By Amore du Toit
Stettler Elementary School hosted its final Terry Fox assembly, and revealed the grand total of our fundraising efforts: This year, Stettler elementary students and staff raised an amazing $20 437.04. Wow!
This was accomplished through pledge sheets, online pledges, Terry Fox shoelace sales, hot lunch proceeds, and loonie/toonie donations for doughnuts and juice snacks. Stettler Elementary School would like to thank parents for keeping students’ pledge sheets organized, and making sure the sheets were returned to school. We would also like to thank all of the teachers for helping with totaling pledge sheets and money, and for leading the sock-hops.
At the assembly we heard poems about Terry Fox that were written by students in grade 2DB and 3RV. Mrs. Lynn also shared information about how far Terry ran (42 km a day = 104 laps around our track per day) and how we have helped cancer researchers improve the lives of many people. We recognized the many students who went the “extra mile” and brought in extra pledges. Each classroom will be having their own classroom event in the near future to celebrate their hard work and success.
We are very proud of the outstanding job our students did on this project, showing that they care for others, work together, and always try their best. We are also glad to report that our grade four paper recycling dilemma has been solved. After finding out that the paper the school was collecting for recycling was actually being dumped in our local landfill, we are now having the paper picked up by CanPak.
They are the same company that is collecting the recycling for the town. We do have to pay for this service, but our grade four students feel that it is worth paying to save our forests. CanPak will be providing us with large bins to collect paper and cardboard.
A big thank you to all the teachers and students who help by making sure used paper is put into the recycling bins and not the garbage. We ask parents to please practice this at home, also.
Stettler Elementary School is also proud to offer a junior kindergarten (3- and 4-year-olds) head start program. Mrs. Sandra Norman, who is an early childhood specialist, coordinates the class and heads the team of educational assistants who help out with the class. The program operates four days a week, Monday through Thursday, and there are morning or afternoon options. Students who attend this pre-K class are involved in a wide variety of fun and developmentally appropriate activities. Crafts, stories, songs and games are all a part of the daily routine. The children partake in physical activity every day, and their current favorite game is the balloon game. The children have enjoyed painting, and visits to the library for story time with our librarian, Mrs. Pinder. Students in this class also have the opportunity to work with occupational therapists and speech assistants to enhance their learning experience. Students are looking forward to our fall theme. They will walk through the park; collect leaves, and of course, learn new songs and create lovely crafts.