This week we’ve enjoyed sharing our stories about what we got up to during Spring Break, had fun with challenging math games, music, and discussions about current events. We have begun studying marine mammals on the BC Coast. We learned that seals hunt by detecting motion with their whiskers, and that orcas communicate with sound, and hunt using echolocation. 
We are hoping for the best for “kwiisahi?”(which means “Brave Little Hunter”), the baby orca trapped in a lagoon near Zeballos. We were interested to learn how marine scientists are trying to use recordings of kwiisahi?’s pod to entice it back out to sea.
A Solar Eclipse happening next Monday! In BC, the time of maximum will be 11:30 am. Although most of us will be far away from the zone of totality, we can still enjoy the experience online. Here at school we will be watching a live broadcast of the event between 11:05 and 11:55am. I hope families will take this opportunity to extend their learning beyond the science of the eclipse to wonder and learn about what ancient and medieval cultures thought about an eclipse.
Back here on earth, I came across the site of a scientist who forages for edible plants in urban and natural settings. Check out Black Forager on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4rNE3vuZNk/?igsh=MTJ5dzV3emFkZmU4Nw==
Sew useful! We are now collecting used, clean, tank tops. All students will have an opportunity to use a sewing machine as we upcycle them into reuseable shopping bags and book bags. Any size, child or adult, is fine. Patterns or pictures are great. Tops in solid pastel shades will likely be printed with ink. They will be sold at our charity fundraiser craft sale in June. Please send any collected tops to school during the week of April 15-19.
Important dates: The next Professional Day is April 22, so no in-person class that day. Grade 4 to 7 students must submit their last Interim Submissions on or before noon on April 25 (a summary of work completed since the March 14 submission). Please recall that portfolios and Interim Submissions are mandatory elements to the program. These and other important dates are in the Parent Handbook, on the Blog calendar, and on the Important Date Checklist sent home before the Winter Break.
Summer Learning opportunities at the VSB. Elementary level registration opens April 24th. For more information: https://www.vsb.bc.ca/page/5211/summer-learning
by LBaker