Bruce Peninsula District School & St Edmunds Public School News
Submitted by Bronwyn Stanton
For many students at Bruce Peninsula District School (BPDS), the past few months have been packed full of exciting opportunities and activities that will stick with us for the rest of our lives!
From May 1-9, twenty-five Secondary students had the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands, Belgium, and France for the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands, alongside hundreds of other students from across the country. These students represented Lion’s Head incredibly well and learned so much about war, history, culture, art, and city life! A huge thank you to Mrs. E Cameron, Mrs. J Cameron, Dr. Laing, and Mrs. Stanton for organizing such a successful trip, and another thank you to the community groups and individuals who supported our fundraising efforts to make this trip possible, especially Legion Branch 202. This truly was the trip of a lifetime!
In Athletic news, April was a busy time for the Secondary Badminton team. Coach Ali Mielhausen noted, “For several years BPDS has been known as a school that excels at badminton; once again, this year did not disappoint. Our practice schedule was slightly stalled due to the snow days, but the team was extremely dedicated with some athletes practicing 4 times a week.”
The season began with BAA North at OSDSS on April 3rd (Seniors) and April 4th (Juniors). We had a very successful couple of days with great results. Students who placed in the top 4 in their division got to move on to BAA.
Juniors:
-Eden and Alexis – 3rd Girls Doubles
-Lena and Gage – 4th Mixed Doubles
-Acadia and Parker – 6th Mixed Doubles
-Ellie and Caysie – 8th Girls Doubles
Seniors:
-Myles and Hunter – 3rd Boys Doubles
-Anabelle and Carly – 4th Girls Doubles
-Jayden and Lillie – 4th Mixed Doubles
-Jaxon and Matthew Y. – 5th Boys Doubles
-Ava C. and Matthew M. – 6th Mixed Doubles
-Cadence and Bronwyn – 7th Girls Doubles
The following week the team travelled to PSDS (Junior) and KDSS (Senior) for BAA.
At PSDS the Juniors that qualified from BAA North had a very successful day with both teams qualifying for CWOSSA the next week in Kitchener.
-Lena and Gage – 3rd Mixed Doubles
-Alexis and Eden – 3rd Girls Doubles
At KDSS the Seniors also had a very successful day with 2 of the 3 teams qualifying for CWOSSA.
Myles and Hunter had a huge day becoming the BAA Boys Doubles Champions, which is not an easy feat for grade 11s competing against grade 12s and 13s! Annabelle and Carly had a tough start but managed to battle their way back and clinched the 4th qualifying spot. Jayden and Lillie had a couple of very tough matches to start the day and placed 7th.
At CWOSSA in Kitchener on April 16 and 17, all teams represented BPDS well and spirits were high even though we had some hard-fought matches.
Several teachers/coaches noted that our students were some of the most honest and respectful on the courts both days! Congratulations to all athletes for your hard work and dedication!
Also, the Secondary BPDS Envirothon team travelled to McGregor point for the Regional Envirothon competition on April 23. The team worked together to answer all types of questions related to the environment, as well as present a plan that would ecologically and economically benefit a hypothetical logging town. They worked hard and came in second, as well as earning the Spirit Award!
In Elementary news, BPDS hosted an Arts night which was a huge success! Students across the school brought their art that they have worked on, both in the classroom and on their own, to be viewed by the public. Thank you to everyone who came out to see the wonderful creations! A HUGE thank you to Ms. Collins for all her hard work in helping us show off our artistic talents here at BPDS!
On May 3, Mabel C travelled to Sudbury to represent BPDS at the Provincial Public Speaking contest. Mabel presented her speech on Women in Agriculture and won first place! Way to go Mabel!
Also, several of our choristers, singers and piano players presented pieces at the Kiwanis Festival in Owen Sound, winning a variety of acknowledgements, including several Gold and Diamond placements, awards at the Festival of Stars, and a Provincial Nomination. BPDS is shining these days!
Stay tuned for more news about Secondary and Elementary Track and Field, Outers trips, Footprint, the Expo, and more!
Report from the Principal’s Office
Submitted by Brenda Brewer, Principal, and Breanna Heels, Vice-Principal
And just like that, it’s almost June! We are finally seeing some warmer days and some sun, and there is a springtime buzz in the hallways! So many wonderful events have taken place over the last few weeks – notably the Europe trip, the Celebration of the Arts Night, the BPDS choir going to Kiwanis (and winning awards!), the badminton tournament, Track and Field, Outers went to Emmett Lake and spent 3 days camping at Neyaashiingimiing. Looking ahead, Secondary students will be heading to the Bruce Peninsula National Park for their annual Footprints Conference and Grade 7-8s are off to Celtic Camp!
We also recently had our Kindergarten Orientations at BPDS and St Eds! To our new JKs who we will welcome in September – we can’t wait for you to become BPDS and St Eds students. You are going to love it, I promise.
May UN Global Goal: Life on Land and Life Below Water
As a LSF (Learning for a Sustainable Future) School, we focus on the UN Global Goals. Each month, we focus on a different goal, and May’s focus was Life on Land and Life Below Water.
A few things we did in May to focus and learn about Biodiversity:
• Small and Tall in the Hall: Biodiversity version – K-8 students gathered in the hall today to make a poster about a biodiversity fact. Doing Tall and Small in the Hall is one of our favourite things to do to see younger students partner up with older students to do something together.
• Grade 8s planted trees on the school property
• Grade 6s went tree planting at Colpoy’s Bay
• BioBlitz on the schoolyard
• Primary students learned about pollution in our oceans
• Ms. Lawrence and some of the students have been busy in the garden planting
• Grade 8s went to the Outdoor Education Centre to help prepare their land for a garden
Ms. Stanton, Ms. Rice, Mrs. Peacock, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. McLay and Mrs. Heels also did a professional learning walk with Miptoon along the Bruce Trail, learning more about trees. The big idea at BPDS is The Lorax and that ‘we speak for the trees’, and we learned about how the trees are speaking to us as well and asking for help (nod-moan-shin). We can learn so much from the trees and nature if we just stop and listen. Thank you Miptoon for walking us, guiding us and sharing your knowledge with us!
Sticker Project
In January, BPDS students and UNESCO Club members, Mary and Adelaide, presented to the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula Climate Action and Waste Diversion Committee about what we were doing at BPDS to do our part to advocate for sustainable living and learning. One of the projects that we shared was putting UN Global Goal stickers around the school to label what we do to work towards the Goals, and the students had the vision to put the same UN Global Goal stickers around our local community in Lion’s Head!
In May, Ms. Rosenburg and the UNESCO Club started to put the stickers up to raise awareness about the UN Global Goals and to highlight Lion’s Head as a sustainable community working towards the Sustainable Development Goals! We live within a UNESCO World Biosphere and it is our vision that we are all working towards the UN Global Goals, whether you are a local resident that lives here all year or a tourist visiting for the weekend, we all have the responsibility to advocate for a sustainable future!
Learning for a Sustainable Future Hub Day at BPDS!
On May 8th, Learning for a Sustainable Future hosted a Hub Day at BPDS! We welcomed educators from across Bluewater District School Board to connect and collaborate on how to bring the UN Global Goals into our classrooms and communities and ultimately, empower kids as changemakers. The day was hosted at BPDS to showcase everything we do as a Sustainable Future School, UNESCO School, Platinum EcoSchool and home to the Environment Specialist High Skills Major and Outers program.
We are proud to be nestled among a UNESCO World Biosphere and located along the Niagara Escarpment, and our local landscapes inspire us to educate our students about the land we call home.
BPDS is a magical place and one teacher shared: “I have never walked into a school and felt this way.”
It was also inspiring to learn about the magic that educators across the Board are making in their classrooms and communities to inspire students to advocate for a sustainable world and all of our futures within it. We are so proud to be part of a network of caring and changemaking schools!
Thank you to the UNESCO Club for helping lead the day, sharing what we do at BPDS and learning alongside us – we learn the most from you!
Experiential Learning Expo
This year at BPDS, as part of our School Improvement Plan and to address the BWDSB Critical Question of who our current practices are not working for, we have been focused on student re-engagement, perseverance, sparking curiosity and a love of learning. As part of this, Secondary students have been participating in an Experiential Learning project this semester where they have been allotted time each week to work on self-directed learning to develop a skill or a passion – entirely of their choice. We have students who learned how to paint landscapes, rollerblade, fix an engine, learned a language, learned to play the guitar and the cello, bake macarons, learned to sew and SO much more! Through this project, our goal was for students to know that we value all learning and that learning sometimes takes time. It is also about sticking to something and developing perseverance and grit when learning gets hard.
On Friday, May 16th, students showcased their skills! We invited community members, board staff and elementary students who had the opportunity to learn about what the students learned about!
As Daniella said: ““It was magical – I thought about learning how to play the cello, but didn’t know what to do, so it made it more accessible, less daunting and less mystical.”
During the Expo, Bella told Elementary students: “I learned that creativity is never inside a box. It’s in the world, all around us and we just have to look”
The essence of the project was also to connect with the community, and so we had local experts come in to support student learning. We would like to thank Terri Munn, former BPDS teacher and local artist, for teaching Ava about landscape painting, Nancy Cunningham, also former BPDS Office Manager and sewing expert, for sharing her sewing skills with Carly and Bronwyn, and Christine Robinson, local musical artist, for teaching Daniella how to play the cello! We would also like to thank Georgian Bay Cheer for helping Jerzy and Scarlet learn a Cheer routine!
This project has been supported by Bluewater District School Board Experiential Learning funding.
Check out our Facebook to learn more about the Experiential Learning Expo and see more photos!
Upcoming Important Dates:
-May 27 – Track and Field for Grades 3-8
-June 2-5 – Celtic Trip
-June 3-5 – Footprints
-June 3-5 – Grade 3 and 6 EQAO at BPDS
-June 3-4 – Grade 3 EQAO at St Eds
-June 6 – PA Day – No School
-June 20 – 26 – Secondary Exams
-June 24 – Grade 8 Graduation
-June 26 – Grade 12 Graduation
-June 26 – Last day of classes
-June 27 – PA Day – No School
If you don’t already follow our Facebook page, you can follow us at Bruce Peninsula DS or St. Edmunds Public School Community to see all of the amazing things happening at the school. If you ever have questions or concerns, give us a call at (519) 793-3211 or by email: Brenda_Brewer@bwdsb.on.ca and Breanna_Heels@bwdsb.on.ca.
