Around the district is a monthly update that includes a collection of stories from Richmond schools. These stories highlight Richmond's vibrant learning community which fosters student engagement, creativity, and well-being in inclusive learning environments.
World Teachers’ Day
On October 5, the Richmond School District acknowledges the numerous contributions that teachers make to public education. Educators are celebrated around the world on this day to recognize their accomplishments and the contributions they make to ensuring that global education achieves its goal of leaving no one behind. Across the district, students shared messages of appreciation with their amazing teachers!
School Murals
Maple Lane Elementary worked with a professional artist to complete their new school mural. The mural celebrates themes of ecology, belonging and community. The school hosted in-person community engagement workshops, with the artist and the students, to inspire the design. Every student then contributed to the mural by adding a local animal, or an animal that lived on this land in the past.
Staff and students at Garden City Elementary were also excited about nearing the completion of their school’s mural. The mural was designed and painted by Atheana Picha, an interdisciplinary Salish artist from the Kwantlen First Nation. During the project, students learned about Coast Salish art, and helped the artist determine the content of the mural.
Through these mural projects, students were able to learn from, and engage with, artists of diverse backgrounds, while adding a meaningful piece of art to their school space.
Friendship Interview at Currie Elementary
What happens when learners from two classes connect? Students at Currie Elementary were engaged in an activity called “Friendship Interviews.” The Friendship Interview involves two classes, co-learning and platooning regularly throughout the week, to share their gifts with each other and to build connections. Students gathered outside to practice initiating conversations, asking questions, listening, brainstorming, and taking turns. Finally, students reflected on what they learned and did a wonderful job showing how they cared for each other.
Gratitude Nature Walk
On a sunny fall day, students at Gilmore Elementary took a mindful nature walk. Students began by reading stories from the “The Grateful Book", and then talked about all the things they were grateful for. During their nature walk, students searched for nature treasures and created some very special gratitude wands to reflect their experiences.
Nature Art Exhibit
The Richmond Arts Coalition, in partnership with the district, presented an exhibition at Branscombe House on October 8, 2022. The project featured collaborative work between a professional artist and students from Grauer and Homma Elementary. The exhibition helped develop art literacy in school-aged children while amplifying and empowering the voices of young artists in our community.
Meet the Teacher Night at Blair
Over 200 students and their families came to Blair’s Meet the Teacher night. The hallways and classrooms were filled with displays of students’ work, classroom expectations and learning intentions for the year. Families enjoyed walking around the school visiting and speaking with teachers. They also enjoyed visiting special places in the school such as the library. It was an exciting night as many schools have not had an in-person meet the teacher event in over two years. Teachers and families both commented on how wonderful it was to be together as a community inside the building!
McRoberts Library Learning Commons – Calling All Pages
Every year the McRoberts Library Learning Commons recruits students to volunteer in their library. Over 35 students signed up to be “Pages” this year. These volunteers oversee cleaning, tidying, and organizing the library at the end of each day. They also help shelve books, create displays, write reviews, and make book recommendations. Furthermore, Pages are invited to join the Library Leadership Team that meets once a month. This initiative ensures student voice is included in all the decision-making happening in the library learning commons.
Clubs Day at Steveston-London
The buzz and energy at Steveston London was electric as students celebrated Club Days. The school currently has 26 clubs running including the Indigenous culture club, the art club, the engineering club, the literature club and many more. Students were keen to develop and explore their passions, while connecting and collaborating with their peers to enjoy opportunities beyond the classroom.
Ropes Course Challenge
The McMath senior leadership team took on the challenge of the UBC Pacific Adventures Learning Ropes course to build their collaboration, cooperation, and communication skills. The day started on the ground with various challenge activities that were meant to build trust and cooperation. Students were also required to utilize problem-solving, teamwork, and communication skills. With support from each team member, all of the students were able to complete the high ropes course challenge. Through this experience, students also learned that inspiration, care, support, and communication are key components to being a leader.
Playground Communication Board
This past spring, a Community Communication Board was installed on the playground at Errington Elementary to allow students with limited verbal skills to more easily communicate without the use of augmentative communication devices. Staff and students received training on how to model language and interact with students using the communication board. Each class participated in an interactive information session and was guided to have a hands-on turn at the board.
Students point to pictures on the communication board, which mimic the displays on personal augmentative communication tools, to express their thoughts, feelings, needs, and choices. By using this board, students have access to another means of communicating and interacting for social purposes. The board was designed to encourage a sense of community as well as an inclusive, more equitable play environment. As you can see in the images, the board has generated great interest and is being used regularly by students.
The playground Community Communication Board will not only bring awareness to augmentative communication options, but also increase equity for those children with learning and communication differences. The board helps foster a sense of community, will providing an innovative approach for creating more inclusive experiences for students with unique abilities.
