The 2022 Grade 7 Camp Summit Retreat

Here’s a first-hand account of the Grade 7 Camp Summit retreat from Grade 7 students:

“Our Grade Seven class had a great time at Camp Summit from Tuesday, October 11 to Friday, October 14! Camp Summit is located in Squamish. We rode on a school bus. Some of the staff that spent time with us that we met were Megan, Kyler, Caleb, and Lorna. They were very kind and funny.

We ate breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. The food was very delicious and they even had options for the people with dietary restrictions. Some of our favourite foods we ate included pancakes, grilled cheese with tomato soup, spaghetti, and, a personal favourite, the ice cream bar for dessert!

Our activities included archery, building a campfire, slacklining, bouldering, high ropes, mountain biking, carving, and more. The staff was very kind and encouraging, and it is fair to say that we all enjoyed the activities. One of our favourite activities was building a campfire because it was fun to work with a group and roast marshmallows.

Once of the highlights of Camp Summit were the campfires. The campfire was a class gathering where we sang songs, ate snacks, and on the last day, performed. We all slept in cabins with fun names, such as

Cloud Burst and Zenith. The bunk beds were comfortable and we enjoyed sharing a cabin with our friends.

On one of the days we went to Alice Lake where we did a hike, canoed, and played beach games. We rode up on Camp Summit’s bus which was fuelled by vegetable oil, and we all sang songs. We all enjoyed canoeing especially because it was a first for many of us. The camp provided us with a lunch that consisted of a sandwich we made, an apple, and a granola bar.

I think we were all sad to leave on the last day because we were going to miss the experiences we have encountered. To summarize our trip, we all learned more about our classmates, and we feel like we got closer over the time we spent at camp.” 

Our Little Blue Walkathon

Our ICS Walkathon came back in full swing this year! On September 29, all students, staff, and volunteer family members, walked 10 kilometres from the Immaculate Conception school grounds to Locarno Beach and back again. It was so much fun to celebrate our community by reuniting with returning families and showing our new families what the Walkathon is all about. This was our first full Walkathon since 2019 so to say it was a particularly special day would be an understatement. Building our community is at the forefront of our daily life at ICS, and this event is such a reminder of all the blessings that community bring. With the Walkathon so close to the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, all students were encouraged to wear their orange shirts with pride as we walked our route. We walked to raise money for the Musqueam Breakfast Program, our sister schools in Haiti and Vietnam, and our school yard refurbishment. In total, our students walked almost 1,800 kilometres for our Little Blue School this year! It was a day filled with a little bit of sunshine, a lot of laughter, and only minor complaints about the Highbury Street hill! Our grand fundraising total was more than $37,500—well over our goal of $25,000. What a success! Our kindergarteners are the ones who raised the most money as a class, which was so exciting, and they got to celebrate with a class ice cream party! This is an event that we look forward to every year, and to have it shortened and cancelled during the COVID Pandemic has been a little disheartening for everyone. With the return of our full-fledged Walkathon came the return of our community spirit and excitement for the other events we’ll be resuming this year! Thank to all who participated and donated. Our Little Blue School is everything because of you!