Canyon Lister Elementary School
4575 Canyon-Lister Rd
T: 250-428-4161
Ms. Takacs’ Message:
Happy New Year to everyone. I’m sure most of us had a wonderful break, and enjoyed our time off, but it sure was great to get back into routine and see everyone again. It’s always amazing to see how much some children grow in two weeks!
What a way to begin our week…NO HEAT! Thank you to all of you who so quickly and calmly responded to our need to send children home when we were notified to close the school. Everything went so smoothly. A big thank-you goes out to all our teachers and staff who began the process of phoning each family, ensuring that the message got home.
We have been experiencing cold winter weather again, but please be reminded that unless it is extremely cold conditions, children are expected to be outside, and need to come to school each day with all their winter gear.
Two of our classes are going to be doing an outdoor workshop with the Wildsight program, which is always such a fun day.
Basketball season has begun, and we again thank Julia Steed for volunteering to coach our students. If there is anyone else out there interested in coaching any sport, please let us know. We are happy to have you come in and be part of our school community.
Ski Days are beginning in a couple of weeks, and we are indebted to Mr. Ewashen for all his hard work in organizing this for our students. For those students not skiing, a reminder that it is a school day, and they are expected to be at school.
As many of you may have heard, one of our families lost their home over the weekend due to a fire. Three young boys are in need of clothing, toys, books and essentials. If you have anything you are willing to donate to the family, we are a drop-off spot, and items can be sent here. We will also have a donation jar at the front counter. Thank-you so much for the support I know will be forthcoming.
The Triple R is looking for donations ofmittens, gloves, and larger sized coats. If you have any items you could donate it would be greatly appreciated.
We are once again purchasing Overwaitea Gift Certificates as a fundraiser. If you would like to help out, gift certificates can be purchased at the office. They can then be used to purchase groceries at any Overwaitea store.
We Day- 2016
Merry:
My time at We Day was awesome! It was a great experience for me. I really liked Spencer West! (Spencer lost both of his legs because of a birth defect.) I admire how he still went for his dream, even though, everyone told him it was impossible. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro on his hands to bring awareness to the need for ALL children to have an education! I also liked the Burger Brothers (Craig and Mark Keilburger). I liked how Craig found a problem and tried to fix it. Even though, he knew he couldn’t do much, he still tried. Now, all over the world, people try to make a difference because of We Day. I chose these people because even though people told them it was impossible, they still tried.
My experience at We Day was amazing. It made me feel happy to know that so many people cared. I want to thank Gleaners for the amazing funds they donated to us. With any extra money we will be helping a village in Kenya.
BREAKFAST PROGRAM
We are fortunate to have a wonderful breakfast program every day, provided for us by our amazing volunteers. Just a reminder that the breakfast program closes at first bell (8:25), so if your child is requiring breakfast please ensure that they are here before the bell goes. All students are required to be in their classes by second bell, unless their bus has run late that day.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Looking for Storage
We have had a local farm generously donate apples and carrots to our school for the winter for our snacking/cooking pleasure. However, we need some storage space. Does anyone have an area in a barn/shop/shed that we could use to store bags of produce? Please let us know ASAP, as our volunteers will need to make arrangements for the delivery.
THANK YOU
Litterless Lunch
Our school is moving toward being a Litterless Lunch school, joining hundreds of schools across North American who have also embraced this change. There are many reasons for deciding to fully embrace this concept, and below are some of the reasons our school has made this decision.
- We are a UNESCO school, and take deep pride in honoring the commitment to sustainability that is integral to being a UNESCO school.
- We are finding that we have large amounts of waste, both in food and garage, each day at our school.
- Managing a recycling program takes valuable time away from our day, and while it is a good learning opportunity, we feel our students are well educated in the importance of recycling, but may actually need more opportunity to learn about reducing their impact on the environment.
- Litterless lunches at school are the best form of recycling. On average, a school-age child with a disposable lunch generates approximately 30 kg (67 lbs) of waste per school year. That means that if your child has 25 students in his/her class, they are producing 737 kg (1,625 lbs) of waste each year. This is more weight than the average car…. just imagine what a whole school produces!
We will continue to send home more information and articles about the Litterless Lunch movement, and are beginning our journey at this time by asking everyone to just be conscious of what is being put into each lunch, and looking for ways to reduce packaging. We encourage healthy snacks such as fruit and veggies, which are easy to pack in reusable containers.
WITS
The Grade 7’s did a presentation about various forms of bullying at last week’s assembly. Students are reminded to report bullying, and to seek help from adults if they are the victim of bullying, or have witnessed it. Bullying IS NOT a single incident. Bullying IS repeated, targeted incidents.
Creston Concert Society
Creston is “gonna rock” on Saturday, February 18. Graeme and Jody Peters are both classically trained musicians and music educators but their real love is rock music. Together with drummer Ian March they form Speed Control and they are coming to Creston. Their show, “Canada vs the World” presents a history of rock and roll in Canada from Paul Anka to the Barenaked Ladies. Some of our local “House of Rock” students will take part in a workshop with the band on Friday and will be the openers for Speed Control on stage Saturday at 2:00 pm at PCSS. The show is youth oriented and will delight anyone from the age of 5 up. Cost is only a toonie per person, regardless of age. Children 12 years and under must be accompanied by an adult. Presented by the Creston Concert Society with funding from the BC Touring Council Youth Engagement Program.
Speed Control: Saturday February 18, 2017, PCSS Theatre, 2:00 pm. $2 per person payable at the door.
Regional Open Houses – Rural Education
The Parliamentary Secretary is looking for feedback from British Columbians and interested stakeholders to provide a range of different perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing rural school districts and communities for her consideration.
The purpose of the regional open houses is to explore rural funding and educational practices, as well as the role educational programs and schools play in rural communities across the province. These regional open houses aim to gather feedback from families and community members through an open dialogue.
Everyone is welcome to attend. The first 30-45 minutes of each meeting will be an open house format, where light refreshments will be served. The remaining portion of the meeting will be a more formal question and answer format with Parliamentary Secretary Linda Larson and/or Ministry of Education staff.
We invite you to share your thoughts on the following discussion questions at theopen houses:
Discussion 1: What is your definition of a rural school?
Discussion 2: What are the positive impacts in the community?
Discussion 3: How are schools being used?
Discussion 4: Share your rural education story
If you are unable to attend, youmay comment on a draft discussion paper posted at in the coming weeks. You can also submit feedback by email to
There will be a regional Open House held at Trail, BC on February 24, 2017 from 6-8. The location of the Open House is still to be determined.
The Volleyball Season had a different flavour this year with a new head coach, Julia Steed. The Canyon Lister School is very thankful for her taking on this new position. She used her expertise and brought some new assistant coaches to help her including Travis, Tyson, Renee, and Trula. Players had games against ARES, Erickson, and Yaqan Nukiy. The teams played impressively with the grade 7s using three hits and some blocking as well. Thank you again Coach Steed.
Grade 7 Team
Back Row: Travis Steed, Tyson Steed and Julia Steed
Middle Row: Merrilyn Palmer, Abby Prier, Melody Palmer, Alyssa Walton, Faith Lorencz
Front Row: Willow Marean, Lorna-May Germann, Annika Johnson, Brooklyn Archambault
Missing from Photo: Lydia Gaudio
Grade 5/6 Team
Back Row: Travis Steed, Tyson Steed and Julia Steed
Middle Row: Brody Whitwell, Kyden Johnson, Bree Prier, Crystal Steed, Ezra Gaudio
Front Row: Katie Palmer, Shaye Johnson, Liberty Palmer
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