With Spring Break behind us, the realization of knowing the last three months will fly by is starting to sink in! So, let’s take one week at a time and just breathe.
On April 9th, we celebrated International Day of Pink. Students and staff wore Pink to honor this day with discussions acknowledging the importance this day represents. When something does not look or feel right, be an upstander not a bystander. Wearing Pink signifies diversity, inclusion, and solidarity. Always be aware of others and do not fear differences, it is what makes each and every one of us unique.
In library, we of course started out the month reading stories about Easter. The Kindergarten class listened to the story, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick by Lucille Colandro, and then made the cutest egg craft. Now onto the other grades research projects. The grade ½ class are creating puzzle pieces that represent the wonderful things that living on earth provides and what we can do to keep it healthy. We read the book, OUR PLANET-THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE EARTH by Stacy McAnulty.
The grade ¾ class are venturing into our solar system. They are paired up into groups doing research on Earth, Pluto, Mars, the Moon, Comets, Sun, and more. Each group was given two puzzle pieces to present their findings on. They are to come up with four interesting facts about their topic. I cannot wait to see all the puzzle pieces put together for each class.
The kindergarten class, listened to the book, The Earth Book by Todd Parr. They learned what they can do to help make the earth healthier. We created two earths, one sad and one happy. They had to match the pictures to which earth they belonged too and boy!, did they know their stuff!!!
Students and staff took part in different activities for Earth Week. We started out the week prior by having Susan Lindsay in from Climate Change Connection to speak with students, Kindergarten to Grade 2, Grade 3/4, then Grades 5 to 8. Susan spoke about how we can work together to be part of a solution. In her 20 years she has seen some differences, but lots more can be done. Some ideas put into motion have been the recycling of deadfall to make pellets to heat homes, solar panels, bio-degradable containers/straws that restaurants use, and hiring positions in communities to introduce energy saving techniques like they did in Selkirk. 3 years in the position and they have reduced city emissions by a third. Every little thing that we can do is effective. It is predicted that in the next 20 years the Global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius. Now that may not seem to be much but look at the weather patterns that are happening right now in the world. Flooding, wildfires that start not only by humans but by lightning, and precipitation is becoming more unpredictable. On the flip side in some area’s drought is an issue, and even up north, lakes are starting to melt earlier which impacts northern communities from getting supplies throughout the winter because the winter road season is getting shorter. It IS happening all around us. The subtle and destructive events that may have seem to not affect us indirectly are now affecting us directly and continue all around the world. The little things we can do can help turn things around are simple and beneficial to the beautiful area we live and on a bigger scale it can have a domino affect to our world for the better. Susan also spent the morning with staff on our Inservice day to share current statistics, projected outcomes, and spoke about resources to support student learning.
Throughout the month of April, our Jr High Badminton team, coached by Mrs. Clark, spent many noon hours and afterschool practices honing in on their skills. The day had finally arrived on Thurs, April. 24th to take part in the badminton tournament. We want to congratulate our whole team for making it into the playoffs for both singles and doubles. They were great matches and our group represented Onanole School with integrity and true sportsmanship. Way to go Onanole Wild!!!
Earth Week was from April 21st to the 25th. Due to weather conditions, the School Wide Clean Up was postponed to Wed, April 30th along with face painting. But, during the week of, classes celebrated with many fun activities in their classrooms.
We also had the pleasure of having two students, Chelsea(a former student of OES) and Sharon from Erickson Collegiate spend a week with us as a part of their Work Experience Program. They had the opportunity to observe and assist in each classroom throughout their week here at Onanole School.
On Friday, April 25th, Mr. Stephenson and his grade 5/6 class set up the Student Vote station in the gym. The Grade 5/6 class took their places to assist each class in the process of how to vote. How to sign in, wait their turn to mark their ballot, fold it, and place it in the results box then left with a I Voted sticker. The Student Vote is a great way for our students to learn the steps and what to expect when they become legal age to vote.
The results from the Student Vote were:
Liz Clayton, Green Party- 14
Andrew Douglas Maxwell, NDP – 12
Dan Mazier, Conservative- 12
Terry Hayward, Liberal – 9
Jim Oliver, PPC - 4
And just like that…. Goodbye April……
There were not may days we had showers, but the little we did have has started to green things up a bit.
Make sure to check out the photo galleries below.