Superintendent’s Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers:

Throughout the month of March, we are focused on sharing stories about Sustainability and Honesty as well as our other core values: Relationships/Connections, Equity, and Well-being in the 2022-2027 District Strategic Plan.

Marion Schilling Elementary – March 5, 2025

On Wednesday morning, I visited Principal Piggin, and she was coming back from a presentation for Grade 7 students done by Valleyview Secondary School about what to expect next year. She remarked how excited the students were about the many different opportunities and choices to explore academic courses, fine arts programs such as band, and extracurricular activities. They were fully engaged in a review of courses and started their course selection for Grade 8.

Our first visit was to see Ms. Ewert who was teaching a K-1 Phys. Ed. class, and they were enjoying a collaborative running game.

We then took part in Ms. Thomas’ cultural activities class with Kindergarten students who were reviewing the Secwepemctsín alphabet. Secwepemctsín is an oral language that consists of 43 consonants and 5 vowels, and students and staff know words that rely on individual sounds and blends. Ms. Thomas also works with Grade 5, 6, and 7, and we are so very fortunate to have her teach our students and integrate language into their understanding of Secwépemc culture and history.

We then visited Mr. Bell’s Grade 7 class. They were designing their keychain fobs for 3D printing for the whole school. They worked collaboratively to pair certain Grandfather Teachings with each grade level, and they designed the tags with images and words that matched the specific Grandfather Teaching for the grade. Mr. Bell said, “By the end of Grade 7, every student will have studied every Grandfather Teaching, which is part of our District Strategic Plan.” Staff and students wear the tags on their items like keychains, shoes, bracelets, and necklaces.

Mr. Ngo’s Grade 6 students were working in the classroom and in the hallway spaces in collaborative groups to develop presentations about the reproductive system as part of Science.

Grade 2-3 teachers were working with literacy groups. They get students together from different classes who read at a similar level. In this way, the students get to know different students and teachers as well as approaches to teaching literacy strategies. The students move to different groups as their reading improves. The literacy results in the school have reflected increases in reading supported by the small group intervention time. Mrs. Piggin said, “The groups are fluid and students move into different groups based on their progress, and this has benefitted many students.”

Mr. Desaulniers’ Grade 3-4 class was taking part in Daily 5 by reading, writing, and engaging in conferences with him.

Mr. Dell’s Grade 4-5 class was working with a teacher candidate from TRU, Mr. Montagliani, who was helping students with how to determine the cost of different items. Mr. Dell said, “I really enjoy working with new teachers because I had good mentors, so I like to give back.”

Ms. Patton’s K-Grade 1 class was just returning from Phys. Ed. Prior to their return, Ms. Patton shared the value of starting their year with visual journals that enabled them to see progress from dictated text (where a staff member writes text for the student) and drawings with letter-based labels at the start of the year to writing words and sentences by mid-year. Ms. Piggin shared, “Both the students and parents enjoy seeing the progress from the start of the year until now when they come in for learning conversations.”

NorKam Secondary Wins Gold in the TRU Robotics Championship!

We are so proud of the Robotics team at NorKam Secondary for winning Gold at the TRU Robotics Championship today!

Congratulations to Mr. Dewald Van Der Merwe for leading this team:

Chidera Lawson, Jonathan Kuang, Daniel Cazares (Middle Years Programme) and Maelle Pierce-Aumack (regular program). Thank you for your hard work and for sharing your talents.

Pink Shirt Day Letters – Westsyde Elementary School

Ms. Schneider shared letters that her Grade 4-5 class had written about Pink Shirt Day, which falls during their “Great Kindness Challenge Week”. She shared how she talked with her class about kindness and appreciation and decided to write letters to me.

I feel incredibly honoured and privileged to have been able to read the letters, and I enjoyed them so much that I will highlight some of the verbatim insights and fun facts shared by these students:

“I love Westsyde Elementary cause we are so kind. I love Art and French. The staff are so nice and caring. Mr. Scott is amazing and good at magic. Fun fact: I love to ski.”

“My favourite part of school is getting to see my friends. All the staff are so kind. A fun fact about myself is that I love volleyball, drawing, thanks again!”

“I love Westsyde Elementary School because on Fridays, we get to do Art and Gym! Mr. Scott is so helpful and nice. He helps with soccer! Overall, our school is so much fun!”

“I love all the fun sports we do run by Mr. Scott and all of the PAC hot lunch days. All of the staff make a difference in my life because they are always helping me with work or when I’m hurt.”

“I think the school is amazing!!! I am in Mrs. Schneider’s class. My favorite part of the school day is Math!!! A fun fact about myself: I play football and soccer. I’m the QB in football!!”

“I love Westsyde Elementary cause it makes subjects fun! I also like diversity. I also like being with my friends!”

“Westsyde is so kind and generous. I love P.E. and sports. My favorite sport is soccer. The staff are so nice and smart.”

“Westsyde Elementary is an amazing place because we have amazing staff! Mr. Scott is awesome in his leadership. Something cool about me is that I am a huge traveller and I’ve visited Europe 3 times!”

“I love my school because 1. The playground 2. The staff 3. hot lunch. Mr. Scott helps out a lot with sports. It’s cool! The come read program is amazing. I went from level 1 to 4 in a month!”

“I don’t have no pets because of my allergies. I like video games and biking.”

“I love Westsyde because we have so much kindness. I have 1 dog and 2 cats and 4 chickens. I have a mom and dad and my teacher is Mrs. Schneider. My principal is Mr. Scott. I feel like he makes our school have a lot of kindness.”

“My favorite part of the day is Math, Science, and Gym. Mr. Scott is one of the most kind people. One thing that is special about me is I have freckles and red hair.”

“My favorite part of the school day is Science. Mrs. Flamank is super nice and helpful. The staff are so friendly.”

“I love Westsyde Elementary because this school is very inclusive and we do so many cool things. At first, I thought I wouldn’t have any friends, but then a teacher from my old school came the same year.”

“I have a secret handshake with Mr. Scott.”

“I love Mrs. Schneider because she is the best teacher ever! And she also helps when we need it!”

“I’m pretty sure that you’re not going to read this. Anyways, I am writing this because I was supposed to write about wut I love about the school…PS Please upgrade the playground.”

Thank you wholeheartedly to Westsyde Elementary students in Ms. Schneider’s Grade 4-5 class. I loved hearing about your day through your writing, and I am more convinced than ever to keep visiting Westsyde Elementary School.

Have a great last week before Spring Break!

Rhonda Nixon, PhD
Superintendent