| Kid Koala's Diary March 2005 Alpha Clouston Grade 2 Gander Academy Newfoundland, Canada |
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| Good Morning Boys and Girls,
We are a Grade 2 class at Gander Academy, Newfoundland, Canada. It is winter time here and we have a lot of snow. It is starting to melt some times, like when the sun is shining or when it rains. In case you don't know about snow, we'll send you some pictures of us playing on the snowbanks in front of our school. Our school has about 800 students in grades Kindergarten to six. There are 6 classes of grade twos. We have 23 students in our class and our teacher's name is Mrs. Clouston. We do a lot of work and now we are learning about bears. Do you have bears in Australia? If so, what kind? This week has been a very busy week for us. It has been a special week at our school called 'Education Week' and we have had lots of activities and special guests. Do you celebrate 'Education Week' too? We would like to know more about your school. How many students do you have? Where is your school and what is it called? How far is your school from the ocean? What special holidays do you celebrate? Do you have summer vacation? And last of all, do you get snow? We have really enjoyed having Kid Koala at our school. We took turns taking him home at night and showing him around. Next week we will send you some pictures of his adventures in Gander. Until next time, Grade 2s and teacher, Mrs. Clouston |
| Hi Ms. James and class,
Here are a few more pictures of Kid Koala's adventures in Newfoundland. He is having quite a trip. We were happy to hear all about your holidays and the unique animals of Australia. We watched a video clip of a real koala at a zoo (on the internet). It was really cool. We read about some of the other animals you mentioned in Mem Fox's book Possum Magic. Mrs. Clouston has been reading Mem Fox books to us each day and we have looked up Perth on the map of Australia. You are so lucky to live near the ocean and to have beautiful beaches. We have lots of beaches in Newfoundland too but many of them are very rocky (some are sandy too) and the ocean is very cold even in the summer time. We are looking forward to Easter vacation beginning on March 25th. Mrs. Clouston says we all deserve a break as we work very hard every day. It would be great if we could all go to a nice warm place for the break...Australia sounds wonderful! Have a great day at school! We'll be in touch again soon. Mrs. Clouston and class Hello Ms. James and class, Here's a little bit more information about us; We live in the Town of Gander (check out the website: http://www.gandercanada.com/town/t_over.htm ) which is located in central Newfoundland, a province on the east coast of Canada. Newfoundland is an island which means it is surrounded by water. To visit us, people outside of Newfoundland have to either take a 7-8 hour ferry (large boat) ride or go by airplane. Gander has an international airport and St. John's, our capital city, has one too. Newfoundland is known for its friendly people (we love to have visitors), vast forests (with animals like moose, lynx, fox and black bears), great fishing and camping areas (lots of outdoor parks), beautiful scenery, and lots of fresh air and water areas- lakes, ponds and the great Atlantic Ocean. We enjoy sports like snowmobiling, downhill skiing and cross-country skiing, ice fishing, baseball, softball, soccer, skating and hockey (indoor and outdoor). We love our snow (especially when a snow storm gives us a day off school like yesterday) but we also look forward to the warm days of summer vacation (July - August). We have really enjoyed having Kid Koala visit us but we think he may be getting a little lonely (and a little hungry as there are no eucalyptus trees around here) so we are saying goodbye for now. Thanks for visiting us Kid Koala! Hope you'll tell others about our great province so they'll come visit! See ya, Grade 2s and Mrs. Clouston |