EVENT DETAILS
DATE: Friday, June 21, 2013
TIME: 12:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Stirling Senior Public School, 107 St. James Street, Stirling
WHAT: Large semi-circular rows of 700 students doing a performance on their hand-made drums

For the past several months, students have been working with Leo Brooks, a percussionist from Canada’s national capital region. He has worked with each student at Stirling Primary School, Stirling Junior Public School and Stirling Senior Public School to build drums.

Each drum base is made from a custom-cut sonotube. Students painted them in the school colours of red, yellow and black. Small drums for students in Kindergarten to Grade 2 have a transparent skin. Students in Grades 3 to 5 made medium-sized djembe drums which have a traditional skin made of goat-skin. Students in Grades 6 to 8 made larger drums Aboriginal-style drums which have a traditional skin made of goat-skin.

Several groups of students have learned and will perform a group rhythmic piece. Following that, all students and staff—around 700 people!—will join in one, combined large group performance using the three different styles of drums. This is the largest student group Brooks has worked with and had perform together in one single event!

Background on Leo Brooks, Treefrog Percussion http://www.treefrogpercussion.ca/

(Taken from the Treefrog Percussion website) As a young child, Leo loved to pull the pots and pans out of the cupboard to ban on them and never outgrew the habit —so it’s easy to understand why his percussion skills have been developing for more than half his life. Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Leo earned a Bachelor of Music (with distinction) at University of Lethbridge. In his early years, Leo performed as a percussionist in numerous ensenbles including the Calgary Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Band.

 After moving to Canada’s National Capital Region in 1997, Leo became passionate about hand drumming. Much of his development in this area was self directed, although he was able to study periodically with Michael Marcus of New York and djembe master Famoudou Konaté. The highlight of his hand drumming education came in 2006, when Leo undertook a 10 week study tour through Guinea, Mali and Nigeria.

 Leo now makes his home with his wife, son and daughter in Gatineau, Quebec. Here he spends his time teaching, building and repairing hand drums. He is constantly reaching out for new boundaries and seeking to improve his skills. “There is nothing that fascinates me more than the examination of percussion traditions from around the world” he says. “Percussion is a vast world unto itself—my goal in life is to touch a little bit of everything within it.”

For more information, please contact:
Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, 613-966-1170 or 1 800 267-4350, extension 2354, kdonnell@hpedsb.on.ca

12th Annual Great Place Awards
The Great Place Awards are the highest form of recognition within Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board. These prestigious awards recognize outstanding contributions by students, staff, volunteers  and community partners.

The 2013 Great Place Awards recipients are:

• Tracey Chapman, Inter-departmental Special Education Head, Centre Hastings Secondary School
• Margaret Davis, Volunteer, Queen Elizabeth School (Picton)
• David Frederick, Lead Hand Custodian, Earl Prentice Public School
• Colleen Galway, Volunteer, Pinecrest Memorial Elementary School
• Judy Hatton, Volunteer, Hermon Public School
• Greer Koutroulides, Teacher, Prince Edward Collegiate Institute
• Niki Petti, Peer Tutor, Quinte Secondary School
• Dustin Wilson, Student, Trenton High School
• Sean Boomhower, Janet Boyd, Roberta Clancey, Kelly Craig, Audrey Lemieux, Rhonda Pickstock and Amy Thompson, Educational Assistants, Tyendinaga Public School
• Grade 7 Destinations Programme Students,Harry J. Clarke Public School:
  • Victoria Bailey, William Bardwell, Hatim Belhadjhamida, Mackenzie Bennett, Corey Cameron, Abhaysinh Chudasama, Margaret Doidge, Olivia Greaves, Michael Haddad, Rowan Haddock, Ryan Jaeger, Kevin Li, Erin Locke, Brady Lumley, Robin MacKinnon, Kaylen McCormack, Alexander McPherson, Monisha Mohan, Mariam Niazi, Travis Rendell, Alexandra Schildknecht, Amy Stringer, Holly Tetzlaff
  • Jenna Belanger, Richard Belanger, Ethan Belton-Dalpee, Michael Berry, Quin Botly, Nicole Cao, Aiden Dubyk, Sophia Douglas-Najem, Ryan Forgrave, Isaac Fullerton, Paola Gonzalez Romero, Saud Haseeb, Nevan Hinks, Eve Hoskin, Brylie Ivey, Evan Lumbers, Mackenzie McGuire, Pedram Mollahajian, Victoria Moses, Sneha Patel, Brady Potter, Alexander Tse, Madeleine Yee

“All the nominations told wonderful stories about the person being nominated and how he or she has contributed to student achievement. The committee had a challenging task to review each one, then through discussion, determine which would become finalists,” said Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer and committee chair.

Awards presentation

Award recipients will be recognized and presented with their award at a public Board meeting, as follows:

Date: Monday, June 17, 2013
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Education Centre, 156 Ann Street, Belleville

The Great Place Awards Committee received 27 nominations representing students, employees and volunteers. The nomination criteria aligns with the Board’s eight character attributes: caring, cooperation, honesty, humour, integrity, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness.

Thank you to the Great Place Awards Committee for their respectful and caring review of the nominations:

• Christine Blakely, Child & Youth Counsellor
• Karen Chow, President, Hastings & Prince Edward Occasional Teachers’ Local
• Paul Covert, Parent Involvement Committee Co-chair
• Geoff Cudmore, The Hastings and Prince Edward Learning Foundation
• Hannah Dustin, Student Representative from Bayside Secondary School
• Thelma Goodfellow, Trustee
• Sue McKeown, Office Supervisor, Centre Hastings Secondary School
• Karen Morrow, Teacher, Bayside Secondary School
• Steven Payne, Systems Analyst at the Education Centre
• Rebecca Posthumus, Student Representative, Bayside Secondary School
• Tonia Shelmerdine, Vice-principal, Queen Elizabeth School (Picton)
• Susan Sweet, The Hastings and Prince Edward Learning Foundation

For more information, please contact:
Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, 613-966-1170 or 1 800 267-4350, extension 2354, kdonnell@hpedsb.on.ca

EVENT DETAILS
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, opening reception
TIME: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
LOCATION: John M. Parrott Art Gallery, 254 Pinnacle Street, Belleville (in the public library)

These students are the next generation of artists. They have created some wonderful pieces that will be on display in Gallery 2 from Tuesday, June 4 through Friday, June 14, 2013.

All are welcome to attend.

For more information, please contact:
Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, 613-966-1170 or 1 800 267-4350, extension 2354, kdonnell@hpedsb.on.ca

EVENT DETAILS
DATE: Friday, June 7
TIME: 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Quinte Secondary School, 45 College Street West, Belleville
TICKETS: Available by calling the school at 613.962.9295.

The Quinte Secondary School cafeteria will be transformed into Chez Quinte. Guests will enjoy a delicious dinner of spaghetti, Caesar salad and dessert for just $10 (adults) and $5 (students). Children under 5 eat free.

Anyone interested in ‘dinner and a show’ can also purchase tickets for the student performance Changes, written by Quinte students, which starts at 7:30 p.m.

All proceeds will be directed to The Hastings and Prince Edward Learning Foundation to support students in need through the Student Emergency Fund.

For more information, please contact:
Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, 613-966-1170 or 1 800 267-4350, extension 2354, kdonnell@hpedsb.on.ca

Mary Chisholm, Library Technician, Quinte Secondary School, 613.962.9295

Three Stirling schools will be coming together as one new Stirling Public School in September 2013. To celebrate the unique history of each one, they are jointly hosting a Closing House.

EVENT DETAILS
DATE: Tuesday, June 11, 2013
TIME: 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
LOCATION: All three schools (see below)

Stirling Primary School, 40 Church Street, Stirling
Stirling Junior Public School, 84 Church Street, Stirling
Stirling Senior Public School, 107 St. James Street, Stirling

Classrooms in each school will be open to visit. Memorabilia of all types will be on display. If you have something to share, please call Stirling Junior Public School at 613.395.3343.

All are welcome to this community event. Visit with current and former staff, students and community partners.

For more information, please contact:
Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, 613-966-1170 or 1 800 267-4350, extension 2354, kdonnell@hpedsb.on.ca