Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Creating accessible video games

Four local Sask. Polytech students develop a game for kids with visual impairment

Submitted photo

Amanda Braun assist a gamer with trying out her and

her fellow classmates’ virtual reality game for kids with

visual impairment at the Canadian Institute for the Blind

(CNIB) Regina location at the Saskatchewan Science Centre.

By Lisa Goudy 

As kids, Joshua Couse, Amanda Braun, Tim Trott and Subin Jacob loved playing video games. 

However, they said they understood that kids with visual impairment don’t have as easy access to video games.

Now as students at Saskatchewan Polytechnic Moose Jaw campus ready to graduate in June, they decided to create a virtual reality (VR) game for kids with visual impairment as part of their final project. The group contacted the Canadian Institute for the Blind (CNIB) in Regina and got an immediate response. Thus, Project Virtual Reality for Everyone (VIREO) was born.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Celebrating 75 years of cadets

1856 Moose Jaw Schools Cadets Corps host annual ceremonial review

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

The 1856 Moose Jaw Schools Cadet Corps stand in

their parade formation at the 75^th annual ceremonial

review on May 26, 2017 at the Lt. Col. D.V. Currie VC Armoury.

 

By Lisa Goudy

Before Capt. Nicole Taylor joined the cadet corps, she was quite shy.

“I was one of those people that kind of sat back and listened and didn’t really say a lot,” she said.

Her experience as a cadet helped change that. She joined when she was 12 and aged out when she turned 19.

“I just think it’s a really great opportunity,” she said. “I still have lots of friends from back then. It built up my self-esteem and my confidence. It just helps you become a better public speaker too.”

 
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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Cycling the safe way

Moose Jaw and District EMS kick off Paramedic Services Week

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Moose Jaw and District EMS paramedic Jeremy

Warkentin takes Maci Lowry (left) and Tayah Lowry

 (right) on a course on the bike park on May 28, 2017.

By Lisa Goudy

Bike safety was paramount at the bike park Sunday thanks to a group of paramedics.

To kick off Paramedic Services Week, the Moose Jaw and District EMS bike team, comprised of Mike Slater, Blasia Cain, Jaycee Frape and Jeremy Warkentin, were on site at the park by Yara Centre to teach kids about bike safety and take them through a specifically designed course. 

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Trotting for transplants

Third annual fundraiser for the Canadian Transplant Association draws large crowd

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Participants in the third annual Transplant Trot start

their walk or run on May 28, 2017 in Wakamow Valley.

By Lisa Goudy

Kevyn Gadd has experienced the flipside of what transplants can do.

He was born with congenital heart disease pulmonary hypertension, affecting his heart and lungs. He had heart surgery at the age of 2 and was taken off medication after surgery.

“It was something that I was used to since I was born, but I couldn’t play any competitive sports. I couldn’t do a lot of physical activity,” said Gadd. “It got to a point where I could walk a block and just be exhausted.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: First of the season

Moose Jaw Homegrown Market kicks off for the season over the weekend

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Hailey Dutchik checks out one of the vendors at

the Moose Jaw Homegrown Market with her

father John on May 27, 2017.

By Lisa Goudy

Before the first instalment of the 2017 Moose Jaw Homegrown Market on Saturday, Victoria Crocker had never been to the event before.

“So far I like it,” she said mid-morning into the market. “I just wanted to support local businesses and people. There are so many other big places.”

 
From the time the market opened on Langdon Crescent by Crescent Park at 8 a.m. to the time it closed at 1 p.m., there was a steady stream of people checking out approximately 20 vendors selling a myriad of vegetables, jams, jellies, meat, chocolate, jewellery and art work, to name a few.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Connecting with kids through puppets

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Greg Lubimiv talks to a puppet on May 26, 2017

at the Early Childhood Coalition Quality Education

Committee’s two-day conference, Creating Our

Future: No Strings Attached, at the Heritage Inn.

By Lisa Goudy

Greg Lubimiv believes puppets are a great way to help people heal.

Officially employed as the executive director of a children’s mental health unit in Ontario, he has also been working as a trainer of using puppetry in therapy.

“Giving children more than words, giving them things to see, to touch, to feel provides a lot more positive experience,” he told the Times-Herald on Friday. “It’s something that people don’t think about, but it is amazing how impactful those puppets can be.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Rwalking for the liver foundation

As a tribute to her late husband, Paddy Quiring is walking, cycling and running across Canada and makes Moose Jaw stop

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Paddy Quiring runs on the shoulder of the

Trans-Canada Highway outside Moose Jaw.

By Lisa Goudy

On April 13, 2016, Paddy Quiring’s husband Henry died of cirrhosis of the liver. He was 59.

“It’s overwhelming. It still is. We were married for 38 years and he was my best friend,” she said. “He struggled with depression and he was a very hard worker and very godly man. Sometimes life just becomes heavy and as much as you can try to reach out and get help, sometimes it’s just overwhelming and not everyone can make it through.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Holy Trinity cuts noon bussing

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Geri Hall, director of education, works in her

office at the Holy Trinity Catholic School Division.

No permanent staff layoffs in a difficult budget

By Lisa Goudy

Noon-hour bussing in Moose Jaw will no longer happen for Holy Trinity Catholic School Division (HTCSD) students.

“We’re moving to a full-day kindergarten every second day and so that is going to bring some savings to the board,” said Geri Hall, director of education. “There’s extra cost to having the buses out on the roads. I think that makes sense if we can mitigate that.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Peeping it Real at Reed Lake

Nature Conservancy of Canada seeks volunteers for bird count at property between Moose Jaw and Swift Current

Photos courtesy Mike Dembeck

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is looking for

volunteers to help with the Peeping it Real event.

By Lisa Goudy

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is looking for the public’s help to participate in migratory bird counts at a Reed Lake property between Moose Jaw and Swift Current.

The event, Peeping it Real, will take place at Reed Lake in Morse Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Members of the public are invited to come out and help identify and monitor birds as part of the NCC’s monitoring data collection. Anyone wanting to participate should meet at the Morse Esso in the town at 9 a.m. It is the 10^th anniversary of the program and no experience is required.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Peacock raises Treaty 4 flag

Ceremony marks next step in response to Truth and Reconciliation calls to action

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Isabelle Hanson Kenowekesequape, Peacock

student Kayleigh Olson, Elder Gerry Stonechild,

Peacock principal Dustin Swanson and Regina

musician Brad Bellegarde hold the Treaty 4 flag

in the Peacock Collegiate auditorium.

By Lisa Goudy

A Treaty 4 flag was raised at Peacock Collegiate on Thursday for the first time in the school’s history. 

“It’s a simple but very important step that we take to recognize the relationship that was established between First Nations and non-Aboriginal people some 143 years ago when Treaty 4 was signed in Fort Qu’Appelle,” said Peacock principal Dustin Swanson. 

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Sparking kids’ interest in family history

Educator and author John Althouse gives tips on keeping genealogy fun for kids

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

John Althouse prepares to talk about involving youth

in family history at the Moose Jaw Public Library.

By Lisa Goudy

John Althouse knows all too well the importance of making genealogy fun for youth.

After all, when he was a youth himself, he had an interest in family history, however he couldn’t find the time to focus on it. Many years later, that has all changed now that he’s retired. 

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Behind the sewage

Wastewater Treatment Plant manager Orval Coates explains the sewage treatment process during National Public Works Week

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Orval Coates, manager of the City of Moose Jaw’s

Wastewater Treatment Plant, stands in front of

the bioreactor at the plant on May 24, 2017.

By Lisa Goudy

When you flush your toilet, it does a lot more than just go down the drain.

In fact, that waste undergoes a complex process that ensures its safe return to the environment.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: A hands-on experience with public works

City holds barbecue as part of National Public Works Week

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Denise Baguna (left) and Jaicee Maruska (right),

Grade 6 students at St. Agnes School, hang out

next to a city grader at the public works week

barbecue at the city complex on May 24, 2017.

By Lisa Goudy

Amid strong winds, there were a lot of students honking horns midday on Wednesday at the city complex on High Street.

It was the City of Moose Jaw’s celebration barbecue to mark National Public Works Week in Moose Jaw.

St. Agnes School teacher Kyle Lichtenwald brought 24 kids to the event.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: From something simple to something special

William Grayson School preparing to open 25-year time capsule next week

Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

Debbie Blash, one of the teacher co-ordinators

for a time capsule made in 1992 at William

Grayson School, examines the capsule prior to it

being opened 25 years later on June 2, 2017.

By Lisa Goudy

Twenty-five years ago, Debbie Blash decided to create a time capsule at William Grayson School where she was teaching.

“I don’t know where the idea came from,” she said. “One day I woke up and said, ‘I’m going to do a time capsule.’”

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