Ball-hockey Intramurals
By Sadie Perry

Ball-hockey Intramurals started in January at Westfield School. Students in grade four and five play hockey in the gym. Sometimes the teachers play too. The teams that played are:  Senators, Canucks, Stars, Bruins, Panthers, Sabres, Red Wings and the Avalanches. Having hockey intramurals is awesome because it helps us stay active and it’s a lot of fun. The kids have a really great time and so do our teachers.

The Talent Show Auditions
By Abby Campbell, Madison Kenny & Larissa King

The talent show comes once a year. Every student had a chance to audition. The teachers were the judges. You can’t be shy! You can dance, sing, and LOTS more! It is fun and you can do anything you want. This year is going to be different because our talent show is also going to be a musical with songs from Broadway. All the students will learn songs from different Broadway musicals in music class, which is great because the whole school gets to be involved.

Skating
By Melinda Dickie & Kaila Holden

Students at Westfield School went skating for four weeks on the River Valley Rink. We skated there on the 19th and 26th of January and the 2nd and 9th of February. Everyone was very excited! Some kids got their parents and families to come out and skate with them. They were also very helpful with the younger kids’ skates and helmets. It was wonderful exercise, and we also had a lot of fun!

Welcome to WES, Ms. Tibbetts!
By Alyssa Harvie & Cydney Logan

Ms. Tibbetts started teaching at Westfield School in January and we wanted to have an interview with her to get to know her better. Ms. Tibbetts teaches grade 2, 5 and kindergarten. Her favourite subject to teach is Math. She has worked as a supply teacher in many different schools, but Westfield School is her favourite. She thinks all the events we have here are great because it keeps the school busy. Ms. Tibbetts loves the rules at the school and she likes that we actually think hard to make the rules fair.  She thinks it’s great that the school is having a musical talent show by Broadway so kids can learn more about music. She likes the love, care and generosity the school gets from the parents and community. She’s also excited that we are helping raise money for Haiti.

The Westfield Home & School Association would like to take this time to express our deepest gratitude to all those who were involved in transforming this playground project from a dream to a reality. What began as a vision has manifested into the first handicap-accessible playground in our community. This is something we should all be proud of accomplishing.

We would like to acknowledge those organizations that graciously provided grant money. They were instrumental in our efforts, two-thirds of our funding was raised through these grants. We could not have done this without your support.

Regional Development Corporation  $50,000.00
Crane Mountain Enhancement Incorporated   $15,000.00
NB Children’s Foundation   $5,000.00
Greater Saint John Community Foundation   $3,000.00
Town of Grand Bay–Westfield    $1,000.00
River Road Food Market   $1,000.00
Kiwanis of Western Kings   $500.00

We would be remiss if we neglected to mention the following individuals who went above and beyond personally supporting us along the way: our lunch volunteers – who contributed  the majority of the Home and School funds; Jack Keir – in addition to providing the largest donation, he attended every major event and provided items for our fundraising projects; Deputy Mayor Tammy Archer – who assisted in our fundraising efforts and attended all our major events; Ed and Marilyn Kelly for their continual support;  From District 8 – Chris Toole, Vonda Harrison , Craig Jones and Jim Connors; and Eastern Fencing (Mario and the crew were a pleasure to work with!);  and last, but not least our unsung heroes – OUR FAMILIES! They stood by us as we dug our heels into this project. Volunteering, as important as it is, takes time and dedication. We personally found it required a very supportive family. We are very grateful for ours!

During our Celebration of Appreciation ceremony we took the time to honour a very special volunteer with a dozen roses. Flo Colwell is a great-grandmother to one of our students and she is one of our most valued volunteers. In fact, there isn’t an area in which she has not helped.

Playground volunteers Maria Rookard, Flo Colwell (with flowers she recieved) & Carol Ann Boudreau.

Flo came to us four years ago and hasn’t looked back. She has counted the lunch money each week and made the deposits. Her or her husband, David, pick up the rolls for our lunch program every Wednesday. She spends a full day each week committed to Westfield school. Flo is the first one to say yes to any request that the Home and School has made of her. She helps out every year at our Christmas yard sale, popcorn days, fun days, counting pennies during our penny drives….her support is endless.

Not only does she volunteer with us, she is a force to be reckoned with in the community; sitting on other committees and raising money for other projects. We are so grateful to have her as part of our volunteer family. It is an honour and a pleasure to volunteer with her.  She is an inspiration to us all. Thank you Flo for all you give of yourself for Westfield School.

The auditorium at Westfield Elementary School was packed with students, parents and supporters on October 19th for the official opening of the new playground. This project that started as a dream three years ago is now a reality. It is the first handicap-accessible playground to our community. The cost of the project to date is $126,500 with more funds required to complete the landscaping.

MLA Jack Keir helping students and members of the Home & School Association cut the ribbon to officially open the new playground.

Mayor Grace Losier, Deputy Mayor Tammy Archer & MLA Jack Keir in the playground.

The official opening cake.

Playground volunteers Maria Rookard, Flo Colwell (with flowers she recieved) & Carol Ann Boudreau.

Home and School President Joellen Landry & Carol Ann Boudreau receiving cheque from MLA Jack Keir

On Wednesday, June 17th local MLA and Minister of Energy, Jack Keir presented a cheque for $50,000 to the Westfield Home and School Association on behalf of the Regional Development Corporation. Over the last three years a total of $105,000 has been raised to allow Westfield School to add an additional structure in the grades K-2 playground and to replace the aging grades 3-5 playground with a new structure that is handicap-accessible. Westfield School is the only elementary school in this area that currently provides these facilities. The new playground will have a fairy tale theme with castles dragons and lots of climbing apparatus. The Association hopes to have the playground completed by September.
Funding for the playground also came from the following groups:
Crane Mountain Enhancement $15,000
N.B. Children’s Foundation $5,000
Greater Saint John Community Foundation $3,000
Town of Grand Bay-Westfield $1,000
Kiwanis of Western Kings $500