Education | Shootin' the Breeze

A woman with blonde hair and glasses smiles as she holds up a children's picture book

Around the world in six weeks at the Pincher Creek library

Written on July 21, 2026. Posted in Education.

This summer, a missing animal is waiting to be found in Prince Edward Island, then Hawaii, Australia, Bali and the Caribbean, and Pincher Creek children are travelling the world, one week at a time, to bring each one home.

It’s Pincher Creek Municipal Library’s own globetrotting spin on the 2026 TD Summer Reading Club, and outreach co-ordinator Samantha Bonwick builds a fresh adventure around the national theme every year.

Running July 7 to Aug. 12, the six-week program embraces this year’s national Dive In theme, which encourages children to explore waterways and aquatic life.

The TD program supplies libraries across Canada with activity books and resources, but Bonwick creates her own story around the national theme.

“We are going to a different location in the world to find that a certain species has disappeared,” she says.

“We learn about that animal and learn about what happens to that environment without that animal, and how important that animal was to the environment.”

Each week, participants travel to a different destination, beginning in Prince Edward Island and ending back home in Pincher Creek to learn about rainbow trout.

Along the way, children complete themed crafts and activities and search for the week’s missing animal. Once it’s found, they place a sticker on a habitat display, symbolically returning the species to its natural environment.

A color-coded map shows areas in red, orange, and yellow, with several location markers and warning icons near Lethbridge. The left side features terrain detail and a label for Fernie.

The library offers three age-based sessions:

—Ages zero to four: Wednesdays, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

—Ages five to seven (kindergarten to Grade 2): Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. to noon.

—Ages eight to 11 (grades 3 to 5): Wednesdays, 1:30 to 3 p.m.

Weekly Funday Fridays are also held on the library lawn and are open to families on a drop-in basis.

Bonwick enjoys taking the annual theme and turning it into an imaginative adventure that makes learning feel less like schoolwork.

Among past adventures was chasing Bigfoot across Canada during the country’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

“There was a learning aspect and a reading aspect to it, but we do it in an adventure,” she says. “It’s in a fun way because I want them to still get it somewhere and not have to come here and do worksheets and school.”

Participants receive TD Summer Reading Club activity books to record everything they read throughout the summer, whether it’s a chapter from a novel, a recipe or anything else.

Children earn weekly prizes for tracking their reading and every completed title helps build an aquatic-themed mural on the library’s program-room window.

During each session, Bonwick also reads a picture book connected to that week’s featured destination or animal.

She hopes the club introduces new families to the library and helps children develop a lifelong appreciation for reading.

“I really love that I’ve seen kids who I’ve never met before come for the Summer Reading Club, and then I get to see them continue using the library that following year,” she says.

“I really love meeting new faces and trying to help foster that love for the library and for reading.”

The main goal is simply to keep children reading through the summer, and that doesn’t need to mean “sitting down and reading a long chapter book,” Bonwick says.

“Reading can be reading a magazine. Reading can be following a recipe. Reading can be pointing out traffic signs as you’re driving. Reading doesn’t have to be ‘Sit down, be quiet and read.’ Reading can be fun.”

Children’s Literacy, Environmental Education, Library Programs, Summer Activities, TD Summer Reading Club

A chalkboard that says Livingstone Range School Division unveils new education plan

New LRSD plan aims to boost learning, belonging and career paths

Written on July 8, 2026. Posted in Civic & Government, Education.

Students across Livingstone Range School Division will see a greater focus on strong academic foundations, mental well-being and planning for life after graduation under a new four-year education plan.

The plan for 2026 to 2030 passed June 15, setting out three priorities — academic excellence, a stronger sense of belonging, and a culture of innovation that connects classrooms to careers.

Superintendent Sean Beaton says the direction reflects months of consultation with parents, students, teachers and school administrators who identified the skills students need to succeed beyond high school.

The plan covers 14 schools across eight communities, stretching from Fort Macleod in the east to Crowsnest Pass in the west, including a virtual school, two outreach schools and 13 Hutterite colony schools. About 3,700 students are enrolled this year.

Built on community input

The plan was developed through what the division describes as a broad engagement process. Consultations began last fall, starting with administrators and department leaders, then moving to conversations with school councils across the division.

Nearly 400 parents responded to an online survey in March and students weighed in through the Livingstone Leaders group.

“We believe the priorities, priority statements and the short-term goals reflect the feedback we received from all stakeholders,” Beaton tells Shootin’ the Breeze.

Trustees also reviewed results from division-wide assessments and engagement tools, including the Measurable Results Assessment along provincial data and accountability reports.

Steve Poltz in concert Sept. 15 at Fort Macleod Empress Theatre

Beaton attended many of those meetings himself.

“Parents want us to focus on tangible, real-world competencies,” he says. “They explicitly asked for support in developing critical thinking, financial literacy, strong numeracy and essential interpersonal skills.”

That feedback pointed to gaps. High school completion rates have fallen, especially for Indigenous students, access to support services has shrunk and Grade 9 achievement has stagnated. The new plan is built to close those gaps.

Goal 1: Academic excellence

A major focus of the plan is academic success, especially in foundational skills.

Under the academic excellence priority, the division aims to strengthen learning through structured supports in literacy and numeracy, along with targeted academic improvement strategies.

The plan calls for an instructional framework that will bring together literacy, numeracy and social-emotional learning approaches by 2030. A literacy and numeracy framework is expected by 2027, with consultant Myron Dueck helping shape assessment practices.

Grade 9 students currently hit the acceptable standard on provincial achievement tests 62 per cent of the time. The division wants that number at 65 per cent by June 2027.

Schools will use early intervention teams to catch struggling students sooner and specialized literacy and numeracy teachers will support junior high classrooms directly.

Andrew Collins Trio at the Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod Sept. 18

“We are answering the call for strong foundational skills by building out comprehensive literacy and numeracy frameworks,” Beaton says.

Goal 2: Schools where students feel they belong

The second priority, a sense of belonging, centres on mental health and equity.

A new social and emotional learning framework is coming by June 2027, based on the widely used Collaborative Social and Emotional Learning Framework. A steering committee including mental health therapists, family-school liaison counsellors and the division’s clinical team lead is building it now.

Student well-being is already supported through extensive mental health services across the division, but more work is needed, Beaton says.

“The division does not receive enough funding from Alberta Education to provide this level of support,” he says. “That being said, the LRSD board of trustees, along with the administration team, feel the level of support we provide is essential to student success.”

Belonging also means closing the gap for Indigenous students. The division plans to hire Indigenous success coaches to mentor students through graduation and a superintendent’s elder advisory committee will guide culturally responsive supports.

The division is also partnering with a post-secondary institution on community-led research to understand why some Indigenous parents feel disconnected from their children’s schools and how to improve communication between schools and Indigenous families.

Goal 3: A clearer path after graduation

The third priority, a culture of innovation, is about life after high school.

Every Grade 11 and 12 student will meet one-on-one with a career practitioner at least once a year, starting this fall, and the division is building a tracking dashboard so no student falls through the cracks.

Career practitioners will also promote dual-credit courses and off-campus programs, which let students earn credits toward trades or college while still in high school. The division plans an information campaign for parents this fall, hoping more families will learn these options exist.

“The overarching goal in the first year of the plan is to develop a unified instructional framework for the division,” Beaton says. “Parents can expect to see comprehensive information regarding career pathways, high school completion and our academy programs.”

AI enters the classroom, carefully

For the first time, the education plan also includes guiding principles for the use of artificial intelligence in schools.

AI will be treated as what the division calls a “co-pilot, not an auto-pilot,” meant to support teachers and students, not replace the relationships between them. The division says any AI tools used in classrooms must protect student privacy and data.

“Parents and teachers have asked the division to ensure the tools being used in classrooms are safe and adhere to current privacy requirements in Alberta,” Beaton says. “We need to ensure we teach students how to safely and effectively use these tools in their daily life.”

Ambitious but achievable, superintendent says

Beaton acknowledges implementing the plan will come with challenges, particularly given the number of simultaneous priorities.

“The goals for the first year of the plan are ambitious,” he says. “The biggest challenge will be competing priorities. However, many of the component parts already exist across the division. This plan unifies these practices by providing a clear multistep plan.”

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The division will track progress annually and adjust the plan each year through 2030.

Staff wellness is also part of the strategy — the division plans to strike a wellness committee this year to support teachers, since officials say staff well-being directly shapes student success.

As the division moves into implementation, Beaton says the goal is to ensure families see their input reflected in schools and to strengthen partnerships between educators, students and parents.

“I hope they see opportunities to be partners with us and are encouraged by the direction we are going,” he says, adding that success will be measured school by school, student by student, over the next four years.

Academic Achievement, Artificial Intelligence in Education, Career Pathways, Education Plans, Indigenous Education, Literacy, Numeracy, Student Well-Being

Local schools to get new support teams under $100M plan

Written on July 8, 2026. Posted in Civic & Government, Education.

Livingstone Range and Holy Spirit each gain teams, but a local teacher says one-time money won’t fix years of underfunding

Livingstone Range School Division will receive one new classroom support team and the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate School Division two, part of a $100-million provincial spend on what the government calls increasingly complex classrooms.

Both divisions received larger allocations in the winter — two teams for Livingstone Range and five for Holy Spirit, all in kindergarten through Grade 6. This round extends the support into higher grades, where local teachers say the need is mounting and the help, while welcome, falls short of what’s required.

The funding, announced June 29, will create 223 new complexity teams across the province — 160 for grades 7 to 12 and 63 for kindergarten through Grade 6. Of the $100 million, $75 million funds the teams and $25 million improves access to specialized supports and training in rural and remote communities.

“Every student deserves a safe, supportive classroom, and every teacher deserves the tools to succeed,” says Demetrios Nicolaides, minister of education and child care. “This money will strengthen supports, improve safety and ensure teachers have the resources to manage increasingly complex classrooms.”

Every public, separate and francophone school jurisdiction in Alberta will receive at least one additional complexity team, deployed at the school-authority level so divisions can direct support where needs are greatest.

Locally, the two new Holy Spirit teams and one Livingstone Range team are for grades 7 to 12. It is up to each division to decide which of its schools the teams serve.

Cautious optimism

Ron Gillespie, a teacher at Crowsnest Consolidated High School in Coleman and past president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association Local No. 14, says the funding reflects ongoing gaps rather than a new solution.

He welcomes the funding but calls it “reactionary,” a response to years of underfunding rather than a sustained fix.

“This is a short-term response by throwing money at an issue that we, as an association of professionals and parents and communities, have been calling attention to for a long time,” Gillespie says.

While one complexity team may translate locally into one teacher and one educational assistant, he says the impact remains limited.

“That’s not a lot, but it is something,” he says. “What it looks like on the ground, I’m not sure yet. A lot of that is going to be handled divisionally and those are decisions made outside the purview of teachers.”

Gillespie also raises concerns about recruitment, particularly in rural settings. He says the province’s broader hiring targets raise questions about where those teachers will come from, with schools already seeing fewer applicants than in previous years and additional challenges with housing costs and support staff retention.

“We used to have lineups for applications and that has dwindled,” he says. “Sometimes we’re looking for two feet and a heartbeat to try to get into classrooms.”

Gillespie supports the province’s plan to fast-track professionals from the trades and business into teaching, but only if they receive proper training before entering the classroom.

He says Alberta remains among the lowest-funded provinces per student for public schooling and that sustained, predictable funding — rather than a one-time investment — is what would make a lasting difference for students with complex needs.

Statistics Canada‘s most recent figures, for 2022-23, put Alberta school boards’ operating spending at $11,464 per student, about 16 per cent below the national average of $13,692.

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The provincial breakdown

Each Grade 7-12 team includes a teacher and an educational assistant, with access to behaviour specialists, social workers and other specialists.

The funding is part of $355 million in Budget 2026 for class size and complexity, which also includes a $200-million grant to hire more than 1,400 teachers and reduce class sizes. It builds on a $143-million commitment in February for up to 476 complexity teams in K-6 classrooms.

Teachers welcome funding, press for delivery

The Alberta Teachers’ Association calls the announcement a step forward but says the real test is getting staff into classrooms.

“Any investment that recognizes the realities of class size and classroom complexity in Alberta’s classrooms is a welcome and important step forward. The challenge now is to actually get teachers in front of students,” says ATA president Jason Schilling.

“The success of today’s investment will be realized when qualified teachers are in schools by September, when resources reach the classrooms with the greatest need and when this funding is sustained over the long term,” he says.

The association says it will continue to push for sustained investment, predictable staffing and smaller class sizes.

Class Sizes, Classroom Complexity, Education Funding, Public Education, Rural Education, School Funding, Student Supports, Teacher Recruitment

Graphic of a keyboard with a large green button that says "online petition"

Alberta strike fuels national petition on notwithstanding clause

Written on June 17, 2026. Posted in Civic & Government, Education.

Teacher leaders across Canada are urging Ottawa to curb the use of the notwithstanding clause in labour disputes after Alberta became the first province to invoke the constitutional provision to end a provincewide teachers’ strike and impose a contract.

The Canadian Teachers’ Federation board of directors has launched a national petition to that end, asking the federal government to repeal or annul future provincial law that uses the clause to strip workers of the right to strike and bargain collectively.

The petition was announced June 2 alongside a joint statement signed by 21 teacher organization leaders representing more than 420,000 teachers and education workers across the country.

The leaders met June 1 in Banff to discuss what they describe as a growing pattern of constitutional overreach and released their joint statement the following day.

The petition, which calls on the federal government to affirm its responsibility to uphold Charter rights across Canada, is open until July 24 and can be found online at ctf-fce.ca.

Speaking at the event, leaders called the governmental overreach a “dangerous practice” that cannot be allowed to continue or become normalized.

“Without the balancing power that court scrutiny provides to individuals and groups of citizens, it is far too easy for governments to abuse their legislative authority and to the detriment of Canadians,” said Clint Johnston, president of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation.

The move follows the Alberta government’s use of the notwithstanding clause last October, when it invoked Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to pass Bill 2, the Back to School Act. This ended a legal provincewide strike by more than 51,000 Alberta teachers and imposed a four-year collective agreement.

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Madison Stocker, president of Alberta Teachers’ Association Local No. 14, supports the campaign and the organizations behind it.

“I agree with what was said by the ATA and CTF and I am glad they are continuing to fight to support teachers,” Stocker says.

The strike began Oct. 6, following months of failed negotiations between the Alberta Teachers’ Association and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association over wages, funding and overcrowded, complex classrooms.

The government introduced Bill 2 during a special legislative session on Oct. 27, 2025, passing it through all three readings in a single day with limited debate.

Teachers were ordered back to work by Oct. 29 and the legislation carried penalties up to $500 per day for individual teachers and $500,000 daily for the union if members participated in future job action.

By invoking the notwithstanding clause alongside the back-to-work legislation, the Alberta government took the rare step of shielding the law from Charter challenges before they could be launched, a move teacher leaders say has set a dangerous precedent.

Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, says effects of that decision are still being felt.

“The wounds it leaves behind are real, they’re lasting, but they do not have to be inevitable,” he says. “The message sent to workers is that their rights are somehow conditional, temporary and negotiable when politically convenient.”

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Schilling described watching the fallout play out in classrooms and staffrooms across the province, as teachers who had dedicated themselves to their students and communities feeling their commitment was met with disregard.

“Once that trust is broken, rebuilding will take years,” he says. “Morale suffers, relationships fracture, young people begin to question whether public service that supports our communities is worth the sacrifice. Experienced professionals begin to leave.”

The joint statement frames the Alberta situation not as an isolated incident but as part of a broader national trend.

According to the statement, the notwithstanding clause has been invoked more frequently in the past five years to deny human and democratic rights than at any other point in recent memory, including Alberta’s Bill 2 and Bill 9.

Bill 9, the Protecting Alberta’s Children Statutes Amendment Act, was introduced in November 2025 by Premier Danielle Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amery. The legislation proposed amendments to the Health Statutes Amendment Act, the Education Amendment Act and the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act.

Besides the two Alberta bills, the statement points to two separate uses of the notwithstanding clause in Ontario in 2021 and 2022, Saskatchewan’s Bill 137 in 2023 and Quebec’s use of the clause in 2022.

“When governments invoke the notwithstanding clause to end labour disputes, they are not simply legislating,” the statement reads. “They are telling workers that their rights are conditional and that the Charter protections all Canadians depend upon can be switched off when it is politically convenient to do so.”

Johnston said the petition was prompted specifically by the events in Alberta but stressed the implications reach well beyond one province or one profession.

“If any government is allowed to bulldoze worker rights and tip the bargaining tables in their favour in this way, it will happen again, and it could be any worker in Canada who suffers the consequences of that misuse in the future,” he said.

The federation and its provincial and territorial counterparts are calling on all levels of government to commit to good-faith collective bargaining, pledge not to invoke the notwithstanding clause in the context of labour relations and ensure courts have the opportunity to examine the constitutionality of legislation before the clause is considered.

They are also asking the federal government to take action to review and restrict provincial and territorial use of Section 33 when it is applied to deny citizens’ fundamental democratic and human rights.

The joint statement is explicit that the notwithstanding clause was designed as a safeguard to be invoked only in exceptional and demonstrably justified circumstances, not as a routine tool for governments to bypass the courts during legitimate labour disputes.

“The notwithstanding clause was intended to be used in the most extreme of cases,” Johnston said. “Unfortunately, it is becoming far too common for governments to use Section 33 simply to make legislation stick that they know would not stand up to judicial scrutiny, and that is unacceptable.”

Schilling echoes that warning, saying the consequences of silence on the issue are too great to ignore.

“Rights that can be suspended when they become inconvenient are not rights at all,” he said. “Silence makes this move by governments easier. Our solidarity today makes it harder.”

The presidents of all provincial and territorial teachers’ organizations encourage Canadians who share their concerns to sign the petition before it closes on July 24.

Back To School Act, Charter Rights, Collective Bargaining, Labour Disputes, National Petitions, Notwithstanding Clause, Section 33, Teacher Strike

Local teachers welcome class-size funding, urge more support

Written on June 3, 2026. Posted in Civic & Government, Education.

Teachers in southwestern Alberta say the province’s new $200-million class-size reduction plan is a welcome step, but warn it will do little to solve ongoing classroom pressures in rural schools such as those in Livingstone Range School Division.

The Alberta government announced May 13 that it will fund the hiring of more than 1,400 teachers for kindergarten to Grade 9 classrooms in the 2026-27 school year through a new Class Size Reduction Grant.

Livingstone Range School Division is set to receive funding for three teacher full-time equivalents and $405,000.

Madison Stocker, president of Alberta Teachers’ Association Local No. 14, says local teachers see the funding as “a good start,” but not enough to address growing classroom complexity, large class sizes and staffing pressures in rural schools.

“We have some classes in Livingstone Range that have 30 or 38 kids in them, and there’s more than three of those classes,” she says.

Stocker represents teachers across LRSD, including schools in Pincher Creek, Lundbreck, Crowsnest Pass, Fort Macleod, Claresholm, Granum, Stavely and Nanton.

The provincial funding announcement comes after years of concerns from teachers and parents over growing class sizes and increasingly complex classrooms. Those issues were central during last fall’s teacher strike.

In a May 13 statement, ATA president Jason Schilling called the funding announcement “a positive step,” but said school boards may still face challenges hiring and deploying additional teachers while managing increasingly complex classrooms.

“Every student in Alberta deserves the opportunity to learn in a classroom where they can receive the attention and support they need to thrive. And every teacher deserves the professional conditions necessary to meet the diverse needs of their students,” Schilling said.

The grant will target schools experiencing the greatest pressure from class size and classroom complexity, based on classroom-level data collected from more than 108,000 classrooms across Alberta.

Schools with more core classes exceeding the province’s threshold for class size and complexity, often in larger or faster-growing divisions, will receive proportionally more funding.

“Moving forward, it’s important that the very different challenges faced by schools serving rural communities are not disregarded,” Schilling said.

Those concerns also reflect what teachers are experiencing locally, Stocker says.

While she welcomes the additional positions, she says reducing class sizes alone will not fully address the challenges teachers face.

“You can make the classes smaller, but you might still have different behaviours and complexities in there that make it still quite challenging to manage,” she says.

Stocker says teachers in rural communities are also struggling with substitute teacher shortages, which can contribute to burnout among permanent staff.

“Because we live rurally, there’s just not a surplus of teachers who aren’t working full time that want to sub,” she says.

The province says nearly 90,000 students have joined Alberta classrooms in the past four years as record population growth continues to put pressure on schools and teachers.

Stocker says the latest funding is unlikely to fully meet staffing needs across the province or in rural divisions if enrolment continues to grow.

“I do think it’s a step in the right direction, and I’m happy to see that education is being funded, but I don’t think it’ll be enough,” she says.

“We’re looking at maybe four more teachers next year, but already I’ve heard cutbacks across the division. We’re losing teachers all over.”

The latest grant builds on $143 million announced earlier this year to address class size and classroom complexity in the current school year. The province says that funding supported the hiring of up to 476 teachers and 952 educational assistants.

Schilling said the announcement reflects concerns teachers, parents and students have raised for years.

“Teachers will take some satisfaction that years of advocacy, culminating in the largest strike in this province’s history, created a consensus opinion that left government with no choice but to take concrete action to reduce class sizes and address classroom complexities,” he said.

“Class size and classroom complexity matter.”

Schilling said the ATA will monitor how school boards use the funding to ensure it is directed toward classroom staffing and support rather than administrative purposes.

“We will be able to look at their own financial statements to see where this money is being allocated and how it’s spent,” he said. “We also have the ability to ask our members questions to see just how we are seeing impacts within the classrooms.”

The one-year nature of the funding commitment also drew scrutiny.

“We have seen time and time again governments make funding announcements for a school year that don’t materialize in the following budget,” Schilling said. “We will just see a return to the complex, large classes that we have right now.”

Stocker says many teachers remain cautious heading into the next school year despite the announcement.

“Sometimes messages can get twisted a little, so that people think everything is going to be awesome next year,” she says. “I think people are nervous about going back in September and facing the same issues.”

Schilling said the association expects the government to address the needs of high school students in grades 10 to 12 within the coming year and to sustain and increase education funding in future budgets.

“We expect this announcement to be the first step in repairing the damage done by years of chronic underfunding,” he said. “But now the real work begins.”

Livingstone Range School Division did not respond to requests for comment.

Class Size Reduction, Class Size Reduction Grant, Classroom Complexity, Education Funding, Rural Schools, Substitute Teacher Shortages, Teacher Burnout, Teacher Strike

A woman with curly hair and glasses smiles at the camera.

Nothing changed but morale, says local ATA president

Written on April 9, 2026. Posted in Civic & Government, Education.

Classroom conditions in Livingstone Range schools haven’t improved since last fall’s teacher strike, and morale has only gotten worse, says the local union president.

Madison Stocker, president of Alberta Teachers’ Association Local No. 14, says educators in the region had concerns about complexity and underfunding before the strike and are facing them with growing frustration after the strike and Back to School Act.

“The only thing that’s changed is just the disappointment and frustration with the government,” she says.

Stocker represents teachers across Livingstone Range School Division, including schools in Pincher Creek, Lundbreck, Crowsnest Pass, Fort Macleod, Claresholm, Granum, Stavely and Nanton. She says feedback from teachers in the region reflects broader provincial concerns raised by ATA leadership.

“I can’t speak for every teacher, but generally, what I’m hearing from the teachers is exactly that disappointment and frustration in the government for kind of leaving us and education behind, not supporting us the way we were hoping,” she says.

It’s been a turbulent year in Alberta’s education sector. Last October, teachers went on strike over contract negotiations, prompting the provincial government to impose a legislated settlement and invoke the notwithstanding clause — a rarely used legal provision.

The legislation forced more than 51,000 public, separate and francophone teachers back to work on Oct. 29, after a 23-day strike.

Stocker says many teachers, including herself, remained hopeful throughout the job action that something good would come of it.

Following the Back to School Act, however, she says that sense of optimism has been difficult to maintain.

“Trying to find hope is hard in a province where you have seen how the government treats education,” Stocker says.

While the strike resulted in about a month of lost instructional time, she says classroom conditions have seen little change.

Stocker says the tone of staff room conversations has also shifted over the course of the school year — from uncertainty before the strike to diminished optimism afterward.

Among the most significant challenges locally is classroom complexity — the wide range of student needs teachers must address within a single class.

“The complexity could be handled if funding was there to support it,” Stocker says. “But we just don’t have the funds to hire the EAs that we need to support the kids in the classrooms, or hire more teachers so we can have smaller classes.”

The province has announced measures aimed at addressing classroom challenges, including the introduction of classroom complexity teams. Two teams are expected in the Livingstone Range School Division — one in Fort Macleod and one in Nanton.

Each team will include one teacher and two educational assistants to provide targeted support.

While the initiative is a positive step, its impact remains uncertain.

“We are working to hire these positions,” Stocker says, but recruitment could be difficult mid year.

The supports are currently limited in scope, with only two complexity teams assigned in the division.

Teacher burnout is also a growing concern.

“I’m most concerned about burnout and teachers feeling still incredibly unsupported by their own provincial government,” Stocker says.

“The teachers take their jobs very seriously and they are contractually obligated to teach the curriculum. So they are doing their best to do that.”

Stocker encourages parents and community members to engage more directly with what is happening in classrooms.

“I would urge [parents] to have conversations with the children,” she says. “The kids know what’s happening in their [class]room.”

Collaboration between teachers, families and school divisions will be key moving forward and Stocker encourages parents in the region to contact her directly.

Parents interested in reaching her can email mstocker@lrata.com.

Back To School Act, Classroom Complexity, Education Funding, Teacher Burnout, Teacher Strike

A woman with a short blonde bob and glasses stands in front of a sign welcoming people to Group Group Youth.

Group Group Youth reopens with fresh space and renewed focus

Written on April 8, 2026. Posted in Community Life, Education.

A Pincher Creek space that has served young people for nearly four decades is entering a new phase, as Group Group Youth Society restarts operations following a period of closure and transition.

With a newly renovated facility and the hiring of co-ordinator Lieve Parisis, the organization has begun welcoming children and teens back to its Waterton Avenue youth centre ahead of a planned grand opening on May 2.

Founded in 1987, the non-profit society provides a free, supervised space for kids aged six to 18 to socialize, take part in activities and build life skills. The centre’s recent temporary closure followed the retirement of its executive director, Lynne Teneckye, who led the organization for more than 30 years.

Lou Burnham, the society’s board president, says the closure, though sudden, provided time to refresh the space and prepare for a new chapter.

“We just did a complete cleanup in there. We redecorated it and made some changes,” she says. “It’s a complete change inside — it looks really good.”

Renovations included repainting, reconfiguring parts of the interior to create a more open layout, and adding new furniture and equipment.

Parisis, who stepped into her new role last month, has lived in Pincher Creek for nearly 17 years and works as an educational assistant at a local school. She previously owned and operated the Waffle Wagon, Pincher Creek’s first food truck.

“I like working with children. I like working with youth,” she says. “I thought I had some energy left over that I wanted to put to good use and I looked for something that I would really not see as a job, but something that I really enjoyed doing.”

The centre is currently open three days a week — Thursdays from 4 to 9 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. — with plans to expand hours as participation grows.

Youths have access to a wide range of activities, from games and crafts to cooking and sports.

“We have foosball, computers, Xbox, air hockey, lots of craft supplies, board games and a reading nook,” Parisis says.

Weekly highlights include baking sessions, creative projects and supervised trips to the town hall gym.

The reopened centre is already drawing strong interest. On one recent evening, nearly 20 youths showed up.

“We’re basically here to offer a safe place for all kids to hang out, but also to build friendships and social skills,” Parisis says. “Kids are meeting new friends here, sometimes outside of their school or sports groups.”

“Some kids don’t get the opportunity to try certain things,” she says. “When we were baking cupcakes, one boy said it was his first time cracking an egg. Those little things matter.”

In the short term, Parisis says her priority is to establish consistent programming and encourage more kids to come to the centre.

Looking ahead, she hopes to expand programming to include leadership opportunities, homework support and hands-on learning. Plans are underway for a community gardening project, where kids will learn to grow vegetables and plants with the help of local volunteers.

“I want to make the centre about the youth. I want them to tell me what they want to do here,” Parisis says. “I would like to create leadership roles.”

She also hopes to involve more community members, from tradespeople to artists, in delivering programs that expose youths to a wider range of skills and experiences.

“Through recreation, we’re trying to find what else we can offer the kids to help them move forward in life,” she says.

Both Parisis and Burnham emphasize the centre’s role as a safe and supportive space for young people.

Burnham says the society is also working to strengthen connections with the broader community, including schools and businesses.

“We’re going to be looking at completely different programs to try,” she says. “We’re talking to the schools and different businesses in town to see if they would like to come in and show the youth how to do some stuff and teach them something.”

Community support will be key to the centre’s success moving forward. The organization is currently seeking volunteers and donations to help expand its offerings.

“We’re always looking for people who can come in and share skills,” Parisis says.

Donations of books, furnishings or snacks for prizes are also welcome.

The society has launched a contest to rename the centre, aiming to create a more recognizable and engaging identity.

“We are called Group Group Youth Society. But nobody really knows where that name comes from,” Parisis says.

“So, we are having a Name the Centre contest going on for the whole community to participate in, where we are asking the community to come up with a name that would be fitting and easy to say.”

Burnham encourages residents to visit the centre and see its impact firsthand.

“It’s a little gem in our town,” she says. “Parents know their kids are safe here and the kids enjoy it. That’s what matters.”

For Parisis, the early days of reopening have already highlighted the centre’s value.

“One girl told me she keeps coming back because it’s such a fun place to hang out and make new friends,” she says. “That’s exactly what we want this place to be.”

The grand opening on May 2 will welcome the community to tour the renovated space and learn more about its programs and future plans.

Anyone interested in volunteering, joining the board or learning more about Group Group Youth Society can contact the centre at 403-627-4616.

Updates regarding programming and operating hours can be found on the organization’s website at groupgroupyouth.org or on social media.

Community Gardening, Volunteering, Youth Centres, Youth Leadership, Youth Programs