Education Week celebrated at Margaret Wooding School

For Education Week, students and staff at Margaret Wooding School took part in different activities. Inspirational video clips of student speakers or famous people the students would know about were played in each class during the morning. The video was followed by a discussion led by the teacher. “A reflective process on the video they watched and to think about their own living and who they are and their own growth along with setting goals,” explained Principal Craig Corsie. 

Representatives from Southeastern Alberta Search and Rescue (SEASAR) came to the school to present to the Outdoor Education class, one of the options students can sign up for that run on Wednesday afternoons.

“We learned a lot about what to do if you are lost in the woods,” said Lilly, who signed up for Outdoor Education because she likes plants and finds being outside in nature relaxing. Classmate Hailynn also joined the option because she likes being outside in Nature, with the coulee by the river one of her favorite places.

The girls helped each other remember the top four strategies to use when in the wilderness: to tell a parent where you are going, stay put and hug a tree (if lost), stay warm and dry, and lastly to listen to the search and rescue people who respond to the call.

“It’s an expert voice and good content for the kids,” explained teacher Robyn Harrington. “With just starting a new term, it introduced being in the outdoors and how to keep safe. The students get a certificate for it as it’s an accredited course across Canada. SEASAR is a community-based group that potentially kids might be interested in down the road to connect with and possibly volunteer with,” explained Harrington. “One of the girls in the class, her mom volunteers with search and rescue and I didn’t know that.”

When asked if there was anything they wanted to add, Lily said, “they taught us how to put on these tinfoil blanket things to keep warm.” Hailynn jumped in to say, “and they also taught us to get lots of big branches and make an X, an SOS or an arrow pointing to where you are.”

Each morning, the school has been playing a game of bingo just for fun. Different clubs at the school were showcased, with the coach and four student athletes from the Medicine Hat Rattlers running team coming to the school to demonstrate stretches, warm up exercises, and running games to students of the Margaret Wooding running club. The Rattlers also brought some swag with them to pass out to the students, including balls, mini-sticks and lanyards.

Josh, Peyton, and Nash are all members of the running club and agreed the games were the best part. All joined the club because they like running, with Josh and Peyton preferring short-distance competitions. Nash prefers running in a group because it’s more fun and said he likes a mix of both short and long-distance running.

“There was this one game where everybody was it, but to tag someone you had to tag them below their knee and when you get out, all the people you tagged are back in,” explained Josh.

Nash added, “they taught us this warmup where everyone lies on their stomachs and someone runs between them and the person you were next to, after you’ve done a full lap, you lie down back beside them, and they have to get up and do the same thing.”

This is the second year the Rattlers have visited the running club. “We got to do a bit more because it was outside. Yesterday, we had to shift things because we had to be inside (due to the rain and snow), but it was still fun. Another thing they did at the end was field some questions from the kids and they had a chance to talk about what it’s like to be a Rattler,” concluded Harrington, who supervises the running club.

Education week culminated in the Margaret Wooding Learning Exhibition, which ran throughout the school day and then again in the evening, making it a long day for students and staff. On Friday, Corsie said everyone was going to take a breath and have some relaxation time to acknowledge all the hard work everyone put in to make the 2024 Education Week and the Learning Exhibition successful.  

By Samantha Johnson, Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer