Venture Heights Elementary School in Martensville found an activity where students from all grades can physically participate in; together, while following COVID-19 guidelines.
Students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 created an ice block wall structure on February 24, which was constructed in front of the school for the community to see. The students came out in their respective cohorts one grade at a time to add to the wall.
“For me, the wall was about how each classroom could come together and create something that looks cool , but in a COVID-19 friendly way,” said Ashley Boehm, Venture Heights Grade 3 teacher and Knights in Action leader.
A few weeks ago the Knights in Action group planned a “February Fun Day” where the classrooms interacted with each other through a virtual assembly.
“As a part of our assembly, we played some games. We had a trivia game, we did some ‘Just Dance’ together, we read first Nations stories, because it was First Nations story telling month, and we also played a bingo game,” said Boehm.
As part of that February Fun Day students were supposed to build the ice wall, but since there was an extreme cold weather warning, that project was postponed.
On the day of the build, each student was asked to bring a block of ice which was to be frozen in a two-litre milk carton. Boehm said she was worried if they were going to have enough ice blocks to build a large structure, but the students came through and brought what they could.
“Kids came with two grocery bags, consisting of five or six blocks,” she said. “Some people didn’t have two-litre milk cartons, but they got creative and made blocks out of ice cream pales and yogurt containers, and we used those to make decorations on the side.”
Some of the students added some food colour to their ice block before they froze it, which brought some visual character to the wall.
Boehm mentioned that the students had fun making the wall and she hopes that this project will inspire them do something similar at home, whether it’s building another ice sculpture or an ice snow fort on their front lawn.
Along with extracurricular activities, the pandemic has really limited the activities the Knights in Action group usually plans for the whole school to participate in.
Even though it has been a challenge to find something the whole school can do together, it is still important for students to interact with each other.
“Our hope was for it to bring some joy, excitement, fun, that sense of community and just being together as a school, even when we can’t be all gathered in the gym like a normal assembly,” said Boehm.
Also on February 24, it was “Pink Shirt Day” at the school which is an annual event that brings awareness to anti-bullying.
“Pink Shirt Day last year, was the very last time we were all together in the gym. It was the last school-wide event that we were all gathered together for before schools were closed,” said Boehm.
Pink Shirt Day is usually an opportunity for all the students to come together and take a stand against bullying, but this year they were limited to discussing that topic with their respective cohort classes.
“Everyone was just wearing their pink shirts and continuing to talk about it and have conversations inside our classrooms, even though we weren’t able gather as a whole school,” said Boehm.
