CPS News May 2016
Owl Pellet Investigation
Students in Mrs. Foley's Gr. 2 classroom had the opportunity to be scientists and dissect owl pellets during a recent unit. Since owls swallow prey whole, what it cannot digest, such as teeth, claws, and fur, it stores in its gizzard. (part of the owl's stomach) Strong muscles roll the undigested pieces into small balls, called pellets. The owl coughs this up.
Scientists poke through the pellets to learn what owls eat. Sometimes they come across the skull of a mouse, or the leg of a beetle. Sometimes even the scales of fish! It was quite amazing what the Gr. 2's learned about owls and their food cycle during this hands-on investigation!
Earth Day Assembly
Throughout the month of April, the Environmental Club challenged all of the students in the school to participate in various contests to mark Earth Day. On April 26, they hosted an Assembly to chose the winners each of these contests and to remind everyone the reason and purpose behind this annual celebration. Completely student led, this Earth Day Assembly featured an opening Earth day song that the entire school sang together, tips to save the earth and powerful videos.
We listened to some great information about Earth Day!
Poetry and essays about Earth Day were read.
The winner of the Poetry/Earth Day contest was Gabriel St. Pierre!
The audience participated by voting in the various contests!
The "Trashion Fashion" contest was very exciting!
Check out this medieval-themed "Trashion Fashion" contestant!
Summer, Indira and won the "Engineering Contest".
Tate won the "Repurpose Contest".
Aurora won the "Trashion Fashion" Contest.
A Unique Friendship
With the new Senior's Residence opening its doors in December just down the the street from our school, Mme. Duval and her Gr. 5/6 students decided to forge a unique friendship and set up weekly visits. The students have made friendship bracelets for their new friends, written letters and cards and have enjoyed conversation and games during their visits. They look forward to these visits and smiles abound from both the Seniors and the students after each meeting. Our students are learning a lot from this partnership! Enjoy the video:
Mrs. Foley's class and Mr. Martin's class have been continuing to have adventures during their weekly Eco Day trips. This month, they went geo-caching, visited a tree nursery and learned all about how we get maple-syrup!
Mindful Bottles
Mrs. L. Belisle's Gr. 7/8 Immersion class recently had the opportunity to make their very own mindful bottles after completing the "From Stressed Out to Chilled Out" program with Mrs. Kershaw, our Child and Youth Worker. Made with clear glue, water and glitter, these bottles help deal with feelings of anxiety when shaken. All classes at our school have 1-2 mindful bottles in their rooms so the opportunity to have their very own is very special!
Robotics
On April 29th, 20 members from the Robotics Club competed in the annual Robotics Challenge that was held this year at the Timmins Science Village.
In the novice division (Gr. 4-5-6), team CPS won the goal medal. Our all-girls team, CPS 3 won the bronze medal.
In the junior division (Gr. 7-8), our only team, CPS 5, won the silver medal and lost the championships by one single point.
CPS novice teams won the regional championship. They beat teams from New Liskeard, Kirkland Lake and Timmins. They performed extremely well in the maze and sumo-bot competitions. Two of the sumo-bots never lost a round and remained unbeaten.
Congratulations to: Gabriel St. Pierre, Jacob Tousignant, Sierra Robin, Raven Haldenby-Jacob, Haley Jurynec, Kody O'Keefe, Sage Bellaire, Joshua Deschamps, Caroline Lamothe, Braeden Parent, Hope Berthiaume, Jennifer Blackburn, Malorie Robin, Zachary Savoie, kassidi Marlow, Nicholas Kolomeitz, Austin Gardner, Benjamin Cave, Lucas Doucette, Taylon Rossi and our coach, Mr. Cyril Dionne.
Art show
During the month of April, Ms. Beaupre's Gr. 4 class were the featured artists at the Cochrane Public Library's Art Gallery. Student pieces were made from a variety of natural and found objects. Pictured below are two of the artists whose work was featured at the Gallery. What an amazing opportunity to showcase a love and talent for Art.
Fractured fairy tales in grade 8
Students in Mr. Bertrand's Gr. 8 class created Fractured Fairy Tales that they recently had the opportunity to share with the JK/SK classes. Traditional fairy tales such as Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood were re-written from the perspective of a different main character. The result from doing this really makes the audience think out of the box. Great job Gr. 8's on your finished books and for sharing them with our younger students!
Amazing art
Students in Gr. 7/8 Immersion are studying the works of famous artists and decided that a great project would be to re-create these pieces of work in appreciation. The creative process involved to do this was obvious to all. The finished creations hung proudly in our hallway during Education Week!
MENTAL HEALTH WEEK KICK-OFF
Mrs. Kershaw, our Child and Youth Worker, went to every class and asked two or three students to join us in the gym to create a body collage! We spelled out the message, "Be Kind". Throughout Mental Health Week and Education Week, students were challenged to do exactly that - be kind with words and actions! Thank you to all of the students who helped us spell out this very important message!
SCOUTS DONATE BUDDY BENCH TO OUR SCHOOL
On April 26, our school was gifted a Buddy Bench from the Scouts. The buddy bench will be placed in our school yard and will be a reminder to students of the importance of being a good friend. If a student is sitting on the bench it may mean that they are lonely or sad. Other students will see this and sit with the student or invite that student to join them. This way, no one is ever alone! Thank you to the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers for their thoughtfulness and hard work. All of the CPS students who belong to this amazing group had a part in building, painting and decorating the bench. We are excited to put it our school yard!
APRIL BULLETIN BOARDS
The following are some great bulletin boards and showcases of student work that you can find in our hallways and classrooms. Enjoy!
