School Counsel: Doing Great Things For Our Kids' Health

Our Woodhaven School Counsel is amazing.  For the past four years our counsel under the direction of Mrs. Terry Mesher worked so hard to make our $250 000 playground a reality.  When it opened last September it marked the final step in Woodhaven maturing into a true Middle School.  It has changed our play and activity environments.  A recent survey of our Grade 5 students done by the University of Alberta proved this point.  The year before the playground was built 24% of our Grade 5 students felt they were active at school.  The survey was done again this year and 93% of our Grade 5's see themselves as active during their school day.

Under the leadership of Mrs. Connie Hendry our current counsel is now embarking into new areas now the playground is in place.  Connie and the rest of the counsel executive are most interested in supporting our school's Wellness Program.  They invited teachers James Coghill (Leader of the Wellness Project) and Treena Neumann (our Health Day coordinator) to their last meeting to discuss how counsel can support their work with students.  Many great ideas were kicked around and parents decided to financially support bringing in guest speakers for Health Days.

In a bold move, the parents also decided to support Healthy Living by providing our students with a nutritious 'Grab and Go' breakfast so students have the fuel in their bodies to learn in the morning.  They also decided to do so at no cost to the kids.  We tried this for the first time on Tuesday morning.  Mrs. Karen Hudson, our Volunteer Coordinator reported that she served approximately 50 students home made granola bars, muffins and apples.  Most importantly, she was impressed by the gratitude expressed by all those who picked up something to eat.

If I haven't been clear about this in the past, let me be so now.  Our parents ROCK!  Thank you so much.

Hello to the Blogosphere

Hello

I have started this blog as a way to communicate directly with our school community and keep you up to date on goings on from a principal's point of view.  The first term of the year is almost past and I am wondering how I misplaced those three months.  It has flown by. 

Here are some reflections on the term....thanks School Counsel parents.  Your dedication to Woodhaven is truly outstanding.  With your assistance we raised $7 000 to purchase new learning technology for the students.  Your help with grab and go breakfast in the morning is   I know that work is critically important to our kids.  The Counsel is also running a casino in the spring with the funds going to finish tech upgrades in the building and enhance our library.

I want to thank all those who coached our volleyball teams this year.  Mr. Chan, Mr. McLachlan, Ms. Getz, Ms. Van Natter, Mrs. Lucki, Mr. Bradshaw, Ms. Schaber, Ms. Morris, Mrs. Daniels, Ms. Lyster and Ms. Lyster II, and Mr. Jones dedicated hours of their personal time to advance the skills of our kids. Did you realize that all Woodhaven teams are coached by staff members and often the teams have two staff members coaching.  This is a rarity and shows the dedication of our staff.  Thanks to you all.

The holiday season is upon us and I want to thank Mr. Chan for arranging the lighting our hallways with lights to brighten our season....that sets a great mood in the building.  In the holiday spirit, Woodhaven will once again be putting together hampers to support families in our community during the Christmas season.  They will be done by homerooms and your contributions are greatly appreciated.  Students from Woodhaven will once again be travelling to help at inner city missions on the last day before the break.  This is one more instance where our students reach out to help others.