SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWSLETTER
Pleasantdale School
From the Office
There is just something about the start of a school year that brings excitement and some nerves for both the students and staff. The startup always symbolizes a fresh start and another opportunity to learn, grow, and shine and our hope at Pleasantdale is always to make this the best year ever. As we start a new year we always want to give a special welcome to Miss Stinson and Mr. Radwanski who are eager new teachers at our school and also to Miss D'Aoust Sewap who is joining us every other afternoon.
Our staff have worked hard to get our learning spaces ready and have even added some new artwork to our fence, which many have noticed. We really want to emphasize our school pride and develop a culture where all our students, families, and staff know what it means to be part of the Bulldogs. You will be hearing lots about our Bulldog culture this year and look forward to engaging with parents through our organized activities, school community council, student led conferences, and other gatherings.
As always please communicate with our teachers and administrators if ever having a question or concern. It is always best to figure things out together and we have no doubt that as we partner as school and community this truly will be the best year ever.
This is the "Home of the Bulldogs" and we are ready to go. Let's have a good one!
Mr. Devin Aspinall
Mr. Kyle Vibe
Mrs. Christine Massier
2024-2025 STAFF
Mr. Aspinall - Principal - My name is Devin Aspinall and I am writing my first back to school bio as principal of Pleasantdale school. I am very excited to continue serving the students and families of this wonderful school and look forward to all of the excitement of another year. For those that don’t know me well, this will be my 21st year at Pleasantdale. I have three children; Sadie (grade 11), Kensie (grade 8), and Kalen (grade 4) who are all very active and keep me busy. My wife Stacy is also a teacher at Pleasantdale and is best known for being the best music teacher around. Our family loves sports, music, camping, playing with our dog Kia, and spending time close to water.
This is the home of the Bulldogs and as this year begins I look forward to a fresh opportunity for all staff and students to have the best year ever.
Mr. Vibe - Grade 7/8, Vice Principal - I am the Vice-Principal and grade 7/8 teacher at Pleasantdale school. This will be my 9th year at Pleasantdale. I have two children, Sophia and Natalie. Sophia is starting grade 5 with Ms. Perkins this year and Natalie is starting grade 1 with Ms. Stinson. When I am not teaching, I enjoy hunting and fishing with my kids and my wife Hailey. My favorite subjects in school are Math and Science. I would like nothing better than doing math all day, but I have a feeling the grade 7s and 8s would have something to say about that! I am very excited to start the year and look forward to a year packed full of learning with some fun along the way!
Mrs. Stobbs - Kindergarten, Grade 2 - Hello! I’m Mrs. Stobbs. I will be teaching kindergarten and will also be popping into other classrooms to teach on non-k days. I have been at Pleasantdale for 9 great years! When I’m not at school you can find me out at my home in Torquay. My husband and 3 young boys love spending time outside and being active – camping, fishing, biking, hockey, ball, you name it. I'm looking forward to having another wonderful school year at Pleasantdale. Happy back to school everyone!
Miss Stinson - Kindergarten/Grade 1 - Hello! My name is Miss Stinson and I will be the K/1 teacher this year at Pleasantdale. This will be my first year teaching and I am very excited! I enjoyed spending time with friends and family over the summer. I'm looking forward to a great year!
Mrs. Lalkoswki (formerly known as Miss Olson) - Grade 1/2 - Hello! I am Mrs. Lalkowski, but most of you will remember me as Miss Olson last year! I am teaching grade 1/2 this year at Pleasantdale, and I am so excited for another year. I hope everyone had a fun summer and made lots of memories! I had an exciting summer as I got married, went camping, and spent lots of time with my family!
Mrs. Aspinall - Grade 2 - Hi, I’m Mrs. Aspinall! I am married to Mr. Aspinall and we have 3 children, Sadie (16), Kensie (13) and Kalen (9) and a puppy, Kia! I have taught at Pleasantdale for 15+ years and I love working here! I enjoyed watching our children play ball this summer, camping, and boating with the family! I am teaching Grade 2, as well as K-4 Music. I am looking forward to this year! Go Bulldogs!
Miss McKinnon - Grade 3 - Hello Bulldog families! It’s me… Miss McKinnon! I am moving up to be the new grade three teacher this year. This will be a big change after so many years as the grade one teacher. I am super excited to start my new adventure in grade 3! Go Bulldogs!
I love reading & writing it has always been my favorite part of teaching! I can’t wait to start this process in grade three, it will be so fun to get creative and see what they can do on paper! I can’t wait to read the stories they come up with!
A few of my favorite things are:
*reading books
*writing & journaling
*Dallas Cowboys
*restoring old things, like my house!
*listening to Music & true crime podcasts
*being a Puppy Mom to my girlies Lola & Ella
*being an Auntie to my nieces Kennedy & Kora
I can’t wait to work with you & your child to achieve the grade 3 goals!
Miss McKinnon
Mrs. Stefan - Grade 4 - Welcome back to another school year! My name is Kimberley Stefan and I will be teaching grade four this year. Whave two boys, Huckson (8) and Holt (5) that keep us very busy! We had a great summer swimming at the pools and beaches, went on a road trip to South Dakota, spent time with family and friends and many hot days at the dirt bike track.I am excited to get back into a routine now that summer has come to an end and I am especially excited to meet my new class and learn together! We have a lot of fun in grade four and I can’t wait to get started!
Miss Perkins - Grade 5 - Hey, I’m Miss Perkins and I am the Grade 5 teacher! This is my second-year teaching Grade 5-, and second-year teaching overall! I am from Saskatoon but moved to Estevan to come teach at Pleasantdale! A fun fact is that both of my parents grew up in Estevan, so I am quite familiar with the city, and lots of you may know a few of my relatives that live here (there are a lot). In May of this year, I adopted my new kitten – her name is Billie! When I am not at school or with Billie, I am either back in Saskatoon visiting my parents, or in Yorkton where my brother, his wife, my nephew Jace, and my niece Maya live! I am so excited to be back at Pleasantdale!
Miss Potoma - Grade 6/7 - My name is Miss Kelsey Potoma, and I am the Grade 6/7 teacher! This is my fourth-year teaching – and I’m so glad I get to stay right here at Pleasantdale! I just joined the middle years team after teaching Grade 3 for the last couple of years. I was born and raised right here in Estevan. My dad went to Pleasantdale when he was growing up, so teaching here is quite surreal. I was an Artistic (Synchronized) Swimmer for 11 years and I started coaching when I was 11. I love anything drama and music. I’m excited to get to know everyone even more and have another great school year!
Mrs. Smeltzer - RTI, Grade 2 - I am excited to be back with students and families again. I will be teaching grade 2 science and math and supporting in many classrooms with reading and math.
The year of school always has so many wonderful events and gatherings and we are so excited to have the opportunity to come together as a school family.
I love teaching and learning and am looking forward to beginning my 33nd teaching year and 22nd year at Pleasantdale.
My husband and I have 4 grown children and now 6 grandchildren that bring a whole new joy to life! We love the outdoors and all it has to offer. You will see us out riding along the many new paths with or with our puppy Tess.
Welcome back to everyone for another amazing Pleasantdale school year.
Mrs. La Rose - LST - Hey Pleasantdale Families! I am Rhiannon La Rose and I am so excited to be back at Pleasantdale School! I spent some time here back in 2018 before heading out to Lampman School. This is my 13th year teaching and 7th year as a Learning Support Teacher. Over the past 13 years I have taught almost everything K-4 and some 6/7 math in Manor, Loreburn, Outlook, Lampman and Hillcrest Schools.
Outside of school my husband and I keep busy by cheering our three boys on at all their sporting events.
I look forward to seeing some familiar faces in the middle years end and getting to know all the new faces this year! Here is to a great 2024/2025 school year!
Ms. D'Aoust-Sewap Grade 7/8, Grade 2 - Hello! My name is Ms. Kay. This will be my fourth year of teaching. I've taught a wide range of subjects but my favorites will always be Math and Science. I look forward to working this year at Pleasantdale!
Mr. Radwanski - Band - Hello! My name is Jacob Radwanski (Mr. Rad). I am the new band teacher at Pleasantdale! I am also teaching band at Spruce Ridge and starting a new band program in Midale. I am from Moose Jaw and recently just graduated from the University of Regina. If I am not in the band room making music, you can find me getting active outdoors or coaching after school.
Mrs. Jodi Tweed - School Counsellor - I'm Mrs. Tweed, your Student Services Counsellor! I moved into a new space in the library so please stop in and say hi! I will be at Pleasantdale on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays again this year. I look forward to seeing you all in your classrooms, around the school or in my office and I think the 24/25 school year is going to be amazing!
Mrs. Swirski - Speech/Language Pathologist
Mrs. Short - Education Assistant - Hi, my name is Heidi Short. This will be my fifth year working as an EA at Pleasantdale. My husband and I have three kids. We have a dog named Axle, a cat named Arlo and a barn full of chickens. I love to garden and ride dirt bikes and quads with my family. In the winter I can be found at various rinks in the South East as our kids are passionate about hockey.
I’m looking forward to another exciting year at Pleasantdale School. Yay Bulldogs!
Mrs. Siever - Education Assistant - My name is Pam Siever and I have been an EA at Pleasantdale for a few years now. My husband Ryan and I have 3 kids Hunter, Rowyn and Preston. Hunter graduated a couple years ago and works here in town, Rowyn is in grade 11 and Preston is in grade 5 here at Pleasantdale. When I'm not at the school working you will usually find me watching Rowyn dance or play basketball or Hunter and Preston's play baseball. This year I have also agreed to help coach the girls' soccer team at the high school so that will keep me busy for a couple months. I am looking forward to a new year of making memories and having fun.
Mrs. Nykiforuk - Education Assistant - Hi - I'm Mrs. Nykiforuk. I am married and have two daughters. I also have two dogs, My favourite thing to do is go camping in the summer, I also like to collect a lot of plants. I’m looking forward to a great school year.
Mrs. Turner - Education Assistant - Hello, Pleasantdale families! I’m Mrs Turner and I'm excited to be starting my third year at Pleasantdale!
I’m Mom to three kids - my oldest graduated in June and is currently working as an apprentice electrician while my other two kids are still in school and keep me busy with their extracurricular activities.
I spent most of my summer watching softball, baseball and volleyball and soon you’ll find me court-side again as I cheer on my kids!
In my “free time” you might find me at the gym, studying for my university classes, enjoying a coffee or out for a walk catching Pokémon.
I’m looking forward to, and wish everyone, a great school year!
Mrs. Miller - Library Tech - Hi! Welcome Back! My name is Leanne Miller and I am the Library Tech here at Pleasantdale. I am going into my 24th year here at Pleasantdale School. I am married and have 3 grown children and 1 granddaughter and soon to have a grandson and am very excited about that:) I live on a farm near Lampman. I am looking forward to a great year!
Mrs. Massier - Admin Assistant - this is the start of my 26th year with the school division and 20th year at Pleasantdale. We had a wonderful summer and looking forward to a great school year!
Ms. Martin - Custodian - Hi! my name is Karoline Martin and I am one of the custodians here. I started here last October. Looking forward to a great year!
Mrs. Jones - Custodian - Hi! my name is Norma Jones and i am one of the custodians at Pleasantdale.
WELCOME TO OUR NEW STUDENTS
Welcome to our new students:
Kindergarten - Bilal, Ivi, Miller, Adalyn, Leeun, Weston, Brinley, Adelyn, Jackie, Beckham, Ayvah, Blake, Zoe, Jude, Mara, Owen, Shiloh, Holt, Liam, Logan, Victoria, Cruz
Kindergarten/Grade 1 - Shaw, Cru, Huxlee, Keaton, Teagan, Hayes, Ryder, Leni, Tilda, Bria
Grade 2 - Willow L, Willow V
Grade 3 - Khloe, Sylus
Grade 4 - Kyler
Grade 5 - Avery, Isabelle, Lilee
Grade 7 - Bentley
GYM RENTAL
Our gym will be available to rent for birthday parties to our Pleasantdale families on Fridays after school only. The cost is $35 per hour with a maximum of 2 hours. Any gym rental requests can be arranged by calling Christine at the school office.
PARKING AND BUS SAFETY
Please park on the street when picking up your child after school and NOT in the staff parking lot. We worry about vehicles backing up when our little students are leaving the school. They can be difficult to see and do not always look before crossing the parking lot. Please do not back up or do U-turns in any of the loading zones on the street. Please also pass this message on to anyone such as a Grandparent that may be picking up your children.
Remember that the bus zone is on Victory Road right beside the K-2 playground. Please do not park in the bus zone. We can all work together to keep our students safe.
NUT FREE/SCENT FREE SCHOOL
We are a nut free and scent free school because we have students and staff with severe allergies. We ask that students do not bring products containing nuts in their lunches and avoid bringing products such as hand sanitizer and body spray that can have really strong scents as we work to make our school a safe learning space for everyone.
MILK
Our milk program will start in a couple of weeks - watch the Week at a Glance for details and a date. Those that had milk left on their card last year will have those carried forward to this year
KLEENEX
As you can probably imagine, we go through a lot of tissues during a year of school with cold weather and runny noses. If you are able to donate a box or two of tissue throughout the year it would be greatly appreciated - please send the donations to your homeroom teacher. Thank you!
EDSBY
If you are picking up your child during the school day for an appointment and they are coming back, please don't worry about putting that in Edsby. Please contact your child's homeroom teacher or call Mrs. Massier at the office as these messages are not always seen until it is too late.
If you have any issues or questions regarding Edsby, contact Mrs. Massier any time.
ORANGE SHIRT DAY - NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
National Truth and Reconciliation Day falls on a Saturday this year, so we will be celebrating Orange Shirt Day on Friday, September 27. We encourage all of our staff and students to wear their orange shirt that day in support of Truth and Reconciliation.
