News Archive

Education Results
The 2025 Grade 7 Dance Off was a huge success this year! Our judges were blown away by the students choreography, creativity, and athleticism. Thank you to these awesome students who gave it their all! 🙌
Congratulations to these amazing dancers for taking home 1st place at the 2025 Grade 7 Dance Off! 🌟🪩
The 2025 Grade 7 Dance Off was a massive success! Our judges were blown away by the students choreography, creativity, and athleticism. Our Phys. Ed teachers were incredibly proud of the hard work their students put into perfecting their routines 👏 Our students & staff had huge smiles on their faces after watching! Way to go dancers!
Enthusiastic fans are what makes this so much fun! Thank you to everyone who came out to support our players and help us fundraise for the backpack campaign 🎒 We appreciate you! 🫶 #JPIICommunity #HockeyRivalry #BackpackCampaign
Annual Student vs. Teacher Hockey Game was a highlight of December once again this year! 🏒 This friendly rivalry gets everyone talking for weeks leading up to the big game and brings school spirit to an all-time high. Thank you to all the players, Coach Buck, Coach Kutzner, our MCs, and our refs! #JPIICommunity #HockeyRivalry #BackpackCampaign

January/February Assessments
Grade 8 and 9 students have been learning and perfecting their jive over the past month, the gym has been full of dedicated dancers everyday at lunch! We can’t wait to see them show off their moves and wow the judges tomorrow!
#JPIICommunity #SpreadTheLove #BackpackCampaign #MakeADifference #StJPIIrocks
Grade 8 FLA students got a surprise from the elves! 🎁 They dropped off the letters that these students wrote to them when they were in Grade 2!! These students got to reread what they had asked the elves for Christmas in French from six years ago! Such a sweet moment for these students and a few teary eyed teachers! #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning #stjpiifrenchimmersion
What a joyful day! ❤️ Today we were blessed to send off 635 backpacks and 200 dozen cookies to the Magic of Christmas. 🎄 Each backpack and every cookie was packed with love, kindness, and faith by our amazing students. We pray that everyone who receives them feels just how deeply they are cared for and reminded that God sees them, knows them, and loves them #MakeADifference #JPIICommunity #SpreadTheLove #StJPIIrocks #BackpackCampaign
Writing Christmas cards in French! ✍️ Perfect way to enjoy the festive Christmas spirit and practice our French Language Arts skills! 🎄❤️ #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning #StJPIIFrenchImmersion
We caught some Grade 7 reindeer performing their dance production! Only one more sleep until the JPII Dance Off! 💃 🪩 🕺
Great work to our Grade 7–9 concert bands on a fantastic Christmas concert last week! These band students filled the gym with holiday spirit, big sounds, and festive cheer, showing off all the hard work they’ve put in the past few months. A huge thank you to our supportive families and everyone who came out to cheer them on!🎄🎶 #StJPIIfinearts
Basketball season is off to a strong start for these gryphons! Come cheer on our Gr. 9 boys afterschool tomorrow as they take on Red Deer Lake 🏀 #wearegryphons #StJPIIathletics #GoGryphons
Sneak peek of a Grade 7 dance routine⚡️👯‍♀️ 💅 Phys. Ed class is December does not miss a beat! 🎶
👀 👀 #StJPIIFaith #catholiceducation #ibelieveincatholiced #CTRfaith #CTRCatholic
Face to Face Ministries visited JPII yesterday to engage our students in meaningful reflection, prayer, and faith all while having a bit of fun! #StJPIIFaith #ibelieveincatholiced #CTRfaith #CTRCatholic
Next week is Christmas Spirit Week leading up to the holidays! 🎄 Time to dig your Christmas sweaters out & get ready!
Kinesiology 9 students demonstrating their knowledge of the muscular and skeletal systems! 🦴💪
Grade 7’s are learning some new moves in Phys Ed this month as they prepare for the annual Dance Off! 💃 🪩 🕺 #stjpiilearning #stjpiiathletics #wearegryphons #stjpiidanceoff
Grade 8 printmaking 🫟 Quarter 2 edition! The energy in the art room during printing week is unmatched! 🎨 #stjpiilearning #stjpiifinearts
Thank you to these wonderful humans who led our schoolwide Advent Liturgy on Friday morning. 💜 Your voices brought us together in prayer, what a blessing to share as a community of almost 850. #StJPIIFaith #catholiceducation #CTRfaith #CTRCatholic
Our Christmas craft sale was organized by Art Club members with all proceeds going to the backpack campaign, we raised just over $100! 🎒 These lovely students volunteered their time two evenings in a row to run the sale and support JPII’s backpack campaign + the fine arts! Thank you Maren and Tiffany! ❤️ Special shout out to Grandma McGeachie who donated beautiful handmade ornaments. 🎄 #StJPIIfinearts #StJPIIService #StJPIIRocks #StJPIICitizenship
Last week was a busy one! With Elf Jr. the Musical, our Advent Liturgy, the dance unit kicking off in Phys Ed. and our Student vs. Teacher hockey game on Friday! Somehow Santa still found time for a visit! 🎅
JPII Band program proudly presents "As Seen on the Screen" concert tonight. 🎷🎺🥁 🍪Back Sale Available 🎒 Backpack Raffle Tickets on Sale #jpiiband # #JPIICommunity
9-4 random things 👶 🥬 🦷 🧇 🐱🐊
We are still accepting donations for the Backpack Campaign and every donation counts! 🎁 Drop off your items at the front office and help us fill backpacks with your support. ❤️ If you are unable to shop you can use this link to donate online: https://stjohnpaul2.redeemer.ab.ca/news/backpack-campaign-1698434505879 Donations of $20 or more qualify for a tax receipt. #BackpackCampaign #SpreadTheLove #GiveBack
Each backpack in our Backpack Campaign is more than just a bag – it’s a gift packed with care! 🎁 We fill each backpack with age and gender-specific items for adults, teens, and children, ensuring every recipient gets something special just for them. Every gift is chosen with love while keeping the anonymous recipient in mind. Donate today and help spread some holiday cheer! 🎒 If you are unable to shop you can use this link to donate online: https://stjohnpaul2.redeemer.ab.ca/news/backpack-campaign-1698434505879 Click on the link on the webpage and it will direct you to School Cash Online. Donations of $20 or more qualify for a tax receipt. #BackpackCampaign #SpreadTheLove #MakeADifference
Pre-show warm up ft. Ysa & Lana 🎥: Xellah #elfjrthemusical 🎄

Resumption of Classes
Did you complete your Student Information Update form on School Engage? Keep the school updated with student information.
ANIMAL SHIRT FRIDAY
Last Friday our phys ed. teachers did a mini bucket dump during gym class - they raised almost $200 and students had a blast dumping ice water on their heads! 🧊 Fundraising can be fun 😎 Today is the LAST day to buy tickets for the REAL DEAL BUCKET DUMP happening tomorrow during period 3. Get ready! #terryfox #terryfoxliveshere
Our lovely librarian Mrs. Coen commissioned grade 9 students to make a banner reminding our teachers how much we love them 💛 Vivienne (not pictured), Maren, Brooklyn, Princess, and Lola collaborated on this thoughtful project.
Mrs. Dash’s Grade 9 LA class did a locked room exercise with figurative language - so much fun! #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Crepes & cowboy tuxedos? Chef style 👨‍🍳
Printmaking 🫟 Grade 8 art students learned the process of linocut printmaking this month. They carved into a soft linoleum block, applied ink using a brayer, and printed their designs creating their own✨limited edition series✨ Here is a peak at the process ➡️➡️➡️
Sneak peek of the incredible Halloween window mural Torin is working on in the art room! 🎃 👻
Wednesday art room vibes 🎨 🫟 👩🏻‍🍳
Today is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. For the children who died in residential schools throughout Canada and for all those who continue on a journey through the darkness, that there may be healing founded on truth and that the Spirit will inspire our ongoing commitment to reconciliation. #truthandreconciliation #everychildmatters
In honour of National Truth and Reconciliation Day 🧡
Grade 8 girls volleyball team brought the gryphon energy to their first game last Thursday, fantastic start to the season! 🌟
Grade 9 travellers mark your calendars! ✈️
Shout out to our volunteer score keepers, volleyball season can’t happen without ‘em! 🫶
Staff and students are encouraged to wear orange tomorrow Monday, September, 29th Reminder: There is no school on Tuesday, September 30th May God bless Canada's Truth and Reconciliation process. 🧡
One step at a time, $1 at a time 💪 Help us reach our fundraising goal of $1000! Link to donate is in our bio. #TerryFox #TerryFoxLivesHere #BucketDumpChallenge
Join us in showing our commitment to reconciliation by wearing an orange shirt on Monday, September 28th 🧡 There will be no school on Tuesday, September 30th in honour of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. 🧡 #EveryChildMatters #TruthAndReconciliation #OrangeShirtDay
ANIMAL SHIRT FRIDAY 🐯🦌🦫
Spoiler: our goal is to raise $1000. Plot twist: YOU can help. 😎 Tickets are on sale everyday at lunch outside the main gym. $1 for 1 or $3 for 5 #terryfox #terryfoxliveshere
🚨🚨 Do you have gym class with Mr. Fish tomorrow?!?! 🚨🚨 Have you ever wished gym class could be MORE FUN? For $1 you could win the chance to dump a GIANT bucket of ice water on his head DURING GYM CLASS 😲 Mock bucket dump anyone? Start collecting your quarters!
🚨🚨 Do you have gym class with Mr. Fleet tomorrow?!?! 🚨🚨 For the low, low price of $1 you could win the chance to dump a GIANT bucket of ice water on his head DURING GYM CLASS 😲 Mock bucket dump anyone? Start collecting your quarters!
Went for a quick trip to the photocopy room and ran into this charming chef in training! 👨‍🍳 ✨
Rehearsals for Elf Jr. The Musical are in full swing! 🎶🎄🎉 #StJPIIfinearts #ElfJrTheMusical
$1 can make a BIG difference. Let’s do this together and reach our goal of raising $1000! 💵➡️💯 Tickets are on sale everyday at lunch outside the main gym. $1 for 1 or $3 for 5 #terryfox #terryfoxliveshere
HUGE thank you to the Chef Buck, Mr. Leidl, Ms. Clark and the grade 9 team who catered our year end Staff BBQ today! These students (+ Andre who is not featured) spent their free time prepping, baking, marinating, and cooking an incredible meal for 50 staff members under the guidance of Chef Buck. Their foods class knowledge was certainly put to use! Thank you Lauren, Keely, Dabin, Ethan, and Andre for sharing your talents with us. ❤️ We appreciate you and sure will miss seeing your faces in the halls next year!
On June 21, citizens across Canada recognize and celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day. This is a day to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of Indigenous Peoples of Canada. CTR teachers and students across the division will be recognizing this day in a variety of ways. As we continue to move forward, striving for the truth and reconciliation with one another, we invite all to seek out guidance, healing and peace through prayer and loving our neighbour as we love ourselves.
Mrs. Kutzner’s science class had a guest speaker, Mr. Rick Green, geophysicist, come in and present earlier this month. So awesome to have specialists come in to interact, engage and chat with our students. Thanks, Rick! #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Please return all library books as soon as possible! Mrs. Coen is working hard to reset our beautiful library before summer break ☀️ 📚
9-8 playing “heads up” in Mme Diakow’s class using their science vocab from this year! 🥇🩷💪 Pasen is JPII’s very own Bob Barker dressed like that!! #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning #frenchimmersion
Quarter 4 Period 4 Art was an all-star crew! Their effort and commitment to bringing their ideas to life made Ms. Clark proud. Check these awesome baseball inspired mixed media projects ⚾️
Mr. E making the dreams come true! Last day of school fishing expedition to the Sheep River 🎣 #letsgofishingboys #outdoored
These guys have got one thing on their mind and I’m sorry to say it’s not final exams!! Summer break can’t come any sooner.. let’s go fishing 🎣 #fishingwiththeboys
🌎 Grade 9 Foods of the World 🌎 These groups left Chef Buck impressed and full to the brim! Great work grade 9s! #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
JPII’s wrestling club celebrated their hard work this season with custom crewnecks featuring a wrestler gryphon! Zoom in to check him out 💪
Final Exams are starting... #StudentSuccess #study
8-7 is the first class to beat every level of Submarine Squad in 3 years while studying for their final!!!! 🦈🩷
Wrapping up the semester with a flavorful showcase of their culinary skills! 🍽️ Grade 9 Foods students are serving up their Foods of the World projects this week. 🌍❤️ #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Year end awards ceremony ❤️ part 7 Special thank you to Grace, a grade 8 student who volunteered her time as our photographer for the evening! 📸 #wearegryphons #JPIlspirit
Year end awards ceremony ❤️ part 6 Special thank you to Grace, a grade 8 student who volunteered her time as our photographer for the evening! 📸 #wearegryphons #JPIlspirit
Year end awards ceremony ❤️ part 5 Special thank you to Grace, a grade 8 student who volunteered her time as our photographer for the evening! 📸 #wearegryphons #JPIlspirit
Friday, June 13 is another Spirit Day Red vs Yellow If you are an odd homeroom - dress in Red. If you are an even homeroom - dress in Yellow or Gold. #JPIlspirit #StJPIIrocks #Gryphons

St. JPII Producetion of Elf Jr.
Year end awards ceremony ❤️ part 4 Special thank you to Grace, a grade 8 student who volunteered her time as our photographer for the evening! 📸 #wearegryphons #JPIlspirit
Year end awards ceremony ❤️ part 3 Special thank you to Grace, a grade 8 student who volunteered her time as our photographer for the evening! 📸 #wearegryphons #JPIlspirit
Year end awards ceremony ❤️ part 2 Special thank you to Grace, a grade 8 student who volunteered her time as our photographer for the evening! 📸 #wearegryphons #JPIlspirit
Our year end awards ceremony this past Thursday was a beautiful celebration of our student’s success and achievements this year. ❤️ Special thank you to Grace, a grade 8 student who volunteered her time as our photographer for the evening! How amazing are her photos?! #StudentSuccess #wearegryphons #JPIlspirit
Mad science madness!! 🤯 These grade 9 students are putting their engineering skills to the test by building paper roller coasters! 🎢 #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning #ScienceRules
Unis pour élucider l'enigme des devinettes Ted Ed 🧩🧠🤨 dans la classe des Sciences 8 avec Mme. Diakow! 🩷 #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning #FrenchImmersion
Students in Mme McLaughlin’s grade 9 social studies class took advantage of the nice weather by going outside to draw visual representations of social studies concepts! ☀️ ✍️ #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning

CTR Shares Stories of Gratitude for 30 Years of Catholic Education
✝️Merry Christmas from all of us at St. John Paul II.🎄 #MerryChristmas #Jesusisborn
Did you know that JPII has a travel club for grade 9 students? This year they are going to Greece during Easter break! ✈️
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." ~John 3:16-17 #Advent #CTRFaith #IBelieveinCatholicEd #JP2Faith
Did you know that JPII has kind and caring counsellors to support our students in every capacity of their school experience? Meet Mr. Thrift and Mrs. Zarn! ❤️❤️ #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Did you know that JPII band has received superb ratings at festivals? Our band student work hard and it shows! 🎵 #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas holiday with your loved ones! 🎄 See you in the new year! 💫 Love, your JPII family ❤️
Grade 7 Réveillon dinner last night was a wonderful celebration of our French immersion program! Thank you chefs, Parker and Massi, for cooked up this massive feast for everyone to enjoy. 🥖👨‍🍳 🧀 #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Did you know St. John Paul II athletics has received zone banners for all sports? So far this year our cross country running team and our grade 9 girls volleyball team have brought home banners! 🏆 #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Day 4 of Christmas spirit week and our beloved Mrs. Nacarrato’s last day at JPII! We are sending her our love and best wishes as she embarks on this new adventure in retirement. ❤️ Mrs. Nacarrato has been with JPII for 20 years! Our school will definitely feel a little different without her in the new year. 💫
We are very excited for the Jive Off event being held at our school on Friday December 20th from 8:40am to 12:05pm. This promises to be a lively celebration of our students' talent and teamwork! To accommodate space limitations in our facility and ensure the focus remains on our student participants, the event will be live-streamed. Check out our website for the link. #jp2rocks #letsdance #StJPIIPhysEd #DanceOff
Did you know? St. John Paul II has over 70% of students on honour roll. ✏️ #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Did you know St. John Paul II’s grade 9 student get to select their options classes? This gives them the opportunity to grow in their specific areas of interest. 🎨 #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Day 2 of Christmas spirit week - everything plaid! 🎄 #spiritdays #StJPIIRocks #wearegryphons
Congratulations to our Illuminate contest winners! 🌟 A heartfelt thank you to all the students who participated in this contest. Your creativity, effort, and willingness to share your faith with our community have been truly inspiring. 💛 A special thank you to St. James Parish for sponsoring our cash prize for this contest! #StJPIIFaith #benotafraid #catholiceducation #CTRfaith
Christmas spirit week is in full swing! ✨🎄 Mme Diakow’s home room had 100% participation in yesterday’s Christmas hat day! ☃️❤️🧑‍🎄 Way to go 8-9! 👏 #spiritdays #StJPIIRocks #wearegryphons
Did you know St. John Paul II runs the backpack campaign every adventure season to help those in need. Last year we packed 800 backpacks, which were distributed to members of our local community by the Magic of Christmas? 🎁 #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning
Did you know St. John Paul II offers 20 different options classes for students, giving them exposure to all kinds of learning experiences?🧑‍🍳 #StJPIIRocks #StJPIILearning