Dear Parents:
Let’s Run For Terry!
Thank you to all the parent volunteers who cheered us on with noise-makers and motivational signs as the JK to Grade 6 children took part in the Terry Fox Run! The Grade 3 class presented a powerful and original poem about Terry and they performed striking tableaux at our assembly before we all headed out to run around and around and around Sibelius Park.
The Grade 6 student “Emergency Care Group” (ECG) would like to invite everyone in our community to purchase merchandise in support of cancer research. Look for them stationed outside the school on Monday and Tuesday morning this week at morning drop-off. They have hats, bracelets, tattoos and other fun items with positive messages and are raising money to support the Terry Fox Foundation! #spiritedfighter #noonefightsalone #bethehope
September Social
It was so wonderful to chat with many of you Thursday night at our Parent Social. Thanks to the Parents’ Association (PA) Executive for organizing a beautiful and delicious night together. The evening was an opportunity to get-together, make new friends, and to learn about ways parents can connect with the school through volunteering. Your PA Class Rep will have more information for you. In keeping with our efforts to be more environmentally responsible, the PA kindly purchased the side plates, glass mugs, and water glasses that were used at the event. We look forward to putting these supplies to future community use!
Thank you for paying your PA fees! Learn more about how your donations contribute to the success of JICS at the PA Meeting on Wednesday, October 3, 6:00 pm. (Followed by Community Knowledge Building Chat at 7:00 pm). Please RSVP. Free babysitting provided by the PA.
Professional Visitors
Last week, we hosted teacher-candidates and professors from Kobe Shinwa Women’s University (Kobe, Japan) in our Grade 1 to Grade 4 classrooms. This teacher education program has long ago identified our lab school as a place of innovation and each September sends its students to learn the “JICS approach to learning”.
Teacher Professional Development
For the second year, JICS’s Robertson Program and JICS’s Natural Curiosity are delighted to partner with Seven Generations Education Institute and Rainy River District School Board to organize a conference that provides educators, policy makers, and academics an opportunity to experience land-based learning and culturally responsive teaching in Treaty #3 territory in Northwestern Ontario. “Gaa-izhi-izhitwaawaad anishinaabeg: Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning Conference” will take place in Fort Frances, Ontario, October 2 – 4. Representing JICS will be Chriss Bogert, Zoe Donoahue, Carol Stephenson, Krista Spence, Hailey Higdon, Rosa Na, Julie Comay, Bev Caswell, OISE Dean, Dr. Glen Jones, and JICS Director, Dr. Rhonda Martinussen. The JICS faculty are looking forward to improving our teaching within a framework of reconciliation and reciprocal learning. The attendees are also very much looking forward to learning about and participating in Dagwaaginimaawindoosijigewin (Fall Harvest) which coincides with the conference.
Water Testing
Each year, Ontario schools and daycares are required to test their water for lead particles. Standing and flushed water samples from faucets throughout the Lab School were taken on September 12, 2018. The results we received from the labs at SGS Canada Inc. indicate that the drinking water in our school is completely safe to drink. We also follow Ontario Ministry regulations by flushing our plumbing on a regular basis, according to provincial regulations.
Fire Drills and Lockdown Security
We've had two fire drills since the start of school with the children. Regular fire drills are conducted at Jackman ICS under the supervision of the University and the Fire Marshal. All Lab School and Daycare staff are trained in a standby procedure in case of an emergency requiring lockdown security.
Name Tags, Parent-Stickers and Signing In
As you may have notice, Lab School teachers and staff and MA students and faculty are now wearing yellow name tags. All visitors must sign in at reception and receive a red name tag. Parents arriving at the school after 10:00 am will be asked to wear a “JICS Parent Sticker” available from Paige at the front desk. All of these measures are to ensure that everyone in the building is easily identifiable. Thank you for your cooperation!
Orange Shirt Day – Friday, September 28
A new tradition at JICS - A day to listen, learn, and celebrate Aboriginal culture!
Why Orange Shirts? (adapted from http://www.orangeshirtday.org)
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in May 2013. It grew out of Phyllis' story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually. Watch these short videos about Phyllis’ story here and also here. The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.
Why now at JICS?
At JICS, we have been discussing as a staff how to respectfully honor the day as allies without compromising what is developmentally appropriate for children or compromising our approach to deeply contextualize learning for students. For the younger students, our approach this year might mean hearing Indigenous stories and honouring Indigenous culture and traditions which were not allowed in residential schools, without explicit reference to the schools. For the older students, the history of Indigenous residential schools will be introduced and discussed in sensitive and responsive ways. Resources that might be used in the school include picture books such as Shin Chi’s Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell, When We Were Alone by David Alexander Robertson, or novels like Fatty Legs by Margaret Pokiak-Fenton.
At home, we invite parents to discuss Orange Shirt Day and “How Every Child Matters” with their children in developmentally appropriate ways, allowing their questions and their age to guide your discussion. You might like to start with reading a picture book or watching the video of Phyllis’ story together. Questions to start a conversation might be “How would it feel to not be able to speak your own language, practice your own traditions or celebrate your own culture?” or for older children “What might it feel like to be forced to go to school and not see your family for many months or years?”
Resources: “10 books about residential schools to read with your kids” - by Chantelle Bellrichard.
Senator Murray Sinclair speaks about the Truth and Reconciliation and the history of residential schools in a video here, emphasizing the important contribution that schools need to be making towards reconciliation and recovery: “It was the educational system that has contributed to this problem in this country, and it’s the educational system we believe that is going to help us get away from this”. Although this commemorative event began in 2013 and has been recognized by many schools across Canada, this will be our first year participating in it by wearing orange on Friday, September 28 (Monday, October 1 for Grades 5 and 6). We invite you to join us.
Upcoming Dates to Note:
September 24: Daycare Board meeting
September 26 to 28: Camping trip to Sandbanks Provincial Park for Grades 5 & 6
Friday, September 28: NEW Orange Shirt Day (Monday, October 1 for Gr 5 and 6)
Tuesday, October 2: NEW Curriculum Night for Gr 3 only 6:00 pm (details coming soon)
Wednesday, October 3: PA Meeting 6:00pm followed by Community Knowledge Building Chat 7:00 pm RSVP
Wednesday, October 10: Curriculum Night (Nursery, JK, SK, Gr 1, 2, 4, 5, 6) 6:00 – 8:00 pm (details coming soon)
Monday, November 5: HOLD THE DATE - Parent Ed Event. 7:00 pm “How to Talk to Your Children about the Holocaust” with speaker Dona Matthews presented at Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre. A joint parent education project between the Mabin School, Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Lab School, Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School. (Registration info coming soon)
Wednesday, November 14: Parent Teacher Interviews
Wednesday, November 21: Parent Teacher Interviews
For more important dates, please refer to our School Calendar.
Have a great day!
Richard and Chriss
