In August 2019, a group of people came together under the sun to cut sod, pound dirt, and build a strange, octagon-shaped structure. These volunteers were comprised of alumni and staff, and they were working to build the Class of 2019’s Grad Gift – a GaGa Ball pit.

As a school community, we weren’t yet familiar with the concept of GaGa Ball. Known as a softer form of dodgeball, GaGa Ball is is played by ducking and dodging a soft foam ball aimed below one’s knees. Games are short, face-paced, and an enormous amount of fun.

Lunch time and recess is often filled with cheers and groans all coming from the pit located just off the Multipurpose Room. Head of Physical Education Tracy Sullivan describe it as a welcome, and needed, addition to the school experience:

The GaGa Ball pit has been such a great addition to our school. The Grads of 2019 gave our students a way to be active at recess, and learn how to problem solve together. The GaGa Ball pit gets more use than anything else on the playground because it is so fun! We are so lucky to have it.

In terms of a legacy, this student-given gift to students is a great example of altruism. For the graduating class, their time at Calgary Academy was largely over, but they wanted to leave a gift to benefit the students that would follow after them. The GaGa Ball pit is now a staple of out outdoor time at Calgary Academy, and continues to be used safely even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

This feature is one of a weeklong celebration of altruism at Calgary Academy! Altruism, the heart of our REACH Principles, is a concern for the welfare of others, and the CA community exemplifies this in may ways. Each day this week we will feature an example of our community giving back – either by volunteering their time, leaving a legacy, or making a generous donation. We’re asking all parents to help spread the word by sharing the link with friends and family, making a donation, or by submitting an impact story on the difference CA has made in your family’s life. Learn more at give.calgaryacademy.com.

Throughout September, our forest was filled with activity as students and staff worked to clear three areas within the aspen trees to encourage students to spend time outside. At the same time, work was underway on the elementary side of the school to create an actual outdoor classroom for our youngest learners as well.

With a campus that borders the mountains and is surrounded by aspen trees, it’s no surprise that there’s always been a passion for moving learning outdoors, and the encouragement to get outside this fall only spurred the desire to create outdoor learning spaces.

Thanks to a dedicated group of passionate staff, and the ongoing support of students to maintain the Outdoor Learning Circles, the aspen forest has housed many classes ranging from topics such as reading time, mindfulness, and more. For the outdoor classroom, a small group of generous individuals and businesses provided the materials needed for a creative learning space.

We can give of our time, our talents, or our treasure, and these outdoor spaces are an example of all three!

This feature is one of a weeklong celebration of altruism at Calgary Academy! Altruism, the heart of our REACH Principles, is a concern for the welfare of others, and the CA community exemplifies this in may ways. Each day this week we will feature an example of our community giving back – either by volunteering their time, leaving a legacy, or making a generous donation. We’re asking all parents to help spread the word by sharing the link with friends and family, making a donation, or by submitting an impact story on the difference CA has made in your family’s life. Learn more at give.calgaryacademy.com.

In the midst of this ongoing global pandemic, our attention seems constantly drawn to headlines about COVID-19. But the challenges that existed before COVID-19 remain today, and a committed group of students were not going to leave their community behind.

A core part of Grade 10 culture at Calgary Academy, altruism projects typically see students travel into the community to lend their hands to a variety of local non-profits. However, this year students have been restricted to events on campus for their health, and the health of the agencies they’d typically support. Undeterred, the Grade 10 group looked for other ways to help the community, and today’s showcase is the Jacket Racked coat drive, which wrapped up on Friday, November 27.

Throughout November, the students encouraged the school community to donate gently used jackets, snow pants, toques, and mittens to families that cannot afford new ones.​ Judging by the enormous pile of bags stuffed with warm winter clothes, they succeeded!

This feature is one of a weeklong celebration of altruism at Calgary Academy! Altruism, the heart of our REACH Principles, is a concern for the welfare of others, and the CA community exemplifies this in may ways. Each day this week we will feature an example of our community giving back – either by volunteering their time, leaving a legacy, or making a generous donation. We’re asking all parents to help spread the word by sharing the link with friends and family, making a donation, or by submitting an impact story on the difference CA has made in your family’s life.

Learn more at give.calgaryacademy.com.

On Sunday, we kick-off a weeklong celebration of altruism at Calgary Academy! Each day we will feature an example of our community giving back – either by volunteering their time, leaving a legacy, or making a generous donation. We’re asking all parents to help spread the word by sharing the link with friends and family, making a donation, or by submitting an impact story on the difference CA has made in your family’s life.

Every teacher brings a lifetime of experiences from before and beyond their classroom to school, and for Grade 10 teacher Charlotte Nixon, it’s her record as a published and celebrated playwright. Earlier in 2020, she began work planning a one-act traveling play, following the success of her January production Frog Prince: The Musical.

Like everyone around the world, her plans were impacted when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Travelling plays would prove problematic in a cohorted world. Harder still would be in-person cast rehearsals and performances. So, she pivoted and turned a live, one-act concept into an animated film, and Nutty C and the Perfect Tree was born.

Charlotte notes, “when we think about what makes the perfect Christmas, it’s often the presents being nicely wrapped, or a lovely tree – everything as it “should” be. Often, the striving for perfect ends up underscoring the true meaning of Christmas and leaving someone out.”

Produced by SideNote Theatre, Nutty C and the Perfect Tree is about misguided tree ornaments desperately trying to achieve the “perfect” Christmas, and how the goal of perfection often ends up being what ruins Christmas. The musical features a whole cast of larger than life characters, but one in particular stands out, both for the character itself, and the actor picked to play, Pickle with Pizazz.

“I knew right away I wanted Thomas to try out for the role,” Ms. Nixon says. “I tried all summer to contact him and reached him just in time for auditions.”

Thomas, a Grade 12 student at Calgary Academy, has amassed a significant theatre background during his time at the school acting in and supporting junior and senior productions. Even further, he identified with Pickle and could bring a depth of understanding and knowing to such an important role.

Thomas only had 48 hours to learn the script, record his audition, and send it in on time. Luckily, he was offered the part only a few days later. COVID-19 continued to impact the development of this film, and the cast conducted rehearsals remotely via Zoom.

“There was a huge learning curve as we got used to rehearsing via Zoom, but in the end, it was almost better than in person, as I could see the other cast member’s full faces and reactions,” Thomas comments. “I loved being part of such an inclusive community, in a community of actors and crew who were so supportive of one another. Hurdles weren’t seen as problems but obstacles we could adapt to and overcome. We learned not to be afraid of changing things, and it turns out there is so much you can do with the recorded experience.

The cast in fact was only together in person to record a soundtrack, which was done while physically distanced and masked. Since the recording wrapped, it’s been a mad dash to production, and so Thomas and Ms. Nixon saw Nutty C for the first time alongside audiences when livestreaming began on November 24.

Nutty C and the Perfect Tree will be available for live streaming November 24 – December 31. 

For more Information on the production and to purchase live streaming tickets, visit Side Note Theatre’s Nutty Can and the Perfect Tree page

Agenda

1. Welcome/ Call to Order
2. Approval of the Agenda
3. Chair Report- Carolyn Whitelaw
4. Reports:
a. Volunteer Update – Shannyn De Kruyff
b. Principal Update – Tim Carlson
c. Student Council Co-Chairs (CASE) – Thomas D. and Zoe T.
d. Sports Update – Nick Waterbury
e. Lindsey Meredith and Tim Carlson
– Survey Measures and Results Spring 2020

5. Next Meeting- January 18,2021 6:30pm
6. Future Agenda Items
7. Q &A
8. Thank you/ Adjournment

For the last 12 years, each October our school community brings 24 high school volleyball teams together to celebrate the empowerment of young women during the annual Dig Pink volleyball tournament. Over the course of two days, the teams battle it out to see who will claim the title of tournament champion, while wearing pink, raising funds for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, and showcasing their commitment to their sport and altruistic spirit. Our entire school jumps on board to support this important cause for breast cancer research. Hundreds of students pack our gymnasium for a pep rally that highlights the importance of altruism, and we spend an entire week reflecting on how breast cancer has impacted our individual lives, and how we as a community can help make positive change.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of that tournament. But Dig Pink at CA is about so much more than a volleyball tournament, and our community is resilient. Today kicks off a week-long spirit week, and our mission to support the Alberta Cancer Foundation is more important than ever.

Here is a breakdown of some of the events and activities throughout the week:

• Dig Pink Buttons and Disposable Masks – These will be dropped off to homerooms early in the week. Students can wear these on Friday, October 23.
• Dig Pink Silent Auction: October 19 – 23 – Our silent auction is now live! The auction runs for two weeks and has a huge variety of items and experiences available to bid on. All proceeds support the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
• Clothing Sale: October 19 – 23 – A limited number of Dig Pink hats, hoodies, cloth masks, and colour changing mugs will be available to purchase all week during lunch time at the High School front office.
• Crave Cupcake Day: Thursday, October 22 – Cupcakes will be on sale at lunch times in the MPR. All proceeds go to support Dig Pink and the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
• Classroom Contest: Friday, October 23 – Show your support and wear pink! The best dressed class will win a prize. Teachers will submit a full class photo on Friday for the virtual rally that morning.
• Dig Pink Day: Friday, October 23 – There will be a virtual rally from 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. The school will be decorated and all students and staff are encouraged to show their support and wear pink!

Keep reading and make sure to check our social media channels regularly, as we’ll be sharing a new story each day that showcases our community connections, brings back familiar faces, and celebrates our student athletes!

This year’s event aims to raise $4,000 from donations and clothing sales, and we need your help! Please click the Make a Donation button to Alberta Cancer Foundation.

DONATE NOW VIEW AUCTION

Back in 2017, when we envisioned what 2021 could look like, none of us could have predicted the massive disruption to teaching, learning, and life that COVID-19 would have. But we knew the areas we wanted to get stronger as an organization and we put the plan in place to get there. Our developments in learning supports, agile instruction, enhancement in technology, and all of the other learning and strategies we worked on these past years positioned us to be able to take on the abrupt change in the world around us. This time it was COVID-19. Next time, it will be something different.

Today, we launch the process for reimagining our future. What will 2025 look like? What do we need to get stronger in, to be able to face whatever comes next?

That’s the conversation we are about to embark on as a community. Over the next five months, we’ll be asking all members of our community to share their hopes and dreams for the future – for themselves, this school, and teaching and learning in general.

We’ll take these hopes and dreams and start to shape them into three distinct Strategic Plans. One each for Calgary Academy, Headwater Learning Solutions, and Headwater Learning Foundation.

While we won’t be having these conversations in the same room over four full days like last time, we will be utilizing all of the digital tools we’ve so recently become masters of. This will be a decentralized process, with opportunities to engage virtually and in small groupings of less than 20.

For now, all we ask is you start thinking about 2025. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be reaching out for specific feedback, and the details of the schedule is included below.

• October: Surveys
• November: Focus Groups
• December: Summary Report
• January: Community Connection
• February: Detailed Implementation
• March: Draft Plans Unveiling

This work is being shepherded by a Strategic Planning Task Force. Under the direction of Dr. Greg Bass, a collection of staff have been assembled who represent long time and newer staff, instructional and non-instructional, and a diverse blend of teaching backgrounds. Thank you to each of the members below for their dedication to the strategic planning process!

Michelle Atkinson
Betty Braithwaite
Keith Madge
Lindsey Meredith
Paula Munoz
Natalie Vardabasso
Nick Waterbury

We are delighted to announce that longtime CA teacher and instructional leader Maureen Kelly Gibson has been recognized with the highest award given to teachers in Canada, as one of nine educators receiving the National Certificate of Excellence from the Prime Minister’s Award (PMA) for Teaching recipient.

Maureen was selected for remarkable achievements in education and for commitment to preparing students for a digital and innovation-based economy. For Maureen, the award recognizes her incredible contributions to CA over her career with us. This includes her expertise in remedial reading instruction, her contributions to the CA Learning Model and Kindergarten program, and her many examples of outstanding classroom experiences for her students.

The committee receives thousands of applications for this award yearly, and uses dozens of different readers and judges to come to a conclusion of the finalists and eventual winners. Thank you, Maureen, for representing Calgary Academy and for the many years of service to our school and to thousands of children that have come through our doors.

You can read the full announcement and details of her recognition here:

Award Announcement

Some of you may have noticed small clearings in the woods adjacent to the playing fields. A small group of passionate staff have worked to build outdoor spaces that encourage students to be outside more often, are conducive to learning, and, that offer a less prohibitive space to learn and play.

Each circle has been cleared of debris, but will retain its natural character. Simple wooden stools will provide seating. Our Grade 12 students have been divided into teams, and each team is responsible for a circle — clearing, cleaning, making the stools, and maintaining the circle. They are tasked with naming their circle, electing a visual recorder of the process, and electing a team foreman who will liaise with the General Contractor — a staff representative.

There are three circles in the West Woods. The outer two circles have 20 stools each, while the inner has been left for more creative activities. There are also three circles in the East Woods, with the circle closest to the pump track left creative; the next two have 10 stools each, built slightly smaller for younger legs. The stools are cabled together so they can be moved but not removed. These outdoor spaces will serve as a great space for class discussions and more open ended, activity oriented lessons. The Grade 12 students hope students and staff will use and enjoy their creations – and classes already are!