Dear Winlaw Families,      

What a beautiful spring we are having so far! Students are enjoying playing and learning outside.  And it has been so wonderful to see the West Kootenay Football Youth Soccer resume each Friday afternoon on our Winlaw Elementary soccer fields. 

For this month’s learning highlight, our music educator Talon Nansel shares a summary of his music program that he has been providing through the ArtStarts Residency Program. We are so grateful for Talon’s incredible talent both as a teacher and musician!  Students and staff love their weekly music lessons with “Nansel".

Over the past two years, the ArtStarts Residency for our music program at Winlaw Elementary has been a delightful experience!  The students who are emerging musicians, have shown remarkable progress and are truly top tier!

Here's what they've been learning:

Reading and writing traditional western music notation, which is crucial for music literacy.
Performing various rhythms on boom whacker instruments and body percussion.
Following in-tempo "play alongs" with boom whacker instruments.
Improving their singing skills, including pitch and rhythmic accuracy.
Learning appropriate audience behavior during both live and recorded performances.
Gaining knowledge about the instruments found in a Concert Band.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the incredibly supportive community at Winlaw Elementary for welcoming music classes into our school.

Mr. Ellis's  Gr. 5/6 class and Ms Van’s Gr. 5’s are now partaking in the Beginning Band experience. This program is particularly dear to my heart, as it offers a unique opportunity for students, regardless of their prior musical experience, to learn and grow together as musicians within our community. Beginning Band is designed to accommodate all learning modalities, ensuring every student can thrive.

The instruments currently being played by the students include:

Flute
Clarinet
Trumpet
Trombone
Baritone/Euphonium
Tuba
We're excited to celebrate Winlaw’ s Beginning Band at an end-of-school-year concert, in collaboration with Mount Sentinel's Concert Band. More details will be shared as we approach the end of the school.

Thanks,

Talon Nansel

Aboriginal Education 

On March 15, 2024,  Secwepemc jingle and fancy dancer Janelle Alladina performed at Winlaw Elementary. After each dance Janelle invited our students to ask questions about the dance and her regalia. She shared teachings from the Secwepemc culture, dancing at pow wow, and how her regalia is created. 

Janelle is a proud Secwépemc (Shuswap) woman from T’exelc (Williams Lake Indian Band). Her father is former chief Willie Alphonse Jr, and her mother is Cree from Horse Lake. She has been dancing fancy shawl and jingle dress since she was 2 years old and was named the First Nations Role Model for School District #27. Janelle also sings on the hand drum, teaches basic pow wow dancing, does indigenous crafts, and Shuswap storytelling. She follows the pow wow trail across all of BC and down into the USA in the summer and visits family for traditional ways of life in the fall. “Being able to share culture and dance has always been very important to me, especially to our younger generation.”  We were amazed by Janelle’s jingle and fancy dance performance and very grateful that she was able to perform not only in our school but in many schools throughout Sd8 this year. 

Sports and Physical Education 

The Gr. 5/6 Basketball season started in mid-February with parent coach Rich Rabnett.  Coach Rich works with this team on Tuesday and Thursday each week. We are excited to host a play day with the Gr. 5/6 team from Brent Kennedy on April 30th and then Brent Kennedy will host the Winlaw team on May 10th.

Our two Intermediate classes just completed three sessions of swimming lessons at the Castlegar Complex. Our three Primary classes start their three sessions this week.  We are grateful to partner with the Castlegar Complex Recreation team to help our students improve their ability to swim independently and to learn how to be safe in water. 

Winlaw School Garden

We give many thanks to Gr. 1/2 teacher Linda Out and Mr. Ellis’ Gr. 5/6 class for helping to prepare our school garden this spring.  We are focusing on hardy plants such as garlic, rhubarb, and herbs such as oregano which deer do not like to eat. It is great to see the garlic growing so well! 

Many of the tree seedlings that were planted last spring have survived the winter quite well.  We thank the PAC volunteers who watered regularly throughout last summer and many thanks in advance for the watering that will be necessary to help their survival throughout this coming summer. 

PAC- Spring Fling

PAC is planning our AnnualSpring Fling fundraiser for Saturday May 4 from 10:00-2:00. This is a fun, seasonally themed event for school families and the broader community - and an important fundraiser for our PAC. Monies raised go towards projects to enrich student learning, support extra-curricular opportunities, and much more! The Fling will happen at the same time as soccer games at the school again this year. We are so grateful to West Kootenay Football for coordinating with PAC on this event.  Our Winlaw PAC really needs volunteers to help at this event.  Please return the form that was sent home last week or email PAC Chair Keely Winnitoy at winlawschoolpac@gmail.com.

Upcoming Events

April 30          Class and whole School Photo Day

April 30          Gr. 5/6 Basketball Game Day with Brent Kennedy 12:00-1:00 at Winlaw

May 3            Primary swimming lessons second session

May 4            PAC Spring Fling Fundraiser 9:00-2:00

May 9            Susan Milner Math Games Visit for Gr. 5/6 and Gr. 1/2

May 10          Primary Swimming Lessons

May 10          Winlaw Gr. 5/6 Basketball team attending BK game day 

May 16          ArtStarts Ache Brasil Performance 9:00

May 20          Victoria Day Holiday

           May 27          School-based Pro D Day (no school)

          June 4            Reconciliation Wuqanqankimik Run/Walk 

          June 11          Welcome to Kindergarten Event 12:50-1:50 

          June 13          Bike Safety Rodeo 12:30-1:50

          June 18          National Indigenous People’s Day celebration with Jenna 

          June 25           Fun Day Celebration (PAC BBQ and Station Activities 11:30-1:45)

          June 26          Year End Assembly  ( time to be determined) 

          June 27          End of Year School Administrative Day 

Best regards,

Monica Doyle

Principal,  Winlaw Elementary School