new Harry Balfour School site. The approach into the site has also been installed.

Helen E. Taylor School

Seeing double

Students at Helen E. Taylor participated in a school-wide Twin Day!

Sunset Scramble

The Run Club enjoyed the Sunset Scramble race organized by Mr. Hopkins.

Volleyball teams happy to be on the court

HET volleyball players participated in a tournament earlier this year.

Hythe Regional School

HRS receives over $8000 in donations

As a dedicated and generous supporter, NuVista has played a major role in the success of the HRS nutrition program for several years; its most recent donation of $8000 has the school very excited! The staff and students at HRS are deeply appreciative for NuVista’s continued support. Thank you!

Opal McMillan, Past Honoured Royal Lady of the Hythe Royal Purple Elks #106 presents Renay Morgan, HRS Administrative Assistant, with a $300 donation to the Hythe Regional School Breakfast & Lunch Program.

La Glace School

Top fundraisers thanked with Terry Fox Foundation t-shirts

(From left to right) Robert Clark, Eloise Edger, Sullivan Edger and Olive Hoffos

Students at La Glace School raised $2907.00 for the Terry Fox Foundation; the top four fundraisers brought in one-third of the total funds.

Walk-Run Club a huge success

As the season officially wraps up, the Walk-Run Club reflects on another successful year. A big thank you goes out to Rosanna Clark, Jackie Driedger, and Kylie Nielsen for coaching!

Students (from left to right) Colson, Lacey, Brayden, and Laine took the initiative to enter races on their own time and they all ended up victorious! Go Gators Go!

Students learn ‘O Canada’ in American Sign Language

Mrs. Nyland, Educational Assistant, collaborated with the Alberta Culture Society of the Deaf to help teach students ‘O Canada’ in American Sign Language (ASL). Students who were interested had the opportunity to join a Zoom session, ran by volunteers, during morning recess to learn the national anthem in ASL. Thank you to all the volunteers who took the time to teach our students!

Pumpkin carving contest underway!

Community members at La Glace School were invited to participate in a friendly pumpkin carving competition. Individuals were encouraged to purchase a pumpkin for $5.00, take it home, carve it, and bring it back to the school to be displayed the week leading up to Halloween. Thank you to the Scheidegger Family for donating their time to purchase, pick up, and deliver all the pumpkins. All proceeds raised from the competition are being donated to the local food bank

Peace Wapiti Academy

Orange Shirt Day at PWA

PWA students and staff showed their support by sporting orange for Orange Shirt Day.

Library staff shared a collection of Indigenous resources with students.

Library staff made it easy for students to learn about Indigenous history and culture by creating a display sharing some of the school’s Indigenous book selection. Colourful leaves labelled with the names of some of the children who didn’t make it home from residential schools, and keywords representing the Indigenous peoples of Canada were also on display.

PWA leaves its mark in High Prairie

Both junior high volleyball teams took first place in the High Prairie tournament earlier this season.

The PWA junior high volleyball teams have created quite the name for themselves: Champions. Both the girls and boys teams have proven that they are the ones to beat!

PWA cross-country runners bring home GOLD

Madison Twelvetree (left) and Laurel Van Der Giessen (right) represented Peace Wapiti Academy by bringing home gold in cross-country running this season. Both girls made their way to the Cross-Country Provincials in Red Deer that took place in mid-October. Madison placed 12^th in the Senior Women category with a time of 22:37, while Laurel placed 27^th in the Intermediate Women category with a time of 23:45. Congratulations girls!

Robert W. Zahara School

Students become teachers for a day

Staff at RWZ celebrated World Student Day by giving their students a chance to teach. 

Students at Robert W. Zahara School got first-hand experience at teaching when they became teachers for a day. The day of role reversals gave students the opportunity to prepare and deliver their own lessons, some of which included math, science, music, dance, paper airplane building, baking, different languages, and lots of P.E. The “teachers” had a wonderful time teaching their “students”, even though some commented that it was frustrating when they didn’t listen or follow instructions.

RWZ’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation grows leaf by leaf

To create a visual representation of their commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, each student and staff member decorated three leaves to add to a tree constructed at the centre of the school. Teachers explained to their students that the 1500 leaves on the tree represented only a small fraction of the estimated number of children who were separated from their families, and forced to attend residential schools. Together, students and staff are committed in Honouring survivors and those who did not come home. Promising now to create a better future because Every Child Matters.

Spirit River Regional Academy

Renegades place third in St. Albert

The SRRA Renegades celebrated their return to the volleyball court with a third place finish in the Lion’s Tournament in St. Albert in mid-October. The team played a total of six games over the October 16 weekend.

Grade 1s fascinated by robots

Robots have arrived at SRRA! The grade 9 robotic class proudly displayed their robots to grade 1 students who were excited to learn how they were built and controlled.

Sexsmith Secondary School

Interact Club making an impact



After two separate house fires rocked the community of Sexsmith, students of the SSS Interact Club took it upon themselves to bring joy to the affected families. The club donated gift cards, toys and school supplies to the house fire victims as a way to show support during such a difficult time.

Truth and Reconciliation at SSS

To honour and reflect upon the history and culture of the Indigenous peoples, Mrs. Caldwell’s grade 11s and 12s took to making fried bannock to go with 3 Sisters Soup on Truth and Reconciliation Day.

The SS30-2 and science 9 students also tried their hand at making bannock, but in a more traditional way. Indigenous Services’ Andrea Rosenberger and Rachelle Bell joined the students for some fresh bannock made over an outdoor fire.

Shop Talk

Mechanics students ready to resurrect the SSS Ramcharger.

Through some old fashion negotiations, Mr. Brundige, Mechanics Teacher, was able to secure a 1993 Cummins Turbo Diesel, which runs surprisingly well, for his students to use as parts for the SSS Ramcharger.

Mechanics-20 students are in charge of swapping the drivetrain, and general maintenance and repair following their modules this semester. Most of the work will be bolted in with minimal modifications as they are working with two vehicles of the same era.

Mechanics-30 students are responsible for engine cleanup, resealing, inspecting, tuning and installing the parts. They will also be required to complete a fuel system revamp and to replace the wiring harnesses.

Any extra funding required for this project is being generated by the Mechanics-30’s Vehicle Value Appraisal module. Students have been working on a parts list with pictures and descriptions of leftover body parts to sell. Almost all of the extra parts from the donor truck have been sold in less than a week!

Wembley Elementary School

Junior Kindergarten expands to include three-year olds

Children are getting into the spooky spirit with pumpkin activities.

Staff at Wembley Elementary School are excited to have their Junior Kindergarten group expanded to include three-year olds for the 2021-2022 school year. The Three-Year-Old Program is a new program that gives children an opportunity to learn through play in a school setting a whole year earlier than they previously could. The program focuses on the development of language, social skills, self-help skills, and emotional regulations through age-appropriate activities. The program has been very well received by the community, and the class is full for the year.


Whispering Ridge Community School

WRCS raises over $7500 for the Terry Fox Foundation

WRCS students took part in the annual Terry Fox Run on September 27 and, by putting all their efforts together, were able to donate over $7500 to cancer research!

Rock garden display holds a deeper meaning

As one of many Orange Shirt Day activities, all WRCS students took part in rocking painting, depicting how they feel as individuals at school. The rocks are displayed in the school’s rock garden.

Other Orange Shirt Day activities included a virtual presentation by Elder Rebecca Morin, class-created banners written in Cree, Inuktitut and Michif, and a sea of orange shirts on September 29.

Junior students happy to be back in sports

The junior girls and boys volleyball teams are excited to be back on the court!

Grade 7 student, Jaxon Skea enjoys a round of golf as extra-curricular activities are welcomed back.

Student Council established for 2021-2022

The Whispering Ridge Community School’s Student Council has been established and they are excited to leave a positive impression on their school community.

Upcoming events

• Christmas Card Art Contest (open to students in grades 10-12): Now until Friday, November 26
• Daylight Savings Ends (fall back one hour): Sunday, November 7
• International Inuit Day: Sunday, November 7
• National Aboriginal Veterans Day: Monday, November 8
• Remembrance Day, no school: Thursday, November 11
• No School: Friday, November 12
• Métis Week: November 15-21
• Rock Your Mocs Day: Tuesday, November 16
• Next Board Meeting: Thursday, November 25, 10:30 a.m.

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