Connections with Nature and Community

This past week at Banded Peak was filled with exciting events and meaningful learning experiences. Tuesday our Grade 8 track athletes rocked the track! The following students all finished with top 10 finishes: Jaxon – 6th 80mH; Karter – 3rd 400m, 8th LJ; Mattie – 9th TJ; Jordan – 10th 3000m; Logan – 2nd 3000m, 3rd 1500m; Boys Relay Team – 10th; Evelyn – 8th 1500m; Eden – 10th 800m; Sage – 1st 200m, 2nd 100m, 4th Shot put; Rylee – 4th 200m; Lindy – 2nd 400m, 3rd LJ, 4th 100m; Tessa – 5th 800m; Emily – 9th HJ. Logan, Sage and Lindy will join Marc, James and Hugo as they have all qualifying to represent RVS at our South Central Zones meet.  In fact, our track athletes performed so well this year that Banded Peak was awarded the 1A Track and Field Banner!  Outstanding work Grizzlies!!! 

On Tuesday night, we hosted the School Council AGM and final meeting for the 2024–25 calendar year. During the meeting, our new executive was selected for the upcoming school year. Congratulations and a big thank you to Ainslie Campbell (Chair), Willow Carriere (Secretary), Elaine Green (Treasurer), and Tova Schaefer (Volunteer Coordinator) for stepping forward to take on these important Council roles. We also extend heartfelt thanks to Rebecca Parzen, our outgoing Chair, for her years of dedicated service. The Vice Chair position remains vacant—if you're interested in joining the team, please reach out and I can connect you with Ainslie!

On Wednesday, students and families continued working on their beautiful Ribbon Skirts and Shirts. I am excited to see the final masterpieces on June 18th. For those who are a part of the project but could not attend, an additional session to complete your shirts/skirts will be offered on June 10th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with more details to follow.

Thursday brought a special visit from Victoria, my daughter, and Amira, her bottle lamb. They spent the morning with K–2 students discussing life on our farm—horses, sheep, and chickens. Victoria shared her experience raising her flock, selling sheep for meat and breeding, and highlighted the importance of knowing where our food comes from. As a passionate agricultural advocate and entrepreneur, Victoria answered many insightful questions from students, enriching their science curriculum and deepening their understanding of farm animals. Amira was a big hit and even managed to visit several other grades for a quick pet before heading home. Thursday afternoon, all classes were treated to a rehearsal concert for our grade 5-8 as the prepare for WestFest Band competition next week. It is incredible how much our musicians have grown since Christmas! They were fantastic! Thursday night we welcomed our new Kindergarten students and families to Banded Peak at our Kinder Open House. It was a wonderful turnout!  Thank you, Mrs. Williamson and Mrs. Dzeryk, for all your work in making the evening special.

Friday was a fantastic wrap-up to the week. The day began with bus evacuation drills, followed by a Day of Service for our Grade 7/8 students in the Hamlet at the Bragg Creek Community Centre and the Snowbird Chalet. They painted, cleaned, weeded, trimmed trees, picked up rocks and garbage, and organized spaces, giving back to a community that gives so much to them. Meanwhile, Grades 5 and 6 spent the day immersed in science learning at the pond, and Grades 3 and 4 were busy preparing for their upcoming week of outdoor school. Our grade 1 and 2 students also had to say goodbye to their chicks that they have been observing over the last month.  A sad day but such a valuable experience. To top it all off, our tipi painting began—a vibrant cultural and artistic project we are thrilled to see come to life. Check out the time lapse of our tipi painting thus far below.

Next week continues to be full of busy days.  As I indicated earlier, the grade 3 and 4 students will be learning outdoors on the land all week.  Parents, please be sure that students are sent prepared for the weather as they will only be inside for bathroom breaks.  Grade 1 and 2 students will be learning about art felting from a local artist on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Wednesday our Grade 6 students begin PAT’s and after school is our last Commun-I-tea of this school year.  It is unbelievable to me that we are beginning to wrap up the year already….time continues to fly.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Moore