This holiday season, students from Sandy Hill Elementary gave back to their community and became sponsors for the “Sponsor-a-Family” program through Archway Community Services and the Christmas Bureau. The initiative began mid-November, and for several weeks the school worked towards sponsoring families and seniors in need in Abbotsford over the Christmas season. With an original goal of sponsoring two families, the school quickly surpassed their target thanks to the generosity and donations from the Sandy Hill school community.

On the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, flags at all Abbotsford schools and district sites are lowered at half-mast.

On this day, over 30 years ago, an act of violence shook our country and led Parliament to designate December 6 as The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. As we mourn the ones we lost and remember their lives, we reaffirm our commitment to creating workplaces and schools free from gender-based violence.

40-38 – for an entire year that score haunted players on the Robert Bateman Timberwolves senior varsity football team. On Dec. 4, 2021, Bateman lost by that score in overtime to the Carson Graham Eagles in the coastal championship game. That crushing loss was all the returning players thought about.

For quarterback Nolan Watrin, he looked at the score every single day. Watrin taped 40-38 to the ceiling above his bed. A day didn’t go by where when he went to bed or woke up, opened his eyes and spotted that score.

By Brian Gross, Matsqui-Abbotsford Impact Society, and Nathan Ngieng, Abbotsford School District

_{This article is an excerpt from the Fall 2022 issue of InspirEd, the official journal of the British Columbia School Superintendent's Association.}

It was a full house at the official inauguration of the newly elected Abbotsford Board of Education on Tuesday night, as seven trustees were sworn in and affirmed for the new term. Three new trustees - Rupi Kanda-Rajwan, Mike Rauch and Jared White - join incumbents Korky Neufeld, Stan Petersen, Preet Rai and Shirley Wilson. The Abbotsford Board of Education will serve from 2022 to 2026.

On Monday, October 24th, the Abbotsford School District received national recognition for three communications projects during the 2022 BRAVO! Awards Gala, hosted by the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education (CACE).

Halloween is this upcoming Monday, October 31st, and can be a busy time for many families preparing for a night of trick or treating. We want to encourage families to remember to stay safe and respectful while celebrating this fun-filled evening!

It’s an exciting time for the École Centennial Park Elementary school community as their newly built accessible playground opened for students earlier this month. Funded through the Ministry of Education and Child Care's Playground Equipment Program (PEP), the school district's Facilities Department was able to purchase and install new playground equipment universal in design and in compliance with accessibility measures set through the Canadian Standards Association for Children's Playspaces and Equipment.

The Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education recognizes exceptional teachers, support staff and administrators throughout the province. In a ceremony at Government House in mid-October, Premier John Horgan provided awards to winners of the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education, and celebrated the finalists from the 2022 awards program.

October 5th is World Teachers' Day, and the Abbotsford School District is celebrating the 1,500+ innovative educators across the district who prepare and inspire our students for a lifetime of success.

Teachers are a cornerstone of quality education systems and play a key role in building inclusive and equitable societies. Today, we celebrate the teachers within our district and commend their dedication, passion and commitment to this profession.