3rd Grade is wrapping up a months-long study of Coast Salish People, with a documentary film about cedar longhouses. After learning about salmon and cedar resources, each of four teams built cedar forest dioramas back in Oct and Nov.

Learning about indigenous village life inspired interest in longhouses, so we studied Coast Salish architecture, designed and erected pole building models in a traditional NW style in December.

For the last five weeks, we've learned about Coast Salish daily life, through creation stories, art images from the Vancouver Museum of Anthropology, research, reading and video. It was natural to create models of artifacts from daily life to help us better connect to Coast Salish people and the sacred ways our neighbors have lived since time immemorial. These pictures were behind the scenes, on Feb 9, the day before we took a field trip to visit the Tulalip Nation and the Hibulb Center.

See backstage and lighting, with script readers and pointers directing the audience to specific features of longhouse life. While kids take full control of their production, voicing and content, Mr. B is the director and camera operator. Films will be screened at the 2022 STEM Fair, as the 3rd grade social science entry.

Also on display will be our beautiful longhouse village and cedar dioramas.

Mr. B

What clubs/athletics/extracurriculars have you been involved in? I have tried most sports throughout high school, I've been an ASB rep for 2 years, and I studied in Thailand during the 2021 school year.

What is one positive memory from your time here that you’ll carry with you forever? Our rock climbing intensive

What is the best piece of advice you have received from a teacher? Take charge of your own future!

Finish this sentence: “I cannot live without…….” the outdoors...I like hiking and backpacking.

What is one piece of advice for incoming high school students? Try to turn things in on time.

What is the most meaningful assignment ever given to you by a teacher? Personal narrative essays...a college essay and one from 10th grade English. I like this writing style because it allows me to tell a personal story.

What’s the most important quality in a friendship? Why? Trust. From trust, you can build and form other meaningful qualities.

In 10 years, I will be…: Graduated with a bachelor's degree and possibly a master's. Maybe a part of the Peace Corps or applying my degree to a meaningful career.

Who/what do you find inspiring? I am inspired by art.

What are your plans after high school? Attend college and possibly get a degree in some combination of studio arts, psychology, and environmental sciences.

I moved from Bellingham to Lopez Island in the summer of 2018 and have been working as a paraeducator at Lopez School ever since. During the pandemic, I decided to complete a lifelong dream and recently graduated from WGU with my Masters in Elementary Education. I am now a certified teacher and am overjoyed to have been given the opportunity to teach the 3rd grade class for the rest of the year! I am excited to build deeper relationships with students and families, contribute positivity and a growth mindset, and of course have as much fun as possible. Some of my favorite pastimes are kayaking, hiking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing, gardening, cooking, and spending time with my wife, Tanya, and our gang of animals at home.

-Alison

This week, I was mildly chastised by a parent for inaccuracies in our COVID dashboard information. After meeting with that parent, I immediately sought clarification and confirmation of the numbers we are reporting. Our information was correct based on the tests we have conducted and the confirmation of positive cases of COVID-19.

The discrepancy, if any, seems to be among students who are being kept home because they are sick but who the school has not been able to test for confirmation of a case of COVID-19. For us to provide accurate information regarding the level of active COVID infections among students and staff, we must have the opportunity to confirm the cases via appropriate testing protocols. If your child has symptoms that may be related to COVID-19, please contact Nurse Hattman at khattman@lopezislandschool.org to arrange for testing.

In addition, our investigation of previous cases has typically shown an infection transmission source from outside the school community. As we watch the changes to mask mandates across the country, our experience has shown that in-school transmission is rare when students are properly wearing their masks and social distancing to the extent possible. The one area where there is a concern is during lunch, particularly with secondary students. We must eliminate this virus in our population before mask mandates are removed. Please talk to your children and ask them to make sure they are only taking their masks off to eat during lunch and when they are eating, they should be properly socially distanced (6 feet with masks off) from their classmates and friends.

As I said last week, I believe we are nearing the end of this pandemic but we are not there yet. To get there, we must keep our guard up for just a little bit longer. Thank you.