Well, it's a wrap! If you have young children, summer holidays are upon us and whether you like them or not, there are 60-plus days for you to be in touch with your inner event planner. There is a lot to accomplish to ensure fond summer vacation memories.
Although Delta schools are closed, it does not mean they will be quiet. The Delta school district has been busy building and planting in school neighbourhood farms on 15 district-owned properties. The past couple of weeks alone have seen 1,500 learners planting pickling cucumbers and other vegetables for the district's "Project Pickle" initiative.
High school students and a couple of university kids will be tending crops in 55 raised beds throughout Delta over the summer break. Some of these beds are producing inside courtyards but the majority are growing next to playgrounds and fields, using underutilized district-owned lands.
Some first crops of veggies have been harvested and each school has different plantings on the go. The one common veggie is the pickling cucumber, which has been planted at every school.
The pickle, which will undoubtedly grace thousands of burgers and dogs this summer, is a complicated outcome. Planting, tending, harvesting, pickling, marketing, distributing, retailing and ultimately eating is a long journey that touches many aspects of the greater food economy.
The school district's motto of "Inspired Learning" resonates within Project Pickle and its "Hort in the Hood" unit based curriculum programs that teach our kids about the broad context of food. Watching and participating in their gardens in the morning, at recess, lunch, after school and in school time projects will frame agriculture as a critical component of the K-12 experience in Delta.
A couple of weeks ago the Fraser Institute released its ranking of high schools in B.C. Delta had a couple of schools tied for 98th. The ranking system has always been in question and in a recent article in this paper, both superintendent Dianne Turner and school board chair Laura Dixon pointed out there are other aspects within daily school operations that are not taken in to account in the ranking
methodology.
"In the Delta school district our vision is to be a leading district for innovative teaching and learner success," noted Turner.
Another fine example of this innovation would be the academy programs that are offered in the district. Delta is clearly a provincial leader when it comes to affording specialized learning environments. The Fraser Institute has not factored in programs like Project Pickle and the specialized learning academies in Delta.
A few years ago the district hired a facilitator to work with staff and educators to develop a "Bold Vision." In short, the district is framing itself as "a leading district for innovative teaching and learner success."
Sub themes of the Bold Vision are: Students are engaged through stimulating, relevant and inspiring educational experiences that ignite a lifelong passion for learning, innovative practices and individualized learning, and multiple pathways to learner success.
I attended my daughter's valedictory ceremony last Thursday and from my perspective there are certainly dozens of bright young men and women that are moving into society at large after being nurtured within the creative learning environment that is the Delta school district.
