Peace Wapiti Public School Division

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2020 PWPSD’s process for announcing confirmed COVID-19 cases Grande Prairie, AB Peace Wapiti Public School Division (PWPSD) would like to inform members of its school communities that there is an established process in place to provide information to the general public whenever a confirmed case of COVID-19 is identified in a school.... While community members may hear through personal conversations that a student or staff member associated with a particular school has tested positive for COVID-19, rest assured that PWPSD is committed to releasing information whenever a positive case has been determined by AHS to have attended a PWPSD school while infectious, using the following communication plan: 1 Parents/guardians and school staff who are close contacts of the case are notified via an email and attached letter, sent by the school. 2 Parents/guardians and school staff who are not close contacts of the case are notified via a second email and attached letter, sent by the school. 3 The following day, PWPSD publicly releases the information to local media, and publishes it on the PWPSD website and the affected school website, and announces it on PWPSD’s social media channels Facebook and Twitter, @pwpsd. The affected school is then notified to share the post on the school’s Facebook page. Whenever there is a positive case associated with a PWPSD school, out of respect for the individual and in accordance with AHS guidelines, no further information or identifying details will be shared about the individual. -30-

Autism Awareness focus of Harry Balfour School's contribution to 2020 Festival of Trees #pwpsdgoodnews At Harry Balfour we value inclusion, says Ashley Pierog, Grades 5 and 6 Options and Junior High Teacher. Our staff and students are extraordinary with students in all aspects of special needs. We are proud to highlight the importance of Autism Awareness with our Inclusive Education contribution to this year’s Festival of Trees. Tag: Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation

Spirit River Regional Academy K-6 students donate Lego-themed Christmas tree to Spirit River Festival of Trees #pwpsdgoodnews Elementary students at Spirit River Regional Academy decorated a tree submission, and donated it to the Spirit River Festival of Trees. The tree was filled with Lego ornaments made by Kindergarten to Grade 6 students who finished off their design with a handmade paper chain tree skirt. The school says, The gifts of new Lego sets seen beneath the tree were donated by students’ families and went to the lucky person who purchased our beautiful tree. All proceeds from the Festival of Trees will be directed to the local food bank and FCSS Christmas Hampers. The online Facebook auction ended on December 4.

Cenovus donation used to purchase combined water bottle filling station/fountain and recycling collection wagon at Elmworth School #pwpsdgoodnews Students Faith Collins and Jasmine Cheryk hold a thank-you poster in front of the school’s new water bottle filling station/fountain, supplied by a generous donation from Cenovus Energy Services. The school used the remaining funds to purchase a new paper recycling collection wagon to replace an older one used by Grades 3 and 4 students. Tag: Town & Country News

Elmworth student wins moccasins on #RockYourMocs Day On November 16th, students at Elmworth School who showed their support for Rock Your Mocs Day by wearing moccasins or the colour turquoise were eligible to enter a draw to win a pair of moccasins. The lucky prize winner was Keltie Hawryluk, seen holding a picture of the moccasins she chose.

#RockYourMocs at Whispering Ridge Community School

#RockYourMocs at Eaglesham School

Student artistic talent shines through cards for seniors, Festival of Trees gingerbread house competition #pwpsdgoodnews Peace Wapiti Academy (PWA) students and staff created beautiful Christmas Cards for seniors, to be distributed through the Grande Prairie Rotary Club. We sent 126 Christmas cards, to be delivered to a variety of senior care centres in the Peace Country, says PWA Teacher Jeannine Younger. I know the recipients of these cards will be delighted to receive... them, and I hope this can become an annual tradition for PWA. Grades 10-12 PWA Foods classes submitted gingerbread houses to the Festival of Trees competition, under the theme ‘Canada’. First place was awarded to ‘Nova Scotia’ by Eva Freeman, Tanis Peters, Xander Pynn, and Charlie Carlson. Second place went to ‘New Brunswick’ by Gracie Rees, Rain Bertin, Kadence Erno, Dathan Pratt and Madison Wells. Honourable mention went to ‘PEI’ by Reese Hingley, Madisyn Lawrance, Sydney Nofziger, and Prestin Stephen.

Indigenous handmade puppets enhance Hythe Regional School Cree and Culture Program #pwpsdgoodnews "We were fortunate to acquire some beautiful Indigenous handmade puppets from their creator, Laura Asham of the Siksika Nation in Southern Alberta," says HRS Assistant Principal Holly Gould. "The puppets will be used by HRS Cree Instructor and Indigenous Liaison Barb Belcourt (pictured left) as part of our Cree and Culture Program. There is a kohkom (grandma), mosom (grandpa), na...pesis (boy) and iskwesis (girl). We are thrilled!" Pictured left-right: HRS Cree Instructor and Indigenous Liaison Barb Belcourt and HRS Principal Dwayne Speager display the new Indigenous handmade puppets. Tags: Town & Country News, Village of Hythe

La Glace Bus Drivers spread Christmas cheer #pwpsdgoodnews La Glace School Principal Heidi Hargreaves says their School Bus Drivers are experiencing ‘Holiday Fever’ and the kids are loving every minute of it! Drivers Doug and Cheryl (pictured) have spruced up their buses with Christmas décor, which the kids love to talk about at school. Thanks to our fantastic bus drivers for bringing alive the cheer in all of us!

Helen E. Taylor School celebrates special events #pwpsdgoodnews HET Teacher DawnMarie Westad says the school beat the COVID-19 blues by jigging with Métis Bev. The school was one of four to participate in the PWPSD Indigenous Speaker Series featuring Cultural Knowledge Keeper and Motivational Speaker Beverly Lambert who shared her virtual sessions over Zoom during Métis Week, November 16-20. The event coincided with Rock Your Mocs week. The school bulletin boards have been ...switched to Christmas décor, including a Christmas tree forest made of wrapping paper. The HET elf, Felix, has returned, much to the delight of students who are known as the Fierce Felix Finders during this time of year. Grade 6 student Kayden Manke tested his parachute design in Science class.

Nominate an Exceptional Educator for a 2021 Prime Minister’s Award by January 12 Three categories: Teaching Excellence Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)... Excellence in Early Childhood Education Nomination Deadline: January 12, 2021 Nomination Package: www.canada.ca/pm-awards #PMAWARDS

Calling all Grades 7-9 student artists! Enter to win the PWPSD 7th Annual Christmas Card Art Contest. The contest cycles annually by Grade division and is open to Grades 7-9 students enrolled at PWPSD schools this year. Artwork can be completed outside school hours, but must be submitted to your homeroom teacher by Friday, November 27, 2020. Win a $100 pizza party for your class, plus an individual prize pack! See link below for contest rules and a printable poster.

Watch our Facebook feed today and tomorrow for stories from our November Good News Report. If you'd like to read the full report online, visit https://bit.ly/PWPSD-GN-Nov-2020.

At 96 years of age, Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson is not letting the pandemic stop her from sharing her story. Yesterday, she spoke virtually to Grades 7 and 8 students at Penson School.