Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.

Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.

Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.

~Pueblo blessing

We welcome anyone who knew Adele to post on this blog any remembrances, comments, images, poems, quotes or whatever you like here. It is a place for us to honour and remember Adele and share with each other our memories and thoughts about her. If you don't have access to post on this blog but would like to, please contact Nicole Fougere at fougeredance3@gmail.com or John Scully at john.scully@sympatico.ca and we will set that up for you. If you would prefer to have us post something for you, please send it on to either of those email addresses and we will be happy to do so.

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

Dear Adele and community,
Another postcard from Cass-land. It's about what you taught me and where I'm taking it.

This is the end of my first year as a half-time resource teacher. I managed to squeeze in a ton of arts integration and persuade colleagues to partner on fun projects. I also managed a little LTTA work: natural dyeing and stitching with kindergarten students to create insect pictures, animal scultures and so on. I love seeing the kids light up when they get their hands on the materials!

Some highlights:
  • Sand mandalas on school wellness day - by a mix of junior and intermediate students. What fascinated me was that the ISP students (with special needs) were the stars of the show, really into this and totally getting it. Plus just doing this with them gave us a connection so that they greet me in the hallway now.
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  • puppets: My writing students, grade 4s who struggle with writing, gave me paragraphs about their puppet characters in exchange for the materials to make them with. We had a lot of fun and of course used them for drama when the writing was done.
  • tessellated block printing by grade 7s
  • a 6'X12' mural by 4 intermediate girls for the school library - in progress
  • paper sculptures by grade 5s
  • weaving and patterning by grade 5s
  • spoken word and dance performances re: structures and forces, grade 5 - I can't show a picture but they were enacting earthquakes and tornados acting on bridges while making sound effects and describing forces in poetic language!
My main entertainments outside of school are bellydancing and judo! The bellydance class is taught by my dear friend, dancer and singer Roula Said. If any of you're ever into trying it out, she totally knows how to support people's health needs and send you home feeling good, having had a laugh. The judo is with my son. I used to do competitive judo to the national level long ago. Now I am re-learning it with him with no agenda but fun and connecting with my nearly-teenaged son. I guess both work and play are all about teaching and learning, for me. Plus powerful abs. 

What are your current entertainments?  

With love from Cass

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