Last week, class was officially in session in Roatan with the opening of the Charmont Bilingual Academy.
 The K-9 school in Roatan, is aimed at supporting families who are in the most need. On Monday the renovated house opened its doors to 53 students.
    “The students we have at our school either come from extreme poverty and/or AIDs affected families. A lot are the babies saved through the Morgan Jayne Project, for example,” explains Terra Charmont, who is passionate about the project to open the new school.
    The Charmont Bilingual Academy and the Morgan Jayne Project have had an affinity that goes back years.         The Morgan Jayne Project has always been a charity that the Charmont family was passionate about. The family was dealt a tragic blow when Terra’s husband Chris Charmont and son John were killed in an explosion at a Mexican resort while on vacation. Keeping their memory alive, they founded Johnny’s Library, and now the school.
    The Morgan Jayne Project has been a success, literally saving the lives of children by curbing the transmission of AIDs from mother to child. Today the Charmont Bilingual Academy keeps the chain of care going, giving these very same children a better shot at a better life.
    The school enhances the local curriculum and is bilingual simply to allow students to have the best opportunities to support themselves and their families.
    “The Spanish and English education allows them to get good jobs in their own tourism industry or to apply for sponsorship or scholarships to extend the education past Grade 9 and into University with scholarships,” said Terra.
    The school offers a breakfast and lunch program. At the end of the day, students will often go home and spread what they have learned with their own families.
    “It brings a lot of change,” she said.
    The students are able to attend the school through a sponsorship program. As they were setting up the school the founders did a call out to help outfit the school, and support  came from Drumheller and other places to buy the necessary furniture, equipment and supplies.
 “The sponsorship allows us to pay for the teachers and the uniforms and supplies are all covered,” said Charmont, adding that currently there are students who are still in need of sponsorship.
   For more information on the school or how to get involved in sponsoring a student, contact Charmont at 403-820-2532 or email  tcharmont@me.com

    The wonders of nature can come pretty close to home as one North Drumheller resident learned watching a cougar trot through her yard last week.
    Penny Kushko’s most recent sighting came in the early morning hours last Thursday.
    “Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, he came through at the same time,” Kushko tells The Mail. Her home is on Michichi Creek Drive, south of the Badlands Motel.
    “From where I was watching him, it looked like he came up off the ice and then along the dyke and then I lost sight,” she recalls. “I did go out and look the first day I saw him to look for tracks, but found nothing. It snowed that night, so the next morning I went out and saw his prints.”
    She wanted to get a photo of the animal but her sighting was through trees and early in the morning, so there was poor lighting.
    She has reported her sightings to Alberta Fish and Wildlife. So far, no officer has come to investigate.
    Kushko says it appears to be the cougar was following food.
    "What we have here is a pack of deer that come through. We count nine of them, so probably that is the answer,” she said. “Same with the coyotes, they are behind the dyke here too.”
    Kushko is not too concerned about the sightings in the town limits.
    “‘He was very calm, cool and collected, he just sauntered through, He looked very healthy,” Kushko said.
    According to Alberta Fish and Wildlife’s website, sighting of cougars are rare. If one is sighted in a yard or close to a home, it recommends that people and pets be brought inside, give the cougar space to leave the area and call Alberta Fish and Wildlife.
    To minimize cougar visits to your property, it recommends not feeding wildlife. This can attract wildlife such as deer, and in turn, predators. It says urban deer can become easy prey when they have an unnatural food source.
    It also recommends keeping the perimeter of homes clear of thick vegetation and to close off spaces such as under decks that can be used by animals for shelter.