Dr. George Johnson Middle School students, who are part of leadership groups led by the Gimli & District Kiwanis Club, raised $300 for the Gimli Humane Society this month.
Students in the K Kids Club (grades 5 and 6) and Student Voice Club or Builders Club (grades 7 and 8) held a variety of events in the school then donated the proceeds to the animal shelter.
“Being part of our Student Voice and K Kids groups means having a voice for things that happens in our school. Students chose various events they wanted in our school such as hot chocolate and candy cane sales, hat days and pizza and perogy hot lunches,” said DGJMS principal Jamie Gilbart. “The students also voted to donate all of the proceeds/donations collected during these events to the local Gimli Humane Society.”
Gilbart said the school is grateful to Pat Newbury and Kiwanis members for helping prepare the hot chocolate and hot lunches for the students, as well as to the Sacred Heart church for preparing the delicious perogies.
To help combat bullying, grades 5 and 6 students in the K Kids Club organized a Random Acts of Kindness event over the course of a few weeks. When a kind act was spotted, students would have their names entered into a daily draw for a prize.
Random Acts of Kindness included sharing gum, picking up a dropped pencil, putting chairs away, helping someone with their school work and helping sweep up someone’s mess. The acts were recorded on a ballot.
And grade 7 and 8 students in the Student Voice Club organized a kindness and anti-bullying poster contest.
“We had many submissions from students in our school and the Student Voice then voted on the winning posters,” said Gilbart. “Winners received gift cards to a local restaurant. These posters are now visible throughout the halls of our school.”
The anti-bullying posters offered practical ideas on how to be kind, such as smiling at people, complimenting others, saying thank you and holding the door open for someone. They also offered reasons why bullying is harmful, including hurting physical and mental health and in some cases leading to death by suicide, and encouraging others to be a buddy, not a bully.
Bullying facts on one poster said: “Bullying makes young people feel incredibly insecure. When [you’re] being bullied, you feel constantly insecure and on guard. A main reason of suicide and self-harm is bullying. Students who are bullied by other students at school are more likely to suffer from depression and suicide thoughts.”
At the beginning of the month, the school held a student-led science and social studies fair and invited families, community members and Grade 4 students from Sigurbjorg Stefansson Early School to attend.
“Our students researched and collected information on various science and social studies topics that they have been learning about,” said Gilbart. “Students then presented to each other and our guests throughout the day.”
Although there were a few presentation jitters, the students did a great job and as a result of numerous presentations were able to develop a deeper understanding of the information they gathered, he said.
“One of the hopes of this event was that students would really know the content for their informational writing assessments the following week,” said Gilbart. “The results from our writing assessment show this was the case as students did very well.”
To help develop physical fitness, Gilbart said physical education teacher Mr. Charrier arranged for the students to learn how to curl, and volunteers Brittany and Derrick Anderson and Kerri and Kyle Einarson helped the students on the ice. For many students, it was the first time they took part in curling. Students were quoted as saying it was “really fun,” they were “looking forward to going again” and “I wasn’t sure if I would like it but I had a lot of fun.”
The school has a number of upcoming events, including include spirit week in which students will get to choose dress-up days, a pancake breakfast on March 21 with help from the Kiwanis club and a movie afternoon in the gym on the Friday before spring break, said Gilbart
Express Photos Courtesy of Dr. George Johnson Middle School
The Student Voice Club organized a kindness and anti-bullying poster contest
