Dear DG Families,
As we previously shared, in honour and remembrance the 215 children found buried at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, our students attached 215 orange felt hearts, along with pink hearts with messages of love and support, along our fence bordering 112th Ave. This was a symbolic gesture to commemorate the lives lost and to show our respect for the Indigenous peoples in our community and to all those families whose lives were forever changed by the Indian residential school system.
Unfortunately, this past week, we were saddened to discover that all of the hearts had been removed from the fence. We believe this happened on the evening of Monday, June 7th. While vandalism does happen from time to time at schools, if this had simply been an act of vandalism, one would expect to see the remnants of the felt hearts strewn on the ground. Not so in this case. In searching the area, we found no trace of the orange or pink felt hearts. Whomever did this, went to great lengths not only to remove the hearts from the fence, but to also take them with them. As you can imagine, this was very upsetting to students and staff.
To assist us in processing these feelings, we sought the advice of an Indigenous Elder, Elder Doris. Elder Doris shared some of her wisdom, which was in turn shared with our students and staff:
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In this world, there are people who live in the shadow and spread negative energy and do bad deeds
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However, there are many of us who walk in the light, spreading love, joy, and positive energy wherever we go
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And that just because someone who walks in darkness took away our gifts of love (which were the hearts we displayed along the fence), it does not take away the love that is in our hearts for the Indigenous peoples of our community
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Elder Doris then said that we cannot let the shadow peoples win and that we need to continue to share our love
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We cannot let this act of hate stop us and win; we need to come together again to show our love for our community.
We thank Elder Doris for sharing her words with us. In response, classes have been creating other displays, inside the school. For example, you may have noticed orange hearts displayed in the windows. We will also be doing something as a school to celebrate National Indigenous People’s Day on June 21st, and are looking to create another display along our fence.
Volunteers Needed for our New Garden Area!
As you may know, our school has recently planted a Western Red Cedar tree, along with vegetables and flowers in planter boxes, at the front of the school. Both the tree and the garden boxes require regular watering. In anticipation of summer approaching, we are reaching out to our families (particularly those of you who live nearby) to help us water over the summer, to ensure our new garden and cedar tree continue to thrive. We are hoping to create a schedule of volunteers to take turns doing the watering so that it’s a manageable task (many hands make light work). You will have access to water and a hose at the school, and we will show you exactly what needs to be done. If you are willing to help out with watering this summer, please email Ms Tee stee@deltaschools.ca
Also, our school is the lucky recipient of a pollinator bee hive so keep an eye out for our hive at the front of the school! A big thank you to Ms Chan who submitted the application on behalf of our school.
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2021-2022 School Calendar
Please find attached the 2021-2022 school calendar.
2021-2022 planner Calendar (1)
Coming to school prepared for the day – Lunch, Water, Masks
We are noticing an increase in the numbers of students coming to the office (sometimes daily) to say they forgotten their lunch, snack, water bottles, and/or masks. While we do have some supplies at the office for emergencies, please note that we cannot financially sustain the amount of water bottles, cups, food, and disposable masks that we are currently going through.
Please help us by checking in with your child(ren) to make sure that they have what they need prior to coming to school each day.
After School Events
June is a very busy month for us at the school and, due to COVID restrictions, we’ve had to schedule some of our annual events (like our Welcome to Kindergarten event, our Grade 7 Celebration days, staff goodbyes, etc… ) outside, after school. In order to assist us in keeping everyone safe, while ensuring these events are successful, we are asking for your assistance.
Please help us by going straight home after school. This will reduce the number of people in the area after dismissal to allow us to get set up quickly, while also ensuring sufficient space for our guests. We are also asking that you please leave the school grounds promptly after school without waiting for staff to remind you to do so. This will help us to focus our attention to these special events for incoming and outgoing members of our school community.
June is Pride Month
While Pride has become synonymous with diversity, rainbows, and love, it was sparked from a much darker beginnings. Pride started as an uprising against police violence and injustice in June 1969 in New York City. Black and Brown trans women stood up to police violence. These acts of resistance, now known as the Stonewall uprising, led to the birth of Pride, Pride marches and the LGBTQAI2S+ rights movement. Society has seen positive changes and improvements regarding the treatment and acceptance of members of this community, but there is still work to be done. Attitudes and injustice still exist and all members of our school community, whether they identify as LGBTQAI2S+ or not, are affected by homophobia and transphobia. We need to ensure schools are inclusive and safe for students/parents/staff of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Someone’s gender does not limit their interests and opportunities, and their sexual orientation and how they understand and express their gender are welcomed without discrimination. Happy Pride, Dragons!
Summer Learning Opportunities for ELL Learners
Is your child an English Language Learner? If yes, the School District is offering some additional summer learning opportunities! Please see the following information for summer school for our ELL learners.
Summer Learning Flyer 2021 (1)
Registration guide:
Crossing Guard Schedule
Please see the schedule listed for crossing guards until the end of June!
Crossing Guard Schedule
Delta Kids
This site is updated regularly and will have more updates regarding summer camps and activities for kids in the coming weeks with the change in Covid guidelines.
Foundry App
Recently, the Province of BC announced the launch of the Foundry BC app, which offers young people aged 12 to 24 and their caregivers access to integrated health and wellness services. Visit the Foundry Virtual BC web page to download the app or to access the web portal online.
Reminder – Fundraisers ongoing throughout the year
Return-it Express
PAC has created a school fundraising account. To participate, simply bring your containers to the depot in sealed, clear bags, and enter the registered phone number, 604-581-6185, into the Express kiosk. You will be prompted to select the number of bags you’re dropping off, the kiosk will automatically print the same number of sticker tags displaying our PACs unique Express account code. Tag each of your bags with a sticker tag and drop the bags off in the designated Express drop-off area to be counted. For a list of Return-it Express location visit https://www.return-it.ca/locations/express/
Cobs Bread Dough Raiser Program
This program enables us to raise money for our school throughout the year! Be sure to mention Devon Gardens Elementary (or code 7806) each time you make a purchase at COBS Bread Scott 72 Centre; they will donate 10% of your purchase back to our school.
Level Ground Trading
Level Ground is a BC business that works with fair trade coffee, tea, dried fruit and spice producers. For details and to place an order, please visit our very own Devon Gardens landing page https://www.kaci.io/devon-gardens-elementary-school-level-ground. Enter DevonGardens in the discount code field at checkout and 15% of your purchase will be a payback to the school on every order of $40+. Free shipping on orders $40+
Online Stay Safe & Babysitting Courses
Offered through First Aid Hero. When registering use promo/coupon code DGPAC and our PAC will earn $8 from each registration. For details, available course dates and online registration, please follow the links below:
Babysitting – https://firstaidhero.com/babysitting-courses/online-babysitting-courses/
Stay Safe – https://firstaidhero.com/stay-safe/
Questions? Send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com
Devon Gardens PAC Annual is hosting its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday, June 21st at 7:30pm.
At this meeting, we will be holding our elections for the 2021/2022 PAC Executive Committee. Meeting and the elections will be held online via Zoom. To view the Executive Officer positions available and their respective duties, refer to the PAC constitution.
DG DPAC cannot function without dedicated volunteers. We welcome nominations for all positions and hope you will join us in fulfilling our mandate to represent the parent voice and support our school. Any parent or guardian of a student registered at Devon Gardens Elementary is eligible to hold a position on the Executive Committee. Below is a list of the PAC executive positions, current appointed representative, with years served and intention to continue for the 2021-22 school year.
| PAC Position | Name | Years in Position | Returning for 2021-22 |
| Chair | Varinder Khaira | 3 | No |
| Vice-Chair | Jennifer Iachetta | 1 | Yes |
| Secretary | Janelle Lindahl | >3 | No |
| Treasurer | Carolyn Stanley | >3 | Uncertain |
| Gaming Rep. | Cleo Yeh | 1 | Yes |
| DPAC Rep. | Vacant | ||
| CFP Rep. | Katrina Smyth | 1 | Yes |
| Member at Large | BJ Dhaliwal | 3 | No |
| Member at Large | Jana Methven | >3 | Yes |
NOMINATION Process
To express your interest, agreement to serve, and confirm your qualifications for the position you would like to nominate yourself for, please email send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com with the following information:
- Full name
- Contact information
- Position interested in
Nominations will also be accepted from the floor during the AGM.
We hope you will consider running for a position on the 2021/2022 DG PAC Executive Committee.
Week of June 14 – 18: “Sports Day” Week activities in PE
Wednesday, June 16th: Div 1 Grade 7 Celebrations walk-through stations
Friday, June 18th: Wacky Tourist Day
Monday, June 21st: National Indigenous People’s Day
Wednesday, June 23rd: Grade 7 after school event (Div 9/10)
Friday, June 25th: Grade 7 leaving ceremony (shared virtually, no in-person spectators) 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Monday, June 28th: Year end virtual assembly (no in-person spectators)
Tuesday, June 29th: Last day of school (dismissal 10:20 primary, 10:30 intermediate)
Tuesday, June 29th: Third term report cards online
Wednesday, June 30th: Administrative Day (students not in session)