http://www.cbe.ab.ca/Partners/Corporate/backpacksforkids.asp

Backpacks for Kids is an annual campaign where organizations coordinate with their colleagues to give backpacks filled with a variety of school supplies such as pencils, crayons, and glue sticks for children whose families might not otherwise be able to afford items their children need for school. The supplies that are in the backpacks gives students the tools they need both at school and at home so that they can complete homework assignments or other special projects.

Each year, the Calgary Stampede, exhibitors and sponsors bring their passion for agriculture to Aggie Days to celebrate the importance of agriculture in everyday life from food products to clothing. Students have the opportunity to experience hands-on exhibits, interactive displays and demonstrations in the BMO Centre at Stampede Park. Students also have the opportunity to participate in the annual ‘Aggie Days Front Cover Art Contest’. It’s a great opportunity for students to showcase their creativity and knowledge around the importance of agriculture and the environment in their daily lives.

CBE students look forward each May to the Calgary International Children’s Festival, an event that allows children to experience extraordinary live performances from around the world. With its strong commitment to curriculum connections, the Calgary International Children's Festival is a significant annual event in the lives of children, teachers and families throughout southern Alberta. Each Year, the Calgary International Children’s Festival secures funding to offer free performances and outdoor programming for about 20 CBE elementary schools. In addition to covering the costs associated with attendance at the event, Southland Transportation provides the bus free of charge for these designated schools.

Cardel Kidcasters™ was created to expose students to the Broadcasting industry through in class and field trip assignments. The program simulates both newsroom and field environments and is delivered over four sessions. The program introduces Grade 7 and 8 students to the world of broadcast journalism, while emphasizing the importance of research, writing and oral communication skills to the profession. The second half of the program focuses on interviewing skills. Students participate by "covering" a local sports team or athlete and interviewing them in a real-life press conference setting.

The Read On! Literacy for Life project, in partnership with the Calgary Board of Education, The Calgary Hitmen Hockey Club and exclusive sponsor, Schlumberger Canada, has distributed thousands of hockey themed novels by noted Albertan children’s author Sigmund Brouwer to CBE students each year. Sigmund composes storylines using the Calgary Hitmen as characters to inspire students to read and build the foundation of academic success in earlier grades. This partnership also provides opportunities for students to have author visits, writing workshops along with special Calgary Hitmen hockey events.

The Spectra Energy Urban Ecology program is led by a qualified nature educator at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. This program supports the CBE’s Environmental Learning and Stewardship strategy and complements the Alberta Education Program of Studies. Depending on the grade, activities may link curriculum outcomes in elementary science, social studies, language arts and the fine arts, and to junior high environmental and outdoor education.

The Science Adventures Club, an after school program, enhances children’s understanding and awareness about science and technology through innovative hands-on programming. Participants engage in real-life problem solving and applications that increase awareness of different fields in science and technology. Each of the weekly sessions highlights a different science or technology theme that involved exciting inquiry-based problem solving challenges or experiments. Each session had a tangible result or design to take home along with family science ideas to facilitate communication and further exploration.

Each fall, WordFest: brings together writers from Canada and around the world to participate in the innovative First Calgary Savings Book Rapport Educational Programme. This component of the Festival is highly praised by educators as an effective and entertaining way to introduce students to some of literature’s leading new talents and renowned authors. The First Calgary Savings Book Rapport Programme is strategically aligned with the K-12 curriculum and promotes and supports creativity in the literary arts through its student-focused workshops.