STETTLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL -- It is amazing how very quickly the month of September has passed us by. The teachers and students at Stettler Elementary are continuing to stay busy with many different activities each week. Ms. McDonald’s Grade 6 class has been enjoying pairing up with Mrs. Thorne’s Kindergarten class each week for a buddy program! The students have the opportunity to get together with each other on Wednesday mornings, and they engage in a number of fun activities including reading, crafts, and games. This pairing offers our Grade 6 students an excellent leadership opportunity, and our Kindergarten students are able to have our oldest students act as mentors for them. Last week, the classes spent their period together reading and getting to know one another a bit better. It has already been a rewarding experience for all students involved and it will no doubt continue to improve as the year goes on.
Our kindergarten students were dressed in some very fine scarecrow attire on Monday, Oct. 3, and used this theme-based day to find crows around the school sporting various numbers and letters. It was a fun way to enhance numeracy and literacy for the students.
All of the Kindergarten students are preparing to paint and decorate the pumpkins that have been donated by Grandma Linda from Killam. Each of our 90 Kindergarten students received a green pumpkin that will be painted by these young artists once they turn orange. The pumpkins will not only be used as an art activity, but will also enhance the math program by teaching measuring and comparing.
Although our youngest students have most certainly been keeping busy, they are not alone. All students in the school took part in a school-wide assembly on Friday followed by our annual Terry Fox Run. It is fabulous to see all of the support we receive for this very worthwhile event and we thoroughly enjoyed having parents, grandparents, and siblings join us for the run. The sun came out in time to make this event brighter and even more enjoyable, and at the conclusion of the day students received donuts (donated by Sobeys) and juice boxes (donated by Sean’s No Frills). Thank you to these great sponsors for making our day a litter “sweeter.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 4, our Grade 1 teachers offered parents some very important tips during the Home Reading Parent Information Night. These teachers were able to share strategies and practices that work very effectively for beginners, and the parents who attended left with some new and exciting ideas to practice at home. Students (and their siblings) were also able to attend as our Grade 6 babysitting class had some volunteers attend and look after the youngsters so that parents could focus on learning. We appreciate those students who put their skills into practice on Tuesday night.
In other news, while visiting my mother in the hospital last Tuesday evening, I got a perfect crib hand dealt to me during one of our crib games. Previous to that I had never seen a 29 hand and was not sure what cards were needed to produce that score. I know now!