Superintendent’s Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers:

This has been an exciting time of learning and preparing for celebrations and sports events in the District. Thank you for the work that you do to connect with students and to nurture their well-being – one of our core values in the 2022-2027 District Strategic Plan.

Dallas Elementary School – April 15, 2025

Principal Orr and Vice Principal Nixon started our visit by sharing their “Students of the Month” bulletin board, which displays students’ pictures and names who have been honoured by their classes for virtues such as “sportsmanship” and “responsibility”. Students are nominated by others who witness acts that show these values. Ms. Nixon said, “Parents have started attending the celebrations and everyone really enjoys it.” Mr. Orr added, “It has been a surprise because we don’t tell students ahead of time, but now when they see their parents, they know they are getting an award, and it builds a sense of pride within the families and school community.”

The day starts with BOKS (a physical activities program supported by Healthy Schools BC). Grade 6 and 7 classes played a “rock, paper, scissors” relay in the gym, where each member of the team ran to meet an opponent in the middle of the gym and played a round of “rock, paper, scissors” while doing different physical activities (push-ups) until one person wins. It is an active way to start the day, and it is also a lot of fun. After 30 minutes, the Grade 6-7 students go to class and Grade 4-5 students come in to engage in a BOKS activity. BOKS has been associated with students improving their focus, mental health, and social relationships.

Mr. Ruddick had students practice their fluency with multiplication facts on a wheel, and students were checking their answers prior to going to BOKs.

Mrs. Kolasa’s Grade 6-7 class had just returned from BOKs and started by sharing the “Good Dog of the Day” story. In this case, Mrs. Kolasa said, “Today, our story is about Winston AKA Kitty.” Students enjoyed learning about a classmate’s pet, before starting their math lesson about fractions. She explained, “I like to start with a story,” and she shared, “It is Hudson’s birthday, and every student will get half a cake, and there are three students who cannot have any.” They drew pictures of the cakes and then divided them in half and determined the improper and mixed fractions that represented how many pieces of cake were eaten. The students used white boards and visuals to figure out the answers to Mrs. Kolasa’s questions.

As we walked to the next class, Mr. Orr pointed out their Dallas Hockey League bulletin board that showed how a lot of students play hockey intramurals. The students are also very involved in swimming and flag football and are gearing up to host a big Parloff event in partnership with Juniper Ridge Elementary.

We spent time in the library where primary students were working one-on-one with support practicing letter sounds. We also saw the last display left in the library from the Science Fair, and Mr. Orr noted, “The Grade 6-7 students were involved in the Science Fair and this library was filled with projects.”

In Ms. Chapman’s Grade 1-2 class, they were sitting in a circle on the carpet and practicing from the Heggerty resource. Ms. Chapman would prompt the students. For example, “How would you say ‘howl’ without the ‘l’ sound?” and the students would respond in unison, “how”. Students are learning how to listen and imagine new words from the one shared based on letter sounds left off the new word.

Mrs. Brar’s Grade 5-6 class was studying angles and they got into small groups and used tape to create shapes that had different angles (e.g., acute, obtuse, right). Some used the wall and others the desks and floor. They practiced with protractors of different sizes to measure the angles and then record them. It was an engaging way to have students apply their knowledge. These students also run the “Snack Shack” at the school. They handle the money and ensure healthy snacks are available. Mr. Orr reinforced, “This is such a help to the school community through the student and staff leadership. The students just love it!”

Ms. Pearson’s Grade 2 class was also studying measurement using large and small rulers and some played math games with cards when they were finished.

Mrs. Watson’s Kindergarten students were looking for Easter words and they had to find as many as possible and when they found one. Mrs. Watson reminded them, “Sound it out, say it, clap it, write it.” They worked hard in partners and small groups to find all of the words.

Mrs. Thompson’s Grade 3 class was focused on “Spring Egg-citement”, and Esme and Maddy shared the incubator with the eggs in it. As students reviewed the lifecycle of a chicken. Mrs. Thompson had students share their poetry. All of them had written haikus (5 syllables on the first line, 7 syllables on the second line, and 5 syllables on the third line) written about nature, and they also wrote the opposite (lowku).

Mrs. Kaczur’s Grade 3-4 class was studying fiction and non-fiction text features, and groups of students shared their results. They shared what was the same or different between fiction and nonfiction texts.

Students Dig Into Career Exploration at Heavy Metal Rocks – April 9-12, 2025

For 17 years, the Kamloops-Thompson School District’s Heavy Metal Rocks program has been offering hands-on career exploration experiences for students interested in careers in trades. This year, thirty-two Grade 11 and 12 students participated from secondary schools across the District, gaining valuable experience operating heavy machinery with one-to-one guidance and mentorship from certified operators. Willow Hart, a Grade 11 student at NorKam Secondary, described her experience at Heavy Metal Rocks as “really fun. It was interesting to be able to work on the machines with a bit of freedom.” Read more.

SKSS Destination Imagination Team Wins at Provincials – April 12, 2025

On Saturday, April 12, 2025, a team of South Kamloops Secondary School (SKSS) students became provincial champions at the 2025 Destination Imagination Provincial Tournament in North Vancouver. The SKSS team won first in the Instant Challenge, first place in the main World Beyond Science Challenge, and earned a Special Award for the team that showed the true spirit of Destination Imagination, by showcasing creativity, communication, collaboration, and problem solving. Grade 12 student Sadie Baker also received one of three Destination Imagination Scholarships. Congratulations to the SKSS team, including students Sadie Baker (Grade 12), Oscar Firth-Gieben (Grade 12), Martin Gjaltema (Grade 11), Calliope Leadbetter (Grade 11), Delainey Rusk (Grade 9), Harper Marchand (Grade 9), and Emma Willms (Grade 9), as well as teacher, Ms. Brandi Rusk, and teacher candidate, Giovanni Trotta. Read more.

Students Win Silver and Bronze Medals at Skills BC Provincials – April 16, 2025

On Wednesday, April 16, 2025, several students from across the Kamloops-Thompson School District competed at the Skills Canada BC Provincial Competitions at TradeX Exhibition Centre in Abbotsford. Congratulations to all the students who qualified for provincials and to the following students who earned provincial medals: Rayna Blondal (TREC) and Tarynne Gray (NorKam Secondary) won Silver in the 2D Animation competition, Ariana Groess and Alyssa Smith (Brocklehurst Secondary) won Silver in the Jr. Skills Spaghetti Bridge competition, John Tompkins (Chase Secondary) won Silver and Jensen Webster (Chase Secondary) won Bronze in the Jr. Skills Sumo Robot competition, and McKinley Journey (SKSS) won Bronze in the Carpentry competition. Read more.

Board Notes

To learn more about the Regular Public Board meeting on April 7, 2025, please read Board Notes here. To learn more about the 2025-2026 Preliminary Budget, watch the presentation from April 9, 2025 here. Feedback on the Preliminary 2025-2026 Budget is due by April 21, 2025 – learn more here.

As we end this week, about to enter into the Easter long weekend, I hope that you have plans to enjoy time outside and with family.

Rhonda Nixon, PhD
Superintendent