Chloé Dehecq
Ormstown Elementary School
Students at Ormstown English School participated in a variety of elective classes this spring to broaden their horizons.
Option classes include pottery, expressive art, entrepreneurship, ukulele, introduction to computers, tool safety, board games, puppetry, environmental science, dance, and native beading.
The first classes ran from February 2 to March 1, then a second series began on April 5 and finish on May 3.
All students participate, but in two groups. Kindergarten, first grade and second grade classes work together while fourth, fifth and sixth grade classes work together.
“It’s fun,” said one student. “It can be more creative and imaginative because if we always did math we wouldn’t have any imagination,” she explained. This student participated in the pottery class.
The option courses were created five or six years ago. “It started out as a community initiative. We started it up again this year after the pandemic,” said Jessica Mackay, the school’s principal.
“We wanted to bring more community into the schools, have more special activities for our students and give our teachers time to work together and to plan for two hours on Fridays,” said Mackay.
“I think students learn many things and skills they would not be able to do otherwise. It’s also important to meet people from the community,” added Mackay.