Hello Families, 

Welcome to a new week! We are crashing quickly into the end of May and the end of the school year. There are so many things happening these days. Be sure to keep up with your teacher emails and class calendars.

See below for this week’s update

Last week’s highlights include:

• Talent Show – Huge thanks to all who participated in this year’s talent show! Mr. Marsh and Mrs. Sparks were our dedicated staff team who helped put it on. For a full review, read this blog here.
• Bake sale – The Gr. 4/5 students held a bake sale the day of the Talent Show. They raised $577! Thanks so much to parents and students for preparing such wonderful (and healthy!) snacks for the sale. Students chose to donate all the proceeds to support mental health and unhoused people in the Nelson area. This decision shows their empathy and understanding of some of the bigger challenges occurring beyond the walls of their school
• Writing assessments –  Intermediates - final big write of the school year. They are comparing Folklore, Fables and Indigenous stories, learning how to create detailed characters, strong storylines, and will bring together their full learning by writing a short story of their own. This is a multi-week process that will include mapping out the story, a first draft, editing, and a final piece.
• Mother’s Day – Many classes completed Mother’s Day crafts/cards to be sent home to honour mothers last weekend
• Reading link Challenge – Our Gr. 4/5 teams went to the district finals and came in 2^nd place! Read more here.
• Richard Rowberry Storytelling – As part of a storytelling/writing unit, the Gr. 4/5s welcomed Richard Rowberry as a guest speaker to talk about the process of story writing and telling. They will be exploring other story writing forms in the upcoming weeks and the unit will culminate with a visit and workshops by Shayna Jones
• ABCs of Nelson – Speaking of storytelling, Mrs. Bonikowsky’s Gr. ¾ class published the ABC’s of Nelson! In a collaborative project with CBAL (Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy) they installed their work as a story walk at Art Gibbon Park. Read more in the SD8 News release this week!
• Welcome to K – We held a successful Welcome to K event. It was great to see our upcoming Kindies and their families becoming comfortable in the K classroom. Registration is still open! Pass the word to anyone you may know who is yet to register for Kindergarten
• Swimming – Free swim time for Grades 2-6 began last week. Classes have been enjoying the time to go to the pool as part of their PE program. Big thanks to PAC for their support! 

A few pieces of information/reminders for you:

1. Dressing for the weather – A reminder that as the weather warms up classes will be outdoors more. Please ensure your child comes prepared for the warm weather including a hat, water bottle and sunscreen in their backpack.
2. Lost and Found – With the on and off warm weather, we are getting  a collection of hoodies and outerwear in our lost and found. Drop by to find out what might belong to you!

Some upcoming dates (you can also find these posted on our calendar: https://southnelson.sd8.bc.ca/events/calendar)

• May 19 – Victoria Day

• May 22 – Art Starts Presentation 11:30am

• May 26 – ProD day

• May 29 – Parent Session – Video Gaming

• May 30 – Gr. 4/5 Track meet

  • GROWS assembly

• June 2/3 – Learn to Ride 

• June 5 – Family Fun Night

Family learning resources: 

For more information on the work CBAL does in our community and how you can be involved, check out their website!

Mrs. Snell