In attendance:
Teena Kasha, Jenni Thomas (Principal), Shannon Barber (Assistant Principal), Amber Erickson, Alison Eshpeter, Cristin Zimmer, Kara Miller, Kristie Nahajowich, Kirby Schmidt Teigen, Kendra Spiller, Keshia Stefanishion
I. Teena Kasha called to order the regular meeting of the Daysland School Council at 7:03 pm.
II. Open Floor Shout Out – A big thank-you to all of our new members for joining us! Parent Council appreciates everyone who gets involved and helps make our school a wonderful place for our students to learn, grow, and thrive. We’re so glad to have you as part of our school community!
III. Review of Agenda – Kirby moved to accept the agenda. Cristin seconded. All in favour. Motion carried.
IV. Approval of minutes from last meeting –September 16th, 2026, minutes were circulated prior to the meeting. Kirby moved minutes accepted as circulated. Cristin seconded. All in favour. Motion carried.
V. Correspondence –No new correspondence.
VI. Reports
(i) Admin Report
Administrator (Mrs. Barber & Mrs. Thomas)
1. Shout Outs
a) Staff for assisting with Awards Night
2. Staffing Update
a) Kessler Freadrich Maternity leave - interviews are scheduled for tomorrow;
b) Other maternity leaves will be posted in the coming weeks/months.
3. Terry Fox Run
a) We raised over $3000 for the Terry Fox Foundation this year.
b) "Tattoo the Teacher" date will be chosen at our staff meeting on Friday.
4. Professional Development and Staff Collaboration
a) September 25: Camrose for Staff Meeting and Professional Development, with a focus on vocabulary building strategies.
b) October 23: Daysland School for Staff Meeting and Collaboration
5. ACAA Presentations
a) October 26, 2026
i. ACAA (Association of Communities Against Abuse) will be in to present to our students in grade 7-12. They will be organized in the following groups:
1. Grade 7
2. Grades 8-10
3. Grades 11-12
6. Halloween Plans - October 30th
a) Elementary students to get ready following lunch and the tour Providence Place
b) All students will arrive in the gym for the parade at 2:00, prizes and pie throwing to end the day.
7. Remembrance Day
a) November 5, 2026 at 10:30am
b) No Stone Left Alone - TBD
8. Theme Day
a) Mismatched Day - November 5th
b) December themes will be daily in the week before Christmas Break. They will be announced in our newsletter and Weekly Updates.
9. Elementary Literacy and Numeracy Screeners
a) These screeners are now completed and results will be reported to parents prior to the November break.
10. Other Upcoming Dates
a) Grade 9 Take Your Kid to Work Day - November 4th
b) Fall Break for students - November 9th to 13th
c) Christmas Concert - We will discuss at our staff meeting on Friday.
d) Christmas Dinner - Also will be discussed on Friday
(ii) Board Trustee Report - Deanna Maertz
Every month the board highlights are posted publicly on this page of the BRSD website.
(iii) Room Rep Reports
Kindergarten- (submitted by Shannon Wasilenkoff) We’re off to a good start in kindergarten this year. The kinders have quickly learned the routines and expectations in kindergarten which has made for a smooth transition for them all. We went on a nature scavenger hunt around the pond in September and we made a visit to the Daysland fire hall in October. Tomorrow we have our grandparents coming to enjoy an afternoon of centres. We’re going to have a blast and get all our Grannies & Grampies rocking and rolling at the end of the day. It’s gonna be wild! And nobody does wild better than Kindergarten.
Grade 1- (submitted by April Terway)- Our Grade 1 classroom has settled in nicely, and we’re cruising right along on our learning adventure! In Math, we’re building our number sense with base-ten blocks, having fun making bigger numbers and trading rods for cubes as we explore how numbers work. We’re deep into our first Magic Tree House read-aloud and are already eager to dive into the next book, with students predicting what might happen next and sequencing the exciting events in each story. In Science, we’re exploring the scientific method just in time for Halloween, using spooky-themed experiments to make predictions, observe results, and ask curious questions. There’s plenty of curiosity, creativity, and hands-on learning happening in Grade 1, and we’re loving every minute of it! I am so proud of this group of students and how they show up to school everyday eager to learn, show kindness and have fun! I am excited for another great year ahead with some pretty amazing kids!
Grade 2- (submitted by Kara Miller) The Grade 2s are moving right along this October. Everyone is settling into the routines and the expectations for Grade 2. We have been reviewing our letter sounds with UFLI, started our writing unit about Informational Texts and have been working really hard on learning Place Value up to 1000. We have begun our Ninja Math challenge and everyone is excited to earn a new belt each week while practicing our basic addition facts. I am loving getting to know the new Grade 2 students and we are having fun learning together.
Grade 3- (submitted by Keshia Stefanishion) All is well in Grade 3. We are finishing Place Value in Math and constructing replicas of different Albertan landmarks in the makerspace for Social Studies. Thank you all for volunteering this year to serve on Parent Council!
Grade 4- (submitted by Kendra Spiller) We have settled into our classroom routines and are well in the swing of things in Grade 4! In Science, we have started our Forces unit, where we will be learning all about magnetic and gravitational forces. Students have also been doing great in Math as we finish up our Place Value and Decimals unit. We look forward to starting our first novel study, City of Ember! We are excited to continue building our skills and exploring new topics together
Grade 5- (submitted by Kristie Nahajowich) Grade 5 students: We are enjoying volleyball in gym and the new nets for the stage, centre court and by the bleachers. We started a novel study called Holes. We have started working on our Legion Remembrance Day poster, essay and poem contest entries.
Grade 6- (submitted by Amber Erickson) Things are going great in Grade 6! In ELA, we have been learning about figurative language, poetry, and morphology. In Social Studies, we have been learning about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and how democracy works in Canada. We are getting ready to wrap up this unit with a test soon. In Math, we have been working hard on adding and subtracting integers and are nearing the end of our unit. Students are becoming more confident working with positive and negative numbers! In Science, we have just kicked off our Climate unit, where we will be exploring weather patterns, climate, and the factors that influence our changing environment. One of the highlights of our day has been our class read-aloud, Two Degrees by Alan Gratz. This action-packed novel follows three different groups of young people facing extreme weather events, including a wildfire, a hurricane, and a polar bear encounter in the Arctic. The stories are full of suspense and connect perfectly with our new Science unit as we explore the impacts of climate change. We are hooked and can't wait to find out what happens next! Coming up, we will also be putting our creativity to work as we begin making Remembrance Day posters and writing poems for the Royal Canadian Legion's annual contest.
Grade 7- (submitted by Kirby Schmidt Teigen) In math, we are piloting the new curriculum and it’s going great! We started off the year with Integers and are almost finished our unit on Perfect Squares and Cubes. In science we are wrapping up our first unit on ecosystems. The grade seven’s are learning about food webs, relationships between animals, and how humans affect the environment. We are also testing out quadrats in the field on October 21st to practice sampling like scientists! The students have lots of background knowledge on the topics and have contributed great discussions. In ELA we are working on a thematic unit of twist endings. We are also working on a writing program called Empowering Writers. We are having a spelling test every week, with a pre test on Mondays and test on Fridays. Everything we do is on classroom, so if you would like to see our work, ask your child to log on to classroom. In Social we are learning about the beginnings of Canada and have been studying three First Nations groups and how they interacted with early European explorers.
Grade 8/9- (submitted by Cristin Zimmer) In Ela we are making a book about suspense. In math we completed our unit on the order of operations and fractions and did a unit test. In social we are doing a civics program to learn more about the Alberta referendum. In science we are having a test on science stuff. In Industrial Arts we are learning carving and wood burning. Everyone enjoyed going to the Citadel to see Murder on The Orient Express and some Grade 9s are not looking forward to getting their grade 9 vaccinations this week.
Grade 10- (submitted by Alison Eshpeter) Mrs. V. Zimmer-The Grade 10's are working through Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" in ELA. As a class, we voted about whether we should study novels independently, where they choose the novels they study, or together as a class, and it was exactly a split vote, so we are going to do both! This book helps us discuss many different issues in society while creating opportunities for all kinds of projects to develop our ideas and understanding.
Mrs. Walker- In Math 10, students have just finished up the algebra and number unit. We’re starting our next unit on relations and functions. In the first chapter, we’ll be looking at how to describe relations and interpret graphs.
Grade 11- (submitted by Teena Kasha) Mrs. Walker- In Bio, we have just started our human body systems unit. We will start by exploring the digestive and respiratory systems over the next few weeks. In Physics, students are studying projectile motion and have spent the past few days building and testing catapults. Our next unit will be looking more closely at the forces acting on objects in motion. In Physics 20, students are studying projectile motion and have spent the past few days building and testing catapults. Our next unit will be looking more closely at the forces acting on objects in motion.
Grade 12- (submitted by Alison Eshpeter) Mrs. V Zimmer In ELA 30, the Gr 12's are currently studying the non-fiction book, "Everything is Tuberculosis" by John Green. We listen to the author narrate it in class aloud and respond in many different ways to show comprehension of the text - writing, posters, discussions, and using visuals. It's a great book to explore a topic most have no experience with.
Mrs. M Zimmer- In Math 30, students will be writing their unit exams on Exponential and Logarithmic Functions next week. After these exams, we will have completed 3 of the 7 units in Math 30-1 and 3 of the 6 units in Math 30-2!
New business: none to be reported.
Adjournment: 7:29
Next Meeting: November 18th, 2026, 7:00 pm. Daysland School Learning Commons
