March, 2024
February 26-March 8, 2024
Hello, everyone.
I want to begin This Week by sharing a very powerful quote by Dr. Joe Sanfelippo, superintendent, author, podcast host, and instructional leader. He says, “Every interaction matters, because every interaction could be the one they talk about for the rest of their lives.”
This is such a wonderful reminder of the huge influence we have on others, often as part of a small moment. Whether it's a word of encouragement, a shared laugh, or a lesson imparted, these things can have a lasting impact on the hearts and minds of those we engage with. It is challenging us to approach every conversation, every meeting, and every classroom visit with the intention of making a positive and memorable impact.
WEEK ENDING MARCH 1, 2024
Board of Education Regular Meeting
The Board met for a regular meeting on Wednesday, February 28 to cover several important topics including time spent reviewing Horizon’s Indigenous Learning initiatives with Superintendent Bryan McNabb and Instructional Coach Amanda Moosemay. In February, the capital project list was also reviewed and approved by the Board and we look with cautious optimism to budget day on March 20, 2024, for capital approvals. Please check out “From the Board” for additional information from this past meeting.
Lanigan Capital Project
On Thursday, Superintendent Justin Arendt, Manager of Facilities Kam Kiland, and I met with the Lanigan project team as well as the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement for a monthly cost, schedule, and progress review.
Directors’ Leadership Team
The DLT joined for a virtual meeting on Friday morning to discuss current matters including contingency plans for the ongoing Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation’s job action. Horizon has sanctions in place for this week, and we will continue to keep our school communities up to date by emailing, texting, and sharing on social media and at horizons.ca/STFJobAction/ as we learn of any updates. We continue to hope for a return to the bargaining table and an agreement.
WEEK ENDING MARCH 8, 2024
Board of Education Annual Report
The Board of Education’s annual report was tabled in the Legislature earlier this winter, and we are excited to share a snapshot from this 2022-23 annual report. I want to thank my staff for their work in helping to put it together. Most especially, I want to thank Jesse Green, Communications Officer, for doing a great deal of heavy lifting as it was prepared for tabling. www.horizonsd.ca/HorizonAtAGlance/
Administrator Interviews
I spent Monday and much of Wednesday with Superintendent of Human Resources Cory Popoff in several competitions for principals. I want to thank our trustees who were part of the interviews and Cory who has done a great job of leading the interview process. The hiring process will continue as the number of positions available is significant due to retirements and career changes.
George Gordon First Nation
CFO Sarah Reding and I met with Councillor Daniel Cyr, Education Coordinator John Walter, George Gordon First Nation staff, and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) on Monday to review Horizon and George Gordon’s educational agreement and funding processes. We continue to engage with ISC to understand how funding can flow to our partners and sustain the strategic direction that focuses on meeting student needs.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4799
Sarah Reding, Superintendent of Human Resources Cory Popoff, Assistant Superintendent of Finance Lori Washkowsky, Manager of Human Resources Monica Arendt, Human Resources Generalist Sydney Odelein, and I met on Friday with CUPE Local 4799 President Marie Moore, Vice President Carleen Theissing, and the CUPE bargaining unit on Thursday and Friday. We had two excellent days of bargaining, following three days of initial meetings in February. I have said it many times, but working with our staff members toward an agreement that supports our students, our staff, and our system is critical, uplifting, and inspiring work. Both parties agreed to use an Interest-Based Bargaining approach and it has certainly served us well in getting language that supports the work we have to ensure a deep understanding of the agreement.
Education Funding Announcement
Horizon’s Board of Education met to discuss the Government of Saskatchewan’s funding announcement that was made in advance of Budget Day. Horizon is grateful for all additional funding that can be used towards supporting our PreK-12 classrooms. Although class size is not the issue we seem to see in other systems, (currently Horizon has the 4th lowest pupil teacher ratio-PTR in the province), we certainly understand the opportunities that can exist when funding is provided. More will be shared on this important topic in the near future.
Athletics
Congratulations to DeWet Luus for winning provincial gold in his weight class at the SHSAA Provincial Wrestling Championships this past weekend! Huge shout out to the William Derby team, whose five athletes all qualified to compete in provincials. Impressive results for this new program out of Strasbourg!
Curling season also drew to a close with the Wynyard Composite boys rink capturing bronze at the SHSAA Provincial Championships. Congratulations! Great work to all four schools who represented at provincials including Ituna (who also hosted!), Winston High, and Humboldt Collegiate.
Thank you to the many coaches and parents/caregivers who were instrumental in ensuring opportunities such as these and so many others exist for our youth.
Have a great week, everyone.
-Kevin
Kevin C. Garinger B.Ed., M.A.Ed., Ed.D. (Candidate)
Director of Education/CEO
Horizon School Division No. 205
March 11-15, 2024
Good morning, everyone.
I hope you had a productive non-instructional day on Friday and an excellent St. Patrick’s Day weekend! St. Patrick’s Day is always especially important for me, not because I am Irish (although my mother’s family hails from Great Britain and has some Irish roots), but because my eldest son was the first March 17th baby born in St Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon in 1991. Birthdays are such important milestones in our lives, and I want to wish each of you a happy birthday whenever your special day arrives.
Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Job Action
We saw additional job action from the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF), throughout the province with rotating noon period strikes for specific divisions including Horizon, last week. We are watching closely to see whether the Government Trustee Bargaining Committee and the STF can return to the bargaining table, and will continue sharing updates relating to the impact on our Horizon students, families, and staff over email, text, on our website at horizonsd.ca/STFJobAction/, including on social media. Obviously, there are job actions occurring this week that impact our system, and while we will address them as necessary, we continue to hope for discussions to continue at the bargaining table so our children are least impacted.
George Gordon First Nation
Following up on last week’s discussion, CFO Sarah Reding and I met with the education coordinator from George Gordon First Nation on Monday to further discuss our shared educational agreement and plans to continue our important work together. Our collective work is crucial for maintaining a focus that will ultimately ensure the needs of students can be sustained and I look forward to our continued discussions.
Provincial Directors’ Meeting
I had the privilege of joining fellow Saskatchewan Directors of Education at a meeting hosted at the office of Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools on Monday. It was a great opportunity to discuss our collective efforts in a number of areas, as we individually deal with the sanctions that are impacting our systems. I also took the opportunity to share about the Canoe Procurement Group of Canada. Horizon has entered into an agreement of sorts with the organization, joining the likes of Saskatoon Public Schools and SARM (Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities). Canoe provides outstanding service across Canada to organizations that procure goods from toilet paper to buses, and all things in between. They are not-for-profit and there is no cost to any organization for joining their procurement opportunities. There is no requirement to procure with the hundreds of companies that they have procurement agreements with. Simply put, you could shop locally by ensuring the best price is accessible to the local vendor. It is truly a win-win for Horizon and for the many who are part of the collaboration. I look forward to setting up a “lunch and learn” with many of the divisions across our province in the next few weeks.
League of Educational Administrators, Directors and Superintendents (LEADS)
LEADS members gathered Monday afternoon through Wednesday for our Annual General Conference and Spring session. This marked the end of my year as Past President of the association. It has been a privilege to work in this role and I look forward to continued involvement with the association. I participated in a learning session involving Dr. Alec Couros from the University of Regina. Alec’s focus for the day was on Generative Artificial Intelligence and Its Influence on Education. It was an excellent learning opportunity and really opened my eyes to a future that needs our direct awareness.
Lanigan School Project
I joined the project team for an update on the Lanigan school, including a review of costs, schedule, and construction progress. There continues to be a great deal of work happening on-site and the projected timeline of a spring 2025 start date is definitely in view. We began meetings as an ownership team a couple of weeks ago, and this has also been important for our planning processes.
Early Language and Literacy Plan
The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan hosted a gathering on Saturday focused on the Early Language and Literacy Plan. Superintendent Bryan McNabb and staff joined the meetings. Thanks to the funding received, Horizon has initiated Michif language instruction at Wakaw School. This project’s successful launch is just the beginning, and we are enthusiastic about expanding this initiative to more Horizon schools in the future.
Have a great week, everyone.
-Kevin
Kevin C. Garinger B.Ed., M.A.Ed., Ed.D. (Candidate)
Director of Education/CEO
Horizon School Division No. 205
March 18-22, 2024
Good morning, Horizon!
We are back for a short school week before Good Friday and the Easter/Spring break. Humourist Evan Esar said, “Easter is the only time when it's perfectly safe to put all of your eggs in one basket”. I couldn’t agree more with that statement. As Esar articulates in his quote and as I see it in education, a single approach to anything may douse the fires of creativity and innovation that we want to see in our classrooms. With so many learning styles prevalent, we need to try different approaches in our instruction and assessment practices to best meet the needs of our children. Putting all your eggs in one basket, to me, signifies a narrow approach and we need to take risks to find the best way to support a child.
All this said, whether you're having an egg hunt, enjoying a meal with loved ones, or simply taking a moment to enjoy the spring sunshine, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
Human Resources
Superintendent Cory Popoff, Trustee Mark Fedak, and I spent Monday interviewing candidates for upcoming principal roles in Horizon. It is exciting to help identify leaders who will shape our schools going forward. Of course, this is bittersweet as we watch many of our school administrators retire and a few others leave for other opportunities.
Board of Education
The Board’s Audit Committee met virtually on Tuesday afternoon; Committee Chair Jim Lissinna was joined by Trustees Garth Anderson, Doug Armbruster, and Albert Pinacie, as well as ex officio members Linda Mattock and Mark Fedak. Joining me from the Division office were CFO Sarah Reding, Superintendent Cory Popoff, and Executive Assistant Marni Sogge. The committee had a very productive meeting, looking closely at the Quarter 2 Financials and annual projections.
I also joined Board Chair Linda Mattock, Vice Chair Mark Fedak, CFO Sarah Reding, COO Justin Arendt, Marni Sogge, and Communications Officer Jesse Green for an agenda meeting on Tuesday afternoon. We are set to meet with the entire board at their next regular meeting.
2024-25 Budget
The last half of my week was spent working on Horizon’s 2024-25 budget with our financial team and superintendents. With the provincial budget coming down on Wednesday, we were pleased to see money earmarked for mental health and integrated youth services, as well as predictable funding in our supports for learning. We did not see any new Horizon locations on the minor or major capital list, however, the inclusion of Humboldt Public and Humboldt Collegiate on the relocatable classroom program was welcome news. All in all, I consider this to be a very good budget that will allow us to support the needs in our classrooms even more effectively as we collectively work toward improving student learning.
Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) Job Action
I know the decision that was made to reschedule the junior boys’ basketball game has been met with some angst. I attended the game, and based on the enthusiasm of the student-athletes, the families, and the staff, I still believe it was the right decision. Sanctions, when in place, I believe are being respected. When sanctions are not actively implemented, we will manage things like extracurricular activities in the best interests of our system and with high regard for our students and staff.
The goalposts on the playing field are shifting, so decisions from my office may differ slightly or even significantly from the guidance provided by the STF. I understand this. I also recognize that we need to manage curriculum, and teaching and learning while sanctions are in place. I have the responsibility on behalf of the Board to address these issues with the same amount of information that sanctions are being brought down. I will endeavour to continue to do so with respect for the rights teachers have to associate and to be involved in job action. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office and one of the Superintendents or me.
Job action continues this week, with the suspension of extracurricular activities Monday through Thursday. The STF has made a very recent claim that extracurricular activities include some activities that teachers do in classrooms that are meant to improve students' lives and may be more loosely tied to curriculum. We will be sure to help with clarity around this, but necessary flexibility for teachers is found in the cross-curricular competencies that every teacher has as professional discretion regarding instruction.
Provincial Basketball
Although Hoopla was cancelled due to sanctions, it was wonderful to see that teams were able to compete in a modified, one-day provincial basketball event this weekend. Horizon had five teams competing in the championship, and all five came away with medals. Congratulations to provincial gold winners, Lanigan Central High girls and St. Brieux boys teams! Bringing home silver medals were the St. Brieux and Wynyard Composite High girls' teams, while the Foam Lake girls claimed the provincial bronze! It was another great season of basketball with so many schools involved with the sport. I want to thank you, Horizon staff, for your role in ensuring these opportunities exist for our students.
Have a great week, everyone.
-Kevin
Kevin C. Garinger B.Ed., M.A.Ed., Ed.D. (Candidate)
Director of Education/CEO
Horizon School Division No. 205
March 25-April 8, 2024
Week of March 25-28, 2024
Directors’ Leadership Team
Horizon’s principals and vice principals travelled to Humboldt on Monday to explore Signposts 2 and 3 of the Leading to Learn initiative. The group discussed strategies for fostering educational excellence and addressing areas of concern, delving into practical applications and case studies. The focus then shifted to Meeting the Needs of Students and Connection, presented by Terry Braman and Kalie Hendry, highlighting the importance of understanding and connecting with students to enhance their learning experiences. Insights into Land-Based Learning, and how to work Indigenous knowledge and practices into educational settings. Special thanks to George Longman, Amanda Moosemay, Kalie Hendry, Justine Wheeler, Darryl Dickson, Terry Braman, Patrick McNabb, and Bryan McNabb for their leadership throughout the day.
Board of Education
The Board held their monthly meeting on Tuesday. You can check out From the Board for all the updates from the meeting. I joined Trustees on a Horizon facilities tour on Wednesday as we visited both Watrous schools before joining Nokomis School staff for their Celebration Day lunch. This was the first Celebration Day lunch we’ve been able to schedule during the 2023-24 school year, and Trustees enjoyed sharing a meal with Nokomis School staff while Division office staff took care of supervision. After lunch, we visited Drake School before ending the day with a tour of the Lanigan schools, including a quick walkthrough of the new Lanigan School.
Lanigan School Project
I joined the project team for their regular, weekly meeting and construction update. It is exciting to see windows and decking being installed, and that we continue to enjoy mild weather which helps keep the project on track.
Archery
I want to extend a huge congratulations to our archery teams across Horizon. Although this is not an SHSAA sport, it is such a great activity for our young people. Congratulations to all the coaches and students who participated in the HCAA’s Archery District championships. The list of champions are below. Best of luck also goes out to those athletes competing in the 2024 JOP & Target Provincials in Prince Albert!
HCAA District Champions:
Senior Boys - Logan Stockbrugger (Englefeld)
Senior Girls - Jessika Pratchler (Englefeld)
Junior Boys - Rowan Hillis (Raymore)
Junior Girls - Julianna Beer (Raymore)
Bantam Boys - Barrett Norleen (Raymore)
Bantam Girls - Cloie Cox (Raymore)
Junior/Senior Team - Englefeld
Bantam Team - Raymore
Week of April 1-5, 2024
I was able to take a couple of days off at the beginning of last week, as well as spend the rest of the week in the office. I joined Superintendents Cory Popoff and Trish Maxwell for interviews on Wednesday and I joined a team of US Superintendents from the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) as a Canadian representative for a regular monthly meeting.
STF Work-to-Rule
The STF has announced job action beginning today. My office will be meeting to discuss how we will best address and support our students, families, and staff as we work to develop an understanding of what this will mean for our school communities.
Anniversary of the Broncos Accident
Six years ago, our school division was heartbroken as we faced the aftermath of the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy that claimed the lives of 10 players and 6 staff, and injured 13 others. I know the impact of this day on so many and my thoughts and prayers continue to be with all those who are still working through their grief.
Have a wonderful week, Horizon!
-Kevin
Kevin C. Garinger B.Ed., M.A.Ed., Ed.D. (Candidate)
Director of Education/CEO
Horizon School Division No. 205