Students at Deerwood School and RD Parker Collegiate have completed projects that have truly made Thompson a better place for everyone, embodying Kin Canada’s motto of “meeting the greatest needs of the community”.
As students think about the school year ahead, there are special moments etched in Thompson’s shared memory that should not be forgotten or overlooked when reflecting on the year’s many great learning accomplishments. former. Of note, the Thompson Kin Club is proud to highlight its incredible experience this spring by engaging with students in grades 2-12 at Deerwood School and RD Parker Collegiate.
In 2020, the Thompson Chapter of Kin Canada created lesson plans to educate Deerwood and CPDM students about Kin Canada’s “Milk for Britain” campaign, the largest civilian fundraising campaign in Canada of its time. which ran from 1942 to 1948. Kin Canada raised nearly $3 million to purchase and ship 50 million liters of powdered milk overseas to prevent starvation among thousands of English children during the Second World War. The Thompson Kin Club kicked off the lesson with a 13-minute graphic novel-style educational documentary, followed by a live presentation from a World War II survivor.
Originally from Birmingham, England, 83-year-old Alette “Ali” Eason of Winnipeg immigrated to Canada with her husband in 1964. Birmingham, among many other British cities outside London, suffered repeated aerial bombings throughout World War II by the evil Nazi regime. . Ali has shared many exciting stories of how he survived these bombings as a young schoolgirl. Recalling a variety of vivid and sometimes chilling moments, Ali also recounted how she had to drink the milk supplied to thousands of English children like her by Canadians. At the end of Ali’s presentation, Deerwood and CPDM students then received their Kin Canada challenge.
Just as the ‘Milk for Britain’ campaign began as an idea to help others, participating classes were asked to identify a community need they can address and, within six weeks, complete a class project who would help this charitable cause. . To that end, the Thompson Kin Club is proud to highlight the many incredible community projects that have been completed this spring by the following Deerwood and RDPC classes.
Deerwood: Rachel McDonald’s Grade 2 class held a free sale. $204.10 from sales went to the Nanatowiho Wikamik Thompson homeless shelter.
Deerwood: Jackie Lafrenière’s Grade 4 class had a bake sale. $777 from sales was donated to the Thompson Humane Society and Northern Manitoba Paws in Need.
Deerwood: With a focus on childhood cancer awareness, Sarah Schroeder’s Grade 7 class used a classmate’s unique artwork to print onto merchandise that was available for sale to the public. $1,500 was donated to the family of another Deerwood student undergoing cancer treatment, and the remaining $200 was donated to Cancer Care Manitoba.
Deerwood: Caroline Voyer’s Grade 8 class picked up 16 bags of litter at the treeline surrounding her school. With the school’s central location in the city, the treeline tends to act as a filter for much of the city’s windswept litter.
CPDM Grade 12 English class Robyn Foley held a bake sale. $240.05 was donated to the homeless shelter.
RDPC: Amanda Stillie’s History of Western Civilization class collected an incredible amount of food items for the Thompson Seniors Resource Council Inc., who distributed them in food baskets.
All projects were student-driven and facilitated by their homeroom teachers. As a result, the dynamic energy and committed passion of the students at these schools has truly made Thompson a better place for everyone, embodying the Kin motto of “serving the greatest need of the community.”
The Thompson Kin Club would like to thank the Equality and Social Justice Committee of the Thompson Teachers’ Association for providing seed funding to launch many of these projects. The 13-minute documentary “Milk for Britain” can be viewed on YouTube via the Kin Canada channel.
Peter Frigo is the president of the Thompson Kin Club Centennial Project.
