On Monday, May 9, Oak Lake Community School kicked off its much anticipated Spirit Week. Many fun and exciting activities were planned for each day of the week, with a variety of events and themes. On Monday, the WE Day Team planned a very special floor hockey tournament to support Junior Kindergarten student Chase Logoet. Chase has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments, since his leukemia diagnosis last fall. He and his family make regular trips to Winnipeg for his treatments. He is very brave, and the entire school was encouraged to wear orange and gold in support of those diagnosed with Leukemia. Generous donations from local business, tournament entry fees and a hot dog lunch raised funds, and an official presentation will be made to Chase and his family at a special school assembly on June 10.
Spirit Week is also an opportunity for students to celebrate their enthusiasm for our school and to dress up in fun, wacky outfits. Students also participate in Milk Spirit challenges and prizes are handed out. On Tired Tuesday, students wore pajamas to school and participated in a teddy bear toss and pillow fight at noon hour. On Wednesday, staff and students wore their most colourful, wacky clothing. A lip synch battle was held on Thursday, and everyone in the gym was entertained by some amazing lip synch performances. And, we wrapped everything up on Friday with everyone dressing up as their favourite characters for the dance in the afternoon.
The Senior Kindergarten class also planned a special fundraiser for Friday. They sold juice and cookies to raise money in support of relief efforts in Fort McMurray, in response to the destructive wild fire. They raised $262.20 (that’s a lot of cookies!).
Wednesday, May 18, OLCS middle years students participated in our school’s track and field event. It was a sunny afternoon — the perfect day for a track meet. Parent volunteers, staff and the Grade 4 students helped run the events. First and Second place go on to compete in each event at the divisional level. The divisional track and field day was held in Elkhorn, Tuesday, June7.
The grade 2/3 class is very proud of its Pay It Forward project that benefits our school and community. Now that the Little Free Library has been installed in the learning garden, the students are responsible for the stewardship of the project. Donations of children’s books (picture books and chapter books) will be gratefully accepted so that we can keep the library well-stocked all summer long. We hope people come visit the library any evening and during the weekends… it’s always open.
The OLCS student council and WE Day team are collecting prescription eye glasses. Don’t throw out your old eye glasses, drop them off at the school and we will donate them to third world countries where children and adults will be thankful to receive the gift of sight.
At Oak Lake Community School we are always eager to welcome guests into our school, and on Tuesday, May 24, Koko the burrowing owl visited the grade 4/5 classroom. Burrowing owls are nearly extinct in Manitoba, with only five known pairs of birds left in the wild. Koko is the owl ambassador representing the Burrowing Owl Recovery Program which is affiliated with the Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg. Koko has visited more than 50 schools in the province, teaching students about the importance of conservation and the challenges facing these small owls. The project was made possible by our school’s Go Wild For Birds WWF project and the West Souris River Conservation District.
Grade 6/7 students have been learning about alternative, sustainable sources of energy. A field trip to the Interpretive Centre for Wind Energy in St. Leon enabled students to see large scale wind energy in action. There are a total of 73 turbines in St. Leon, and they generate enough clean, renewable energy to power a city the size of Brandon. Students learned about the history and construction of the wind farm, and participated in various energy themed activities in the interpretive centre. To cap off the field trip, the class went inside the base of a full-size turbine, and were able to see the internal working housed inside the tower.
On Wednesday, May 25, students who participated in the After School Adventures in Art lessons had the opportunity to travel to Brandon and visit the Art Gallery of Southwest Manitoba. This trip was planned as the final culminating activity for the series of special art lessons that were presented by artist/ teacher Brianne Cooper this past winter. The exhibit on display was a series of glass sculpture installations in the main gallery by Manitoba artist, Ione Thorkelsson. Following a guided tour of the exhibit, students were encouraged to draw their favourite piece, and add their own element to it. Feedback from students was very positive, and many look forward to visiting the gallery again on their own.
