"The goal was to participate in democracy by being a part of a solution to an issue and to positively affect their community,” says teacher Edi Giesbrecht of the social studies project to take a concern and do something to make a positive difference.

The idea evolved from a collaborative small group session. “Although there were no real concerns or problems, the group wanted to show and feel democracy in action by being leaders and making their school better,” says Geisbrecht.

Principal Penny Rose gave the nod, and set the group to organizing an afternoon Winter Carnival in mid-March. Designed to celebrate the Queen’s 60^th Jubilee, elementary students and staff dressed as royalty, decorated doors, and played outside games.

Although the crowns and capes have been put away, the student leadership group will continue, with students taking the lead in collective celebrations, such as Earth Day.

A public library, a preschool, zumba, adult volleyball, art, cooking and dance classes? All of this on top of providing a top-quality education for students in Kindergarten to Grade 12?

Located in the northwest corner of the Peace Wapiti School Division, Savanna School truly is at the heart of the growing farm communities of Silver Valley, Fourth Creek, and Cotillion.

“Numbers at the school dwindled in the last few years, but they are now experiencing a huge regrowth. There is a baby boom and the school is answering the community’s needs,” explains Terrina Hampton, Co-Principal of Savanna School.

Open on weekends and two days a week after school, the municipal library, is a collaboration between the school, Saddle Hills County and the Peace Library System. Opened just last year, the communities now have access to books and resources from almost every library in Alberta.

Two years ago, a two-day-per-week preschool opened, filling a community need and giving young children aged three to five a safe, structured learning environment. Being located in the school has the added benefit of making the youngsters feel as if they are already part of the school.

“As a staff, we strongly believe that parental involvement at an early age leads to a successful school career,” says Hampton.

To get the community even more involved in the school and to attract families with children too young for the preschool, Savanna School has begun offering Music Pups and Books for Babies on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

The school is reaching beyond teaching children, offering non-credit adult courses designed to fill a need for lifelong learning. “We are open to new ideas and programs to help get our community members out of the house and actively involved in the school,” says Hampton.

Next on the agenda? Presentations on parenting, courtesy of Grande Prairie’s Parent Link Centre.

Building and fostering community -- both within the school and in the greater Woking area -- is one of the goals of Woking School.

“We fully believe that in order for small rural schools to flourish, they need to be an integral part of the community,” says Kathy Anderson, principal of the K-8 school. “They also need to have a strong sense of family.”

Building a strong working partnership with community groups, such as the Woking Skating Association, is key. This winter the skating association built an outdoor rink next to the school, giving students the chance to skate and socialize, both during and after school. The rink also provided a venue for a school skating party made memorable by perfect temperatures and ice conditions.

The school is also now home to the newly-opened Woking Municipal Library. Open two evenings a week and on Saturdays, the library provides the community with a link to a multitude of resources. The library is housed in the school, but is part of the Peace Library System, meaning members can access books, Cds, DVDs and other resources from libraries across Alberta.

The community also came to the school during Family Literacy Day when residents read their favourite books to students.

Bake sale supports African students

Sweet treats sold at Beaverlodge Elementary School are helping students in Africa.

For the past six years, the Grade 3P class has raised money to purchase school supplies and help pay the school fees of students at Nduna School in Zimbabwe. This year, the class’ bake sale raised $710.

The connection between Beaverlodge Elementary and Nduna is teacher Laurel Pritchard, who travels to the African country each summer to teach new skills to the African teachers.

“Our Grade 3 students worked very hard baking items with their parents and then selling their wares to the students and staff at our school,” says Pritchard of the noon-hour bake sale that serves as the students’ Global Citizenship Project.

The Grades 3’s have raised more than $4,000 since they started this project in 2004.

“Over the past few years, our students have also had the opportunity to see first-hand how their work has benefited the students from Nduna School. Our students have corresponded with students from the school, and last year the Grade 3P class received a video made by students at the school thanking our students for their support,” says Pritchard.

Derek Syme (skip), Emanuel Villiger (third), Ashley White (second), Andrew O’Connell (lead) from Beaverlodge Regional High School were 2012 silver medalists.

Men's team wins provincial curling silver

The Beaverlodge Regional High School’s men’s team swept to a silver finish at curling provincials.

Held in Vermilion in early March, the winning team included Derek Syme (skip), Emanuel Villiger (third), Ashley White (second) and Andrew O’Connell (lead). Fifth on the team was Jared Sterkenburg. The team played together weekly in the men’s league at the Beaverlodge Curling Club where they placed in a very respectable top three.

The BRHS team also curled in other competitions, including the Arctic Winter Games playdown, where they placed second; the Peace Challenge Junior Cup; and the Peace Curling Association Juvenile Super League.

The BRHS mixed team also played well at zones, but missed qualifying for provincials. That team was made up of Sarah Sazwan (skip), Darby Sherard (third), Danae Tuffnell (second) and Wesley Shirk (lead).

For the love of community:

Movie-night raises cash for fire victims

Dressed in pyjamas and carrying blankets and pillows, students, their families, and staff showed their love of community on Valentine’s Day as they spent the evening together at Beaverlodge Elementary School watching movies and raising money.

More than 40 families gathered to watch movies and to raise $580 for a local family who had lost its home in a December fire.

Literacy

Literacy web catches Wembley students reading

Reading was the name of the game in late January when Wembley Elementary School celebrated its fourth annual Literacy Week with celebrities, mystery, and buddy readers.

The week-long event began with a presentation by Grade 2 students and a chance for all students to “buddy read” in the gym.

Celebrity readers, including two Grande Prairie Storm hockey players, Peace Wapiti’s Superintendent of Schools Sheldon Rowe and trustee Wendy Kelm, shared stories with students on Tuesday, while on Wednesday, students from the neighbouring Helen E. Taylor School read with their younger counterparts, many of whom were dressed as storybook characters. A “mystery teacher” arrived in the Kindergarten to Grade 4 classrooms to read a favourite story before students headed to the book swap and to math literacy centres.

Students nestled in tents or relaxed by the campfire to read on Thursday as part of “Camp Read.” After lunch with their parents, students rotated through four dynamic literacy centers.

Additionally, students were challenged during the week to shut down their screens -- television, computer, and electronic devices -- to spend quality time with their families. Participating students had the chance to win a prize.

The week ended in grand style when teachers performed a comical “readers theatre.”

Students at Clairmont Community School enjoy reading together, both at school and at home. Here, Kerry Rumsey, Mackenzie Skinner, Sydney Limoges, and Kaylee White read together.

Literacy part of the school culture at Clairmont Community School

Literacy is kept front-of-mind at Clairmont Community School, where becoming competent at reading and writing are important parts of the school culture.

“Our literacy-rich school culture is infused with opportunities for sharing our passion for reading and celebrating student success,” says Vice-Principal Kate Thon. “You will find formalized literacy practices, such as the use of benchmark testing, small group instruction and a variety of strategies supported by recent literacy research.”

Whether it’s the literacy cheerleader with newsprint pom-poms, bulletin boards filled with student book reviews and recommendations, or the huge thermometer measuring home-reading minutes, just walking the hallways shows literacy is valued, encouraged and supported.

Strong literacy skills help students achieve their full potential, says Thon. “Literacy encompasses all the skills we need to be able to interpret, respond and contribute to the world around us. As our skills in these areas grow, so does our knowledge and understanding of the world we live in, adding richness to our life experiences,” she says.

Students at the K-Grade 8 school have access to a team of specialists who implement literacy intervention programs aimed at having all its students reach grade level competency. But when it comes to reading and writing, students like Riley Pillsworth in Grade 5, say it best: “I really like this school because teachers take the time to listen to us read.”

The big thermometer in the front entry tracks students’ progress as they work towards a total of 105,000 minutes of reading at home. The minutes have been adding up, with students already reaching nearly 90 per cent of their goal. While the school celebrates students who have achieved personal reading goals each month, Vice-Principal Thon promises a big surprise for the school if students are able to read enough to fill the reading thermometer.

If you would like to become involved, perhaps as a guest reader, drop by the office with your favourite book and ask to speak to someone on the literacy team.

Storybook characters come to life as Bonanza reads together

Bonanza School looked like something out of a fairytale on January 26 when students and staff came to school dressed as a character from a book.

Laura Ingalls from the “Little House on the Prairie” series, Julie from Robert Munsch’s “Makeup Mess” and several Harry Potters were among the best-loved characters from classic and modern books that filled the K-Grade 8 school as it celebrated Family Literacy Day.

Students also brought in more than 100 gently-used books as the school hosted a book swap. This first-time event proved so popular that it has turned into a year-long project with an area in the primary wing designated as a “swap zone” where students can continue to read and trade books throughout the year.

Parents and friends attended the school’s literacy afternoon when students read one-on-one with an adult. Former Bonanza School teachers Vicki York, Gerta Kut and Lorna Barrett were special reading guests.

Family Literacy Day also marked the end of students’ participation in the “100,000 Nights of Reading” program organized by the Grande Prairie Children’s Literature Roundtable. Several students and their families accepted the challenge to read together for at least 15 minutes a day, for 100 consecutive days. “This program complemented the classroom reading incentive programs that occur throughout the school,” said teacher Stephanie Evans. “We encourage all children to read daily.”

Weekly “Buddy Reading” is another success story at Bonanza, in which younger students are paired with an older “buddy” for half-an-hour of shared reading every Friday. Scattered throughout the school, paired students take turns reading and listening to their buddy read.

Students at Penson School took to the hallways to read for 30 minutes a day during the last full week of January. The daily “buddy reading” was part of the school’s celebration of literacy, and particularly, Family Literacy Day.

Held annually on January 27, national Family Literacy Day celebrates adults and children reading and learning together, and encourages Canadians to spend at least 15 minutes a day sharing a learning activity with their families. With a theme this year of “Play for Literacy,” families were encouraged to play board games, card games and word games to enhance literacy and numeracy skills while having fun.

To that end, Penson also hosted a “Family Games Afternoon” in which families were invited to come to school to spend the afternoon playing games with their children. The school also had a list of “staff picks” for favourite books, and a prize draw for a Coles gift certificate.

For more information about Family Literacy Day, visit www.abclifeliteracy.ca/en/family-literacy-day. To learn more about local activities that celebrate Family Literacy Day, visit, www.gpclrt.org.

Innovation

Science Fair Winners

Back Row (L-R): Grade 8/9 winners of the recent Science Fair at Penson School were Coltan Smith, Jason Smith, third place; Hannah Schmakeit, Shauna Kusch, first place; Taylor Smith, Ryley Williams, second place; and teacher Miss Brooke McKenzie. Front Row: The Grade 6/7 winners were Brandi Brothen, Chase Smith, third place; Tara Williams, Madison Wright, first place; and Jadzia Bean, Jordan Schram , second place.

Four months’ work adds up to innovative projects