February 2016

Arts

This month, the grade 4’s have been busy with various art activities. In visual art, the students have been busy painting masterpieces of flowers and winter nature scenes. Perhaps one day one of our very own JWB students might be a famous painter like Van Gogh. In dance, the students have been working on a project where they read a book and had to choreograph a dance based on the book. No small feat. But the grade 4s proved they could do it. Finally, in music, the grade 4’s have just started the ukulele. As this is a new instrument for them and a completely new experience. Little do they know, this is just the start of their instrumental experience at JWB! Keep working hard grade 4’s!

Sports

This month at J.W.B. plenty of seasons have started up while others have come to an end. The junior volleyball teams both finished this month, both the teams ending their season on a high note, going into the finals and winning gold at their last tournament.

As for the senior basketball teams, the girls and boys team began their seasons, both of them playing their first games this month. It has been a learning experience for all the teams as they begin to work together and play as a team, rather than individuals. Games have been lost and won this month but, all in all they had fun, playing with good sportsmanship and lots of enthusiasm, representing J.W.B. well!

Leadership

This month, to go along with our We Are Love, we made a large poster that was hung in the hallway near the intermediate staircase. This poster was inscribed with the words We are love, and it acts as a reminder just how much we are loved at JWB. The idea behind the poster was that hearts would be distributed among classes and people would write nice things on them. Then, they would be pasted on the poster for all to see. We Are Love was a huge hit in our school and just proved how much of a community we are here at JWB.

Learning

This month the grade 3’s went on a fun field trip focusing around their pioneer unit, this being called “pioneer day”. All the third grade classes dressed up, as a pioneer would, all the teachers being involved as well. It was an indoor event that took the students through a large variety of pioneer activities, letting them experience what it would be like if they were alive when the pioneers were. They went to a school, only being allowed to use chalk, chalkboards and a sponge. They also went through chores and jobs that one might have during this time period, sewing, making toys, making butter from cream and pretending to be tinsmiths, they can now fill out applications for all the job posters that fill the halls! Finally, to add to the experience, they acted out certain case scenarios that they might have found themselves in, if they were there at the time, one of these situations being when someone was punished, that had to sit in a chair with a dunce cap on their head.

When I went to ask the third graders about their experiences, they responded with :

“this day has been the best day ever”

“pioneer day rocks”

“pioneer day is awesome”

“I love pioneer day, pioneers’ are old school and cool”

Giving Back

February is usually associated with Valentine’s Day and love. So what better way to kick off the month with “We Are Love”! “We Are Love” is a Leadership/Me To We project where hearts are handed out to each classroom and in the office. Students can grab a heart, write something to their friends or classmates, such as a thank you letter, a drawing or even a love letter (although I haven’t seen any yet)!

All the hearts are collected by the Leadership/Me to We team and placed on an enormous poster near the Kindergarten/Intermediate staircase, on the big wall next to the award plaques on the wall. The poster is slowly getting covered with more and more red, purple and pink hearts.

What a nice way to spread kindness by the Leadership/Me to We Team!

Special Events

JWB always has something special going on, and this month it’s Winter Play Day and the school Dance-A-Thon!

Dance-A-Thon was held early in February, before Valentine’s Day. This year, the theme coincided with the We Are Love initiative held by Student Leadership/Me to We, and hearts adorned the walls. A DJ was there as well, and kids of all grades went into the gym for the dance. Some ran around, while others showed off their moves!

Winter Play Day was the other big event for February. This year even our little Kindergartener’s took part in the Winter Play Day. As the tribes traveled from station to station, they took part in games like, “Crossing the Iceberg, “Snow Hockey” and my favourite “Ice Cube Relay”. Our Grade 8’s did a great job leading the stations and helping some of the younger students with the games. Everyone including the teachers and staff had rosy cheeks and big smiles on their faces!