Eliza Archie Memorial School (EAMS) students and staff accompanied the Canim Lake Band Elders on a rock hunt recently.
They were given a crash course by the Babcock family on rock hounding. They looked at samples of what they might find and how to look for” thunder eggs,” which are very special rocks with amazing insides.
Two were found and cracked open to display marvelous surprises inside.
Everyone climbed the mountain south of the main reserve to look for treasured rocks.
“We found awesome rocks with crystals inside. It was the best day,” exclaimed Dusty Rose Sellars.
“All of us had an awesome day” was the opinion of Cameron Amut.
Lunch was provided by Shirley Fraser from the Elder’s Center and it was enjoyed by all.
Author brings Fire to EAMS
Our local author and illustrator Bonita Forsyth introduced her new book, Fire, which is book 2 of the Chronicles of Mineria, and captivated the children of EAMS in her charismatic teaching manner.
She has donated a copy of each of her many books to the school’s library. Bonita proceeded to teach all the steps she went through to write the book, showing her story boards, notes, etc.
The rest of the day was spent guiding the children through the process and having them begin to write stories. She had material that inspired all the grade levels and each child demonstrated learning of the writing process by making a booklet and writing a story. She showed her illustrations and explained how they came to be.
Bonita also spent a day teaching art techniques to the different grade levels and each child produced a “frame able” project using watercolour techniques. The older students used First Nations art designs and then watercoloured the backgrounds.
Says Dixie Boyce: “We learned to paint with salt.”