Hi Parents. 

We have two camping trips coming up in October, with the first one being this coming Wednesday. Any overnight trips that we do need a separate special request form filled out. I have attached this form below. Students will also be coming home with this form tomorrow. We need these forms back the following day, so students need to drop them off in our classroom at some time during Tuesday's activity day. I apologize for the quick turnaround on this. I meant to get this home last week but it got missed in the busyness of Terry Fox Week. We will also be sending home a detailed trip plan for our trip on Wednesday. I have posted those documents below as well. Students will be planning their supper meals with their tentmates during Monday's class.

Thanks

Hi Parents,
We have been given an opportunity to be a part of a fundraiser for our academy in partnership with Mt Waddington's Outdoors. Mt Waddington's is hosting The Reel Rock Film Tour at the G.W. Graham Theatre on October 3, at 7:00 PM. We will be one of the outdoor groups setting up a table to sell baked goods during the intermission. We are looking to raise money for a larger three-to-four-night canoe trip at the end of May. This is something new to the program that we did not offer last year. We will probably be doing some other fundraising events throughout the school year. Any money beyond what we need for the canoe trip will be put towards a legacy fund to help underprivileged students be a part of the academy in future years.

12 students have told me they would like to come to the film night and have volunteered to bring a two dozen piece dessert. Please ask your son or daughter if they are one of the students who have volunteered and make sure you are ok with them doing so. Students from outdoor programs will get into the films for a discounted price of $7.00. We would love to see some parents coming out for the evening as well. I have attached the trailer for the evening's films below, as well as a link to the event advertisement on the Mt. Waddingtons website. The views expressed in these films are not necessarily our views within the academy and we are not saying that this night is mandatory. The films are not rated and we have not previewed them. If you feel that you would rather your son or daughter not come to this film night, please have them let me know by Monday at the latest.

Unfortunately the timing of this night is not great as we will be returning from our first camping trip earlier that day. That being said, we really don't want to miss out on this opportunity to mingle, help out the local outdoor community, and raise some funds for our program. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to send us an email.

On a different note. Our first one-night campout is coming up on Wednesday, Oct 2. Please check with your students, and on this site, for a detailed trip outline on Monday night. Students will be practicing their camp-stove-cooking on Monday at school and planning their tent group supper that same day.

http://www.mtwaddingtons.com/events/reel-rock-film-tour/

Hi Parents.

On Monday September 23 we have our first full-day hike to Flatiron Peak in the Coquihalla. This is an 11km round trip hike with 690 metres of elevation. Departure is 7:30 AM and return is 5:00 PM. Please have your student at school by 7:15. We will be continuing our science unit on BC ecology and geography on the trip. We also will be using our camp stoves in a true alpine setting.


Students must be prepared for all types of weather. We go rain our shine.
Students must bring:

• hiking boots
• base layers
• a warm insulation layer top (fleece or a soft puffy synthetic)
• full rain gear
• hat
• Sun protection
• morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack. (NO JUNKFOOD), min 1L of water (school provided bottles)
• cup, spoon, and hot drink powder (hot chocolate, tea, or gatorade/juice crystals)
• No Cotton

Thanks

Chris and Jason

This week we start our PE unit on whitewater kayaking. We will be partnering with the Chilliwack Centre of Excellence Kayak Club. As part of the OEA, students receive a membership to the club, which allows them to participate in many of the club events (pool sessions) over the fall and winter.



This weekend the CCE is hosting the Tamihi 50/BC Whitewater Slalom Championships up on the Tamihi Rapids on Chilliwack River.  These are 2 separate races that run together, makes for some crazy entertainment.  The open boat canoes are amazing to watch as they negotiate the rocks and gates, and the kayaks are just amazing slalom machines!  Saturday is practice.  Race Day isSunday the 15th, starting at 10AM.  There will be paddlers from all over the lower mainland, maybe even a few from the states, and will feature a large component of local Chilliwackians ranging in age from 10 years to 50+.  The CCE’s own group of kids, including VMS students Avery Wilkins (grade 7), and Austin and Maddison Atkins (grades 8 and 9), will be battling it out in the BC Slalom Championships.



Maddison is a part of our class this year so come out and cheer her on.

Hello parents. We are very excited about the upcoming year. We will be getting full swing into the OEA school year this coming week. 

Students were given permission forms for our upcoming kayaking PE unit last week. It is attached above if you need it still. Prepare to be getting many of these forms, as we need to do them for any special or unique activity we do. Please take the time to make sure all boxes and lines that need to be signed or initialed are.

Regular updates about the program will be posted in the updates tab of our Outdoor Ed webpage

http://www.vmsoutdoored.com/updates.html

Please bookmark this page and check back regularly. You can also like our Facebook page or follow us on twitter as other options to see these updates. Usually I will send a link to the update by email as well. The Twitter feed and Facebook page are what we use for updates when we are on trips outside of cell service. We have a satellite device that can do this. You can also find updates and our location on our mapshare page. See the link on our website 

Please check the calendar tab regularly as some dates and times may change with short notice. As often as possible we try to have students home from day trips by the last school bell, 2:40. However, sometimes separate travel arrangements may need to be made as we arrive back later than 2:40. 

Feel free to email Jason or myself anytime. This is the best way to communicate with us.

chris_falk@sd33.bc.ca

jason_shea@sd33.bc.ca

Looking forward to a great year. I expect we may see many of you at the upcoming meet the teacher night at Vedder.