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Pen Pal Visit to Remember

The students of Room 211 did themselves proud today while hosting their pen pals from Crystal Bay.  The students of Crystal Bay have a range of exceptionalities that make it impossible for them to attend school in a traditional classroom, and they get very little interaction with young people who are not in similar programs.  Today we provided 24 students an opportunity to engage with children outside of their school setting.  It was a wonderful example of the common bonds that all young people share.  There was a lot of laughter, smiles, and excitement on both sides of this visit.  The group came with over a dozen teachers and support staff, so it made for a really busy time in the gym, and the hour just flew by.
Despite being officially not at school today, recovering from my knee surgery, I made it in so that I could take part, and it was such a worthwhile visit for me to see the class connecting with their pen pals.  In many cases these students were non verbal, but our class made it work by finding common areas to connect through, whether that was colouring, playing with cars, pushing wheelchairs around, or playing with balls.  Some of these students were younger than our group, and some were much older, but in the end it made almost no difference, as our class rose to the occasion, showing a wonderful level of compassion and caringness.  They were the ultimate hosts, pulling out all the stops to make sure our guests enjoyed their visit.
Thanks to all who sent in snacks, and to those parents who were able to pop in to help.  The pictures below will not do justice to the magic of today's event, so I hope that you take some time to chat with your child about what the experience was like for them.  When there could have been so many opportunities for our students to back away, and not engage with students who come with what we were calling "different-abled" profiles, they didn't, they all stepped up and got involved.  In the end we wrapped up the visit by performing three songs on ukuleles and guitars, which drew a lot of applause and positive responses.  Aga
in, it was a magic moment, and I was so very proud of the whole group, and I hope that the families of our group can understand just how important today was for everyone involved.  I received glowing comments from the staff of Crystal Bay both at the event, and later on in email form, where they went on about our students and how happy this visit made their group.
Well done 211!
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Wonderful Wetlands

Today's trip was eventful (read that as several people fell in the water while playing), and informative.  Not only did we take time to look at the destruction that was caused by last fall's tornadoes in Dunrobin (thank you Carol Ann H again for the emergency preparedness talk last Friday that got us talking about this), but the time in the wetlands at the Bill Mason outdoor ed center was very eye opening for the students.  Comments like "i didn't know there was so much alive in the water!" really brought to light the importance around educating the young about this vital part of our local habitats.  The class learned that Canada has 25% of the world's wetlands, and we discussed what happens to these rich ecosystems when humans choose to live on waterways and expand their communities.  Ask your child about fairy shrimp, and what I said their parents might know them as  (rhymes with Flea Spunkeys....).  Ask them also about prey predator relationships, and what living things need to survive (ask them what was blue, green, and red in the game). 
Just ask them about the day in general.  For all of the wetness *(it was a WETland after all) and the cool temperatures, i saw a lot more smiles than anything else.  A few even slept on the bus home it was such an adventure.