Celebrations & Community Spirit

The second term was filled with celebration and community spirit! From honouring our shared milestones to diving into new learning adventures, we’ve had plenty of reasons to cheer. We also made and displayed some fabulous artwork!

At the end of January, our school had a special visit from local British Columbia author and educator, Cathy Hussey. She brought her passion for storytelling and the natural world directly to our readers. Cathy’s work often reflects her deep connection to the Pacific Northwest and her background in working with young learners. Her book, Doug: The Story of a Tree, is a heartwarming tale designed for children (ages 6–8) that explores themes of growth, resilience, and the interconnectedness of nature.

 

We learned about ourselves and shared information about our families with our classmates. Our “I Am From” poems are simple, personal reflections that foster self-identity and creative expression. We love that they are original and list favourites or feelings about ourselves. At the Pink Shirt Day assembly, some of us read out our poems about why our families are special.

 

We celebrated Valentine’s Day, Lunar New Year, 100th Day, and learned about Anti-Bullying (Pink Shirt Day) and Black History Month. Please see our beautiful Valentine’s Day bags – we filled these with cards and messages for our friends. We made bracelets with special words and experimented with a variety of materials in Art. We also learned and talked about the Olympics in Italy!

 

During the 100th Day of School, we jumped 100 times (over the week). We imagined what it might look like in the future when we are 100 years old! We created necklaces with 100 beads/Cheerios. We continued to explore a variety of Math and Literacy activities. We can now count by 10s to 100, and we are reading so many new words!

 

We got to know our Div. 6 Big Buddies a little bit more and managed to do some fun activities with them!

 

The Planetarium visited our school Gym. Ocean Wise marine educators took us into the Sea Dome, a large black dome theatre, and we had a blast watching the big screen. We learned about sea animals and protecting our waterways. The educators brought some marine artifacts and we were able to touch things like shark jaws and sea turtle shells.

 

We ended this term with inviting our families to come into our classrooms for Student-led Conferences, and we were able to show our family members just a few of the things we learned in school.

 

What a fun Term 2 we had!  Please have a wonderful and enjoyable Spring Break!  See you back at school on Monday, March 30!

September

The fun continues… Here’s a little glimpse of what we have been doing.

We made friendship bracelets to remind us to be kind to our friends.

 

Morning reading and morning exploration help set our day to a good start.

 

We were all very excited to explore in our Parkcrest forest.

 

We learned Terry Fox is a Canadian hero who raised millions of dollars for cancer research through his Marathon of Hope event. We were honored to have Terry‘s niece come to Parkcrest this year to inform our community about Terry Fox’s inspiring legacy.  Our class participated in the event by running around our field and raising money for cancer research.  We raised over our school goal of $1500.  Looks like Ms. Ralph will be kissing a fish!

 

For Truth and Reconciliation Day, we learned the day honours the children who never returned home and survivors of residential schools. We brainstormed words every child should feel and have…

On September 24, an Indigenous Elder and Elder Latash came to our school and led the handing over ceremony of the Two Sisters Mural to Parkcrest.     

September and October

 

The Kindergarten year is off to a busy start! We have been learning, playing and establishing our classroom routines.  It has been great to see friendships forming among the children as they get to know each other! Here’s a little glimpse of what we have been doing.

 

 

Learning to recognize and write our name

 

We learned Terry Fox is a Canadian hero who raised millions of dollars for cancer research through his Marathon of Hope event.  Our class participated in the event by running around our field and raising money for cancer research.

 

For Truth and Reconciliation Day, we learned the day honours the children who never returned home and survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.  We also learned a Powwow dance and saw a Powwow performance.

 

Playing with numbers 0-10

 

Learning about pumpkins

 

Ask your child to share their Leaf Man story with you.

 

We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch! Ask your child to share their favourite part of the field trip with you.

 

 

 

We had a great time celebrating Halloween together! Thank you for all the yummy treats!

 

Jack-o-lantern art

 

Halloween Stations

 

What will happened to Candy Corn when we put them in hot water, vinegar and Bubly?  Ask your child about the candy corn experiment.

 

 

 

The Ocean Wise Sea Dome Experience

On Wednesday, we had some wonderful visitors from Ocean Wise*. The guides brought a Sea Dome, an inflatable six-metre dome that projects a 360-degree cinematic video! We watched a short video on climate change and looked at animals in the ocean. We were able to view tropical reefs, sea ice in the Arctic, and many amazing animals up-close! We saw an octopus, a sea turtle, a whale, a shark, jellyfish and more.

After the sea dome experience, students were guided through two other stations, looking at artifacts and images. Our guide showed us turtles and coral reefs from around the world. Then, we looked at a huge Arctic floor map. Our guide talked about the loss of sea ice and its impact on the animals (e.g. Polar bears, seals) that lived there. We even saw and touched a 9 foot narwhal tooth!

Ocean Wise is a non-profit organization which aims to protect and restore our world’s oceans. Thanks to Ms. Sue for organizing this.

Ask your child, what was their favorite part of the presentation?

 

Terry Fox Run & Orange Shirt Day

September 29th was our school’s Terry Fox Run, as well as Orange Shirt Day.  Ms. Price, our Aboriginal Resource Teacher, visited our classroom to tell us the story about Phyllis’ experience at a residential school.

Having Orange Shirt Day on the same day as the Terry Fox Run was a good opportunity to talk about Terry Fox’s Métis ancestry.  Thank you Parents for your donations to the Terry Fox Foundation.  As a school, we surpassed our goal and raised…

More photos from the run:

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The Mobile Dairy Classroom Experience

Daisy the Cow

Today, Daisy the cow and the Mobile Dairy Classroom visited our school.  Daisy is 6 years old (which is equivalent to our 60 years old) and weighs 1600 pounds!  The amount of food she eats in a day is equivalent to us eating 1375 bowls of cereal!  We saw a milking demonstration and milk was pumped into a milking jar.

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Website: https://bcdairy.ca/dairyfarmers/initiatives/mobile-dairy-classroom-experience