This year, OLCS staff has been introducing students to the 7 Habits of Happy Kids. We have been exploring a new habit each month, and in May we will be focusing on Habit #4 — “Think Win-Win”. Students are encouraged to look at life with a positive attitude and work with others as they interact throughout the school day and at home.
At our recent morning assembly, the Grade 7/8 and Grade 2 classes performed skits that illustrated different scenarios, the importance of this habit, and showed students how making good choices can help them in life. The skits covered real-life dilemmas that students face, from respecting parents’ decisions and communicating well with each other, to weighing the pros and cons in situations and making the best decisions for everyone.
In recognition of Earth Day, OLCS students were busy reflecting on why we need to take care of our natural environment and considered ways we all make a little extra effort to recycle, reduce, and reuse. Early years students developed a set of Earth Manners, while older students considered a variety of ways to reduce energy consumption. The grade 5/6 class helped implement a school-wide project in which all OLCS students and staff have been equipped with a set of reusable utensils and a bowl that they will keep in their lunch kits, ready to use for morning snacks and lunches.
On Monday, Apr. 24, Grade 2 class was busy cooking a big batch of homemade “Stone Soup”. The class has been learning about gratitude, and they recognized that we are all grateful for the daily morning snack that we receive each day, and they thought it would be nice to give back to the program. Leading up to our homemade hamburger soup hot lunch fundraiser, we read the story Stone Soupand performed a reader’s theater, sharing the story with Grade 5/6 class. We raised an impressive $154 which has been donated to the Food For Thought program and the funds will go towards purchasing groceries for snacks. Mrs. Kim Siemens made the homemade buns and Mrs. Gwen Bocheck donated the ground beef. Their generosity is a true reflection of the message found in Stone Soup!
On Wednesday, May 3, the Junior Kindergarten class unveiled a special Nature Wagon project they have been working on, in collaboration with the Senior Kindergarten class. Each student helped explain the project to the entire school at our morning assembly. Students explained that the Nature Wagon contains all of the necessary items to take learning outdoors: chalk, books, Kleenex, white boards, erasers, magnifying glasses, tarps, bungee cords, blankets and wet wipes. Whether students are learning about the natural environment or completing ELA and math lessons, they will be all set to complete their activities outside. Since the Kindergarten students are learning about sharing and making friends, and have invited the other classrooms at OLCS to borrow the wagon and take their learning outdoors too. Funding for this project was provided by our school’s Manitoba Grants for Education for Sustainable Development.
The Grade 1 class recently completed a very special activity as part of our school-wide Gifts of Gratitude Manitoba Teachers’ Society grant project. The class has been learning about gratitude and appreciation. The students were very enthusiastic about creating homemade thank you cards, that they wrote themselves, and presented to each staff member in the school. A simple “Thank You” goes a long way, and the Grade 1 class’ cards were much appreciated by the OLCS staff.
Middle Years students participated in badminton this spring. Everyone did really well at the recent Divisional Tournament and showed a lot of improvement over the course of the season. Jae Johnston and Ainsley Smith, competing in the Girls Doubles category, qualified to move on and compete at the Zone Tournament in Boissevain, placing 9th overall.
Hunter Wallace, competing in Boys Singles, also qualified for the Zone Tournament and placed second.
