Dear Parents,

School is out—and what a year it has been! I want to take a moment to thank you for the pleasure and privilege of teaching your children this year. It truly has been a wonderful journey, and I am so proud of the progress each student has made throughout Grade Three.

This particular group of students was something special—one of my favourite classes in over 26 years of teaching! Their curiosity, kindness, and enthusiasm made every day a joy. I will genuinely miss them.

I hope to see your child again next year—whether it’s in Chess Club, out in the yard, or popping by for a quick visit. I’ve shared a special video/slideshow with the students this afternoon, capturing some of our favourite Grade 3 moments. It’s now available on Google Classroom for you to enjoy as well.

Wishing you and your family a relaxing, joyful, and well-deserved summer break. All the best as your child heads into Grade 4!

Warmly,
Shaw Jackson

Dear Parents,

Earlier this week, our class had the opportunity to participate in an engaging egg-drop STEM workshop led by members of the Spark Youth Robotics Club—a student-run organization whose robotics team has competed at national and international levels.

After the session, several of my students expressed interest in joining their FIRST Lego League program. If your child would like to learn more or get involved, you can find registration information on their website: https://www.syrc.ca/join-our-team

It was a great hands-on experience, and I’m so glad the students were excited by it!

Best regards,
Mr. Jackson

Today, the students enjoyed our end-of-year talent show! I am so proud of our young risk-takers in the class who were brave enough to get up in front of their peers and share their special talents! It was so nice to see! We had a bit of everything: dancing, magic, violin, art samples, etc. Well done, everyone! Here are just a few photos…

Grade 3 students enjoyed designing and building their own ultimate treehouses this week. By following a set of design instructions, the students created 3D treehouses based on their imaginations. Today, the students were excited to share their models with the other grade 3 classes, and we enjoyed seeing their designs as well!

This afternoon, our class had the exciting opportunity to participate in a hands-on STEM Challenge led by a dynamic group of high school students from the Spark Youth Robotics Club — a student-run, Kanata-based robotics team with an impressive track record, including appearances at international competitions such as the World Championships in Texas.

During the workshop, Spark mentors guided our students through the engineering design process — discuss, brainstorm, design, and create — as they tackled a thrilling challenge: designing and building a device that could protect an egg from a high drop.

Adding to the challenge, students had to carefully track the materials they used and stay within a set budget, just as real engineers working on a project with constraints do. This extra layer encouraged thoughtful planning, teamwork, and resourcefulness.

The portable was buzzing with creativity and problem-solving as students tested their ideas and made adjustments. We’re proud to report that every egg survived the drop!

A huge thank-you to Spark Youth Robotics Club for inspiring our young engineers with such a well-run, engaging, and authentic STEM experience.

At WEJ, we learn and play,

We cheer for Canada every day!

We wear red and white with pride,

We love our country, big and wide!

 This Friday, we will smile with glee,

As Canada is the place to be!

Hip hip hooray,

Let’s celebrate this special day!

On Thursday, June 26th, our class will hold a Class Talent Show to celebrate the end of the school year. This event offers a fun, low-key opportunity for students to showcase their unique talents to their classmates in a supportive and encouraging environment. Please note that this event is exclusively for students and is not open to the public.

Participation is entirely optional, and students are welcome to showcase any creative skill or interest they feel proud of. In the past, students have shared a wide range of talents, including singing, reading an original poem, performing magic tricks, displaying artwork, dancing, playing an instrument (like the piano or violin), acting out a scene, or sharing a personal collection or hobby.

If your child is more comfortable sharing their talent virtually, they may also email me a short video in advance, which we will play during the show.

We’re looking forward to celebrating our students’ creativity and wrapping up the year on a high note!

Attention, all primary students! This Friday (June 20th) is our Primary Summer Play Day!  We will go outside for fun activities during the middle block (12:00pm – 2:00pm). Please be prepared for the weather by bringing a water bottle, wearing a hat, and putting on plenty of sunscreen. Students will be in mixed-grade groups (grades 1-3) and will rotate through seven activity stations. Groups will spend about 10 minutes at each station. One of the stations will be a cool-down station in our portable with freezies. It should be a fun afternoon!

I hope all of the dads had a wonderful day today! The students enjoyed creating their very special gift and shoe design for you! We were so happy that your “hair” grew so well over the past two weeks! Take a look at these special creations:

We will have a short quiz on plants on Tuesday of next week. Students are encouraged to take home their Science duotangs this weekend to review. We will also spend some time reviewing the material in class today.