The Miramichi Council of the Bell Aliant Pioneer Volunteers recently made a generous donation of library books to two District 16 elementary schools, Croft in Miramichi West and St Andrew’s in Miramichi East. These two schools are just the most recent beneficiaries of the efforts of the Bell Aliant Pioneer Volunteers over the last several years to support literacy in schools of the Miramichi region. The library assistants at both schools were able to carefully choose books to add to their schools’ collections to help fill needs not already being met.
On Wednesday May 27th District 16 held its first Elementary School Drama Fest and had enthusiastic participation from five area schools. The audience, comprised of fellow actors, responded keenly to each play and the performances were adjudicated by Mr. John Bosma and Mr. Andrew Clark. The intermissions between plays were hosted by the MVHS Drama Club, under the direction of Mr. Jason Howe and Mr. Chris Matheson. Drama workshops were held following the performances. Participating schools were Croft, Gretna Green, Harkins, Nelson and North and South Esk Elementary Schools.
Pirates treasure was the theme for the geocaches that had grade 3 students from Nelson Rural School recently spend a morning scouring the woods and trails surrounding French Fort Cove . Using GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers, the children had the opportunity to apply math and geography knowledge while working as team members, problem solving and benefiting from several hours of vigorous physical activity.
On May 25th & 26th students from District 16’s Broadcast Journalism class travelled to Halifax to experience first hand what it takes to produce television news. Students were treated to a tour of CTV’s news studio and had the opportunity to speak with CTV reporters, anchors and reporters.
On June 19th, 1959, thirty-five fishermen lost their lives in what has become known as the Escuminac Disaster. While they were at sea drifting for salmon, a sudden storm struck the fleet resulting in much heroic drama and the great loss of life. The students of Miramichi Rural School are recognizing the 50th anniversary of the tragedy in a variety of ways which will be showcased at the school on June 11th 2009 in the afternoon for students, and evening for the public at 6:30 pm.
District elementary school students had a unique insight into their heritage on May 21st. A Heritage Showcase organized and hosted by Croft Elementary School, had each K to 3 classroom choose a Miramichi heritage theme to research, present, role play and share with their classmates, visiting schools and members of the public. Presentations were also made by students from Harkins Elementary, Nelson Rural School and the Learning Center. Many of the children dressed in period costumes and enacted daily tasks that many of their ancestors once performed.
That was the theme of a Grade 6/7 project at Millerton School – and
celebrate they did. It was part of a provincial project, called Our New
Brunswick, initiated by a group called 21inc. The goal was to have
students research and discover their communities and then to share
The 2009 ATCON Turnaround Achievement Awards were held in District 16 at the Rodd Inn, Miramichi East on Thursday May 14th. One student from each District 16 school, the four local First Nations schools and, via digital video recordings, a school in China and one in Uganda, were recognized for having made remarkable changes in their approach to learning and their lives in general.
A Regional Heritage Fair on May 14th was a great opportunity for school students in the area to show just how important they consider their history. The fair, hosted by District 16 at Nelson Rural School, involving more that 100 young people and 75 projects, gave youthful insights into the past of Miramichi, of New Brunswick and of the Maritime Provinces. The students from grades 4 to 9 presented topics that interested them, were well researched and well exhibited to judges and members of the public.
