Grade 6s Wrap Up Law Unit: Visit from a Supreme Court Justice and Lawyers

Law Visit - Grade 6
Senior criminal defence lawyer Mike Klein, Madam Justice Sandra K. Ballance, and legacy tax & trust lawyer Nick Smith, visit with the Grade 6s.

The Grade 6s wrapped up their six week unit on the Canadian justice system with a special visit coordinated by Jacqueline’s dad, Nick Smith, a  legacy tax & trust lawyer in Vancouver.

Mr. Smith invited Mike Klein, a senior criminal defence lawyer, and Madam Justice Sandra K. Ballance, a BC Supreme Court Justice, to speak with the class. Each member of the panel described what they did, which highlighted the vast differences of what one could do with a law degree. They also shared anecdotes from their most interesting cases.

Law Visit - Grade 6
The Grade 6s had lots of curious and well-informed questions for the panel.

The Grade 6s also had a chance to ask questions. Their questions were very curious and well-informed. Just the day before they had a visited the Law Courts downtown and had a chance to sit in on many cases. They also held their own mock trials in the classroom as part of their unit on the Canadian legal system.

Thank you to Madam Justice Ballance, Mr. Klein and Mr. Smith for taking time out of their busy schedules to visit with us, and for answering all our questions!

O.W.L. Visits YHS

Jen with "Pokey", a Barred Owl.
Jen with “Pokey”, a Barred Owl.

Jen, an educator from the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation (O.W.L.) Society visited the Grade 2s and 4s on March 12th. O.W..L is a non-profit, volunteer driven organization dedicated to the rehabilitation and release of injured and orphaned birds of prey (raptors) and to public education designed to reduce the causes of their plight.

Jen shared her knowledge and love of these beautiful birds with the students and answered many questions. The girls had a lot of questions! Raptors that are unable to be released to the wild remain at the facility and are used in educational programs. Jen brought two birds to show the students, ‘Tyra’, a Merlin Falcon and ‘Pokey’, a Barred Owl.

O.W.L. is open to the public for visits and on April 26th & 27th they will be hosting their very popular Open House. For more information, please see their website: http://www.owlcanada.org/. Watch a video of Jen introducing “Pokey” to the Grade 2 class below.

Lela Ling
Junior School Science Teacher