Hot topic in Education!

I'm from Thompson, and currently there is some major happenings there. Last week the principal of the highschool (RDPC) was fired from his position (well, he was on probation which wasn't extended, but had to leave his position and was to be paid out till the end of the school year I believe). Also, vice-principal Grant Kreuger was sent on administrative leave for the rest of the week, and returned the following Monday on teaching ranks, no longer a VP.
On another note, a few months ago the assistant superintendant was fired from her position as well. There is more to that story as well.
So last week at the highschool, there was a large organized protest from the students. They had signs and had a sit-in in the forum of the highschool. Beverly Hammond - the superintendant of the Mystery Lake School Division - came and talked to the students. From the Thompson Citizen: Hammond's remarks were frequently interrupted by the jeers of students, who also broke into chants of 'We Want Land' on multiple occasions. Other students wrote support for Land on their T-shirts, and some wore hats as a sign of protest."Mr. Land will not be offered a permanent contract for the next school year," Hammond, who took responsibility for recommending to the board that Land's contract not be renewed, told the students. "I will not be part of innuendo, speculation, or a lack of understanding. If you have questions, be prepared to receive information that you will not like – however, you will receive truthful information.""I won't tell you why [Land was fired]," she said. "You legally can't know why. This decision has been made for reasons that you cannot know and will not know. You have got as straight an answer, relative to the legislation and labour management, as I can give, and I am not prepared to say to you any more than what I have said.""I respect how you feel, and you are entitled to your opinions," Hammond told the students, who then questioned whether the students were making the best use of their school day. "If you are so passionate about your education, where you should be right now is in your classrooms where you receive that education," she said."How about we go back to class and you bring Mr. Land back?" retorted one student."What do we have to do to get him back?" asked another."When Mr. Land stepped in, everybody followed the rules and felt safe," stated one student. "You're taking away the only thing that made us feel safe.""Being here today is a good thing to show support for Mr. Land and Mr. Kreuger, but you have to realize the school board makes these decisions along with Ms. Hammond," Dan Morris, who introduced himself as the president of Safe Grad and a past president of the R.D. Parker Parent Advisory Council, told the students. "Doing this here today, skipping your classes, is helping nobody."
Many people do not agree with Hammond, saying she has a very "because I said so" attitude. I do not know how she is, but just reading some of what is being said, I kind of get that impression as well. In print, she seems very 'it's my way or the highway' and I don't think what I have heard about her makes me want to go up to teach in Thompson. She comes to the SDML with a pending lawsuit against her previous school division. I think it was for over 5 million dollars. I can't remember the exact details and don't want to totally scramble them on here.
It's getting bad enough that the deputy minister of education Gerald Farthing is being sent up to Thompson to try to resolve whatever can be done. He will have meetings with the mayor and other members of the school board, as well as meetings with parent representatives.
It's crazy to read this and think that just 7 years ago I went to that highschool, and, while principals and superintendants seem to come and go, it never got that bad. I am anxious to hear what can be resolved from this ordeal, and I hope the students get what they deserve - a great principal that is involved and makes them feel safe and secure in their school life.
Hammond spoke to the group for nearly an hour, answering their questions. Most of these questions were along the same lines, asking why Land was fired, to which her response was consistently that she could not, for legal reasons relating to the Freedom of Information and Personal Privacy Act, go into specifics on the issue. “We do not make staffing decisions based on public popularity,” she noted.

Westcast 2011

Westcast is awesome.
It was a lot of fun, and nice to meet students from other universities. The sessions, keynote speakers, and social events made for a great week/end. Westcast kicked off with a wine and cheese social which was a ton of fun. The dining room was set up nicely to allow for mingling amongst us educators. The game was a fun - definitely a good way for us to meet people from outside our university. And those bacon wrapped steaks... Yum!!
I was able to attend a few great sessions - Inclusion of Deaf Students in the Classroom, Weaving Magic: Using Music with Special Needs Children, Teamwork will 'Get it Done.' and some great keynote speakers, including the inspriational Hannah Taylor
from the Ladybug Foundation. The speaker I definitely enjoyed was Ian Ross. I used to listen to his 'Joe From Winnipeg' on CBC radio back home. I love how personal he made his speech as I find listening to personal stories can be more interesting than just straight lecture.
Hannah Taylor is definitely an inspirational young girl. It's amazing how much she has accomplished in such a short amount of time. I loved hearing her stories of the homeless men and women she has met in her travels. She has quite the heart to be comfortable interacting with the homeless in the way that she does. I admire her.
I love the group of girls I have classes with, and attending the social events with them was a lot of fun. The bud and spud night on thursday was a lot of fun, and we were lucky to have almost our whole class in attendance (Not sure where all the middle and senior years classes were;)...) Playing the Who Wants to be a Millionaire on Friday night was a lot of fun as well, I even dragged my boyfriend out to meet the girls.
I will definitely be attending next years Westcast in Calgary, and I think we are already making plans to attend with our class!
A HUGE thankyou to everyone who organized the event - it must have taken a lot of extra time and effort to put on such a big event.