Parents, Communities and Childcare
PARENTS, COMMUNITIES AND CHILDCARE
SCHOOL DISTRICT 33
Chilliwack
Growing our learning spaces at Tyson Elementary! Thanks to funding support from our PAC, the District Curriculum Department, and some very passionate staff, SD33 has been able to create a wonderful courtyard learning space. In the yard are a variety of herbs and vegetables growing in the planter boxes and tubs which the students planted and tend to. It also serves as a calm reading and working space for students during the day and staff enjoy eating lunch there too
SCHOOL DISTRICT 41
Burnaby
District and partners support refugees with technology! Learning while navigating a new language, a new culture, and during a pandemic is made less difficult with access to technology. The Burnaby School District’s Settlement Workers in Schools – or SWIS workers – have been connecting newcomer students and their families who need it most with tablets, computers and, the skills to use them.
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SCHOOL DISTRICT 44
North Vancouver
New Indigenous-focused playground for North Vancouver Students! This new Indigenous-focused playground, ready for students to play in May 2021, supports the three pathways of Indigenous education in the school district: students, educators and community members. The playground will be fully accessible and pay respect to the natural environment, featuring First Nations design, including a blue river motif with swimming salmon, a teepee structure and five custom-designed natural log and rope play pieces to encourage unstructured play.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 41
Burnaby
How a student kindness campaign touched a family! A simple gesture by students at Buckingham Elementary School in Burnaby had a special impact on a local family. The students learned first-hand about the significance of demonstrating empathy and kindness to others – find out about the unanticipated and heartwarming effect of their efforts.
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SCHOOL DISTRICT 48
Sea to Sky
Seven garden boxes built as part of the Don Ross Middle School Courtyard Revitalization Project. The project was initiated by the Don Ross Action Team for Partnerships; a group of volunteers made up of parents, teachers, admin and community supporters. The goal of theproject is to refresh the Don Ross Middle School courtyard with an Indigenous and edible educational garden and resources for teachers and students to engage in the outdoors and learn about local food sustainability, food literacy, and healthy living choices.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 79
Cowichan Valley
Cowichan Valley comes together to deliver over 333,850 meals to students and families this past year. This community meal program is a partnership between Cowichan Valley School district, Nourish Cowichan, and Starfish Cowichan, along with many other community donors. During the lockdown last year, this meal program provided 260,000 meals weekly and through its weekend hamper program. 73,850 of those meals, plus snacks, were provided in schools. Food production has grown from 1600 to 1700 meals a week, last year, to over a 4500 to 5500 meals daily in addition to snacks. All schools in the district benefit for the food program at Nourish Cowichan. This program is continuing to help local students and families in times when they need it most
SCHOOL DISTRICT 68
Nanaimo Ladysmith
Student Ash Edward shares her love of music “Identity” through a song written for a school project about Truth & Reconciliation. She believes Reconciliation is about making up for some of the wrongs we have done in the past to other people. Ash adds it feels good to talk about reconciliation but more importantly more work must be done about it. Learn more
SCHOOL DISTRICT 62
Sooke
You don’t always need swing sets and monkey bars to make a playground a fun place to burn off energy. Natural playgrounds are popping up at schools throughout the Sooke School District, like this one at École John Stubbs Memorial School. Not only do these spaces connect kids back to nature and stimulate creativity, they also double as fantastic outdoor classrooms.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 68
Nanaimo Ladysmith
Nanaimo-Ladysmith Schools Foundation (NLSF) Food4Schools has supported more than 1,000 students in 32 schools on a regular basis since the pandemic began. The Foundation is thankful for the Nanaimo-Ladysmith Board of Education and staff for their support to make the initiative possible. The addition of the food depot at the former Woodlands Secondary site has given the Foundation the space to store, sort, refrigerate and freeze the food needed for our students.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 71
Comox Valley
Community compassion combined with school connections helped Courtenay Elementary restock its inventory of bicycles that had been stolen during the winter. At a social-distancing donation celebration May 28 on the sports field at Courtenay Elementary school staff and invited students took receipt of a brand-new collection of donated bikes from the donors.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 44
North Vancouver
The #NVSDFamily Cares Project encourages parents/guardians to continue to engage children in conversations around interconnectedness with one another and the natural world and the importance of supporting each other—family, community, and the environment. The North Vancouver School District, through the support of their Indigenous Education team, continues to offer resources to facilitate such conversations. Tchilaqs7Tchila (Gordon Dick) member of the Tsleil Waututh Nation has provided the artwork for this project.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 39
Vancouver
Approximately 3,000 meals for vulnerable students who previously received school meals at no cost are being doled as packaged lunches by Vancouver School Board staff. Staff vary by site but include IOUE members (cafeteria workers) SSAs, supervision/lunch supervision aides, community schools teams coordinators, Indigenous Education Workers and administrators.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 8
Kootenay Lake & Kootenay-Columbia
The Midas touch and other community partners! School District 8 teachers have connected with teachers in School District 20, local business owners, staff at the MIDAS lab, and instructors at Selkirk College, to support the production of much needed Personal Protective Equipment using our school 3D Printers - a hidden source of crowd manufacturing in times of crisis. Plus a SD8 a teacher put out a request to see if there was interest in funding the purchase of material to print face shields for our nurses and doctors. Staff of SD 8 responded with more than enough money to print masks for weeks.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 43
Coquitlam
SHARE and share alike! School District 43 in Coquitlam is partnering with SHARE food security service to support students and families, during these difficult times. SHARE is a community, and the lead community agency in the Tri-Cities in supporting children, families and individuals in many ways. Find out more information.
The culinary programs at Centennial, Riverside, and Gleneagle will assemble 360 grocery bags filled primarily with fresh produce, to help ensure food security in our community. The SHARE Society's distribution sites on Wednesday April 8th.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 41
Burnaby
Students and Seniors. The physical distancing protocols around COVID-19 in B.C. are particularly hard on seniors who are considered a high risk for infection group. To lift the spirits of seniors in their neighbourhoods, students from Second Street Community School in Burnaby sent messages, pictures and cards to the residents of a local seniors home. Please read media coverage of their efforts.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 68
Nanaimo-Ladysmith
Delivering meals and hope in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District. More than 800 students a week are receiving school meal programs at home in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district. That’s 4,000 breakfasts, 4,000 lunches and 4,000 snacks a week!
SCHOOL DISTRICT 44
North Vancouver
School District#44 – North Vancouver
Details: A rainbow of hearts have been painted across the windows of North Vancouver School District's head office. The hearts were created by the district’s social committee to spread a cheerful message of support and gratitude to health-care workers. The hearts are painted on the windowed face of the building, located on the Lonsdale corridor and in close proximity to Lions Gate Hospital so frontline workers can see the hearts as they travel to and from work. A Coast Salish Welcome Pole, Kayachtn, serves as the focal point for the project, reminding everyone of the ever-present connection to local Indigenous communities.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 39
Vancouver
Two Vancouver moms have rounded up some online educational materials and packaged them up in a brand new website. VancouverVirtualFamilies.com presents all sorts of education links and resources for children and teens of all ages.
Photo is (Courtesy Vancouver Virtual Families)
SCHOOL DISTRICT 43
Coquitlam
From family project to hospital workers! Amanda Chin, Grade 7 at Coquitlam’s Hillcrest Middle School student, has been working on a family project and has now evolved for a greater cause. Their family’s product design agency is now manufacturing protective equipment for essential service workers. They have been successful at creating 80 shields per day. Image Credit: Burnaby Now
SCHOOL DISTRICT 36
Surrey
The Surrey Schools student meal program received a financial boost with a donation of $30,000 from Breakfast Club of Canada (BCC) to support students during the pandemic. BCC joins other donors, including Vancouver Sun Children's Fund and the United Way of the Lower Mainland. The Surrey meal program is offered at 9 sites, with a combination of drive-through and in-person pick up.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 8
Kootenay Lake
Family sends 200 masks to Nelson. The family of G-Elite Education CEO Xavier Song sent 200 masks to support essential service workers in Nelson. Xavier, who is moving to Nelson, says the gesture is his family’s “duty” as future members of the community and long-time partners with the Kootenay Lake International Program. The Kootenay Lake School District is grateful for this incredible generosity, says Jann Schmidt, the district principal for international education.
SCHOOL DISTRICT 41
Burnaby
Students support community! Students and school staff throughout the Burnaby School District are finding ways to build and support community, including everything from “Ornaments of Hope” for residents in long term care homes to raising funds to help support the increased pressure on the food bank during the pandemic.
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SCHOOL DISTRICT 79
Cowichan Valley
Student gardeners are digging deep in Courtenay! Courtenay Elementary has reactivated its garden and received a cool book sharing box/seed exchange in its garden thanks to a partnership between Courtenay Elementary, the Lake Trail Community Education Society (LTCES), the Healthy Families Program of the Comox Valley Family Services Association, and the Courtenay Elementary Community School Society (CECSS).
