Closing out the Year

Hey everybody, this'll be the last or one of the last posts I make here. I have everything that the blog has missed, old and new. As well as a few thank yous. So without further ado:

Kicking Horse Coffee has been a huge help to the leadership class this year and in past years. Follow the link to find out more about it: http://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en

“Our mission is to stimulate the planet with the ultimate wake-up call. We have some big ideas — ideas that go way beyond mere profit. These ideas govern everything we do, from buying only Fair Trade, organic beans to helping sustain our own community.”

One of the many charities we have donated to this past year, The Vulnerable Children Society is doing great things: http://vulnerablechildren.ca/

“Vulnerable Children Society is a vibrant registered Canadian charity managed by a committed group of Canadian volunteers, dedicated to helping some of the most vulnerable children in the world: one by one.”

Encounters Canada provides a chance for students to take part in a youth forum in Ottawa. Erin Hillary and Makayla Wilder took part in this last year.

http://encounterscanada.com/

“Historica-Dominion Institute’s Encounters with Canada (EWC) is the largest youth forum in Canada. It is a one-week citizenship and leadership program held at the Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.”

The Leadership Club has raised money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, as well as volunteering time as models  at the Go-Go Grannies  Pynelogs jewelry show and lunch fund-raiser.  The Foundation sent a letter of recognition to Ms. McEwan acknowledging  DTSS Leadership and its efforts .

http://stephenlewisfoundation.org/

Canadian Network of International Surgery (www.cnis.ca)

DTSS Leadership staffed the massive , movie-industry-sponsored fundraiser  at Granville Island's Performance Works two years in a row, to increase awareness of this NGO, as well as money to counteract the 13% of preventable illness  that Canadian medicos volunteer annually to counteract.

Leadership students Blake Beggs, Holly Glassford, Erin Hillary and  Kyron Weller are among the 2012 grads whose work was crucial to the event's success. Teacher and CNIS volunteer Bev McEwan was co-mc with Global TV's Lynn Collier.

http://www.cnis.ca/what-we-do/public-engagement-in-canada/night-magical-timbuktu/

We’d like to thank the Ganville Island Hotel for sponsoring a fieldtrip to Vancouver this year and another thank you to Kim Dodge, Manager, front office

www.granvilleislandhotel.com

We’d also like to thank our chef training teacher Alison Bell for everything she did for us this year (which was a lot).

Here are some pictures of the EMP literacy project which was chaired by Holly Glassford:

We’d like to thank Mrs.Tenta for letting us do this project

The students went to EMP to teach 2 EMP grade 3 classes, and 1 Laird grade 4 class, the basics of lacrosse, as well as a scrimmage at the end. This was done to leave a legacy of lacrosse with the young students in the valley, in hopes to generate more interest in lacrosse within the valley in the future.

Local Food Bank/Hampers -an agency in Invermere to which Leadership has donated over a thousand dollars over the last few years for for those in need at Christmastime. Money for this came from a combination of Leadership activies, including  Spookapalooza, Community Craft Fair and Snow Ball

The leadership class would also like to thank Invermere for the awesome support we got this year with the craft fair. It was wonderful.

Our mayor Gerry Taft sits outside his restraunt, Gerry’s Gelati

Gerry came in to speak to the class a couple weeks ago

 Thanks Gerry!

Last fall we took some time to help our art teacher Ms.Oliver make soup bowls for the Groundswell sponsored Pumpkinpalooza. The fundraiser ended excellently with most of the bowls made being sold.

 Thanks to Eagle Ranch for donating venue costs to the Leadership Snow Ball proceeds two years in a row.  We love you guys

Plans for next year.

So, the school year is almost over and much of our leadrship class is graduating. As a last hurrah, here are our plans for the summer and next year:

Riley Von Niesson:

Riley von Niessen will be leaving Invermere in the fall to attend the Univeristy of Toronto. Best times in leadership we're going on trips to Vancouver and Toronto for public speaking and volunteering at various events such as the Christmas Craft Fair and chairing the annual seniors tea and a kicking horse coffee fundraiser. As a member of DTSS leadership for two years my time spent volunteering and developing leadership skills has been very rewarding.

Melissa Kashuba: 

My plan this summer is on June 19th, I am going to Beijing, China for almost 2 weeks on the BCCIE (British Columbia International exchange) program. I don't plan on working this summer because I am going to be gone for more than half of it.

     Next year I will be entering grade 12 and I will be volunteering with Colleen Wagner, owner of the Desiderata Health and Wellness studio as a dance instructor for the younger children. In the winter months I will be working part time at the Fairmont Ski Hill Resort for the 2nd year in a row. Next year I also plan to take my NLS so I can work as a life guard the year after I graduate to make money for University.

Blake Beggs:

In the fall I plan to attend SFU to take Criminology. My highlights of leadership include Debate, Debate Camp Canada, Lions Recycle for Sight, The Laird Breakfast Program, and CNIS.

Kyra Grocutt:

Next year, I plan to attend University of Calgary. I will be earning my Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Psychology.

Throughout this year, I have done many projects that I am very proud of. I started off the year by helping with the Breakfast Club program, where we served breakfast for kids at J.A. Laird. It was a great feeling helping them. Next, Jackie Wagner and I organized our school's Remembrance Day Assembly. It was a very taxing and difficult job, but the end result was something I am very proud of. Also with Jackie, in Janurary we visited Eileen Madson Primary School for a week to assist in their intramural program. We helped to teach kids about basketball and was a very positive, fun environment to be in. I've had a great year in leadership.

Blayr Lightfoot:

In the fall of 2012, I will be attending the University of Lethbridge for a bachelor of nursing. It is 4 years, and the first two are at the Lethbridge College. I am looking forward to embarking on this adventure.

The activities I am most proud of this year in leadership are:

- The Breakfast Club because it was really heart warming to see all those kids light up when you walked into the room.

- Reading to the E.M.P. kids, because it was beyond adorable and knowing I was helping them was a good feeling.

- helping with the Snow Ball dance, because it was our last Snow Ball and because we were helping out with the charity as well.

& - The Christmas Craft Fair, because it really got everyone into the christmas spirit and was just an overall fun time! 

Tannis Hemmelgarn:

In Septemer 2012 I will be in Calgary at SAIT taking the Pharmacy Assistant course. I will be living in residence for 6 months until my course is finished.

I am most proud of the event

Community Craft fair 2010/2011

Dove Workshop 2011

Breakfast club 2011

Caoimhe:

In September 2012, I will be attending Mount Royal University in Calgary and living in residence. I will be taking a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and I plan on pursuing a career in Law.

Activities in Leadership that I am most proud of:

1) Winter Formal 2010

2) Dove "I am Beautiful" Workshop 2011

3) Movember 2010-2011

Jacoba Gaspar:

My plan for the summer is to work two seperate jobs, one at Eagle Ranch as a Guest Services Attendent and one at the Pharmasave. With the money I make I plan to buy myself a car.

Holly Glasford:

I will be attending the University of Calgary in September to complete my Bachelors of Education and Bachelors of Sociology, which is a five year program.

Jacqueline Wagner:

In September 2012 I will be living in Denmark with my Danish family. Learning a new language, and culture.

Amanda Elwakeel:

In the Fall semester of 2012 Amanda will be attending Mount Royal University in Calgary Alberta for the Bachelor of Elementary Education Program.

Saywer Ellingboe:

Sawyer Ellingboe will be attending St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia to persue a Bachelor of Arts.

Kate Godlien:

Next year Kate Godlien will be attending the University of Victoria perusing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a minor in professional writing. 

Ciona Thompson:

I will attending U of L (Lethbridge) for a bachelor in Education with a major in Kinesiology, and a minor in outdoor and environment studies.  I hope to work in a secondary school. and continue my volunteer efforts with youth and the communities I will be living in.

Stephan Veit

Next year I will be sitting in Germany, finishing my school there, and making plans on coming back to Canada or exploring the rest of the world.

And then of course, me. Baxter Cranch: 

After a summer of working maintenance on Riverside golf course I will be moving to Vancouver to take a video game art and design course.

Also I have some pictures:

Kyra Grocutt reading at EMP

Breakfast club

Holly Glassford reading at EMP

So there you have. The leadership class' immediate plans.

Massive Update 2.0

First off we have some pictures from our Pink day earlier in the school year:

Second, I have a little mini write for our resident debaters:

"Caoimhe Anderson and Kate Godlien placed first at the Kootenay Regional Debate Winter Classic Tournament in Trail , BC, January 14th.  Both students have qualified for the Law Foundation provincial finals this spring, a first for both DTSS and the East Kootenays."

Photo courtesy of Marilyn Lunde

Next I have another write up from our group who attended the P.A.R.T.Y. program:


"Who: Ciona Thomson, Amanda Elwakeel, Blayr lightfoot.
What/Why: A weekend was spent planning and discussing ways to prevent alcohol and risk related trauma such as drunk driving.
 How: We all took part in team building activities, presentations (both in person and multimedia) and listened stories from local people who have been affected.
When: October 18th 2011
Where: Radium Hot Spring Resort"


Now that we're running close to the second semester everyone has branched off into community outreach projects. The first of which has just ended so here's the write up:

"Who: Kyra, Jackie and Lizz
What: We are assisting Eileen Madsen Primary School with their intramurals basketball program for a week
Where: Eileen Madsen Primary School
When Jan. 16th - 19th during lunch hours
Why: We were approached with an opportunity that would be fun and educational for both ourselves and the students. We agreed that it would be a great way to reach out to the community
How: We will be teaching basic skills, games and drills to the students to improve their abilities in basketball."


That's all for now, look forward to more!

So. Many. Updates.

We've been busy. Very, very busy. Finally though we have a lull and now our dusty blog is going to get some much needed attention. I have so many updates, it's like Christmas.

So we had the Snow Ball, chaired by Holly and Makayla, and this is the write up:

"On December 6th we had our 4th annual Snowball at Eagle Ranch. It was DJ'd by Wil Comrie. The dance was a huge success, raising $1000 after costs. $100 of which was sent to assist the schools in
New Zealand."

Thanks to Eagle Ranch for having us and to Wil for putting up with us.

Next we have the Community Craft fair write up. This one was chaired by Tannis:

"On November 26th, 2011, at the Community Hall we held the Community Craft Fair for the second year. We received a lot of community support and had many vendors who spent the day selling their wares. The leadership class sold chili and baked goods from the school and students. The money we raised went to the Childs Play charity, Food Bank, and to assist New Zealand. In the end we raised about $1,700."

Thanks to all of the vendors who participated.

A write up for the "Movember" 2011 event:

"Movember 2011

When: The whole month of November

Who: Chaired by Sawyer and Coaihme, Co-chaired by Gracy

Where: Invermere, BC. David Thompson, Eddie Mountain Memorial and the Craft Fair

Why: To help raise awareness of prostate cancer in our community, and help raise money for it

What: During the month of November, we were able to raise $1005.25 as a result of the generous support from our community

. The “Movember” campaign, which consists of the male population growing out their facial hair to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer, was a huge success and a ton of fun. Throughout the month, we held puck tosses at the local Jr. B hockey games, sold movember boxers

, had two bake sales with the help of “cupcakes for a cause” that consisted of mustache cookies and other blue baked goods, and finally a “blue day” in which the students of David Thompson Secondary wore blue clothing to promote prostate cancer awareness.

On behalf of the D.T.S.S. Leadership class of 2011, we would like to thank everyone who contributed to our cause including the generous businesses that donated their time and prizes to make this campaign a success.  

Thanks to everybody!

Finally I have beside me the Remembrance Day write up:

"Chair: Jackie
Co-Chair: Kyra
Volunteers: Kate, Blayr, Riley, Blake, Melissa, Jacoba, Caomhe, Julia, Ciona, Tannis, Erin, Amanda, and Holly

What: A Remembrance Day assembly with a veterans tea afterward

When: DTSS Gym

When: November 10th, 2011

\Why: To pay remembrance and respect to the soldiers who fought for Canada

How: Using leadership blocks we contacted the veterans, a bag piper, and trupeteer for the assembly. We also contacted students Jesse and Jared to produce a rememberance day slideshow."

Thanks to everyone who helped and participated.



There we go. Expect more soon.
-Baxter