Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library

International Day of the Girl Child

The United Nations has declared October 11 to be the International Day of the Girl Child. The day was first celebrated last year, as an opportunity to recognize the rights of girls, to raise awareness about the challenges that they face around the world, and to celebrate our daughters, sisters, friends and students. Sadly, girls around the world daily face discrimination, violence and the violation of their human rights.

The theme for 2013 is “Innovation for Education.” One of the most obvious inequities and injustices for girls is in education, as many girls around the world are deprived of their right to an education.

The fulfilment of girls’ right to education is first and foremost an obligation and moral imperative. There is also overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves: it is the one consistent positive determinant of practically every desired development outcome, from reductions in mortality and fertility, to poverty reduction and equitable growth, to social norm change and democratization. (source: un.org)

We can be thankful that Canada is amongst the leaders of the world in protecting the rights of girls.Yet even here there is more work to be done, and certainly we must continue to fight for the rights of girls around the world.

For more on this vital issue, go to UN.org

Leif & Lifelong Learning

If you are a “lifelong learner” you should be learning new things all the time. I just learned that there is a holiday in the US called Leif Erikson Day. I am not sure why I didn’t know this already, but I learned it today thanks to Mental Floss (a great site, check it out.)

Christopher Columbus gets most of the glory as the European who “discovered” America, but it was Leif Erikson and the Vikings who were here hundreds of years earlier. In fact there may have been other Vikings in America before Erikson, or perhaps even other Europeans (St. Brendan the Irishman?) but Leif gets the credit. Learn more about Leif Erikson and the day named for him here.

Scrooge!

On this day in 1900, actor Alistair Sim was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His greatest performance was in the role of Scrooge in the 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. There have been many wonderful versions of Dickens’ classic holiday tale, but Sim’s portrayal of Scrooge is the best.

Twitter

Are you on Twitter yet? It isn’t just celebrities telling us what they had for lunch, or friends telling us about their bodily functions. The educational possibilities for Twitter are tremendous. Just today we retweeted items related to language, games, photography, Vancouver history, iPads, teaching, Drop Everything and Read, The Hobbit, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, comics, libraries, flags, school libraries, public libraries, authors, literacy, our writing contest, and more. We share about what we are doing in the school library learning commons, we share about what is happening in the school, we share about the things our kids are learning in classes, and we share about all sorts of things.

World Teachers Day

Happy World Teachers’ Day! In 1994, the United Nations (UNESCO) established October 5th as World Teachers’ Day, a day to recognize and celebrate the vital role that teachers play in the lives of all people, especially children and youth.

“There is no stronger foundation for lasting peace and sustainable development than a quality education provided by well trained, valued, supported and motivated teachers.” (UNESCO)

Teaching in Uganda
source: Unesco Photobank

October is OUR month!

October is International School Library Month and Canadian Library Month. October 28 is National School Library Day and the day for the DEAR Challenge: Drop Everything and Read.

Check out the following for more info:

Gregorian Calendar

On this day in 1582, the Gregorian Calendar was adopted by the Catholic Church and the governments of the Catholic areas of Europe. It replaced the Julian Calendar which had been in use in Europe since Roman times. October 4 was the last day of the Julian Calendar, immediately followed by October 15 on the Gregorian Calendar.

Although the Protestant and Orthodox countries of Europe initially rejected the reforms of the Gregrorian Calendar, named after Pope Gregory the XIII, eventually all of Christendom would adopt it. In fact most of the world now uses the Gregorian Calendar as the Standard Calendar for matters of government and economics.

For more on the Gregorian Calendar and other calendar systems, visit the following:

DEAR Challenge

DEAR: Drop Everything and Read. The BCTLA and BCTF challenge everyone around the province of British Columbia to “Drop Everything and Read” on Monday, October 28.

At Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School we students and teachers read every day during SSR. On the 28th we are challenging everyone in the building, including administrators, clerks, custodians, education assistants and visitors, to join with people from all over British Columbia to read for twenty minutes.

DEAR2013 — source: bctladear.blogspot.ca

Even better, find twenty minutes to read every day!

Mohandas Gandhi

source: wikimedia commons / public domain

Mohandas Gandhi was born on in this day in India in 1869. Gandhi led India to independence from the British Empire, primarily through non-violent protest and peaceful resistance. His ideas would inspire future movements from such people as Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

For more on the life of Gandhi, click here.

Canadian Library Month

October is Internatioal School Library Month. It is also Canadian Library Month. Celebrate the vital role that libraries play in Canadian life. Canadian Library Month is a celebration of libraries of all kinds, including public libraries and school libraries. Visit the Canadian Library Association for more information.

Gr. 8 Health Conference & Retreat

The School Library is hosting sessions for the Gr. 8 Health Conference & Retreat on October 1 and 2. Due to the sensitive nature of the seminars, the room will be closed to Drop-In Students and Study-Block Students.

International School Library Month

Happy International School Library Month!
Check out our display of books related to libraries, books, literacy and more.