recognition of student/school success - School District 67

School District No. 67 (Okanagan Skaha)
RECOGNITION OF STUDENT/SCHOOL SUCCESS
December 14, 2009
School District No. 67 (Okanagan Skaha) extends congratulations to the following students/groups for these
outstanding examples of success for November:
COLUMBIA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
• Columbia Elementary students and staff were impacted by the powerful message at their recent
Remembrance Day Assembly. The grade 5 students did a tremendous job of leading the assembly,
and they were so grateful to have the Penticton Pipe Band perform (and special guests, Corporals
Sean Bacon and Mike Smitham) and share their stories with everyone. As well, classes recited poetry
and the choir performed, all led by students. It was an assembly that would be remembered by all who
attended.
• Columbia Kindergarten students and their parents participated in a special time of learning and play
recently. On this day, the Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Delorme, opened her doors and had parents
work with their child at a variety of stations set up to demonstrate activities that parents can participate
in with their child, in order to increase their literacy and numeracy knowledge. Parents and children
affirmed that learning through play is a wonderful way to spend time together.

Learning and Play Time
Columbia Elementary
KALEDEN ELEMENTARY
• Kaleden Elementary held their annual Remembrance Day assembly on November 10th. Every student
had a role – be it decorating the gym, singing a song or sharing thoughts of peace and acceptance.
Everyone was honored to have members of the Okanagan Falls Legion and Colour Guard attend this
important event.
Remembrance Day Ceremony

• The Penticton Lakers visited Kaleden Elementary school on November 5 th and joined everyone for the
daily physical activity session. Each of the classes rotated through the gym for a half hour game with
the boys. At the end of each session the team signed autographs and talked to the kids about goal
setting and having a dream. What a great experience for the students.
Penticton Lakers Visit
Kaleden Elementary
KVR MIDDLE SCHOOL
• Operation Shoebox…Once again students at KVR have been working diligently… collecting items
and filling gift boxes to send overseas to those in need in developing countries.
• South Zone Champions! Three KVR teams won South Zone Championships for their Fall seasons.
Congratulations to both grade 8 boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams and to the girls’ field hockey team for
their winning seasons.
• Activity Centre Construction has begun… we are excited to see that construction has begun on the
new Activity Centre (Not a playground!). Hopefully, the students will be climbing on their new apparatus
in the near future! Thanks to the PAC and district staff on making this dream become a reality.

McNICOLL PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL
• Several groups of grade 8 students held fund raisers for various community groups: One of the
teachers at McNicoll Park Middle used a skill-based program that promotes healthy relationships to the
students. At the end of the program the students had to choose one of the topics that they learned
about during the program. The idea was to come up with a realistic strategy to help foster respect in
the school/community.
Some students held a bake sale and a pizza lunch to help raise money for local charities (they baked
all the goodies and had the pizza donated). Several students made posters to help get their message
across to the student population. Another student put together a magic show/skit to help raise
awareness for his topic. All in all it was very successful as the students raised over $560.00.
• McNicoll Park Elementary grade 8 girls' volleyball team successfully hosted the South Zone
Championships on November 3rd. The team won the league title but fell short in the South Zone
Championships ending up in second place. Congratulations to coach Karen Hocking and all the grade
8 girl volleyball players.
NARAMATA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Naramata Elementary has been busy in November:
• Volleyball - the Rattler volleyball season started November 12 th . Volleyball is an intramural sport and
will be played at the school during the lunch hour. The volleyball practices/games are held on
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:00 pm until 12:30 pm. Students from grades 3, 4 & 5 have been
encouraged to attend and to give volleyball a try.
• The Naramata Rattlers enjoyed a terrific soccer season with over 30 students from grade 3, 4 & 5
participating. The players showed good sportsmanship, improved skill development, and excellent
team play throughout the season. The Naramata Rattler team included the following players:
Heidi Robertson Lyndzie Caron Cali Anderson Mike Gowe
Stuart Carlson Cole Davies Sam Hallworth Brock Schlenker
Connor Oh Jacob Kirschmann Lukas Vozenilek Bryce Burlingame
Leeum Jones Josh Gowe Josie Kay Sage Togyi
Casey Carriere Spencer Miller Tyler Giesbrecht Felicia Ord
Desiree Paulhus Kayley Davies McKenna Wheeler Ethan Trovao
Kai Balance Hank Cumming Jacob Oh Chase Davies
David McCutcheon Maceo Raynolds

• Thanks to all the
parent drivers for their
support in transporting
the players to their
games this season, to
Mr. Tony Trovao and
to Mr. Gary Kay for
helping coach, and to
the team’s head
coach, Mr. McBryde.
• Naramata Super Stars:
The Naramata Elementary
November Super Stars
Assembly took place on
Monday, Nov. 2 nd . The
following students were
honoured for their efforts,
talents, and kindness.
Students received a
certificate to take home and
a small trophy to place on
their desk for a week. (a
certificate is also placed on
the bulletin board at school)
The trophies have been
kindly donated by Okanagan
Awards Plus (Tony & Jodi
Trovao).
Naramata Super Stars
Div. 1 (Grade 5) Lukas Vozenilek, Josh Gowe, Stuart Carlson, Brock Schlenker
Div. 2 (Grade 3, 4) Sage Togyi, Felicia Ord
Div. 3 (Grade 1, 2) Bailey Damen, Bryce Doroshuk, Shianne Hillenbrand

• Robotics Club is back! Thanks to Jennifer Vozenilek who is again sponsoring the Robotics Club. The
club meets on Mondays and Wednesdays at lunch and is open to students in grade 3, 4, and 5. The
purpose of this club is to develop and encourage an interest in science and technology through
exploring the fun and excitement of creating, building, and programming robots. This year the Robotics
Club competed in the Robotics Cup on November 20 th at UBCO in Kelowna – placing second in the
challenge.
• Jennifer Moorhouse Naramata’s grade 1, 2 teacher was named Naramata's Citizen of the Year for her
many, many years of community service including running May Day (for decades). Congratulations to
Jennifer!
PARKWAY ELEMENTARY
• Parkway Elementary held an excellent Remembrance Day assembly on November 10 th .
Mrs. Tunnell's class did a great job organizing and participating in the program. A big thank you to
Mrs. Watkins class as well. Over 40 parents attended the assembly.
• The parents once again did an excellent job hosting a Hot Dog lunch for everyone. Thank you to all the
wonderful volunteers!
• The second Floor Hockey Tournament of the year took place at Queen's Park school. Close to 80
students took part in the exciting day!
• The second School Spirit day of the year was a great success. Most of the students and staff wore
their pajamas to school and received house team points for their teams! It was a great day full of fun.
• The first Ready Set Learn session for 3 and 4 year olds was held in the Kindergarten classroom and
was very well attended. Thank you to Mrs. Tucker for running such a successful event.
• The PAC held another hot lunch on Friday and once again things went very smoothly. Thanks to all of
the volunteers!
• The students have all been busy practicing for the upcoming winter concerts which take place in
December. A huge thank you to Mrs. Stagg for all of her work.

PENTICTON SECONDARY SCHOOL
• Three Penticton Secondary students have been shortlisted for the Loran Scholarship (a national
leadership scholarship valued at over $70,000). Congratulations to:
Holly Anthony
Becky Pettigrew
Ollie McCluskey
They will participate in regional interviews in December and from there, the top candidates will be flown
to Toronto for the national interviews. Great news!
QUEEN’S PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
• Queen’s Park Elementary recognized the following students for a job well done in November. Each
student was awarded a certificate:
Div 1
Div 1
Div 3
Div 3
Div 3
Div 2
Div 2
Div 4
Div 4
Div 4
Div 5
Div 5
Div 6
Div 6
Div 7
Div 7
Div 8
Div 8
Div 8
Div 9
Div 9
Div 9
Alyssa Jamieson
Zoe Cardinal
Alajandra Daublais
Romalee Stanley
Ben Gibb
Nicholas Raposo
Kristen Vandeweghe
Christian Suastegui
Connor Favell
Presley Praught
Madison Van Ryswyk
Echo Dawn Wilson
A.J. Gudmundson
Sebastian Hiebert
Jake Erickson
Heather Gibb
Seth Neuman
Cephren Gerrard
Abi Heyer
Alicia Schrank
Nathan Collinga
Noah Hounslow
Winners of “Guess Who Got Caught Being Kind” this month were:
Div 4
Div 7
Connor Favell
Isaac Collinge

• Queen’s Park Elementary got involved in a wonderful Learn to Skate Program. The program kicked off
with great success as the school had classes attend the first session in November at the South
Okanagan Events Centre. This was a great partnership between the Okanagan Hockey School,
Penticton Minor Hockey, the City of Penticton, Global Spectrum, and the volunteers from Queen’s Park
school. A big thank you to the Penticton Tim Horton’s who supplied coffee and snacks to the
volunteers who worked hard to tie skates and put helmets on the students.
SKAHA LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL
• A team of teachers and administrators attended the “Fall Forum on School Completion” in Kelowna on
November 2 nd . Teams from many schools throughout the Okanagan Valley attended presentations on
how various schools are addressing the needs of their students who are at-risk on not completing
school.
• Parent-Student-Teacher interviews took place on November 3 rd and 4 th . 197 interview slots (15
minutes each) were booked and interviews took place.
• A team of teachers and administrators are attending a five week webinar series titled “Using Strength –
Based Approaches with Aboriginal Youth”. The webinar involves teams from most middle and
secondary schools in the district supporting the initiatives to see the aboriginal student population
become more successful in school and therefore increase graduation rates.
• Skaha Lake’s student-led Remembrance Day Ceremony was held on November 10 th . Students from
the drama and leadership classes participated as well as the grade 8 concert band and the Skaha Lake
Middle School Singers. Skaha students involved in Army and Air Force cadets also participated along
with members of the Penticton Pipe Band.
Remembrance Day Ceremony

Remembrance Day Ceremony
Skaha Lake Middle

SUMMERLAND SECONDARY SCHOOL
The Hundred Club… by Thomas Ziebarth
• The Hundred Club was conceived in the summer of ’09 by two students, and developed by a team of
five who became the club’s founding members. In the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year, a
proposal was drawn up and – with assistance from Sponsor Teacher Ryan McCarty – presented to
Principal Dave Searcy as the second School Club.
The club’s philosophy is “If we don’t just do it, we’ll spend our lives wondering what we missed.”
Together, members explore the recreational opportunities unique to the region in an effort to break the
habit of sitting at home on the computer or watching television. The club’s founder believes that high
school is the time for developing habits, and that his duty is to inspire others to make these habits
good, not ways of wasting time. He also believes that students have the power to affect their local
communities – that there is nothing keeping them from doing so. Both of these philosophies are
reflected strongly in the club’s activities.
The first project of the Hundred Club was called the ‘100 Miles’, where members ran one hundred miles
over the course of one hundred days, for personal reasons. Some chose to run for fitness, others ran
just to get outdoors, and some ran to prove to themselves that they could. However, one unifying belief
bound all of these runners together; getting outside to run every day for over three months develops a
healthy habit.
On the flip side, the Hundred Club is very active in the local community. On the morning that the 100
Miles kicked off, 9 club members sold newspapers at 6:30 am to raise money for Raise-a-Reader, (a
nation wide charity that promotes child literacy). They raised over $350 that morning and were later
invited to a thank-you breakfast to meet the organization’s directors.
The Hundred Club recently initiated a peer-tutoring program at the school that offers assistance to
students in grades 9-12. It is run by nearly a dozen volunteer tutors, covering subjects from Art to
Principles of Mathematics 12. This creates a one-on-one environment between two students that many
find more relaxing and understandable than seeking help directly from a teacher.
Another in-school project of the Hundred Club is the SAT Study group. Organized by the club’s
founder, the group is dedicated to teaching students about the SAT and the opportunities it provides,
as well as helping interested students develop the necessary study habits as well as understand what
is on the SAT.
All things said and done, the Hundred Club is a ball that just started rolling. Few can say what they
have planned for the spring, but we can all see what they’ve already done.

TROUT CREEK ELEMENTARY
It has been a busy, productive month for staff, students and parents at Trout Creek Elementary. Here are
some highlights of their time together:
• Excellent volunteer support for the new One To One Reading Program; a special thank you to
Mrs. Walton and Mrs. Mercer for their co-ordination.
• Great participation by grade 4 and 5 students on the cross-country team sponsored by Ms. Thorp;
the team did very well at the Naramata Run and recent Pumpkin Run; thanks to all the parents for
helping out with this yearly event.
• The entire school participated in D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) which promotes reading
habits and support libraries.
• An engaging Author Speaks - organized by Mrs. Jang for primary and also intermediate classes.
• Parent teacher interviews completed with each child’s parent/guardian.
• ‘Bus Safety’ discussions - completed with Kindergarten to grade 3 classes.
• Fire safety presentation by the Penticton Secondary School drama club and participation in the
Annual Fire Hall’s “Get Out Alive” contest.
• Completion of the school wide running program until April.
• The Trout Creek Cross-Country Running Team has wrapped up a very successful season. The
team consisted of 34 athletes who averaged 8km of running per week. This enthusiastic group of
athletes set running goals and continually strived towards their personal best. The focus for the team
was to increase fitness levels while acquiring proper running techniques, encourage and appreciate
the efforts of others and of course… to have fun. This season, the team participated in two races in
Naramata and at Trout Creek.
Team Members:
Grade Four
Grade Five
J.J. Henderson Alex Sarglepp Thea Lemare Haverkamp Hannah Nixdorf
Josh Webb Riley Haist Stella Siemens Natasha Faye
Austin Bubar Matthew Esslinger Jennifer Butler Jensen Kentel
Hannah Walton Helena Mott Maria Raitt Cate Critchlow
Carolyn Kont Sophie Cormillot Noah Vaisanen Brandon Bartolomeoli
Dominique Boswell Chole Harrold Angus Hume Greg Mercer
Hannah Vandersluys Haley Berrisford Grayden Portman Tyson Harrington
Myah Nakoney Selena Raab Kody Lundell Franco Huber
Katie Portman
Pavel Gill

UPLANDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Uplands Elementary have been very busy in November – Highlights are:
• Grade 5 Student Leadership Conference (with presenters from PM and PSS).
• Multicultural Club.
• Regular assemblies, SOAR, Students of the Week and Block X.
• Receiving a new SMART camera, SMARTboard and Kidspiration computer program (many, many
thanks to the PAC).
• Hot Lunches.
• Cross-country running meets and practices.
• Volleyball/Newcomb at noon.
• Volleyball Made for Kids with Tammy Thomas held on November 19 th .
• On November 10 th the school demonstrated a very meaningful Remembrance Day Ceremony. The
students did a wonderful job of both public speaking and singing. Many thanks go out to the Penticton
Pipe Band, special guest speakers (who had been to Afghanistan), Judy Street for presenting an
incredible Powerpoint and to Cyndie Salting for her beautiful music.
Remembrance Day
Ceremony

• Crazy Hair Day and Uplands’ Spirit Days.
• SMARTLearning teaching demonstrations.
• Skating.
• Monster Mash and Parade.
• Family Pumpkin Carving Evening and UNICEF Campaign ($482.00 raised).
• Book Fair.
• Parent/Teacher Interviews and Term 1 Progress Reports.
• On November 13 th student leaders from Princess Margaret and Penticton Secondary Schools Made a
Difference at the grade 5 Student Leadership Conference. The student leaders presented valuable
sessions titled, First Impressions, Making a Difference, Being Your Own Superhero and Leaving a
Legacy. The keynote speaker was Holly Anthony from Penticton Secondary. Student leader
presenters/speakers did an amazing job and everyone was very pleased to have the grade 5 students
from West Bench join in.
Student Leadership
Conference

• Congratulations to the committed cross-country running team. They all put their best effort forward at
the Naramata and Trout Creek meets and Ailee Hayman broke a grade 4 girls’ record in Naramata!
Crazy Hair Day

Student’s of the Week
VOLLEYBALL MADE FOR KIDS
With National Beach Volleyball Team Member
and Coach, Tammy Thomas

WEST BENCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
• West Bench’s PAC bought the school a brand new HP colour printer for the computer lab. It is a great
addition and will be put to good use.
• All students of West Bench did a performance for the Remembrance Day Assembly. The Senior Guitar
Club played "Where Have All the Flowers Gone."
• West Bench had Award Assemblies to recognize students for their citizenship and learning.
• Students worked on the behaviour program ‘Making Character Count.’ Putting yourself in someone
else's shoes and having respect for others' feelings was addressed with everyone.
• Mrs. Thacker volunteered to be the staff representative on the SAFE Team.
• Mrs. Kay and Mrs. Donovan met to plan SmartLearning sequences using Aboriginal Literacy material.
• Mrs. Kay and Mr. Philpotts attended the Aboriginal Webinars at the School Board office every
Thursday.
• Mrs. McDowall, Mrs Thacker and Mrs. Balfour had their classes make decorations for the Christmas
Tree Project. Mrs. Balfour decorated it at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre. It looked
beautiful.
• Richard Anderson and Chad Eneas from the En’owkin Centre presented to the staff and PAC about the
Penticton Indian Bands Locatee Lands. West Bench classes will be visiting the lands in the future.
• Teachers took part in West Bench Class Reviews.
• Teachers took part in BCeSIS training for report cards.
• The grade 5 students from West Bench joined grade 5 students from Uplands for a Leadership
morning. Leadership students from Penticton Secondary and Princess Margaret worked with the grade
5 students on leadership activities.
• During the week Coach Gordon McKay has been working with the grade 4 & 5 boys on Tuesday and
the grade 4 & 5 girls on Wednesday coaching basketball.
• Both Senior and Junior Guitar clubs have been meeting on Friday mornings.

WILTSE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
• Wiltse Elementary grade 1 successes in November:
“Learning is Fun in Grade 1”
“Back and Forth Bags”
Students use the hand-crafted bags to carry
their student planner and home reading
books.
“Math Problem of the Week”
A school-wide challenge designed to have
students develop their mathematical
reasoning and problem-solving skills.

“Patterns”
Students demonstrate and extend their
understanding of patterns using manipulatives.

Science activity centres using
marbles, tops, pencils and magnets
to explore and learn about balance,
movement and magnetism.