Unbelievable that it is already December 3. November flew by, as it has with the rest of the months. We only have two weeks of school left (reference the title) and both are short weeks. This Thursday is the Christmas parade. It has not been mentioned or even discussed so it will definitely be more low key this year. On Friday, the T.A.s are hosting a Formal Dinner as fundraiser for them to go to the Winnipeg conference in February. And finally, Saturday is our staff Christmas party.
We have had pretty decent weather so far. It is in the negatives, but only to about 10-15. We have had a little snow, accumulating in about 2 inches. The outlook looks pretty similar for the next two weeks.
Last Thursday I had my Cultural Program with the Grade 8s. We went to the Tepee landing for a hot dog roast. The school now hires a local, to help Vicky construct a cultural based program. Jeremy, the local, showed the students how to set a snare for rabbits or squirrels. I didn't realize there were squirrels up here. We haven't seen any or any evidence of them. Jeremy is the same person who is in charge of the Internet and Cable for the community. Apparently a "jack of all trades" man.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Hugs Not Drugs
Christmas break is fast approaching. Claire and I are busy getting the grade 8s ready for their Christmas play. Last week we finished midterm exams for the grade 9s and all did pretty well.
Last week was also National Aboriginal Addictions Awareness Week (NAAAW). It is designed to raise awareness over the growing percentage of drug/alcohol/tobacco use among Aboriginals. The entire school, save the grade 9s who were writing exams, created posters and walked them to the Band Office, which took about 45 minutes. It was pretty cool seeing over 200 students in a parade fashion going through the street of Deer Lake. Along the way, people were coming out of their houses to take pictures and read the signs. There were some pretty neat posters. "Hugs not drugs!" "For every cigarette, there is a nicorette" "I'd rather eat bugs than do drugs"
A couple ironic parts along the walk. First, we were passing one house that had a homemade sign advertising cigarettes for $5. Second occured at the Band Office. While the students were entering the door they had to pass the 5 or so people (including some councillors) smoking outside the building.
The mercury is quickly dropping as we are experiencing minus-15 to -20 days. It seems cold, but not really that bad yet. Maybe it is because we know the worse is still coming.
On a sad note, we had to put a puppy down today. Missy, the amazing dog who has been unofficially adopted by Amanda and was around the teacherages since we arrived last year, had a litter (11) of puppies last May. Only 1 was left and disappeared last week. When he finally returned he could barely walk and had lost too much weight. Amanda tried to nurse him back to life, but made the difficult decision that a quick death was the best option. I asked our Education Director to come by and help put the dog down. Not something I want to do twice in life.
I had my dad send up a box of dog food for Edgar because we were running a little short. It took one day shy of two weeks to go from St. Catharines to Deer Lake, so not that bad at all. When it arrived, the Postal Worker warned me that it didn't arrive in perfect condition. Here are some pictures of the parcel.
Last week was also National Aboriginal Addictions Awareness Week (NAAAW). It is designed to raise awareness over the growing percentage of drug/alcohol/tobacco use among Aboriginals. The entire school, save the grade 9s who were writing exams, created posters and walked them to the Band Office, which took about 45 minutes. It was pretty cool seeing over 200 students in a parade fashion going through the street of Deer Lake. Along the way, people were coming out of their houses to take pictures and read the signs. There were some pretty neat posters. "Hugs not drugs!" "For every cigarette, there is a nicorette" "I'd rather eat bugs than do drugs"
A couple ironic parts along the walk. First, we were passing one house that had a homemade sign advertising cigarettes for $5. Second occured at the Band Office. While the students were entering the door they had to pass the 5 or so people (including some councillors) smoking outside the building.
The mercury is quickly dropping as we are experiencing minus-15 to -20 days. It seems cold, but not really that bad yet. Maybe it is because we know the worse is still coming.
On a sad note, we had to put a puppy down today. Missy, the amazing dog who has been unofficially adopted by Amanda and was around the teacherages since we arrived last year, had a litter (11) of puppies last May. Only 1 was left and disappeared last week. When he finally returned he could barely walk and had lost too much weight. Amanda tried to nurse him back to life, but made the difficult decision that a quick death was the best option. I asked our Education Director to come by and help put the dog down. Not something I want to do twice in life.
I had my dad send up a box of dog food for Edgar because we were running a little short. It took one day shy of two weeks to go from St. Catharines to Deer Lake, so not that bad at all. When it arrived, the Postal Worker warned me that it didn't arrive in perfect condition. Here are some pictures of the parcel.
My dad figured the box must have sat in a warehouse and some mice or rats smelled the food inside. I don't think Edgar is going to notice a difference.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Out for a Walk!!
Today has been a nice relaxing day. We really haven't done much of anything. Greg and I prepared our midterms for next week and tomorrow we will run over to the school quickly and photocopy them. This evening we decided to go out for a walk and Edgar wore his new coat and boots for the first time. It is hilarious watching him walk in his boots because one they are a little to big for him and two he just trips all over the place and is doing a lot of face plants. It is so funny to watch. Enjoy some pictures from out walk.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The Fifth Estate
For those interested, this Friday's episode of CBC's The Fifth Estate is featuring several of our students from last year. They are showing a documentary of the challenges facing Northern Ontario's First Nation teenagers in their attempt to complete high school. I believe it is on at 9:00 pm (EDT).
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
A Sign of the Times
Wow! November is already here, as October flew by. It has been a busy month. With Julia gone, the fundraising is being completed entirely by the two of us (with the help of the staff). We are organizing all of the events. This month we had two Bingos, two Flea Markets, Cake Auction, Haunted House, and a Adult Dance. In total we have fundraised more than $3,500 in just 4 weeks.
We welcomed November with a beautiful day. The high was probably around 5 degrees celsius with a wonderful sun. If I had had the grade 9s in the afternoon for gym, we would have gone outside for some baseball. Obviously the weather won't last, but we are enjoying it all the same. The lack of sunlight in the morning is quite annoying. It has been getting hard to get up in the morning with it pitch black outside. The time shifting will help, but it only means we have less sunlight after school. We aren't quite ready for that yet (walking home from school with the sun already set), but you can't have it both ways.
While at the dance someone brought a costume in a bag. It was a basketball that was to be worn like a shirt. I thought the instructions/cover was different. See if you can notice:
I remember the slogan used to say, "One Size Fits All." Apparently all was incorrect. Might sound stupid, but I thought it was a little funny/sad.
We welcomed November with a beautiful day. The high was probably around 5 degrees celsius with a wonderful sun. If I had had the grade 9s in the afternoon for gym, we would have gone outside for some baseball. Obviously the weather won't last, but we are enjoying it all the same. The lack of sunlight in the morning is quite annoying. It has been getting hard to get up in the morning with it pitch black outside. The time shifting will help, but it only means we have less sunlight after school. We aren't quite ready for that yet (walking home from school with the sun already set), but you can't have it both ways.
While at the dance someone brought a costume in a bag. It was a basketball that was to be worn like a shirt. I thought the instructions/cover was different. See if you can notice:
I remember the slogan used to say, "One Size Fits All." Apparently all was incorrect. Might sound stupid, but I thought it was a little funny/sad.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
If the shoe fits
This week has seemed to crawl to a stop. It probably has something to due with the fact that this is the first full 5 day week of, well, the year. But it is almost over.
We went to the store today with all the white teachers. We crammed six of us in and made our way to the Northern. Awaiting us was a package that contained Edgar's boots. When we came home we opened them up and tried them on. Here they are:
He has been so funny with them. He obviously trips a lot, so to compensate he kind of hops around. And because of the rubber soles and size, he sounds and walks like a Clydesdale. It is quite funny. On another note, Claire and I stayed at school all day on Wednesday, so Edgar was in his cage for 8 hours. He managed to hold his bladder the entire time. When we got home, all he wanted to do was play and well, who can blame him.
We went to the store today with all the white teachers. We crammed six of us in and made our way to the Northern. Awaiting us was a package that contained Edgar's boots. When we came home we opened them up and tried them on. Here they are:
He has been so funny with them. He obviously trips a lot, so to compensate he kind of hops around. And because of the rubber soles and size, he sounds and walks like a Clydesdale. It is quite funny. On another note, Claire and I stayed at school all day on Wednesday, so Edgar was in his cage for 8 hours. He managed to hold his bladder the entire time. When we got home, all he wanted to do was play and well, who can blame him.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Food for Thought
Read the whole thing first.... Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - babysit! We can get that for minimum wage. That's right. Let's give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That ..................would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3...:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan-- that equals 6 1/2 hours). Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations. LET'S SEE.... That's $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year. Wait a minute -- there's something wrong here! There sure is! The average teacher's salary (nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student--a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!) WHAT A DEAL!!!!
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