Georgia Avenue Community School recently hosted several events during Aboriginal Day. A good time was had by all!

Brian Cardinal was MC, Gerry Brown did the opening prayer, which was followed by a sweet little song by our primary students.

We were honoured to have Hesquiat dancers from Port Alberni perform for the entire school.

…honoured to have Hesquiat dancers from Port Alberni

perform for the entire school.

The Johnson family performed with the group and also made their own regalia. The family includes four stu-dents and their mother who are all from Georgia Avenue school.

It was so wonderful to see their elders and little babies involved with the performance.

Mrs. Haack’s Grade 7 class performed a drum drill directed by Mrs. Rokeby, our music teacher, and Arlene Demptec, A.B.E. support worker. Well done!

Everyone also loved the hip hop dance by Walter Fred and Justin Hunt – they really got the school rocking!

After recess, Mr. Rockeby, the drama teacher from John Barsby Community School, brought over the Grade 8 drama group who performed a rendition of the leng-endary Zooniqua or Wild Woman.

The Grade 8s also made their backdrop and costumes.

The big house back drop was painted by A.B.E. workers Debra Elliot, Brian Cardinal, E.A. Gail Matt, and students Sam, Josh and Isiah.

Debra Elliot organized the feast and a huge Hay Ch Qa to Roger from Hub City Fish for donating boneless sockeye salmon. There was enough to feed everyone. Thanks go out to Bob Elliot for preparing and barbecuing the salmon.

Another thank you is extended to Nanaimo Food Share for preparing all the salads and veggies at a great price.

A big bouquet of eagle feathers to all that helped make this

day successful.

A big bouquet of eagle feathers to all that helped make this day successful. •

A visioning process at Gabriola Elementary in the winter of 2014 called for incorporating more environmental education within the curriculum.

�e school already had an active composting and recy-cling program as well as a vegetable garden and various classroom initiatives such as raising salmon.

To further this environmental engagement, in the Fall of 2014 our school obtained a Social Justice grant from the BC Teachers’ Federation to enable us to put together a series of lessons to teach Permaculture Ethics and Design Principles to Elementary School students.

A small group of four met several times in the winter and spring of 2015 to design the lessons. �e group took this de�nition from the permacultureprinciples.com website as a guiding vision:

Permaculture is a creative design process based on whole-systems thinking that uses ethics and design principles. It guides us to mimic the patterns and relationships we can �nd in nature.

�is can be applied to all aspects of human habitation, from agriculture to ecological building, from appropriate technology to education and even economics.

…from being dependent consumers to becoming responsible producers.

By adopting the ethics and applying these principles in our daily life we can make the transition from being de-pendent consumers to becoming responsible producers.

�is journey builds skills and resilience at home and in our local communities that will help us prepare for an uncertain future with less available energy.

In other words, by developing an understanding of permaculture ethics and design principles students build resiliency, creativity and responsibility for the Earth.

…built an understanding of the Permaculture Ethics of Earth –

Care, People Care and Fair Share.

By late spring 2015, the lessons were completed and ready for implementation. Initially some classroom lessons across the grades built an understanding of the Permacul-ture Ethics of Earth – Care, People Care and Fair Share.

Following on from this, three mornings were chosen to do multi-age activities, involving all students, introducing each of the 12 Permaculture Design Principles.

Students moved through four stations each morning, en-gaged in observing and interacting with nature, listening to stories, doing an art activity or playing a game with an environmental theme.

Our aim as a sta� is to continue developing our skills in implementing environmental education within the cur-riculum.

�ese Permaculture lessons and activities were a part of this process which has also involved creating an outdoor classroom area and expanding the involvement of stu-dents in growing food for the school lunch program. •

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Legacy garden - Grade 7s leave legacy garden for community

2015 retirees - Photos of some of this year’s retirees

Special times in the district - photos from around the district

Permaculture days at Gabriola Elementary

Gabriola Elementary students taking part in Permaculture Passport Days. There were 12 outdoor education stations structured on the school grounds.

Aboriginal Day at Georgia Avenueby Aboriginal Education Assistant Debra Elliot

Teacher Kate Reynolds

Grade 7 students from Seaview Elementary School will be leaving a legacy behind as they move onto high school in the fall.

�e students worked with the carpentry and framing students from the Careers and Technical Centre to put in a legacy garden and a new �re safety sign at the Lantzville Volunteer Fire Hall.

�e project, in the works for more than a year, also involved many volunteers, sta� and a number of local businesses. Although, most of the funding came from provincial grants, the community and local businesses contributed services, products and physical labour to help make this project a success.

In April, while Nanaimo Precast was busy building the frame for the sign, students were spreading soil and plant-ing a garden around the area where the sign will reside.

�anks to all involved, it was a very successful day which created hands on opportunities for students to learn and take on new challenges with the added bene�t of giving back to the community of Lantzville.

�e partnership of community , secondary and elementa-ry school students made way for leadership and mentor-ship which was a meaningful experience for all partici-pating, including Lantzville`s Mayor Colin Haime and School Trustee Bill Robinson. Fire Chief Tom Whipps, who does so much for his community, also appreciated the experience.

Child and Youth Family Support Worker Sheri Martin, one of the main organizers of the event sends out a big thank you to Derek Beeston, District Vice -Principal of Skills and Trades. Beeston oversaw all the details to ensure this project’s success.

“…provided an opportunity to give something back.”

Martin said, “To recognize the support the �re hall and �remen provide to the community, this project provided an opportunity to give something back to them.” •

Legacy garden for community

The McGirr Grade 7s put on an Ancient Civilization Fair on Friday, May 22 for their school and com-munity to enjoy.

Each student focussed on a di�erent aspect of Ancient Civilization and researched their topic to present for the school. Students used props, and dressed in full costume to share their topic and knowledge!

Fi�y-eight students took part and each one had lots of information and fun facts to share with students’ parents, teachers and grandparents, as well as other students.

�e entire gym was decorated and some students even brought in home-made artifacts such as Pompeii’s vol-cano, ancient Greek medicine remedies, Ancient Chinese cuisine, mummi�ed fruit, and actual foot binding materi-als to help share and explain their topic.

It was a wonderful experience for students to be able to further enrich/enhance their own learning by sharing it with others, but also an equally wonderful experience for all who attended. •

Ancient civilization fair

Three staff members from Bayview Elementary are retiring this year. From left to right, Crossing Guard Marlene Hedch, Secretary Vicky McIntyre and Teacher Pat Rustand took a moment out of their day for a photo. Thanks for your service ladies - congratulations!

Teacher John Young has decided it’s time to move on to the next stage of life - retirement! Congratu-lations John! Seen above is John Young (centre), alongside his outdoor hiking club from Dover Bay Secondary.

The crew at Forest Park Elementary are looking pretty excited for their upcoming retirement! Seen above are Shannon Milford and Colleen Skipper. Missing from photo is Darlene Brebber, who retired in December.

Smiling faces all around! Mountain View Elementary says farewell to both a CUPE and NDTA member this year. From left, EA Ruth Lewis and Teacher Barb Kirkpatrick are heading off the school grounds as they begin their retirement journey. Congratulations!

Retirement plans are in the air

Randerson Ridge teachers Barry French and Terrill MacDon-ald have decided retirement is going to be their next adven-ture. A special thanks for your dedication to the students of Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools and congratulations on your retirement!

Ladysmith Primary says farewell to school secre-tary Madeleine Bryden. We wish you well Mad-eleine and thank you for the years of service you have given to Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools - congratulations!

Communications Office Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools

395 Wakesiah Avenue, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 3K6Phone: 250 741-5219 Fax: 250 741-5292

Story ideas and comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Editor: Dale Burgos dale.burgos@sd68.bc.ca Co-Editor: Shauna DeBodt

Printed by: Island Publishers Ltd.

68 Hoorays!• 68 Hoorays! go out to Julia Browning who has completed her PhD in Cinema

Studies from New York University. Her doctoral dissertation will be included in the holdings of the National Library of Canada. Congratulations!

• 68 Hoorays! go out to the three amazing IT peeps (John, Bonnie and Donna) for the amazing job teaching the new MyEd BC program. Well done!

• 68 Hoorays! go out to Kimberly Davies for embracing changes to reading intervention and who went above and beyond with implementation of new strategies and techniques which were demonstrated by student achievement!

• 68 Hoorays! go out to Camilla McGuire and Kristin Funke Robinson for running a Skills for Life program at Park Avenue. They have included kids and EAs from a variety of schools.

• 68 Hoorays! go out to David Grey who has spent a semester with a class of Grade 8s studying the environment, and building a garden. This is such a huge community piece to our school!

• 68 Hoorays! go out to the Maintenance Department. They are always so helpful; they always check in at the office; they are always smiling! They definitely go above and beyond!

• 68 Hoorays! go out to Kelly Clark and Kelly Inglis for taking what they learned at the Vulnerable Readers Pro-D day in November and implementing this with continued IC support for the rest of the school year.

• 68 Hoorays! go out to John Young who was recently awarded a bronze medal for bravery from the Royal Humaine Association for his courage during a fatal plane crash. Congratulations on your honour!

• 68 Hoorays! go out to Sheri Martin for all of her “above and beyond” efforts she puts in every day. Her support has a huge impact on students, families, and the school in general.

• 68 Hoorays! go out to Julia Kutka who has served 6,000 bowls of soup at no charge to the students at Woodlands. Wow!

• 68 Hoorays! go out to all involved in the Spuptitul language competition. The 2nd annual was another huge success! Well done.

Photo in header on cover page: Students from Uplands Park Elementary recently were awarded a bike for their fundraising efforts for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Because there was only one bike awarded, the students decided to give the bike to the student who currently didn’t have a working bike. Great citizenship, boys!

Submit special photos for this page or suggestions for 68 Hoorays! to communications@sd68.bc.ca

Special times in the district

In May, Georgia Avenue celebrated National Aboriginal Day. There were activities, perfor-mances, drumming, displays, etc. Quite an amazing display of Aboriginal cultures. See article on cover page.

Rock City Elementary recently celebrated 50 years. It drew quite a crowd as many alumni were out to celebrate the event alongside current students and staff. Seen above is Al Cormons getting assistance cutting the special cake for spectators. Happy Anniversary!

Departure Bay Elementary was the recent recipient of a Toyota Evergreen grant in the amount of $2,100. The money will be used for the Eco-School’s garden project.

In May, parents and Grades 6-7 volunteers, with support from Bike-to-Work/School, hosted a Bike Safety Rodeo for all 240 École Pauline Haarer students. Students lined up to greet the bikers as they arrived with 180 bikes to stow in the gym until their group was invited out.

Walking into the Kindergarten class was a real treat with every student sitting at the carpet testing that their helmet was properly adjusted. Shortly after, one of the little girls came racing up from the bike pit stop, with a smile from ear-to-ear, to an-nounce, “My brakes work!”

Throughout the day, class after class practiced their stops, their turns, their shoulder checks navigating through cones and following their leaders’ support-ive comments and suggestions. At the end of the event, all of the students came to the gym to cheer on their team-mates and teachers in a slow bike race.

At the end of the day, 180 bikers headed safely off to their homes, a little wiser and full of enthusi-asm for Bike to Work and School Week.

One of the staff members commented, “We need to do this every year! It was amazing! Parent volunteer Darrell should take his skills on the road to all of the schools!” Kudos to Darrell and his incredible

team of volunteers for taking on this event!

Mini O celebrates its 10-year anniversary! Mini O is a track and field event for students with spe-cial needs. Students from all secondary schools in Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, as well as students from Chemainus and Qualicum school districts enjoyed the event. Seen above, Assistant Superintendent Bob Esliger welcomes everyone after the students were piped in.

Students formerly from Cedar Second-ary School recently continued the tradition of placing hand prints on the school walls with the school colours.

Great to see everyone out - staff and students!