Long awaited update!
It has been TOO long since our last update. We have been very busy creating new programming for our community and have gathered some exciting news.
Lets get right to it:
NSERC PROMOSCIENCE
Wolastoq Education Initiative has partnered with National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and received funding through the PromoScience grant. This exciting opportunity allows Wolastoq Education to expand on its mandate of providing provocative and educational hands-on science education. With this grant we have been able to purchase some top-notch science equipment such as our new:
Celestron NexStar 6SE Computerized Telescope!
Be on the look-out for future 'Astronomy Nights' from Wolastoq Education. We will be monitoring the sky for some big celestial events and planning our Astronomy Nights around them. Weather and cloud cover permitting, Jupiter will be at its 'opposition': Jupiter will be on its closest approach to Earth and will be fully illuminated by the Sun on this day. Keep your eyes to the skies!
Our NSERC PromoScience Grant has also allowed us to extend our Lunch Time Science Club initiative at Mah-sos Elementary and Andover Elementary. Darcy has been developing some unique lesson plans that teach kids about chemical reactions, magnetism, electricity, and the laws of physics.
DRIVING OUT WINTER WITH FRESH PRODUCE!
OUR TOWER GARDENS are stocked and loaded for the growing season. Starting in late February, Bobbi-Jo installed Tower Gardens at local Southern Victoria High School, Tobique Headstart, and the Negutkuk Health Center. We hope to inspire the community to join us in future gardening endeavours like the Tower Gardens, or the Mah-sos School Garden, or Negutkuk Community Garden, or many many many other opportunities Wolastoq Education offers to learn about a sustainable lifestyle.
COOKING CLASSES have started in early March and Bobbi-Jo has been whipping up some culinary masterpieces with local youth and adults.
Bobbi-Jo's cooking classes have focused on a few issues that are a plague to the local area, such as things like: diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and heart disease. At the heart of these problems is a poor diet. These cooking classes seek to teach youth and adults about making healthy meal choices and the consequences of eating poorly. She claims we are "cooking against diabetes!"
Bobbi-Jo includes nutritional vocabulary when creating food from scratch: for example, she discusses the value of foods that are high in anti-oxidants and what an anti-oxidant is and why oxidization in your body can be dangerous.
They have prepared taco salads with homemade salsa and guacamole -- they even made their own chips with flax, chia, sunflower, and sesame seeds. This is one of the multiple homemade meals that are nutritionally sound.
MARCH BREAK SCIENCE MADNESS
THIS MARCH BREAK, WEI had the pleasure of hosting a March Break Science Camp for youth in grades 1-5. Science Wizard Alex Kleiner from Elephant Thoughts Educational Initiative dazzled young ones with demonstrations of levitating pingpong balls using electric heat, singing water basins using the natural vibration of metal. Youth got their hands dirty by learning to solder circuit boards and make electric bagpipes while younger ones built and programmed their own robotics using Lego WeDo.
TUTORING & AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM
Wolastoq Education has been committed to delivering exceptional academic interventions since it's inception. We continue to deliver top-notch interventions in math and literacy to students who are falling behind academically. Wolastoq Education has two tutors at Southern Victoria High School 4-5 days per week offering assistance to Grade 9 and 10 students. They are on the ground and in the classroom making sure that students are consistently meeting curriculum outcomes and assisting students who are having difficulty with current class material.
Wolastoq Education offers a wide variety of other services to the local community including: a school social worker, spear-heading the Tobique Youth Council, volunteering a substantive amount of time with local activities, and working with community members to create memorable and effective cultural events to connect youth and adults to their Maliseet culture.
Feel free to contact us at info@wolastoqed.com if you would like offer any suggestions, make comments, or tip us off on local events we can join in on.
