Schools

Central Okanagan Grade 12 grads are set to get $500 each after a more than $1 million donation from a Kelowna couple. (File photo)

Donors who gave $1M to Central Okanagan grads want to send positive message

Anonymous donors identified as Kelowna entrepreneurs Lance and Tammy Torgerson

 

Himalayan Life helped finance the construction of Nepal’s Yangri Academic Centre and dormitories after a 2015 earthquake devastated the valley, killing more than 9,000 people. (Screen grab/Peter Schaeublin)

B.C. charity founder pledges to rebuild Nepalese school swept away by flash floods

Six years after an earthquake killed more than 9,000 people, Nepal faces another catastrophy

 

Students in the Grade 10 entrepreneurship program at Summerland Unisus School have completed a cookbook with international recipes. (Contributed)

Summerland students create virtual international cookbook

Entrepreneurship program at Summerland Unisus School uses virtual cookbook as fundraiser

 

FILE – A science class at L.A. Matheson Secondary in Surrey, B.C. on March 12, 2021. (Lauren Collins/Surrey Now Leader)

Teachers’ union wants more COVID transmission data as B.C. prepares for back-to-school

BCTF says that details will be important as province works on plan for September

FILE – A science class at L.A. Matheson Secondary in Surrey, B.C. on March 12, 2021. (Lauren Collins/Surrey Now Leader)
FILE – Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry listens as B.C. Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside describes new mask wearing policy for public schools, Feb. 4, 2021. (B.C. government)

COVID-19: No cohorts as B.C. schools expected to return to ‘near normal’ this fall

Guidance on masking to come at a later date

FILE – Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry listens as B.C. Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside describes new mask wearing policy for public schools, Feb. 4, 2021. (B.C. government)
The RCMP presence in Central Okanagan public schools is being reviewed by the board of education. (File photo)

RCMP presence welcomed in Central Okanagan public schools

Staff survey feedback overwhelmingly positive from students, staff and parents

The RCMP presence in Central Okanagan public schools is being reviewed by the board of education. (File photo)
Residents line up outside the Vernon Recreation Complex for their COVID-19 vaccine Saturday, June 5. (Jennifer Smith - Morning Star)

5 Vernon, 2 Lake Country schools exposed to COVID-19

Two elementary and five high schools potentially exposed

Residents line up outside the Vernon Recreation Complex for their COVID-19 vaccine Saturday, June 5. (Jennifer Smith - Morning Star)
Marilyn Noel drives the Okanagan Skaha School District’s new electric bus. The school district is planning to convert its entire fleet of 18 school buses from diesel to electric. (John Arendt - Summerland Review)

Electric school bus acquired for Summerland

Okanagan Skaha School District to transition away from diesel buses

Marilyn Noel drives the Okanagan Skaha School District’s new electric bus. The school district is planning to convert its entire fleet of 18 school buses from diesel to electric. (John Arendt - Summerland Review)
The Okanagan Skaha School District has acquired its first electric bus. The bus will be at the school district’s Summerland Yard. (Contributed)

Electric school bus acquired for Summerland

Okanagan Skaha School District to transition away from diesel buses

The Okanagan Skaha School District has acquired its first electric bus. The bus will be at the school district’s Summerland Yard. (Contributed)
A recent UBC study found 8 in 10 trans boys and 6 in 10 trans girls in B.C. said they’d been bullied in the past year. (Unsplash)

B.C.’s gender-diverse teens 6x more likely to experience ‘extreme stress’: UBC study

Researchers say family and school support can cushion the blow of bullying for these students

A recent UBC study found 8 in 10 trans boys and 6 in 10 trans girls in B.C. said they’d been bullied in the past year. (Unsplash)
Students at Hillview Elementary School in Vernon tied 215 orange ribbons to a fence Tuesday, June 1, 2021, in honour of the children whose remains were found at a former Kamloops residential school site last week. (Brendan Shykora - Morning Star)

Vernon students tie 215 ribbons in support of residential school victims

Hillview Elementary students took lessons from the classroom to the roadside Tuesday morning

Students at Hillview Elementary School in Vernon tied 215 orange ribbons to a fence Tuesday, June 1, 2021, in honour of the children whose remains were found at a former Kamloops residential school site last week. (Brendan Shykora - Morning Star)
Hillview Elementary School students in Vernon tied 215 orange ribbons to the fence June 1 in honour of the tragic finding of 215 Indigenous children at a former Kamloops Residential School. (Brendan Shykora - Vernon Morning Star)

‘Burial grounds instead of playgrounds. Heartbreaking’: Vernon School District

Moment of silence, schools flying flags half mast, staff and students wearing orange in honour of Kamloops residential school tragedy

Hillview Elementary School students in Vernon tied 215 orange ribbons to the fence June 1 in honour of the tragic finding of 215 Indigenous children at a former Kamloops Residential School. (Brendan Shykora - Vernon Morning Star)
Preliminary results from a byelection Saturday, May 29, to elect a new Vernon School Board trustee show Jenelle Brewer (bottom right) edging out Philipp Gruner (top right) by one vote. Julie Melanson (lower left) was third and Christie Tujik fourth in the vote to replace the late Mollie Bono. (Contributed)

Vernon school board by-election decided by single vote

Jenelle Brewer edges out Philipp Gruner 151-150 in four-person race

Preliminary results from a byelection Saturday, May 29, to elect a new Vernon School Board trustee show Jenelle Brewer (bottom right) edging out Philipp Gruner (top right) by one vote. Julie Melanson (lower left) was third and Christie Tujik fourth in the vote to replace the late Mollie Bono. (Contributed)
FILE – The fence of Erickson Elementary School was lined with 22 orange shirts on Sept. 30 in honour of Orange Shirt Day. (Aaron Hemens - Creston Valley Advance)

B.C. teachers to wear orange shirts to honour children found dead at residential school

Discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children was confirmed by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation

FILE – The fence of Erickson Elementary School was lined with 22 orange shirts on Sept. 30 in honour of Orange Shirt Day. (Aaron Hemens - Creston Valley Advance)
Seaton’s 27th Street Theatre streams The Addams Family June 2, 3, 4 and 5. (27th Street Theatre photo)

Addams Family comes alive, online, from Vernon high school

Seaton’s 27th Street Theatre features the classic, beloved comedy June 2-5

Seaton’s 27th Street Theatre streams The Addams Family June 2, 3, 4 and 5. (27th Street Theatre photo)
Host families are needed to open their doors to international students coming to schools in Vernon, Coldstream and Lumby. (SD 22 photo)

Vernon families sought to host immunized international students

‘We look for families who are warm and welcoming,’ coordinators say

Host families are needed to open their doors to international students coming to schools in Vernon, Coldstream and Lumby. (SD 22 photo)
The first potential exposure of COVID-19 at Lavington Elementary took place May 14. (File photo)

First COVID-19 exposure at Lavington Elementary

UPDATE: Two Vernon high schools and one in Lake Country also reporting exposures

The first potential exposure of COVID-19 at Lavington Elementary took place May 14. (File photo)
Jessica Lundeen, left, waits to hug her two kids Austin Lundeen, 12, centre, and Chantal Lundeen, 14, after receiving their COVID-19 Vaccine at Gordon A Brown Middle School in Toronto Wednesday, May 19, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Schools better than COVID-19 clinics for vaccinating students, says BCTF

If schools don’t carry vaccines, Teri Mooring worries working parents might not find the time to schedule their kids a dose

Jessica Lundeen, left, waits to hug her two kids Austin Lundeen, 12, centre, and Chantal Lundeen, 14, after receiving their COVID-19 Vaccine at Gordon A Brown Middle School in Toronto Wednesday, May 19, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
A renovation to Armstrong’s Pleasant Valley Secondary School’s gymnasium may turn into a full gym replacement after some issues from a 1970s fire at the school were discovered. The gym will not be available for use in the fall, the North Okanagan Shuswap School District has announced. (Facebook photo)

Armstrong high school gym out of commission

Renovation at Pleasant Valley Secondary discovers issues that could result in gym replacement

A renovation to Armstrong’s Pleasant Valley Secondary School’s gymnasium may turn into a full gym replacement after some issues from a 1970s fire at the school were discovered. The gym will not be available for use in the fall, the North Okanagan Shuswap School District has announced. (Facebook photo)
In a Jan. 18 notice, Interior Health and Salmon Arm West Elementary confirmed a member of the school community tested positive for COVID-19 and, due to a possible transmission, advised students who ride School District 83's Monkey Bus be monitored for symptoms of the virus. (Lachlan Labere-Salmon Arm Observer)

Upgrades roll in for Okanagan schools

Vernon, Central Okanagan, South Okanagan and Shuswap provincial funds set for capital projects

In a Jan. 18 notice, Interior Health and Salmon Arm West Elementary confirmed a member of the school community tested positive for COVID-19 and, due to a possible transmission, advised students who ride School District 83's Monkey Bus be monitored for symptoms of the virus. (Lachlan Labere-Salmon Arm Observer)