update .

Well, I don’t seem to write too often, so I thought I should leave a post on just things that have been happening lately around here.

In school, we’re finishing up our radioplays that we’ve been working on for what seems like ages. They’re due on Thursday, so Mr. Fisher will post them somewhere on the internet. There should be a link on the Upload blog when we’re finished. Exams are coming soon, The first one is on the 27th I think. The first exam is LA, then math, then science, then social studies. These are midterms so we can’t get exempted from them; but in June you can get exempted from finals if you have 80% or over in that subject.

In town, something has happened that has seemed to freak everyone out. The mine is closing. Again. This has happened once before; the New Britannia mine closed a few years back but I was young so I don’t remember much about it. Now HBM&S is closing so some people will get laid off, but others that have lots of seniority will be transferred to the mine in Flin Flon because it is still open. It’s closing because the price of gold has gone down so much lately, they’re losing more money than gaining. Luckily, this doesn’t affect me or my family because my dad is a mine inspector and he’s not employed by HBM&S. But when New Brit closed down a few years ago, my dad had to go work in Flin Flon. I was young so it didn’t seem like a big deal, but now that I’m older I see that this really is hard for some people. Even though some people’s dads or moms might have to work in Flin Flon, there’s a good chance they will be able to come back here eventually, whether HBM&S opens again soon, or if the new mine they are planning on opening, Loler Lake, opens soon.

I hope everyone does okay, and I really hope that no one has to move away, although I already know a couple people who will be moving. Well, silent reading is almost over so I better finish up. Byeee !

* sara .

Blogs to Subscribe To.

These are the blogs that I think we should subscribe to in class.

Stop Animal Abuse. 

Stop Animal Abuse is a blog that tells you about what is happening to animals all over the place for no reason. It also has solutions that can help stop animal abuse. There is many pictures and videos, although some of them can get pretty graphic.

Children: The Foreign Policy Blog. 

This blog  is about child poverty and child labour. It has good posts that have lots of good information about children who live in poverty and have to work against their will.

Animals Need Help.

Animals Need Help is a blog about, well, animals needing help. It tells you about the pain and suffering animals go through every day. This blog is good to subscribe to because its very informative, always has new posts, and has good links, photos, and videos.

* sara .

back already !

Well, Christmas break is officially over. It already feels back to normal, and its only the second period of the day. My Christmas was pretty good, on the 24th I went to my aunt and uncle’s house in Morden, MB for Christmas because my mom wanted to spend it with our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. On Boxing Day, as we do every year when we are down south, we went to my grandma and grandpa’s house in Holland, MB for Boxing Day supper. Every year on Boxing Day we have a steak and potatoe supper. All of the nearby family comes, but this year some family travelled a long ways just to come. I was happy to see everyone.

For Christmas I got lots of clothes, a new iPod dock, hairdryer, perfume, a few gift cards, a laptop case, and just lots of stocking stuff. I had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending it with my family. One of my cousins got a Wii so we all spent most of our time playing it. Its soo much fun, even my mom and auntie were playing. It was so funny to watch them play bowling.

On the rest of my break, I spent it just lounging around and being lazy. I had a good time sleeping in til 12 most days . It seemed like it went by soo fast, and we’re back already, heading into exams at the end of the month. It seems like everyone is doing pretty good on the first day back, no one seems too sleep-deprived. To me it feels like we never left.

Well, I’m gonna leave the blogging for another day. Bye! Oh, and Happy New Year!

* sara .

merry christmas everyone :)

Well, this is our last week here, at least until the holidays are over. We have school today, tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday but on Friday we are having a class potluck where we all bring food and we all eat, and a gift exchange. Then we are having a pep rally with events like something called Sticky Situation, where you tape the smallest person in your class to a wall and see which person from each class stays up longest, Garland Pull (tug-of-war, Christmas-style), Human Tic Tac Toe, and more. Then we get out at 2:20.

Tonight there is a Christmas dance, there is punch and food and you get in for $2.50 if you’re wearing red or green, and $5.00 if you’re not. Hopefully lots of people come and it should be great! I know I’m going.

Well, I know this was a quick post but I just wanted to let you know what’s going on this last week of school and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope you’re all as excited as i am

* sara .

just an update =)

I know, I haven’t written in forever. That’s becuase during silent reading i’ve actually been reading =O. I’m reading a book called The Posse by Randi Reisfeld. Its not bad, although it was kinda boring at the beginning. So I’m just here to update you on whatever we’ve been doing here lately.

Well one of the main reasons I stopped writing is because I mostly wrote about volleyball, but the season is over now =(. So now I don’t really know what to write about. I think volleyball starts up again sometime in January for grades 8-12, but I don’t know if I want to go on it. We’ll see.

Since Christmas holidays are around the corner, I’ve been in a pretty good mood when I come to school because I know that it’s one less day I have to wait til no more schoool =). I’m really excited for Christmas because I’m going down to Morden to be with my aunties, uncles, cousins, and my grandma and grandpa. We don’t get to spend a lot of time with them since we live 8 or so hours away, so Christmas is a great time to be there.

In school we’re doing radioplays; we got to choose a theme from western, sci-fi, or mystery. We have already done our scripts and are now into recording and finding sound effects and music. But some people, the ones who don’t have their own laptop and use the school’s desktop computers, have lost all their work because we have been having some computer troubles and the guys who were fixing it accidentally deleted everything…but they brought us oranges!

Well, that’s pretty much it on this end. I think I’ll keep reading during this time for a while, but hopefully I will get another post in before the holidays. And Merryy Christmas to everyone, hope you all have a good holiday! =)

* sara .

Volleyball results .

As you know, my volleyball team went to The Pas this weekend for a tournament. We placed second in our pool and made it into the semi-finals but lost to a great team from Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan. We played well though and had lots of team spirit.

When we arrived in The Pas we made a quick stop at Tim Horton’s and the convinence store, then went to the school, unpacked our stuff a bit, and played some fun games of v-ball in the gym. The only other team staying in the school was the Sandy Bay team, so we played some practice games against them. Since we had a curfew, we had to go back to our room at about 11:00, so we got ready for bed (washed our hair in the sinks since there were no showers ), and then went to sleep. The next day we played, we lost our first two games but won the next four. That took us to the semi-finals and then we played the Sandy Bay team. We won our first game, lost the second one, and lost the third one. But we still played really good.

Well, silent reading is over, so I better get going. Bye!

* sara .

Nata Appreciates the Seniors

On November 7th, 2008 in Nata Village, the first annual Senior Appreciation Day was held. Approximately 60+ seniors over the age of 65 and had a day full of dancing, laughter and fun with the community. After some speeches by the Kgosi and other members of the community, they enjoyed a good lunch made by the Post Office Staff.

I think this is a good thing because not all seniors are being appreciated and recognized for being with us for so long and being able to share their experiences from the past with us. These people, especially if living in a poor area of the world, are getting in worse shape than most so their time with us needs to be appreciated.

* sara .

volleyball tournament :)

Well, here’s yet another post about volleyball. Today my team is travelling to The Pas for a tournament. We leave tonight around 6, are staying overnight in the school, and then we play all day tomorrow. I hope we do just as good as we did in Flin Flon (if you don’t know, we got first in that tournament). Tonight we will probably just hang out in the school, we get a classroom of our own to stay in. We probably won’t get much sleep but I hope we’re energized enough to play well.

Next weekend we have yet another tournament, but this one is being held here which I’m pretty happy about. I’m not sure who’s all coming but once again I hope we do good.

Well silent reading is about over, so I better get going. Wish us luck!

GO TiGERS!!

Operation Christmas Child .

Operation Christmas Child is something that we have done at JHK for only a short period of time. Every fills a shoebox filled with gifts that are sent to children in poverty who don’t get to receive Christmas gifts. You can send basically anything that you would want to get for Christmas. Even just little things that they wouldn’t have, like school supplies or toiletries. Anything but used items, food, breakable items, and things that can freeze.

All you have to do is fill a shoebox with gifts meant for a young boy or girl. You can also make a donation. Then you give your box filled with gifts and it is sent to a child who lives in poverty and doesn’t get to experience Christmas.

I think this is a great thing because kids living in poverty don’t get to experience Christmas like we do. Giving them the chance to receive gifts and even neccisities that they don’t have can help them majorly, and it can also bring alot of hope and happiness into their lives. It lets them experience that we consider just a day to get presents but to them can change their lives and give them hope.

To find more information on Operation Christmas Child, visit this website and learn what you can do to help a child by giving them the opportunity to experience Christmas.

* sara .

just an update .

Lately in this classroom it’s been pretty basic and boring, except for the fact that in the past couple weeks we have gotten 3 new kids from South Africa. The first one to come has been here for a while, his name is Hein and he is in grade 8. The next 2 that came are brother and sister, Karl who is in grade 8, and Sumari who is in grade 7. I’m sure its really different for them living here because they’ve never seen alot of snow and cold weather before, and if they think its cold now at -10, they’re gonna get a slap in the face once the real northern winter comes along. I just want to wish them a Snow Lake welcome and hope they like it here as much as the rest of us do. (You can find their blogs on the Thinwalls blog).

Other than that, school has been pretty dang boring. We have a test coming up on Monday, a social studies unit test. It shouldn’t be that hard because we have the actual test to study off of, but of course the answers aren’t on it. Today we are going skating for gym, luckily I found some skates from a friend so I can go. But I’m hoping it goes well cause I haven’t put on a pair of skates for over a year now.

As always, I have to update you on coming up volleyball events. Today is the JV/Senior tournament here so I wish them all luck, hopefully they do their best. Our volleyball team has 2 more tournaments until the season is over. We have one in The Pas on the 22nd, it is just a day tournament. Then we have a home tournament on the 28th, but all the teams are coming here on the 27th and there will be a dance on that night for everyone, then the teams will stay overnight and the next day we will play. Then that’s the end of the season.

Well for some of us, anyways. Some people on our team are also on the Frontier team, which means they will have to keep practicing until Frontier Games in December. Unfortunately I didn’t make the team but good luck to the girls who did.

Well, I wrote more than I expected to, so I better start on my homework blogpost that I was supposed to be working on.

* sara .