I was so wrong.  I got to the school and I couldn’t believe what was going on.  There was at least a 60 piece orchestra in the middle of playing a pretty complex piece of music.  Then I thought maybe it was the High School Band giving a demo so that the grade 6’s and 7’s could see what they could aspire to. 

I sat down and was then invited by the orchestra leader (the music prep teacher) to take over.  I discovered to my amazement that these were grade 6’s and 7’s who had only been practicing since the beginning of the school year.  With only a couple of adults mixed into the orchestra (try to find them in the pictures below) this was a complete school band with woodwinds, percussion, brass instruments and a big bass drum. 

I have included several pictures because I really believe the pictures tell the story.  These kids are successful, proud, and learning something that all the research shows has a direct impact on the learning of the individual student.  Not only that, it is very apparent that having music as the prep subject whereby everyone in the school is learning music of some sort, has a huge positive impact on the school culture. 

Thank you to all of those involved in making this program so powerful and successful on behalf of the kids.  Take a look at the pictures and you will hopefully be able to see through those, the impact and success that this program has had.

a high school student mentor helps out in the flute section

you can see the range of instruments - amazing!

a small part of the brass section

name that adult - also a music learner

nothing like learning with the kids

some good volleyball skills by some

Thanks to all of you who helped out with the organization, who entered teams in the tourney and to those who joined us later for appies.  We will look forward to many more events in the future that provide an opportunity to bring people together in a social environment.  We all work really hard in this district so it is very nice to get together to relax, enjoy and get to know one another in a different environment. 

into the net, over the net, under the net, we saw it all!

On behalf of School District 42/ Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows, I was very pleased and proud to acknowledge the strong working relationship between ourselves and the aboriginal community this week as I took part in the momentous signing of a third Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement.

signing ceremony in the Swaneset Longhouse

This occasion is momentous in many ways but one we can be very proud of is that we are the first school district in the province to be signing a 3rd Enhancement Agreement. Our goal as a district is to continue to bring this document to life and to grow and expand on our fine relationships with the Aboriginal community.

Aboriginal community raises their hands to this great accomplishment

This is great for kids and allows us an opportunity to assist all of our students in becoming the best that they can be.

students carry the Spirit of our Children carving to be proudly displayed

A huge thanks goes to all who were part of this great event and all who work diligently to create an environment where this type of thing can happen.

good fun had by all

The Sport Start Program relies on the premise that youth with intellectual disabilities are more than capable of participating in fitness and sport programs. The program is built around the belief that if provided with early instruction in the areas of basic motor and sport skills, there is an excellent opportunity for improvement in physical, social and cognitive abilities.  The huge success of the basketball program offered at Garibaldi is a testimony to this belief.  The kids and adults alike had great fun and the improvement in skill level over the weeks was phenomenal.

The Special Olympics BC SportStart Program is the first of its kind in BC.  We hope that in SD 42 we can continue to work with the folks from this program and grow and expand on the opportunities for youth with special needs.  Thanks to all those students and adults from around the district who came together regularly to participate in this great opportunity.

proud of their team

thanks you guys!! It was really fun.

I had the best time on Wednesday as I spent the entire morning with two outstanding tour guides who proudly showed me everything they love about their school.  It was obvious that there was so much positive culture in the school as students passionately showed me their work and their favorite things going from class to class.  The enthusiasm from my tour guides was definitely catchy as I cancelled meetings in order to join them at recess.

Following recess I toured some more and met some grade one students who wanted to read to me.  It was amazing what they could do.  All were reading with inflection and passion.  In grade one!!!  It was so rewarding for me to see how excited and how capable they were.

grade 1's reading like grade 4's

Moving to the grade 3 section of the school I was able to pick up the enthusiasm this school had grabbed for the Olympics.  There was the team Canada hockey team up on the wall with familiar faces.  WHAT A GAME!!!  GO CANADA!!!

Do you recognize those faces of Team Canada??

In keeping with the culture and the spirit of the day, my tour guides informed me that the school had a surprise for me and that I should just stand in the stairwell and wait.  It was so worth the wait as the entire school lined the hallways and sang their “team” song.  “Do you believe in MAGIC” has never been performed better.  Way to go Edith McDermott Magic.  Thanks for the welcome and I love your spirit.

Do you believe in "MAGIC" has never sounded so good

A great student/teacher performance

Once again I am blown away by the skills and talents of the students in our school district.  I also continue to be so grateful to the teachers who work diligently to provide students opportunities to pursue their passion and perform in the areas they love.  If only we could assess and evaluate all that we do in such an authentic way.

By all this I am referring to a musical I attended on Tuesday night at SRT.  SRT Drama presented ONCE, an adaptation of the movie “ONCE” written and directed by John Carney and nominated for an Academy Award.  Everything from the acting, singing, band, stage crew, stage set, poster design,etc etc was done by students with teachers in the background offering up extreme support.  It was an outstanding performance and even more than that it was clearly an opportunity for many students to shine in lots of different areas of expertise. The kids say it better than I can so I thought it best to include a couple of student quotes:

“ONCE has made me a better actor and musician.  It’s crazy the things I have learned”

“ONCE gave me the cahance to step outside my box and try something new”

“I was nearly a dropout, and ONCE gave me a purpose and allowed me to pursue my dream”

From my viewpoint as the superintendent, it is opportunities like these that demonstrate complete student engagement.  Thanks to all those who made this possible and gave up hours of their personal time to once again put “students first”.

We are leading the way with “choice” opportunities in sd42 and have created several ways in which students can not only focus on areas of passion but also stay with their friends in their home schools.  We have created a common timetable which allows students to travel to the things they are interested in if the opportunity does not exist in their own school. The attendance at these information meetings grows year after year after year as students capitalize on the opportunities afforded to them in our district.

As we all know in education, when a student finds their passion and really gets to focus on their areas of interest, engagement and commitment increase.  It is great to see the interest grow and we will continue to find ways to support students and meet their individual needs.

lots of parents seeking more information

students line up to get their pancakes

Thanks to the parents and staff at Riverside Elementary school for inviting me to be part of the read and then eat festivities last Friday.  Parents made pancakes while students read in their “house” groups and then all students came to the gym for the pancake breakfast. 

I was able to go to each area where the reading was taking place and was so impressed at how the older students were assisting with the younger students.  Lots of students were very excited about what they were reading and very willing to share that with me. 

When we got to the gym and I was helping with the pancake breakfast, not a single student went by without saying thank you.  It was a great community feeling and well done to staff and students.  It was my pleasure to join you in your celebration of reading.  Not to mention eating.

breakfast in the gym

Although there are many places one could go politically with the Olympics it was great to see that in our district we seized the teachable moments.  The focus on bringing the world together in sport and the achievements of all of these people from all around the world was commendable.  A “you can do it” and a “I believe” message was sent loud and clear at all of our celebrations.  Great opportunities to allow our kids to feel “pride” in their country and all that it offers were everywhere.  The learning that took place as students researched their own countries that their classroom had embraced was outstanding.  There were many proud moments as I took in celebrations and events in our schools across the district over the past several weeks.

At the Opening Ceremonies at PME, 20 students opened the event by introducing themselves and speaking about their favorite Olympic sport in their native tongue.  20 different languages which also exemplified the epitome of some of the opportunities that hosting the Olympics has to offer. One of the announcers at the official opening on Friday night mentioned that Vancouver is the most multi- cultural city to ever host the Olympics.  Another thing to be proud of.  Way to go PME.

At Alexander Robinson students marched in by Country and proudly waved their flags that they had made.  The excitement and enthusiasm grew even larger with an impromtu visit from Captain Canada.  The end of many months of planning showed in the passion and enthusiasm brought to the opening ceremonies by every single student in the school.  Way to go AR.

Olympic Opening Ceremony at PME

Students make flags to represent their countries

Captain Canada visits AR during the opening ceremonies