Waterloo Region District School Board

Congratulations to Elizabeth Ziegler PS for being awarded the Connected School Award. The award, part of the "Say Hi Day" campaign is given to a school who participated in the campaign to bring together the school community. As a reward, the school received a $500 cheque presented by Brenda Halloran, Mayor of Waterloo in an assembly at the school. The cheque will help provide for more student engagement activities at the school.

Mr. Harper's grade 5/6 class at Elizabeth Ziegler PS hosted a town hall meeting for candidates running in the Federal Election. Six of the eight candidates from the Kitchener-Waterloo riding participated in the event held at the school. Questions prepared by the class ranged from political issues, such as the war in Afghanistan, to a more personal level, asking the candidates their favourite hockey team. After the meeting the candidates talked with students on a personal level while enjoying a snack of milk and cookies.

Elizabeth Ziegler Public School led by grade five teacher Glenn Harper, is participating in an exchange program through the YMCA. There are thirteen students traveling to Chilliwack, British Columbia in April. The students from Chilliwack will visit our school in May. Thank you to our school council for their generous support of our exchange program!

At a Committee of the Whole meeting held this evening, trustees approved boundaries for two new schools: J.W. Gerth PS serving the Doon area of southwest Kitchener and Edna Staebler PS serving the area west of Erbsville St. in Waterloo. These decisions are subject to final approval at the Board meeting on Monday, January 28, 2008 starting at 7:00 p.m.

On Friday, October 19, Waterloo Region District School Board helped celebrate the grand opening of the Huron Natural Area, Kitchener's largest natural park. Teachers from Huron Heights and the Waterloo Region District School Board Outdoor & Environmental Education Specialists ran programs for students from Elizabeth Ziegler, Smithson and Suddaby Pubic Schools and Huron Heights Secondary School. Students planted trees, explored with GPS units and investigated a variety of ecosystems.

Numerous Waterloo Region District School Board staff were recognized at the 2006 ETFO Awards dinner.
Sherry Donegan from Southridge PS was the recipient of the Ellen Becker Award. This award is given to an ETFO-Waterloo member who has demonstrated outstanding work in speech, language development and literacy, and initiative in continuing professional growth in these areas with an ability to inspire learning and an awareness of current educational theories and practices.

Six teachers were honoured in the 19th Annual W.T. Townshend Recognition of Teacher Excellence Award. The winners are:
* Marilyn Crump, kindergarten teacher at Northlake Woods P.S. (Waterloo)
* Barb Csanits, teacher at Elgin Street P.S. (Cambridge)
* Marjorie Bellingham, special education teacher at Elizabeth Ziegler P.S. (Waterloo)
* Kerry Hague, mathematics teacher at Stanley Park P.S. (Kitchener)
* Susan Ringrose, grade 6 French Immersion teacher at Empire P.S. (Waterloo)
* Scott Margison, special education teacher at Brigadoon P.S. (Kitchener)

Over a hundred guest readers from many different walks of life participated in Literacy Week at Elizabeth Ziegler. The culminating event was a Pajama Party in the evening, with the focus on ‘How To Read With Your Child At Home’. Over 150 people attended. The EZ players (staff members) performed a skit and Robert Munsch showed up to tell some of his stories.