The Weekly Update #4

Hello Hay Lakes Community!

It's hard to believe that we are in the final month of the 2024-2025 school year. It has been another great year at the school, with lots of great events and activities in our school. While we still have lots of work to do to finish up our learning for the year, we also have lots of fun events planned for the month.

Heading into next year, we will have some staffing changes of which you may or may not be aware. Both Sandi Paukstat and Scott Peterson will be retiring at the end of this school year. Both of them have had a significant impact on our school and community during their time at Hay Lakes, and while we will miss them, we are sure that we will continue to see them in our school! Also for next year, Melissa Zuk will be going on maternity leave early in the school year. We want to preemptively wish her well. We are in the process of finalizing hiring teachers for these positions and will be sharing more information soon.

I also want parents to know that as with all BRSD schools, we have had a reduction in our staffing for next year. We are working on ways to minimize the impact on student learning, especially in their core courses. Once we have finalized our hiring and teaching assignments, we will let you know about any changes.

Parents in Grades 6 to 12, please take some time to look at the exam schedule below as the dates for PATs and Diplomas, as well as finals for other courses, have been finalized. Many exams will take place during the regular class time, but some will take place from 9 am to noon. Students are expected to remain at the school after their exams and attend their other classes during those days, as teachers will be continuing to teach material and provide review for students. If your child would like to leave the building after their exam, they must be excused by a parent. For Sr. High students, the last day for options is on June 20th.

We hope that everyone has a great month!

Mr. MacKenzie

June 4-6 - Grade six ranch camp

June 5 - Grades 3/4 at Miquelon Lake

June 6 - Hot dog lunch

June 6 - No Child Hungry Walk

June 10 - Grade 6 & 9 Open House

June 11 - Character Day

June 12 - Grades 5/6 at Miquelon Lake

June 13 - Bio 20/30 Field Trip to Royal Alberta Museum

June 20 - Hot dog lunch

June 20 - School Patroller Picnic

June 26 - Last day of school for students

Hope Mission provides sandwiches and snacks free of charge every day for our students and for those in other BRSD schools. Our school community has an opportunity to give back to Hope Mission by participating in the No Child Hungry Walk on Friday, June 6th. Families are welcome to come to the school at 2:30 PM to participate in the walk around our school grounds. To donate to this worthy cause, click here.

As we continue to approach the end of the year, we are beginning to plan for next year. We are hosting an Open House for students in Grades 6 and 9 to help them transition into the next grade on June 10th. Students in Grade 6 will be invited to hear about Junior High from 6:30 to 7:15 and students in Grade 9 will begin at 7:30 until 8:30.

A huge thank you to all students, parents and staff who contributed to and attended our Night of the Arts! The event showcased performances by our school bands and an inspiring gallery of student artwork. The talent of our students is amazing!

Our school community garden is starting to grow as staff and students work together to plant and care for it. This is a hands-on learning space that is a great way for everyone to learn about nature and teamwork. The vegetables that are planted will be available for our community to access during the summer months!

Several HLS staff members were recognized for their years of service milestones in Battle River School Division last week. Acting Superintendent Natasha Wilm, and Trustee Karen Belich were present to recognize staff for their long service. Scott Peterson and Sandi Paukstat were congratulated as well on their upcoming retirements at the end of June.

We are so grateful for those of you who brought blankets and pillows when we needed to house students overnight during a storm in January. Some of those items are still here at the school and need to be picked up. Any items that are not picked up will be donated. Thank you!

Our library is now home to a new games café for students in grades 9 - 12! We have added lots of new board games, a coffee/tea/hot chocolate bar, and a giant Connect Four game. Students are welcome to bring pods from home or purchase them for fifty cents from Mrs. Irvine.

Please check out the Lost and Found areas in the school for items that belong to your child/children. All items that are not claimed by the middle of June will be donated.

The Grade 1's and 2's enjoyed a day at Miquelon Lake Provincial Park last week. The Grade 1's learned about living things with a focus on beavers and their habitats. They saw a beaver lodge, a beaver slide, tracks, and wood chips chewed by beavers. On their hike they found many signs of spring and spotted dragonflies, butterflies, caterpillars, black beetles, squirrels, birds, a muskrat, leaves, aspen trees (beavers' favorite), and flowers. They also saw baby goslings, and plants native to Alberta, including the Wild Rose.

The Grade 2's had a blast at Miquelon Lake as well! They learned about the life cycles of both animals and plants. They also got to go pond dipping and see what living things were in the pond. It was a great way for students to learn about nature firsthand!

Congratulations to our Class of 2025 who celebrated last Friday. We wish you every success for your future!

Lorelei represented the Camrose & District Music Festival at the Provincial level on May 27th. She was recommended to compete at this level by the adjudicator after winning a medallion in Camrose in April. She sang two songs, one in French and one in English, and competed against the best in the province! Congratulations Lorelei!

Asseel, one of our Grade 11 students, had the opportunity to attend the Model United Nations meeting in Bankok, Thailand in May. The topic for the conference was Disaster Risk Reduction and Asseel wrote a position paper on preventing disasters in the Aviation Industry. She said it was an excellent experience and she met students from all over the world!

The Government of Alberta is seeking feedback from Albertans regarding the creation of provincewide standards to provide transparency and guide Alberta school boards in the management of school library materials. The survey takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete and must be completed by June 6th, 2025. For more information, please click here. To complete the survey, click here.

The Hay Lakes Society for Youth Development supports our school in many ways, including purchasing chrome books, band instruments, sports equipment, school cameras, a new projector, and much more. They are hosting a Casino on Thursday, October 30th and Friday, October 31st, 2025 and are looking for volunteers. If you are interested in helping out and supporting HLSYD by donating your time, please send an email to hlsociety.youth@gmail.com.

Check out the latest newsletter from our Career Counsellor, Mrs. Carla Praticante here.

On June 11th at 7:00 is the Season Launch showcasing two artists, giving you a first-chance look at what shows are coming to Camrose for the 2025/2026 season. Season Launch

On June 17th at 1:00 and 7:30 is "A Community Telling of Pawâkan Macbeth" The 1:00 showing is also offered as a livestream event.