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
From the Fraser Institute
It appears that Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustees have too much time on their hands. That’s the only logical explanation for their bizarre plan to rename three TDSB schools, which bear the names of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, British politician Henry Dundas and Egerton Ryerson, founder of public education in Ontario.
According to a new TDSB report, the schools must be renamed because of the “potential impact that these names may have on students and staff based on colonial history, anti-indigenous racism, and their connection to systems of oppression.”
Now, it’s true that each of these men did things that fall short of 21st century standards (as did most 19th century politicians). However, they also made many positive contributions. Canada probably wouldn’t exist if John A. Macdonald hadn’t been involved in the constitutional conferences that led to Confederation. More than anyone else, he skillfully bridged the divide between British Protestants and French Catholics. But for a variety of assigned sins typical to a politician of his era, he must be cancelled.
Henry Dundas supported William Wilberforce’s efforts to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire, but believed a more moderate approach had a higher chance of success. As a result, he added the word “gradual” to Wilberforce’s abolition motion—an unforgivable offense according to today’s critics—even though the motion passed with a vote of 230-85 in the British House of Commons.
Egerton Ryerson played a key role in the founding of Ontario’s public education system and strongly pushed for free schools. He recognized the importance of providing an education to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, something that was unlikely to happen if parents couldn’t afford to send their children to school. And while Ryerson was not directly involved in creating Canada’s residential school system, his advocacy for a school system for Indigenous students has drawn the wrath of critics today.
Knowing these facts from centuries ago, it strains credulity that these three names would so traumatize students and staff that they must be scrubbed from school buildings. Despite their flaws, Macdonald, Dundas and Ryerson have achievements worth remembering. Instead of trying to erase Canadian history, the TDSB should educate students about it.
Unfortunately, that’s hard to do when Ontario teachers are given vague and confusing curriculum guides with limited Canadian history content. Instead of a content-rich approach that builds knowledge sequentially from year-to-year, Ontario’s curriculum guides focus on broad themes such as “cooperation and conflict” and jump from one historical era to another. No wonder there is such widespread ignorance about Canadian history.
On a more practical level, renaming schools costs money. Officials with the nearby Thames Valley District School Board, which is undergoing its own renaming process, estimate it costs at least $30,000 to $40,000 to rename a school. This is money that could be spent better on buying textbooks and providing other academic resources to students. And this price tag excludes the huge opportunity cost of the renaming process. It takes considerable staff time to create naming committees, conduct historical research, survey public opinion and write reports. Time spent on the school renaming process is time not being spent on more important educational initiatives.
Interestingly, the TDSB report that recommends renaming these three schools has six authors (all TDSB employees) with job titles ranging from “Associate Director, Learning Transformation and Equity” to “Associate Director, Modernization and Strategic Resource Alignment.” The word salad in these job titles tells us everything we need to know about the make-work nature of these positions. One wonders how many “Learning Transformation and Equity” directors the TDSB would need if it dropped its obsession with woke ideology and focused instead on academic basics. Given the significant decline in Ontario’s reading and math scores over the last 20 years, TDSB trustees—and trustees in other Ontario school boards—would do well to reexamine their priorities.
Egerton Ryerson probably never dreamed that the public school system he helped create would veer so far from its original course. Before rushing to scrub the names of Ryerson and his colleagues from school buildings, TDSB trustees should take a close look at what’s happening inside those buildings.
In the end, the quality of education students receive inside a school is much more important than the name on the building. Too bad TDSB trustees don’t realize that.
Quick Hit:
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced $881 million in cuts to Education Department contracts, targeting diversity training and research programs.
Key Details:
- About 170 contracts for the Institute of Education Sciences were terminated.
- The cuts include 29 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training grants worth $101 million.
- The move comes as President Trump is expected to issue an executive order to wind down the Education Department.
Diving Deeper:
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) confirmed Monday night that it had cut $881 million in Education Department contracts, marking a major step in the Trump administration’s plan to restructure the agency. The cuts target nearly 170 contracts, including several linked to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the department’s research division.
Among the terminations are 29 grants related to diversity, equity, and inclusion training, which collectively totaled $101 million. One of the grants aimed to train teachers on how to help students “interrogate the complex histories involved in oppression” and recognize “areas of privilege and power,” according to DOGE’s statement.
The American Institutes for Research, a nonprofit specializing in social science studies, confirmed that it received multiple termination notices for IES contracts on Monday. “The money that has been invested in research, data, and evaluations that are nearing completion is now getting the taxpayers no return on their investment,” said Dana Tofig, a spokesperson for AIR. He argued that the terminated research was essential to evaluating which federal education programs are effective.
The cuts coincide with President Trump’s expected executive order to wind down the Education Department, a long-standing conservative policy goal. Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee for Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, is set to testify before Congress on Thursday.
The Education Department and DOGE have yet to comment on the specifics of the terminations. However, the move signals a clear shift in priorities, with the administration pushing to reduce federal involvement in education spending, particularly in programs aligned with progressive social initiatives.
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