How Such a Little Gecko Can Change A LotBy Matthew B
The Braun family’s speedy adorable little pet gecko turns two. He has made quite an impact from all the living food they have to buy him to the amount of cleaning they have to do. This merry day will take place on February 10th at there house. Allison Braun says that “She loves to make sure Leo is happy and healthy”. They love to see Leo grow and handle him. Leo loves to zip around his tank when Gary Braun first met he couldn’t wait to play with him. Leo was six months old when they first adopted him. They were really nervous about the crickets after a friends cricket terrarium broke loose around there house. They really care about his health when they go on trips they pay a neighbour to feed him and operate his heating. Leo’s length has nearly doubled since they first adopted him. Lucas Braun says “It is so fascinating to watch him stalk insects then leap into action”. There biggest challenge was learning how to feed him and adapt to the crickets and trying to learn how to use hands instead of pliers. The worst part was when a cricket jumped out and they had to catch it. Lucas thought his mom Allison would get livid and he would get grounded or something. Leo has been an amazing addition to there family by being handled by everyone to being showed to friends and family. Leo has changed a lot in the Braun house and will keep doing so for the rest of his life.
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taking a peek into branding on Rivercross ranchby Ruthanne
Once every spring, Rivercross ranch hosts a branding event. They separate the calves from the cows, and then Release a group of calves into a fenced off field. The men and women who work on the ranch, and those with permission, then they start wrestling and holding the calves firmly on their sides. They give the calves vaccines, antibiotics, an ear tag with the calves number to tell each calf apart, they sear the horns off if needed and the castrate the male calves. “We give the calves vaccines to prevent them from getting harmful diseases, and we castrate and cut their horns off to prevent them from turning into bulls.” Samantha Robinson, worker on Rivercross ranch explained, “If a calf became a bull, it would be much harder to handle because bulls are much stronger than a cow. We raise beef cows, and bulls are not the greatest for meat, because they are all muscle. We sear off the horns because they can be dangerous to the other cows and the ranchers.” Many people don't approve of eating beef that was raised antibiotics. Because of this, the antibiotics they give the calves have to be a one time thing at branding. “The antibiotics are just to make sure the calves become a healthy adult cow, and to make sure that nothing at branding affected their health somehow. The antibiotics we give them all wash out within two months.” Explained Samantha Robinson. They give the calves a respiratory vaccine and a blackleg vaccine. Blackleg is a very dangerous disease to cows, creating an infection in the cow leg, this infection creates blood poisoning and often leads to death. The blackleg vaccine prevents cows from getting this fatal disease. The respiratory disease is an infection in the lungs, causing pneumonia for the cow, the respiratory vaccine is given to calves at branding to prevent this terrible disease. Castrating is an important part of branding preventing the calves from turning into bulls. They neuter the male calves because bulls often tend to fight with each other, and are likely to attack a human, or at least try to. “Male cows that have been castrated are called steers. Steers are easily herded, and they do not resist the ranchers. Bulls however, are harder to get to go where you want them to go, and they often times like to resist rather than be controlled. Bulls are also bad in this case because they are much more muscular than a steer, and provide very little beef.” Samantha Robinson explained. The women cows are not spayed for reproductive purposes. It is rarely required, but when a calf has horns that are growing, they cut them off at branding for the safety of other cows and ranchers. The calves are also given ear tags, these ear tags they give them on branding day are to tell each calf apart. Each calf is given a four digit number, for example 2709, this tag also contains the calves gender. Calves are also given a brand usually, however this year Rivercross decided not to give them the brand, because it causes stress on the cows while it was being placed on them. The brand can also cause infection if done improperly. Because of these reasons, Rivercross decided it was best not to burn the brand this year. Branding is a crucial part in a cows life, giving cows the healthy life that they need to become good, healthy beef. Youth learns about safety and how police officers work.By Christopher
On November 16th Connect Charter grade sixes take an exhilarating adventure to the YouthLink Museum in Calgary, Alberta. The YouthLink Museum also known as the police interpretive centre contains a K-9 area which are the police dogs, Blue Hawcs area which is about the Calgary police helicopters, a internet safety area, and there is so much more. Just keep reading and you will find out. The Calgary police K-9 unit exhibit area gives you a understanding of why only certain dog breeds are chosen for the job in the K-9 unit. The K-9 unit will choose a breed that has a good sense of smell and has a lot energy over a dog breed that has a better sense of smell but less energy for example the K-9 unit chooses German Shepherds over Blood Hounds. They chose the German Shepherd because police work late at night so they need energetic dogs to be ready for action. In the Blue Hawc exhibit there is a helicopter suspended from the ceiling of the museum. There is also a helicopter simulator that shows what the Calgary police Blue Hawcs does when supporting officers on the ground in a chase. It shows what the helicopter pilots see when they are flying in the sky. Both the simulator and the suspended helicopter can tell you how the Blue Hawks support Calgary police department. The YouthLink Museum has a wonderful internet safety exhibit. The exhibit demonstrates how to make a safe profile and safe passwords. This is to keep your online account safe from the internet and online hackers trying to steal information from you and your family. The exhibit also gives some background information about the timeline of the computer. Teni stated “ I liked the science lab. How you can tell how long ago the person died by the type of bugs and what stage it is at.” The Police Interpretive Centre is a place you will never forget with it’s exhibits about your safety and how the police work in their units. If you want to enrol your child in Connect Charter you can visit connectcharter.ca. If you want to visit or find out more about the exhibits in the YouthLink Museum go to www.youthlinkcalgary.com. A look at what the 2018 Alberta Winter Games is all about. By Aidan
On February 16 the opening ceremonies will kick off the 20th biennial Alberta Winter Games. People all over Alberta ages 11 to 17 will be able to compete. Next year the AWG will take place in the Wood Buffalo area. It’s a great experience for anyone interested in archery, alpine skiing, artistic gymnastics, badminton, biathlons, boxing or any of the other 15 sports. “It’s a great opportunity and it’s cool” said Olivia Winczura a returning archery coach for Calgary. The opening ceremonies are a spectacular sight to see. They take place on February 16 at 8:00 pm at the Shell Place Baseball Stadium. Tickets are on sale now so get them while you still can. Competitions start on the 17th and end the 19th when the winner will be decided. The amount of volunteers needed to run this event is a tremendous 2000. During the 2014 AWG there were more volunteers then there were contestants. The economic impact of this event is huge. Approximately 2.7 million dollars were spent by visitors participating in the AWG in 2014, most of it for accommodations. Anyone can enter if they are between the ages of 11 and 17 as of December 31 the year of the competition. For more information on the Alberta Winter Games go to https://albertasport.ca/alberta-games/winter-games/. Connect Charter 6.1 and 6.2 students go on a 3 day trip to a rural campsite near Calgary Written by Bianca
Are you a person who craves adventure and has a lust for the great outdoors? Looking to escape from the bustling metropolis of the city? If so, Camp Sweet is the place for you. Just on the edge of Olds, this serene campsite will make you want to stay longer than you’re welcome. This past September 6th to 9th, these fortunate grade 6 students from Connect Charter school visited Camp Sweet. At Camp Sweet these students had the chance to swim in the river, have hot chocolate, snacks between almost every meal, campfire, forest time, building forts in the forest, night hike, animal game and much more! Something truly unforgettable about Camp Sweet was campfire. It was a special experience that could easily be one of the best activities during Camp Sweet. For the first half, the kids would sit outside in an open-roofed tipi in the light of the lowering sun. They would sit there until their warm fall wear and a fire could no longer keep them from shivering, and the sun was too low for light to peer out. They would sing songs that had dances or required them to get rowdy and leave a ringing echo throughout the forest. In contrast, for the second half they sang tranquil, mellow songs in the shelter of a warm closed-roofed tipi to start winding down for the night hike. Even the kids who would silently mouth the lyrics at the beginning of campfire would eventually sing until their voices refused to make noise. Once the kids calmed down after campfire, they would go to have hot chocolate and a snack. To nurture the kids’ peaceful and subdued state, they went out on a night hike in the forest. The kids held lanterns and flashlights to brighten the path of the forest. They walked in silence until they reached the Grandfather tree; the oldest and the thickest tree in the forest. They laid down on the forest bed and gazed at the stars through a clearing in the trees’ canopy. As for after star-gazing, they howled and hollered to mimic the noise of a coyote or coyote pup in hopes of getting a response from the real coyotes. For the experience of interacting with nature and star gazing, the magical night walks at Camp Sweet are not to be missed. Overall, Connect Charter has some of the luckiest students for them to be able to attend such educational and experiential over-night trips. If you feel the urge to take a rural getaway, Camp Sweet is highly suggested. To enrol your child in Connect Charter or to learn more about Camp Sweet, visit www.connectcharter.ca. To explore more about the Camp Sweet experience, visit www.connectgrade6162.weebly.com. Grade 6’s first time experience at Camp Sweet. By Michael
Grades 6.1 and 6.2 students and teachers visited Camp Sweet for a fun and exiting 3 days and 2 nights adventure. With the vast area and forest, many activities can happen. Such as Fort Building, Campfire songs, and more. This Camp ground is an entertaining time for the young and elderly. Camp Sweet is located 10 miles west, and 2 miles north of Olds. Camp Sweet has been a traditional school trip for over a decade, and according to the students, they LOVE it. Grade 6’s had lots of fun building forts in the vast majority of the forest. They were given 1-2 hours of playing time per day. With the gathering of sticks and stones, grade 6’s were successfully able to construct sturdy forts. “At first we were all getting settled with our forts, but after a while it all went down hill when everyone thought it was like a stealing spree” , quoted Michael from 6.1. “It was like the purge almost, but without the actual violence”, quoted Evan from 6.1. But luckily came Mr. Fawcett (teacher of 6.2) who was able to straighten the situation out. When night fell, and the coyotes started to howl, the students got the chance to go on a night hike and respond with an ear piercing howl. After the students and teachers got back from the hike, they blew out their lanterns, and headed towards the gargantuan Ti-Pi where a glowing fire awaited for the group of students. They sang songs and told stories until the night was over, it was time for them to go to there tents and sleep peacefully until a new day came. When the students woke up to a delicious breakfast the parent volunteers prepared for them. After the students ate there breakfast, they were taken on a quick walk through the forest just to pass some time until the weather got a tad warmer. After there hike, they dressed in there swimsuits and headed towards the river. Some students went to the big body of water where they worked on a dam. It blocked off the water from the sides which made all the water rush to the middle that worked like a slide. While the other students decided to stay in a calm little pond where they caught Minos. And that was the end of there river rushing time. But slowly realized there journey was coming to an end. The students woke up the next day, the scent of dew and pancake filled the air. To the grade 6’s surprise, they realized it was there last day of there Camp Sweet adventure. When the bus rolled up, all grade 6 student had there bags and sleeping bags packed and ready to go. They sadly said there goodbyes to the damp campground and go up on the bus. As the students and teachers were coming home. They were provided snacks and an entertaining movie to watch. When the bus arrived at the school, parents and guardians were waiting for there children to come and greet them. And that was the end of the Grade 6’s Sweet Camp experience. All interviewees and grade 6 students thought that there’re Camp Sweet experience was an amazing time, and think Camp Sweet should live on for many centuries and for future students to come. What an expo trip has become By Lachlan
Grade 6 students from connect charter school try to solve a case about a stolen car in the community of Ogden. They started going through the case in early November in their classroom. They were giving the case by the police Interpretive centre. Each kid has a detective notebook to write down information about the case. The students learn about footwear impressions and even fingerprint types. On November 16th, the kids headed down to the police interpretive centre. Once there, they were split into three groups. Each group had their own guide to lead them through. The three groups were named K9, Hawks, and Tactical. Once there, the grade six students would look at a mystery fibre. The students also participated in fun activities like a scavenger hunt. When they were doing a scavenger hunt they had to solve things like what kinds of dogs are in the K-9 unit. The kids were even lucky enough to go inside a real police car! They got to see a lot of simulators while they were their like the hawks helicopter and riot officer uniform. one of the main reasons the students came there is to solve the case. They looked at who's shoe prints were at the scene of the crime and even who's fingerprints were there. These young students have learned about drug Safety and what healthy and unhealthy relationships are through a presentation. They had a lot of fun learning about safety and common sense. They even had a fake botfly larva container that you could stick your fingers in and feel them. Botflies are small wormlike creatures that burrow into dead body's. They also are used as fishing bait. Kiera Gibson thinks it helped the s figure out the case more. Kiera also likes how we focused on other topics. Kiera thinks this field trip is a 9/10 because we got to look a lot of fun things. Why do parents volunteer for kids hockey pros and consBy Jack
Kids hockey has been one of the most, if not the most, popular sport in Canada. Who coaches all of this hockey? It is commonly coached by parent volunteers. How does a parent coach benefit from the time they put in? Does it benefit the kids and the game? What are the down sides of of being a parent coach? To answer these questions a few experts have dialled in. There must be a reason all these parents are volunteering so much time. Derek Mendham a parent hockey coach says “I volunteer because it’s very important to me to spend lots of time with my kids. Also I get to meet other great kids and it’s a lot of fun.” Mathew Braun a player on Derek’s team agrees, “parent coaches get to spend more time with their kids.” He makes a good point by saying “they get to learn more about the sport they coach and get to learn how to work as a community.”Derek’s wife Kathy is fine with her husband volunteering to coach because she then gets to spend one on one time with he other son. For a final opinion from The Hockey Life: the pros and cons of parent-coaches (http://www.stateofhockey.com/news_article/show/705889?referrer_id=1949540) also says that parent coaches get to spend more time with their kids. They also stated on “how the parents can get a inside look on how the team is built” and “how it’s nice for the kid to have a coach that always knows your name. It can’t always be unicorns and rainbows there must be a down side. Derek Mendham said that it is hard to “find enough time in your schedule, to learn how to motivate each kid on the team and to deal with kid or parents that are difficult.” Mathew also added “getting there on time and being prepared could be a challenge” he also added “that it might be hard to not be biased toward your own kid.” From the Hockey Life article they indicated that sometimes parents favour their kid with more hockey time but the kid can also get less from the parent coach. Now what do all of these opinions add up to? Well the benefits are quite extraordinary and could make some parents volunteer right away. However the challenge could out weigh the benefits for some other parent. So why do parents bother volunteer coaching for hockey? I guess they think the benefits out weigh the challenges. I know my Dad dose because he has coached in almost all of my sports! The 15th annual 18th scout group canoe trip By: Matthew
On Saturday, October 28, the 18th scout group packed the vans full and hit the road to the Red Deer River for the scout canoe trip. During the trip the scouts will canoe roughly around 20 kilometres to the camp site. Later in the day, they will eat and go to bed. After a long night they will take the long trip back to home. They got to the start of the trip and they unstrapped the canoes and put on life jackets. 20 minutes later they are out on the river waters and heading to the camp site. The trip was supposed to be 6 hours long from 12:00pm to 6:30pm, but it turned out their estimate was way off. After 2 and a half hours they went 4 of the 20 kilometres and they decided to cut it short, so they cut it to 13 kilometres. On the last stretch Matthew Downing and his canoe buddy, Chase flipped into the freezing waters of the Red Deer river, quickly escaping to the shore. “It really sucks to see happy scouts flip into the river” said scout leader Paul. The scouts pulled up under a bridge and waited for the vans to come from the original site. Looking down from the bridge it looked like a bunch of tramps standing by a fire. The vans came 3 hours later because 2 of the leaders had to paddle hard for hours to get the vans and drive back. The scouts piled in and headed for the camp to get some much needed rest. In the end 2 kids fell in and they ate turkey jerky for dinner. The ride back was pretty smooth and all of the kids were happy to see their parents after a long weekend. To register your child with Scouts Canada go to: www.scouts.ca Connect gets an upgrade with unique educational field trips and experiences.Written by: Keira
This year connect charter students were introduced to a new program called EXPO. The program is scheduled for 4 consecutive days approximately every 6 weeks and is designed to compliment the “in-class” learning with “hands-on” experience. Expo, which includes in-school and field trip activities, brings our learning alive and allows students to experience what other people do everyday in the community. Connect students get a full week of EXPO during which they do trips and sometimes people come in and teach them what they do for a living. Students in our school have different experiences than other schools because EXPO gives them more knowledge about what they are learning in class. So connect is a great way become inquirers. EXPO is a way to get more experiences like when students and a professor from MRU (Mount Royal University) came in to give them tips on how to write a good article. The people from MRU told the students 8 things a good article has and how long it should take to write an article. Or when a detective came in and taught them what he did for the Calgary Police Service. The detective worked in homicide. This is where people get killed by accident, suicide, natural or homicide . Those are some of the people that came in and taught the students what they do. “We get to do a lot of learning outside of the school not just in a desk. Also it is nice to just be at school” Ruth, a grade 6 student, stated. With EXPO we get to do some in-class field trips so we can stay in a desk but we also get to go out of the school field trips to so it is a mix between in and out of the school trips. Another student, Teni, said “kids get to learn in a new way with people coming to our school and when we go to them. Like how the grade 6 kids went to a sawmill and not just reading about it. Also the schedule is not always the strongest”. So when they go a bit deeper into EXPO things will start to smooth out and EXPO will become part of the schedule. Connect is a place of inquirers. |
Fawcett News NetworkA collection of news articles written by students of 6.1 and 6.2 Archives
February 2018
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