Education
Rebels earn Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy as WHL Scholastic Team of the Year
News release from the Red Deer Rebels
It’s a great accomplishment for the Red Deer Rebels as the club is the Western Hockey League’s Scholastic Team of the Year.
The Rebels were announced Tuesday as the 2023-24 winner of the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy, presented annually to the WHL member Club that achieves the highest overall academic performance during the regular season.
“On behalf of the Red Deer Rebels, I’d like to thank the league for being selected for the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy. We take great pride in working with our players to be the best they can be,” says Teresa Jaeger, Rebels Education Advisor.
“I’d like to thank the players for all the hard work and commitment they put into getting their assignments done and getting the best grades. I’d also like to thank the teachers at Notre Dame and Athabasca University for helping the team.”
The Rebels had nine players attending École Secondaire Notre Dame High School in Red Deer during the season, while other players did online programming through Athabasca University.
The combined average for all Rebels high school players this season is 88%.
The Rebels have taken a collaborative approach to working with players to achieve academic success. Jaeger, Rebels Hockey Operations Manager Arie Postmus, and Notre Dame Vice Principal Curtis Lansing, work hand in hand to continually monitor how players are progressing. Daily liaisons with players provide the structure and support necessary to getting the most from the time available to learning.
Students not enrolled at Notre Dame are monitored in their progress by the Education Advisor having contact with their teachers and home school administrators.
“It is fantastic to see our players rewarded for the effort they put into their schoolwork. The dedication they showed to balance on ice performance and off ice performance in the classroom is very rewarding” said Postmus.
“I am very happy for them all. Teresa also deserves a ton of credit for the countless hours she gives to head our education program and support these players to ensure they graduate with stellar marks.”
The WHL Scholastic Team of the Year Award is named in honour of Jim Donlevy, long-time WHL Director, Education Services, who passed away in August 2019 following a courageous battle with cancer. This marks the fourth presentation of the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy to a WHL Club since its dedication.
Donlevy was instrumental in the creation and continued success of the WHL Scholarship program – the largest privately-funded amateur sports scholarship program in Canada, and one of the most comprehensive education programs for hockey in the world today. Since the establishment of the WHL Scholarship in 1993-94, nearly 8,000 scholarships have been accessed, totaling an investment of over $35 million by WHL Clubs.
“This award win is a great achievement that celebrates all the hard work by our players and staff. The Rebels place great importance in ensuring our players are focused on their academics during the season, and we take pride in their success.” says Rebels Owner, President, and General Manager Brent Sutter.
“Congratulations to the players, Teresa and Arie for this well-deserved honour, and thank you to our partner schools for all your help.”
The Rebels are just the third Alberta-based team, and first since the Calgary Hitmen in 2013-14, to win the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy/WHL Scholastic Team of the Year Award since 2000.
News release from the Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League announced today the Red Deer Rebels have been awarded the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy as the WHL Scholastic Team of the Year for the 2023-24 season.
The WHL Scholastic Team of the Year Award was renamed in honour of Jim Donlevy, longtime WHL Director, Education Services, who passed away in August 2019 following a courageous battle with cancer. This marks the fourth occasion on which the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy will be presented to a WHL Club since its dedication.
“On behalf of the Red Deer Rebels, I’d like to thank the league in being selected for the Jim Donlevy Scholastic Team,” said Teresa Jaeger, Education Advisor for the Red Deer Rebels. “We take great pride in education here and working with our players to be the best that they can be.
“I’d like to thank the players for their hard work and all their commitment they put into getting the best grades and getting their assignments done. I’d also like to thank the teachers at Notre Dame and Athabasca University for helping the team.”
With nine players attending high school, the Rebels combined high-school average for the 2023-24 academic season was 88 per cent. A hardworking group, the Rebels’ high-school aged players put pride in achieving in the classroom, going the extra mile in order to have success.
“On behalf of my family, I am honoured to present the winner of the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy, presented to the WHL Scholastic Team of the Year,” said Lisa Stollery, daughter of Jim Donlevy. “A huge congratulations to the Red Deer Rebels – their extremely hardworking student-athletes, their teachers who help these young men to excel in their academics, their Education Advisor Teresa Jaeger, the Rebels coaches and management team, and the families that support and love them. They are extremely hardworking students.”
As an organization, the Rebels have taken a collaborative approach to working with players to ensure academic success. Jaeger works closely with Hockey Operations staff and leadership from Red Deer’s Notre Dame High School to continually monitor how players are progressing. By having daily sessions, players are provided with the structure and support required to get the most from the learning time available to them.
While on the road, Hockey Operations staff provide leadership and support to keep players on academic track during road trips. Times are designated for players to focus on coursework and they have the opportunity to connect with teachers and Jaeger through Zoom, text, email and Google Meets.
The Rebels insistence on a regular and productive academic routine, combined with support and supervision, has created an environment that fosters academic success.
This is the first occasion in which the Red Deer Rebels have been named the WHL Scholastic Team of the Year.
Winners of the Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy (since 2004)
2023-24: Red Deer Rebels
2022-23: Portland Winterhawks
2021-22: Brandon Wheat Kings
2020-21: Not presented due to COVID-19
2019-20: Kamloops Blazers
2018-19: Portland Winterhawks
2017-18: Saskatoon Blades
2016-17: Victoria Royals
2015-16: Spokane Chiefs
2014-15: Kamloops Blazers
2013-14: Calgary Hitmen
2012-13: Portland Winterhawks
2011-12: Edmonton Oil Kings
2010-11: Swift Current Broncos
2009-10: Tri-City Americans
2008-09: Prince Albert Raiders
2007-08: Chilliwack Bruins
2006-07: Kamloops Blazers
2005-06: Kootenay ICE
2004-05: Vancouver Giants
2003-04: Portland Winter Hawks
Better data, better outcomes for Alberta students |
To help schools address classroom complexity, Alberta’s government will begin collecting annual data on class size and composition.
Over the past three years, Alberta has welcomed more than 80,000 new students. With this unprecedented growth, classroom complexity and class sizes are among the biggest issues facing schools and teachers across the province.
To meet this challenge head on, Alberta’s government will work with school boards to gather yearly data on class sizes and composition. This information will be used to better understand staffing, student needs and classroom complexity. School boards will be required to submit data on Alberta classrooms by Nov. 24, and by January, this data will be made publicly available and will then be released annually.
Data collected on classroom complexity will help the province understand and address issues in schools, including class sizes, and support strategic investments in classrooms. Over the next three years, school boards will be provided with funding to hire 3,000 teachers and 1,500 new education assistants to support students with complex needs.
“We are ready to work with school boards and teachers to address classroom complexity and class sizes. We have heard them loud and clear and we are taking bold action to address these issues.”
Alberta’s government is establishing a Class Size and Complexity Task Force to begin work immediately on identifying solutions to the challenges facing Alberta classrooms. Alongside new annual data collection, the task force will ensure every student gets the attention and support they need to succeed. Details about the task force will be shared in the coming weeks.
“This data will provide essential insight into classroom realities, guiding evidence-based decisions and advocating for sustainable funding to address complexity, ensuring every student and educator in Alberta has the support to thrive.”
Quick facts
To inform decisions on addressing classroom complexity, data will be collected on total numbers of:
- all staff, per school, including roles
- substitute teachers
- district staff, listed by job title
- students, per classroom, per school
- severe, mild/moderate, and gifted/talented students, per classroom, per school
- English as an additional language (EAL) students, per classroom, per school
- refugee students, per classroom, per school
- First Nations, Métis and Inuit students, per classroom, per school
- Individualized Program Plans, per classroom, per school
- students waitlisted for assessment, per classroom, per school
- incidents of aggression and violence
- $55 million was provided in Budget 2025 to address classroom complexity.
- 8.6 billion is being invested to build and renovate more than 130 schools across the province.
- Budget 2025 is investing $1.6 billion in learning support funding to help meet students’ specialized learning needs.
- Budget 2025 is investing $1.1 billion to hire more than 4,000 teachers and educational staff.
Alberta
How one major media torqued its coverage – in the take no prisoners words of a former Alberta premier
(Editor’s note: I was going to write on the media’s handling of the Alberta government’s decision to order striking teachers back to work and invoke Section 33 of the Charter in doing so. But former Alberta premier Jason Kenney provided such a fulsome dissection of an absence of balance and its consequences in terms of public trust on X that I asked him if The Rewrite could publish it. He said yes and here it is – Peter Menzies.)
By Jason Kenney
This
”story” is an object lesson for why trust in legacy media has plummeted, and alt right media audiences have grown.
Here CTV “digital news producer” @AngeMAmato (she/her) writes a story about “experts” calling the use of Sec. 33 “a threat to democracy.”
Who are the experts?
A left wing academic, and a left wing activist. The latter, Howard Sapers, is a former Liberal MLA (which the article does not mention) for a party that is so marginal, it has not elected an MLA in over a decade.
For good measure CTV goes on to quote two left wing union bosses, who of course are predictably outraged.
A more accurate headline would be “Four people on the left angry about use of Notwithstanding Clause.” Which is the opposite of news. It’s the ultimate “Dog Bites Man” non-story.
Did the CTV producer make any effort to post a balanced story by asking for comment from academics / lawyers / think tanks who support use of Sec. 33? Did she call the @CDNConstFound or the @MLInstitute’s Judicial Power Project? Did she attempt to reach any of these four scholars, who just published their views in a @nationalpost op-ed last week?
Did she have an editor who asked why her story lacked any attempt at balance?
And did anyone at CTV pause for a moment to ponder how tendentious it is to accuse a democratically elected legislature of acting “undemocratically” by invoking a power whose entire purpose is to ensure democratic accountability?
She provides some historical context about prior use of Sec. 33. Why does that context not include the fact that most democratically elected provincial governments (including Alberta under Premier Lougheed, and Saskatchewan under NDP Premier Blakeney) agreed to adopt the Charter *only if* it included the Notwithstanding Clause to allow democratically elected Legislatures to ensure a democratic check and balance against the abuse of undemocratic, unaccountable judicial power?
Why does she not mention that for the first 33 years of the Charter era, the Canadian Courts ruled that there was no constitutionally protected right to strike?
Why doesn’t she quote an expert pointing out that Allan Blakeney defended the Saskatchewan Legislature’s 1986 use of Sec. 33 to end a strike as “a legitimate use of the Clause?” Or refer to Peter Lougheed’s 1987 commitment to use Sec. 33 if the courts invented a right to strike?
Many thoughtful criticisms can be levelled against Section 33. Being undemocratic is not one of them.
So why do we see so much agitprop like this masquerading as news from so many legacy media outlets?
IMO, there are two possible answers:
1) They are blind to their own biases; and / or
2) People like @AngeMAmato believe that they have a moral imperative to be “progressive journalists” which trumps the boringly old fashioned professional imperative to be objective and balanced.
Whatever the reason, “journalists” like this have no one to blame but themselves for growing distrust of legacy media, and the consequent emergence of non traditional media platforms.
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