INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Superintendent…...................2

Curriculum ........................... 3

FNMI Teacher Resources ..... 3

Technology ........................... 4

Transportation…………………..5

Around BTPS ........................6

Continued on next page

Superintendent’s Memo

For the Week of March 23-27th, 2015

COMMENTS ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER?

Please send your comments or

suggestions to jody.wolosiak@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

Twitter: BTPS#28

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...

Email: jody.wolosiak@btps.ca

Answer the question on page four and

have your name

entered for a prize!

Last week when I was out and about in BTPS, I was afforded the opportunity to witness in some exciting learning! While I was at Wainwright High School, I spent a bit of time watching a student, Emily Becker, working on her mural for the wall of the school that shares her beliefs and exemplifies the acceptance of different perspectives in our public schools. Emily is proud of her work and is committed to using her artis-tic talents to express her thoughts.

My trip to Marwayne Jubilee School and a visit to Ms. Hoegl’s Art class was inspiring! Gifted artist, Kenn Doyle, shared a very recently completed piece that was very captivating. While the picture that I was able to take does not do it justice, you can see that he captured the essence of the human eye. His depiction of the reflection was an important to sharing his thoughts. I was im-pressed by many of the different pieces being created in the art program. Many thanks go out to Ms. Hoegl for her hard work to cultivate the creative minds of her stu-

dents. We are so lucky to have this and many other excellent art programs in BTPS!

My trip to Edgerton Public Schools was also one that was particularly rewarding. A few years ago, during the very first BTPS Superintendent’s Public Speaking Competition, we had the pleasure of listening to Mikayla Krinball share her thoughts on how technology has very posi-tively impacted her life. Many of your will recall that Mikayla shared her speech during the 2012 BTPS Celebration Day. I do know that her words and her accomplishment of speaking to over 500 adults were received with lumps in the throat for many and a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd. Mikayla has gone on the work though her high school program and during my visit, she shared that she re-cently received notification that she has been accepted into the Transitional Vocational Program at Red Deer College for the fall of 2015. Mikayla was very excited about this opportunity looking forward to going to college. We all wish her the very best in her new adventure. Mikayla has a very supportive family and many BTPS staff who have helped her along her journey thus far. In particular, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to Terri Moran, teach-ing assistant from Edgerton Public School, for her dedication to Mikayla’s suc-cess! This is another BTPS success to celebrate!

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT (FROM PAGE 1)

GO BACK

You will have noticed that our BTPS webpage has undergone a significant revision!

Over the past few months we have been working with a new website provider, Dreamstalk, to create a much more interactive and easy to use website. With the support of the leadership team, Jody Wolosiak and Cody Machney (Linda Koskie has been a great deal of help as well) have been very busy working directly with Dreamstalk to bring our infor-mation over from the current website and make changes that will see it to be much more user friend-ly. The ease of use was one of the most important factors in selecting a website provider. Dreamstalk was confident that they could give us an application that would make the process of using and updating it very simple. They have delivered on that promise!

We will do our very best to use BTPS photos on the new website so that we can showcase our students and our activities. The ability to connect to timely information like bus cancellations and department information will also be very helpful. I also understand that there is enhanced ability to be able to access the information from porta-ble devices like cell phones and tablets.

Many thanks go out to Cody and Jody for their hard work to bring this on line.

Take care,

The winner from

last’s week ???

is

Rita Walz @ Provost School

Congratulations

Rita!

Thank you to

everyone

who participated.

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CURRICULUM

Blackfoot Digital Library – housed at Red Crow Community College This is an amaz-ing resource library of film and video foot-age that Red Crow has been working to compile.

http://blackfootdigitallibrary.org/en/category/subject-lcsh/education?page=1

Aboriginal Learning: The Aboriginal Learn-ing Knowledge Centre was created to pro-vide a collaborative national forum that would support the development of effec-tive solutions for the challenges faced by First Nations, Métis and Inuit learners. http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/AboutCCL/KnowledgeCentres/AboriginalLearning/index.html

Funding for Métis Students: Belcourt Brosseau Métis Awards: The BBMA Fund provides awards to Métis Alber-tans for the advancement of their post-secondary education and skills devel-opment. The Awards are intended to assist recipients with essential costs related to attending school, such as childcare, tuition, etc, and who have severe financial constraints or unique circumstances. Deadline March 31, 2015 www.bbma.ca

FNMI TEACHER

RESOURCES FEATURES:

Reminder– BTPS’s FNMI support site: https://sites.google.com/a/btps.ca/fnmi_support/ Linda Koskie - Curriculum Linda.Koskie@btps.ca

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PD Opportunities:

Upcoming Sessions to check out:

Apr 23, 2015 ILCP15-128 - Learning Commons Developmental 3-Part Series (Judith Sykes & Linda Shantz-kerestezes) REGISTER NOW Day1:St. Paul Day 2&3: Webinar REGISTER Here Of Interest:

Teaching Practices that Inspire Student Learn-ing: Schools are re-conceptualizing teaching and learn-

ing. Here is a video series (7) with focus on the 7 essential conditions and two Alberta schools and their journey towards inspiring students. Learning guides are offered to stimulate dialogue for your context. This resource is provided by Alberta's Education Partners and is aligned with Inspiring Education http://www.essentialconditions.ca/videos/

Find some great Easter resources for your classroom at: http://www.2learn.ca/enjoy/easter/default.aspx

Inquiry:

Crafting Questions That Drive Projects: Not only does project based learning motivate students because it has authentic experi-ences, it also facilitates active learning, critical thinking, collabora-

tion, and creativity. Projects begin with a driving question - an open-ended question, that sets the stage for the project by creating interest and curiosity. Writing an effective driving question is surprisingly challenging. When you visit, this whole site seems to have good resources, but I found the driving questions post really useful. http://learninginhand.com/blog/drivingquestions

Make it Count - Resource for Youth Money Manage-ment: Spice up Canadian geography by planning a vacation. Provide some practical steps for a Wellness lesson by budgeting

a healthy restaurant meal. Liven-up your Math with an interactive activity about the costs of keeping a cell phone. Saving, budgeting, spending wisely and earning money are a few key concepts that weave themselves through meaningful activities that can be used in all subject areas. Parent and Teach-er guides included. There are lesson plans, activities, black-line masters and teacher tips. This resource is highly recommended to accompany PBL. For Gr 3-9. This site developed by Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). http://www.makeitcountonline.ca/csa/instructors/index_en.html

Teaching Engineering in Junior High: The concepts taught in junior high math and science are applied by engineers

every day. This resource (EnGenious) allows students to better understand the engineering and geoscience disciplines while applying their math and science knowledge. It is a great resource for PBL, use as an entry activity or an authen-tic scenario for math/science. The programs are meant to give junior high stu-dents an idea of what engineers do using a fun, engaging tool. There is a teacher guide and a table to show alignment with Alberta curriculum. This site

development involved the provincial engineering associations and Engineers

Canada (APEGA). http://engenious.ca/ GO BACK

AROUND BTPS…..

GO BACK

4

What is the name

our new website

provider?

TECHNOLOGY

2015-2016 Desktop Images are coming during Easter break

As mentioned last week, some of our desktops are going to be imaged over Easter break. This means that any programs/data you have downloaded to your computers local drive (not your network or cloud drive) will be erased. Please remember to back up these important documents and also how you downloaded the program as it will have to be redone.

Affected machines are any schools that were not refreshed this year.

Remember your asset tag number on all tickets!

Helpdesk:

Volume is at normal levels. Remember a ticket is not closed if you feel the problem is not fixed. You can com-ment back to your assigned technician through the ticket. Please continue to contact us with your technical problems using BTPS equipment so we can deploy solutions faster and track problems to become more proac-tive. Reminder: Do not call the main central office switch board as they are not trained to help with technology. Email: techhelp@btps.ca tech problems sishelp@btps.ca for PowerSchool PowerTeacher problems Phone: 780-806-2053 Text 780-806-9228 Twitter #btps28 BTTube: new videos this week

GO BACK

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TRANSPORTATION

NEW:

TRY-A-TRADE:

Please review the Try-A-Trade Schedule so you can get your permission slips and times out to parents. If you have any questions about the schedule or the bussing, please call Valerie Warchola, Transportation Assistant, at Valerie.warchola@btps.ca.

REMINDERS: NEW BELL TIME SCHEDULES:

A reminder to fill in the Google Form with your anticipated arrival and departure bus times for the 2015-2016 school year. https://docs.google.com/a/btps.ca/forms/d/1-nZJ9rRkWzwVizXjPe9WLca-WiMtBZCf3XeOX3M93uk/viewform

Chrysti Mannix

Director of Transportation

Buffalo Trail Public Schools

chrysti.mannix@btps.ca

(780) 806-2051 Office

AROUND BTPS….

Mannville School Elementary set a goal at the beginning of the year for the students to do 3333

Accelerated Reading quizzes. Their reward for their hard work was to have their principal, Mr.

Church, and Mannville Credit Union's manager Mike Myhovich dye their hair pink. The stu-

dents worked hard all year to achieve their goal and were rewarded on March 10th with a Dr.

Seuss themed party, cake and pink hair all around!

Submitted by: Karina Miller

Dewberry Students Win Third Prize in the Stock Market Game

During the first semester of the 2014-15 school year the Dewberry Grade 7/8/9 students were entered

into the “Stock Market Game”. This was part of Mr. Kurt McLean’s “Numeracy for Life” option class.

The class was split into groups of four and given $100,000 worth of start-up capital. Through buying,

selling and trading stocks one of the groups from Dewberry (Brandon Pankiw, William Toews, Paige

Fanjoy and Maddison Scott) finished third internationally. In five months they made over a $5000

profit. As part of their prize package they all received a certificate, a medal, a memory stick and a back

pack from the creators of the Stock Market Game.

Submitted by: Curt Orbeck

Mr. McLean, Paige, Brandon

William and Maddison (missing)

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