Another busy, busy week in Nechako Lakes with lots going on in our schools and some great professional learning on the Friday.  I apologize in advance for the length of this blog post and you may want to read this in a few sittings , but trust me that it is worth reading!  I will attempt to update a bit more than once a week as needed.

Ok…first things first…we have some PIZZAS to give away.  First of all, a big thank you to the SD 91 classrooms that contributed to the prompt, “What was your favourite question from September?”  We had responses from NVSS, David Hoy, FSJSS, Evelyn Dickson, Decker Lake, LDSS, BESS, Sinkut View…wow!  Ok, through a very technical and highly controlled process, my wife watching the draw, the winner for September is Andrew Vogelsang’s grade 7 class from Sinkut View…congratuations!  So in addition to either winning pizza for his class or a donation towards their year end trip, Andrew’s class is also responsible for coming up with the One91 challenge for October.  Watch for this challenge question to be posted next week.

Speaking of lunchs, I had a chance to drop by WL McLeod’s Farm to School lunch program this week and it was all smiles and excitement as kids helped themselves to one of the healthiest lunches that I have seen in a long time.  Both Superintendent Charlene Seguin and Trustee Phil Turgeon were encouraged to join the students in a healthy lunch.  WL McLeod PAC members Michelle Racher and Lee Holland spoke about how well the program has been going and how much the kids have been enjoying it.  Please contact principal Libby Hart to find out more about this innovative food program.

I had a chance earlier this week to visit some firends at David Hoy Elementary  and see both the AIMS French instructional techniques being used by Mrs. Bennison in Mrs. Gammon’s grade 3-4 class and a Mind Up demo in Mrs. Repko’s grade 1 room.  My time in Mrs. Gammon’s room felt like a true immersion experience and after about 15 minutes I was able to stand up in front of the kids and say, “Est-ce que j’aime un bisquit?” and was rewarded with a cookie (pretty simple you might think but you have no idea of my French oral anxiety!).  I watched how engaged the kids were and couldn’t help but feel a little envious at this type of language learning which seemed completely opposite from how I learned French.  Visit the AIMS website or email Brigitte Atwood at McLeod Elementary for more information.

I also had an opportunity to visit the grade 1 room and see Mind Up in action.  Although this was a busy little room of grade ones, Kim Repko used Mind Up to help the kids refocus for their afternoon story time.  To watch 5 & 6 year olds become conscious of their breathing and then tell me how the pre-frontal cortex and amygdala related to their learning was unbelievable….thank you  grade ones….Go Dragons!

Last week I had promised you a video produced and shot by the students at BESS.  I think that they have done a stellar job in creating this ‘News from Around the School’ video and I know that they would love some feedback so please ensure that you reply to this post to recognize the hard work of these students and their teachers.  Let them know if you would like to see the October version of the BESS news posted in One91.  I think that due to the settings on this video, I am unable to embed it within the text so you will have to click HERE to enjoy the video.  Let Patrick know what you think of his English accent:)

This week I wanted to share some of the Nechako Lakes twitter users and how they were able to use twitter to share their learning while at home or away.  If you have not yet created a twitter, account, please consider doing this as it may be some of the best professional development that you will participate in.   Two specific resources to help you get started: