Latest news with #MedicineHat
CTV News
14 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- CTV News
Photographer's personal work on display at Calgary gallery
Calgary Watch A Medicine Hat man spent more than two decades as a world-featured fashion photographer. Today, he lives a quieter life and finds beauty in the landscape.
CTV News
18 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
Alberta gallery hosting photographic exhibition called ‘Falling Through the Cracks'
Artist Wes Bell looks at his collection in his exhibit called 'Falling Through the Cracks' at the Alberta Society of Artists gallery. For the month of June the Alberta Society of Artists is hosting an exhibition called 'Falling Through the Cracks' featuring black and white photos of cracks in asphalt. Wes Bell, a Medicine Hat artist, put the collection together. The title comes from a medical event he experienced in 2019 when he thought he had a heart attack. After five visits to the emergency room, doctors couldn't pinpoint the cause of his pain. A few months later the pain returned and Bell learned it was due to complications with his gallbladder. 'I sat down with the doctor, the ER doctor and he looked at my numbers and that's when he said 'you could have died, I'm sorry but you fell through the cracks',' said Bell. It took Bell three months to recover after surgery and while out walking to build up his strength, he looked down. 'And I saw this major crack,' he said. 'It reminded me of the scar on my abdomen and from that, things just grew and later that summer I started researching and hunting for these cracks.' Bell spent more than 20 years as a fashion photographer, moving to Milan, Italy in 1986 and then later to New York City. 'I worked for fashion editorial for magazines, major magazines; British GQ, British Esquire, the New York Times Magazine,' he said. 'Interestingly, most of them were color photographs, now my personal work is all black and white.' Bell says the economic crash in 2008 saw advertising dollars dry up and his career with it. He became depressed and went back to school. 'I ended up taking five classes of history of photography, ' he said. And from that grew my passion for art photography, all of a sudden I was focusing on things that meant more.' The exhibit at ASA has received good reviews from visitors since it opened according to Chawna Exner, program coordinator. 'It's really nice that it's been here during Mental Health Month,' she said. 'Because his work has a lot to say about mental health and I personally really resonate with that and I think a lot of people also really resonate with that.' Exner says the gallery is focused on local, Alberta professional artists and giving them a platform along with providing a space where they can educate the public about their work. 'When I look back at my career in fashion, I was known for detail and driving people crazy on detail and here I am out photographing cracks, again looking for detail,' he said. 'And if I sharing my vulnerability, that would be the reward that somebody else benefited from it.' The ASA Gallery is on the second floor of the Crossroads Market in southeast Calgary and the 'Falling Through the Cracks' exhibition runs through until June 26. Learn more about Bell here:
CBC
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Alberta teacher IDs all her kindergarten students by voice only — even the twins
Mackenzie Gill can identify every student in her kindergarten class just by the sound of their voice — a feat that earned her millions of views on social media, and a shout out on Jimmy Kimmel Live. A video shows Gill sitting on a chair as her 19 students line up behind her in her classroom at École St. John Paul II School in Medicine Hat, Alta. As each kid approaches, they greet their teacher with a friendly "Hi Miss Gill!" in their little voices. Gill names every student, including a pair of identical twins. "I think it has a lot to do with my connection with my students for sure, getting to know their personalities and things that they say," Gill told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "And maybe a little bit of beginner's luck as well." 'Miss Gill did it! Miss Gill did it!' The video was the brainchild of the communications team at the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education, and is based on similar videos of other teachers trying the same challenge. The school board says it's been viewed 86 million times across multiple platforms since it was first posted in January. "Today, we celebrate not just the power of a viral video, but the heart and dedication of incredible educators like Miss Gill who inspire, nurture, and create moments that truly matter," Principal Robert Dumanowski said in a press release. "The kindness and joy our kindergarten teacher shares with her students has sparked a ripple effect, reminding us all of the extraordinary impact of everyday moments." When she pitched the idea to her students, Gill says they immediately understood the assignment. "They loved the idea. They were right in on it. They weren't confused. They stood behind me and they were just, they had so much fun with it," she said. "The second the camera turned off they were all, like yelling and we were so excited and, 'Miss Gill did it! Miss Gill did it!' It was quite a little moment there." A Jimmy Kimmel surprise The video caught the attention of the producers at Jimmy Kimmel Live, who reached out to Gill over the Easter holidays asking if the show could feature the clip on the late-night show. "At first I thought it wasn't real. I thought this was a scam," Gill said. "But, no. It certainly was real, and we got in contact right when school started back up and reached out to parents for consent, and everything went really smoothly." She got another email on Tuesday, informing her the episode would be airing that night. A video on the show's social media channels shows Kimmel throwing to a clip of the video, then commending Gill on a job well done. "I thought it would be fun to do that here with some of my staff at the show," he says afterwards. "We've been working together for a long time. More than just a year." It then cuts to a comedic skit in which Kimmel sits at his desk while staff line up behind him, saying "Hi Jimmy!" He fails to correctly identify any of them, even his own son, who says, "Hi Dad!". Gill showed the video to her students on Wednesday, and says they loved it. "They thought it was pretty funny. They were laughing," she said. "We have four more days left of kindergarten, so it's a little bittersweet. It's kind of great timing, though, for it to air on TV to kind of have the final hurrah. But yeah, they loved to see it today." Gill has only been a teacher for a couple years, but says it's a career that's been a long time in the making. "I have wanted to be a teacher since I was, I want to say, probably seven years old. It's just been something that I've never really changed my mind about," she said. "I just always have wanted to help people — kids especially."
National Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- National Post
Alberta teacher inspires Jimmy Kimmel to better know his staff — sorta
A southern Alberta teacher has been making waves with a video in which she can recognize her students' voices without seeing them, even inspiring late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel to take a page from her book. Article content 'This is fun . . . It's a cute thing,' Kimmel said on his show Tuesday night, before playing the video showcasing how well Medicine Hat teacher Mackenzie Gill knows her students. Article content Article content Article content In the video, the teacher sits in a chair and 20 or so students line up behind her. Without Gill seeing who is standing behind her chair, each student says, 'Hello, Miss Gill.' The teacher then identifies each of her tiny charges by name — providing a nice boost to their self esteem. Article content Article content 'Well done, Miss Gill,' Kimmel said after sharing the video with his audience. Article content 'I thought it would be fun to do that here with some of my staff,' he continued. Article content Kimmel then played a video in which he tried to do just that. No surprise, he f ailed to identify any of the show's staff nor his own grown son who is a television production assistant. The Kimmel bit was funny, but it was also an ideal way to highlight the work of a teacher who appears sincerely delighted that she knows her own students so well, especially when correctly identifying the voice of a twin. Article content Gill is still a newer teacher, but she has already been making a mark in the teaching world. She was an Edwin Parr Award nominee representing the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education recently. The award, recognizing excellence by a first-year teacher, is given out by the Alberta School Board Association. Article content In a video for the award, Gill noted she is a kindergarten teacher at Medicine Hat's Ecole St. John Paul II School, where she teaches English and French. Article content 'I've always wanted to be a teacher,' Gill says in the video. 'I haven't thought two seconds about changing my career path at all. I've always wanted to be in the classroom, in front of kids, teaching them and learning more about myself, learning more about them and just making an environment where kids feel loved and included and they can be themselves 100 per cent of the time.' Article content Gill makes a true difference in the school, nurturing francophone culture and global diversity, says the school's acting vice principal Edlyn Murphy. Article content 'From the moment Mackenzie stepped into our school, she brought with her a contagious enthusiasm that ignited a spark in every person she encountered,' said Murphy. 'Her innovative teaching methods have transformed mundane lessons to captivating experiences leaving students eager to learn more about the world beyond their borders.'
CTV News
7 days ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Medicine Hat Tigers superstar Gavin McKenna named CHL Player of the Year
Medicine Hat Tigers' Gavin McKenna (72) looks for the puck during second period Memorial Cup hockey action against the Rimouski Oceanic in Rimouski, Que., on Friday, May 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov Medicine Hat Tigers star Gavin McKenna has been named the best major junior hockey player in the entire Canadian Hockey League. The Yukon native put up 129 points during the regular season, including a record-setting 54-game point-scoring streak. He led the Tigers to within one win of the Memorial Cup, which they lost in the finals to the London Knights. McKenna was only held scoreless three times during the regular season. The 17-year-old becomes the third-youngest player to win the David Branch Award in CHL history, behind Sidney Crosby and John Tavares, who both won it when they were 16. McKenna is the first Medicine Hat Tiger to win the award in franchise history.
