"Welcome to Room 28"

In our classroom we have been studying flight!  We have visited the aviation museum, had a number of special guests, made hot air balloons, and even got to "fly" at St. Andrews Airport! 

Gilles Gobart's Visit by Amira 

On February 3, 2000 Gilles Gobarts came to visit.   Gilles is an air traffic controller who works at St. Andrews Airport.

Gilles drew pictures to help us understand what he was saying.  He also brought a recording of himself talking to pilots in the air.  Gilles watches the planes on a computer and tells the pilots what to do.  If one plane is on top of another plane, there must be at least 1,000 miles between them.

Gilles told us that in an air traffic control tower there are rows and rows of computers and on them you can see a plane coming from Toronto going to Vancouver at 31,000 feet, and at the other end you can see a plane flying from Vancouver to Toronto at 31,000 feet, when they both reach the screen in the middle of the row the controller watching that screen has to call one of the airplanes and tell the pilot to either go up or down.

I learned a great deal from Gilles and I am glad he came in!

Mrs.Madder's students have been working on a unit on peace.   Initially, the study began with the students finding out about local agencies that help people in our community.  Soon, however, the project grew to encompass agencies such as the United Nations and the many countries included in its makeup.  Each student chose a country and began research to find out about the culture, the people, the economy, the living conditions, the government, etc.  The students soon honed in on the issue of landmines.  Ms. Alison Clement, the Youth Landmine Ambassador for the Prarie Regions, was invited to speak to the class about landmines and to explain to students how they could get involved in the campaign.  As a result of Ms. Clement's visit the students began collecting signatures for a petition to ban landmines which was then forwarded to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy.   They are also planning a letter writing campaign to president Bill Clinton urging him to sign the International treaty banning the use of landmines worldwide. 

On January 18, 1999 we were honoured with a visit from the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy.  Mr. Axworthy spoke of his work as Minister of Foreign Affairs and of his involvment in the effort to ban landmines.

Did you know that some landmines look just like toys! 

Did you know that the United States has refused to sign the treaty banning the use of landmines!

ALISON CLEMENT'S VISIT

by Carla

On Thursday, January 14, 1999 Alison Clements came to Earl Grey School (Room 28) to talk to the students about landmines.  She is the United Nations Landmines Youth Amassador for the Praries.

Mrs. Dannelly came in to show us several landmines.  Landmines come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are under the ground and some are above the ground.    (They weren't loaded)  We went down to the open area to play a game and you had to go from one place to the other without stepping on a landmine.  People get hurt or die every 22 minutes from landmines.

Students in Room 28 say the game helped them to understand more about how dangerous these landmines really are.

MR. AXWORTHY'S VISIT

By Kelci

On Monday, Jan. 18, 1999, Mr. Axworthy, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, came to the Hewlett Packard Computer Lab at Earl Grey School to discuss the issue of landmines with Mrs. Madder's class.  (Room 28)  The all-girls class was also there to see Mr. Madder receive his Prime Minister's Award for teaching excellence.

Mr. Axworthy talked to us about different types of landmines and told us what he had seen and heard about landmines.  He said that we should continue to work on landmines and was glad we signed the "Ban Landmines" petition.  Some people asked questions on the issue of landmines and he answered in detail.  At the end, Mr. Madder was presented his award and a pen that Mr. Axworthy used to sign a landmines treaty in Mexico.

Before he was mauled with cameras, several students thanked him for coming, saying that it was a pleasure to meet him.

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