Superintendent’s Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers:

In the last week, we have settled into winter weather and look forward to winter activities with family and friends. We are also sustaining rich career and trades events, starting innovative literacy programming, and celebrating our Communications Team for winning a national award.

Girls Exploring Trades Technology (GETT)

Over 100 Grades 6-9 students participated in the Girls Exploring Trades and Technology (GETT) event at TRU this week. SD73 Career Development Department in partnership with the TRU School of Trades and Technology leads this event, which is supported by the Industry Training Authority (ITA) and local business and industry sponsors. On Wednesday, students from Vavenby, Clearwater, Barriere, Sun Peaks, Rayleigh and north shore Kamloops schools participated in four, hour-long, hands-on workshops (Welding Fabrication, Electrical, Horticulture and Heavy Duty Mechanic) taught by TRU Red Seal instructors. Students also heard presentations by female tradespersons who shared personal stories of their journeys in order to shed light on the opportunities available to young women pursuing a trades-based career. Female mentors from the Norkam Senior Secondary Trades Sampler program and from TRU Trades and Technology programs accompanied the students throughout the day. On Thursday, students from Logan Lake, Chase, and south shore Kamloops schools participated in the GETT event. A special thanks to Sheila Brown, District Coordinator of Trades and Transitions, for organizing and leading the event. As well, a huge thank you to the instructors from the TRU School of Trades and Technology, and the female trades mentors, who provided a safe, supportive and fun atmosphere for students to experience a variety of skilled trades. Thank you to Director Kielein for sharing this story about Career Development.

Inspiring Students to Thrive in Literacy: Sagebrush Book Awards, K-7 Reading Motivation Program

In our 2022-2027 District Strategic Plan, our district mission is to support learning opportunities and environments to inspire students to thrive. For some students, inspiration comes from reading and for others, it can be hard to be motivated to read.  This new K-7 reading program is designed to captivate readers to read-reflect-vote. Through the leadership of District Coordinator Andrea Wallin, many students who may not have found connections and relationships to characters in stories, SD73 teacher-librarians have introduced a new reading motivation program - the SD73 Sagebrush Book Awards! Read more.

SD73 Communications Team Achieves National Coup de Coeur Award

The Communications team (Manager, Ms. Diana Skoglund; Communications Coordinator, Ms. Jessica Johnson; Website Coordinator, Ms. Jessie Furnell; Graphic Artist, Mr. Cory Edwards) worked with staff, students, and parents from every school experiencing a catchment change to create a welcome video designed to introduce the students to their new setting, to meet the staff and students, and to learn firsthand about their programs. The Canadian Association of Communicators in Education (CACE) BRAVO! Awards, which are the only Canada-wide awards program specifically designed to recognize excellence in school board communications, honored this team with the The Coup de Coeur Award. Thank you to our Communications Team for sharing progress on the Systems Development Priority in the 2022-2027 District Strategic Plan. Read more.

Thank you for all that you do for our community. Enjoy your weekend!

Rhonda Nixon, PhD

Superintendent