STETTLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- Happy Thanksgiving and we sincerely hope that all of our students enjoyed the extra long weekend. As well we hope that all families had an opportunity to enjoy turkey, good conversation, and lots of reasons to be thankful on Monday, Oct. 10.
On Friday, Oct. 7, our students were able to sleep in while the staff took park in several professional development activities. It was a very good use of time and our staff learned a great deal on that day.
Earlier last week we had several happenings around the school. 2DB met their September reading goal, and therefore were able to celebrate with a popcorn party on Monday. Also on that day our kindergarten scarecrows took the school by storm, and a team from Hour Zero and district office worked with us during the afternoon to help ensure everything is in place for us to be safe in all situations. From this work, we will be making a few small changes to our fire drills and will be participating in lockdown drills in the near future as well. As mentioned last week, our grade one teachers hosted a Home Reading Parent Information Night and we had a great turnout on that night.
On Wednesday, Teresa Baltimore from the fire department came to our school to teach the kindergarten children about fire safety and prevention, in preparation for Fire Safety Week, which is being celebrated this week. The children learned how to stop, drop and roll, received many useful tips and information to take home, and had their many questions answered. Students even got to take home their very own fire hat. Thank you, Teresa, for providing this opportunity for our students.
On Thursday, 37 Stettler Elementary School cross-country runners stepped off the bus in Castor to the sight of their breath. However, there were no complaints and the kids were excited to run in their third meet of the year. This was an awesome experience for many of our runners as it gave them a chance to figure out how to pace themselves. In the grades 4-5 fun run, we had 15 runners take part. Coach Poapst estimated the times of the students before everyone was back from the walk through. Stefan Oprea finished first with Hayden Baker and Coen Hagel close behind. Look out for these boys in high school track.
Ellery Robbins also had an outstanding run as she needed to do some catch up since they started the race a little too quickly. Kristin Forseth and Drew Turnbull were are other Grade 5 girls who ran at a great pace. As well, SES took two grade three students who are exceptional runners. Kyler Cornelsen and Summer Greiner finished in the top ten in the fun run and they were only one second apart in their finish. Awesome work girls!
We can also be proud of our Grade 4 boys. Philippe Barrette, Dilion Latham, and Easton Scheerschmidt impressed their coaches all year with their continued improvement and great work ethic. Amy Kirby and Sam McNeil had personal best times and finished with smiles on their faces. Ava Greiner had a second place finish in Camrose two weeks ago, but did not fair so well this week. As the other girls crossed the finish line, we could not help but wonder where Mya Prehn was. The course was a bit rough and unfortunately Mya took a spill and hurt her hip. Ava stayed back with her to make sure she was okay, which explained her slower than usual finish. Team first!!! We are so proud of our students and it is exactly for reasons like this that we continue to brag about them.
Grade 6 runners were timed and competed for best run, ribbons, and t-shirts. 16 SES Grade six girls left from the starting line. Top runner from Stettler Elementary was Kate Bradford winning a new shirt for her third place finish. Charlee Resch was sixth and Zoe Norman came in tenth. Again we admire how these girls who are such positive ambassadors for our school. Lexi Strandquist (23), Hannah Kneeland (30), Bianca Brugman (17) Ashley Lang (24) Presley Ternes (18), Mackenzie Miller (11), Kira Johnson (27), and Gabby Oprea (26) were the other girls who represented our school in a very positive manner. All of these ladies improve every time they run. Great job, ladies.
Other participants that we admire for their running and determination include Hannah Sorensen, Kristin Miller, Jillian Hushagen, Kohle Perrin, and Jenna Cook. We had six Grade 6 gentlemen also take part in the CARA cross-country run, and they truly are gentlemen. These young men have been so fun to watch this whole season. Will Jackson led the race for almost the entire race, but he took the last corner a little wide and Reid Shirley passed him. He didn't want to, but after all it was a race and Reid did what he had to to become the CARA champ in that age group. However, as he passed Will, you could hear him say, "Good job Reid!" Again this is sportsmanship and it's another of those things that make us proud. These boys push each other to compete hard, but always have fun doing so. Quinn Hansel also had a strong run with a fifth place finish. Kaiden Muhlbach had a great run as well with an eleven place finish and Brogan Hooper was not far behind. Liam Latham rounded out our team of Grade 6 boys and had one of his best runs this year. This was very admirable since it is such a hilly course. Cross-country running will come to a close for the season with all students participating in a turkey trot on Thursday. The grade 6 students will run in period 6 followed by the 4s in period 7 and then the Grade 5 will trot in the last class of the day. Great season cross-country runners! You have represented SES and Stettler in a very positive manner and we are very proud of you.