School is an institution for educating children, any institution at which instruction is given in a particular discipline. This is part of the dictionary definition of school. My definition of school however is a bit different, a bit more than that. I think school is a place where we are taught and where we learn and where we make friends and discover. It is a really special place in my heart, particularly my school!

Lester. B. Pearson or LBP is and has been my school for almost 7 years. It is a French immersion public school and one of the biggest elementary schools in York Region even with grades going from only grade 3 to 8. There is about 600- 700 students in my school and there are 4 floors. It was named after Canada’s first Prime minister!

The reason I love my school so much is because there are so many extracurricular activities and events to take part of. These activities give us opportunity to develop and change our talents into spectacular ones. There are basketball, volleyball and badminton teams, etc. We have field trips to Vivian, the science center, farms and more. We also have special out of school trips such as the We day concert Venus mentioned in her article “Best Experience Ever”, the annual gr. 7 trip to Wonderland at the end of the year and the annual end of the year trip to either Ottawa or camping at Algonquin Park for the grade eights. Which I think all of that are added bonuses to love school, in this case, my school!

My sister and I take a school bus to school every single day. I ride along with my very best friends and that experience feels great. My first year at LBP P.S., I barely knew or speak any French. But since then my French has grown into a second language that I can rely on. Thus, if I go to France, their words won’t sound like gibberish and when my family and I visited Quebec my sisters and I were able to speak very well with the people who spoke French. Though I remember someone mentioning that we had an accent, the same we could tell with their English! There is no way I would have learned this much if it were not for the great teachers at LBP. Most of them are francophone and come from Quebec, while others know some French but teach the subjects that are in English.

While kids in English schools get a French class in grade 4, we get an English class where we mostly learn about grammar and writing and reading, since English is for most of us our first language. Everything is in French except for Math and music class… and English of course. In music we learn many different instruments. There is clarinet, flute baritone, bass clarinet and trumpet. I play the flute and it is fun learning an instrument that you have never played before. Well actually I have played it before because you choose what instrument you want to play when you’re in grade 5, then unless you want to change every year, you stick with it until University (There is also music in High school).

At my school there is one word that is highly valued above all and that is RESPECT and we also have a touchstone which in French reads as:

À LBP, tout le monde a un sentiment d’appartenance, est aimable, respectueux, unique et important. Nous démontrons de l’empathie envers les autres en les traitant comme nous aimerions être traités. Je veux que les gens me traitent de façon juste et équitable. Nous n’intimidons, n’excluons ou ne discriminons jamais autres. À LBP nous devons toujours parler en français, écouter et comprendre. À LBP nous nous engageons à suivre le code de vie de notre Touchstone.

OR in English:

At LBP everyone is respectful, kind, unique, important and included. We show empathy for others by treating others as we wish to be treated. I want people to treat me fairly and equally. We never bully, exclude or discriminate. At LBP we should always speak in French, listen and understand. We at LBP agree to live by this, our Touchstone.

We also have a #yeswewill campaign!

We as well have Public Service Announcements (PSA) program. A PSA is technically a message in the public interest that attempt to influence listener or viewer about or against something like Texting while Driving. In fact, at school I have been making a PSA against bullying and I enjoyed doing so.

Well, did I say I like my school.., I mean I do love my school so much because of so many reasons I just mentioned. In addition, the school is well equipped with technologies with readily available in classrooms that includes; computers, IPads, iPad minis, macs, netbooks/mini-laptops and varieties of books stocked in classrooms and at our library. Above all, I love my school because of the supportive, caring, and committed teachers and of course because of good friends I have made for years at LBP!
This is what my school means to me. What does yours mean to you?

Serena Wambura