Getting outside is fun for Div. 4 and our buddy classes, here at Maywood Community! Once a month, Ms. Lanaway’s Gr. 6/7’s buddy up with two Gr. 1/2/3 classes and walk the 20 min to Central Park. We leave part way through lunch (after eating) and head along the Central Valley boulevard past the Metrotown and Patterson skytrains stations. Big buddies learn what it’s like to have the responsibility of a younger person in tow, making sure they stay close, hold hands and looking both ways when crossing the street, and minding bikers on the trail. It can be a big job for some of our big buddies!

Once in the park, students get a reminder about pointing out (but not picking up) broken glass, needles, or “one-fingered” gloves. The three teachers always have on hand a garbage, neoprene gloves for picking up garbage, and very little else for this adventure. Other safety precautions include a quick scan and clean-up of the area early that morning (THANK YOU, Ms. Aprim and Ms. Gill) and a reminder of the boundaries (small pieces of coloured duct tape on trees).

With safety reminders out of the way, students are free to explore how they wish. Time goes quickly, as groups chase each other through the woods, students make forts and fishing rods, while others choose to sit and draw in their nature journals. I find it so interesting to watch how the students play: who is not quite sure what to do, which ones are nervous, and who takes flight – surely in their element!

Sometimes students are taken by a teacher to the nearby washroom, but before too long, it is time to go and no one can quite believe we’ve been there for over an hour. Students are hurried along the trail as we try to make it back in time for the bell! Students are tired at the end of the day, but it always a fun time had by all.

  • Kerri Lanaway, Maywood Elementary