Student Art Show Announcement

Hastings Division 18’s Grade 5/6 students are putting on an art show and you’re invited!

A message from the class…

Hello Hastings Community!

Division 18’s Grade 5/6 students would like to invite you to our art fundraiser, ‘Building Black Futures’, starting next week at The Laughing Bean!

Our class has been inspired by the important contributions of Black icons and the Black Lives Matter movement, and has organised this fundraiser in the hopes that it can serve as a small but meaningful step in the building of Black futures in Vancouver.

This art exhibit and fundraiser will present art made by students featuring important Black trailblazers and icons. These artworks are not only visual representations, but also educational keepsakes: they include short biographies celebrating the life and accomplishments of these famous figures. It is our hope that by sharing these works with our community we can help spread their stories and contributions more widely.

This art exhibit and fundraiser will take place at The Laughing Bean (2695 East Hastings) and will run from Monday, June 21 through Sunday, June 27. The Laughing Bean is open until 4 pm every day. Artworks will be sold on a sliding scale starting at $10. The Laughing Bean accepts cash and debit. 100% of funds raised will be donated to the Hogan’s Alley Society, a non-profit organization committed to promoting and preserving Vancouver’s Black History!

We hope you can visit the exhibit!:)

Sincerely,
Division 18 students

Happy Indigenous Heritage Month!

And now message from HARC… 

As we did for Black History Month, the PAC’s Hastings Anti-Racism Committee (HARC) will be sending out a series of emails to celebrate Indigenous Heritage Month. We encourage you, as parents, to bring some or all of these stories to your kids. Without further ado, let’s get to it!

1. Haida artist, Tamara Bell, started the growing memorial on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery – placing 215 pairs of childrens’ shoes, in tribute to the remains found by the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation at the residential school there. Above the memorial, a sign reads,

‘Know more than the names of the land. We are past the point of gratitude. It’s time to commit to more than live, work and play.’

A land acknowledgement rolls easily off most people’s tongues but how much do you know about the people you are thanking?
Learn more about the…

Musqueam Nation 
Tsleil Waututh Nation – People of the Inlet
Squamish Nation

2. Abigail Echo-Hawk, of the Pawnee Nation, and the chief research officer at the Seattle Indian Health Board, asked for PPE to help protect the community from Covid-19. She received something very different and turned it into an act of resistance and resilience.

Read the Story

3. Speaking of fashion, Supernaturals Modelling, is the first Indigenous Modelling Agency.

Learn More

4. Let’s stay in the fashion category…Christian Allaire, member of the Ojibwe Nation and a writer for Vogue magazine, has just released his first book – “The Power of Style – How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures.”

Learn More

5. Kaniehti:io Horn, member of the Mohawk Nation, hosts a new podcast – ‘Telling Our Twisted Histories,’ in which Indigenous stories are decolonized and retold.

Learn More

6. A month-long gathering and showcase of Indigenous Performing Arts and Indigenous artists has already begun as the Talking Stick Festival (TSF) continues its 20th Anniversary celebrations!

Did you know June is also Filipino Heritage Month AND Pride Month?! SO many people and stories to celebrate!! 

Lost & Found Trolley is out!

Our Vice Principal Susan would like to remind families that the Lost & Found Trolley is out!

On most mornings as school commences (unless it’s raining), the trolley is wheeled out to the sidewalk in front of the main entrance on Franklin. Parents are welcome to come take a look and hopefully retrieve those lost items!

Susan says the best way to keep your kids stuff out of the lost & found is to LABEL YOUR CHILD’S BELONGINGS. It’s as easy as using a permanent marker in the neck label. While staff make every effort to unite lost items with their owners, they can only do that if the item is labelled.

An alternative to marker, are stickers with your child’s name. If you plan to label your child’s items before the start of September, please consider ordering Mabel’s Label’s and supporting the Hastings PAC’s ongoing fundraiser! 20% of every order goes to the PAC’s operating account, and is used for many important initiatives at our school. With the lack of fundraising events due to COVID this year, such as Spring Fair, Burger & Bevvie, and Bingo Night, small fundraisers like Mabel’s Labels help a lot!

Click above and look for ‘Hastings PAC (Vancouver)’. Thank you in advance for your support!

The Walking School Bus is doing a call out for committee members!

It's cool to walk to school

The super popular Walking School Bus (WSB) was suspended due to COVID, but we are hopeful that we can get it up and running again soon!

The WSB not only helps parents get their kids safely to school, it also provides leadership opportunities for senior students and for students to form connections between different grades and programs. It also provides a fun way for students to have additional physical activity on a daily basis, and to decrease the level of vehicle congestion around school. In an era of growing awareness around climate change, every participant in the WSB is taking steps forward to the planet we want to have in the future.

An initiative like this take organizing and planning, so if you are interested in being involved in the restart, please email the PAC at info@hastingspac.ca and we can connect you with other parents.