How can we collaborate to design and build a children’s toy that has moving parts, is durable, and is fun to play with?

This is a collaborative project between Summit Elementary’s grade 4 students, and Sa-Hali Secondary’s Art 9/10, Wood Tech 11/12, and Metalwork 9-12 classes.

Students from Mrs. Cacaci’s Art 9/10 class met with Mrs. Lanyon’s grade 4 students to work with toy-making materials to begin the planning process. Once design decisions had been collaboratively made, the art students met with the woodwork and metalwork students to commission the pieces they would need to construct the toys which will be sold to raise money for the local charity, Christmas Amalgamated.

Once wood pieces and metal pieces had been constructed, the Art students began pre-assembling and prepping for painting. Final construction of the finished toys was completed together with the grade 4 students on Friday, December 2.

Red Cross Anti-Bullying leaders from Sa-Hali Secondary are trained in “Beyond the Hurt” curriculum so that they can do workshops with younger students. This year, leaders have done workshops for all Grade 8 Health and Career classes at Sa-Hali, as well as Grade 6/7 and Grade 4/5 classes at Dufferin Elementary.

Grade 2 students at Pacific Way are working with grade 8 students at Sa-Hali Secondary to create meaningful graphs.  The students are creating questionnaires that will generate numbers for them to graph in a variety of ways.

Students from Summit Elementary made a visit to Sa-Hali Secondary to combine a Home Economics and Art lesson

Summit’s Grade 6/7 class enjoyed a day of pizza making and water colour.  Students worked with Mrs. Adkin’s Grade 9/10 Cooking class to make monster pizzas.  Some very interesting monsters came out of the oven.  The second part of the day was with Mrs. Cacaci in the Art room.  The class created bookmarks, pictures and spring themed cards using water colour techniques.  The Grade 6/7’s had a great time experiencing high school life.

Presentation by Dana Starkell to McGowan Park Elementary Students and Adventure Tourism 12 Students from Sa-Hali Secondary School

Sa-Hali Secondary Students in the Adventure Tourism 12 class were given the opportunity to experience the story of Dana Arkell, who completed a 2-year odyssey paddling a canoe over 19,000 kilometers from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil.

A year after completing high school, Dana undertook the now famous two-year canoe trip his father had been planing since Dana was 9 years old.  Altogether, they paddled through 13 countries from Winnipeg to Belem, Brazil and awarded the Guinness world record for the longest canoe trip in history.  In the course of the journey Dana cured his asthma and honed his skills as a classical guitarist.

Dana shared numerous stories with the students that showed interactions with the locals as they paddled through the mighty Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, along the Caribbean Coastline of Mexico and Central American countries, eventually reaching South America and finally into the Amazon River drainage.  Students interacted with Dana during a question and answer session, followed by his slide-show that showcased much of the journey.

The opportunity to learn alongside the younger Elementary students benefited both groups of students as the soon-to-be graduates could put themselves in the shoes of the younger students, thinking, what it would be like to have had this offer of paddling to the mouth of the Amazon presented to them at the age of 9 years old.  It also showed a life of living simply, overcoming obstacles, and challenges, including, curing his childhood asthma…the daily paddling acting as the antidote that ended his need for medication!  The students were left with inspiration and motivation to realize their potential and to seek the “unknown” and to learn along the journey.

On behalf of the students, I wish to thank Cori Wickes, Principal of McGowan Park Elementary for extending this invitation for Sa-Hali students to participate in the Dana’s presentation. ( written by P. Findlay)

What a great day! Students were thrilled that we were able to see and meet some of the best women athletes in Canada. They were great role models for our students. Thank you also to the students from Sa-Hali Secondary that came to share the visit with us.

Hockey Canada made their roster announcement at the Pacific Way Gymnasium.  While the players were here our students and 40 female students from Sa-Hali Secondary were able to interact and ask questions with the 4 players that were in attendance.

It was an excellent opportunity for the students to hear of the success of professional women in sport.

The Thompson Nicola Regional District provides education and control of invasive plant species across the Southern Interior of BC.  One of their programs is the use of biocontrol (plant specific insects) to control invasive plants.

School visits would be about an hour, with an informational component followed by going outside and looking for insects.  The vicinity near the school has enough spotted knapweed that we are likely to find many of the biocontrol insects in various life stages (larvae, pupae, adult).  The best time to find biocontrol insects is mid to late June.

The activity can be tailored to your classroom curriculum, we would need to meet ahead of time to discuss appropriate material for the level of your students.

A sense of place is a combination of characteristics that makes a place special and unique. It involves the human experience in a landscape, the local knowledge and folklore. Sense of place also grows from identifying oneself in relation to a particular piece of land on the surface of planet Earth.

For this collaboration, students will connect with the TRU Botany department to understand the relationship between scientific and artistic observations of our local landscape.  Under the guidance of Botanist Lyn Baldwin students will gain insight into what it could be like to study science at TRU, while also , recognizing the value of making visual record of the land around us.

Once class visit will be done to the TRU Botany lab and at least one class visit will be spent in the field journaling in Peterson Creek Park.

“That is a sense that requires time, energy, and paying attention to realize.

Many people in the 21st century spend so much time online, in their cars, at Starbucks,

or in an office that they may have little connection to any unique place.

Is the sense of place becoming a lost sense?” – The Art of Geography

On February 19th our family of schools met to share a professional development opportunity on First Nations learning. Staffs met at Sa-Hali Secondary for a day of sharing and building understanding.

The day began with a circle to welcome everyone, from there we broke into small groups to discuss three articles using a talking stick. The groups used a hand made talking stick to share their ideas in a respectful conversation, this time also allowed for introductions, and getting to know each other.

After a short break the group met in the library to become familiar with the Indigenous principles of learning. A short video was shared followed by small group discussions of “Shi-shi-etko” and “When I was Eight” as a vehicle for exploring the First Peoples Principles of Learning in literature..

In the afternoon staffs learned about resources that are available through the district and provincial libraries.  A Sa-Hali Secondary student performed an anti-bullying rap that focused on positive cultural awareness.  Finally there was a group sharing activity that drew from two focus questions: how have you incorporated indigenous principles of learning into your classroom practice or curriculum, and how can you incorporated indigenous principles of learning into your classroom practice or curriculum?

The day highlighted the strength of our family of educators and the resources available, not only tangible but within the expertise and knowledge of our collective experiences and stories.

This is one of the first multi-group school professional days for our family of schools, and it was very successful in bringing people together to learn, share, and grow.