As busy as a bee in Week THREE
HALFWAY?!? It feels like just yesterday we arrived in Fort Providence! Time sure does fly when you’re having fun, and this week was a fun one!
As we wrapped up Mental Health Awareness Week, we finished up with some Emotion Bingo with the younger grades and making Wellness Books with our older classes. These Wellness Books are filled with tips and tricks to practicing self care, journaling pages, resources, mental health apps, colouring pages, and lots more! In the community, there was BBQs, radio shows, daily announcements in the school on various mental health topics and self-care workshops for both adults and youth at the Friendship Centre!
This week, we are focusing on healthy relationships. This includes many topics like healthy friendships and boundaries with our younger classes and consent with our older classes. It has been an exciting challenge as we continue to experiment with our lesson plans and finds new and funs ways to engage the students. Whether it is games, movies, art projects, or using the computer lab, we have been getting creative in the classroom!
Outside of the classroom, we have been creative too! On Wednesday, we joined the “Church Ladies” in the kitchen who were making brownies with the Grade 4s. The kids were eager to help with all of the steps, and of course eat the brownies after (and even before) they were done! We got in on our own baking action and hosted a baking night for the high school girls after school on Thursday. The girls baked tons of delicious baked goods to sell at the community yard sale on Saturday. We made brownies, blondies, LOTS of cookies, and rainbow cupcakes. The Church Ladies also generously donated pies, brownies, cookies, fresh bread and cinnamon buns for the bake sale. The school has been fundraising for a family formerly from the community who has lost their home in the Fort McMurray fire and the hundreds of dollars we raised at the bake sale will also be going to the family!
This week has been pretty busy (which is how we like it!) In between teaching and baking, we managed to take two of our favourite dogs Squirrel and Lady on some long walks. And we made new friends! Play Around the World (PAW) is an organization at the University of Alberta that will also be in Fort Providence this summer. Jesse, Joel, and Jill will be running after school sports and games. We had the opportunity to hang out with them at Spring Camp on Friday in between our dream catcher making and bannock roasting, and last night we joined them to play soccer with the older kids. We’re looking forward to collaborating with them over the next few weeks and maybe even organize a Kids Olympics (more deets later)!
We better run, dinner is still in the oven and we’re back to school for boot camp and volleyball! (Jasmine can’t wait and Christine hopes her bruised thumb doesn't become a whole arm)
The busy bees in the North,
Christine and Jasmine
