Janessa Burlock reports the news this week from Joussard School.

Hello, my name is Janessa Burlock and I am stepping in as reporter for the South Peace News today.

It is a quiet, rainy morning here at Joussard School. We’re thankful for the rain though because Alberta is starting to have forest fires and a wet forest is usually safe.

On my rounds of our school, I discovered that everyone has been very busy learning all kinds of stuff before the end of the year.

In kindergarten, the students are creating “Rube Goldberg” machines. It sounds so impressive for little tots to even know what these are! Anyway, it means that they are using classroom materials to create a machine that has chain reactions. This is helping them to understand how a computer is made. Incredible learning!

Our Grade 1 students have been harvesting. While most of us are thinking about planting our gardens, our Grade 1 kids just harvested their garden. They report they grew a very successful crop of green beans this year.

Students in Grade 2 have been measuring using all kinds of units. They discovered that their classroom is 7 1/2 Grade 2 students wide! It is 48 pencils long and 23 chairs long. This is sure a fun way to learn how to measure.

Grade 3 students have been busy with popsicle sticks and straws as they build bridges and towers. This is challenging, as they also have to test the strength of these structures.

In Grade 4, our students are all looking forward to their field trip with the Slave Lake Boreal Forest organization. This field trip will not involve much travel, as the students will study the boreal forest behind our school!

Our Grade 5 and Grade 6 students have just started their week of swimming lessons. They love this time of the year, as they enjoy the swimming and also visiting Prairie River Junior High School.

The students also reported a fantastic time during Wednesday’s basketball tournament. This is the traditional end to our Basketball Club and everyone shows their competitive side just a bit and demonstrates all of the great skills they have acquired through the club practices.

That is it for this week. Please check in with us next week.

Teacher Kienan Wilson, watches as [left-right] Sean Cagro, Devone Halcrow and Wapastim Isadore-Bellerose battle to score during our recent Basketball Club tournament.

Joussard School kindergarten student Karson Laboucan shows off the things he won at the Sucker Creek Wellness Teddy Bear Fair.

Inquiring minds want to know! Joussard Grade 2 students determine that their classroom is 7 1/2 students wide during a measurement activity!

Ashton Thunder looks closely at the path that he designed for the Ozobot to follow.