New Teacher Orientation

I was invited to the city of Armidale, which is where the Catholic School's Office is located.  They had a day for new teachers to the division and it happens to be located right beside this amazing church.  The city has a population of about 30,000 and host a university and a boarding school for boys and one for girls.  The gal I when to Armidale with, has a son who attends the local boarding school.  While we waited for him, she showed me the dining hall that they boys eat in.  I thought it reminded me a lot of the Hogwarts dining hall from Harry Potter! "The Armidale School", TAS as it is known, was built in 1898 and has beautiful grounds.  When you walk in the entryway it has all the honor roll painted on the walls from all the years past.  The boarding school concept is not a common one in Alberta so it was interesting to see the buildings and hear all about the long standing traditions that take place in that little city.  An amazing opportunity for students who get that chance. 

Yamba - A coastal town

Here is how I spent yesterday afternoon and most of today!  Sitting on the beach!  Yes, I did a little homework, lots of reading and watching the surfers.  Because we had the Swim Carnival until 9 pm on Thursday, we received a day in lieu on Friday.  Apparently the only 3 day long weekend ... I took advantage and booked myself a little road trip to a town called Yamba.  It's about 3.5 hours from where I live and easy to get too ... thank you GPS!  I arrived about 2 pm on Friday and headed straight to the beach.  The weather is still around +35 and I put on my sunscreen and parked myself in the sand.  I thought of all my friends and family back home fighting the wind chills and thanked my lucky stars for the sand and surf I was experiencing.  I think I found my home away from home:)

My Classroom and Swim Carnival

 Here is a shot of my classroom from the outside and inside.  Lots of light and air conditioning that work!  This is where the learning happens!

This shot was taken at dusk on the evening of our Swim Carnival.  Swim Carnival you ask?  Yes, all students were given the opportunity to swim in the various swimming races to earn points for the 'house'.  We arrived at the pool straight from school at 3pm and stayed until 8:45 when the relays wrapped up the evening.  It was well run and lots of families came to cheer on their children in the many races.  Many teachers asked what our swim carnival was like ...