By Joel van der Veen
KENASTON — The future of education was on display in Kenaston last week, and Don Morgan said he liked what he saw.
During his visit on Tuesday, the education minister stopped by several classrooms at Kenaston School and also toured the adjacent Distance Learning Centre (DLC), still under construction and slated for completion in November.
Talking to local media, Morgan said he was impressed by the progessive ideas he had witnessed and the new facility underway, saying, “We’re really pleased to see the progress that it’s making.”
Speaking of the province as a whole, he noted, “We sometimes underestimate ourselves . . . (but) we can dream big and have big ideas as well.”
“It’s certainly an exciting and interesting project,” he added, saying he commended Sun West School Division and its staff for their efforts in growing the centre.
Morgan was joined by several school administrators, politicians and other leaders during the visit, including Arm River-Watrous MLA Greg Brkich and Kenaston Mayor ML Whittles.
Sun West board trustees John Collins, Karen Itterman and Connie Bailey took part in the tour, as did Kenaston principal Greg McJannet, DLC principal Jade Ballek and vice-principals Aaron Biberdorf, Kurtis Heath and Kimberley Johnson, and superintendent of education Darren Gasper.
First, Morgan visited Rebecca Farrell’s Grade 1 and 2 classroom to witness students at work using iPads to complete activities as part of their lesson.
He then stopped by the gym, where students in grades 7, 8 and 9 were engaging in physical exercise while wearing heart rate monitors, with the statistics wirelessly transmitted to a computer and displayed using a projector.
Teacher Jenna Fisher and Sun West physical education mentor Miles Bennett provided an explanation of the technology and its use to Morgan.
The minister also visited a mathematics class led by Nathan Herrem, where students were using mobile technology to guide their learning.
Finally, Morgan and the others donned hardhats to tour the DLC, which is quickly taking shape southeast of the school along Fifth Avenue.
Saskatoon-based firm Quorex Construction began building the 15,000-square-foot facility this summer. The project is expected to be complete in November, with staff hoping to move in by Christmas of this year.
Morgan noted several challenges in the growth of the DLC, chief among them being the need for increased network bandwidth as the centre has grown.
He said administrators are working with SaskTel to resolve these issues for Kenaston in particular, explaining, “We knew that this one (area) had to be a priority.”
As the DLC’s staffing levels have also increased, providing adequate housing has also become a challenge in a village of around 300 residents.
Morgan, who spoke briefly with Whittles during his visit to Kenaston, said he and the mayor had discussed the village’s ongoing efforts to engage developers and expand the number of available lots.
For the full story, please see the Sept. 21 edition of The Davidson Leader.