Morrin School mathletes are competing on a national stage, showing their prowess with numbers.
    Harvey Salty’s Grade 6 Class at Morrin School participates in Mathletics. This is an online program where students can participate and earn points.  This has levels of achievement and your class can compete provincially, nationally, and internationally. In June the Grade 6 class was ranked number 2 in Canada.
    “Some of our students have been really actively involved in solving math problems and their achievements have resulted in this,” said Saltys.
While Morrin School has dropped a couple of places in the last few days, the competition is close, and very few points are dividing the top classes.
    “If we have a couple of students working hard, it makes a difference,” he said.
    These results demonstrate that while Morrin is a relatively small school, the instruction and engagement can be just as strong, if not more so, than larger schools.
    “Rural schools can be adaptable and flexible. I prefer to think of us as nimble and not weighed down by heavy bureaucracy,” he said. “We can find ways of making things work.”
    With the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have had to move to online delivery. Morrin School was ahead of the curve with this as they have been actively using Google Classroom and online delivery, and the students are getting used to using the computer for work.
    “It has been a steep learning curve for kids, but for the most part it has been good,” said Saltys.
    “In some senses, we have been early adopters, in other ways it is part of our make up as a school. I have been teaching kids computers for 30 years and we have made inroads. As the digital revolution rolls out throughout society, it permeates every aspect of it. Big things have happened.”

After thorough consideration, the Celebration of Excellence Committee has made the difficult decision to officially cancel the Celebration of Excellence for 2020.
Initially planned for June 11, the event was put on pause with the hopes of rescheduling in the fall. However, the event has an expected attendance of over 200 people and there is still uncertainty over whether or not an indoor event of this size and nature could be held in the fall. The committee members agreed this particular event has a much greater impact for the community when all can gather and celebrate in person.
“It is disappointing to hear the Celebration of Excellence has to be cancelled this year, however,” said Mayor Heather Colberg. “We know in light of the fact of all the things our community has been through in the past few months, we have to do what is right and best for the people and businesses in our community. I am looking forward to a fabulous event next year. Take care and stay safe.”
The Celebration of Excellence Committee is now making plans to host the awards gala in June 2021. The Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, and Travel Drumheller will automatically re-enter all nominations received this year into the 2021 awards.
“The Rotary Club supports the decision of the COE Committee to cancel the event for 2020 and nominations be carried over until next year. We look forward to an even greater celebration in 2021”, said Helen Peers of the Drumheller Rotary Club.
Entries for the Badlands Scholarship and Leaders of Tomorrow Awards presented by the Town of Drumheller will be reviewed and winners announced early in July. These awards honour youth in the community who have shown excellence in academic performance and community involvement (Badlands Scholarship) or exemplary leadership in volunteerism (Leaders of Tomorrow).
“These are the youth that will lead our community in the future; we look forward to celebrating them safely in July and wish them every success going forward!” said April Harrison, FCSS Coordinator.
“It is unfortunate that we can’t celebrate our amazing business and tourism community, but we want to be able to properly make a big splash when it’s safe to do so with everyone” said Ryan Semchuk, chair of Travel Drumheller.
Heather Bitz of the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce, is grateful to everyone who took the time to submit nominations this year, and they are looking forward to celebrating businesses, organizations and individuals in person next year.