Galileo researcher and mentor Audrey Breaker was awarded the Dr. Joseph Crowshoe Award on June 21st, 2008 in recognition of her contributions to Aboriginal education in Alberta. This honour was one of four community awards presented at the 2008 Aboriginal Graduation Banquet and Pow Wow at the Red & White Club in Calgary, Alberta. Audrey believes education plays a key role in the betterment of life for Aboriginal people and has dedicated the past 30 years of her career to Aboriginal communities and children. Congratulations Audrey!

The work that the grade 7 students from Calgary Science School embarked upon is truly authentic, intellectual work. Students were invited to re-mix images and designs from historical documents to produce fresh interpretations of the stories that helped to shape Canada’s past and our current national identity. The digital re-mixes that these students created are now on display in the Calgary Science School’s own Virtual Museum. In addition to these extraordinary digital collages, students produced original historical fiction movies which are also showcased on the website. The CSS Virtual Museum will soon be permanently linked to the “Canada in a Box” display at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull Quebec. The work of these students was real work that was created for a real purpose and audience.

Did you know that when you read the names on a map you're actually reading history? What is there about naming that intrigued these students? Using old maps, historical documents, local histories and lore, these students brought to life the place names on this map. If you look behind the names of the places, locations and people on their map, the lives and stories of their ancestors come to life and reflect their heritage.

Thank you to all school administrators who participated in the two day workshops. Dr. Friesen's presentation is now available.

A Classroom Observation Rubric has been created to guide administrators in their observations of classroom practices to ensure that all students are meaningfully engaged in robust 21st century learning environments. The French translation is available here.