Good afternoon families! ¡Buenas tardes familias! We hope that you have been able to enjoy the spring like weather after the snow from last week.

Today, May 5, is Red Dress Day. 

Red Dress Day honours the memories of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada. Métis artist Jaime Black helped inspire the red dress movement, where red dresses are hung from windows and trees to represent the pain and loss felt by loved ones and survivors.

Originally starting as the REDdress art installation, Red Dress Day became a grassroots movement across Canada. The project was made up of 600 community-donated red dresses, which were later placed in public spaces throughout Winnipeg and across Canada.

The artist chose the colour red after speaking with an Indigenous friend who told her that is the only colour spirits can see. Red dresses are used to call the spirits of missing and murdered women and girls back to their loved ones. The goal was to speak to the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against Indigenous women and to evoke a presence by marking absence.

As principal of A.E. Cross School, I have the pleasure of walking the hallways and entering classrooms on a daily basis. I was blown away by some of the work that was being done throughout our building over the past week. Here are some of the highlights:

• A big thank you to the Grade 9 Humanities teachers for providing their students a House of Commons Virtual Reality Tour. Students donned headsets and were transported into the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. For 15 minutes, they sat amongst politicians and learned about the different parts of Parliament. We look forward to the Grade 9s experiencing Space Exploration through Virtual Reality in a couple of weeks time.
• Walking down to the band room is always an uplifting experience. I was lucky enough to visit the room while our Grade 7's were playing a rousing version of “Shut Up and Dance”. It is amazing the work done by these students throughout the year to get to this point. A special thanks to our wonderful band director, Mr. Rattan.
• Working my way upstairs, I was able to talk with our Grade 9 Science students who were busy preparing for their Environmental Chemistry presentations. Whether it was learning about the impact of Red Tide or Air Pollution, it was great to see the students engaging in understanding more about our environment.
• The smell of the construction lab always lures me in. Smelling the cut wood and the resin that Mr. Ford and the students work with is so encouraging. Students engaging with Career and Technology Foundation Courses is so important as they move closer to high school and making career choices.
• Our most recent cycle of RTI (Response to Intervention) blocks proved to be very effective. Student survey results showed gains in students’ confidence and comfort in both numeracy and literacy, as well as showing that they learned different strategies to attend to their well-being as we head further into Spring.

With everything that is happening, our teachers are busy preparing students for their upcoming Provincial Achievement Tests. Grade 9 students will write the Part A English Language Arts Exam on Monday, May 13. Students are invited to Room 19 Mondays after school to get extra preparation for the Provincial Achievement Tests.

Additionally, the first Homework Hotel for Grade 7 students will take place on Wednesday, May 8 in the Learning Commons beginning at 4:00 pm. We strongly encourage students needing additional supports to work with Ms. Hatler at that time.

A.E. Cross School sure is a busy place these days. Thank you for all of your support in your child’s learning.

Below is the most recent edition of the Colts’ Community Chronicle. Have a wonderful week! ¡Ten una maravillosa semana!

Colts' Community Chronicle - May 6 to May 10 

Sincerely, 

Randy Lewis

Principal, A.E. Cross School