Oct
27
By Darcy Topinka
Do you have an interest in community development and a small amount of spare time? If so, the James Bay Community School Society is seeking nominations for our volunteer Board of Directors. This is a great opportunity to reach out to your community and support both the Centre and the School in the development of programs and services. The group meets monthly from September to June and is made up of a mix of parents, community members, school staff and community centre employees. Meetings are typically held on Monday nights starting at 6:30pm.
The James Bay Community School Choir resumed practices in October. Thirty-three tiny voices showed up to the first session. We are sure that it won't take long for this collection of voices to come together and form one resounding harmony. Volunteers from a local adult choir, the Arbutus Singers, and Community School staff are working together to provide guidance for our little singers. We are looking forward to hearing these voices develop over the school term.
The November 20th professional development day is a school selected pro d day, meaning children attending our school will have a day off while other schools may still be in session. During this day teachers will be learning all about the synchronicity of reading, writing and spelling development. They will also be putting the finishing touches on the Community School and Centre Waste Management Plan. The school is participating in a pilot project as part of a district wide sustainability and waste management plan. As part of this project, the School and Community Centre will be implementing a number of new recycling and waste reduction strategies to complement our existing practices.
New Technology in the class room is becoming common place. Here at the Community School, our students and teachers have been impressed with our new teaching aids. This fall the school installed Smart Boards in Division I and Division VI. For those of you who might be wondering what a smart board is: a smart board is an interactive white board that uses touch technology for detecting user input. A projector is used to display a computer's video output onto the white board, which then acts as a huge touch screen.
Once again we are fortunate to have two student nurses placed in the school for a three month practicum on Community Health. The students will work with staff and students on various health related projects.
The Society's AGM was held on October 26th rather than Oct 19th as originally stated in the Beacon the previous month.