My top 6 highlights & learnings:

  1. Deepening my knowledge of Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw First Nations – This week Iwas given so many resources and taught so many valuable things from the staff at Sunset. Some highlights included: visiting U’mista Cultural Centre, learning how to set up a potlatch, being taught how to make a creative math button blanket resource and having many deep and thoughtful conversations with the Aboriginal Support Workers.
  1. Monday’s STEM workshop – I was invited to the grade 5/6 classroom to watch a STEM project take place. The teacher explained to me that she had been doing these workshops throughout the year, and the students’ critical and logical thinking had really progressed since September. She showed me where I could get a ton of STEM projects for my future classroom too!
  2. Tueday’s mini-feast – To thank their ‘big buddies’ for all their help during the year, the grade ones held a potlatch and invited the grade sixes as guests. The little ones had prepared the ‘Salmon Dance’, as well as poems that were read aloud and a gift of jam to give out at the end. The tradition of gift giving is always done by the hosts of a potlatch. The Aboriginal Support Worker had spent a lot of time preparing the gym to look like a real Big House – complete with a fake fire!
  3. Wednesday’s fairy houses – I helped the grade one students and their grade six ‘big buddies’ build tinyfairy houses. Throughout the year the ‘buddies’ have read together and the grade sixes wanted to finish off the year with this project. It was wonderful to see how well the partners worked with each other, a great example of intergenerational learning that can take place within  the school. The final results were incredibly cute!
  4. Thursday’s visit to Alert Bay & U’mista Cultural Centre – Accompanying the2/3 class to U’mista was a really special experience. We took the ferry over in the morning and then walked along the boardwalk to the centre. There we saw beautiful masks and objects created by the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw people and heard about the history of the island and traditions of the people who live there. I also learned that you can access photos and information for many of the artifacts on the U’mista website – something I will definitively be using the future!
  5. Friday’s Fun Day – It was a incredibly warm and sunny day (we were very lucky!), and the students had a fun going around to all the diverse stations set up by teachers. The kindergarteners from Cheslakees were also invited to this event and it was so nice to see them again! I was running the road hockey station with a parent which was a real learning experience.

ǥilakas’la and ha̱lakas’la (thank you and goodbye in Kwak̓wala) SD 85 for being fantastic hosts and giving me the experience of a lifetime!