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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE  It’s amazing that we are already well into the month of February! Even though Balzac Billy told us we have 6 more weeks of winter, it doesn’t seem insurmountable with the temperatures we are experiencing now (even though the wind is hard to take some days.) It is great that our students are back in school after a delayed start, and we hope with Omicron seemingly on the decline and mandates being lifted, we can start planning activities with more certainty. What would you like to see the Springbank Community Association plan? Send us your suggestions to info@springbankcommunity.com Should we have another used sport equipment sale? Community movie? Shakespeare on the Go? Family dance? Please let us know what you would like to attend in your community and we will try to make it happen. There are a few things happening in our community so scroll to see details on “Night Sky Viewing” with the Duke of Ed participants and Westlife Church; the Springbank Curling Club bonspiels; Crafts, Chat and Coffee group; and other interesting events in Bragg Creek and Cochrane. There has been a flurry of activity at Rocky View County this month. From undeveloped road allowances to discussions on SR1 funds, Council has been busy. Our schools continue to persevere through student and staff absences so scroll to see what they are up to. Hopefully our grade 12 students will experience an in-person graduation ceremony. Our newsletter is rounded out by something a little different in this month’s Chaps and Chinooks Moment. If you have ever looked through the two volumes of our community’s history, you will see that it isn’t just family write-ups. There are other interesting entries, including this month’s “Love Song” poem. So as we navigate how we are going to adjust to the shift from government Covid mandates to personal responsibility, let’s spread the Springbank Love! 
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FAMILY EVENT
NIGHT SKY VIEWING |
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 FAMILY EVENT - NIGHT SKY VIEWING FRIDAY EVENINGS: March 4, 11, 18, 25 Westlife Church Parking lot @ 32242 TWP Rd 245, kitty-corner from Calaway Park 8:00 to 9:00 pm (no sign-up come and go)
Cancelled if no clear skies Sponsored by: SPRINGBANK DUKE OF EDINBURGH PARTICIPANTS AND WESTLIFE CHURCH Telescopes and binoculars will be available but visitors can bring their own as well! Our large Cassegrain telescope allows participants to see night sky objects clearly. Duke of Edinburgh volunteers will demonstrate the night sky app and assist with telescope questions and viewing!
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SR1 construction is expected to begin this spring. Alberta Transportation is moving ahead with tree clearing along the footprint beginning as early as February 8, 2022 and continuing through March 2022. Most activity will be concentrated near the river at Kamp Kiwanis, along RR40 and along Highway 22. See the map: Approx. 130 acres of land along the river and at key points of construction of the 8 story berm being deforested. Kamp Kiwanis location will be a significant area of deforestation as it is where the diversion begins. Tree and shrub clearing activities will take place Monday to Sunday between 7:30am and 6:00pm, weather permitting. All noise complaints can be directed to springbank-project@gov.ab.ca. Alberta Transportation or a site representative will respond to all complaints within 48 hours. To our knowledge, SR1 has not been approved by the Dam Safety Regulator / Water Act.
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 ROCKY VIEW COUNTY UPDATES |
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Recreation $10M SR1 Funds The $10 million received by the County for SR1 will be directed by a new policy which is under development. A draft policy update to the existing community funding model was presented to the Recreation Governance Committee on January 20. This policy update was crafted and presented to Council without any public comment. At the meeting, it was decided that a new stand-alone policy be written, rather than adding the SR1 funds to the community funding model. We do not have a timeline for the draft policy. In our view, there should be a discussion of how best to use this $10M towards strategic projects within the Springbank area and even a discussion of an endowment fund. As with many new policies, there appears to be no opportunity for public comment. In the meantime, $2.2M of the $10M has been used to acquire the land next to the Springbank Park For All Seasons. This will be the home to the new community centre / recreation facility. Community Engagement We presented to the Recreation Governance Committee on January 20 to request additional community engagement on recreation. Since the local recreation boards (consisting of 12 representatives from West Rocky View) were abolished in 2019, several gaps in recreation planning have become apparent. The local recreation boards used to review all new developments and comment on possible recreation needs. The local recreation boards also used to review applications for funding. Now, there is no local input on either of these. As an example, Webber Academy was approved to receive $100,000 from the County towards their new ball diamond facility. Whether or not we agree with this decision, we do believe that the community should have the opportunity to comment on large-scale investments such as these. The Committee was receptive to our feedback - watch the video (we present at approximately 5:11). The SR1 discussion took place immediately beforehand. Road Allowances Administration presented a draft road allowance policy to Council last week to allow for licensing of undeveloped road allowances to adjacent landowners. Read the overview to Council. Again, there was no public input on the draft policy, so concerns were not addressed before the draft Policy went to Council. This item is important to our community as road allowances provide public access to the river. Councillor Hanson asked some excellent questions of administration. After some discussion, the decision was to direct Administration to return with a new bylaw / policy and will return with a public hearing. Springbank Trails and Pathways (STAPA) and the Community Association submitted letters to Council on this item. Abolishment of the Municipal Planning Commission On January 25, Rocky View County Council voted to abolish the Municipal Planning Commission, which was setup in 2019 Read the bylaw Instead of the Commission, "Administration shall be the Development Authority for determining all Development Permit applications, except Development Permit appeals, and except where a regulation or provision within a direct control bylaw has determined Council as the determining authority." More information on this transition will be presented to Council later this spring. We will follow this change to understand what the implications are, if any, within the Springbank area and development processes.
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Thanks so much to Kathleen Burk and RE/MAX for providing support to the production of our newsletter. With ActiveDemand and now Kathleen’s support, we are keeping costs to a minimum.
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Discovery Corner Preschool 
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Springbank Playschool  The start of 2022 at Springbank Playschool has been filled with fun and learning. The students were excited to return to school after the winter break. Their 4 year old’s have been really working hard on practicing at writing their names on their projects which is such an exciting step to watch! They went skating at the SPFAS rink, and had Pajama Day which was so much fun as they had hot chocolate and built things out of marshmallows.  February’s theme is Love and Fairy Tales. There will be Valentines Day crafts and Valentines exchanges, Fairy Tale stories and crafts, and more practice with writing, scissors and fine motor skills to prepare them for Kindergarten. Registration for the 2022/2023 school year is OPEN! If you are interested in learning more about Springbank Playschool or want to register your child for the next school year there are still spots available for both the 3 year old and 4 year old classes. Register and learn more now!
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Springbank Middle School  As part of our grade 7 Science program, students were challenged to put their knowledge of strong structures to the test. During the Structures and Forces unit, students learned about the types of forces structures must withstand and different methods of strengthening structures. The steps in the engineering and design process were introduced to each class. For their first challenge, students had only 30 minutes to design and create a bridge that could support 100 pennies. There were some exceptional designs! Those bridges that met the minimum load of 100 pennies were then entered into a finale where pennies were continually added until the point of collapse. The best design held 525 pennies! Amazing! 
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Springbank High School  With February being the start of semester two for Springbank Community High School, students are looking at a fresh semester full of more uncertainty. Currently, we are walking into the second semester with no idea about finals, diplomas, graduation, in-person vs. online learning, etc. Having no information about finals, whether they are 10%, cancelled, or delivered in another format, is casting some stress for both staff and students around the school. There is the same uncertainty about diplomas. Many Grade 11 students have fast tracked their courses into Grade 12 level courses in the hope of evading a diploma exam. However, with diplomas being weighted at 10%, many students are looking for an announcement from the Alberta Government with the news that diplomas have been cancelled. Also, the Grade 12’s are still being faced with the question of what their graduation will look like. If they will get to walk the stage with their peers, or if they will have a drive-by graduation like the past two years. Finally, we are all still dealing with the uncertainty of our current in-person schooling. With COVID hospitalization numbers still on the rise, all students and staff are hoping that we are able to remain in-person all throughout this semester. However, students and staff are still grateful to be in-person and are looking forward to an uninterrupted semester. Submitted by Jordan Inverarity, student at Springbank High School
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17th Avenue bridge spans have been heading through Springbank this month!
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 ROCKY VIEW SCHOOLS TRUSTEE UPDATE
JUDI HUNTER, WARD 5 |
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Much has happened since my January Newsletter contribution. Omicron took front and center for the month of January leading to a delayed start, the government’s decision to supply masks for each student and Rapid Covid 19 tests to all families with children in school. The Board continues to seek middle ground in the polarized environment on masking and vaccinations., following the advice of the Chief Medical Officer while we are still considered to be in pandemic status. Currently over 95% of RVS staff is vaccinated. There continues to be restrictions about attendance at student athletic events, but at least our students are now allowed to play. This is a parent’s story and concern for her children. For almost two years our students have been through a lot: in and out of in person learning, banning of sports activities, disruption to learning, masking, removal of normal childhood interactions and development. As a society, we have witnessed rising family violence incidents, suicides increasing, mental health issues at crisis levels, financial impacts to families, loss of loved ones, increasing intolerance not only around masking and vaccinations but also general lack of civility. Since April 2020, there has been ten times as many under ages 45 addiction deaths, we have witnessed governments vilify the unvaccinated and so allowed a public looking to place to lay blame, treat people who were only before this pandemic our friends, our family and our neighbors as second-class citizens Decisions have consequences. Decision makers need to carefully balance one set of needs against another: the need to support our hospitals and health care workers against the negative outcomes for children, families and our economy. It has been abundantly clear to me in watching our COVID 19 policies evolve, that the media has been complicit in the evolution of outcomes. Fear sells – reports no longer just give the facts but provide personal bias or commentary and use value laden vocabulary. Take for example a Texas mother who put her son in the trunk of the car in order to isolate him from her while in transit for testing. Did fear or limited analysis play a role? We also are witnessing a collapse of the democratic process and freedom of speech which should be a concern to all of us. This democratic interruption comes when a pandemic is declared. Our elected government defers to the Health Department whose job it is to keep the population safe. That small group of experts is not accountable to the public nor to the government it seems. In fact, calls for transparency or input are neglected. As the pandemic comes to an end, I am sure there will be many books and research papers written about how policies were developed, how much the role of the media and fear played in the population’s understanding of and response to the virus, the lack of transparency in models developed, who counted as a COVID death and who did not and how our seniors were treated. The world is a much smaller place than it was prior to the internet. Communication and expertise are world-wide and immediate. The opportunity to engage world experts in the debate is critical for informed decision-making, yet it seemed any debate contrary to the health narrative was banned and those offering alternative ideas were discredited. Open debate is the hallmark of a democracy. Many countries, provinces and states developed policies different from those of Alberta. Outcomes are informative – did masking mandates, vaccination mandates or isolation mandates work? Operational Updates Due to Changing Provincial Mandates Jan. 7 update includes information on: - Masking;
- Medical-grade masks and rapid test kit distribution;
- January Diploma Exams are cancelled;
- Portions of January PAT have been delayed;
- Changes to case notification process/outbreaks;
- Temporary shifts to at-home learning.
New E-Tutoring Hub Minister LaGrange announced a new e-Tutoring Hub to support student learning in Grades 4-9, specifically in literacy and numeracy. - There will be no cost to students or school authorities for access to the e-Tutoring Hub. This service will be provided by Alberta Education;
- There will be new resource videos, developed by Alberta Education certificated teaching staff, which will be pre-recorded and short. Alberta Education expects a modest launch with only 4-5 videos total, but with more videos developing;
- Currently it will support Grades 4-9 in all subjects. Support will extend to all Grades in K-12 in all subjects as possible, based on capacity within Alberta Education;
- Live tutoring will be offered by Alberta Education staff. All tutors will be certificated teachers from Alberta Education;
- This resource will be a supplement to support student learning and will begin as a modest resource. This is not intended to replace the great work happening in classrooms;
- Alberta Education will seek feedback from school authorities for topics to include and how to best enhance this service.
High School Redesign Podcast Below is a link to a podcast about how our thinking about high school education might change. This podcast speaks to many of the innovations already part of Rocky Views schools learning environment: project-based learning, real-world applications, making learning relevant and visible, school culture, student voice. Like a Sponge podcast: Radical rethink | GreatSchools.org MindUP A scientifically oriented and evidence-based program universal social-emotional training program March 7
virtually 8:30am – 4:00pm
Free and open to the public
Register Now
For more information, contact Jodi Neetz. Chancellor Murray Sinclair named to Order of Canada
 Read more about this honourable achievement.
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Crafts, Chat and Coffee Group Calling all community ladies 50 years and older to join this group every Wednesday at the Springbank Heritage Club (SHC) located at 244168 Range Road 33. You are welcome to come and bring your own project to work on, participate in the weekly project offered or just visit and enjoy a coffee. Snacks are always welcome. Some of our past projects include: sewn microwave bowl cozies, acrylic painting, Christmas decorations, coffee filter roses and fleece mittens. Do you have a project to share or instruct? It can be exercise, yoga, cooking class, crafts…or if you’d like to make a craft but not sure how to go about it, just bring a picture and we have many talents ladies who can assist. They have a wonderful facility to accommodate these activities. If you are interested in attending, please email Janice so that she can add you to the email reminder list. A reminder email is sent out to all ladies in the group on Monday or Tuesday each week to let everyone know what project may be worked on and the required supplies. All AHS protocols are observed. Membership at the Heritage Club is encouraged and is only $50 per year. Come check them out and if you enjoy attending after a couple of times, then please sign up as a SHC member! Excited to see you!
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In the world of curling, we are in one of the most exciting parts of the season. With the Scotties and Olympic games underway and then the Brier being hosted in Lethbridge, there is plenty of competitive curling to keep us entertained. Here at Springbank, we are fortunate to have plenty of leagues for everyone from the well-seasoned through to the junior curlers, and we’ve still got some opportunities to come out and join us! Ladies Open Bonspiel The annual Springbank Ladies Open Bonspiel was held on January 14-16. The bonspiel was full with 24 teams representing various clubs from Calgary and other areas of the province. Everyone had an entertaining evening at the Saturday banquet “Black & White with a Splash of Color”, complete with several creative team costumes and the women were treated to tasty appetizers and a delicious chicken dinner including dessert, catered by our Springbank Ice Breaker Lounge. Upcoming Bonspiels 
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CHAPS and CHINOOKS MOMENT |
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Love Song Chaps and Chinooks is a compilation of not only family histories, but other interesting entries. This month a poem entitled “Love Song” by Agnes Copithorne is our February ‘moment’.  Love Song Let the sun scorch the naked earth;
We two will find a spot of shade
And I will sing my songs
For you alone. A sod shack or a cabin,
A tepee made of skins
Would still be home for me
If you were there. My heart knows no loneliness
When you are near.
Noises in the night
Cause me no disquiet. But this I know, if you were gone
Darkness would fall.
And in the night I’d search the stars
To find your face. Chaps and Chinooks, Vol. 1, p. 319
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 BRAGG CREEK CORNER |
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 CONNECTIONS WITH COCHRANE |
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 Springbank Community Association Over 100 years serving the residents and businesses of Springbank Copyright © Springbank Community Association All rights reserved.
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