District 16 held the “Word and Song” showcase Wednesday, evening December 8th, to celebrate the Holiday Season. District Office staff hosted children, parents and guardians and member of the public who attended a series of 3 one hour performances and displays featuring school choirs, music ensembles, a skit, Fist Nation Drummers, artwork displays, story reading and of course treats. Although the weather was not fully co-operative the event was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed.
On December 7th a group of Nelson Rural K – 2 students had a chance to see and hear about Dutch Christmas traditions from children their own age, first hand. They and their fellow K-2 classmates of Nelson Rural School are busy learning about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries around the world. The countries the children have chosen to explore during this 21 Century Learning project are Mexico, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Lebanon, in addition to the Netherlands.
On Monday evening the Miramichi Rural School Star Troopers will be hosting a very special event at the Sky-Tech Galileo Observatory located on school grounds. The Geminid Meteor Shower should provide some spectacular sites.
From 7:30pm-8:00pm the Star Troopers will put on an information session about Jupiter, our Moon, and the constellation Gemini. From 8pm-9:30pm the observatory will be open and 10inch Dobsonian telescopes will be available to view our Moon and Jupiter. The meteor shower would be watched with the naked-eye as it rises over the horizon to the east.
Members of the public are invited to a Showcase of Word and Song at James M Hill Memorial High School between the hours of 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM, on Wednesday, December 8, 2010. Details attached.
Twenty District 16 educators met after school on Wednesday December 1st to learn about the professional value of the “micro-blogging” medium Twitter. The session led by District 16 technology mentors Joey Savoy and Craig Duplessie emphasized how the social networking site is very useful for following current ideas and resources being made public by leading educators from around the world. In addition the networking allows users to find resources recommended by colleagues and share their ideas.
Three hundred District 16 students recently participated in a world wide Guinness Book of Records, record setting effort that involved students in 25 different countries. Representing Blackville School, Harkins Middle School, Nelson Rural School and North and South Esk Elementary School, the students were among 316 757 participants setting a record in the category "Most People Sport Stacking at Multiple Locations in One Day". SportStacking is an activity that involves participants "upstacking" and "downstacking" plastic cups as quickly as possible.
James M. Hill Memorial High School was the location for Mr. Bernard Richard, New Brunswick’s ombudsman and child and youth advocate, to deliver his third annual State of our Children and Youth address on Thursday November 25th. The presentation to an audience that included students from James M. High, Miramichi Valley High and École Carrefour Beausoleil, was preceded by various student workshops and a First Nation dancing demonstration by the Esgenoopeitj Dancers.
International students attending District 16 schools were guests of honour at a dinner held on November 22nd at the Rodd Miramichi River Hotel. The thirty students from Germany, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and China were greeted by school, provincial and municipal officials and made to feel welcome. They received certificates of recognition from Miramichi MLA Bill Fraser and received a pair of Roots Maple Leaf mittens, timely as there was a very winter-like snowfall happening outside at the time.