Page 20 - june 23, 2016 - martensville messenger
Complete Automotive and Tire Service Centre
Open 8-5:30 Monday - Friday
109 Centennial Dr. North, Martensville
Accredited
306.975.2140
All school submissions provided by VHS, VMS and MHS
ABOVE: For the 3rd time in the last 5 years, Venture Heights Girls Bantam Track & Field Team won the
Division Track aggregate. A total of 35 schools participated in this event at Griffiths Stadium on May
27th. Way to go girls!
2016 Taste Of Valley Manor
ABOVE, RIGHT & BELOW: On Thursday and Friday the gym and tarmack
were packed full of people looking for something good to eat. Grade 8
students have been busy for months learning the ins and outs of starting a
business. Students then had to come up with their own business plan and
see if they could bring it to life. All students were successful and learned
valuable lessons about the business world.
Marcy Cross, Martensville Messenger
Students at Valley Manor
Elementary School held
their 2nd annual ‘Taste of
VMS’ Thursday, June 16
and Friday, June 17. The
grade 8 classes took on
the challenge of putting
together a business and
preparing food for the
sale.
Thursday
brought
us a cool day, with
rain and wind, which
forced the event into
the gym; however that
didn’t stop hordes of
hungry customers from
indulging in the variety
of options made available
to them. People could be
ABOVE: Volunteer Appreciation Tea at Venture Heights – we
really do appreciate all our volunteers. Thank you so much!!!
Prairie Spirit School Division Update
Lacie Munholland,
Martensville Messenger
Prairie
Spirit
School
Division is facing the job
cuts we’ve been expecting
for months. The Division
will see 14 teachers and
60 educational assistants
losing their jobs. The 14
teachers will lose their
jobs through attrition,
whereas the 60 educational
assistants will l ose their
jobs through layoffs and
attrition.
Back in March, Division
employees
received
a written warning of
potential job cuts due to
a $3 million shortfall in
the budget. Prairie Spirit
School Division has 45
schools in 28 communities,
serving 10,000 students
(this number is rising).
These cuts mean remaining
educational assistants will
be out of the classrooms
they’re used to and placed
with ‘red zone’ students.
This means students in
mainstream
classrooms
face less access to the
support from educational
assistants that they are used
to. This also means more
work for teachers, as they
will be without the support
of educational assistants as
well.
The staff payroll at PSSD
makes up around 70 per
cent of the overall budget.
It has been stated that the
payroll is the last place
that cuts can be made in
an attempt to balance the
budget once again. Prairie
Spirit made $4.6 million
in cuts in the 2015-2016
budget, ultimately covering
a $2.5 million deficit.
CUPE Local 4254, which
represents 493 workers
in Prairie Spirit School
Division, has launched
a post card campaign
against education cuts.
Grace Wudrick, President
of CUPE Local 4254
comments on the cuts:
“These cuts mean less
support in the classroom
for students who are
struggling.
With
less
support for vulnerable
students, all students
feel the consequences.”
The campaign starts with
the mail out of 12,000
postcards to the Prairie
Spirit School Division
area.
Residents
are
encouraged to contact
their MLA and Premier
Brad Wall regarding the
educational cuts.
RIGHT: VHS had 32 students
competing in the Triathlon
held in Dundurn. The weather
was great, the kids did great,
and fun was had by all.
seen making their way
around the edges of the
gym to enjoy chocolate sun
cakes, hot dogs and many
more amazing treats.
Friday turned into a
beautiful summer day,
and the festivities moved
outside, with face painting
and treats available for
all that attended. Families
could be seen taking
advantage of the summer
weather by enjoying a
picnic.
Students learned valuable
lessons about business and
customer service throughout
the two day event.
ABOVE: Dundurn Elementary School puts on a Try-All-Athon for
the whole school at the Military Base outside of Saskatoon. The
students swam, biked and then ran various distances depending
on their grade level. All of the students had fun, tried their best
and had the opportunity to try a new sport.