Prairie Rose Public School

Grade 3 students at Bow Island Elementary School recently completed a project where each student prepared a presentation for the class on a family culture or tradition. Following the presentation, other students asked questions and the experience showed both the differences and similarities between everyone in the class.

South Alberta High School (SAHS) within Prairie Rose Public Schools is for students who either need or want to take classes online. Those who enrol with SAHS are often heavily involved in extra-curricular activities, struggle in a physical school setting or need to take one or two courses at their own pace.

Jacalyn Poncelet is the new principal at New Brigden School and is glad to be back in a rural school after working in Medicine Hat for six years. This year is about getting to know her staff, students, their families and the community.

Tanya Johnson teaches Grades 1 through 8 at a colony school where no technology is used within the classroom. Working with students for so many years enables her to develop a close relationship with each of them and allows a deeper level of teaching to occur.

Danika Farion created her own sound wall within her Grade 1 / 2 classroom for her students to refer to whenever they need. She tailors all learning activities to meet each student where they are at and prefers to have them moving around rather than sitting at a desk for long periods.

Students from Irvine School and Seven Persons School came together to participate in a traditional game of lacrosse to honour The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Dave and Elizabeth Welton from Nation Lacrosse visited both schools prior to the game and held workshops on lacrosse.

Prairie Rose Public Schools students enrolled in the Mavericks School of Baseball were back on the field in September and October and will be moving into indoor lessons as the weather cools. In addition to athletic skills, students learn communication skills and how to play as a team.

HALO now has one pilot certified to fly the plane built , a Vans RV-12, by students of the Dave Rozdeba South Alberta Flight Academy. HALO intends to use the plane for aerial reconnaissance and the partnership with Prairie Rose Public Schools is mutually beneficial. Current students enrolled in the Flight Academy are building the second Vans RV-12, which is due to be completed by the end of this year.

Prairie Rose Public Schools has a new transportation system and are pleased with how it is running. They are currently seeking substitute bus drivers for extracurricular activities and field trips during school days and on weekends as well as to cover morning and afternoon routes.

The Agricultural Discovery Centre (ADC) at Irvine School is wrapping up their season. Two steers, donated to the ADC by Short Grass Ranches, were sold by live auction at the Medicine Hat Feeding Company. The following day, the ADC held a student organized fall fair with activities, a farmer’s market to sell off ADC produce and an in-house auction to sell two lambs, two hogs and 13 chickens. Students will continue learning throughout the winter with the AgPro courses and the ADC will hold a comedy night fundraiser at the Monarch Theatre on December 14.

Teachers at Warren Peers School needed to come up with different options for students at the school this year. With access to the great facility at the Acadia Valley Community Hall, the students in the class learned how to smoke meat, make sausage, cook traditional foods and had a food truck experience where they served a variety of hotdogs to students and staff.

For six weeks this spring, Burdett School reserved Friday afternoons for softball. The school was split into three divisions by grade level and two divisions got to play each week. For those who were not interested in playing the game, there were sessions to learn how to be an umpire or students could help with scorekeeping.

Daina Dixson is this year’s valedictorian for Foremost School and will be attending Lethbridge College in the fall for agronomy and agricultural business. Dixson, like her parents and grandparents before her, has spent all her grade school years at Foremost School and said it was a bittersweet experience to be graduating.

School Leader Wellbeing Generative Listening Group had six principals during the first year, which grew to a cohort of 20 during the second year. The group provides a space for principals to learn how to create healthy cultures and has been receiving publicity from various sectors for their unique approach to student wellness.

Lois Bedwell is the Chair of the Board for Prairie Rose Public Schools and is in her second term at a Trustee. Having spent most of her life in Oyen, Bedwell is grateful to be a Trustee for the area to ensure children are provided with the best possible educational opportunities.

Students at Warren Peers School in Acadia Valley have been learning archery for over a decade and in the past three years have begun competing. This year, students went to both provincial and national competitions, which was a very different experience than local competitions.

The 2024 Kaleidoscope celebration held at the Esplanade on May 30 attracted students from schools across Prairie Rose Public School Division. The morning was dedicated to various workshops for students to engage in and learn new skills.

Prairie Rose Public Schools held an online special board meeting on June 5 to get trustee approval for the 2024-25 preliminary budget, the 2024-2027 Education Plan and the purchase of 38 school buses for the school division.

Lots of volunteers and participants came out for the 2024 Drone Games at Eagle Butte High School at the end of May. Competitors came from across Prairie Rose Public Schools to participate in the event and moved between four different stations, figure 8 flying, circles, obstacle course and a scavenger hunt.

At the May 28 Prairie Rose Public Schools Board Meeting there was a presentation by Foremost School, the First Nations, Metis and Inuit annual report was delivered, along with a presentation on the Timeless Tales: Intergenerational Story Writing Project.

Grade 12 student at Eagle Butte High School Maddy Ferguson was the salutatorian for 2024. Ferguson also played goalie on the U18 girls’ team with the South Alberta Hockey Academy for the past three years. Coach Jane Kish said that Ferguson brings her work ethic, perseverance, and effort to all areas of her life and those qualities are what make her successful.

For the past six years, the breakfast program at Oyen Public School has been delivering a hot meal along with daytime snacks to all students in the school. The program is financially supported by Prairie Rose Public Schools division office along with the Oyen community stepping up to donate food and funds.

The co- valedictorians at Senator Gershaw School for 2024 are twins Ria and Gabe Thacker. The two have been competing academically since Grade 5, which will end in September when Ria heads to the University of Calgary for nursing and Gabe to the University of Alberta for engineering. Gabe’s last year of high school is ending on a high note after he was recently awarded a $120,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship.

Alyssa Jaeger has always been a high achieving academic student and her hard work paid off when she was named the 2024 valedictorian for Eagle Butte High School. Growing up in Redcliff, it will be a big transition for Jaeger when she starts attending the University of Calgary next year.

Treyson Girletz intends to pursue a degree in software engineering this coming September and finished off high school at South Central in Oyen by being named the 2024 valedictorian. For the past two years, he’s also played on the U18 AA hockey team in Medicine Hat while managing to keep up with his studies. He plans to enjoy the summer in Oyen and will cross the hurdle of moving away from friends and family when the time comes.

As Ralston School is on a military base, celebrating Month of the Military Child, which occurs in April each year, is important. Near the end of the month the entire school attended a hotdog lunch at the Military Family Resource Centre with Kiddie Care, the local daycare, also joining them.

Irvine School parent council holds a bus driver appreciation breakfast each year on the first Monday in May. This year, they also created a basket of goodies for each driver, which included a bus driver survival kit. The parents cooked the breakfast and students served the bus drivers.

Students and staff at Jenner School have focused on a commitment to community this year making their Exhibition of Learning, which will be in June, a year-long project. Community members have come into the school to talk with the K-3 students, Grades 4-6 students have made murals to give to local post offices and the junior high students worked together to create a new sign for the town of Jenner.

Wednesday, April 24 was Administrative Professional’s Day and a time to honour and celebrate these unsung heroes. As the go-to person for staff and students for everything from organizing school events to fundraising or administering first-aid, their role is dictated by whatever is going on in the school they work in on a particular day.

Nancy Haraga is the Ward 6 trustee for Prairie Rose Public Schools (PRPS) and says she enjoys the role and it only keep getting better. A fourth-generation rancher in Skiff, AB, all three of her children attend Foremost School. One of the best parts of the position, is getting out to all the different schools within PRPS to meet students, staff and parents.

Two teams, the Denominators and Casual Mathletes, of Grade 12 students in the Eagle Butte calculus class went up to Edmonton to participate in the Totem Torus Math Competition on April 11. The students results compared well with other public high school students across Alberta, they had fun and felt it was a great experience.

Students and staff at Margaret Wooding School in Redcliff participated in a variety of activities for Education Week starting April 15. Students in the running club had a visit from the Medicine Hat Rattlers running team and the Outdoor Education option class learned survival skills from members of Southeastern Alberta Search and Rescue.

Prairie Rose Public Schools hosted the spring Council of School Councils recently and had a good turnout, with parent representatives from schools who have never attended before. The activity was learning how to make a vermicomposting bin, which everyone present engaged in with enthusiasm.

Members of the student Wellness Committee at Senator Gershaw School in Bow Island held their first successful Wellness Day on the Thursday before Easter weekend. Staff and students took part in a variety of activities aimed at promoting personal wellness while having fun and connecting with each other.

Prairie Rose Public Schools Home Plus Learning Network supports about 50 students who, for various reasons, do not attend a regular school. The majority of the programming is a parent-choice model, which can work better for certain family circumstances.

New agricultural related option courses are now available at Irvine School and the first AgPRO Beef six-week course recently wrapped up. In addition to a variety of field trips, many guest speakers came to speak with the students. At the last class of the course, students presented models of their low-stress cattle handling system with first and second place winners taking home prizes.

Registration is now open for a new equine program at Eagle Butte High School that will start in September 2024. The school has partnered with Coyote Creek Riding Arena and students interested do not need to own a horse to be eligible for the program. Students will have two hours each school day in the program with three of them at the arena and the other two dedicated to completing certificate requirements, undertaking physical training and hearing guest speakers.

Foremost School Rodeo Academy gives students enrolled something to look forward to each day, which motivates them to get their other schoolwork done. The Academy is looking for interest from students in Medicine Hat and will explore transportation options if there is enough.

Getting a commercial pilot’s license can be a fulltime endeavor, yet Eagle Butte teacher and co-lead of the DR South Alberta Flight Academy managed to achieve this goal last month.

Brooklyn Burzminski teaches science and English at Eagle Butte High School. She completed a degree in pharmacology prior to completing her education degree. In her first year of teaching, she feels this is her perfect job. Students are excelling in her classes due to Burzminski's teaching style and caring manner.