The second-last week of school for the 2025-26 season was, as is typical, a flurry of activities and events. When I asked my family of writers how I could tie these three separate topics together in this blog post, my daughter immediately noted how they all involved community. From a class or club community, to the school, to the larger neighbourhood, each example demonstrates how coming together for a common purpose to celebrate achievements are important to connecting with people.
Monday June 15, 2026 - Quiz Bowl
Last year, I wrote about how worried I was that Quiz Bowl might not survive. The participating teacher-librarians modified the original rules we had from 2009 and this school year, I altered the way I delivered my Forest of Reading programming (turning it into a club with limited membership vs the school-wide approach that needed more copies of books and more adult readers).
Our host school was Milliken Public School. We had five participating schools attend: Agnes Macphail Public School, Chief Dan George Public School, Milliken Public School, Percy Williams Junior Public School, and Port Royal Public School.
Our guest author was Jessica Renwick, author of Ghosts of Gastown. She lives in Alberta, so she conducted her author visit virtually via Zoom.
It was a very pleasant, enjoyable event. There were several factors that contribute to its success.
- the number of schools = having five schools makes the event a bit more intimate and manageable
- the organization of the teacher-librarians = there was no issues, like we had in the past, of scrambling madly to create questions last-minute to use in the competition
- the flexibility within the timetable = it wasn't a crisis if the author visit didn't happen immediately at 11:00 a.m. as scheduled, or if the students needed a bit more time outside before starting the afternoon competition or to buy their ice cream from the ice cream truck (thank you Nour!)
- the willingness of teacher-librarians to take on multiple roles = we all took turns watching each others' students at the ice cream truck, in the gym, or outside at the playground; if someone had to read the questions they made, the others stepped up to take on their jobs as buzzer monitor, scorekeeper, or crowd watcher
- the students = for the most part, the participants were calm but still enthusiastic
The winners this year were:
>>> Chief Dan George for the Yellow Cedar non-fiction category <<<
>>> Agnes Macphail for the Silver Birch fiction category <<<
I'm really happy for Chief Dan George P.S., because it is the first time they've won this award. I remember when my school finally won, and it was a big deal.
I will be the first to admit that I underestimated my own students. I did not expect that they would win. Our powerhouse competitor from last year's team, the one that compiled the greatest amount of points in 2025, didn't sign up in time to participate in the Forest of Reading program. However, the team proved me wrong - so I owe them an ice cream party this coming week!
Tuesday, June 16, 2026 - Library Helper Appreciation Luncheon
On Tuesday, June 16, 2026, we held our lunch for the student Library Helpers. Our co-presidents, Ayden and Maggie, requested a taco bar and milkshakes. My husband said I bought too much, but those students did justice to their meals, devouring 90 tacos like it was nothing!
The milkshakes were a bit messy but it was fun to attempt to make them.
Food really does bring people together.
Thursday, June 18, 2026 - Grade 8 Graduation
Our Grade 8 graduation is an important event to our school. There was a bit of added stress with the graduate slideshow component of the ceremony. Big thanks to Farah Wadia, our amazing Grade 8 teacher, who came to the rescue and essentially created the whole video from scratch in a single day.
We had several teachers return to attend the graduation ceremony, and several others stay both for the formal and after-party. One teacher said what a joy it was to be seated near one of the parents because the mother was just so ecstatic when every student was recognized, not just her own child. The speeches were lovely, especially the valedictorian speech. It is one of my jobs to assist the valedictorian with crafting the speech. I am grateful that this year's recipient took my advice to make it less generic and more specific. He was concerned that, by mentioning certain names, other people would feel left out. He came up with a satisfactory work-around and many people said that his address was one of the best they've heard in several years. Congratulations AMPS class of 2026!
I am grateful to be part of an amazing educational community. On the very next day, Friday June 19, 2026, the AMPS Parent Council hosted a Staff Appreciation Lunch for us. The food was delicious (yummy chicken parmesan, roasted vegetables, eggplant parmesan, two types of pasta, salad and home made dessert) and the kind words shared by Masi, Chuck, and Val really touched our hearts.
One more week!
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