The following article was written by me and published in the Lethbridge Herald on May 29, 2013. Although written from a Holy Spirit perspective, the article highlights the importance of creating multiple pathways for high school students. During this past year, my fellow superintendents and I have written about the changing face of education. Certainly the world …
Category: From the Desk of the Superintendent
May 31
From the Desk of the Superintendent- June 2013
May has come to an end and that means only one more month of school. Over the next weeks, students will be busy preparing for final exams, year end field trips and of course, thinking of their upcoming summer holidays! We celebrated the graduations of students in two of our high schools in May and are looking …
May 12
From the Desk of the Superintendent- Graduation Address
This weekend, I had the honor of addressing two graduating classes within our division. I began my Saturday addressing 242 graduates from Catholic Central High School in Lethbridge. Later in the day, I drove an hour west to Pincher Creek and spoke to 16 graduates from St. Michael School. Although the number of graduates was significantly …
May 04
From the Desk of the Superintendent- May 2013
Last evening, I returned from the Blueprints Conference. Blueprints is an annual conference organized by the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Assocation and held at the Delta Lodge in Kananaskis for Catholic administrators, trustees and clergy. Its unique format provides a powerful retreat setting that leaves participants spiritually uplifted. Our division sees the Blueprint experience has a critical process for the …
Apr 03
From the Desk of the Superintendent- April 2013
Happy Easter! I hope that our staff, students and their families are enjoying a wonderful vacation. We return to school next week remembering that we are a resurrection people. Our risen Lord brings light to our world and peace to our hearts. Our March board meeting continued with our planning process. The 2014-17 Capital Plan was …
Mar 10
From the Desk of the Superintendent- My AISI Eulogy
On Thursday, the provincial government released the budget for 2013-14. As part of the education budget, one of the most successful grants to instill innovation for learning, the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) was eliminated. It would be easy to simply blame the government in making that decision, but not necessarily fair. While I’m …
Mar 02
From the Desk of the Superintendent- March 2013
Today, March 2, 2013, I am in Medicine Hat, Alberta to celebrate my mother’s 70th birthday. She doesn’t know that we have travelled down and so she will be quite surprised when we meet her and my dad at supper. When I left home at 17 to attend university, she was just 36 years old …
Feb 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- February 2013
February marks the mid-point of the school year, the start of the second semester or the third quarter. It also signals the beginning stages of planning; 3-year education, capital and annual budget for 2013-14. There is a certain flow that occurs in the planning cycle in education. The government provides school jurisdictions with their Accountability Pillar …
Jan 02
From the Desk of the Superintendent- January 2013
Usually I would begin my January message with a happy new year salutation. Instead, I begin this post reflecting on the sudden passing of one of our staff members. Mrs. Linda Goruk, an Early Learning Program Leader at Ecole St. Mary School passed away suddenly last week. The staff from Ecole St. Mary and the early …
Dec 16
A Different Christmas Message
The weeks leading up to the Christmas vacation are always hectic but extremely enjoyable. I’m in schools for Advent celebrations, Christmas concerts and far too many turkey dinners! It is heartwarming to see so many children (and staff) excited about this season. I recognize and can appreciate the tiredness in the adults’ eyes knowing full well …