The Power of Story

GPN Students Go to Legislature and Meet Youngest MLA, Thomas Dang.

This is our class taking a picture 
with Thomas Dang

Have you ever met an MLA before? Our class met 20 year old Thomas Dang.  He took some time out of his busy schedule to talk to us and mentioned Bill 1. It is a bill that he presented with the education minister about eliminating school fees. We hope it goes through because it will help out our parents. We also got to take a memorable picture with Thomas Dang on the steps that lead to the government chamber.

Room 14 Flies Back in Time!!    

    

On our way to the City of Edmonton Archives

You are probably wondering what we did at the Prince of Whales Armouries? First we arrived and toured the outside of the building. We saw the LRT railroad and the Royal Alexandra Hospital.  When we were in the Archives we got to choose a subject to find information and photos about. After that we went to the basement and learned that paper hates water. We then met Warrant Officer Howard. He gave us a tour and we got to participate in a drill where we sang a song which was very funny. After that we went on a letter hunt and got to try on different uniforms. We also touched artifacts, like the pineapple grenade and a death penny.  When we left we were very surprised about what we learned and touched. We felt like our heads were going to explode with all the new knowledge!!!!  

GPN Students Take a Sneak Peak Back in Time!!

Grade 4 students listen to Liam, interpreter at the
Federal Building as he explains about World War One.

Have you ever taken a trip back in time to learn about The First World War? Well GPN students have! The adventure started for us, when we got to know what it felt like to be in a trench and learned about loved ones back home waiting for their family to return. Each student got a dog tag it had a veteran’s name on it. We also got to find artifacts, cards and information about what happened to our veterans during The War and after!

Grade 4, Room 14 in Edmonton Journal Building with Photographer Larry Wong

Mr. Wong sharing exciting stories
about the world with students.

BREAKING NEWS!

Larry Wong gets to meet famous people around the world. We saw photos he took of McDavid signing diapers and Premier Notley on her cell phone! He also took photographs of Fort McMurray during the wildfire. FUN FACT: Larry Wong Has His Own Website called Larry Wong Photography here’s the link CLICK HERE

EJ School Get Thumbs up from GPN Students

Getting picture taken by the Pulitzer Prize on our first day.

 Have you ever wondered what it’s like at EJ School? Throughout the week, we discovered lots. On Monday we took an awesome tour around downtown. We visited Rogers Place and looked at the mosaic by Alex Janvier. He created the art piece as a symbol of Mother Nature and pathways leading to Edmonton. Tuesday, we interviewed people who worked at The Edmonton Journal. We came back with tips about journalism and information on their jobs. We travelled to the Legislature the next day. Our tour guide Michael showed us around and we learned a ton of facts about Alberta, past and present. On Thursday, we explored the Archives. Our class touched artifacts and learned about battles. On our last day we learned about Malcolm Mayes and the comics he made for the Edmonton Journal. Our adventure was an unforgettable experience! 

Jr. Reporters Learn More about Edmonton Journalists

A group of Grade Four Students are making a poster
all about a reporter named Janet French.

Do you want to know how to interview people without getting scared? A good way is to ask Sandy VanRiper at the Edmonton Journal. “She’s the best person to know how to interview,” said Tiffany from Grade 4. Our first interview was on Tuesday March 7th.  We met Karen Unland, Dave Breakenridge, Sarah O’Donnell and Paula Simons. We created and asked 7 questions to everyone. “It was the best being able to meet a person who works at the Edmonton Journal,” says Madison from Grade 4. We all learned how to make thicker questions. Collin Taylor, Janet French, Mark Iype and Juris Graney were who we interviewed on Friday March 10th. After our experience of interviewing……….. we can now question anyone!

Grade Fours Snap into History at the Legislature!

Grade Fours learning about Premier William Aberhart.

Hey have you heard about the Alberta Legislature? Well if you haven’t we will tell you what we learned when we visited there March 8th! We found out that women and aboriginal people were not allowed to vote when it came to politics. Get this, only men were allowed to! A girl group known as the Famous Five worked very hard convincing people and the government to let women have the right to vote. This is why women can vote today! Isn’t that amazing?

GPN Students Train for Greatness

GPN students practicing drills
and wearing army hats.

“ATTENTION!” Warren Howard officer (our tour guide) shouted in the Loyal Regiment Museum! During that day our minds exploded with information!  We had a scavenger hunt and saw artifacts from different wars like a rabbit’s foot and food rations. We learned that training in the army is hard. Our grade 4 class had the opportunity to hold old artifacts like a grenade and a death penny. We received a golden poppy souvenir to remind us about our tour and we will wear it with pride.

Tour of CKUA Was Music to Our Ears

 

CKUA Radio Station kindly Invites Grade Four students
 in for a little history lesson.

          

When we walked in the door the first thing that caught our eye was that dazzling painting that read Radio CKUA First On Your Dial. Next, we zoomed straight up in the elevator instead of walking five flights of stairs like at the EJ building (where we barely survived). What an experience to be able to record station IDs! Now some of us are famous because we are on the radio! We also were able to go in the room where they have bands play so they can put them on the radio!  It was interesting to learn about how little black canvas like speakers stop voices/instruments from echoing so you get a better end product.  Lastly, we received SWAG, what more could we have asked for?

  

Small Kids Fill Minds with Info

 

Grades Fours visiting the Agora Interpretive Centre.

Grade 4s visited the Federal Building on March 8th! First we went to the Agora Interpretive Centre. “It is cool to learn through fun games,” says Cole. We dressed up as Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House as well as looked at a 360 degree view from the top of the Legislature. Later we watched a 4-D movie of Louise Caroline Alberta. Did you know who she was? When she was a baby her mother thought her brothers and sisters were ugly and she was Queen Victoria's favourite. Alberta and Lake Louise are named after her. Our favourite was when foam shot out of the roof. We also visited a living wall with two mini water falls. We were lucky enough to walk through the Great War exhibit. We all had a soldier and had to find out more about them. Many were killed in action. What an afternoon!

Open Your Eyes to the City Shout Norwood Students

This is us waiting at Stadium LRT Station. We were waiting for the train to come.  It came about every 8 minutes.  We missed the early train every day! We caught the train to Central Station.  Sometimes we had to stand when there were lots of people going places.  It was a great experience!

Look at all those stairs! Every day when we arrived at the Edmonton Journal Building, we walked up five flights of stairs. We were able to see things on every floor on our way up.  It was so much easier going down the stairs instead of up. We won’t miss them!

On Monday, January 16^th Norwood School (the UN-4-Getable 4s) went to Iron Foot Place (Tsa Tsa Ke K’e). We saw the mosaic by Alex Janvier.  Some people saw cool things in it.  We saw something that looked like an Angry Bird! We had an outstanding time.  The mosaic was very unique. We hope everyone gets to enjoy it!

On Monday, January 16, we went to Rogers Place (also know as Iron Foot Place) for our first time.  Guess what?! There was a statue of Wayne Gretzky! It was very big! Wayne Gretzky is holding a big trophy called the Stanley Cup.  We hope everyone take a picture of him holding the trophy.  It was amazing!

On Friday, January 20^th we arrived at the Edmonton Journal Building and went straight out to the balcony on the fifth floor.  It was a beautiful sunny morning so we could clearly see the river valley and lots of buildings downtown.  We will never forget the view of our city!

Have you ever seen such a beautiful view at such a high height?! The Un-4-Getable 4s did! It was our very first time ever looking out at the city.  We loved being able to see the river.  It was so amazing that our heads almost EXPLODED! We think you would feel the same way too!

On Wednesday, January 18^th we did some art at the Alberta Legislature. We found a pole with an imprint of the legislature building on it, taped a piece of paper on it, and lightly shaded using our pencils.  Did you know you could go to the Legislature to do art? You can!

We all made a rubbing downtown and had fun! We rubbed all different shapes and sizes. We miss rubbing because it was so awesome.  Did you know you could make your own art right there on Jasper Avenue? You should take a look at the benches the next time you’re on Jasper Avenue!

On Wednesday, January 18^th we walked behind the Legislature.  We had an amazing race! We found some important information. We were surprised by the sign of Fort Edmonton.  We also saw a Totem Pole from British Columbia, and the High Level Bridge.  It was spectacular and something we will never forget!

On Wednesday, January 18^th, the Un-4-Getable 4s got to visit the Alberta Legislature Building.  We learned about the Alberta government, the chamber where they meet, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta and Chief Crowfoot.  Our guide Mary was very nice and told us lots of information.  We hope everyone has the chance to visit the legislature!