Day 2 Session (July 1, 2006)
- Posted by: chantal
- On: 07/01/2006 11:52:36
- In: Uncategorised
Happy Birthday Canada! What Mark Do We Leave?
Kids leave mark on the world: Students share project with U.S. audience
Sarah McGinnis, Calgary Herald (published Sunday, July 02, 2006)
Through a flickering video link to Washington, 20 passionate Calgary kids spent Saturday teaching Americans why Canada is so special....In clear, crisp voices, the Grade 4 children from Glendale Elementary School shared their love for this country in a live Canada Day telecast.
This is the first year a Canadian province has been profiled at the renowned Smithsonian festival and the class was there to help Education Minister Gene Zwozdesky promote Alberta to Americans.
Happy Birthday, Canada! In this session, the Honourable Gene Zwozdesky, Minister of Alberta Education, joined Glendale Elementary School students in Calgary. Following a rendition of "Oh Canada," Glendale students shared individual accounts about what it means to be a Canadian through words and artwork.
Glendale students also talked about their year-long inquiry into "What mark do we leave?" Marks can be both emotional and physical, positive and negative. Heroes leave positive marks on us, like Terry Fox, who ran 5,373 kilometres across Canada with an amputated right leg to raise money for cancer research.
Glendale students demonstrated that not all marks are positive, such as the litter that can both mark and damage our environment. In order to understand how to care for the environment now and in the future, students volunteered to help clean a local park in Calgary.
By turning their class into a carpet factory mimicking conditions of those found in Pakistan, students learned about child labour and the importance of fair trade.
A documentary, outlining the water filter project undertaken by Glendale students, was also featured for the Washington audience. Recognizing that not all countries have access to clean drinking water, the students raised money to purchase water filters for a family and an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.
Minister Zwozdesky engaged both the Calgary and Washington audience throughout the session by asking questions such as "Who watches hockey?" "Who can tell me an explorer does?" and "Name three provinces in Canada." One young member of the Washington audience named three provinces correctly (as verified by the students in Calgary) and was awarded with the privilege of wearing the Minister's cowboy hat throughout the session.
The Minister also led the audience through the United States anthem - the "sing song" portion of the program!
