In April, some intermediate students were fortunate enough to spend a weekend at the Zajac Ranch in Mission. Thanks again to the Zajac Foundation, Vancity and Thirdwave Bus Company for making this trip possible.

One of the highlights on Day 2 at camp was the Nature Hike through the woods to the lake.  We broke the students into two groups and each group got a guided walk and then had some time to just “be” on the shores of the lake. Beautiful.

Many students had never been in a forest before so walking through a tree was a pretty wild experience!

Students loved the feeling of the springy forest floor and kept commenting on how fresh and clean the air smelled.

photo via Zajac Ranch

It was lovely to hear the birdsong and wonder what animals we might encounter. Banana slug spotting beame an obsession for some! These lovely forest floor creepers really do look like mushy bananas!

Coming up onto the lake with the mountains in the background was just breathtaking! We paused before climbing over the fence to explore the lake shore.

Here are the Rangers, group 1 to go on the walk and lakeshore visit.

Favourite things to do on this lovely morning? We skipped stones, found interesting sticks and just spent time being quiet and calm in a beautiful place. Making new friends. Sharing stories. It was just about perfect.

Yes, it was really this beautiful. And the stone skipping record? Rumour was nine!

Thanks to the generosity of the Zajac Foundation, Vancity and Thirdwave Bus Company, 27 intermediate students from Seymour got to experience a weekend away at the Zajac Ranch!

Students were excited to participate in a variety of planned activities such as horseback riding, a forest walk, archery, the low ropes course and campfire songs.

Of course, just the bus ride was a big thrill! Our little campers proudly sported their nametags as they found a seat on the bus. What a quiet ride we had! Except of course for the numerous, “How much farther?” questions! Every horse we saw on the ride to the ranch made the students more excited. These wide open spaces certainly didn’t feel like Vancouver!

Our bus driver and assistant were fantastic and students enjoyed the scenery and the smooth ride – until that last thrilling 8 k.m. on the bumpy road into the ranch where we really got a sense that we were going to really be “somewhere else.” Everywhere we looked we saw trees, rocks and waterfalls. Absolutely beautiful!

While there was much to see as we started our tour, for many students the dorms held special charm! This was really our home away from home for two whole nights! We couldn’t believe how beautiful the dorms were. And comfortable! There was a large common room, a ping pong table and a girl’s side and a boy’s side for sleeping. And nothing beats bunkbeds!

Excerpts from some student writing:

Camp Zajac was awesome! I can’t believe that I got to go to camp. I had the best time ever! Espeically the bus ride was awesome. I got to sit with one of my good friends and talk.

The camp I went to is called Zajac. It was the best camp ever. I wish I could to Zajac again! I bet a lot of people like Zajac Ranch. When I first got there it was so pretty.  I was a little bit nervous and then the next day I felt happy. On that day I felt like I wanted to stay there for 1 or 2 weeks! This is the best camp in the world.

I went to camp. I fell asleep on the bus. When I got to camp, I was surprised at the big dorm. I liked the farm animals and the bunny named Ninja!

Stay tuned for more blog posts about our fantastic April weekend!

This information is from Vancouver Coastal Health

26 March 2012

Increasing pertussis (whooping cough) activity in Vancouver Coastal Health region

To members of the school community,

There has been an increase in pertussis in our region since January 2012. Almost forty cases have occurred in communities – including some Aboriginal communities – across the region as of this week. This is a large increase. There were no cases in the same period last year. As well, the pertussis outbreak in Fraser Health region continues with over 150 cases.

Because of this increase, Vancouver Coastal Health is making free pertussis vaccine available for the following residents of the region (if they haven’t had a shot against pertussis in the last 5 years),

1. All pregnant women and their partners

2. Everyone in contact with babies 18 months of age and younger

3. All Aboriginal people

Vaccine is available from family doctors, public health clinics, and some pharmacists.

Please review your children’s immunization record to make sure they are up to date. Children usually get pertussis vaccine at 2, 4, 6, 18 months of age, at 4‐6 years, and in Grade 9. Right now, it is even more important babies and children get their shots on time.

Pertussis is a very nasty illness. Babies less than one year old can get very sick or even die from it. It starts like a cold (sneezing, runny nose, a low fever and a mild cough). Severe coughing spells start within a week or two. The cough often ends with a whoop or crowing sound when the person breathes in. Adults and teens usually don’t make the whooping sound when they cough, so making a diagnosis is more difficult. Your doctor or nurse practitioner can do a swab test from the nose to confirm it.

Coughing spells are often severe enough to cause gagging or throwing up and may last more than two months.

To see how severe pertussis can be in young babies, and to understand what the whooping cough sounds like, you can look on You Tube under “Babies with whooping cough”.

If you are exposed to pertussis, it usually takes 7 to 10 days to fall sick, but may take up to 21 days. Treatment with antibiotics cuts down the time pertussis germs can spread from three weeks to five days. Children with pertussis must stay home from school until they have taken antibiotics for 5 days.

If you or your children develop early symptoms of whooping cough, please see your family physician or nurse practitioner.

More information is available at www.vch.ca or at www.healthlinkbc.ca or www.fnhc.ca/index.php/news/article/a_tripartite_memo_on_pertussis_whooping_cough1

Hope everyone is enjoying Spring Break!

School begins again on Monday March 26th 2012

Hey who are these guys?

photo via Vancouver Foundation

Thanks to donors at the Vancouver Foundation, Seymour School got 6 beautiful new swings for our playground! Iftu, an intermediate student in Ms. Parry’s class, made a holiday wish that was granted during the CTV’s 5 Days of Christmas during December. Watch the video here.

Oh and still wondering who those guys are? They installed our swings! Thanks everyone!

The Seymour Book Club meets Tuesdays at lunch in the library with Ms. Sheperd-Dynes and Ms. Gelson.

Our latest book is Michael Morpurgo‘s An Elephant in The Garden.

On January 25th, Langara College sponsored a forum called End Child Poverty Now! The video is now available to view.

Watch it here.

Panelists included Carrie Gelson (Seymour Teacher), Adrienne Montani (First Call), and Dr Clyde Hertzman (HELP, UBC) pictured below.

Andrea Lemire (Society of Children and Youth) and Janey Lee (Thunderbird Teacher) also spoke.

Also on the panel: Dr. Barbara Fitzgerald (RICHER Initiative), Scott Vandeloo (YFW from Thunderbird Elementary) and Seth Klein (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

Read more about the event here. Katie Hyslop also writes about the forum in Open File.

Thanks to the generous support from the Vancouver Fringe Festival and Camino, a donation of delicious fair trade organic juice was donated to Seymour students and families.

This donation was a surplus from the Camino Lounge in fall 2011 held at the Fringe Festival. We appreciate Camino’s generosity being shared with us!  Read more here on the Fringe News page.

This juice donation of over 100 1 litre juice containers is being sent home in grocery bags with families along with other donated food. Thanks to the Fringe and Camino Juice for making Seymour part of their community. Organic juice is a fabulous nutritious addition to our grocery bags that we send home to give families a little extra help.

For the SEYMOUR and STRATHCONA PARENT COMMUNITY

You are invited to a special presentation by Dr.Thomas Lickona (for more information read here)

Dr. Lickona will be speaking about the importance of the Family and School Connection & Raising Kids with Character

Dr. Thomas Lickona is a developmental psychologist and Professor of Education at the State University of New York. He is an internationally recognized expert on character development.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16^TH, 2012

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

IN THE LIBRARY at SEYMOUR SCHOOL

1130 Keefer Street

A LIGHT LUNCH WILL BE SERVED AFTER THE PRESENTATION

Please RSVP if you are coming to the presentation. Call Seymour’s office by February 13th at 3 p.m.  604-713 4641

A special thank you to St. George’s school for making this presentation possible.