Board tours construction projects

One of the best parts of being a School Board Trustee is to tour our schools. While our school tours usually involve meeting with staff and students, our tour on Wednesday, October 26 was strictly bricks and mortar.

We started off the day with a trip to Myrnam where the Village is working towards developing the area as an education hub. St. Paul Education has granted the Village of Myrnam the opportunity to subdivide a portion of land next to Myrnam School to construct the Myrnam Construction Trades Education Centre (CTEC). The Board of Trustees initially approved Phase One which includes building a 36' x 40' temporary structure to the east of the school which includes a paint booth, heating room and a larger room which contains a large table saw and router. Trustees were impressed with the structure and the equipment in place thus far. They hope to be up and running the program within the next couple of months.

Phase Two includes building a much larger structure on the west side of the school, where the subdivision process is currently in place. This larger structure will include a large building facility and classrooms. All of the funds for these projects is being provided by the Village of Myrnam. St. Paul Education has agreed to assist with staff and programming. However, post secondary programming is also being explored with institutions in the area.

Trustees also traveled to Two Hills to tour the new Mennonite School construction. Although the construction has been delayed numerous times due to some unforeseen site conditions, Trustees were pleased the see the progress made within the last few months. The classrooms are large and bright and the main entrance and gymnasium are impressive. The K-12 school will have a capacity of 550 students and will replace the existing school which is on the same site as the new school. It is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy by September, 2017.

School Boards do not build their own schools. In fact, about 80 per cent of our $55 million budget goes towards the salary of our 650+ employees, who are there to serve all of our students. The money to build schools comes directly from the Alberta Government. The government is also the construction manager of most school construction projects. To see the school projects across the province visit their website at: projects.alberta.ca.

Know the Zone - School Bus Safety Week

School bus drivers are an important part of our school system. They are the first staff our students see in the morning and the last staff they see at the end of the school day. They are responsible for transporting our children to and from school each day. St. Paul Education transports over 1,800 students per day across the division, totalling 1.5 million km logged annually. Approximately 60 per cent of our busses are operated by contractors and 40 per cent are division-owned.

My Uncle Norman was my bus driver. We were neighbours, so we were the first ones on the bus and the last ones off. We rode the bus an hour in the morning and an hour at night, so I know first-hand how important our bus drivers are when it comes to ensuring our students are safe on the way to and from school. Since part of our route was on a busy highway, Uncle Norman prevented a number of near-misses by warning kids to stay back when someone went flying through the flashing lights. I also have vivid memories of my uncle plowing through the snow on the back roads, trying to get us home during a surprise snow storm. I had complete faith in him and knew he always had our safety in the forefront of his mind. In fact, he did the same thing, day in and day out for 40 years. Thank you, Uncle Norman!

Driving a school bus is a huge responsibility and I now rely on another uncle to drive my two boys to school each day. As parents, we put our faith in our bus drivers and they rely on us to keep them informed of our busy schedules. There are many rules and regulations our division's drivers must keep in mind and up to date on a regular basis. It is up to us as drivers to pay attention and follow the rules of the road as well. If you are near a school bus, pay extra attention because there could be a child nearby, trying to cross the road.

So, this School Bus Safety Week (October 16 - 22), slow down around school busses and keep our kids safe!

School Councils need your voice

Our division's report card and results of our Grade 6, 9 and 12 provincial exams were released to the public at our monthly board meeting. Although we are generally improving, there were a couple of concerns, including Math. Math has been a concern across the province for the last few years and I know that some of the basics have been re-introduced to our students (ie. flash cards). However, it still needs closer examination at the local and provincial level.

Your child's school results will be revealed at an upcoming School Council meeting and that's why it is essential that parents show up and get involved. We need your voices. Like the saying goes, "It takes a village," and especially when it comes to schools and the success of your child/ren.

According to the albertaschoolcouncils.ca website, "School Councils are structured groups of parents, principals, teachers, students, and community representatives who work together to effectively support and enhance student learning. They provide a method for members of the school community to consult with and offer advice to the principal and the school board."

Because St. Paul Education is a small, rural board, our Board is dedicated to having a Trustee at most School Council meetings. In the month of October, most School Councils will be holding their Annual General Meetings to choose their executive and set their yearly agendas. Even in schools where there is no active executive, most Principals hold informal School Council meetings where parents can attend to find out what's happening at their school and across the division,

If you want to make a real difference in your child's education, it is important to get involved at the School Council level. Contact your Principal, School Council Chair or your Trustee to find out when the next meeting will be held.

Celebrating our teachers

Education is important to me. I would not be a school board trustee if it wasn't. When I think back to the days I attended school, I have some fond memories and not so fond memories, but one constant that remains is that teachers were a large part of my life. From about ages five to 18, students are in front of teachers just shy of 200 days a year. That's about 2,600 days at seven hours per day, which equals roughly 18,000 hours of our lives with a teacher in front of us. I was fortunate to attend university which added many more hours of instruction and dedication to my studies, and although I have more fond memories of post-secondary education, I wouldn't have gotten there without my K-12 teachers.

There are about 276 full-time equivalent teachers hired by St. Paul Education and 381 support staff who are here to ensure your children have the best education possible. Enrolment numbers go up and down, but we usually have around 4,000 students who attend our schools across the division. St. Paul Education is the largest employer in the region and we are very proud of all of our staff. Parents are the primary educators of our children, but these teachers and support staff help shape our future generations.


October 5 is World Teachers' Day across the globe and today we celebrate the important impact teachers make in students' lives everyday across the world. Education has been proclaimed a fundamental human right and this special day acknowledges the essential role of teachers in our society.

In our ever-evolving world, teachers have been tasked with keeping up with technology while continually using new and time-tested techniques to assess our students and prepare them for their future lives. It is up to us as parents, grandparents, and community members to be there to support our children in all other facets of life. As Bob Dylan said, "the times, they are a-changin'" and at a pace that is mind-blowing and sometimes difficult for us to grasp, but it up to us to help our teachers and support staff make the best of our children's education.

As author C.S. Lewis stated, "The task of the modern education is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts."