by Rachael Orford
Yippee ki-yay! It is finally May!
Central Manitoulin Public School in Mindemoya hosted the Battle of the Books on Tuesday, May 2. A reading event that involved students from Grades 4 to 6.
The spring concert occurred last night and it was a big hit! Each class performed with lots of enthusiasm. The theme was Canada’s 150th birthday. The songs were performed by students according to the order that each province joined Confederation.
At the start of the concert, the spring concert choir sang “O’Canada,” in Ojibwe. Then students in Grades 4 and 5 sang “O’Canada” in French. The Grade 8s sang “The Good Ol’ Hockey Game” which represented Quebec and then they sang “Give Us a Place to Stand,” which represented Ontario. Another song that represented Ontario was “Land of the Silver Birch,” sung by the Grade 4/5s.
The Grade 3/4s sang “Canada in my Pocket” and “Farewell to Nova Scotia.” Then the Grade 7s came dancing and singing on to the stage with “Alouette” and “La Bastringue” from New Brunswick.
Canada’s north was represented by the Grade 4/5s along with Jane Best and Peter Gordon singing, “The Northwest Passage.” Then, we welcomed back the spring concert choir to sing Manitoba’s, “The Red River Valley.”
Next, the Grade 6/7 class sang “A Pulling Song” in Ojibwe and “My Heart Soars,” which was written by Jane Best. Prince Edward Island was the next province represented. “Lester Lobster” and “Bud the Spud” was sung by the ELK class.
After a short intermission, we welcomed the SK/1 class to the stage who represented two provinces and one territory at one time. Yukon, Saskatchewan and Alberta! The class sang a song medley of “Clementine,” “Gitsagakomin,” and “The Cowboy.” Newfoundland and Labrador was represented by the 2/3s who sang the “Colour Song,” and “I’se the B’y who Builds the Boat.”
The final territory, Nunavut was represented by the grade six class who presented a tableau of the Northern Lights. The Grade 2/3s came back onto the stage to sing, “Together We are Canada.” Then for the final song, the spring concert choir came onto the stage to lead everyone in “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land.”
Happy Birthday, Canada!
Instead of joke of the week, I have a funny story to tell you.
Long ago when Canada was first being settled by European explorers, they came to a realization that they needed one name to call this great land. However, nobody could agree. One man was elected to pull letters from a hat. He reached into the hat and pulled out just three letters and read them out loud. “C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?” And that is how Canada got its name.
Upcoming events include Swim to Survive for Grades 4 and five, a trip to go see the play “Little Mermaid,” for JK-Grade 1, MSS ballet for Grade 2/3 and 3/4 and the Island soccer tournament.
Until next time, “Dream and Believe. Learn and Achieve!”
