Pangman

This is an update to our previous post “School Review Committee Informational Meeting”.

On January 19, 2012 a meeting was held at the South East Cornerstone School Division Office. It was great to see over 60 Pangman and area residents there to support our school.

Pangman School was on the agenda for 2 pm and at that time Elwood White asked the school board to do the right thing and stop the review process.

A motion was passed by the board to continue the review process into discontinuance of some grades (9 to 12 or 7 to 12).

The school board will be sending letters out to the parents of children in our school and following that they will be making arrangements to come to Pangman and discuss this with our community. Later in April a final decision will be made.

There is an article on the Fight for Pangman K to 12 School in the Regina Leader Post – click here to read.

Pangman School

On Tuesday, January 17, 2012 the Pangman School Review Committee hosted an informational meeting at the Pangman School Gym.  The members of the School Review Committee are Elwood White, Chuck Jacques, Rod Rowland, Katharine Bryson, Ken Kessler, Brian Jesse, Gladys Jesse, and Brandon Tichkowsky.

Elwood White, Brandon Tichkowsky, Ken Kessler and Katharine Bryson represented the review committee at this meeting.They provided an update on the review process and also answered questions.

Elwood provided some history about the Review Process. On September 26, 2011 the school was advised of the school board’s intent to review. Shortly after the review committee was formed and they have been meeting monthly with the school board. They advised the school board that Pangman is a growing community with oil in the area, new Water Treatment Plant, Daycare, Community Kitchen, new residents and more.

The South East Cornerstone School Board  have been out to tour our school. The feedback received was that they felt the school is in good condition.

The media has been contacted and Global Regina have aired two stories about Pangman’s school review. Saving Pangman School and a story on Focus Saskatchewan.

There is an important meeting at The South East Cornerstone School Division office in Weyburn on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 2 pm. The Review Committee will be doing presentations at this meeting and the School Board will be putting forth motions to vote on. The Review Committee hopes that the motion to end the school review process will be voted on. They have asked that as many people as possible from Pangman come out to attend this meeting.

If there is a motion to close Pangman School then the Review Committee said they have an option to apply for a School of Opportunity Status.

They hope that many residents of Pangman will come out for this important meeting in Weyburn on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 2:00 pm at the School Board Office, 80A 18th St., Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

On Global TV’s Focus Saskatchewan television show was a story about Pangman School which aired on Saturday, January 14th.  You can view the video below.

This year’s annual Sleigh Ride and Wiener Roast was held on Thursday, December 22nd. This yearly event is put on by the Pangman School Community Council.

Thank you to Darrell Rowland and Brian Schwindt for bringing in their team of horses and sleigh (on wheels this year due to lack of snow). And a big thank you to the Hometown Cafe for the delicious desserts.

The school children enjoyed rides on the horse driven sleighs and feasted on roasted wieners, roasted marshmallows, delicious desserts and hot chocolate.

Special guests were Dustin Duncan and Global Regina, who were there doing a story on our school review.

Thank you to the Pangman School Community Council for hosting this event once again.

Today was our yearly Sleigh Ride and Wiener Roast put on by the Pangman School Community Council.

Sarah Richter & Colton Goforth from Global Regina

Global Regina were here doing a story on our current School Review by South East Cornerstone School Division. They interviewed Elwood White, a member of our School Review Committee and others from our community.

Approximately 1,000 lucky families throughout South East Cornerstone Public School Division will receive a free desktop tower computer this year.

Every year, the division replaces roughly 1,000 computers and pieces of computer equipment and invests in new technology for schools and classrooms in the division. These four-year-old computers are usually replaced because the warranty covering them has expired.

The normal procedure in disposing of these computers is by taking them to SARCAN or another recycling agency. However, many of these computers are still in good condition and have some useful life remaining at the end of their warrantee period. Therefore, the division has updated their policy to allow donation of computer equipment back to families.

The intent of this procedure is to get adequate computers into the hands of students, without cost, that otherwise may not have access to effective computing already. These four-year-old Dell desktop towers (no monitor) come loaded with Windows XP, Open Office suite (similar to Microsoft Office) and anti-virus protection.

To receive these desktop computers, families can apply to the school their child(ren) attend(s). The principal will have a form available that can be filled out and submitted at the school. School principals will notify families of approvals as equipment is made available for pickup at the school.

South East Cornerstone Public School Division is committed to providing educational opportunities to all students, and this initiative is one way of doing that. Please be sure to contact your school for the necessary application form.

Applications must be received at the Pangman School office by Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The School Review Committee has been established according to the formula set out in the Education Act and consists of members of our school community council, representatives of the RM of Norton, representatives of the Pangman Village Council, and community members. The School Review Committee consults with the community and provides advice and recommendations to the school board. The committee does the bulk of its work between November 1st and the end of January. The Review Committee remains active until the Board of Education holds a meeting of electors (no later than March 31st) or until the day on which the board decides to remove the school from in-review status.

The Pangman School Review Committee has been very active, holding several meetings to discuss the situation and to decide on a course of action. They have met twice with the Cornerstone School Board, once to ask questions and once to give the board information on the viability of Pangman School and the Village of Pangman. A delegation from the review committee also met with the Director of Education, Mark Casavant and some Cornerstone Superintendents. The Review Committee feels that many errors have been committed by the board during this review process and that the current board is out of touch when it comes to Pangman. Pangman is experiencing strong economic growth and is set for future growth. Now is not the time for a school review as our area, indeed most of southern Saskatchewan, is experiencing unprecedented growth and economic opportunity.

The members of the School Review Committee are Elwood White, Chuck Jacques, Rod Rowland, Katharine Bryson, Ken Kessler, Brian Jesse, Gladys Jesse, and Brandon Tichkowsky. Please contact any of these members if you have any questions or information that can help us save our school.
You can read more about the School Review in the Weyburn Review and on the Cornerstone School Division Website.

The annual Pangman School Christmas Bazaar and Santa Day was held on Saturday, December 3, 2011 at the school. There were 23 tables rented out to area crafters, bakers, home businesses and community organizations. The Grade 12 class served a hot lunch and sold baking and raffle tickets throughout the day. Proceeds from the Bazaar help cover the costs for the graduation banquet and exercises.

In the afternoon Santa stopped by to pass out goody bags to children and seniors at the Bazaar. Santa also visited seniors in their homes and at the Personal Care Home earlier in the day.

A huge thank you to Santa and his helpers for stopping by. We would also like to thank everyone who so generously bought raffle tickets or made cash or merchandise donations to supply the goody bags as well as prizes passed out to several of the children who attended the Santa Day movie and visited with Santa

.

The Pangman School staff and students are participating in the Recycle My Cell contest.

If you have old and out-of-use cell phones, smartphones, wireless PDAs, pagers, as well as their batteries and accessories (ears buds, chargers etc) please send them to school with a student or drop them off at the office.

The Pangman School Community Council annual general meeting was held on October 11, 2011 following the School Open House.

We were very happy with the turnout of community members at the meeting. All are concerned about the recent review with intent to close or reduce grades on the Pangman School from Southeast Cornerstone School Division. We received good input and we all understand the devastation this would have on our Community. We have a lot of planning ahead of us and all the support was much appreciated!

Thank you to Kelly Hilkewich, Superintendant of SECSD for your input and guidance in communications with SECSD. Also thank you to Dustin Duncan for your attendance and support as always with Pangman School.

Elections were held as follows:

• Elwood White – Chair
• Ken Kessler – Vice
• Pam Rowland – Secretary
• Board Members – Laura Tessier, Gladys Jesse, Lloyd Lillejord, Kim Nyhus, Kirsta Antel and newly elected member Nicky Tourscher.

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