Dear CTS Colleagues,
The Countdown to the CTS Conference is quickly approaching! The Conference planning committee is busy organizing and scheduling a variety of new, interesting session as well as hands workshops from industry partners.
We are thrilled to have the keynote address will be given by the captivating Linda Duxbury –the topic “Entering the dragon’s den? What high school graduates can expect in the world of work”. Please take a look the website for a list of session/workshop speakers to date. Session and workshop speakers will be updated and organized according to strand shortly.
The Conference schedule will be posted on February 6 so you can plan your Conference. This year we are offering session at the River Cree on Friday and providing many hands on Workshops at Jasper Place High School on the Saturday. We want to offer our delegates a well-rounded experience at the Conference.
Our closing keynote is the entertaining Stephen Murgatroyd- the topic “Slaying the Dragon: Why University is Not the Destination Alberta Needs for Most of Its Students”. I encourage you to register for the Conference and share the details with fellow CTS Teachers. Conferences provides a wonderful time to connect and network with other CTS teachers in the province to share ideas, learn something new and reflect on past, current and future teaching practices. Please contact lhetlinger@ecsrd.ca for further information or if you have any questions.
Look forward to seeing you at the Conference,
Hello to everyone in Alberta from Grande Prairie! I hope that you are settled into another year of influencing our young minds in Alberta. 2011/2012 promises to be another year packed with new and ongoing projects in CTS. As many of you may have presumed from our “Safe Journeys” theme for Conference 2012, Alberta Education’s and the CTS Council’s focus this year is going to be on Health and Safety.
Over the past year, I have represented the ATA on an Alberta Education’s Health and Safety committee. We began with a mandate to develop a framework that incorporated all of the stakeholders involved with Health and Safety (including the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the School Act). Our meeting in June found the group reviewing what will promise to be one of the most influential pieces of resource that a teacher in CTS could hope to refer to: the CTS Health and Safety Handbook. This reference material is a very comprehensive manual covering topics such as incorporating a culture of Health and Safety in a school and safe use procedures for equipment in most areas of CTS. Our intent as the CTS Council is to facilitate rollout information sessions at Conference 2012 presented by Alberta Education…so plan to attend!
I have also been working with Work Safe Alberta on the revised Health and Safety Resource Binder that was provided to every school in 2006/2007. Again, Conference 2012 will have information sessions to provide educators with information regarding this revised resource.
As for the membership side of my portfolio, I wish to take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of teachers to renew their membership with the CTS Council. Last year, ATA ratified a motion to incorporate a one-time sign-up for a complementary membership to the Specialist Council of a teacher’s choice. This means that once you sign up or renew your membership to the CTS Council as the complementary membership, you will not be asked to do so again and it will automatically renew every year until you choose to discontinue that membership…one less thing to worry about! If you are unclear of the procedure to renew, please contact me at publicrelations@ctscouncil.com. Membership is extremely beneficial as it allows access to our annual conference at a reduced rate, the chance to network with like-minded teachers, and keeps you up to date on news in CTS…and it’s complementary(as your first choice for a specialist council)!
I look forward to seeing you in Edmonton at the River Cree Resort in April!
VP HRH Displayer Coordinator
Over the last few years I have had a wonderful time serving on the CTS Council first as PD Rep. for Central Alberta, and more recently as Vice President HRH. I look forward to serving on council again next year. As VP HRH, I have been busy building personal classroom materials to meet the new curriculum outcomes. Throughout this endeavor I have met some great teachers and have had the pleasure of doing some collaboration and sharing!
CTS Conference is my favorite PD opportunity! Each year I get to see many familiar faces and meet many new CTS teachers. Not to mention take in a few interesting sessions and workshops!
For the past four years I have had the pleasure of being in charge of registering exhibitors. I love the opportunity to build friendships with outside partners in a variety of area's in CTS! This year I welcome back a number of friends, and look forward to building new friendships with some interesting and new partners participating in this year's conference!
Please come and introduce yourself to me if you see me at the conference!
Keep using our QR Reader &
