đ§ Wave Reads For You
It was getting close to the end of the school year for Mrs. Thomas and her Grade 6 class. Everyone was very excited! There was lots of chatter about summer plans and being free to do whatever they wanted for two whole months!
However, underneath all the enthusiasm, the teacher sensed anxiety. These kids were now old enough to be aware of what was going on in the world. And this year, the news seemed to be hitting close to home here in Canada. War⊠Wild fires⊠Anger⊠Trash talk⊠Trade tariffs with the USA. âWill Daddy lose his job?â
Mrs. Thomas decided to veer off her lesson plan. Instead, she started discussing these troubling topics. But rather than focus on problems, she led her students to think about solutions. âWhat can we all do in our own way to better the world we live in? To protect our country, our community, and our families?â She asked them to become influencers for good. Then she suggested that they write about their findings and experiences to share with the class as their first assignment in the Fall.
Fast forward to September. The kids rose to the challenge. These are their stories:
How I Spent My Summer Stay-cation
By Chad, age 11
Are you kidding me? Homework over the summer? How rude! That was my first reaction. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do my part.
Every summer for as long as I can remember, my parents have taken my sister and me on an excellent trip to resorts and theme parks in the US. We love Six Flags!! We love Disneyworld!! But maybe this year, I suggested one night to my parents, we can choose to spend our money closer to home. We can have what everybodyâs calling a âStay-cationâ.
Mom thought that was an excellent idea. Sheâs the one who is always thinking about how we can protect the planet. Sheâs also the one who pushed us to buy our Toyota hybrid car that was made in Canada. She imagined that some day it would take us on family vacations.
Dad was excited, too. He already had three places in mind that he wanted to show us.
We told my sister she could dress up as Cinderella for the whole trip. She was so excited she couldnât sleep.
The morning finally came when we were ready to leave on our first adventure. The car was packed so full, it looked like were leaving for a week, not just for the day! We sang songs and played games as Dad drove east on Highway 401. He kept telling us we were going to The Big Apple, and we laughed and laughed because thatâs another name for New York City. That was in the US, so we knew we werenât going there. Then he pulled over at the Colborne the highway exit, and said âLook over thereâ. We were so surprised: There ahead of us was a humongous red apple.
Dad started telling us that the Apple has been here for around 40 years and that it was built to tell the world about how great our Ontario-grown apples are. But we werenât listening, âcause we were running to go inside. It was amazing! The place was packed with everything you could possibly make from apples. We wanted to buy everything from the souvenir shop. Mom said we could each buy one thing, and her thing would be apple cider to take home.
Dad was calling us to go outside. He had bought tickets for us to play mini-golf and we had lots of fun doing that. He won, of course. Then he said he wanted to treat us to the best apple pie he had ever eaten. I believed him because heâs very old and has eaten a LOT of pie in his life. We all agreed it was the most delicious pie ever.
After lunch, we got back into the car. Dad suggested that maybe Mom could drive, and I could sit in the front seat to help her follow the GPS directions. I felt very important. Mom gave me a wink. She knew Dad would be snoring before we pulled out of the parking lot. By the time he woke up, we had almost reached our second stop: the town of Roseneath.
Dad popped up â as if he hadnât been sleeping for an hour â and declared: âWelcome to Roseneath Fair!â My sister and I were both speechless as we walked onto the Fairgrounds. There were a Ferris wheel and a big strawberry ride. There was a farmersâ market with all kinds of food and crafts. There was an old-fashioned car show (bye-bye, Dad) and pony rides.
But we could not take our eyes off of the most beautiful Carousel we had ever seen. Actually, it was the ONLY real carousel we had ever seen! We learned that itâs more than one hundred years old, but the forty hand-carved and hand-painted horses looked shiny and brand new. We also learned that the band music playing was coming from a 1934 Wurlitzer organ right there in the middle. It reminded us of the ride in the movie Mary Poppins and I started to imagine myself in a fox hunt. My sister sat on the prettiest horse and people started taking selfies with her because they thought she was the real Cinderella. Too funny!
We had eaten so much during the day that we werenât even hungry for dinner. Mom gave us carrots and celery sticks with peanut butter â our favourite snack. We munched as we drove to our final destination. After a short drive, Dad said âLetâs stop here for gas.â He suggested we go into the little convenience store and SURPRISE! This was actually our final stop. We were on the Alderville First Nation Reserve!
The people in the store were so nice, they invited us to watch a traditional indigenous ceremony that was about to start. What an amazing chance to experience something we had only ever seen on tv. The music was enchanting and the dancing looked very difficult. My sister loved the dancing, especially when one of the dancers took her hand and twirled her around. Everybody clapped and said it was Cinderellaâs dance at the ball.
Even though it was starting to get dark, we wandered around the craft market for a while. I asked Mom if we could each buy something here, since we had forgotten to go back to the souvenir shop at the Big Apple. I had a hard time deciding between a wooden carving of a bear and these moccasins Iâm wearing right now. I guess you can figure out what I finally chose!
A lovely lady making the most beautiful beaded jewellery picked out a pretty beaded shawl in the colour of my sisterâs dress. She was over-the-moon happy â we all were! â as we piled back into the car for our drive home.
We took several more day trips and a couple of weekend-long adventures, but I will always remember that first day as my favourite.
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