“Leadership in the OCDSB is the demonstration of personal initiative to achieve a positive outcome.”
Students
As representatives of the student population, our Cyclone Spirit Club provides special events that focus on school spirit for the whole school body. Other opportunities for student leadership include the Stage and Sound Crew, Monitors (lunch, door and milk) and assisting with sporting events. The students on our sports teams consistently show fine leadership and sportsmanship, whether they win or lose. Over the past few years, our Junior and Intermediate students have won numerous regional championships in football, volleyball, basketball and track and field. In addition to informal recognition on a regular basis, we also acknowledge their contributions in our classrooms, school announcements, newsletters, assemblies, our Principal’s report to School Council, and end-of-year awards ceremonies. As well, we recognize student leadership by incorporating their suggestions into our planning.
Staff
Sawmill Creek staff members have a wealth of professional qualifications including Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music, Fine Arts, Physical Education and Sciences, as well as additional qualifications in Special Education, English as a Second Language, French as a Second Language, Music, Visual Arts, and Computers in Education. They have actively participated in numerous Board-wide professional development activities in literacy and numeracy, and we recognize their initiative by providing and supporting opportunities for further professional growth. Our staff members willingly accept leadership roles to support student learning through planning groups that include literacy, numeracy, and divisions, as well as provide students with extracurricular activities such as sports, drama and music. We recognize staff leadership via personal interactions with one another, letters of thanks, school announcements, school newsletters, assemblies, performance appraisals, and our Principal’s reports to School Council.
Parents/Guardians/Volunteers
Last year, our volunteers contributed numerous hours of support for the benefit of students in our school. Our dedicated school council meets monthly and contributed $1,000 to support our drama production, “Oliver”, and the replacement of some of our sports equipment. School Council meets monthly and provides input and feedback on a variety of school initiatives. Their fundraising efforts help support identified school needs such as the purchase of library books, sports equipment, playground equipment, musical instruments and a community “Fun Day”. Parent volunteers contribute hundreds of hours of support each year for the benefit of our students and school, doing things such as listening to children reading, shelving library books and going on field trips. As invaluable partners, we thank our parents, guardians and volunteers on an on-going basis, and look for opportunities to acknowledge them such as school announcements, our Principal’s report to School Council, school newsletters, and our annual Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast event.
Community
We recognize our community partners through our school announcements, school newsletters, school web site, principal’s report to school council, and thank you cards. We also invite them to special events, awards assemblies, and our Grade 8 leaving ceremony. The students of Sawmill Creek benefit from the involvement of a variety of community groups. Through the Big Brother/Big Sisters organization, a number of mentors have been matched with our students, providing a positive and caring relationship over the course of each year. Numerous Co-op students work within specific classrooms each year to assist children with their learning.
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