Excerpts
Student Achievement
Hub at Oliver: We are pleased to announce that through our partnerships with Penticton and District Community Resources Society and Communities for Kids, a new 12-hour per week coordinator for the hub at Oliver Elementary has been hired. PDCRS received a grant from the Vancouver Foundation to support this position. The new coordinator is Melissa MacMeekin. Melissa is a member of our Oliver community, working in the early childhood sector.
Primary Assessments Review: As part of our district literacy plan, teacher representatives from each school and school administrators are in the process of reviewing our primary assessments. The review started with a survey of all primary teachers and learning support teachers. This information was then reviewed and discussed by the group. There is strong support of the assessments and the assessments are generally doing what they were intended to do. However, there will be some “tweaking” of our practice. At this time, we are gathering further input from teachers and will complete our review in early April.
District Innovation / Initiatives:
Pow wow: Our sixth annual pow wow is on April 25 and 26 at Southern Okanagan Secondary School. We look forward to the dancing and the food. Grade 4’s and other Aboriginal students from across the district will participate on the Friday. We invite all members of our communities to join us for the dance, food, and social engagement. More details will be provided in March.
Aboriginal Education Advisory Council: On February 18th, 25 members and guests of the district’s AEAC met to review progress on our Enhancement Agreement goals for the past year. It was a good meeting with a lot of good dialogue around the work being done and future direction. We are proud of the gains made by our students but not satisfied as we have still some distance to go!
District Calendar: The consultation period for the 2014/15 school calendar closes on February 28, 2014. Details and response forms are available from schools or on our website at http://www.sd53.bc.ca/districtinfo. The Board of Education must declare their calendar by the end of March.
SCHOOL-BASED INITIATIVES
Pink Shirt Day: On February 26th schools participate in “Pink Shirt Day”. In our area, this event is sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club and people are asked to wear pink to make a statement against bullying.
SOSS Grand Opening: This event was a huge success with more than 1000 community guests attending and touring the school as well as the Neighbourhoods of Learning. We were proud to showcase the new school, host parents and community members for tours and hear the many stories of history and fond memories from previous grads, teachers and administrators.
Career Programs:
Rebuilding Shop Classes in British Columbia: The Construction Foundation of BC is taking action to rebuild shop classes in BC in order to encourage young British Columbians to pursue a career in the trades. We hope to hear whether we have been successful in our grant application, which is to be announced on February 20th.
YES-2-IT: Our second YES-2-IT Trades Exploration Day was a great success. This year, the hands-on program for grades 6 and 7 students focused on the culinary industry. We once again received a $4,000 grant from the Industry Training Association to support this.
The satisfaction of watching students learning new skills and trying new things could only be measured by the smiles on the students’ faces and how they gobbled up their creations. Thanks for the help and support that allowed 320 students to meet 11 tradespeople and experience 3 trades. This exciting week would not have been possible without the group effort. Thank you to:
– Boyd Turnbull for coordinating the event, and in a pinch demonstrating his skills as a pastry chef;
– the grades 6 and 7 classroom teachers – these students were great and the tradespeople involved all mentioned how polite and thankful the students were;
– the Home Economic teachers: Nicola Haamers, Philomena Lang and Nicole Johnston for helping out and allowing us to use their classrooms;
– the secondary school administrators for allowing us to hold the programs during exam time; and – the elementary administrators for supporting the program throughout.
We would also like to thank the following tradespeople. Please thank them and support their businesses.
Keremeos:
– Nicola Haamers (cook)
– Valu Plus: cooked all the pastries and provided the following tradespeople
Theo Walta (baker)
Randy Watson (meat cutter)
Cody Winser (meat cutter)
Oliver:
– Yvonne Gaudet of Fairview Golf Course (cook)
– Dave Shmyr from Super Valu (meat cutter)
– Wayne Jones from Oliver’s Bakery and Deli (baker)
Osoyoos:
– Bruce Mikulecky from Family Foods (meat cutter)
– Troy Bratton of TDC Catering (cook)
– Holly from Ella’s Restaurant (baker and cook)
– Shannon Peltier of Lake City Bakery (baker and cook)
Gateway to the Trades: began for 16 students at Southern Okanagan Secondary School on February 11th. This joint program with Okanagan College is designed to give secondary students the opportunity to explore potential careers in the trades. Successful students will receive credit for four high school graduation courses (16 credits), develop documented skills that will support employment in a trades related occupation, and be eligible to participate in a Trades Apprenticeship Foundation Program either as a secondary student through the ACE IT initiative or direct entry at the Okanagan College. It runs full-time, Monday to Friday for 12 weeks. It will be taught in the wood shop by Daryl, a fully qualified Okanagan College instructor. Students from Osoyoos Secondary, Southern Okanagan Secondary and YouLearn.ca are enrolled.
Work Experience, SSA, ACE IT and Dual Credit Update:
• Over 200 students have enrolled in work experience thus far this year, with 116 registered this semester.
• Presently, 8 SSA students are registered with 3 more pending.
• 8 students are enrolled or have completed ACE IT programs.
• 6 students enrolled or have completed dual credit courses (these are in addition to the 16 in Gateway!).
Fieldtrips:
• On February 9 to 12, Alyssa Hait, music teacher at SESS, took 17 grades 11 and 12 students to Seattle to participate in the “Experience Music Project” and attend high school performances at the University of Washington.
• On March 12 and 13, Lori Martine will lead a contingent of 50 grades 4 to 7 students and 10 parent chaperones to a Fine Arts field trip in Seattle. They will attend the “Lion King” play at the Paramount Theatre and other fine art venues in Seattle.
Operations
December 2013 Enrolment: As indicated in the attached report, student enrolment is 2,359.5625 which is an overall decrease from September 2013 of 7.5625 FTE. Elementary school enrolment decreased by 3.0 FTE, secondary school enrolment decreased by 32.1875 FTE and YouLearn enrolment increased by 27.625 FTE.
YouLearn also provides service to students in the Yukon as per the district’s agreement with Yukon Department of Education. This partnership has generated an additional 12.375 FTE students or $74,320 in student revenue.
Secondary School Apprenticeship Program: The district recently signed a Letter of Understanding with CUPE Local 523 that facilitates secondary students working with red seal employees in order to gain apprenticeship hours. As a result, Osoyoos Secondary school grade 12 student, Zac Beaudoin is working with Kham Douangpanya, district mechanic, for the next few months. This is an exciting opportunity for Zac and a big thank you to Kham for sharing his knowledge and experience with students. Zac is working towards certification for heavy duty mechanics.
Joint Use Agreement with Oliver Parks and Recreation: The district is in discussions with Oliver Parks and Recreation regarding a Joint Use Agreement. The goals of a Joint Use agreement are to increase the use of both district and town facilities and encourage student and community participation in healthy activities. Staff is reviewing successful agreements used by other municipalities and school districts and plans to bring a draft agreement to trustees in April for their review.
2013/14 Amended Annual Budget: The Board’s 2013/14 Amended Annual Budget Bylaw anticipated estimated revenue and expenses of $27,719,376, an increase from the Annual Budget of $509,013. The increase is mainly from increased revenue and expenses due to higher enrolment than projected. The bylaw shows the following:
• operating expenses of $24 million
• capital asset purchases from operating funds of $38,000
• special Purpose fund expenses of $1.5 million
• capital asset purchases from Special Purpose Funds of $191,471
• capital fund expenses of $1.8 million
Based on projected revenues and expenses, the Board anticipates a small surplus from 2013/14 revenue of $33,000. If this surplus is realized, the Board would end the year with an accumulated surplus of $1.36 million.
Feb 27/14