Students and staff at Theresetta are very happy to finally be enjoying some consistent spring weather.
The extra minutes of sunshine make the days seem lighter and spread positivity. Many students have started spending the majority of their after school and weekend time outside, after being cooped up for so long. Theresetta students in Grades 5 to 9 attended the candidates forum for the Stettler-Drumheller constituency in Stettler on April 1st at the Stettler Community Center.
Students were invited to email questions to the organizers ahead of the event and some of the groups questions were used during the forum.
Three Theresetta students: Brayden Rowland, Kyla Beaumont, and Kolby Renschler, even posed their own question to the candidates during the open mic portion. Students enjoyed the opportunity to see the candidates, that they have be talking about in class, first hand and hear their responses to important issues affecting their area.
Students felt humbled to be positively recognized by the candidates, and the audience at the event, for coming out to such an event at their age just to be apart of the democratic process.
The junior high girls took a short trip to the Evangelical Missionary Church on April 4th to learn about, and help out with, the Days for Girls program that makes reusable feminine products for school girls in developing countries. The program is aimed at helping to give girls the supplies they need to be able to attend school which in turn helps them build a life for themselves. The Theresetta girls were happy to hear about the program Kathy Weber and the other ladies volunteer to help out with.
It’s a great cause helping to empower and provide opportunities to girls around the world. On April 9th, FacetoFace Ministries visited Theresetta once again for a fun filled day of worship and spiritual reflection to help encourage students to develop their individual faith journeys. The school enjoyed an opening session together where everyone learned about this year retreat day focus, “doing things on purpose” before breaking up and having grade centered sessions throughout the day. The school came together at the end of the day to reflect on the ideas that each grade explored. Students and teachers always enjoy when FacetoFace visits as the retreat leaders, Ryan and Daniel, are always amazing at empowering, inspiring, and energizing everyone, reminding us about to positively affect our own faith journeys.
The badminton team travelled to Wainwright on April 10th for a long day at the East Central Catholic School Divisional Tournament. The group had teams entered into 12 different categories such as girls singles, boys singles, mixed doubles, girls doubles, and boys doubles, each within their different grade levels. Throughout the day the Theresetta students played hard and were able to come home with nine gold medals and four silver medals overall. One interesting situation from the day saw four Theresetta boys singles players as the four finalists from their category.
The category was so large it started out with 4 separate draws, with one Theresetta boy in each, after all four boys won their respective pools, and the following quarterfinal game, the Grade 7 boys singles final games ended up being between our four players. Thayer Bunbury came out with the gold medal in that category.
In other results these players won the gold medal in their respective categories: Landon Slemp - Grade 9 boys singles, Ashley Renschler and Kennedy Bagshaw - Grade 9 girls doubles, Curtis Penner - Grade 8 boys singles, Tierra Ulrich and partner - Grade 8 mixed doubles, Grace Roland - Grade 7 girls singles, Brayden Rowland and Drew Bagshaw - Grade 7 boys doubles, Kiali Blumhagen and Nola Fuller - Grade 7 girls doubles, Allie Weber and partner - Grade 7 mixed doubles.
The following teams where the silver medal winners in their respective pools: Sydney Renschler - Grade 9 girls singles, Abbigale Fuller and Alyssa Kuefler - Grade 9 girls doubles, Parker Slemp and Gracie Bagshaw - Grade 8 girls doubles, and Kolby Renschler - Grade 7 boys singles. Congrats to all the badminton players on their accomplishments!
On April 11th the 5/6 class went on their annual class field trip. This year the itinerary included a quick stop at the Reynolds Alberta Museum before heading on to visit the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Prior to the trip, the students learned the story of the Mad Trapper in class in preparation for their program at the Reynolds Alberta Museum which was based on the famous Mad Trapper story.
The group spent most of their time at the RAM in the Aviation Building completing a scavenger hunt that included history and facts from all sorts of important Canadian aviation pilots and events. After a quick tour through the main building, where students got to see all sorts of historic automobiles and artifacts, the group loaded back on the bus for the trek to Edmonton. Their program at the Alberta Legislature Building started with the class participating in mock leg activity were they got to follow a script and dress up as MLAs and all the other important participants from our provincial government. After debating a fake bill about the government subsidizing college tuition, the students got to tour through the Legislature Building and their tour guide explained all about the architecture and history of the building. It was a fun and busy day, and all the students consider the field trip a success!
The Grade 9 class travelled to Wainwright on April 11th to present to their school board trustees. This is an annual event where all schools in the division take turns presenting to the board so the trustees have the chance to hear about all the happenings at the schools. The class created a presentation about Theresetta and highlighted all the things they enjoy about their school. The group took on a leadership role as they wrote, produced, and presented the entire thing themselves. As they are the graduating class of Theresetta, they reflected on the past ten years at the school and shared some favourite memories. Thanks for being such great representatives of Theresetta and it is easy to see that they are a group who will be dearly missed next year.
To end the week with a bang, the entire school came together to play some rounds of cookie bingo! This is one of the two lent fundraisers happening at the school this year. Students purchased as many cards as they wanted, with all proceeds going to the Rainbow of Hope for Children Organization. The students then tested their luck in the hunt to win a bag of freshly baked cookies! It was a fun way to end the day and cap off a very busy week!
Boston Slemp at the Reynolds Alberta Museum on April 11th completing the Mad Trapper scavenger hunt for his 5/6 field trip.
Harlyn Bunbury, Leah Boxma, and Hailey Rowland playing bingo on April 12th trying to win themselves some cookies! Brayden Rowland asking a question at the candidates forum in Stettler on April 1st.