It had been a long day of driving—all the way from Abbotsford to Nelson, on the first leg of our trip to Alberta in early July. We finally pulled into our lakeside campsite at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park at suppertime, and were greeted by a cloud of mosquitoes and the rumbling of a thunderstorm in [...]
I placed 14 new students in classes in the week before school started. It was very busy, but exciting, and unprecedented. While the reasons varied, there was a definite connection, in some cases, to the current situation in the public schools. While it is a blessing to welcome these families into ACES, I am saddened [...]
I really like Susan Dykshoorn’s latest blog post. She did a great job of capturing what seems like an amazing summer break in an acrostic poem, and if you haven’t read it yet, do! You’ll get a very clear idea of the blessing of summer, and you’ll also realize how quickly I have jumped on [...]
Birthdays at the Siebenga House When my siblings (one older sister and two younger brothers) and I were growing up together, we would run downstairs on the mornings of our birthdays to read “The List.” Yes, we did look forward to the presents we would get (although I’m not sure I remember any of the gifts [...]
I can’t help it…I am a first grade teacher, and when asked to write a blog post, well, this was the idea that popped in my head! An alphabet poem: words about my summer! Maybe there are a few of them that you can relate to? Maybe one or two might jog a memory? Maybe [...]
After reading several blogs I wrote for posting this summer, Tanya, the editor of Inside Out, suggested I write something more personal—I should save the more academic posts for the fall. Personal? I was puzzled at first, but then I had an idea—I have this blank-page book I carry with me all the time; I [...]
by Tanya KienekerI can't cook. Most people don't know this about me. Unless you are my husband.He has officially banned me from our kitchen, except of course to do the dishes. The reason is simple. I have flopped every meal known to man. I have burned every cookie, melted every spatula, loaded every soup with too much [...]
After three summers of spending weeks away studying and last summer travelling to the East Coast in celebration of our 35th anniversary, I was looking forward to spending some time at home, enjoying our home, welcoming others to enjoy it with us, and getting some jobs done. It has been all I could have asked [...]
Summer is officially here and we are finally settling into our new routine which is in fact, no routine. Who knew the adjustment could be such a difficult transition for kids, and for moms for that matter. We limped our way across the “end-of-the-year” finish line, ready for a break and ready to put our [...]
What if we measured wealth in something other than money and material possessions? The grade 9 Humanities classes went on a field trip to the Museum of Anthropology on the UBC campus in Vancouver. It was a valuable experience as we began our study of First Nations cultures in Canada. One of the things that stood [...]
