One of the promises I made to myself when we moved to Porcupine Plain was that we would never take where we live for granted. I have lived in a few different places in the Province; from the South to West Central, but I have never lived anywhere as beautiful as Porcupine Plain. I am still awestruck when we drive through Greenwater Provincial Park at the beauty of the forest and the lakes. Growing up in West Central Saskatchewan, our largest trees were the power poles. I have completely fallen in love with the Boreal Forest, which is why we choose to move to the lake for the spring and summer months.

Why am I telling you this? One of the things that Dr. Shanker highlights as a major contributor to stressors for our youth is a nature deficit. Put simply, kids do not get outside and experience nature enough. I would extend this to say that many of us have a nature deficit.

We have been lucky enough for many years to have Mrs. Sharon Meyer as a consultant in our school division. Mrs. Meyer is a wonderful Knowledge Keeper and teacher as well as a great friend. She has taught us all that a connection to the land is the key to being holistically healthy. She goes so far as to say that even our choice of footwear (or in fact choosing to always wear footwear) impacts our health. She taught us that when we meet we are often on concrete floors, often not on the ground floor, and almost always wearing shoes made of synthetic materials. All of this, she teaches, separates us from the land and therefore has a negative effect on our health. Now, I a not suggesting that we should all adopt a barefoot lifestyle, but I think there is a lesson to be learned, metaphoric or otherwise. That lesson is that the greater we separate ourselves from the land and from nature, the more of an impact this will have on our wellness, especially our mental wellness.

So, what is the solution? This is by far the easiest. The answer is to simply get outside and enjoy the wonderful gift that we have all been given, living in Porcupine Plain. We are truly blessed to share Treaty 6 Land with each other but often fail to truly enjoy it. The simple act of going for a walk (perhaps barefoot?) can go a long way to reducing our stressors and the stressors of our youth. Getting into nature and away from the concrete, asphalt, street lights, and noises of our society can be truly healing. Years ago, I read a book by Robert Cardinal Sarah called "The Power of Silence" which, although it excluded the nature connection, spoke about the impact that societal noise has on our spiritual wellness. He suggested that we make time every day for uninterrupted silence. This is great advice, albeit very hard to implement. However, our family tries very hard when we are on walks in nature to make some room for silence and to allow the sounds of God's creation to fill our ears, it can be a truly refreshing and even healing experience.

So, I challenge our families to find time to get out into nature, to enjoy the wonder that is our home and to enjoy it with some intentional silence. It could be a rare win-win-win scenario. Time in nature, allowing silence into our busy and noisy world, and time with family. All of these will reduce our stressors and improve our overall wellness.

April 27

Report cards will be released Friday, April 28. Please click the box below to request a paper copy.

On Saturday and Sunday, Miss Zenner and Mr. Mielke accompanied over 50 athetes to Melfort for the annual Jr. NBA tournament. We had an amazing weekend! We won some and lost some, but overall the athletes showed amazing growth and had a great time. Pictures and details will come in next week's Bear Blast, stay tuned.

The volunteer for this month is Mrs. Mielke. She has proven instrumental in rallying the troops for our Hoopla run. She has led the organization of pep rallies and events to draw attention to and celebrate Athletics in our school. She has also been known to be an effective gap hitter in staff vs student slo- pitch games. Thank you for your leadership and support for Bears Athletics.

Athlete of the month is J.R Antazo. J.R. stepped up and stole the spotlight over the past few weeks. He is responsible for the huge dagger 3 to put Preeceville to bed at Conference Playoffs. However, his best work was yet to come during the first Hoopla game vs St. Brieux. With big brother riding the pine after picking up some early greasy fouls, J.R put the team on his back and started cookin’. Offensively and defensively he was the best player on the floor and every else started to feed off his energy. Great job J.R.

Athlete of the month is James Teale. James is found in the gym on a regular basis working on his badminton game. He is showing great improvement and he’s not afraid to work extra to get better. Although he seems strictly business James shows great sportsmanship and is always up for joking around with the team and classmates. Good Job James.

Junior Badminton

Grade 7 - Mondays 4:30-5:30

Grade 8/9 - Mondays 5:30-6:30

Junior NBA (Grade 3456 Basketball)

No practice this week, Mr. Mielke and Miss Zenner are working on some home games, stay tuned.

** Games may start earlier if teams arrive, our goal is to get them home as early as possible.

Once again, Jigs and Carolines will be offering hot lunches on Wednesday and Friday. Please order directly from them. Please note:

ALL JIGS ORDERS MUST BE PLACED THROUGH THE GOOGLE FORM BELOW.

CAROLINES ORDERS MUST NOW BE PLACED ONLINE AS WELL.