Volume 4 Issue 2

Lieutenant Governor Visits Ralph Brown School
by Alysa

On February 27th, 2001, we had two very special guests: The Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba Honourable Peter M. Liba and Her Honour Shirley A. Liba. They came to our school because it was " I Love to Read Month". The Honourable Peter M. Liba read a book to us called, " The Magic Hockey Skates". After The Honourable Peter M. Liba read to us, he introduced us to a bear whose name was Rhododendron Bear. Rhododendron Bear came all the way from Black Mountain, North Carolina, in the Unites States. When the visit was almost over, we all took a picture with our guests. At the end, The Honourable Peter M. Liba and Her Honour Mrs. Shirley A. Liba asked us to say our names. They gave us a special pin with Lieutenant Governor's flag. Right before they left, the Honourable Peter M. Liba took some Q and A's. When they left we all got to see his Aides put the flag on his Cadillac. That was the best " I Love to Read Month " visitor.

Valentine's Day History
by Mackenzie

Valentine's Day is a special day observed on February 14. On this day, people send greeting cards called valentines to their sweethearts, friends and members of their families.

Different people believe Valentine's Day began in various ways. Some trace it to an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia. Others connect the event with one or more saints of the early Christian church. Still others link it with an old English belief that birds choose their mates on February 14.

The ancient Romans held the festival of Lupercalia on February 15 to ensure protection from wolves. During this celebration, young men struck people with strips of animal hide. Women took the blows because they thought that the whipping made them more fertile. The British borrowed many Roman festivals. Many writers link the festival of Lupercalia with Valentine's Day because of the similar date and the connection with fertility.

Another story says Valentine was an early Christian who made friends with many children. The Romans imprisoned him because he refused to worship their gods. The children missed Valentine and tossed loving notes between the bars of his cell window. This tale may be the reason people exchange messages on Valentine's Day.

Commercial valentines were first made in the early 1800's. Many of them were blank inside, with space for you to write a message.

Esther A. Howland, of Worcester, Massachusetts, became one of the first U.S. manufacturers of valentines. In 1847, she decided to make some of her own. She made samples and took orders from stores.

I Love to Read
by Stephanie

February was I love to Read month, which is the month to celebrate reading. There were many activities planned. There was a Literacy Evening held on Wednesday, February 28 at seven o’clock p.m. Jamie Oliviero and Franklin the turtle made appearances. The Scholastic Book Fair also occurred that evening as well as the following day. During the week of February 20 to 27 guest storytellers visited the classrooms. One special guest was the Lieutenant Governor and his wife. They visited two classrooms and read. There was also a reading challenge where each classroom received a “turtle” graph that they had to fill out (1 square = 1 book read). Once these were all filled out, Mrs. Adams said that she will do something very surprising! During the month there were daily announcements where the intermediate classes prepared morning “I Love to Read” announcements. Book Alerts were held from February 26 to March 2. This is where you had to drop everything and read for ten minutes. A special Buddy Reading afternoon where you did a special activity with your Buddy Reader was also held.

Vohon Dancers
by Mackenzie

On Tuesday February 20 at 10:30 a.m. the Vohon Dance Ensemble from Edmonton came to our school and the Ukrainian Program. They assembled in the gym and they performed for us. They took some children to the front of the gym and taught them how to twirl and to jumps. They showed us their vests that they wear. Some children got to come up and try them on. Everyone enjoyed the performance. After the performance was over the dancers went to the classes and answered questions. There were six dancers that performed in our school, three boys and three girls. They were all from Edmonton, Alberta.

Larry Thompson
Darko

On Tuesday, February 20, 2001, Larry Thompson of the Winnipeg Cyclone basketball team came to our class. Larry Thompson is a basketball player who plays for the Winnipeg Cyclone. Larry always plays basketball. He practices every day for three hours. When he was young, he loved school! He knew if he didn’t get good grades he wouldn’t make it anywhere in life. That goes for all you lazy people! He always finished his homework and was good in school. He started playing basketball when he was ten. He also played baseball and football. He wears size 16 shoes! He is 6 feet 9 inches. He weighs 240 pounds. He has huge hands. Today was Larry Thompson’s first day off from playing basketball! He eats a balanced diet and stays in shape. This is Larry’s first year playing with the Cyclone. One of the staff members of the Cyclones, came today with Larry. Her name is Krista. Larry Thompson signed cards for us to keep. Then he made a draw for a Cyclone t-shirt. Trevor won it. Larry Thompson’s head almost touches the doorway in our school. Then we all said thank you for coming and he left. He also signed a basketball for the school and an extra card. He was really nice! Thank you Larry Thompson for coming to our school and talking about yourself. I really enjoyed that. Thank you for the cards and the basketball you signed. I hope you get to be as tall as Shaq when you get older. I also hope you get to make the Vancouver Grizzlies in the N.B.A. I hope your team wins some more games during the season. I wish I could go to one of your games. What is your coaches name? Good luck with your basketball career!

Roxanne Taylor
By Darko

Roxanne Taylor is a radio announcer on 92 CITI FM. Her daughter goes to Ralph Brown School. Her name is Stephanie Taylor. Roxanne likes her job. She is not nervous when she is broadcasting because she has been doing this for twenty years at different stations.

Today she read “The Jewel Kingdom” to us. It was about a Princess who was delivering baskets of fruits to her friends because she missed them. Her name was Roxanne, the Princess of Rubies. When she was almost finished and had one basket left she asked her friend to deliver it, because it was far away. Then the princess started to walk back to the palace. She tripped over a rock., touched it and it was an egg! She didn’t know what kind. So Roxanne took it with her and put it on her bed. When it started hatching her friends came to watch and when it hatched it was a dragon! That was all she read.

At the end of the reading the class had a chance to ask Roxanne Taylor questions and she gave us autographs.

Science Fair
by Jeff

On March the 8 th our school will have a Science Fair. Our whole school participates but only the grades four to grade eight classes are marked or judged. You can either win 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Later at night all of the children’s projects are on display to parents and visitors that would like to see them.

Your science project needs a log book, a problem, hypothesis, material, observation, conclusion and application. For the elementary level scientific thoughts are worth 55 points, creativity is worth 25 points, dramatic value is worth 10 and skill is worth 10.

Children are encouraged to participate. This is a good experience for children to show and talk about their interests.