Masset students attend 2010 Winter Games
Grade 3 and 4 students from Masset visited the Aboriginal Artisan Village and Business Showcase in Vancouver last Thursday. For many, it was their first journey away from Haida Gwaii.
For a class of Grade 3 and 4 students from the small village of Masset, B.C., travelling to Vancouver to participate in 2010 Winter Games festivities is something they would normally only dream about.
However, thanks to generous donations that dream has become a reality.
The small village, population 2,000, raised $21,000 to send 18 students, teachers and chaperones to Vancouver to take in the excitement of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter games this past week.
For many of these students it was their first trip outside of Masset, a small fishing village located on northern Graham Island, the largest of more than 150 islands in the Queen Charlotte/Haida Gwaii archipelago.
Principal Leslie Bellis spearheaded the trip and approached local residents and businesses for donations.
The students experienced an educational trip of a lifetime that complemented the classroom curriculum.
Social studies, science, arts and language were learned through daily activities, including a visit to the Vancouver Aquarium, an Olympic hockey game between Finland and Belarus, an Olympic awards ceremony, the Museum of Anthropology and a visit to H.R. MacMillan Space Centre.
Students documented their experiences each day in journals.
Perhaps they’ll share the highlights with us here. Hope you enjoyed the trip to Vancouver and the 2010 Winter Games!
Masset students met B.C. Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid and performed some traditional Haida songs.
