School district bans trips to the United States
After watching the situation for a few months, the Cowichan Valley board of education has passed a motion suspending field trips to the United States until there is more clarity on border crossings.
“Several school districts in Canada are following this practice,” a release from the board said this week.
Portables rare commodity, but Cowichan has enough
The Cowichan Valley school district is one of the lucky ones: despite needing many new classrooms for the start of school in September, the district has enough space.
Schools Superintendent Rod Allen said last week that Cowichan Valley is “fortunate to have enough portables in the district, as there are none available to purchase in B.C., Alberta, or Saskatchewan.”
The rush on portables follows the Supreme Court ruling on class size and composition, which means many more classrooms will be required across the province for the coming school year.
Nourish Cowichan Society feeding hungry students
Fatima da Silva, Dina Holbrook, and Anita Carroll addressed the board of education on the creation and purpose of the Nourish Cowichan Society.
Da Silva and Holbrook said they are aware of the child poverty situation in the Valley, and, in conjunction with Carroll and her student nurse program at Khowhemun Elementary School, began a program to provide a nourishing breakfast to students in the school one or two days a week.
Combining community donations and a successful fundraiser, they have increased the meals to three to four days per week and are looking to expand into other schools as well.
For more information on the Nourish Cowichan program, see https://www.nourishcowichan.ca/