Chinook's Edge Teachers Welcome You

OUR DISTRICT AT A GLANCE

There are about 600 TFE Chinook's Edge teachers who teaching 10,000 students at over 40 schools in Central Alberta. We take in River Glenn school in Red Deer, and go as far as Carstairs and Cremona in the south. Sylvan Lake forms our western boundary, and we go east to Elnora.

We strive for excellence in education.

Our children are a priceless investment,

Not a liability.

Schools are the hope of the future,

Not a business.

Children are the Alberta Advantage

We have a responsibility to advocate on their behalf.

Jim Gibbons, Superintendent, Bob Worsfold, ATA President and Doug Wagstaff, Board Chair together at the System Wide PD Day held in Sylvan Lake. CESD has a successful working model where all stakeholders share and support the system wide PD Day and all CESD staff participate in professional learning activities. Frederick the penguin is the ATA Professional Development Mascot representing the idea that change in education requires change in professional learning. Penguins have to adapt to live in todays world - so do we!

Teachers of Chinook’s Edge School Division are getting more involved in community by buying backpacks of school supplies; supporting local charities; and sending kids to camp. Chinook’s Edge also has a joint sponsorship program in play with the Canadian Mental Health Association. “We know that it takes a whole village to raise a child, and children need more than just our support at school. Schooling is important, but so is the teacher’s role in community”, said Chinook’s Edge Teachers Local #17 communications officer Charles Silk. Grant money received from the Alberta Teacher’s Association is being put back into the community through local programs.

Chinook’s Edge Local #17 Local Communications Officer Charles Silk has three community involvement initiatives on the go under the slogan “Community Involvement – Catch The Spirit” Under the first initiative, at the start of the year, six students are discretely given much needed backpacks full of school supplies. “Each year our local gives to a different school division. Both teachers and kids love the program. The hard part is deciding who gets to hand out the backpacks and who to give them to”, said Charles Silk. As part of the second initiative, teachers are encouraged to form teams and sponsor local fund raising efforts. In the Big Brothers & Sisters Bowl for Kids program a teacher team participated. Chinook’s Edge teachers Local #17 sponsors a team and donates $100 towards the cause. In the most recent Bowl for Kids event the team itself raised $870 for Big Brothers. For the third initiative, Chinook’s Edge Teachers Local #17 has teamed up with the Canadian Mental Association to provide funds to help pay for summer camp registration. Chinook’s Edge Local #17 provides free pens with the slogan “Speak Up For Mental Health” that promote the Canadian Mental Health Association website (www.reddeer.cmha.ab.ca). As well, the local helps with some financing so that up to six kids who apply to CMHA can save $75 each off registration to a summer camp of their choice. Campers can apply to some camps, such as Kasota East Camp (http://www.kasotaeastcamp.org/) to match the discount. This means a potential savings of $150 per camper. For more information contact the Canadian Mental Health Association. Just do it! Catch the spirit and get involved in your community.

Click on the SCHOOL COMMUNITY menu tab above to see how you can participate.