Latest News & Announcements

Students from School District No.59 (PRS) showcased their talent at the Regional Skills Competition held on February 14, 2020 at the Northern Lights College Campus in Dawson Creek and took home 14 medals.  Gold medal winners will be off to compete at the Provincial Skills Competition in Abbotsford, BC on April 15, 2020.

Cabinet Making:
Gold - Cade Swedja (DCSS)
Silver - Karington Schwertner (DCSS)
Bronze - Dione Roets (DCSS)

Carpentry:
Gold - Keona Osbourne (TRSS)

Electrical:
Gold - Stuart Burrell (DCSS)

Graphic Design:
Silver - (DCSS)

Photography:
Silver - Dallas Paquette (DCSS)
Bronze - Marley Wolff (DCSS)

TV/Video Production:
Gold - Ben Walker, Evan Do (DCSS)
Silver - Nat Kulak, Austin Giovanninni (DCSS)
Bronze - Ian Kettner, Ryan Smith (DCSS)

Welding:
Gold - William Esselink (DCSS)
Silver - Jonah Koutstaal (DCSS)
Bronze - Konnor Lowther (TRSS)

While the senior students were competing in the skills competition, Grade 9 students had the opportunity to discover programs offered by Northern Lights College, which also included industry tours to Triple J Pipelines, Louisana Pacific and Encana work sites.

Congratulations to all the competitors. 

The Industry Training Authority (ITA) awarded the career team from School District No.59 (PRS) with a performance award recognizing them as being a top performer in the Youth Work in Trades program. 

Youth Work in Trades is a provincial career program that enables students to move directly into the apprenticeship training system while attending high school.  To be eligible, students must be between 15-19 years of age, registered as a youth apprentice with ITA and are working under the supervision of a certified journeyperson.

The Youth Work in Trades program is not possible without support from local businesses that train and sponsor students in the apprenticeship program.  The program is a win-win for both the community and the students as local apprentices are trained and students are started on a path to a successful career in the trades.  Students also earn a $1000 cash award if they report 900 works hours before the end of the year in which they turn 19.  The award is administered jointly through the Ministry of Education and ITA. 

Please contact a high school career coordinator if you would like more information about the Youth Work in Trades program. 

The 2020-21 proposed school calendar was developed in accordance within the requirements of the School Act and consultation with Peace River South Teachers Association. The calendar reflects the current collective agreement language around the start, end and break times with special approval for the two-week spring break. 

The proposed calendar is being circulated to allow public input. All feedback will be considered and a final calendar will be adopted by the Board of Education on March 12, 2020. 

Feedback must be made in writing to Christy Fennell (cfennell@sd59.bc.ca) by March 5, 2020.

Will your child be 5 by December 31, 2020?

Find out more about Kindergarten Registration for the 2020/2021 school year.

Intermediate students at Crescent Park are participating in a Forensics unit, focused on a murder mystery. Principal Cynthia Percy put her artistic talent to work by creating a series of scenes, which are acted out in the school. 

There are 13 other scenes involving characters, whose parts are played by staff members.  The students will study the evidence from fingerprints, blood spatter, foot prints, mysterious powder experiments and from the scenes and testimonies from the witnesses to write descriptive paragraphs and reports about their suspects.  When the top suspects are determined students will be able to ask three questions in order to determine motive and opportunity.  Students will have to cite their evidence and responses from suspects to write up the solution to the mystery.

This event is also helping to build community between intermediate students and other teachers in the school.

The Board of Education of School District No.59 (PRS) was successful in submitting a motion at the BC Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA) annual general meeting to encourage the development of an online teacher training program in BC.  BCPSEA is the employers' association representing British Columbia's 60 public boards of education.  The Board submitted the following motion which passed without debate at the recent AGM: "THAT,  the BCPSEA Board of Directors write a letter to the Minister of Advanced Education, the Deans of Education for BC Universities and the BC Teachers' Council to encourage the development of an online teacher training program in BC."

The Board submitted the motion to address the teacher shortage in BC, which is known to be a greater problem in rural, remote and Northern school districts.  The Board believes by having access to online teacher training programs it would increase the opportunity for individuals interested in becoming teachers specifically in rural, remote and Northern districts.

At the January Board Meeting, the Board of Education approved the following policies to be circulated for feedback.  Feedback may be made in writing to the Policy Committee by emailing Candace Clouthier at cclouthi@sd59.bc.ca by March 9, 2020.