Our Casino Is Coming...Volunteers Still Required

Karen Hudson, our School Counsel's Volunteer Coordinator has contacted me and asked for assistance in getting the word out regarding our upcoming casino.  The casino is the Counsel's most significant fundraiser and is used to help the school upgrade our library and assistive technology.  We have had good response for help for the casino but the following positions remain unfilled.

If you can help, please call the office and ask for Carole Larsen.  We sure could use your help.

Thursday, May 19th 11:00am-7:00pm

General Manager

Alternate General Manager

Countroom Supervisor

Friday, May 20th 11:00am-7:00pm

Alternate General Manager

Banker

Countroom Supervisor

2 Chip Runners 

Friday, May 20th 7:00pm-close

1 Chip Runner

Calf Dissection ... Mr. Smithaniuk's Sure Knows How to Get the Attention of Your Average Grade 8

For the third year in a row Mr. Smithaniuk has dissected a calf to 'clearly' demonstrate to Grade 8 students how body systems work.  Students had just wrapped up their work on human body systems and Mr. Smithaniuk uses this event to help bring the learning together for the group.  OK, enough about book learning... this goes way beyond that.  This is a real life long event that won't be forgotten.  Mrs. Lyster who teaches grade 6 had Mr. Smithaniuk as her Grade 8 teacher when she went to Blueberry.  She says she can recall the calf dissection she saw like it was yesterday.  This years Grade 8's loved it!

Pictures to follow.

Farewell Mrs. Plourde

Valentines Day was a fitting time to say goodbye to our long time secretary Pam Plourde.  People from all walks of life in Spruce Grove came out to wish Pam well at a classy event organized by Pam's colleague and friend Mrs. Chris Ebdon.  The standing room only event was kicked off by Mayor Stuart Houston congratulating Pam on her long service by presenting her a certificate on behalf of the City.  The Mayor reflected on how his children had gone to Woodhaven and his memories of Pam as the caring and welcoming face of the school.

Former Principal of Woodhaven, Neil McDowell followed.  Neil hired Pam 30 years ago.  Wodhaven was a Junior High School of 750 students and the office was understaffed. Neil recalled that the job interview lasted 20 seconds.  It was a phone call with one question, "Do you want a job?"  The rest was, as they say, history.

Logan Gibson, a Grade 9 student took the podium next.  He has been a regular visitor to Mrs. Ploude's desk for the past five years.  When asked if he would speak at this event there was not a second of hesitation.  In fact, his response was, "Why wouldn't I!"  Logan spoke from the heart about how Mrs. Plourde made him feel welcome every time he visited her.  He then presented her 500 cards made by students over the past two weeks.

Our School Counsel Chair, Connie Hendry was next to honour Pam.  She announced that Counsel was sponsoring a new award called the Pam Plourde Award for Altruism.  As we all know Pam is the kind of person who is constantly giving of herself without asking for anything in return.  The Counsel thought it fitting to recognize a Woodhaven student who most reflected those same values.  Pam was truly touched by this gesture.

Finally Pam spoke.  In her most gracious and humble way she looked back over the years and how life at Woodhaven had changed during her 30 years.  Gone were the typewriters, in were the computers.  Gone were the chalkboards, in were the smartboards.  In fact she even commented on how underwear was now outerwear.  It was a reflection on a career well lived.

Yes, it was a great event and Pam will be missed by us all.  The Farewell was attended by all generations who have had a connection with Woodhaven.  There were Grade 5 to 9 students, High School students, current university students, current staff, former staff, two former principals,  Pam's closest friends and of course her husband Mike.  This was a real and respectful tribute to a fantastic person with a world class heart.

Thank you to all who helped make this possible.  It was a real Woodhaven team effort combining assistance from students staff and parents.  Special thanks to Mackenzie Harding who provided the excellent piano music throughout the event.

Hansel and Gretel...another marvelous theatre experience

Yes, it was icy on Friday.  Yes, the busses did not run.  Yes, all 260 students who attended school on Friday were treated to an enthralling performance by our Triple Threat Theatre Company.  Once again Mr. Tokarsky weaved his magic and our students were transformed into a professional theatre troupe who entertained us royally for 90 minutes on Friday morning.

I am in constant awe of how our Fine Arts teachers are able to get our normally shy and reticent adolescents to step up and risk everything to perform at such a high level.  Robert Hendry as Hansel and Jenna Stumber as Gretal were captivating and left us forgetting that we were watching a Grade 7 boy and a Grade 8 girl.  They ROCKED!  The remainder of the cast were excellent as they played off of each other with great timing.  Most importantly, we heard every word!

The supporting tech crew were amazing.  I was particularity captivated by the use of the fog machine run by Jennifer Warholik.  Every cue was hit, there was never too much fog, she knew how to set a mood.

Once again, thanks to all who made the show a raving success!

Say Hi To Kia

Hi its Kia here I am in Miss Lysters class of 5D, we were writing about if we were an iniut child in the past.  We were doing this in our own blog. It was successful.

It's Mr. Foster again. Kia and her class were beginning work on their own blogs.  It is a new project that Miss Lyster has started as she is getting her students to publish their work on the internet.  I happened to be in the class today and watched Miss Lyster work her magic with her crew.  They loved the opportunity to be real writers in the real world!

Thank McLachlan and Chan!

This past weekend our school along with Greystone and Broxton hosted the Power of Three Senior Basketball tournament.  Its a big undertaking with 32 teams in the draw, using four gyms over three days.  Two members of our staff took on the majority of the organization and our school is indebted to them.  Mr. McLachlan and Mr Chan ran a tournament that went off without a hitch.  It is a testament to them that the last thing a team's coach says leaving the gym is, "See you next year."

We have gained a reputation as a must attend tournament.  Our School Counsel run a GREAT concession at Woodhaven, our sponsors provide great food for the coaches room (thanks Pizza 73), our basketball parents also provide food for our coaches room (the chilli was great) and our half time trivia contests are a big hit with everyone.  Mr. Luck and Mr. Chan stole the show on Thursday night when they started a game of 'Stump the Ref' and had the crowd enthralled.

Who won....everyone.  Our teams won some games, lost some games and generally played hard.  The Power of Three tournament is what youth sport is supposed to be all about; young people learning life lessons like commitment, hard work and cooperation through competition.  Thanks Mr. McLachlan and Mr. Chan for making it happen.

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.