BY CARRIE DEBRONE
Kitchener Citizen
On October 15, at the entrance to Lackner Woods Public School, Shannon Brown and her younger brother Cameron together placed their inked thumbprints on a piece of art called the ‘Communitree’ that will hold a special place in the foyer for as long as the school exists.
The unique picture shows the branches of a tree decorated with leaves made from the hundreds of coloured thumbprints of the visitors who attended the school’s 10th anniversary.
Shannon, who was a student at Lackner Woods School, 151 Zeller Drive in Kitchener, the first year it opened in 2001, is now in grade 11. Her brother, Cameron, is currently in grade 4 at Lackner Woods.
“It’s nice to come back and see what changes have been made,” she said, adding that she really liked the performance of the song “I Believe” by the school choir during the hour-long anniversary program held in the gym.
“We looked at the site plan on the wall of the school before it opened and can’t believe how much the neighbourhood has changed. It’s easy to forget,” said their Mom Sherri Brown.
When the school first opened in 2001, there were fields surrounding it, which have since been filled with new homes. The area is growing so quickly that a new public school will soon be built in the area.
Hundreds of students, parents, teachers and past students came back to Lackner Woods school to enjoy the anniversary presentation, eat cupcakes, tour classrooms, hug the school’s maple leaf mascot Lackner Louie, visit with the teachers and with each other and reflect on what the school has meant to them personally.
“I liked everything about the show in the gym. It shows how much the teachers care about us and how much we care about our school,” said Lackner Woods Grade 6 student Lena Schreyer.
“Ten years is a pretty long time and you remember all the things you have done,” said Lena.
Her mom, Nicole, agreed it is important for schools to celebrate milestones.
“The whole heart of the school community comes together in an event like this. It’s a time when parents and students can share their memories,” she said.
“The day certainly brought back some fond memories for me,” said Jan Elgie, and EA who retired from Lackner Woods school about five years ago.
Involved in the opening of the school, Elgie said the anniversary celebration
“really shows the spirit of the school.”
“The first principal Dennis Koebel was a great motivator back then and it’s clearly continued on with principal Dayle (Buller-Power).” Elgie said.
The celebration ceremony included a speech by Koebel,who reminisced about how the school had opened with several empty classrooms and no gym floor. He also talked about how much he relied on the advise of office manager Andrea Koenig to help him pick out the school furniture because he is colour blind.
“I remember how excited I was to be placed at Lackner Woods School,” said Buller-Power who became principal in 2005.
She noted that the school then had an enrollment of 441 students,which has since grown to 600.
“This school has done a fantastic job of making this a community,” she said.
The celebration also included greetings by Kathleen Woodcock, Chair of the Waterloo Regional District School Board trustees and Greg Bereznick, Superintendent of Instruction for the Grand River Family of Schools, a performance of the song Homeward Bound by teachers and the dedication of a Peace Pole lead by school council co-chair Laurie Tremble.
The pole, which reads “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” will be permanently installed outside the school’s front doors later this year.
The peace pole movement was started in Japan in 1955 to spread the message of peace on Earth. There are now tens of thousands of such poles in
more than 180 countries worldwide.
The school peace pole’s message is inscribed in eight languages – English and French because they are the languages of instruction at the
school – German, in honour of the cultural heritage of Kitchener and Vietnamese, Punjabi, Gujarati, Serbian and Romanian, representing the top five languages spoken by Lackner Woods current students.
Kitchener Citizen
On October 15, at the entrance to Lackner Woods Public School, Shannon Brown and her younger brother Cameron together placed their inked thumbprints on a piece of art called the ‘Communitree’ that will hold a special place in the foyer for as long as the school exists.
The unique picture shows the branches of a tree decorated with leaves made from the hundreds of coloured thumbprints of the visitors who attended the school’s 10th anniversary.
Shannon, who was a student at Lackner Woods School, 151 Zeller Drive in Kitchener, the first year it opened in 2001, is now in grade 11. Her brother, Cameron, is currently in grade 4 at Lackner Woods.
“It’s nice to come back and see what changes have been made,” she said, adding that she really liked the performance of the song “I Believe” by the school choir during the hour-long anniversary program held in the gym.
“We looked at the site plan on the wall of the school before it opened and can’t believe how much the neighbourhood has changed. It’s easy to forget,” said their Mom Sherri Brown.
When the school first opened in 2001, there were fields surrounding it, which have since been filled with new homes. The area is growing so quickly that a new public school will soon be built in the area.
Hundreds of students, parents, teachers and past students came back to Lackner Woods school to enjoy the anniversary presentation, eat cupcakes, tour classrooms, hug the school’s maple leaf mascot Lackner Louie, visit with the teachers and with each other and reflect on what the school has meant to them personally.
“I liked everything about the show in the gym. It shows how much the teachers care about us and how much we care about our school,” said Lackner Woods Grade 6 student Lena Schreyer.
“Ten years is a pretty long time and you remember all the things you have done,” said Lena.
Her mom, Nicole, agreed it is important for schools to celebrate milestones.
“The whole heart of the school community comes together in an event like this. It’s a time when parents and students can share their memories,” she said.
“The day certainly brought back some fond memories for me,” said Jan Elgie, and EA who retired from Lackner Woods school about five years ago.
Involved in the opening of the school, Elgie said the anniversary celebration
“really shows the spirit of the school.”
“The first principal Dennis Koebel was a great motivator back then and it’s clearly continued on with principal Dayle (Buller-Power).” Elgie said.
The celebration ceremony included a speech by Koebel,who reminisced about how the school had opened with several empty classrooms and no gym floor. He also talked about how much he relied on the advise of office manager Andrea Koenig to help him pick out the school furniture because he is colour blind.
“I remember how excited I was to be placed at Lackner Woods School,” said Buller-Power who became principal in 2005.
She noted that the school then had an enrollment of 441 students,which has since grown to 600.
“This school has done a fantastic job of making this a community,” she said.
The celebration also included greetings by Kathleen Woodcock, Chair of the Waterloo Regional District School Board trustees and Greg Bereznick, Superintendent of Instruction for the Grand River Family of Schools, a performance of the song Homeward Bound by teachers and the dedication of a Peace Pole lead by school council co-chair Laurie Tremble.
The pole, which reads “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” will be permanently installed outside the school’s front doors later this year.
The peace pole movement was started in Japan in 1955 to spread the message of peace on Earth. There are now tens of thousands of such poles in
more than 180 countries worldwide.
The school peace pole’s message is inscribed in eight languages – English and French because they are the languages of instruction at the
school – German, in honour of the cultural heritage of Kitchener and Vietnamese, Punjabi, Gujarati, Serbian and Romanian, representing the top five languages spoken by Lackner Woods current students.
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Lackner Woods School celebrates 10 years
Lackner Woods School celebrates 10 years
Shannon Brown, who was a student at Lackner Woods Public School when it opened in 2001, and her brother, Cameron, a current grade 4 student at the school, add their inked thumbprints to the Communitree art piece that will hang in the school’s foyer as a reminder of the school’s 10th anniversary. Hundreds of people attended the celebration at the school Oct. 15.
Current Lackner Woods Public School Principal Dayle Buller-Power and former Principal Dennis Koebel share a laugh and a cupcake during the school’s 10th anniversary celebration.
