Counting down the days
The countdown is on.
Home and School communities on P.E.I. have three more days to register for the annual meeting coming up on Monday, May 10, to be held virtually on Zoom.
Parents, guardians, principals, students and school staff are invited and encouraged to register for this meeting. The more you know about P.E.I.’s education system, the more you can better help children and youth.
Experts, both in education and food programs, will educate delegates at the AGM on topics of interest that impact students. In addition, Education and Lifelong Learning Minister Natalie Jameson will speak about her department’s work over the past year with schooling during the pandemic.
Please choose from interactive workshops: student well-being with Elizabeth Kennedy, student well-being team lead, and Terri MacAdam, Public Schools Branch student services; communications and powerschool with Norbert Carpenter, PSB director; chef Austin Clement, Culinary Institute of Canada, a discussion on P.E.I.’s school food program with Sterling Carruthers and Katelyn MacLean.
In addition, Tammy Hubley-Little, education’s director of English programs, will answer questions about curriculum, assessments and report cards.
I hope to see many people from every school community online Monday evening. Registration details are at https://peihsf.ca/agm.
People are also counting down to warmer days and the options for outdoor classrooms.
As the weather improves, teachers focus more on outdoor play and instruction, where possible. Mount Stewart Consolidated School is excited about the recent upgrade to its outdoor classroom space. The work was completed by a team of students, teachers, staff and parent volunteers.
At the annual meeting, outdoor classrooms will be discussed in one of the member association’s resolutions. Studies show a direct correlation between student success and time spent connected to nature, academic gains and attitudes when outdoor lesson time is incorporated into weekly learning. There is also a link between reduced anxiety, hostility, stress and depression with time spent outdoors. I encourage Home and Schools to explore outdoor classroom options with their principal.
The COVID-19 pandemic has clarified the need for virtual schooling options for K-12 students in P.E.I. Delegates will discuss e-learning at the AGM with an eye to better serving K-12 students in P.E.I.
Play is essential for children’s physical and mental well-being. Keeping school playgrounds up to date is an ongoing challenge for school communities. How can schools and communities maintain safe school playgrounds for students?
These resolutions will be discussed at the annual meeting. Find the 2021 resolutions online at https://peihsf.ca/resolution/.
High school students are counting down the days to final exams. This can be a stressful time, but parents and schools have teamed up to help. For example, Kinkora Regional High School helps ease some of the stress on its students by providing nutritious snacks every morning on exam days, a healthy bite for them to enjoy before that day’s scheduled exams. It has been a KRHS tradition in recent years.
As much as everyone would love to be able to count down the days until the pandemic ends, we continue to be thankful for the safety within schools, and heartfelt gratitude goes out to students, teachers, school staff and parents in P.E.I. and right across Canada.
Heather Mullen, president of the P.E.I. Home and School Federation, lives in Lot 38, Canavoy, with her husband and two children, who attend Mount Stewart Consolidated School and Birchwood Intermediate School. Her column appears in The Guardian during the school year on the first Friday of the month. She welcomes comments from readers and information from the column. She can be reached at 902620-3186. For questions about this column or to find out more about the work of the P.E.I. Home and School Federation, contact the office at peihsf@edu.pe.ca or 902-620-3186/1800-916-0664.