One of Drumheller’s most unique school programs came to a close last week.
    Roots of Empathy, which is delivered to students at St. Anthony’s and Greentree Schools, wrapped up another successful year on Wednesday, May 29, with a thank you dinner for the instructors, teachers, organizers, and moms who help run the program.
    “It’s amazing program. The kids and teachers love it, and it’s an opportunity for the parents to share,” said Cathy Smoliak, Drumheller Family Community Support Serves coordinator.
    The program runs for most of the school year and is designed to instill empathy within Drumheller’s youngest minds.

Roots of Empathy closed another year with a thank you dinner for instructors, teachers, organizers, and moms on the evening of May 29. Pictured (back; l-r) Melanie Pappas, Shirley Wilton, Kayla Angeltvedt, Betina Gross, Sandy Pasula, Amber Channell, Kim Pearson, Misty Griffith, Brenda Karg, Terri Wood and Cathy Smoliak, with (front; l-r) Shirlee and Danielle Makse, Gina and Peyton Malansky, Megan and Everett Mason, Melissa and Verity D’Onofrio-Jones.

    “Roots of Empathy is a program delivered to Grade 1 students at St. Anthony’s School and Grade 5 students at Greentree School,” said Smoliak. “The instructors undergo training and bring in a mom and her baby to the classroom to deliver 27 different lessons to students. The intent is to increase empathy in our children, so they are more socially and emotionally competent. They see the mom and the baby, and learn about their growth.”
    Organizers are already looking ahead to next year and are searching for instructors and new moms to be a part of teaching the developing minds of Drumheller’s children.
    “At the start of the program in October, we’re looking for babies who are between two to four months old,” said Smoliak. “We’re looking at trying to recruit more instructors for next year and, ideally, we need more babies.”

    Canadian Badlands is moving forward after announcing a challenging future in the months ahead.
    The Board of Directors recently announced Cindy Amos would take over the helm of the organization as interim executive director.
    “She was with the Foundation side of things and we’ve asked her to take over, on a temporary basis, as executive director,” said Doug Jones, president of Canadian Badlands. “She came back to Alberta earlier this week and is working full-time.”
    This is not the first time Amos has held the position. During the organization’s infancy, Amos helped lay the groundwork for Canadian Badlands.
    “She was our first executive director and came in to lay the ground work. Then, she was doing the (Canadian Badlands) Foundation work for us on a contract,” said Jones.
    Amos replaces Bob Davis who departed Canadian Badlands on April 12. She is tasked with implementing changes to the organization following a meeting between Canadian Badlands and the provincial government.
    Canadian Badlands is looking at how they can operate within the province’s new mantra of results-based funding and streamlining the organization, which is split into the municipally-driven Canadian Badlands Ltd. and private sector Canadian Badlands Foundation.
    “We’re looking at how we can create efficiencies and the overall structure will be addressed at the next board meeting,” said Jones.
    Amos is expected to fill the position during the transition process. Once things stabilize, the hunt will begin for a permanent executive director.
    “I think before we do that, we want to make sure the organization is situated where we want. It’s hard to hire someone new when the structure is changing, so we hired someone on an interim basis to get the organization where we want to be,” said Jones.
    Drumheller will remain the head office for the organization and Mayor Terry Yemen was appointed to the board of directors as a member at large in May.
    “I look forward to travelling in the Canadian Badlands once again to leverage tourism opportunities, assist economic prosperity through tourism development and ensure the region becomes Alberta’s next iconic tourism destination,” said Amos.