Trustee Lois Bedwell wants kids to have the best possible educational experience
BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON
Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer
Lois Bedwell, Board Chair for Prairie Rose Public Schools (PRPS), is in her second and final term as a trustee. She worked as a librarian at South Central High School for 17 years and wanted something to do after retiring. There were two open positions for trustees at that time, so she was able to join the board immediately.
“Meeting the people and working with the staff at division office, they are an awesome group,” are what Bedwell enjoys most about being a trustee.
“It’s an outfit that you want to be associated with because they do such a good job. I have grandkids in school here now and I’ve always had an interest in education and lifelong learning. It also keeps me up to date, if you don’t stay current you get left behind with technology.”
Bedwell grew up in Oyen and attended Oyen Public School, where two of her seven grandchildren now attend, for her elementary years. Apart from a couple of years in Calgary and just over a decade in Nanaimo, Bedwell has lived in Oyen her whole life.
Over the past eight years, there have been numerous changes within PRPS, many which have been positive. “We were going down in attendance and now we are going back up. Our enrollment is increasing mainly because of the academies and it’s making kids glad to be back in school and wanting to be in school, especially after COVID.”
The pandemic altered how board
meetings were held, which carried over after it ended. Now, every second meeting is usually virtual along with most of the shorter ones, which Bedwell said is an improvement over a conference call or having to drive the two hours from Oyen to Dunmore each time. While being a trustee doesn’t feel like work to Bedwell, it keeps her busy. There are five public schools – Oyen Public School, South Central High School, Warren Peers School, New Brigden School and Jenner School – along with four colony schools in her area. She tries to attend all parent council
meetings along with events – graduations, Christmas, Exhibitions of Learning, etc. – at each of the schools. Heading into her seventh decade, Bedwell feels the time is right for her to step down. “My one regret is I wish I had become a public-school trustee earlier; it has been incredibly rewarding. Trusteeship meant to me being partners with parents in ensuring that children, our greatest natural resource, are provided with the best possible educational opportunities to become the future citizens the community wishes them to be.”
Trustee Lois Bedwell (far right) with Doug Little and Premier Danielle Smith on her tour of the South Alberta Flight Academy in early February 2024. SUBMITTED
OPINION: Fatherlessness is today’s biggest problem
BY JOAN JANZEN
As we approach Father’s Day, I will recount a humorous memory. We were visiting friends, when my son noticed an old photo on their fridge. My son said to his friend, “Wow! Your dad looked just like you when he was a kid. Maybe when you get old, you’ll look like him.”
His friend hung his head and replied, “Yeah. Sad, isn’t it?”
In an interview with Joni Lamb, Jimmy Evans, pastor and author, said, “If you don’t want your kids to be like you, you don’t understand parenting.”
While parents model behaviour in front of their kids, a 24-hour video recorder is running. Children are watching their parents’ mannerisms, anger, responses, values, and how they treat their spouse and others.
Patrick Bet-David also discussed the importance of fathers in a recent video. Hundreds of comments were posted expressing appreciation for the video, and others shared their own experiences.
One comment read, “I’ve been a criminal defence attorney for over 30 years and never met a client with a strong father figure.”
Patrick said the biggest problem we have today is fatherlessness. He shared stats that show fatherless children have four times greater risk of poverty, are seven times more likely to have a teen pregnancy, are more likely to have behaviour problems, face abuse, go to
I’ve been a criminal defence attorney for over 30 years and never met a client with a strong father figure.
Social media commenter
prison, use drugs and alcohol, and commit crime. But that’s not all. Children without fathers account for 71% of high school dropouts, 90% of homeless and runaways, and 63% percent of youth suicide.
Stats also show that one in four kids live in a home without a dad. In response, someone commented, “I didn’t grow up with my father, but I was very privileged to grow up with my grandfather. He taught me how to value myself.”
Another listener wrote, “My high school football coaches became father figures for us. Most of my teammates were raised by single moms, and they really stepped in to be father figures for us.”
Patrick has two young children. Every year, on his daughter’s birthday, he takes her on a date. On her eighth birthday, he started talking to her about boys.
“I asked her if she knew why I treat her with love and respect. I told her it’s because I want her to know how men should treat her,” he explained. “I tell her
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someday I want her boyfriend to realize how lucky he is to have someone like her.”
On the topic of respecting women, a listener’s comment read, “My dad had custody of my sister and me, but he didn’t let us disrespect our mother. We couldn’t even whisper ‘shut up’ to her!”
Patrick said he doesn’t allow his son to give a lazy opinion. “If he says the president sucks, I tell him you can’t say that cause you just sound like everyone else. I told him he needed to do research to find out why he had that opinion. Careless expression of opinion can prohibit accurate thinking. We need to challenge kids to base their opinions on facts. That’s what makes leaders,” he said.
A corresponding comment read, “My father is definitely the reason why I’m successful today and the reason why I don’t need validation from others.”
Patrick told his audience, “If you’re a leader and doing something big, and you’re tough, the odds are you had a strong role model, a father figure in your life,” Patrick said.
He continued to share about having his kids complete tasks and show appreciation to others. On Memorial Day he had his kids lay a flower on each of the veteran’s graves in the cemetery. “I do it because I don’t like entitled kids, and I don’t like being around entitled people. I want to raise kids that I can be friends with when they’re adults.”
Jimmy Evans told his viewers that he and his wife were raised in very dysfunctional homes. So when they had
children they made the decision to raise their children according to Biblical principles. He said their friends raised their children based on psychiatrists and psychologists. “Every single one of them had regrets to this day,” he said. “Biblical values will be true forever, but if you raise your kids according to popular trends, those will constantly change.”
Joni Lamb’s daughter Rachel shared about raising her young children. She and her husband let their children know there are consequences for bad choices. The consequences match the behaviour. It may be taking away a toy and placing it on top of the fridge for 24 hours where the child can see it.
“One of the things we do is after time out, we’ll ask him what he did wrong and get him to repeat it and apologize,” Rachel said. “Lots of times, they’re not really sure what they did.”
Jimmy noted the importance of knowing who your child’s friends are because bad company corrupts good behaviour.
Father’s Day is a time to honour dads and offer encouragement as they take on the monumental task of raising children in a challenging world.
A comment in response to Patrick Bet-David’s video to dads read, “This is the stuff we should be seeing on the news!” It sounds like good advice.
The Oyen area and D-Day
BY BERNIE KREWSKI
Despite our complacency and habit of thinking that wars and military conflict occur elsewhere, they often have a direct impact on local communities. D-Day and the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944 is an example. The intent of this review of local events is symbolic -commemorating the lives of the 359 Canadians who died on D-Day, June 6, the Allied attack on the northwest coast of Europe, and those from this area who contributed to the war effort.
Vacation
Imagine going on vacation this summer, knowing that a member of your family may be dead by the time you returned. That was the subject of a news story published in the Hanna Herald on July 13, 1944. The Director of Records for the Canadian Army reminded vacationers heading for summer homes and resorts the importance of leaving addresses where they can be reached. “If no forwarding address is left, telegraph companies encounter difficulty in making deliveries of casualty telegrams,” army officials announced. So sad, but necessary.
Casualties
The Austen family of Oyen received one of those telegrams (Many Trails Crossed Here, v. 1, p. 30). The death of Flying Officer H.C. Austen, “killed in active service,” was publicly announced
on May 5th.
RCAF Casualties listed on June 14 in the Leader-Post (Regina) included: “ Reported Prisoners of War (Germany), previously reported missing – Flight Sergeant F.C. Boulter, Oyen, Alta.
A Memorial Service for Flying Officer Arthur F. G. Hughes was held in Cereal on March 31. The son of Mr. & Mrs. A.B Hughes, Arthur was wounded on March 13 and died the next day. By December 1943, he had completed fifteen operational flights. Born June 21, 1920, he spent two years studying mining engineering at the University of Alberta before enlisting in 1941. He underwent flight training at Edmonton, Lethbridge and Rivers MB. William, his brother, is currently training with the RCAF at Mossbank SK. Their father is a veteran of the First World War.
Flight Sergeant Tom Lowe, 29, former resident of Oyen, was reported missing following air operations, according to word received by his parents in Calgary. Before joining the RCAF, he was field secretary for Okalta Oils Ltd. He went overseas in March 1943 as a navigator.
Ironically, The Oyen News reported this story on June 12, 1935: “The Oyen baseball team entertained Youngstown and Acadia Valley at the local park Sunday afternoon. Tom Lowe and Harold Austen both show promise as pitchers.” Previously, there have been previous references in this newspaper to Flying Officer D.H. McKay, of Oyen, “missing in action.” On April 3rd military author-
ities announced that for official purposes, he is “presumed dead.”
In early September, the Department of National Defence advised the wife and parents of Trooper Arthur Mellon, age 26, of Youngstown that he was recently buried at Caserto (Caserta?) Italy. He died from wounds inflicted on June 30th while fighting in the Sicilian invasion. He enlisted in December 1941, trained at Camrose and Camp Borden, and went overseas in April 1942. Besides his wife and parents, he leaves three sisters as well as four brothers who are also in military service (Youngstown Memories, p. 251).
Fred Martin was a Warrant Officer with the RCAF. He was officially reported “Killed in Active Service” in early November. According to his family’s history (Many Trails Cross Here, p.107), he was a radio technician in a plane that was lost off the coast of Italy.
Honors Flying Officer V.A. Thygesen, son of Mr. & Mrs. E.D. Thygesen of Oyen (Many Trails Crossed Here, II, 506-507), was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in December. A graduate of SAIT, he was a manager in several businesses in Calgary and Winnipeg before training as a pilot with Trans-Canada Airlines. He enlisted with the RCAF in June 1942, receiving his pilot’s training in Brandon, Prince Albert, and Saskatoon. He went overseas in July 1943 and is currently a flight instructor in England. Lt-Col. J. Fred Scott was honoured in Calgary for his work as a former officer commanding the Canadian battle training school at Vernon BC. He homesteaded at Oyen in 1911, graduated from the University of Alberta in 1921 and passed his bar exams in 1923.
Prairie lives worth remembering!
Attendance Recognition Ceremony was held this week. Here students were recognized for great attendance. For every month of perfect attendance students had their name entered in the draw for over $1000.00 in prizes. Prizes included: chargers, head phones for gaming, ear pods, gift cards and a TV. Congratulations to all the winners and students who had great attendance this year. SCHS FACEBOOK