Thursday, March 25, 2010

Metal Objects in Groceries

This article came out today and urges consumer diligence on the food we buy.

Sad commentary....

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

An Interesting Video

things to learn from Matt Edgar on Vimeo.

Don't forget!

... that at the next Parent Council/Association meeting on April 7th, a winner of our Association-sponsored photography contest will be named - and that same winner will be given the prize of a brand new 8 Gigabyte Apple iPod Touch.

The wide-ranging theme of the contest, "Haultain Families", has already moved some of you to send it some incredible photography. There are 14 days left to enter - don't pass up onthe opportunity to win this fantastic prize!

Send in as many entries as you wish - the judges (Shane Campsall (council Chair), Nick Newton (Key Communicator) and professional photographer Kevin Stenhouse will sort through them all, and pick a winner, who will be announced on the blog after the Association meets on April 7th. By submitting your photography, you are agreeing to have it displayed on this public blog for all to see and enjoy.

Get clicking!

Monday, March 22, 2010

PIZZA'S HERE!!!

Well, Wednesday actually. Your Coco Brooks orders can be picked up at the school between 2:50 and 6:00 pm on the 24th. We have 794 pizzas that have to be picked up on that day. They are frozen (obviously) but we have no facility to store that many frozen pizzas. So if you can't be there to pick them up yourself, please make alternative arrangements for the pickup.

Thanks for your order and your support of the school!

Student Led Conferences

Don't forget to book your appointment for the student led conferences today - click here and pick your time.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

After School Homework Play Group

This is a reminder that the after school program begins today at the community center. Judith and others will be starting this program at 3:30 today and it runs till 5. She has 26 kids so far and there is room for 30. Contact her if you are interested in hearing more about it, you can send me an email if you don't know how to reach her.

The focus of the program is homework, with some play time thrown in. The organizers will be trying it out for a while and will modify the program depending on what works the best. Those involved should let her know what they think of things.

Child hit crossing street expected to recover

(From the CBC website)

(please be safe on roadways.)

A four-year-girl's condition has been upgraded since being hit by a van Wednesday afternoon as she was dashing across a street in the southeast.

Police say she was struck by a van near the intersection of 19th Avenue and 39th Street S.E. just after 4 p.m. MT as she ran out to try and catch up with her two older brothers.

Read more

System Parent Meeting Follow-Up

(Supplied by Katie Young, CBE Communications Advisor)

Here is the link to the presentations that the Trustees gave at the March 10th meeting - the answers to the questions that were asked in the Ward Breakout Sessions will be posted on March 22nd.

Metal in candy cuts boy's tongue

(From the CBC website)

Food safety officials are considering a recall after a Calgary boy sliced his tongue on a piece of metal embedded in a popular candy he bought at a store in the city's southeast.

Sloan Anderson, 11, suffered the minor cut Sunday after he chewed a Ring Pop — a candy formed as a gem and attached to a plastic ring — and discovered a piece of metal inside. It was about the size of the tip of a ball-point pen.

Read the full story here.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Girls swarmed on way to school

Two girls fled a pack of bullies who ambushed them early Wednesday on a northeast street and ran to a nearby school for safety.

Police said the girls, aged 13 and 14, who were apparently on their way to school, were jumped by a group of five to six teens as they walked near Castleridge Dr. just before 10 a.m.

Sgt. Mike Lomore said police have yet to determine a motive behind the attack believed to be launched by the group of girls and boys.

There is no relationship between the victims and the assailants.

“It looks like it was a non-sensical confrontation,” he said.

Click here to read the full story.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Canada Golden in Paralympics


Cross-Country skier Brian McKeever, the first man to qualify for both the Olympics and the Paralympics accomplished another first on Monday - Canada's first Paralympic Gold medal! Along with Lauren Woolstencroft, a standing slalom skier, the two made Monday 'golden' for Canada. Read the rest of their stories by clicking the links.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Win an iPod Touch - thanks to the Parent Association!


The Parent Association has graciously offered funding for an on-line contest for families of Haultain students. From March 22nd to April 5th, you can submit your digital photography to your Parent Association, along with a brief description of the picture, and it will be held for judging. There will be a winner announced at the next Parent Association meeting, on April 7, 2010.

The theme of the contest is "Haultain Families" - it's mandatory that any subjects in the photographs give their full and complete permission to have their image shown on this website. Also, all photos will become the property of the HMSPA for use on the site. Judging will be done by a photography professional as well as myself and Shane. We will accept any digital photo format as well as an old-fashioned paper photograph as well.

If you require more information, click here to contact the Association. So get clicking, and send in your best effort - a brand new 8Gb iPod Touch awaits the winner!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Recipe Page

A couple more recipes added to the page, keep them coming! Here's what we have so far:

  • Pizza Pockets
  • Carrot Ginger Soup
  • Pepperoni Pita Pizza
  • Chicken Finger Wraps
  • Banana Dogs

Thursday, March 11, 2010

After school excitement

We had a minor grass fire create some excitement at approximately 2:30 PM, Thursday, March 11. Students noticed a slight burning smell in the air and a small grass fire near the back hill, southwest of the grade six doors was discovered. The fire department was notified and administration determined that the situation was not a threat to the school or any students.

A crew arrived quickly and put out the slow moving fire. Fortunately, the fire fighters had extinguished the burn and left the area before students were dismissed at 2:51 PM. Many students would have remained completely unaware had we not made an announcement at the end of the day, asking kids to stay away from the blackened grass.

As Spring approaches, this serves as a reminder of how dry conditions are. While the cause of the fire is undetermined, simple reminders to properly dispose of cigarettes could go a long way to alleviating such occurrences.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Another Recipe Added

Keep them coming, this one is from Tammy C. I have some personal experience with this recipe... very good!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Parental oversight key to protecting kids online

By Jason Van Rassel, Calgary Herald

Children have long been taught to never talk to strangers -- and authorities are fighting a continuing battle to ensure kids know that advice applies just as much online as it does on the street.

Police, local educators and technology companies launched Calgary Online Safety week on Monday with sobering statistics about the number of children exposed to unwanted advances and sexual material online.

Read more here.

Reining in tiny tempers

By Lesli Christianson-Kellow, For Neighbours

We've all seen it: a screaming child with flailing arms, high-pitch shrieks, feet stomping in defiance and a face rapidly turning the colour of a freshly pulled beet.

But what do you do when that out-of-control child is your own?

Read the full article here.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

10-year-old petitions school board

(Found on the CBC Website)














A 10-year-old student is circulating a petition asking the Vancouver School Board not to take cost-saving measures that she says will rob her of time with her family.

The Vancouver School Board faces a $17-million budget shortfall and is thinking of shortening the school year by 10 days to save money. The proposed plan also calls for an end to half-day Fridays, for which the board must compensate teachers a full day's pay.

Read more here.

Another Great Lunchtime Recipe!

Check it out - one great recipe submitted by Lynn. I read it, and it made me hungry. It must be almost lunch time! Thanks for the great post, Lynn. If anyone else out there has a great lunch recipe for kids, please share it - email it using this link, or by clicking the council email link on the top right of this page.

Please take time to share your thoughts or concerns by commenting on some of the articles posted - input is appreciated.

Last Night's Council/Association Meeting Update

Haultain's Parent Council/Association meeting took place again last night, with minutes being made available on this page shortly.

Here's another reminder that if you have any questions about council, questions for our school administration, thoughts you'd like to share, etc. - this is the best forum for them. Posting questions or concerns that involve the school ensures that they will get brought up by the Haultain Memorial Parent Council/Association Executive at the monthly meeting. Once they're mentioned in the meeting, the results of debate get forever archived in the meeting minutes.

We'd love to have you attend the meetings, but if you really can't, and have a burning issue, please comment it, or email it to council, and it will get addressed.

Your input is appreciated.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Stop overprotecting our children

By Julie Beun, Canwest News Service

"I can't remember the last time I saw kids playing in the woods. I really can't!" My step-mum's voice rose a notch in outrage. We were sitting in her living room recently, watching a blizzard blow over trees in the backyard.

Great article! Read it here.

Let children experience a little danger

By Shannon Proudfoot, Canwest News Service

A few suggestions for anxious parents who typically hover on the edge of the playground with a first aid kit: Let your child lick a 9-volt battery, just to see what happens. Encourage them to try to drive a nail. And by all means, let them play with fire.

Click here to read more.

CBE to close Eugene Coste School, phase out Mulloy School

By Sarah McGinnis, Calgary Herald

One southwest Calgary school will close, and another could be upgraded, after Calgary Board of Education trustees approved a plan to remove students from both facilities.

On Tuesday, trustees voted unanimously to close Eugene Coste School and gave the green light for the staged closure of Dr. J.K. Mulloy School.

"There's huge history and heart in all of our schools and we know that. Then you have to make the practical decisions. Can we support two schools in one neighbourhood, like in the case of Eugene Coste and Haysboro School? It's a tough decision," said CBE chairwoman Pat Cochrane.

Read more here.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Dreading Spring Break? Heed this parental advice

(From Canada.com)

We asked our panel of frequent flyers to offer advice, reminiscences and best thoughts on how to survive Spring Break with your nearest and dearest.

Five travel dont's when travelling with children:

1. Don't pass a public washroom without sending everyone in for a preemptive pee. Accessible toilets can be hard to come by, especially outside of North America, and you want to avoid the legs-crossed, bouncing up and down "I need to pee-ee-ee" dance.

Read the rest here!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Don't forget!

... that on Wednesday night, at 6:30, the Haultain Parent Council and Association meets in the library at Haultain.

To get your questions answered, or your comments noted without your presence, drop us a line by clicking here.

As well, Katie Young from the CBE has asked me to point parents at the CBE branding sessions - a point noted in the following excerpt, taken from the Key Communique posted earlier:

"As you may know, the Calgary Board of Education will be moving to a new location in 2011, and our much loved “family of man” statue will be staying in place. This statue has been in our hearts and in our logo since the 1970’s. This means that we need to develop a new logo and identity."

Please check it out! Parent involvement is crucial in the process - so get involved and get your opinion heard!

At the risk of adding to your media consumption...


...here is a link to the latest Haultain Newsletter.Add Image

Too much media could hurt kids' health: study

(Not a surprising conclusion to this study, but makes for an interesting read - from the CBC website)

Children and teens spend about as much time with media as they do sleeping, and the overexposure could take a toll on their health, a new U.S. study suggests.

The study, reported in Monday's issue of the journal Pediatrics, showed Americans aged eight to 18 spend more than seven hours per day on average consuming both old media such as TV, movies and magazines as well as new media including internet, social networking sites, video and computer games and cell phones.

Full story here.

March Key Communiqué

Click here to check out the Key Communiqué for March.

Also of note, don't forget that gymnastics begins today, and there's a modified lunch on Thursday of this week.

APEGGA Award

The Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Geophysicists of Alberta each year recognizes exceptional teachers through awards. This year there are 20 new awards of $2000.00 each. Teacher are chosen on their superior teaching skills and ability to inspire math and science learning in their students.

Teachers can be nominated by students, parents, staff, and/or principals. You can send in letters or download the form here.