Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
We are a grade 2/3 class at Meaford Community School. We are feeling very grateful because a lot of people have been so nice to us. We have experienced tons of brain thrilling activities all thanks to these people. All of these events have helped us learn and be part of our community.
First many people help us learn to read besides our teachers. We go to the Meaford Public Library once a month and learn from Mrs. Pierce and her staff. At our own library, Mrs. Trussler helps keep things in order. Mrs. Wehrle and her crew of volunteers come to our school almost every day and run our Volunteer Reader Program with financial support from the Meaford Rotary Club. Yesterday we were lucky to be invited to the Meaford Hall to meet Werner Zimmerman, an award-winning author. This was because of Mrs. Teed from Georgian Bay Secondary School and her Born to Read group of students. We all got a book to take home too!
Next, we are learning how to play lots of sports. The Meaford Curling Club sponsored a visit from Rocks and Rings to our school again this year. Many students participated in the after-school curling club with Mrs. Pearson, Mrs. Carbert and Mrs. McNally. Thanks to many sponsors, our grade 3 students went to the Y and completed the Swim to Survive program. We are golfers thanks to Megan Chapman who organized sponsorship for the Golf in Schools kit and a visit to her Georgian Bay Club. Chevy Rennie came to do a clinic on behalf of the Meaford Golf and Country Club.
We also have had many opportunities to learn in the Arts. For example, the Kids in the Meaford Hall troupe performs each year for local schools in December. Our tickets are free thanks to many local caring sponsors. This year the Meaford United Church Quilt Show committee arranged for our class to attend their annual show for only a donation. At the show we met Doreen who offered to come to our classroom and help us make a Mother’s Day necklace for a gift. Last month our school was one of the few stops that a North American Folk Music and Dance Troupe made on their tour. We learned more fun folk dances.
The Municipality of Meaford is very generous to their schools. This year, in addition to our monthly library visits, we have visited the Meaford Museum twice and are currently starting the seeds for their Heritage Garden. We went skating for electives at a reasonable rate for ice time and grade 2 and 4 students are going to complete two-week swimming lessons at a considerably reduced rate.
Our parents are considerate to help out on walking and bus trips so we have the correct number of chaperones. Mr. Mahy donates apples regularly so we have a snack when we are still hungry. He also is donating some land for our Community Garden and we are helping to plant it! Breakfast Club volunteers donate a tremendous amount of their time to help us be ready to learn each morning. Constable Barfoot, our new school liaison officer, came to meet us and is helping us with the Community Garden. We liked visiting the Meaford Longterm Care Centre (nursing home) in the winter and they liked it too because they have invited us back to spend part of the Longest Day of Play doing Zumba with them.
Finally, we were fortunate to have had two helpers who were learning to be teachers. Miss Sewell and Miss Wiley learned from us as we learned from them.
Our school motto is “Stand Tall, Caring For All”. We sure are glad that we have so many community members who care for us. We will stand tall thanks to them. They say it takes a village to raise a child. According to our list, we definitely agree. THANKS EVERYONE!!!
Grade 2/3
Meaford Community School
