as a gallery in the library,” says Principal Shawn Klingenberg of Northern Lights Secondary School. “It’s the third time we’ve done this now. Our students and staff all really look forward to it.” The project carries special meaning in this tight-knit Cree community where high school students often have younger siblings or cousins in elementary grades. The monster project represents just one example of systematic grade eight transition activities. Science department leads regularly invite grade eight students to experience high school laboratories, working with microscopes and conducting experiments. Technology teachers bring middle schoolers into woodworking shops for hands-on activities. “This helps them immensely because they become very familiar with the high school and the staff, which lessens their anxiety,” notes Zelau.The schools also coordinate a formal transition program each May, plus involvement in February’s career fair where students meet with Northern College representatives, employers, and community agencies. EARLY LITERACY AND BEYOND Every morning at Moosonee Public School, students set aside their regular subjects for 40 minutes of focused literacy development. The Fundations program has transformed how the school approaches reading instruction, creating remarkable results among its predominantly Indigenous student population. “From K to eight, we do Fundations daily,” says Zelau. “The primary groups are early in the morning, and the junior intermediate are later. I was able to visit the kindergarten classroom when they were doing a Fundations lesson, and I was so impressed with the engagement of all our students.” The program’s success lies in its innovative structure. Rather than keeping students in traditional gradelevel classrooms, Fundations groups learners by ability across multiple grades. Additional staff members join regular teachers, creating smaller instructional groups tailored to each student’s reading level. 4 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 07 CHOOL AREA BOARD
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