In the Speech program there are many different categories of public speaking but the category that challenges even the most seasoned of public speakers is probably Impromptu Speaking. The Impromptu category is completely unprepared. After you are given a topic you’ve never seen before with only two minutes to prepare, you deliver a speech for up to five minutes that is essentially created as you perform it. As a young public speaker, this category terrified me, and I avoided it at all costs. However, encouraged by my dad and my coaches, I worked at the skill, and naturally, it improved over time. The differences between me at the beginning of my STS journey, and who I am now are many.

The future is not what it used to be — but it can be what we make it. As educators, one of the challenges of crafting a truly exceptional education stems from the fact that our students and new graduates are stepping into a very different world than what we may have experienced. The concept of Gig Economies or temporary contracted positions, while not altogether new, has seen a recent surge in popularity, and ensuring that every student of Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS) has the tools and resources they need to thrive in any number of diverse environments is more important than ever before.

Like the bricks and mortar that form our buildings, or the trees and pathways that provide our connection to the natural world, every donation you make not only shapes our campus, but upholds our legacy of creating good humans, thought-leaders, and global citizens.

Having taught visual arts at STS for 16 years, Mike reflected on the wide variety of opportunities that STS offers, and that became the focus of his inspiration. The drawing he submitted provided the seed of an idea that became Romance and Rigour, an eight-foot diameter wooden relief carving featuring an array of independent pieces, all coming together to form a circle.

Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS) develops the knowledge students require to succeed within and beyond the classroom. While our teachers understand that reading, writing, and numeracy skill acquisition are essential educational outcomes, they also know that 21st century students cultivate other literacies if they are to become engaged in rewarding pursuits.

We started a wonderful Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS) tradition a few years ago of giving every new student their first STS school tie as a welcome gift. The gifts are beautifully wrapped, and hand-delivered by employees and parents to each new student’s home. Not only is this our way of showing our appreciation for new students choosing STS, but also the tie symbolizes STS’s rich history and a common bond that literally ‘ties’ all STS family members – past, present, and future – together.

In Grade 10, their final year of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP), students explore an area of significant personal interest over an extended period of time as part of their appropriately named Personal Project. STS MYP students develop and demonstrate key 21st century learning skills they will need later in their education and in life beyond the classroom. Through this highly personalized undertaking, students also develop confidence and strengthen their abilities as principled, life-long learners.

The STS community came together on Saturday, September 17, 2022, for the Family Fall Fair and Homecoming Celebration which took place outside in our beautiful courtyard. This STS tradition, put on in partnership with the STS Alumni Association and POSTS, brought together alumni, alumni parents, and alumni staff and their families, along with our STS families.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this message in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, Canada's head of state and the longest-reigning British monarch, who passed today at the age of 96 years old.

In July, twenty STS students headed off to Geneva to attend Swiss Summer School in the picturesque mountain town of Gstaad. After landing in Geneva, the group wasted no time and headed from the airport to the waterfront to see the Jet d’Eau. Then they strolled over to the old town to visit St. Pierre Cathedral and tour the downtown district.

After the end of a grueling series of IB exams several weeks ago, sixteen Grade 12 students and three teacher supervisors (Mr. Bennett, Mr. Boulianne, and Ms. Grant-Watt) flew off to New York City to cram as much culture into a two-and-a-half-day period as possible. We saw the MET, an off-Broadway comedy called The Play That Goes Wrong, the New York Stock Exchange, the UN headquarters, the 9/11 memorial, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, Time Square, Fifth Avenue, and more. All the while taking breaks to eat at some of the most amazing food I have ever tasted, no matter if it was pasta in Little Italy or Texas-style family barbeque. It was a hectic rollercoaster, but even if our abused feet would say differently, none of us would have traded a single moment.

On Saturday, May 14 STS Grade 12 student Alia N. '22, was presented with the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award at the Gold Award Celebrations in Edmonton, A.B. "For my Gold level award, I logged embroidery, personal training, my involvement with an organization called The Letter Project, and a [230 km] bike trip from Banff to Jasper" said Alia N. '22.

The Spartans took a strong team to the ASAA Badminton Provincials on May 6-7, 2022 in Medicine Hat, A.B. We had three boys singles and one girls doubles team competing after qualifying from the South Central Zones on April 30, 2022.

It was a fun day at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School on Saturday, May 14 as the STS community gathered for the 50th Anniversary Kite Making and Kite Flying event.  There were 50 STS children, with their parents and grandparents creating and decorating kites in the beautiful gathering stairs space in the Rose Elementary School wing.

From April 28 through 30, STS hosted the Zone 5 High School One Act Play Festival, providing an invaluable opportunity to connect with the larger high school fine arts community. In addition to hosting, STS also produced two plays for the competition, Bluebirds by Vern Thiessen and Mirror Game by Dennis Foon. 

One of the best parts of being in a K-12 school is having our older and younger kids build friendships that are rooted in storytelling and inter-grade literacy.

Don’s admiration for the School and especially the teaching excellence has grown over the years since Anders joined in Grade 5, and through his giving he supports Head’s Initiatives, Outdoor Learning Projects, and Scholarships and Bursaries. [. . .] Don adds that he also donates because he’s a strong believer in the transformative power of education, “I think that's where society advances. With education, our kids and grandkids can have a better quality of life. And hopefully it can help them think critically, become wiser, and also more tolerant.”

"What drew us in was the global application of the project. Since we have honeybee farms so close to our campus, learning  that they could also be found in South Africa, and that they faced similar issues was very interesting. In other preliminary research, learning about the economic benefits and support honey farming could provide for strengthening quality of life was something that drew us in. Knowing that the premises of this project could be seen only a few kilometers away, and the initiative supporting not only the environment but also people’s wellbeing was key in our choice to take on this project."

At STS our volunteers play an active and vital role in not only helping make our School a success but also through fostering the strong sense of community and caring felt at the school. With the theme of this year's National Volunteer Week being "Empathy in Action" we are sharing some of the many ways that our volunteers, whose selfless dedication, awareness, caring, and commitment, help foster the incredible feeling of community present at STS.