Mrs. Racquel Halland’s and Mrs. Lisa Pearn’s Grade 2 classes from Mary Montgomery School have been filling up their Town of Virden travel passports as they make the rounds to significant community places and learn about jobs in their community.
This is the second year that they’ve gone on location with the Grade 2s. “The students learn so much more and retain it far longer when they travel to these sites and can ask their questions. It's a lot of work, but definitely worth it,” says Halland.
The amazing (and perhaps mysterious to a child) Town of Virden Civic Centre was on their hit list Monday afternoon. Students saw where the Town office staff do their work. They had an informative tour with the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer Rhonda Stewart and with Mayor Tina Williams.
Entering through the front office, the class trooped down a back hallway to the courtroom or Town Council chambers, depending upon whether it was a Friday (court day) or in use on a Tuesday evening for the council meeting.
One by one, all 30 students had a chance to sit on the raised dais where the judge or mayor sits. Mayor Tina Williams was on hand and happily handed over the gavel so everyone could try out this seat of authority and Mrs. Pearn took each student’s picture with the gavel.
The kids received Canadian flag pins and town maps, then each one took their Virden traveller’s passport to CAO Stewart to have it stamped. Mrs. Halland says, “Back at school they will fill in who they met, what they saw, what they learned, and what their favourite part of the tour was, before drawing a small picture of something memorable to finalize the pages.”
After that - the visit to the jail cell behind the courtroom, where groups of students stood in the small, windowless room that had a bench, a toilet, and a sink. And they had questions!
So before heading back to school, the students were invited to ask the mayor whatever they wanted to know. With the jail cell fresh on everyone’s mind, that was the focus of many questions. Mayor Williams carefully explained that she did not put anyone in jail. She told students that several different kinds of activities are carried out within these chambers.
Atop the building is the site of the emergency siren that sounds when there’s a fire. This knowledge led to questions about emergencies such as tornados. Some students were aware that their parents could receive emergency alerts on their phones. Although tornados are extremely rare for Virden, nevertheless, there was a discussion about safe places to shelter in homes, at school, and the kids were even assured there was a basement for Town of Virden staff and council within the civic building.
Mrs. Halland says the students have visited a number of places already. “So far, the students have visited St. Mary’s Anglican Church where they met Father Matt and learned about the historic stained-glass windows as well as the secret mice carvings. A visit to the Aud Theatre next door is planned for another day and future tour stops include the fire hall, Tundra Oil & Gas Place, the Derrick Theatre, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Fort la Bosse Division Office, the town library, Canada Post, the water tower, and the Cenotaph.”
