Category Archives: School Days

Being a Special Helper

Posted on by
Reply

Kindergarten is a special world, full of imaginative play, learning and cooperation. Students learn many things in Kindergarten: how to share, letters and letters sounds, printing and taking turns. Students in Kindergarten also have opportunities to be leaders. They get to be the Special Helper.

“The Special Helper is the student in the classroom that will lead the line up, lead calendar activities, hand out articles and take on small responsibilities for the day. Everyone gets many turns to be the Special Helper throughout the year…” ~ Val Batyi

How great is that? Everyone gets a turn to be a leader. Everyone has the chance to contribute. Everyone gets the chance to be special.

Should all children have the chance to be special? Absolutely.

They are special. Spend a few minutes in a Kindergarten class, and you will see how special they all are.

This week our Kindergarten students taught me how to pattern (dark blue, light blue, dark blue, light blue… & snail shell, snail shell, clam shell, clam shell, snail shell, snail shell…), why we should keep our hands to ourselves, and how to say the names of the month in French.

This year they have told me about their teddy bears (“My teddy bear is a zebra!”), shared their favourite television show (I didn’t recognize the name of the show, but I am sure it’s a great show), and read to me their favourite books in the library.

We sometimes give high fives to each other in the hall, and yesterday I got to help with putting on some shoes.

One of the perks of my job is that I get a chance to visit three amazing Kindergarten classes. Spending time in each class is always a special experience. Thanks kids (and teachers too).

Take care.

Harvest House Food Drive

Posted on by
Reply

Care for Others

This is part of our Cleveland Code of Conduct.

Care for Others

Can you help take care of others?

How do we teach children to care for other people? I believe we must model the way. We must demonstrate to our children that we can and will help others in need. Holding a door open for a stranger, picking up litter so someone else doesn’t have to pick it up, or giving to charity. There are many ways we can teach our children to care for others.

Can we all be role models for our children?

We started the year with two important charity drives to show how we care: the Terry Fox Run (raising money for cancer research) and a food drive for The North Shore Harvest Project.

In our September 23rd newsletter, we sent home the following:

HARVEST PROJECT AT CLEVELAND

Cleveland School is collecting packaged food and toiletries for the North Shore Harvest Project for families in need at Thanksgiving time.

Collections are from Monday, September 26th to Friday, October 7th.

Please place your donations in boxes provided in the main foyer of the school. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. Merci!

There are many worthy charities for consideration that a school could take on. We cannot do it all. We can, however, provide small opportunities for children and families to make a positive difference in some fashion.

Please bring in something for the Harvest Project – a local charity helping local people in need.

Every little bit helps.

Please take care.

 

Terry Fox Run

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday, our school participated in the Terry Fox Run. The day was rainy, and we were a bit worried at 1:00 pm, as the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down, that we would get rather wet while running. Fortunately, the rain slowed down, the sun tried to come out, and the run was a success.

Events like the Terry Fox Run have the potential to bring together the whole community;  students, staff and parents. At Cleveland, it was special day.

What made yesterday special? Many things.

  • Getting Ready – Mme Simpson and Mme Cusanelli took time out of their classes to organize the event, get parent volunteers and help grade 7 students with their speeches. Thanks.
  • Setting Up – I asked for some help setting up the gym, and I found myself with about 20 grade 7 students willing to give up their lunch hour to set up chairs, the sound system and monkeys (visit Team Finn to learn about the monkeys). Other students set up outside to help us get ready for the run. Thanks kids.
  • Oh Canada on the piano – Thank you Tierra for playing Oh Canada for the opening. You did an outstanding job.
  • Team Finn – last year’s guest (Pat & Sam Sullivan – Finn’s parents) joined us again and thanked the students of Cleveland for their support. Thank you for coming back.
  • Grade 7 Student Speeches – Three of our grade 7 students gave wonderful speeches, which focused on Terry Fox, the role of the Terry Fox Foundation and family stories. Thank you Sebastian, Ally and Lilly. You were awesome.
  • Fred Fox – Terry’s brother was our guest, and he shared many stories about Terry and his family. After the run, he met with some 6’s and 7’s and answered questions. Thank you Fred.
  • The Run – Mme. Cusanelli and Mr. Amundsen rode their bikes to lead the run, and helped make sure everyone was safe. Merci.
  • Our Parents – We had 60 parent volunteers to help the children stay safe along the route. We really appreciate the parent participation. Thank you for the great help.
  • Cleaning up – There were too many students to count who helped out at the end of the day. What a great group of children. Merci beaucoup.

There are so many more things that made yesterday special, but I can’t share every story. Ask you kids. It was a joy to be a part of it all.

What a wonderful school we have. (If it sounds like I’m bragging, I am.)

Take care

 

Grade 6’s To Outdoor School

Posted on by
Reply

Today, our Grade 6 students are going up to the North Vancouver Outdoor School in Paradise Valley, Brackendale, British Columbia. They will be there for 5 days and 4 nights, and are going with Mme. Power and Ms. McIntyre.

Outdoor education is essential in educating our children to be stewards of our planet and in developing an understanding of the importance of the natural world. Students will have the chance to learn about salmon, birds, forests, bugs, plants, ponds, geology, and a variety of other topics. They may get into the farm area and pet goats or feed the pigs. Weather reports will be made daily by cabin groups, and students will take turns cleaning up after meals.

Cleveland students are joining students from Larson Elementary School, and will be making new friends as they share cabin groups and recreation time with the Larson students.

Students in North Vancouver are very lucky to enjoy such a wonderful outdoor school. I am thankful that I was able to take classes there when I was a grade 3 and grade 6 teacher. It is a special place.

I look forward to hearing from our students all the great stories that they will share when they return.

Have fun. Stay warm.

Take care.

 

 

What Do You Do Mr B?

Posted on by
Reply

Last year, one of the grade 7 students at my previous school (Seymour Heights) asked me a question? “As a Principal, what do you do?” She knew I was in charge of the school and that I walked around the school a lot visiting classrooms.

I  answered, “I run the school and help to make it a safe place for everyone to learn.”

“I know that,” she said, “but what else do you do?”

What else do I do? As if running the school and helping it be a safe and caring place for everyone was not enough.

Actually, it isn’t enough, but it is a great place to start.

I won’t begin to list all that that I am required to do, as the list is quite dry. I can focus on a couple of things that I see as part of my job.

My first few weeks have been filled with getting to know the students, staff and parents of this wonderful school. Building positive relationships is very important to me, and I believe that students are more successful in a school when they know the adults know who they are.

The goal I set for memorizing every name has not yet been met (I still have until September 30th), but it is coming along nicely. It has been wonderful when children come up to me at recess or lunch and test me. I do make mistakes (don’t we all), but the students are forgiving and then share with me their names.

I am working on getting to know more than just the students’ names. Understanding the learning needs of all students and the needs of our staff is an important part of my role in a school.

I wander around a lot and visit classes regularly. There are so many wonderful teaching and learning moments every day at this school. Students have shown that they can continue their work when I come in the class, so that I am not interrupting the learning. They quietly say “Hi” or “J’aime ton cravate.” and continue on with their work or listening to whomever is speaking.

What do I do?

I work to support a fantastic team of educators in making this a wonderful school for everyone. I work to get to know the needs and strengths of the wonderful students. I work with our parents to support the students and staff.

I love my job.

Take care.