| By MJ Sorba, Teacher
Walk
down a hallway at Queen Mary Community Elementary and you’ll feel it. You’re in
the heart of a culturally rich and inclusive learning community, which can be
best described as resilient. This year, the Grade 6 students in Division 4 were
honoured to be asked to support the creation of the Superintendent’s holiday
card, an annual tradition at the North Vancouver School District.  
To prepare, students were asked to reflect on their
personal connections to resiliency before researching a local winter bird they
felt represented their story. Learners studied the unique characteristics of
their winged creature and selected a photo they identified with. During this experience, and led by Artists for Kids’
Director, Allison Kerr, students considered how warm and cool tones conveyed
their stories before experimenting with various water colour techniques.  
After
the paintings were completed, each student’s piece was scanned and arranged at
the AFK studio to create the collaborative narrative that our song unifies us. 
Inspired
by this creative task, students extended their learning by writing poems to
share the perspectives of the winter birds of our snow-capped community. 
We would like to extend our gratitude to Allison Kerr,
for the opportunity to celebrate our learning community’s diversity and resiliency
through this card project. We would also like to thank AFK’s Studio Technician Emily
Neufeld, who assisted with transforming the students’ work into a digital image,
and to Queen Mary’s Visual Art’s Teacher Todd Clark, for continuing to work
with students to develop their images that are on display at the Education Services
Centre for the month of December. 
A
selection of student poetryThe Harsh ColdBy Atoosa I
may be small And
fragile But
I stand against this harsh cold nonetheless Eagerly
flapping through the storming sky Snowflakes
numbing my feathers Every
tree covered in a white blanket I
nestle deep into my home of twigs and branches Having
an escape from this crippling weather I
may be small I
may be fragile but I
stand against this harsh cold nonetheless The Two BirdsBy Annika Two twins, different. They sit and watch, the snow. Such a lonely place, filled with bitter. Though, we still sit. Too lonely, two alive Bird
to BeBy
Mila My
resiliency and independency, Lasts
me, Throughout
the winter without a splinter, Quick
and a slick, I
go without a prick Wood
DuckBy
Cayla The
cold and crisp air surrounded me, As
a wood duck fluttered around the frozen pond, I
heard the snow crunch under my shoe, As
I felt the whisper of winter arrive Snow
FallBy
Aaron As
the snow fell down, A
bird flew high, In
the sky, Through
the snow falling Red
TailBy
Arvin The
hawk has a red tail, It
keeps him warm, So he
can’t be tired |
