Woodhaven Reaches Out for Christmas

For the fourth year in a row students from Woodhaven headed for downtown Edmonton to help those less fortunate then themselves. On Thursday twenty students, led by Mr. Teliani, volunteered at the Mustard Seed Mission.  They received a tour then helped with the sorting of donations.

On Friday our students went to three locations.  I, along with our student teacher Mr. Wangler took sixteen students to the Boyle St. Co op where they served coffee followed by a full lunch service.  Our students worked hard, were very respectful and were praised by the Boyle St. staff for the quality of their work.  Mr. McLachlin took another fifteen students to Operation Friendship, an inner city seniors residence to spend time with the residents.  Our students played games, served food and generally engaged in conversation with the seniors.  Mr. Chan and Miss Hunt along with student teacher Mr. Timm took students to West Edmonton Mall and Westmount shopping centers to collect donations on behalf of the Salvation Army.

All of these experiences helped the organizations we were working with, which is great.  Coming back on the bus and listening to the conversations among the students, I know for sure we all were paid back ten fold for the experience.  Our students gain perspective on the range of issues our society is dealing with, they gain experience and confidence in dealing with the public, they gain knowledge that their volunteer efforts are valuable and important.  I sincerely hope that this trip opens the door for them helping out personally in the future.

Many thanks to Ms. Neumann who organized the day for us.  The agencies we work with keep inviting us back because Ms. Neumann does such an outstanding job in preparing the students and creating a schedule that works with military like precision.

Good Luck .....

Merry Christmas to all
And to all a good night!

Have a great holiday season and we will see you in 2011.

More Holiday Fun With the RPG's

This is the RPG pack doing their holiday thing building gingerbread houses under the direction of Mr. Tokarsky and Ms. Furminger.  I think they look pretty proud of their efforts.  For those of you unfamiliar with Woodhaven Middle School, Packs are cross graded advisory groups where students focus on providing service to the community and learning how to achieve the Mission of the school which is...."To Learn How to Learn and Learn How to Get Along."

PS.....If you are looking for Clue 4 of the Critical Thinking Challenge it is on the post before this.

Christmas Critical Thinking Clue 4

You're getting close to the end.  Remember, email Mrs. Denet (mdenet@psd70.ab.ca) if you know who this is.

Christmas Critical Thinking Clue 3

This is your third clue.  Got it yet.  If yes, go to Monday's blog for how to respond to Mrs. Denet with your answer.

Great Job On the Hampers Woodhaven!

Mrs. Gericke emailed this afternoon to report that our school came through in a big way in bringing in donations to support families in need this Christmas.  Classes helped each other out with a notable thank you going out to Mr. Smithaniuk's Grade 8's  for their support of Mr. Hardman's Grade 6's who helped collect donations from around the school.  Well done!

A big thanks goes out to all the parents who delivered our donations to the Elk's Hall.  Our parents rock!

We had a great response from our students who wanted to join their class mates working for the inner city missions.  We have a group going to the Mustard Seed on Thursday, the Boyle Street Coop on Friday and another group working with the Salvation Army.  Way to step up Wolfpack....and again, our parents are supporting this work.  This is the most parent volunteers we have ever had.

Critical Thinking- Clue #2

Here is the second clue to your critical thinking challenge....did you know that Mrs. Denet and Mrs. Gericke are in charge of teaching our staff how to imbed critical thinking into their lessons!

Woodhaven Wonders? A Critical Thinking Challenge for Families

WHO IS IN THE WORLD MEDIA

Your critical challenge is to identify who, in the world media, is depicted in the pictures.  Each day, you will receive a picture clue to help you.  Remember that all of the pictures relate to the same person.

        Use your background knowledge of history and current events, evidence from direction observations, and inferences to make connections.  Look for evidence in the pictures and relationships between the pictures to make your judgments. When you are ready to make a “reasoned response” please do so by email to mdenet@psd70.ab.ca with the word “challenge” in the subject line (send answers only as the emails will not be replied to).

Clue 1

Hold On To Your Kids

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Gabor Mate, family physician and noted writer on adolescent issues, is returning to speak at Woodhaven Middle School.  Dr. Mate was last with us in January 2009 and spoke to a packed gym of parents their children.  It was so well received and was such a powerful message that Woodhaven has joined with Greystone, Broxton Park and Meridian Heights to have Dr. Mate join us again to talk about how to 'Hold On To Your Kids'.

The Woodhaven staff deals with the trials of adolescent life on a moment to moment basis in our Middle School world.  As much as no kid wants to admit it they need us.  Adolescents crave a clear bottom line regarding what it means to 'Do Right'.  They want predictability in their world because it makes it emotionally safe for them.  Kids also want to feel in control.  That's why it is critical that we keep an open dialogue going while we are trying to help them navigate through their trials and tribulations.

Dr. Mate will give you ideas and suggestions on how to build that kind of relationship with your child.  He wants your advice to matter more than the advice of your child's peers.

We invite you to join us to listen to Dr. Mate on Monday, January 31 at 6:45 in the Woodhaven gym.  He will also be speaking on Tuesday, February 1 at 6:45 at Meridian Heights  in Stony Plain.  Brochures outlining the evening are available at the office.

School Boundary Review Being Undertaken

The following is a message for all parents.  From my perspective I believe that PSD is trying to be as open and transparent as possible as we try to work through issues related to space for students in our schools.   Please take a moment and look this over.

System Review of School Boundaries

Parkland School Division has been challenged to deal with changing demographics in several school communities.  In an effort to ensure that schools have adequate space for students, PSD is undertaking a system review of the current attendance area boundaries.  The review will consider current area attendance patterns, future residential growth and resulting projected enrolment and options for an attendance boundary that will optimize enrolment capacity with enrolment projections for the area.

Mr. Hugh Skinner (Stantec Consulting Ltd.)  who has extensive experience and expertise in this field, will be guiding the process and working very closely with Senior Administration and the Board of Trustees.  Mr. Skinner is currently gathering an extensive amount of data that will provide him with the background necessary to create options for school attendance boundary changes that the Board may wish to consider.

Parkland School Division believes in the importance of community consultation and is committed to ensuring that it is a critical factor in the work ahead.  As details become available, each school community will receive clear and timely information regarding the timing and process for consultation.   It is anticipated that the consultations will happen in January and February with the review  being completed by March 2011.

We encourage parents, students, community members and staff who are interested to check the PSD website for updates regarding the progress of this work.  Information will also be provided to School Councils as it is available.

Keeping You in the Loop

Communication is so important in our people business and we are working hard to ensure that the lines of communication are open.  Please check out the PSD website for the monthly messages from Board Chair Richard Gilchrist and Superintendent Tim Monds. http://www.psd70.ab.ca/Pages/Default.aspx