It's National Flag of Canada Day today! At Kildonan-East Collegiate, graphic design students redesigned the flag, and people got to vote on their favourite design. Photography students set up a selfie station using the hashtag #canadianflag, and social studies students provided info about how our flag came to be. Fun AND informative! 🇨🇦😄👍

Monday, February 18, is Louis Riel Day and RETSD students do not attend classes.

Last night, some newcomer families in our division attended a Valentine's Day Craft Night held by River East Transcona Immigrant Services (RETIS). They learned more about the holiday while decorating cakes and making crafts. This is one of the many ways the division's settlement workers welcome newcomer families to our community.❤️

We're right in the middle of Teacher Appreciation Week—Feb. 10–16, 2019. Let's take a trip down memory lane. Here are a few pics from over the years showing teachers in our division. See anyone you recognize?

Chinese New Year was on February 5, and Linda Lacoste—an educational assistant at River East Collegiate—did something thoughtful for the Chinese students in the International Education Program at REC. She brought them some traditional items like "lucky money" and Chinese candies to celebrate 2019, Year of The Pig. These little reminders of home mean a lot to our international students! 🐷🇨🇳

Here are some photos from our most recent Empowerment Project—Mindful Me—which took place last Thursday. We had 45 students attend! Our biggest project yet. Students learned mindfulness practices they can use in everyday life, made new friends, and had a lot of fun trying some partner yoga. If parents would like to get on the mailing list for future events (Empowerment Projects and Guys Got Goals workshops), just email Karina Walker at kwalker2@retsd.mb.ca.

Board chair Colleen Carswell (seated) read to students at Donwood Elementary School recently, and trustee Peter Kotyk (in the snazzy Jets jacket) joined a large group of readers when he visited Sun Valley School. I Love to Read Month is an exciting time for schools. They never know who is going to brighten their day with a good book or two!

“Go Police Go!” and “Go Bombers Go!” were all you could hear in the gym at Donwood Elementary School on Friday. Donwood fans cheered loud and proud for their favourites in an entertaining basketball match-up between members of the Winnipeg Police Service and some football pros. Constables Whitney, Klassen, Speer, Lambert, Tielman, Drzewiec, Sullivan, and Bloun—led by patrol sargent Smith—played four quarters of five on five. Their opponents were Andrew Harris and Nick Demsky from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Jaden McCoy from the Manitoba Bison, Anthony Coombes from the Toronto Argonauts, and support player (and ringer!) Rob Draeger. It was wonderful for these two groups to come together in such a positive way. Their sportsmanship and the time they spent signing autographs for the students was appreciated by all!

If you’re looking for a fun outing for you and the kids or grandkids, check out the latest production being put on by Murdoch MacKay Collegiate. It’s based on Peter Pan, but some unexpected problems occur, resulting in all-round hilarity! This is an ALL AGES SHOW. Two matinees—Feb. 25 & Feb. 27 at 1:30 p.m. Four evening shows—Feb. 25, 26, 27 & 28 at 7:00 p.m.

One day, nothing but play! On February 6, students and staff at Angus McKay School celebrated Global Play Day—a movement gaining momentum around the world to bring back play. Ted Gray, psychology professor, says that over the years, “we’ve gradually taken more and more play away from kids, replacing it with structured activities, academic work, and digital experiences to the point where they hardly ever “play” at all." As a result, there’s been a rise in childhood anxiety and a growing number of kids who simply don’t know how to play or interact with one another in a meaningful way. The day was unstructured by staff, and students were encouraged to bring non-electronic toys to share with one another, encouraging social skill development, ability to play without adult intervention, and of course, fun interaction with each other. Students LOVED it! As Einstein said, “Play is the highest form of research,” and based this experience, he was absolutely correct.

Love seeing this Miles Mac grad visiting our schools and sharing with the students! 😀🙌 #CreatingStudentSuccess

Our school board vice-chair, Jerry Sodomlak, visited a Grade 1 class at École Margaret-Underhill the other day to celebrate I Love to Read Month. He brought a collection of his favourite books and spread the love of reading! #ilovetoread #ilovetoreadmonth 👁❤️📖

Some Grade 3 students at École Margaret-Underhill celebrated J'AIME LIRE (I Love to Read Month) by embracing Winnipeg's climate, dressing for the weather, and taking their learning outside! Smiles all around. 😄 #PrairieKids #BuiltTough

The weather has been pretty challenging the past week or two. CBC meteorologist John Sauder may sometimes take the blame for it, but he’s only the messenger! And that messenger paid a visit to a class at Bernie Wolfe Community School on Tuesday. It was perfect timing for the visit, because the class has been learning about weather systems, climate, and weather phenomena. Mr. Sauder and the class discussed the polar vortex and how it worked, climate change at the North Pole, how satellites and radar work, how the ground is heated, and how low pressure attracts high pressure systems. The class also gained a better understanding the different types of clouds and how to predict the weather. (Photo by Norbert K. Iwan)

Bird’s Hill School was very lucky to get a visit from Mason Appleton of the Winnipeg Jets to kick off I Love to Read Month. He read Holly Preston’s book—Whiteout: A Winnipeg Jets Story—to the Grade 4/5 class. He also took some time to answer questions and to sign autographs for the students. (And the principal!) #GoJetsGo 🏒

Today is Chinese New Year and it's #YearOfThePig. Flashback to 2009 when one of our principals gamely fulfilled her promised to kiss a pig if her students read enough books. Pictured is farmer Ian Smith, who provided the sweet piglet. It looks surprised at the display of affection! #ALittleIncentiveGoesALongWay 🐷

Some Murdoch MacKay Collegiate students visited Harold Hatcher Elementary School recently to engage the younger children as part of a literacy project for their Grade 12 English class. The Murdoch students were paired up with the younger students and read stories to them they had written. They had to plot out a theme for their story, create a storyboard and rough draft, edit it, and create their final written and illustrated copy. The activity was co-ordinated with Harold Hatcher teachers to ensure their students will also benefit. They’ll have the opportunity to ask the older students about their story ideas and writing techniques, and make connections to their own creative processes. Murdoch teachers have organized this several times with teachers from both Harold Hatcher and Wayoata Elementary School. It’s one of many examples of how RETSD schools at different age levels work together to everyone’s benefit.

The next meeting of the board of trustees is tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Members of the public are welcome. For more info: https://tinyurl.com/y7veuuvz #CreatingStudentSuccess

The Friendship Bench gives these Transcona Collegiate students a shout out on Twitter.

Check out this short (60 sec.) CTV story about newcomer students from Kildonan-East Collegiate who created dual-language picture books under the guidance of their teacher Vanessa Romans. 📖 #CreatingStudentSuccess