Though it was a short week we still had a lot happening. We did our first Lockdown drill of the year, which all our students came through with flying colors. Great work students and staff!
Our volleyball teams also had a lot of success this week and most of them have already qualified for zones, which Mr. Doerksen has been communicating with families about. As well, I wanted to especially congratulate the senior boys team for taking gold in the Oilfields tournament in Black Diamond last weekend.
The Apple Fundraiser was a huge success, with Brant exceeding our goal of selling 100 boxes, by selling a total of 160 boxes! This is very exciting, and a huge achievement for our first time out. Apples will be delivered to the High River Baptist Church and available for pick up there between 9 and 11 am. Thank you so much for your hard work to sell these apples and support our school. We are in need of 2 volunteers to help Tuesday morning. If you have any questions about pick up or are able to help on Tuesday, please contact Jennifer Barreth at jennifer.barreth@gmail.com to let her know.
We are having our first Family Day next Thursday, with students gathering in cross grade groups to do devotions together. It is exciting to watch older kids (students) mentor younger children and to work out their faith together. It is also our first student council event, as students have the option of dressing up in a costume that day. A reminder that costumes need to be appropriate (not gory, crude or revealing) or they will be asked to change into their gym strip for the day.
A heads up that we are initiating a “Principal’s Reading Challenge” at Brant for all ages. Starting November 1 students will be able to complete free reading minutes to add to their class average in a competition with the other classes. The class who has the highest average reading minutes by the end of December will win a special lunch. There will also be individual prizes for reaching milestones, such as reading a whole day, week and even month. Reading is a great tool for helping in all aspects of a child’s education, and I am excited to support our students in their growth.
Finally, the staff spent the days off this week working on professional development initiatives. The discussions on Thursday were around Executive Skills (also known as Executive Functioning) and how we can assist students as they develop these skills. Friday was our Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) conference, where we learned about cognitive development from a Christian perspective courtesy of Lara Ragpot, heard from Miriam Charter about redeeming culture and had some super sessions with other educators about various topics affecting Christian educators. I am always impressed with the dedication and creativity our teachers demonstrate in developing approaches to create a better classroom experience for all of our students.
