Texada Elementary K-2 Students Connect with Classrooms Nationwide
What started as a simple idea in Ms. Carol Wyatt’s Grade K-2 classroom at Texada Elementary has grown into a cross-Canada connection project called “13 for 13”.
While going through the curriculum and learning about Canada’s provinces and territories, Ms. Wyatt wondered, what better way for her students to learn than by hearing directly from other kids who live in those provinces and territories? She asked the class if they’d like to create packages filled with local artifacts and personal stories to send to schools across the country and invite each school to send one back sharing their own community. The students were immediately on board.
With support from Superintendent Paul McKenzie and help from Texada Elementary Principal Alex Bella, Ms. Wyatt reached out across the country to help build real relationships between young learners and successfully heard back from a school in every province and territory who were excited about taking part.
The goal of the project was simple yet powerful: to help students share their own stories about the beautiful little island they call home, while connecting with other students who live in very different places and hearing firsthand what life is like in their neck of the woods. The lesson was for students to discover the beauty that exists from coast to coast, gain a better understanding of the differences between communities, and recognize the similarities that connect them all.
Each package gave a little peek into life on Texada Island…
All the students contributed to the co-written story, “This is my Island”. Students also included a colouring book featuring animals from the qathet region with their Tla’amin names, rocks and stones they collected, sea glass gathered from the beach, laminated leaves from their school’s backyard, and a variety of student artwork. Every package also included a question for the receiving school about its province or territory to spark a response.
These packages were carefully assembled over several weeks as students collected their treasures and were mailed out on February 24th. The class is now eagerly awaiting a package or postcard in return by April 15th, filled with answers to their questions and a glimpse into life in another community.
Once the responses arrive, the class will gather at the Texada Museum, located next door to their school, to read the postcards together and see what has come from across Canada. 
This project connects directly to what students have been learning in class…
Students in Ms. Wyatt’s class have been exploring Canada by studying provinces and territories through books, asking curious questions, and creating dioramas to bring each region to life. Along the way, they have compared geography, wildlife, industries, and daily life, discovering both the differences and the similarities that shape communities across the country. When asked what caught their attention about the province or territory they were studying, students were quick to share their favourite facts.
Did you know...
“You can find dinosaur fossils in Alberta”
“There are polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba”
“There are diamond mines in the Northwest Territories”
“Baby belugas live in Nunavut”
“There was a gold rush in Yukon”
“Quebec has really big hydro dams”
“There is lots of wildlife in Nova Scotia like foxes and deer”
“Osoyoos in BC does not have the ocean like us, but it has a BIG lake”
“Prince Edward Island has a long name but is Canada’s tiniest province”
Learning about other places has also helped students reflect on their own. The class described Texada as small but very safe, surrounded by the ocean and home to seals and salmon. The island is covered in forests with tall trees, and many families are connected to mining. For these students, community also means tending chickens, swimming after school, and jumping on trampolines in their backyards with friends. These are the little glimpses of island life that they were excited to share with students across the country.
A special thank you…
Texada Elementary has a wonderful partnership with the Texada Museum, which is attached to the school. On average, students visit the museum three to four times a year, and they have found it especially helpful and inspiring over the past few weeks as they collected artifacts themselves.
Peter Lock (pictured in the bottom left photo), a museum volunteer who is also a Texada Island local and a retired qathet School District teacher with over 30 years of experience, visits the school often, sometimes as many as 20 times a year, bringing artifacts and stories that help students understand what life on Texada used to be like. Students have been using what they’ve learned from Peter throughout this project to compare their community’s history with the histories of other places they have been studying. Thank you to Peter for his time and energy, and for inspiring students to stay curious.
Thank you to Museum Curator Brenda Rairie as well, for supporting this project by displaying copies of the students’ outgoing “This Is My Island” letters on the museum board and preserving them as part of the museum collection. Students are not only learning about history, but they are also becoming part of it.
The newly posted display at Texada Museum of all the student written letters.
Through collaboration, connection, and communication, students are learning that community can look different from place to place, but every single one is special and unique.
Make sure to pick up a copy of this month’s qathet Living magazine for a special Q&A with Principal Alex Bella and Teacher Carol Wyatt about the project!