Students shine at MD Bennie’s Future Forward Family and Friends’ Night

Featuring an inflatable planetarium in the gym, food samples from the world’s continents, outdoor music performances by the Bennie choir and band, and an impressive grade six exhibition in the MD Bennie Public School’s library, families and students were both entertained and educated at the May 16 open house.

The school’s focus this year has been working on projects that address the 17 United Nations sustainable development goals that have been set.

Grade six students from Mrs. Jeffery and Miss Vreman’s classes displayed the work they had put together, many focusing on goal two, zero hunger.

With zero hunger in mind, a few projects stood out from the many worthy projects that were presented. Parker Poole spearheaded a campaign to feed hungry students and got the ball rolling by writing a letter to Sun Brite Foods in Ruthven.

“I heard that they are a local food company and thought I’d write them a letter to help the hungry,” Poole said. 

He was pleased with their response and their donation of pasta and sauce. Because of Parker’s initiative, the school’s grade six students are able to serve a pasta meal every other week to fellow students at a very affordable price. 

When asked how he felt about his project taking a life of its own, Parker said, “It makes me feel good to be able to make a difference and help people less fortunate than me.”

Another project in the exhibition belonged to grade six student Tessa Foster, who decided to start a cooking class at the school. 

Running the class with her mom after school in three-week sessions, Tessa offered students in grades 3 to 6 an opportunity to make international cuisine, featuring fried rice, dahl and walking tacos. 

“I love to teach,” she said, and made sure that her meals were easy to make, affordable and quick to prepare.

Through pasta sales on Wednesdays and morning muffin sales, the grade six classes have been able to raise funds that will be given back to the local community and will soon vote on which organization(s) they would like to reward from their efforts on working towards the elimination of hunger.