Hello and welcome back to my blog!

Here’s yet another exhibition blog post! This exhibition was the winter exhibition 2024/25. The project we did for the exhibition was called Marketing Me! It was a careers project, and my favourite careers project so far! 

What’s the big idea?

“Career and life decisions reflect choices based on exploring, planning, reflecting, adapting, and deciding to find purpose and balance.”

To start of this project, we thought about our values. I decided that my top 3 values are Growth, Positivity and Connection. To shortly explain, Growth because not everyone is perfect and your allowed to improve. Positivity because if you have a positive mindset then you can achieve much more than if your unnecessarily negative and Connection because you connect with everyone you meet on some level and it’s important to keep the positive and most valuable connections. 

I then connected my values to butterfly attributes, because butterfly’s come to mind when I think of my values. For example butterflies go through metamorphosis, which are massive changes through out they’re lives that they have to grow through. Unfortunately I can’t be a butterfly when I grow up, so I also connected my values to possible career options. For example my positive attitude would make a open and supportive classroom for my future students if I became a teacher!

This year for the exhibition we were put into groups as categories, categorizing our possible careers. I was in the creative group, with my group members Alva, Nate, Isobel, Parker, Izzy and Julian. We had a corner of the library that we needed to decorate. We also came up with an interactive activity that we wrote on the whiteboard. The question we wrote was “what is your most important value? Draw it!” So I wrote Growth and drew a little flower! Each of us also contributed some food! I baked cupcakes, and we had quite a spread of cookies, candy canes and bubblegum as well. I loved engaging with people and talking to everyone who came up to my table. Here’s a picture of my setup!

The driving question for this project was: How might I present my passions, strengths, and learning to the world? 

To present my passions, strengths, and learning to the world, I can enhance my digital portfolio (my blog) which showcases my work and includes narratives about each project. I can align my passions with my professional goals, for example I can use my writing abilities to enhance my resume. I can (and did for this project) reflect on my core values, which are growth, positivity and connection, and I can seek feedback to identify my strengths, while actively pursuing my interests to demonstrate commitment. By combining these strategies, I can authentically and effectively communicate who I am, and what I bring to the table.

The circular competency was 🧐 Analyzing: I can analyze ideas and make supported conclusions. Making decisions about preferred career pathways:

I analyzed possible values of mine, and narrowed them all down from a list of 10 to my top 3. I had to really consider what was important to me and what values I utilized the most in my life. I also had to analyze my values and how they would align with my possible career opportunities. 

You might also see that I changed the title of my blog to more fit my goals and aesthetic. I want to metamorphoses like a butterfly, and grow and change through out my life to reach my goals and become a better version of myself!

Thank you so much for reading! Remember failure is just opportunity for growth!

-Ailie 💜

Hello!!

What the heck is a Zine?!

We’ll get to that later! I’m back again, but this time with a humanities blog post! 

The first thing we learned about in this project was Juno beach. What was Juno beach? And why is a Beach so important?!

 Juno Beach was a critical D-Day landing site where Canadian forces played a pivotal role in the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Approximately 14,000 Canadian soldiers stormed the 10-kilometer stretch of French coastline, facing intense German resistance. Despite heavy casualties, Canadian troops advanced further inland than any other Allied force that day, demonstrating remarkable courage and military skill. The successful mission became a defining moment of national pride, symbolizing Canada’s significant contribution to World War II and establishing the country’s reputation as a strong military power on the international stage.

Other than Juno beach, we also learned about the rest of WWII. But we focused on the things that brought out the most Canadian identity. 

Why did we focus on Juno beach in particular?

The final product of this project we learned, was going to be a zine that would be sent to the Juno Beach Museum in France and the Lynn Valley Legion. Also, to fundraise for the Juno Beach Foundation, we all were assigned to do one hour of service each, to raise 10 dollars per person. This was called our “Act of service” project. So for my act of service, Evelyn and I decided to do a forest clean up of Garibaldi forest, since we go on walks in the forest and we both noticed that there was a lot of trash. We ended up doing it when it was dark so we did a night clean up! In order to provide evidence for the act of service, and reflect on it, we wrote a short third person paragraph to display our act. Here’s my third person paragraph I wrote to display my act of service:

Third person service paragraph

As another part of our project we wrote an essay answering the driving question. Then after we had a properly MLA formatted essay, we had to convert it into zine format. So what is a zine? A zine (pronounced “zeen”) is a small, self-published magazine or booklet. It usually focuses on a specific topic and is created by individuals or small groups. Zines can cover many subjects, such as art, politics, personal stories, music, and more. Our class created a WWII themed zine answering the driving question, with the contents of the Zine being our essays but in Zine formatting. Here’s my Zine formatted essay:

Driving question: What role did the conflict of World War II play in shaping Canadian identity?

World War II was a transformative moment for Canadian national identity. By contributing significantly to the Allied victory, Canada emerged from the conflict with newfound international respect and a stronger sense of self. The war experience united Canadians across diverse backgrounds, showcasing their collective strength, courage, and commitment to global peace. It marked Canada’s transition from a small not as well known country, into an independent respected nation with a distinct cultural and political voice on the world stage.

Our competency for this project was: 😄 Communicating: I can communicate in appropriate and effective forms.

In order to properly format my essay, and make it the best I could, I had to go through multiple revision rounds. I had to communicate with Mrs. Mc and Ms Madsen to make sure I was doing my revisions properly. I also had to communicate with my classmates through peer critique, and specifically Evelyn, to line up our act of service. 

Thank you so much for reading my blog post!

Have a good day!

-Ailie 💜

Atomic definition: something that’s so small, it’s microscopic!

Hello and welcome to my first ever post for careers!!

For our first careers project we read the book” Atomic habits by James Clear”. Atomic Habits by James Clear teaches that small changes can lead to big results over time. It’s important to create systems that support your habits. Clear outlines four key steps to build good habits: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. He also emphasizes the importance of changing your identity, seeing yourself as the kind of person who has good habits. By focusing on tiny improvements every day, anyone can achieve lasting change in their life.

For this project our final assignment was to make anything to showcase what we learned form the book. The thing that I made for this project, was a scrapbook full of I am statements! Each I am statement represents a different part of my life, for example school, soccer etc. On each page I have my “I am” statement for example “I am a good student”. Then I have goals I’d like to meet to do with my statement. I also had some bad habits and how I should break them, because it’s important to recognize the good and the bad. I also have people who could help me with affirm my “I am” statements jotted down, because sometimes we need a little bit of help! My scrapbook:

7 images

We also created some really cool pop art, to represent our intentions for this year. I wrote an intention statement to go along with the art:

I want to be a dedicated student who fully comprehends the tasks and projects assigned to me. I will approach each assignment with curiosity and enthusiasm, ensuring that I get the objectives, success behaviours, criteria and requirements. When I don’t understand something, I will proactively seek clarification by asking questions. I will mainly ask my teachers questions, but sometimes my peers and if needed my parents. I also will embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, knowing that my inquiries contribute to deeper insights and better outcomes. I will work towards affirming the statement “I am a student who understands the work/task at hand and asks questions when she doesn’t.” I also want to be a person who is good at, and very proud of my main interests. So, I can also turn that statement into “I am a person who understands the music I play/ my sport (soccer) and asks questions and tries to improve when she doesn’t. In soccer I’ll ask my coach and in band I’ll ask my band teacher.

My pop art:

🤔 Questioning: I can ask questions, research information, and share ideas.

For this project our competency was Questioning. I asked myself questions about how I could connect atomic habits to my every day life. I did research through through out the project, through reading the book. I also referred back to the book when making my scrapbook. I shared ideas with my classmates during the process of making my scrapbook. I also shared my thoughts about the book each time we met to discuss it.

The driving question for this project was: “How can small changes in my habits shape my success this year, and beyond?”

Small changes in your habits can greatly affect your success. For example, spending just 10 minutes a day reading or exercising can lead to big improvements over time. These little actions add up and help you become more productive. Sticking to these habits also builds discipline, making it easier to reach bigger goals. In the end, these small changes can help you succeed now and in the future.

Thank you so much for reading my first careers blog post! Stay tuned for our next project, which is a reoccurring favourite, that happens every winter….

-Ailie 💜

Hello!

Why does the world need more canada? That’s a pretty good question, and that was the driving question we had to answer for this project! Other than maple syrup, we as Canadians bring so much to the table (the breakfast table obviously).

Thinking Thursday:

I never watch the news that much, but when we were assigned to watch the national every night, I actually quite enjoyed being informed. I heard a bunch of different types of stories, but the story I chose to talk about was “girl gets set on fire at high school in Saskatoon”. I relate to this story because l am a 15 year old girl in high school in the Canadian school system. This incident was tragic and very interesting to me.

“Girl of 15 set on fire by girl of 14 at high school in Saskatchewan.”

Script:

One of my favourite things about this project was being able to really put my personality into my work! We had to choose a topic we wanted to discuss related to Canada’s awesomeness, and I chose soccer in Canada! I play soccer in a Canadian youth soccer club and so Canadian soccer really relates to me. I’m also pretty passionate about professional soccer. I was very proud that I could put what I love into my work. I also learned how to use a 3 act structure to build up my script.

Soccer in Canada

Podcast:

The actual aftermath of my script was my podcast, which I’m very proud of! | learned how to use garage band. I recorded and edited my voice, and I added sound effects for more pizazz! I went a little bit over the 5 minute limit, but I was able to cut down and only include the most important things. There was just so much I wanted to say about soccer in Canada! I always love doing a project where I can connect it to something I love. Please give my podcast a listen, and check out my classmates podcasts too!

Core Competency:

The Core Competency for this concert was! 🤔 Questioning: I can ask questions, research

information, and share ideas. I feel like I need to ask more questions to insure I understand and so that I can do my best work. I did do a bunch of research to make sure all of my facts were correct, but I had learned about Canada soccer previously, just because it’s one of my interests. I shared my ideas thought my podcast and made edits to it when needed.

My answer to the driving question “Why does the world need more Canada?”

The world needs more Canada because it promotes peace, cooperation, and inclusivity on a global scale. Welcoming more immigrants can strengthen its economy and enrich its cultural diversity. Canada’s values of kindness and respect for human rights serve as a positive example for other nations. Overall, more of Canada’s approach could lead to a better, more united world.

Thank you so much for reading yet another one of my blog posts! Have a good day!

-Ailie 💜

Hellooooo! It’s that time of the year again! It’s tPOL time! Let’s kick off and start the game!

That’s the final whistle! Good game and see you next year!

Have a good summer!

– Ailie 💜

P.S. Those were all soccer references! ⚽️

Hello and welcome back to another exhibition blog post!

His best friend was shot! He stopped down to check on him but his friend told him to keep going. He pushed on mourning the loss of his friend. 

World War 1 was gruesome and confusing, and I’m not exactly a history buff. Although I do love learning about my ancestors and the cultures I came from. Though our nationalism project for the winter exhibition I learned about my Irish roots, and through this project I learned about one of my ancestors in particular. From Scotland, my great grandpa Dugald Smith! Dugald Smith, father of my Gran Mary Hanson, had signed up when he was 18 in 1914 to fight in the war for Scotland under the British troops. He was sent to the battle of the Somme in France in July 1916.

Our driving question was “How can I create a comic that accurately depicts an event from WWI?” To start off this process we learned a little bit about WW1 and also all of the different parts of a comic. After being told that our final assignment would be a 20 panel comic on a WW1 related topic, I asked my mum if we had any ancestors in WW1 because I thought I remembered her mentioning one once. She told me about my Great Grandpa and his awesome story, and so I decided I would dedicate my comic to him! Then we were assigned to build a story board of what we wanted our comics to look like. Here’s what I made:

IMG_2705

The actual exhibition was pretty fun, but probably my least favourite one in terms of the actual night of because we didn’t really do a lot of decoration for our station. It was probably my favourite project to present though. I found that most people thought it was cool that it was actually a true story about one of my ancestors, which made me really proud.

So without further ado here’s my comic!:

Dugald Smith

Thanks for reading!

-Ailie 💜

P.S. It’s almost tPOL time!

Queen victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. With her first cousin, she had 9 children, 5 girls and 4 boys!

Hey guys welcome to ….. British nationalism!

So first off, I had no idea what Nationalism is, so I searched it up!

Here’s what I found: Nationalism is devotion and loyalty to your country, it could be as serious as idolizing your country above all other countries.

Then what is British Nationalism?: British nationalism is the fact that Britain is a nation and promotes loyalty to Britain and being British.

One of the main periods of British nationalism and a time where England was at the peak of its power was the Victorian era. The Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria Daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was the longest of all of the people before her. Form when she was 18 in June 1837 to January 1901 when she was 81!

There were many inventions and discoveries in the Victorian era, including the inventions of the telescope, the sewing machine, the type writer, and the bicycle. With the power and discovery that came from the Victorian era, England decided to colonize more. They colonized many places over seas so they could provide England with valuable materials like metals and sugar. Englands colonizing spread its rule and power beyond its boarders. This brought huge changes to societies, industries, and cultures in other countries.

For this project I put all of the information I learned from researching into a video! Making the video was quite fun. I first planned it in an organizer, then I wrote a script for the video. Finally, I filmed all of the different shots, for example me talking to the camera, and I even made some animations to make the video more exciting. 

Here’s my video!:

Don’t forget to like and subscribe! I’ll see you next time on the battle field of the world first huge war!

-Ailie💜

Hello and welcome back!

It’s that time of the year again! It’s mPOL time!

So without further ado:

Wish me luck on my presentation and thanks for reading!

-Ailie 💜

Hello and welcome back to my blog!

In second place….. J.J.J.A.M.M! Di was quite the experience. What is di you ask? Well, it’s a competition which teaches kids to be more creative and problem solve. It requires out side of the box thinking. Our team as a whole was pretty cohesive. J.J.J.A.M.M was made up of Jackson,Jack,Jasper, me, Mika and Matteo. 

What did we have to do to compete in di? Oh you know, just make a gigantic pinball machine and a story about how the pinball represents a hero going on a journey. That may sound like a lot, and ya it was a lot, but our team pulled through with a sorta working 4 by 8 foot pinball machine and a pretty awesome Star Wars themed story.

We worked hard to complete all of our elements. Some people were better at building, and some at designing, so we split the work in half under those two categories. I was on the design half of the team, because let’s be honest, I would almost definitely cut my thumb off if I was handed a saw. 

Since our presentation stopped at 5 minutes when it was supposed to be 8, the judges didn’t eat our donuts, the music wasn’t loud enough, and our pinball round didn’t even count, being some of the many things that didn’t go great, we have a lot to improve on! Two main things we’ll be improving on are, bettering our machine mainly practicing utilizing it in our story and having a new team choice element to replace the donuts. 

My favourite parts of di were, how well our team worked together on our instant challenge, how our team presented, and acted very well, and our overall teamwork. Some fun moments so far were when Mika and I stayed late at school to make costumes out of cardboard, and cooking donuts with Mika and Jack, even though it was quite chaotic, there was a whole lot of smoke and maybe even a flame, and in the end someone asked us if they were chicken wings.

Di has been quite the adventure so far, and it will continue to be as we prepare for our second competition, provincials!

Our di team J.J.J.A.M.M:

May the toast be with you!

-Ailie 💜

Hey guys!

With her little purple wings fluttering nervously and her fluffy paws shaking, she gently peeled back the stamp of the envelope, and folded open the piece of paper inside. Her warm brown eyes rapidly scanned the page. As they reached the bottom of the document her fluffy features fell. A small tear landed on the big red words, Admission Declined. Pamella’s dream washed away like a leaf riding the rapids of a river.

Our most recent project was cutting heads and limbs off stuffed animals. Well ok, we had reasons for that. Our PLP 9 class made the PLP famous Frankinstuffies! We decapitated and de-limbed multiple stuffed animals to create new animals! I already knew how to hand sew, but this was quite a challenge, and I learned new ways to sew to reinforce my Frankinstuffies body. I was tasked with making an awesome life story for her, with many challenges and adventures throughout it. 

The process of creating her though sewing was sooo fun!

The photo above is what Pamella looked like before.

And this is the after!

The summary of my story is, when my frankinstuffie, Pamella Gwendolyn Brog was rejected from culinary school, her life goal to make food and spread it to the world suddenly seemed impossible. So she decided to take action and not quit because of one setback! With the assignment to make this story, I improved my story writing skills, and I learned about how all stories have a theme. The theme for Pamella’s life story is, if life isn’t going your way, other doors will open and other opportunities will arrive so keep living life to the fullest and don’t give up!

After I wrote my short story I turned it into a 2min video! With the help and new information about green screens and how they work in iMovie, I created many different scenes for Pamella to live in. Keynote helped with removing backgrounds and cleaning up scenes. 

Here’s the video I made!:

Here also a link to my paddlet to give me feedback and comment on my story!:

Pamella paddlet

-Ailie 💜