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Strength Based Approach at Ignace Public School

School Submission - Submitted by Kathy Dobransky

Ignace School has adopted a unique approach this year that reinforces a positive and progressive school environment. The Strength Based Approach (SBA) has been researched and promoted by child psychologist, Dr. Edward Rawana and his team of practitioners at the Centre of Excellence for Children & Adolescents with Special Needs at Lakehead University. The idea of the approach is to encourage students to identify and use their strengths as a tool to deal with daily challenges they may encounter at school.

Dr. Rawana has been working with Ignace School staff to understand and develop the strengths and capabilities of their students, over the past year. Its implementation is clearly visible throughout the halls and classrooms at Ignace School. In grades K-8 students have developed personal “Strength Walls” (walls that display their interests and strengths). Teachers have used Learning Skills, Multiple Intelligence Surveys , Strength Surveys and peer feedback to assist students in identifying and applying their strengths in the classroom.

KPDSB Announces Principal/Vice-Principal Appointments for 2013-14

May 29, 2013

Trustees of the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) are pleased to announce the following Principal and Vice-Principal appointments for the 2013-14 school year:

Shelley St.Hilaire, currently Principal of King George VI Public School in Kenora, has been appointed to the role of Safe and Supportive Schools Administrator. Lynn McAughey, currently Principal of Lakewood Public School, will take over the role of Principal of King George VI Public School.
Jason McDonald, currently Vice-Principal of Lakewood Public School, has been appointed Principal of Valleyview Public School. Joan Kantola, currently Principal of Valleyview Public School, has been appointed as Superintendent of Education.
Bob Kowal, a new hire for the KPDSB and Seven Generations Education Institute (SGEI), has been appointed as Beaver Brae Secondary School Vice-Principal/Seven Generations Education Institute Adult Education Program.
Gayle Mutrie, currently acting Vice-Principal at King George VI Public School, has been appointed Vice-Principal at King George.

Jack McMaster, Director of Education, stated “Shelley St. Hilaire is a long standing well respected administrator who will bring great leadership for the Safe Schools and Special Education portfolios. We are delighted to welcome Shelley to the central position.”

McMaster added “Jason will bring many leadership skills to Valleyview, but of particular interest to the perfect fit, are his excellent technical skills and his fluency in French.”

“Bob Kowal has impacted the lives of many fortunate students and adults in our region, and it is with great pleasure that we welcome him to our board. Bob will solidify our partnership with SGEI and support many First Nation learners at Beaver Brae and the SGEI’s adult education program at Lakewood.”

McMaster concluded “I am delighted that Gayle has accepted the opportunity of joining administration at King George. We are fortunate to have Gayle bring her expertise to the administration of KPDSB.”

Administration at schools not mentioned above will remain the same for the 2013-14 school year.

Bob Kowal Named as New VP of BBSS/SGEI Adult Ed Program

May 29, 2013

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) and Seven Generations Education Institute (SGEI) are pleased to announce the appointment of Bob Kowal as Beaver Brae Secondary School Vice-Principal/Seven Generations Education Institute Adult Education Program.

Kowal stated “I’m so humbled that the KPDSB and Seven Generations have chosen me to do this job and I’m excited to begin my new position. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work closely with the students and staff of the Kenora in my new role.”

Delbert Horton, Chief Executive Officer for the SGEI, said “Seven Generations Education Institute welcomes Bob Kowal to position of Vice-principal at Beaver Brae to support the work that has been undertaken to support the learners that participate in the Adult Education partnership that exists between KPDSB and SGEI. His experience and passion that he brings to the task is welcomed. SGEI is quite sure his appointment will greatly impact the secondary students and adult learners within the Kenora area in a profound way.”

Sean Monteith, Superintendent of Education with the KPDSB, added “We welcome Bob into his new role as a Vice-Principal of Beaver Brae Secondary School and of Adult Programming with our partner Seven Generations. Bob’s commitment to bettering opportunities for all students, and particularly Aboriginal students, is well documented, and his record of motivating students to achieve accomplishments in the world of extra-curriculars is nothing short of inspiring. The KPDSB and Seven Generations welcome Bob to his new responsibilities with us, and wish him well on this long term journey together.”

KPDSB Appoints Joan Kantola as Superintendent of Education

Media Release - May 29, 2013

Trustees of the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) are pleased to announce the appointment of Joan Kantola to the position of Superintendent of Education effective August 1, 2013.

Kantola, currently the Principal of Valleyview Public School in Kenora, began her teaching career in 1992 with the former Kenora Board of Education. Since that time, she has worked in the KPDSB as a French as a Second Language teacher, special education resource teacher, and vice-principal. Her work in establishing the new French Immersion program at Valleyview Public School as well as her recent involvement with the KPDSB Leadership and Succession Plan, have established Kantola as a system leader.

Kantola stated: “I am grateful yet humbled in accepting this new challenge to be a part of such a productive and inspiring Senior Administration Team. I look forward to working with our students and staff across the Board area as a Superintendent.”

Dave Penney, Chair, stated “We, as Trustees, are pleased to welcome Joan to the position of Superintendent of Education. We know she will do great things for the students in our schools.”

Jack McMaster, Director of Education, stated “Joan has demonstrated great leadership in our system over the past years and will be a great superintendent addition to the Board.”

Kantola will fill the role of Sean Monteith, who will become Director of Education effective August 1, 2013.

Beaver Brae Bronco Cheerleaders named National Champions!

School Submission - Sumitted by Deborah Allan

The Beaver Brae Bronco Cheerleaders were in Niagara Falls, ON for the Canadian National Cheerleading Championships, May 9-12, 2013. After a very successful weekend of competition and two strong runs of their routine, the Bronco Cheerleaders have been named NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. The team competes in the Small All Girl division which is for school teams with 20 members or less. This year’s team has 19 athletes from Beaver Brae Secondary School. The Bronco Cheerleaders are also the 2013 Provincial silver medalists awarded at the Ontario Cheerleading Championships in Kitchener, ON., March 2013.

We are very proud to have a National Champion team in the KPDSB family!! Go Broncos!!

Click here to watch their winning performance!

NATIONAL CHAMPION ATHLETES - BRONCO CHEERLEADERS 2012 -2013

Darbey Carlson
Brook-Lynn Cross
Amber Fedus
Alixis Grano
Sami Grano
Delaney Hawkins
Alexis Heatherington
Manon Iwasiw
Reagan Johnston
Jaime Kornas
Dana Lockie
Kayla Markham
Courtney Martin
Mallory McConomy
Sara Sas
Halle Stasiuk
Sequoyah Stevens
Sarah Tella
Paige Tuusa

BEAVER BRAE COACHING STAFF - CHEER COACHES

Deborah Allan - Beaver Brae Teacher and Head Coach
Canadian Cheerleading – Head Coach – Canadian National Champion Team Bronco Cheerleaders
Owen Sound Sports Hall of Fame 2012 – Athlete - 1983 Canadian National Champion
Lake of the Woods Sports Hall of Fame 2008 – Builder of the Year – Bronco Cheerleading
Deborah Duggan - Gymnastics Coach, former Bronco Cheerleader
Natalie Pearson - U of M Cheer Team and Captain, former Bronco Cheerleader
Kassie Momotiuk - Manitoba All Star Cheerleading, former Bronco Cheerleader
Krista Coombes - Gymnastics Coach, former Bronco Cheerleader
Jasmine Wild - Calgary Pythons and World Cheer Athlete, former Bronco Cheerleader
Nathan Findlay - Calgary Pythons and World Cheer Athlete

DANCE COACHES

Jodelle Maksymchuk - former Bronco Cheerleader
Erin McIntosh - former Bronco Cheerleader
Choreography - Megan Kearney - former Bronco Cheerleader

Ignace High students travel to Thunder Bay for 'We Stand Up' conference

School Submission - Submitted by George Lotsios

Ignace High School students enjoyed a meaningful and valuable experience at both the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium and Old Fort William on Monday, May 6, 2013. The “We Stand Up” student conference was attended by approximately 1400 students from Thunder Bay and the surrounding region and featured various speakers, dancers, drummers, magicians and singers with messages about dealing with social injustice ranging from bullying and mental health to racism and global issues. A few notable people presenting included Marc Keilburger, brother of Craig Keilburger, co-founder of Free the Children, Shy-Anne Hovorka, a world renowned singer, Molly Burke who lost her eyesight at the age of fourteen, Jonathan Hatzis who was born with no legs, and McKinley Steinhoff a magician who struggles with schizophrenia, to mention a few.

At Old Fort William, Ignace students were involved in two programs called First Nation Traditional Teachings and History on the Menu. In the first experience, students participated in cultural teachings where they portaged a birch bark canoe, sat in a wigwam listening to the teachings from Two-Feather, an Ojibwe elder, and accompanied her in song. Students also had the opportunity to make a dream catcher. For History on the Menu, students cooked in traditional ways making bannock, pancakes, sausage, and short bread cookies.

The bus departed at 6:00am and returned at 9:30pm. It was a long day but students experienced some life lessons from the past and the present that will hopefully give them some great inspiration for the future. A big thanks goes to Miss Varsava, Miss McKeown and Mrs. Gaudette for being great chaperones for the day.

Dryden's 2013 Conservation Course marks 57 years

Media Release

The 57^th Annual Keewatin-Patricia District School Board Conservation Course kicks off next week for two days, utilizing various locations in Dryden and the surrounding area.

Beginning in 1957, Conservation Camp has educated Grade 10 students from Dryden High School, focusing on resource management and conservation concepts. The instructors and coordinators supporting this program come from the Ontario Forestry Association, industry, government agencies, and the education community. Without all of these partners, this course would not be possible. This year there will be 30 Grade 10 students from Dryden High School participating in the program.

Conservation Camp will take place Tuesday, May 28 and Wednesday, May 29, with activities taking place at Blue Lake Provincial Park, and an active harvesting operation on the Dryden Forest. This year’s Conservation Course will add another 30 students to its approximately 2,260 program alumni.

Members of the news media are welcome to attend any and all activities of the scheduled Conservation Course. A complete two day schedule for this year’s program is attached.

For more information contact Kathy Boone at 807-223-5311 x286 or kathy.boone@kpdsb.on.ca.

KPDSB students attend 2013 Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving conference

School Submission - Submitted by Cynthia Seitz

It warms the heart to hear a bus full of teens spontaneously sing our national anthem together for no other reason than to celebrate their shared energy and enthusiasm for a good cause. These youth were not at a sporting event, nor compelled to sing by adults. What brought a group of students together this past weekend was a common desire to lend their voices and actions in the fight against the #1 killer of teens in Canada: vehicle collisions.

O’ CANADA was the theme at the 2013 CYAID (Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving) conference in Oakville, ON. Over 300 youth delegates from across Canada were present from May 9 – 12th to participate in informative workshops, develop leadership skills, listen & learn from remarkable guest speakers, and all were honored for their dedication to the worthwhile effort of saving lives. Attending this conference were Dryden High School’s Jacquie Grandmont, Arielle Penner, and Bruce Anderson; Ignace High School’s Daila Delescaille, Jo Mousseau-Krahn, Brayden Moore; and Red Lake District High School’s Jade Litwin and Meggan Warren.

Risks and harm reduction strategies were discussed through the various presentations, and students were also exposed to real life examples of how risky behaviors, speeding, and the use of mind altering drugs while driving devastated the lives of presenters, their friends, families, and communities. Students heard the chilling stories of how a sister watched her own twin die in an accident caused by speeding. Another speaker recounted how her own impaired actions caused the death of her best friend, and the shattering effects it has had on the families involved. Each delegate certainly took a message away with them from this motivational weekend. Jade Litwin (RLDHS) said “the one thing that I enjoyed about attending this conference would have to be knowing that only a few students from Northwestern Ontario got to attend this, hearing the stories of some great speakers, and being able to meet some very good people.”

“The thing that I enjoyed the most was being able to meet new people from all over Canada and hearing all of the inspirational speakers share their stories about how impaired driving had an impact on their lives,” said Daila Delescaille. Speakers such as Sean Hakim, Blake Fly, Heather Charlton, and Cara Filler sought to educate and inspire students to be leaders in their schools and communities, and encouraged everyone to be a positive voice for change.

Whether it was a resonating message or witnessing the positive impact other OSAID (Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving) groups have made in schools and communities across the country, each of our attendees left the conference committed to establishing active OSAID chapters within the KPDSB. “I would like to take different ideas back from the conference and introduce them to my school,” affirmed Jo, and Brayden felt that the conference “enabled me to be a representative for good choices and safe habit promotion in my community.”

To facilitate this determination, Jacquie Grandmont and Daila Delescaille were elected to become the regional OSAID representatives for 11 North (from Marathon to the Manitoba border) and sit on the 2013/2014 Student Advisory Council. The new S.A.C. members from across Ontario will be responsible for organizing the 2014 OSAID Provincial Conference. “I plan to fundraise a lot and work towards bringing Cara Filler and Blake Fly to our region to speak at all the schools, I learnt a lot from both of them and I would love to share that with everyone in my region! I also plan to have a road safety fair and a white out day. I really think it would impact the students and parents in my region,” asserted Jacquie Grandmont.

Now aware of all the possibilities available to prevent impaired driving accidents, our delegates returned (despite sad faces at leaving new friends behind), ready to infect everyone around them with new ideas and the motivation to continue their work within their communities.

May Board Meeting Highlights

Media Release - May 21, 2013

Trustees met at Crolancia Public School in Pickle Lake on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, for a regular board meeting.

The May Seeds for the Future – Celebrating our Stars presentation titled ‘Technology Integration’ was received by Trustees. Toby Jonasson, Crolancia elementary teacher, and four of her students spoke to Trustees about how they are integrating technology into classroom activities. The students spoke about how using netbooks to do research and share their findings with their teacher has made it easier to complete their assignments. A recent project was to research certain behaviours of wild animals for the Canadian WildLife Federation’s WILD magazine. Crolancia Public School Grade 7 students Ethan Dalzell and Donavin Fox had their research on why coyotes howl published in the May edition of WILD magazine.

Caryl Hron, Superintendent of Education, and Scott Urquhart, Student Success Leader, presented the 2013 Summer Learning Opportunities report. Throughout the summer months, the KPDSB will offer a variety of programs for students in both elementary and secondary schools.

In addition to the Summer Literacy Camp for students in grades 1-3 that has been offered in previous years, is a new Summer Numeracy Camp. The programs are free and support students in maintaining or increasing their literacy or numeracy skills over the summer months. Results from previous years indicate more than 80% of students who took part in the literacy program either maintained or improved their literacy skills. Through funding received by CODE, the play-based programs are being offered in August 2013 in the following areas:

Summer Literacy Camp – Evergreen Public School in Kenora and Open Roads Public School in Dryden (program is open to all KPDSB students in grades 1-3 in Dryden and Kenora).
Summer Numeracy Camp – Ear Falls Public School in Ear Falls, King George VI Public School in Kenora, and New Prospect Public School in Dryden (program is open to all KPDSB students in grades 1-3 in Ear Falls, Red Lake, Kenora, and Dryden).

Also available to KPDSB students over the summer are several summer learning opportunities for secondary students. While each program may differ slightly between communities, each is designed to assist students who require credit recovery for a course, require an additional credit, or are considered not on track to graduate. Summer learning opportunities for the summer of 2013 include summer cooperative education, credit recovery, connections programs, and reach ahead credits for Grade 8 students who are at-risk of not acquiring eight credits by the end of Grade 9, a critical milestone in the completion of an Ontario Secondary School Diploma. New for the summer of 2013 is a summer pilot program being offered in partnership with Confederation College in Dryden. Secondary students will be able to earn two credits by completing a college credit in digital photography or welding and an accompanying secondary credit. The pilot program is being funded by the School College Work Initiative of the Ontario Ministry of Education.

Urquhart and Deborah Nelson, of Pearson Learning Services, presented the 21^st Century Learning update. The KPDSB has enlisted the services of Pearson to support the implementation of 21^st Century learning in our schools. With the goal of ensuring every student is equipped to thrive in an ever evolving digital world, the KPDSB began the rollout of one to one technology (netbooks) in September 2012, making the KPDSB one of Canada’s first technology-enabled 21^st Century learning systems. With Pearson’s support, we conducted a survey of our teaching staff in March 2013 and found that 74% of KPDSB teachers indicated that they taught more effectively when they used technology, and 98% stated that they believe technology is a valuable educational tool.

Kim Carlson, Facilities Manager, presented the 2012-13 Quality Management Inspections (QMI) report. The QMI inspections of school facilities determine facility conditions and housekeeping levels. In 2004, the KPDSB established a goal of an 80% standard for the system and all school facilities are now achieving an average of 84.34%. The top five school facilities for the 2012-13 school year are the Dryden Regional Training and Cultural Centre, Golden Learning Centre Public School in Balmertown, Lillian Berg Public School in Vermilion Bay, Beaver Brae Secondary School in Kenora, and Crolancia Public School in Pickle Lake.

Carlson also presented the Facilities Award report which recognizes exemplary and innovative practices within the caretaking/maintenance operations of school facilities. This school year’s recipient is Evergreen Public School in Kenora and Trustees expressed their congratulations to the staff and students at Evergreen.

Trustees also approved the appointment of BDO Canada LLP as external auditors for the KPDSB for a term of five years, commencing with the 2012-13 fiscal year and ending with the 2016-17 fiscal year.

Ignace Public School - Miss Closs’ kiddos are “brainiacs”

School Submission

The last month has been lots of fun in Miss Closs’ grade 3/4classroom at Ignace School. The students in her class have been learning all about their brains! They have been exploring the main parts of the brain, such as the amygdala (the brain’s “security guard”), the hippocampus (our “storage vault” for memory and learning), and our prefrontal cortex (the “learning and reasoning” center of the brain). Many of the students can name these parts for you if asked! The students have studied the brain using pictures, models, books and even songs!

Mainly through the use of the “Mind Up” program created by Goldie Hawn and the Hawn Foundation, this unit about the brain aims to help students become “mindful” individuals in their classroom, and helps students understand the reasons why their brains act the way they do in stressful situations. Ultimately, the unit aims to help students become more resilient when they face difficult challenges at school or in their daily lives.

As a tool to help the students learn about their brains and the various ways they can train them to persevere in stressful situations, the students in the grade ¾ class have all made “Mind-Full Folders”! As we all know, learning something new can be very difficult for anyone, regardless of their age. For many students, school work can at times seem daunting or frustrating if they are learning a new task that requires extra thought. In these folders students have the following: a page of cut out pictures of things that make them happy, a “mantra” that they say to themselves for encouragement (such as “I think I can”), a list of strengths as well as a list of interests, five strategies for what to do if their brain “gets stuck” and they are frustrated, and a diagram of a calm “learning brain” and a stressed “learning brain”. When completing work in class students use these folders as a tool in which to turn to should they feel unsure or frustrated in their school work. They serve as a little reminder that we are all special and unique in our own way, and that we all have incredible strengths that we can apply to other areas of our lives in order to succeed!

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