THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015
Volume 41, Issue 09
www.starjournal.net
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2014 CCNA
Pink Shirt Day campaign takes to the street
Grade 1 students present puppet play for Literacy Week
..... page 6 North Thomson Star/Journal
Legacy building – right here in our valley ..... page 8
BC Government proclaims Cowboy Heritage Week
Share knowledge and help achieve Global Geopark status for North Thompson area
North Thompson Star/Journal End-of-life care in the Kamloops area will be bolstered thanks to an $85,000 Community Gaming Grant. The grant will go toward two community programs under the direction of the Kamloops Hospice Association. ”Allowing our terminally ill citizens to die with dignity and in comfort is of utmost importance, and this grant helps the Kamloops Hospice Association achieve that,” said Health Minister Terry Lake, MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson. “Our government recognizes Hospice’s crucial role in making this difficult journey for patients and their families more tolerable.”
Meeting in Chu Chua, Mar. 3, 10 a.m. - 12 noon
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Mrs. McGravy’s grade 1 class at Barriere Elementary recently participated in a puppet project in partnership with Barriere and Area Literacy Outreach to celebrate Literacy Week. The students made the puppets themselves and then put on a puppet show based on the book called, Mr. Gotta Go, which is about a cat who comes in out of the rain and starts to live at a hotel in Vancouver. The cat is called Mr. Gotta Go because the hotel manager keeps telling the cat he’s “gotta go when the rain stops”, and of course, it rains quite a bit in Vancouver. The book chronicles different situations from the kitchen staff who feed the cat, a lady who brings a dog in under her coat, a photo shoot in which the cat is featured, and a raccoon that invades a third floor room resulting in a trip to the vet. With funding from Barriere and Area Literacy Outreach (BALO), and much help from Mrs. McGravy, and BALO volunteer, Dawn McCormick, the production became a reality. Some of the kids made puppets of Mr. Gotta Go, some made the hotel manager, some made the lady with the dog, the chef, the vet, and the raccoon to chronicle the story. A cardboard refrigerator box became the puppet stage, complete with different windows cut out for viewing. Each group decorated their own window to go with their scene. On the last day, the student narrators read parts of the book while the other students acted out their scene. The kids had great fun with the project, and also learned to be a good audience by sitting quietly in their chairs when it wasn’t their scene, listening politely and clapping when the scene was done.
(Top) Barriere and Area Literacy Outreach volunteer Dawn McCormick sits with members of Barriere Elementary’s grade 1 class during their puppet play. (Above) Class teacher Mrs. McGravy holds the book, Mr Gotta Go, which became the theme of the puppet play her class presented to celebrate Literacy Week.
Funding for Kamloops Hospice
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Submitted photos:
“The Kamloops Hospice Association is highly deserving of these funds to improve its outstanding work in providing compassionate end-of-life care,” said Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone. “We are pleased that the grant gives the Association the ability to enhance its services for families who need them.” Wendy Marlow, executive director of the Kamloops Hospice Association, said, “The gaming funds support, in part, our Community Visiting Program. After an initial visit by our Community Programs Co-ordinator, a trained volunteer will visit palliative clients in their home, long term care facility or in the hospital to provide support and companionship for the terminally ill, and respite for the caregiver.”
A portion of the grant is also directed toward the hospice association’s Counselling Program, in which patients, families and friends can access counsellors for grief and bereavement support. “The grant allows us to continue to provide these valuable services to our community,” Marlow said. Every year, the provincial government approves $135 million in gaming grants that benefit more than 5,000 local non-profit organizations that serve communities throughout British Columbia. Organizations interested in applying for Community Gaming Grants can find information and applications at pssg.gov.bc.ca/gaming.
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S E R V I N G T H E N O RT H T H O M P S O N VA L L E Y F R O M H E F F L E Y C R E E K TO B L U E R I V E R