It is back to school for students in Morrin and area and they have a great year planned.
Principal Don Yavis tells The Mail that classes resumed on Thursday, August 30 and the school welcomes one new teacher. Rachel Jay will be teaching high school social studies, science 10 and some junior high option courses including a new drama option.
“She (Jay) is into musical theatre and drama and is going to set that up,” said Yavis.
The school will continue to run all its other option courses. It also offers daily physical education for all grades, and at the Grade 11 and 12 level, they have a double period of phys-ed for a semester. There is also the CTS Lab that offers everything from woodworking to welding. The school has access to virtually any subject.
“No matter what course any student wants to take, if we can’t offer it here as a class because there is not the demand for it, we can hook them up through video conferencing with other schools in our division, we can also hook them up through Alberta Distance learning, there are all kinds of options,” he said.
He says what sets Morrin school apart is its culture.
“It is a safe and caring respectful culture, we pride ourselves on the respect and responsibility we teach the kids,” said Yavis.
“At Morrin School, students come first and they have a voice in the programs and events we do.”
Prairie Land Regional School Division also hosts a two-day leadership conference annually and all the junior high students attend. This year it is in Delia on September 27-28.
One project in the future they are looking towards is the possibility of a hockey program. The close proximity of the rink in the community lends itself well for specialization. The school also has an extensive fitness lab with all kinds of training equipment.
“We have staff members who have coached hockey in the upper levels so we are thinking it would give a little bit of ice time for kids that are interested in hockey. We would fit it in as an option and we would run the hockey part of it when the ice is in, and the other times we can do nutrition, fitness, and off-ice stuff.”
Other schools have had success in developing specialized performance programming.
“We are not at that stage yet but we thought we might take a baby step and test the waters to see if there is a demand out there,” he said.
“This would be in the works for next year so if there are parents out there who are interested they can give us a call,” said Yavis.
