This past week we took the time to reflect on what we are thankful for. As part of our morning meeting, friends used playdough to create what they are most thankful for. Family, food, water and special activities were all things that we in Room 3 are thankful for. What are you thankful for?

Orange Shirt Day

The week of September 28 we participated in special activities that made us feel very thankful that we are part of the Victor Mager community. On September 28th the school community came together to recognize Orange Shirt day. “Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013. It grew out of Phyllis’ story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.”http://www.orangeshirtday.org/

Mrs Strifling created a special orange shirt day 5-8 art project which was installed at the assembly. Each member of the Room 3 community made two flowers. The flowers represent the Indigenous  children who were placed into residential schools. We commemorate in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.

Terry Fox

Room 3 also recognized a Canadian hero who we all thankful for. “Terry Fox was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, he embarked on an east to west cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981 after raising 23 million dollars for cancer research and realizing his dream of $1 donated for every Canadian.” Because of Terry, every year millions of people of all ages from over 60 countries participate in the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over 500 million dollars has been raised in his name. On October 4th, The Victor Mager community came together to celebrate Terry Fox and then participated in a community walk. The Phys Ed teachers also organized a special open gym at lunch in an effort to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation. A special thank you to Mr Thordason and Mrs Ziegler for organizing this for us.

100WC

Lastly, I am thankful for the organizers of the 100 Word Challenge. When I first read about the 100 Word Challenge it sounded like a neat idea but I never thought that it would create such enthusiasm for writing among the Room 3 community. The 100 Word Challenge “is a creative writing challenge for children under 16 years of age. Each week a prompt is given, which can be a picture or a series of individual words and the children can use up to 100 words to write a creative piece.” Since we have begun participating in the challenges, friends in Room 3 have blossomed into a community of writers. We eagerly write together and share our writings with each other openly receiving suggestions and praise. Everyone participates in the writing and only those who wish to have their stories published will have their pieces posted on our class blog and then linked to the 100 Word Challenge blog. We invite you to check out the website and to comment on our writing. https://100wc.net