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Weyburn Review, Weyburn, Saskatchewan -- January 24, 2024
news
New head librarian happy in leading Weyburn Library programs By Greg Nikkel We y bu r n ’s n ew e s t head librarian, Dawn Silver, was working in the Chinook regional library system when the job posting for Weyburn Public Library came up, and she jumped at the opportunity. People she had talked at library conferences always spoke very highly of the Southeast Regional Library, and about the Weyburn library in particular, so she saw the opening as a prime opportunity. Silver has been in the position now for two months, as Nov. 15 was her first day, and she has received “huge support” from patrons and the library board, as well as from regional staff. “It’s been wonderful,” she said, noting the level of excitement and range of programs is second to
none of any place she’s ever worked. “The staff do a fantastic job, and their attention and dedication is incredible as they are willing to do just about anything,” said Silver. “Their capabilities exceed anything I’ve seen in a long time. They’re just really engaged and they’re succeeding in what they’re doing.” She noted that staff are following the suggestions and wishes the public have indicated as far as what they want to see at the library branch. “You can’t go wrong when you ask the community what they want to see. We really need to engage with the community,” said Silver. The librarian is currently involved in goalsetting for the next year, and will be giving the
board updates at each monthly board meeting as staff work on the new strategic plan for the Southeast Regional Library system. One of the success stories she’s seen in Weyburn is the use of social media in promoting what is at the library, including posts that talk about the “secret services” at the library. For example, she said, a staffer put up a post that the Weyburn library has a sewing machine available for use, and as soon as the post went up, all kinds of requests came in for using it. Another “secret service” is the “Little Free Pantry” that has been set up in the shelves on the main floor, where people can donate to, and take from, a small pantry of food items, free of charge.
New technologies are also being brought in as they become available to the public, such as the video gaming unit on the upper level, and the 3-D printer which is available for those who have taken the course in its use. “One thing we’re looking at is a multicultural approach, and we’re looking towards increasing our partnerships with individuals, and newcomers,” said Silver. An aboriginal storyteller will be coming as part of Indigenous Storyteller month, with a session on Friday, Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. “We’re looking at promoting the library itself as a community living room,” said Silver, adding the library has a goal of increase library card use by 10 per cent in the coming year.
New head librarian at Weyburn Library
Dawn Silver is the new head librarian for the Weyburn Public Library, and has been diving into the programs and services offered at the branch.
Issues and causes of cyberbullying discussed with Holy Family trustees By Greg Nikkel The issues and causes of cyberbullying were discussed with the trustees of the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division at their January online board meeting on Wednesday. Presenters Becky Tuchscherer, Jasmine and Brooklyn Lund noted that a number of measures are used in addressing incidents of cyberbullying, including talking to the students involved, and reaching out to the parents of those involved. Bullying was defined as an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships, through targeted
verbal, physical and/or social behaviour intended to cause physical, social or psychological harm. Sexual bullying is where sexuality or gender is used as a weapon against another student, and cyber bullying can be verbal or sexual, usually through an online social media platform. Many of those who perpetrate this abuse are unable to explain why they do what they do, the trustees were told. Many students get into cyberbullying because they believe they can’t be caught. Students who do cyberbullying often lack selfconfidence, have poor
relationships with others, and have big feelings they don’t know how to cope with, and often believe they can put it out on a social media platform like snapchat and then have it deleted, not realizing it stays on the Internet. In 2019, the last year available for statistics on this issue, one in four students reported they had been cyberbullied, with one-third of cyberbullying by the same gender; 34 per cent were First Nations kids who live off-reserve; and 27 per cent were youth with educational accommodations; 16 per cent received threatening or insulting messages; 13 per
cent were excluded from an online community. About 34 per cent of youth noted they are always on social media, with 12 per cent saying they were never on social media, and 36 per cent used video or instant messaging, versus 14 per cent who never used these formats. When parents were surveyed about their awareness of their children being on social media, 22 per cent were always aware, and 29 per cent were sometimes aware. The board was reminded that the City of Weyburn has a bullying bylaw, the only munici-
pality in the Holy Family region to have one, and it includes cyberbullying as an offence that police can use to press charges. Children under 12 cannot be charged, however, due to restrictions of the Young Offenders Act. “In talking to the city police, they continue to lay charges under this bylaw, but they can’t enforce the bylaw if people aren’t sharing information,” the trustees were told, noting the police have the ability to work with SaskTel to get phone information when doing investigations. Students are encouraged to talk to somebody, whether it’s a teacher, a
parent or to use a resource like the KidsHelp phone line, which is available 24 hours a day. They can be contacted by email, phone call or messenger chat, and are very accessible to kids who need someone to talk to. Asked how often this type of bullying occurs, Tuchscherer said it’s difficult to pinpoint this as often these types of attacks are not reported. “It’s definitely happening in the schools and in the community,” she added, noting there are many varieties of social media platforms that kids can access on their phones or computers.
SE Cornerstone student services busy with assessments, supports By Norm Park, Contracted Reporter for SECPSD A host of challenges and a series of objectives greet the professionals who are engaged in providing student services in the South East Cornerstone Public School Division. Cheryl Anderson, co-ordinator of Student Services, and Raylene Forseth were on hand to illustrate and explain some of those challenges to school board members on Jan. 17. The board gathered in the main conference room in the division’s head office in Weyburn that day to conduct their first open business ses-
sion of the new year. Anderson and Forseth were invited to the session to help the board members gain a more complete understanding of what they and their teammates do to help steer students, some with complex needs, down various pathways to success in their educational pursuits. Anderson led off by noting how the provincial education plan not only involves traditional learning and assessment along with Indigenous education, but also mental health and well being and student transitions. Cornerstone is missing one full-time psychologist with one other providing
expertise in that section. Anderson explained this school division was not alone in experiencing shortages in that category. That psychologist will be supporting a practicum student in the spring and nine psychologist assessments were completed to the end of November and three more have been contracted. In the past the division has engaged two to 2.5 full time-equivalent psychologists, with 56 and 54 assessments completed in total in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. Anderson detailed some priority action plans that included learning assess-
ments and tracking students’ growth and achievements to understand when interventions are needed. The screenings are held three times per school year and are connected to Alberta’s learning outcomes pattern that, in turn, is connected to the Western and Northern Canadian protocol, a common curriculum framework. Early literacy, reading skills and math skills are all tested at various levels from Grades 1 through 9. The screening process aides the instructors in identifying skill gaps so interventions can be put in place where and when required. Anderson said that when
Creating a paint-pouring project Review Photo 5855 – Greg Nikkel
Sherry Klemmer prepared to add more colour to her painting, as Fatima Khanbhai swirled her painting around to let the paints spread a bit. This was part of a paint-pouring class held on Saturday morning at the Weyburn Public Library in the Allie Griffin auditorium.
fairly new practices of intervention tracking processes and supports are introduced, they have been smooth with less paperwork involved and increased efficiency within the professional ranks. She noted that 302 intervention plans had been introduced in the 2022-23 academic year, and so far in the 2023-24 school year, there have been 174 plans introduced that focus on individual students. There are also 117 group classroom intervention plans underway that began last month. Home school enrolment continues to increase, even after the COVID pandemic issues have largely been settled, with 342 students now being home schooled compared with 129 in 2014-15. A big jump, as would be expected happened in 2019-20 to 2021-22 when the number jumped from 183 to 310. Asked why the homeschooling numbers continued to rise, even after the pandemic, Anderson said she expected those numbers to continue to rise on a modest scale as personal/ family values worked into the equations. She also outlined the various support requests that had been made for home schoolers that included everything from athletics, school courses, textbooks and internet accesses and that communication among the home school communities was good as were connections to the school division. Anderson also spoke about incident reporting, behaviour screening and tracking and professional development modules during her portion of the presentation, noting that universal screening was slowly descending which was a good thing in terms of students at risk. Counsellor data indicated
that a reduction of one full time position had been invoked on the division this year, leaving them with 15 FTE positions. The counsellor workloads averaged from 46 to 74 projects per month and included students in individual sessions as well as classroom presentations. She also spoke of violent threat risk assessments and the background training that takes place to make assessments and plan responses. Forseth began her presentation with a rapid fire introduction to Youth Wellness Day for Grade 6 classes, including the Nakota Medicine Wheel and outdoor education processes. She also explained trauma sensitive workshops that had taken place in Arcola and Hillcrest (Estevan) schools as well as Compassion Fatigue workshops for early learning teams at McNaughton High School (Moosomin) and Yellow Grass School. She noted how 14 families had been engaged in tackling difficult conversations in the family engagement conversations held in spring and fall sessions. An interesting conflict resolution communication activity was also launched at Radville Regional School in November, she said. “This walk through conflict” dealt with some scenarios that were resolved without speech, that “helps students build skills,” she said. Conflict Time Machine projects were also held at Yellow Grass School for Grades Kindergarten through Grade 4; Stoughton Central School, Grades 2-7; Arcola School, Grades 7 and 8 and Pleasantdale School (Estevan) Grade 3. A staff wellness collaboration project that included wellness card packs had also been introduced.
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Weyburn Review, Weyburn, Saskatchewan -- January 24, 2024
sports
Weyburn Red Wings split games with Klippers, compete in Calcutta
The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings split their games with the visiting Kindersley Klippers, winning 5-2 on Friday night, then being edged out 3-2 by a shootout on Saturday night. The Red Wings also held their Calcutta shootout competition following the Saturday night game, with all of the players, goalies and staff taking part. The eventual winner was Cade Meiklejohn, who faced off against coach Cody Mapes as the two shooting finalists. Mapes finished second overall, and goalie Dazza Mitchell placed third. In Saturday’s game, the match was a very close and tight game, tied at 2-2 after the second period, with no scoring in the third or overtime periods, sending it to a shootout. The game wasn’t decided until the fourth shooter when Kindersley was able to score on Angelo Zol. Scoring for Weyburn was Jacob Visentini in the first period, assisted by Nicholas Kovacs and Tyler Teasdale, and Carter Briltz in the second, assisted by Braigh LeGrandeur and Brendan Hunchak. Kindersley scored nine
A close chance on the Kindersley net
Review Photo 0078 – Greg Nikkel
Red Wings player Jacob Visentini missed an opportunity to score on the Kindersley net in the third period. The Wings and Klippers took the game into overtime and then a shootout, and it took four players each before Kindersley was able to score and clinch the game 3-2. The Red Wings won the game by a score of 5-2 on Friday night. seconds after Briltz’s goal to tie the game. Zol made 24 saves on 26 shots prior to the shootout. Kovacs earned himself a five-minute major for goaltender interference and a game misconduct in the third period, but the Red Wings were able to kill that penalty.
In Friday’s game, Briltz opened up the scoring in the first period, assisted by Lucas Jeffreys and Jaxson Ruthven, then Meiklejohn scored from Max Monette only 57 seconds into the second period. Matthew Hodson scored three minutes later, assisted by Briltz and Jerome
Maharaj. Briltz scored his second of the night in the third period, assisted by LeGrandeur and Ruthven, and Hodson scored his second also, into the empty net,
assisted by Maharaj and Visentini. Dazza Mitchell was in net for the game, making 22 saves on 24 shots. The Red Wings will host the Humboldt Bron-
cos on Thursday, Jan. 25, then will be on the road for a game in Melville on Saturday, Jan. 27, and in Kindersley for two games, on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2 and 3.
Weyburn Gold Wings split games with Swift Current Wild Cats The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Gold Wings travelled to Swift Current over the weekend, and came away with a win and a loss. On Saturday, they lost 3-1, and on Sunday they won 3-1 to improve their record to 4-12-3-1 for a total of 19 points, just behind Battlefords in the standings. In their win on Sunday, Kaydance Ray opened the scoring on the power play, assisted by Rori Dickie and Abigail Manz. Swift Current tied the game on a power play goal, then Weyburn scored
in the second period, with Julia Durr getting the goal from Peyton Halayka. The Gold Wings added one more in the third period, with Kaitlyn Mah scoring unassisted. Amy Swayze was in goal for the full game, making 41 saves on 42 shots on net. In Saturday’s game,
Weyburn Curling Club to hold first-ever Turner Cup bonspiel The Weyburn Curling Club is thrilled to announce the inaugural Turner Cup Bonspiel, where camaraderie meets competition for bragging rights that last the year. This spirited event pits the seasoned against the young from February 9-10 with the coveted Turner Cup at stake. The dynamics of the bonspiel are simple: Two teams will compete over the weekend, an under-50
Swift Current was first on the board only 36 seconds into the game, then Manz scored with 56 seconds to go in the period, assisted by Ray. The second period was scoreless, then the Wildcats added two goals in the third period, including one into the empty net as the Gold Wings pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. Hailey Sibbald was in net for all but the last 45 seconds of the game, making 24 saves on 26 shots. The Gold Wings will have their first home games of the new year coming up this weekend, as they host the Saskatoon Stars on Friday night, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m., and then the Battlefords Sharks on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m., both at Crescent Point Place.
Congratulating the shootout winner
Review Photo 0210 – Greg Nikkel
Nick Nielsen congratulated Red Wings player Cade Meiklejohn for coming out on top in the team Calcutta shootout held on Saturday evening after their hockey game at Crescent Point Place. Meiklejohn ended up beating his coach, Cody Mapes, as they were the two best shooters in the fundraising competition.
aged team and 50+ team. Captains (one male and one female for each team), nominated by the Board of Directors, play a pivotal role by selecting their respective teams made up of 16 players from current Weyburn Curling Club members. Three matches, with specific point values associated, decide the winner of the Turner Cup, to be awarded in the lounge at the bonspiel’s conclusion.
Canadian Wrestling Elite event coming to Weyburn in February Canadian Wrestling’s Elite celebrates its 15th anniversary with 12 events in 12 nights across three Canadian provinces, including a stop in Weyburn on Thursday, Feb. 22. The tour will be headlined by four-time ECW World Champion, Multi Time WCW Champion, and Former WWF Intercontinental Champion “The Franchise”, Shane Douglas, on his first Canadian wrestling tour as well as other favourite
CWE stars in action. The event is set for Feb. 22 at the Knox Fellowship Hall in Weyburn, with VIP special access at 6 p.m. and general admission at 6:30 p.m., with the bell for the matches to ring at 7 p.m. For VIP special access tickets, the cost is $29; general admission is $24 in advance or $27 at the door. Advance Tickets are available at Big Jim’s Brewshop at 51 3rd St. NE, or purchase tickets online at cwetickets.com
Jumping to put up a basket Review Photo 5790 – Greg Nikkel
Weyburn Comp Eagles player Wyatt Kot jumped up to make two points on this play, in the intermediate boys game versus the Balgonie Griffins on Friday. Weyburn lost this game by a score of 80-46, and then lost a close one to Moose Jaw Peacock on Saturday morning, by a score of 77-68.