Merry Christmas!

I'm finally on Christmas Break!  Our last day of school was yesterday.  I am so ready for Christmas break. I think everyone is!  In high school, your so busy all the time trying to keep up with work, you get don't get down time very much.  But now we have two weeks off now to relax.  My family comes out on the 23rd.  They stay until the 2nd of January!  Family always keeps you busy, but fun busy.  I'm very excited to see them.  I'm making a very special present for everyone, especially, my grandparents this year.  In the spring we went to Hawaii for three weeks!  The whole family was there! It was pretty special to get ten people on one trip, so we want to capture the memories.  I want to make a movie of our trip, pictures and music.  Ive made movies before, but I have always had help. I still going to have some, but for the most part, I'm going to do this one one all by myself!  I'm very excited for everyone to see it, and a little nervous about how it will all turn out.  But I'm more excited than anything.  Christmas time is a busy and hectic time of year for everyone, but boy is it worth it!  Every year, our family spends Christmas morning at home, opening  presents and having breakfast, and then we race over to the cabin, and spend the rest of the day over there!  Christmas Eve, my grandpa always reads Twas the Night Before Christmas.  He has been doing it ever since my mom was a kid.  It 's always bittersweet to hear him read!  It's a big moment!  The whole family gathers around to listen to him.  It's very special, especially as we all get older!  I  have always loved Christmas.  I think its so magical.  There's just a special feeling that comes over everyone down town.  I even believe in good old St.Nick.  I believe in his spirit.  I think no matter how old you get there should always be childlike spark inside of you when it comes to Christmas.  Last night, I watched Miracle on 34th street for the fist time.  I loved it!  There is a quote it there I really like.  They say  "Faith is believing  in something even when common sense tells you not to."  I think that is so true .  Adults get so wrapped up in adult life, they  don't have time to think if magic can really occur to create someone like Santa Claus.  It doesn't matter if Santa is real or not, his spirit is.  Anyway, on that note I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and the next time I talk to you will probably be in the New year.  So, Happy Holidays to everyone.  I hope your holidays are filled with lots of love and magic and fun!  Have a wonderful season.  Your friend Kate

Last Zoomba

Hello everybody,\
I havent written in a while!  Sorry about that.  I have been busy with school!  This is the last week of school until christmas!  I'm very excited!  I think everyone needs a break,.  Anyway,  sunday was  the last Zoomba class!  Ive had a lot of fun with Zoomba!  We have a great teacher,  and we learn a lot.  This Sunday we had a party at our teachers dance studio.  She is a dance teacher on a regular basis.  The party was so much fun!  Here is what I wrote

This Sunday was the last Zoomba day of the year.  To celebrate, Colieen invited everybody to her dance studio for a Christmas party.  We had a great turnout!  There was Marlow, Thomas, Stephen, Brion, Cassidy, Jack, Brandon, Lochlan, Amanda, Natalie and Kate!  There were a lot a parents and brothers and sisters that ran around the room laughing and having fun.   The volunteers were Nick, Gee, Willam, Nicole, Tom, and Andrea! Also Paige and Jan from school joined us.   Kids could bring treats if they wanted.   We did bit of zoomba and lots of free style dancing to celebrate the Christmas holiday.  Marlow was so excited; she started to dance before the group started!  She was in the zone!  She must have been tired after. We had a new comer to our group, Thomas!  He and his mom watched all of us today and got a feel of what the SO group is all about!  They had fun!  Stephen had his sister, Amanda join us!  That was nice she came!  Thanks for joining us Amanda!  Brion had lots of fun!  He really enjoys dancing!  He watched himself in the mirror and made sure he did all the moves correctly!  Good job Brion!  Cassidy and some other kids were over in the corner playing some sort of game with the hula hoops.  It looked like fun!  Little Jack joined us, and so did his uncle Nick.  Nick was throwing Jack all over the place and doing all sorts of moves with him.  It was Brandon’s first Zoomba class this week!  He sat down and watched most of the time.  His mom, Karen and sister Trinda came.  Karen was dressed as a pirate!  She looked awesome!  Lochlan loved all the food at the party!  He kept piling food on his plate!  He sure came with his apatite!  Kate had her mom and Sister Natalie join her.  They were really getting into it.  It was a nice family outing.  At the end of the class, Kate’s friend Paige showed up.  Kate was very excited to see her there.  Paige had fun learning all the moves with Judy.  Jan also showed up with more treats!  Yummy!  At the end of the day, we finished up dancing and talked about getting ready for skiing.  What you should wear and what you should do to be prepared!  We also talked about having a place for the S.O. group to come just to hang out watch movies, bake, dance, or anything.  Just to do group things together.  The volunteers were awarded for all their hard work in helping out with the swimming!  We sure had a fun couple weeks with Zoomba.  Thank you to all the volunteers and especially to Colieen!  We’ve all had so much fun with you!  You make every class very special!  We will miss you!  Thank you to everybody for coming to Zoomba and we will see you next Sunday at the ski hill for another skiing season!  Get ready Ski racers!

Zoomba

The special O program has started a dance program, called Zoomba.  Its a dance, fitness program.  The lady that organizes it has taught dance programs for special needs kids.  She love it and does a great  job.  This is great for me because it gets me out, and I dont get out too too much in the winter so it keeps my strength up, and gives me something to do.  Its a big workout!  Like for swimming, I also do reports for the zoomba too.  I missed the first report, but i got the second one!  Here it is!

Yesterday was the second Dry land training meeting.  It was great!   Everyone got a huge work out that they will probably feel today!  Colieen was away, so instead of dancing, Katrien showed the group some stretches and exercises that are good to get ready for skiing.  We had six kids show up, three boys and three girls.  They were Aaliyha, Marlow, Kate, Stephen, Lochlan and Brion.  The Volunteers were Katrien, Andrea, Tom, and a few moms helped out too.  Katrien kept everyone busy.  We got out some big, long step boards.  We stepped up and down from them. We startled them, one leg on either side of them, and we practiced jumping on and off them.  There was a bit of an obstacle course today.  We laid down some half round balls and went around them, like skiing around the moguls at Panorama, in and out and in and out. We jumped on them and tried to stand on one foot on top.  Later, we got into a big circle and   passed a big ball around.  We had to pass it to the next person high over our heads or really low to the ground.  Then we had to reach farther and skip the person beside us and pass it too the next person.   We also sat on our half round balls and saw how long we could sit like that for.  Some did really well, and some didn’t last too too long.  To end off the day, we did some weights and stretches.  Everyone worked hard and had some fun.  Aaligyah did really well on the steps.  She could do it fast!  When Marlow was sitting on the half round ball, she fell over, and then Kate did the same thing.  They laughed and thought it was quite funny.  They were happy.  It was all good!  The sit-ups on the half round ball were Stephens area of expertise.  He went all the way down, so that he could almost lay all the way flat!  Well done Stephen!  That was very impressive!  It was Lochlans first day of Dry land, so Andrea and his mom, Kirsten was helping him get everything figured out!  He did pretty well.  He hung in there a long time.  Brion was doing great!  He was with his mom.  They were practicing doing steps and they found out that it was easier for him to hold on to a balance bar to help him!  Very smart!  Kate and her mom copied their idea and it worked well for them too!    By the end of Dry land Training, and Zoomba, everyone will be ready for the ski season!  Thank you to Katrien, who volunteered to be the instructor for the day and gave everyone things to do.  Everyone loved it, so thank you for making it happen.  Thank you to all the parents who helped out too!  We will continue this until December.  Colieen will be back next week, so everybody have your dancin’ shoes on!  See you on Saturday for another fun day of dance!

Lest We Forget

The year is going by so fast!  Its already November!  As everyone knows  November 11th is Remembrance Day.   On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we remember those brave, heroic men and women that fought and still are fighting for our freedom.  It was on November 11th, on the 11th hour, the guns fell silent as it was the end of the first world war.  It was supposed to be the war to end all wars but unfortunately, battles are still going on today.   We hope that one day, the horror of war will be over.  Every year, on the 10th schools all over the district have a Remembrance Day assembly, showing the students and staffs own personal respect for the fighting and the fallen soldiers.  They always do a wonderful job.  The veterans come and talk to the students about war.  Students do a fantastic job of hosting it!  Theres speeches, and slide shows, and ofcourse the two  moments silence and God save the queen for the last post.  This ceremony was beautiful!  The Primary School,E.M.P and the Elementary school J.A Laird came to join D.T.S.S.  This is the the first time all three schools have done it together.  The younger schools did presentations too.  They were so cute, and brave!  Imagine being in grade three and singing in front of all the big high school kids!  I always like to stand for the moment of silence.  It just like the Terry Fox Run, I think if all those brave soldiers went through what they did, I can withstand a brief 2 minutes of standing.  We got today off, as we always do on Remembrance day.  I have developed a new tradition.  I now go to   my friends house to spend the day with her.  She grew up in war time, so Remembrance day is very important to her.  This year, I made a carrot cake and with icing on it.   I  put Lest we forget and a few poppies and crosses.  I think she really liked it!  I also wrote a poem.  I quite appreciate  remembrance day. I like the formality of doing this for the soldiers and the amazing respect that everyone shows, and so they should.  I hope everyone thought about the men and women serving!  They deserve much appreciation!  For those who are fighting, I wish you a safe return to where ever home is and for those who arènt with us anymore,  Thank you and may you rest in peace.

BOO!

Last Monday it was Halloween.  A  couple years ago, I finally realized that I am too old to go trick or treating!  When you get to a certain age, and your still banging on your neighbors door begging for candy, the people at the door start giving you funny looks.  So much for celebrating a holiday for little kids, when you get someone at your door a foot taller than you are.  Anyway, my days of trick or treating or treating are over for good.  The job of handing out the candy has been passed down to me.  My sister helped me for a while but later she went out with her friends .  In our house we have to go down stairs to get to the front door.  It takes me a while to get  up and down the stairs. I sat at the bottom stair doing crosswords and listening for trick or treaters.  I had to be prepared!  Stand up and have the bowl of candy in my hand before the kids came to the door, otherwise Halloween would be over before I gave them their candy!  What a cheap Halloween.  A kid with a pillowcase  that they can fit themselves into, and they only get one candy!  Fortunately, that never happened!  I think all the kids  that came to our house were pretty well satisfied.  Every kid that got candy had to swing the door back closer to me .  It was a great trade off.  All the kids were so cute and friendly, and so were their parents!  There were great costumes.  I love the first timers!  They're just learning all  the rules of Halloween !  Say trick or treat really loud!  Take a candy!  SAY THANK YOU! All the little ones were really sweet!  They're a little nervous, you can tell.  This year we gave out bags of little bags of  candy,which worked out really well!  Every kid gets an equal amount of candy!  Then , we had candy leftovers for the late kids!  It was a great night, and school was fun on that day too!  Everyone was dressed up!  Some in the most bizarre costumes ever!  Everyone looked great!  I wore a witches hat.  My mom and I had to trade off  She needed a costume for work!  It was a very fun day!  It's great we have these special nights for the kids to have fun, and just be kids!  Hope everyone had a fun and safe night.  Hope to see you all again next year!

All Hail Macbeth!

All summer, I've been dreading this moment!  The moment where all the stuff we write about in English can be happy and funny and have a moderate vocabulary  level, changes.  Now, it gets serious!  Now you have to go in there, write and explain  stuff like you just came back from Oxford University.Well, at least try! You always have to answer the question, Why!  Why, Why ,Why, all the time!   Its like no one in the class has any idea what your talking about, even though you all just learned about it.  As for the vocabulary, there is a list of words now that we can't use  because there over used, and these words are like beautiful and wonderful!  There big words!  The worst part is about English is that it makes you want to grow up.  Everyone mature in that class!   I love English and I love my teacher but its making me grow up way too fast! I don't want to grow up! I want to talk like Winne The Pooh.  You do some critical thinking in this class, and have mature thoughts!   I've ranted to you lots, but none of that stuff is the worst part.  This year, we've started Shakespeare!  In earlier years its been on the curriculum for the  English class , but my classes have  always run out of time, so we got out of doing it!  Not in grade eleven though!  It like the main idea of English the year!  No gettiin' away with nothin'!    This year were reading Macbeth!  I tell ya, its the hardest thing I've ever done in English!  The whole language of the 21st century gets whacked out of proportion.  If you understand the dialect, you should get a b. Who cares about what the story line is.  There is so much violence in Macbeth!  Good guys turn into bad guys within minutes.  I thought it would just be the romance that would bug me, but talk about violence and betrayal!  It's like "I love ya buddy but I think I wanna kill ya , because your getting in the way of my becoming popular and all"  Oh my goodness, it never ends with these guys.  Now we have to write an essay!  I guess I'll just have to grin and bare it and stick it out until the end.  Oh bother!( i miss Winnie the Pooh movies)  HELP ME!

Another great swim day!

Another busy, fun day up at Fairmont for the Special O group.  We had 5 swimmers, Lochlan,Brandon, Brion,Marlow and Kate.   The volunteers this week were Katrien,Willam, Evan, Andrea and Tom We played a few quick rounds of bocce before we swam.  tom lead the game  We had Marlow and Kate, with the help of her mom Judy  and Brion on one team.  On the other team we had Brandon and Lochlan. This game was a little less competitive.  Marlows mom got right into it, being loud and cheering everyone on.  Lochlan ha been away for a while, and today was his first day back!  Welcome back Lochlan!  Brandon seemed a little shy  today.  He stuck close by to his mom, whitchwas fine.  They looked like they had a great day.  Marlow had really powerful throws of the Bocce ball.  She did really well.  Brion only  played a little.  He stuck by his grandpa.   At the end of the day, he wrested his dad down.  Hes very strong!  Kate had help from her mom again and had lots of fun with everyone! Another great gam When the volunteers came, we headed to the pool.  Today we pratised  using our arms to make us go further in the water when we swim..  We had to cup our hands and push them through the water and do the flutter kick to make us go fast!  At the end of the day we played marco polo and jellyfish tag!  It was a good swim had by all!  Lochlan did pretty well for his first day back.  He really wanted to play jelly tag.  He got right back into things,.  He also swam with his mom a bit.  We dont even worry about Marlow anymore1  Shes got the whole swim strokes thing under control!  Shes great sswinmming on her own with supervision.  Brandon was with his mom also swimming!  Youd look over and they woukd be smiiling and laughing, having a good mother son day.  Brion was so excited to see Evan.  He was holding on to his grandpa and then once he saw Evan he ran to him and smiled and was ready to swim.  He got a little tired at the end of the day, so his swim was a little short today.  Kate was pratising swimming without a bar and without touching as much as she could.  She was with Andrea and Tom.  When she swims shes got to keep her back from curving in.  She has a goal!    A fantastic day for everyone!  Thanks again to all volunteers who came out to help!  A great, great swim day!

Another Swim Report!

Hi everybody!
I was not at the last swimming session with Special O, but I do write the reports for them.  I love doing this so I told the helpers if they gave me the notes, I would write up a report.  So, here it goes.

We only had two kids come up to Fairmont to swim and  and three  to play bocce, Steve and his sister, Amanda,  Brion,and Kate.  The helpers for bocci were |Andrea, Gee, and ,Tom and Steve's Dad Darcy. We practised for a few runs and for the last few minutes we had a game, where we broke into two teams and competed against each other.  Steve and Brion were with Andrea and Amanda and Kate were with Darcy. It went very well.  There was a bit of squabbling between the to teams.  Steve kept bragging that he was the champion at bocci, so he had to keep proving that.  Amanda kept defending herself with comebacks.  Brion did really well.  When he through the ball, he always had an excellent game face.  Kate had the help of her mom Judy throwing the ball.  Sometime she would stand and sometimes she would sit on a lawn chair.  Everyone had fun.  It was a fun game with lots of competition, which was good.  Congrats to the winning team, Steve and Brion!

Later the group went over the pool to swim.  Kate went home because she just had gotten over a cold and didn't feel like swimming!  There were only two swimmers, Steve and Brion!  There were three volunteers, Trish, Nicole, and Evan.  The boys practised kicking, and played Marco Polo.  Brion  was very involved with whatever the group was doing. He was doing excellent Kicking and swimming with Evan.  Steve tried swimming on his back again!  It was nice just having the two boys.  It was less to keep track of They both had lots of fun!  Great fun day with a small group in the pool I would still do the report if someone would send me the notes. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!  I hope you all have plans to spend this holiday with lots of family and friends and lots of turkey!  Tonight I plan to go over to my aunts house for a big turkey dinner!  My aunt and uncle just moved to a town near by, Wilmer, so I've been spending the last two Thanksgivings over there.  My mom and aunt have  been preparing dinner all day, which I'm sure a lot of families are busy doing!  I'm excited for dinner.  I like thanksgiving!  Its a family holiday with good food and sitting around a dining room table and appreciating what we have!  I am thankful for a lot of things this year. I cant even count that high but I will only say the top ten things

1.  I love having such a supportive and loving family.  I love spending time with them and they're always encouraging me and making me smile.  They will do anything for me. 

2. Having my disability has made me open my eyes to the world around me a little bit in the past couple years.  For a while, I am sort of ashamed to admit, I had that "why me" fase.  Why am I like this?  Cerebral Palsy stinks. As I  got older I started to  have a different attitude towards being disabled.  I can walk and some kids are strictly confined to a wheelchair.  I am healthy, and some kids are stuck in hospital beds day and night, and I am in NO PAIN WHAT SO EVER!  I have an amazing life, and believe me that's never far from my mind.

3.  I've had some amazing adventures in the past few years!  I've blogged about some of them.  I think I did a whole section on going to the paralymics to be a torch bearer and a student reporter.   That was really an out of this world adventure.   I got to meet Rick Hansen.  Ive been talking about him a bit lately.  Hes really cool!  It was a great family experience. My whole family went and I got to do torch bearing and reporting with my best friend, Grace Brulotte.  She and I have been everywhere together.  We went to Ottawa together to speak at the Senate Chambers.  That was great!  We were there with a group called Cannasist, a group that makes cool contraptions to make disabled people more independent.  They are some of the nicest people.  It was like a big family.  Anothe great adventure  of course, the bugaboos!  I told you how great that was and I got to go up with my school, and wonderful guides, who, again, felt like a big family.  And, my friend Paige ukass, who is an incredibly sweet lady.  I am one busy girl.  I have loved all my adventures, and hope to try new thing all the time!

4.I think I've talked about SET B.C before.  They help disabled kids getting set up with the technology they need to make daily things in their life easier. SET B.C has set me up with a lot of things like computers and big trips, but the greatest gift they ever gave me was a best friend.  Ive mentioned my friend Grace Brulotte before.  She and I met over SET B.C.  There was a contest for SET B.C students to write about their dreams for the future.  Our SET B.C helper made it so Grace and I could do it together so we could meet.  We've been best friends ever since.  We relate to each other extremely well.  Its always easy to talk to her, even when I say dumb things(which she always calls me on,believe me)!  It's nice to be able to feel yourself with someone else.  Also, Grace is very inspiring!  She is one thing that makes me look back on life and realize how lucky I am. 

5   I really enjoy going to school!  I have the most amazing school system!  Everyone is so supportive.  I have  a lot people that  will do anything to make my school day more enjoyable.  When I say a lot, I mean A LOT!  I love who I get to work with at school.  The whole  school district in my town is great.   Also, I know that years ago, disabled kids were completely disintegrated!  They were thought less of and were not allowed in the school systems, unless they were in special school.  I am in a regular high school, and do a full coarse load.  I feel so fortunate, witch is why I work hard.   encourage all schools to accommodate handicapped kids.  They have the right to learn too.  Any physically or mentally disabled child can always learn new things.  They don't have to go to every class. I don't go to gym class.  I have my own exercises.   That are a better thing for me to do. For some kids, learning some things may be more useful to them than others.  Every child needs to learn, and should be integrated with non disabled children no matter what.  You cant live in a world with just disabled kids.  How would you learn to cope if you got into the real world after being coopped up in a disabled school K- 12.  That's why I love school!

6.  Another thing I used to have little pity parties about was having "no friends".  It took me a while to look around and see how many friends I have.  Its difficult for me to hook up with other children to go to the movies or something.  However, that  doesnt mean I don't have friends.  I have more friends than I can count.  Some are over 20, but that okay.  I'm working on that.  Everyone is so kind.  They're all looking out for me.  One of the greatest gifts in life is friendship

7.  I live in a beautiful valley.  I can look outside my window and probably paint a picture if I wanted to!    Everyone is friendly!  The whole of Canada is beautiful!  I've been to places like Ottawa,  and Victoria, and fell in love with both of them.  I could walk around those places forever, or not go anywhere, and go for a drive or walk around town  where I live with my mom and ust love all the things I see.  What a Wonderful World we live in!

8. Right before high school, I got an electric wheelchair.  I love to walk, but my wheelchair has opened up a whole new world for me.  I can go to and from school by myself, I can get to class on time, and I don't need to depend on others to hold my hand to help me walk. I love my chair.  Now, I can pretty much do anything and everything.

9. A couple years ago I started skiing up at Panorama Ski hill, where I live. I go in a sit ski.  I feel so free, skiing like everyone else, and I get to do it with a group of great instructors. Three years later, they now  have started a big program  for all disabled skiers.  They have three sit skis now.  Besides skiing , theres now swimming up at Fairmont pools.  I've never had swim lessons before.  Its great!  I'm learning so much, thanks to this fantastic group of people

10.And last, but not least, I am thankful for being me, disabled and all.  Being disabled is a struggle sometimes, but its also a gift.  I don't know who I would be without a disability. I see the world as a vastly different place than most do.  I do believe, disabled or not, the more a person struggles, the stronger they are!

So, there are the top ten things I give thanks for!  I am a lucky girl, with a great family, great friends, and a great life.  If you want, please comment and tell me what your favorite thing to be thankful for is?  Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Swiim Report!

I think I will share with you another swim report because this week went so great! The swim program is a big success!  It was another busy swimming day.  The weather was overcast, but it ended  up being a great day.  We had Stephen, Aaligyah, Brandon, Cassidy,  Marlo, and Kate.  Our helpers were Katrien, Gee, Willam, Evan, Nicole, and newcomer Lainey.  Lainey is a great swimmer, so she led the group, teaching them different swim techniques.  Katrien had her kids, Jack and Tess with her and Laney had her on there.   They were having fun swimming two. 
This week we were really focusing on improving our swim moves, with the help of Lainey.  We were doing lots of laps,  back and forth.  We practised different strokes.  At the end, we did tag and Marco polo.  At the end of the day, we had cupcakes on the lawn to celebrate Brandon's birthday! 
Everyones day went well and they all were working hard swimming.  Stephen tried  swimming on his back for the first time.  He said he would never do that and today he finally did!  Nick work Stephen.  Aalighya really enjoyed herself.  She started giving input about  the different  activities the group should do, which was great.  Cassidy loves to swim, so she was doing pretty well on her own.   Marlo always lead the laps back from edge to edge of the pool.  She did amazing arm strokes!  Evan helped Kate swim back and forth from pool using a flutter board, and sometimes underwater!  It was fun celebrating Brandon's birthday on the lawn with treats.  Thanks for coming everyone.  You all did a great job swimming!  There is no swimming next Sunday because of thanksgiving1  Happy Turkey everybody!  See you in too weeks!

Rick Runs again!

You know a couple of weeks ago  when I talked about Terry Fox.  Well, today I'm going to tell you about another inspirational man, Rick Hansen.  Rick is one more of Canada's biggest hero's.  He started off just  a regular teenager and then he turned into a nation wide star.  When Rick was in his late teens, he went on a fishing trip with his buddies.  They drove there in a truck, and Rick was in the back.  They got into an accident.  Rick survived, but ended up with a spinal cord injury.  Rick, like terry fox, knew that people all over the world suffer from spinal cord injuries.  There is a chance these injuries can be cured by some sort of spinal stem research.  So, Rick, inspired by terry, wanted to wheel  through Canada to raise money for the research to find a cure.  Two B.C boys crossing the country to make a difference in the lives of others.    Rick's run was a big success  now hes back at it again to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his run. This time, he wants all of us to be a part of it with him.  This summer, Rick started his journey  in Newfoundland, Labrador, the most Eastern Part of Canada.  Rick isn't the only one participating  his time.  He has tons of supporters,.  Here's the big news!  Part of Rick Hansen's team is coming through my town, Invermere B.C.  A group that I am involved in, called A.C.E(Access in the Community for Everyone) is a non-profit organization that helps improve the accessibility around Invermere, so it is a enjoyable place for everybody.  I  have just started  to really be actively involved with A.C.E  a couple of years ago.  Anyway, on to the fun part.  Since part of Rick's team with be coming through the town, Invermere has been chosen for  an end of the day celebration spot.   A.C.E  is organizing what is planned to be a  fun, nighttime event on Friday, April 13, 2012, that will raise awareness about disabilities and barriers in the community  Like I said, Rick has supporters running with him.  They are medal bearers.  And guess what?  You could be on of them.  All you need to do is go to the Rick Hansen website (http://www.rickhansenrelay.com/).  Once you get on the website, there will be a tab that says read more.  Click that, and once you get there, scroll down a ways until you get to a blue tab that says Relay Contest.  Click the little yellow arrow.   It will take you to a link that says "you don't need to Cross the world to make a difference, just 250 kilometres across your community."    Under that click enter contest.  It's pretty self explanatory from there.  You need to follow four simple steps to tell a bit about yourself.  I really encourage you to join us.  Another thing I encourage you to do is nominate someone who you think would qualify as a "difference maker"  in Invermere.   This would be someone who you think gives a lot to the community and makes differences in peoples lives. This can be anyone, not just people who help people with disabilities.  Someone who makes Invermere a special place to live.   This special person will run the last leg of the race and wear the last medal.  They will be rewarded with a little speech made about them, so whoever you pick, make sure you state a good reason why.  I  hope lots of you will join us in this celebration.  We hope to make it quite the event.  Everyone should be aware of not only the things that we have to work on, like accessibility, but also, the things that we have achieved.  There are so many deserving people in this valley.  That is what makes it a special place.  If you live in Invermere, and you have an idea of  who a difference maker might be, email me at katers95@yahoo.ca. We are aiming to have all nominees in by November 3.  I have personally met Rick Hansen when I was at the Paralympics, and a lot of adults I've talked to, heard of, or went to inspiring speeches and conferences of his.  His is truly an inspiring man, and has every right to be celebrated.  We're excited to have you all join in with us to make this town a better and better place, and celebrate someone who has inspired everyone!  Thank you!

Special Olympic Swimming Program

Yesterday, the Special Olympic Program started swimming and golfing up at Fairmont Hot springs.  The same people that started the ski program now go swimming and golfing with the Special O.  I look forward to swimming every Sunday. It gives me something to do, and I am learning how to swim which is great! I absolutely love it.  Being in the water gives me so much freedom.  Its great for all of the kids to get out once a week  for some fun and the first Sunday started off great!  I write reports every week.   I will share some with you.

The Special O group is back swimming at fairmont again!  Everyone had such a great time this spring, so we all wanted to start it back up again in the fall!  The group goes mini golfing first and the swimming starts at 4:00 now.  Yesterday was a great start to our program.  We had a great turnout with six kids showing up to swim.  There was Aaliyah, and her friend cassidy,  Brion, Brandon,  Marlow, and Kate. The trusty volunteers that came up for the first day of season two of swimming were Trish, Nick, Andrea, Gee,  and Evan.  Nick was sort of leading the group today!  We did swimming warmps and got used to being in the pool again.  We practised Kicking  There were Relays going on, going with only using legs, or only using arms.  Near the end we played Marco Polo.   Everyone had fun!  Brion got right back into the swing of things with his buddy Evan.  They were kicking and having fun.  Brion joined the group whenever he felt comfortable. Aaliyah had a friend with her today, Cassidy.  That was nice to have a visitor to our group.  Cassidy does a great dolphin flip!  Bradon was with Nicole.  They swam around the pool and joined in with the games.  You could tell Bradon was learning new stuff.  Marlow was doing great kicking and doing all the strokes.  Trish and Kate were practising kicking again, and getting all the coordination down!  It was a great first start to the swim program.  Thanks to all the volunteers who made it out for the first day!  Everyone loves to swim on Sundays!  Hopefully we can have another great season, with lots of kids coming on Sundays.  Thanks to all the volunteers who helped, and Andrea who got everything organized.   It was a great day!  Its great to be back at the pools!  Thanks for coming everyone and we hope to see you next week!

Terry Fox Run

Yesterday was the annual Terry Fox run at my towns middle school, J.A. Laird.  I'm sure most of you know who Terry Fox was, but for those of you don't, Terry was a man who had Bone Cancer. He knew that people from all over were suffering from all sorts of horrible cancers, so he wanted to raise money to find the cure.   Just when he got his leg amputated on, Terry decided to raise money for cancer by running across Canada, collecting donations from everyone that cheered him on.   Unfortunately, Terry's cancer got the best of him, and when he got just outside of Thunder Bay, he got very sick, and he had to stop the run, and stay at a hospital.   With family around him, Terry lost his battle to cancer.   Just before Terry passed, he announced that the run must go on.  So many people are affected by this disease and we need to find a cure.  Thirty years later, the Terry Fox Walk for Hope run continues.  Yesterday at Laird, there was a huge turnout for the run.  It was awesome!  It made me very happy!  I always love walking in the terry fox run.  I have Cerebral Palsy and am not exactly a jogger, but there is no way I would sit and drive that dinky little knob on my wheelchair and call that running for terry Fox.   I can walk perfectly fine.  Well.. almost.  But, if terry can walk all across Canada with that much pain, I can walk a few kilometers.   I wouldn't wheel the run for anything!  I'm not the most stubborn person in the world, but when it comes to the terry fox run, I will say anything to have things my way in the run.  I'm so proud of what he has done, and a lot of people are.  Hes given lots of people hope and tons of inspiration.  The run went very well.  I got further than last year, which was my goal.  I got to walk with my mom, as I always do, which is very special.  My aunt Jo, and Bella came with us!  This was her first terry fox run!  She did good!  Everyone did awesome!    I look forward to this run all year long!   I hate to think that a person can be in such pain.  If there is a chance that we can help people beat cancer, than everyone should participate!  A job well done to those who did  Terry fox is a true hero, and he is a great role model for all!  Terry Fox, we salute you!

Vroom vroom vroom

Every year there is a car show in downtown Invermere.  I don't remember the last time Ive missed one.   There are hundreds of antique cars that come down from Radium, a town near by, and drive right by down town.  Its always a big turn out.   Lots of people show up.  The cars are really cool!  They are all sorts of different colours and shapes and sizes.  Some of them are really old fashioned, and you can really tell they were fancy cars in their days.  Everyone loves it when the cars do really big spins and their wheels spin out.  They have police down there so it doesn't get out of hand too too much.  Its great!   I went down with my aunt this time, and her dog Bella.  Everyone had to stop and say hi and pet Bella.  It was funny.  Sometimes, being in a wheelchair, you get a lot of people coming up and wanting to say hi to you.  This time it was because  there was a dog beside me.  It was awesome!   It must be fun to just drive your car all through town.  I love car rides, so maybe I should catch a ride with someone one day!  Just kidding. This is a big entertainment day for the whole town.  Everybody, kids, dogs and adults  come down to watch.  You feel like your being taken back into the past with all the antique stuff you see.    It was a fun day.  It was nice to get some fresh air and see some cars rippin down the road.  It was a nice day for it!  Lookin good out their all you car drivers!  It all stops at the Radium baseball  diamond.  All the cars are parked all over the place and people admire them!  So if you missed the car show, you could always go and see them all their.  I didnt get to Radium today, but I hope everyone got down their and see them because its a really fun party.  I hope lots of peaple got downtown to see the show and had fun because I always do!

New computer!

In school, I use a computer a lot for writing assignments.  It was given to me by an organization called SET B.C..   They give disabled kids technology to make their life a little easier.   I love to write using a pen and paper, but it takes me longer than everyone else, so my computer helps me keep up with the class, and getting my assignments in on time.  A few years ago, I started using a program called five finger typist   I can only use my right hand, because my left hand doesn't have the best coordination skills.  Its quite spastic so my fingers have trouble  pressing a  computer key.  I type so fast now with one hand!  I've had lots of practise. Anyway, over the summer, I have been testing out a computer SET BC gave me.  Ive had my computer for four years, so its time I get a new one .  Also, my old computer  was really heavy and it was hard for me to carry it on my own.  The new one is a lot lighter.  The keys are raised, so I don't lean over to far  to see the screen or to be close to the keys.     My SET B.C. helper Kathy MCcaulay came to my school yesterday and brought a computer with a bigger screen.  I really like this one.  I have to learn to stay organized on my computer, so yesterday I  made folders for every subject, and I always save my work  to the folder with the subject that it is for.     I need to get a few things figured out about printing and getting hooked up to the Internet, but as soon as I get that stuff done, I will be good to go! I have a feeling I will be using my new computer for quite a while, maybe even when I get to university.  I think this computer will be great!  I cant wait to start using it.  Thank you Kathy for giving me all these new things that make my life easier.  You rock!

Kate the cook!

Today was the first day in Chef Training that we got to try out cooking.  We made pizza.  We got divided into groups and did a section of  the pizza.  I had a group of really nice girls.  There are a few kids in the class who have been in Cook Training for a couple of years and have lots of experience so they can kind of take over the kitchen, just like the teacher.  The girl who was with my group was a great help.  Her name is Sarah.  So, since today was the first cooking day, I got to get used to the kitchen and how to get around  and how it all runs.  My physio therapist ordered me a walker with a seat on it for class.  The kitchen is very busy and it would be difficult for me to bring my wheelchair in there  because of the crowd.  My walker has a seat on it.  There is a lot of standing in the class, preparing the food, and my legs get tired of standing for a long period of time.  I  try to stand as much as possible.  I only use the seat for having little breaks.  my goal is to stand for as long as i can for one block of cooking.  Anyway, all the groups got divided into doing different parts of the pizza.  Our job was to get all the toppings ready.  I have special equipment that i use to help me.  I have a cutting board with nails in it that helps hold food down so i can cut it.  Were practising the proper way to hold a chefs knife.  You hold the knife at the very end of the blade, put the tip of the knife on the cutting board.  I like cutting with the big knife.  It makes me feel powerful.  At the end everyone in class pulled the whole meal together, and we had lunch together as a class.  The tables were set like a restaurant, table cloths and everything.  It was very nice.  We had the pizza and salad and a peach pastry type thing for dessert.  It was a very nice day!  Everyone worked together as a great team. I get to work with my friend Paige!  She helps me with moving around the kitchen and fine motor stuff.  Its great learning everything I love Cook training!  Everything is going to be great!  Just like my motto says, I will just have to take it one day at a time.

Back to Work!

Today is the first day back at school!  Ive had a great summer with all my adventures, but I'm ready to get back to a  schedule, I think.  I cant believe I'm in grade 11!  I feel so old!    It was pretty hard to get up this morning!  Today school was just a short day.  We went to our home room and got time tables sorted out and everything.  This year, we got to go to a few of our classes and see what there going to be like.  That was nice!  I'm taking a class called Cook Training this year so I went in there after school was over to see how that would work for me.  There is a lot of standing in that class, and it is quite fast paced , which for me, with my mobility issues that might be a bit hard, but we sorted everything out, and it looks like its going to be great!  The teacher is really nice and helpful.  Ill work with a partner so I can have some extra help with grabbing things.  There is a lot of carrying stuff back and forth so that will be nice to share the work.  I will also have an aid in there with me.  Its a very fun class and I'm excited for it!    It looks like its going to be a great year.  Ive got some great courses.  I'm glad to be home early so I can rest up for tomorrow.  Ready or not Grade eleven, here I come!

Golf Tournament for disabled ski program!

Ive told you guys about the disabled ski program before and how wonderful it is.  Well today,  everyone who volunteers as  disabled ski instructors, and people who have heard about our program and wants to help, met at Grey wolf Golf course to hold a fundraiser golf tournament to raise money to make our program get bigger and better.   What the money is going towards this time is a little shed or something to put all the special equipment our skiers use, along with the two sit skis.   Right now everything is stored in the basement of the ski lodge, and it would be nice if we had our own space.  So, that's the goal.  Anyway, everyone had a great time.  I met my ski buddies up there, Katrien and her parents, Gee and William.  They were so organized.  They had a table with a big sign advertising our program.  Palister Printing, a small publishing company in town made it for us.  They did an awesome job.  It looks amazing!   They showed my sit ski off, on a table.  My job was to talk about my experience with skiing, and how its really opened up doors for me, and for other disabled kids in the valley.   My mom was with me for a bit.  The other job for us was to point  out   the route for the women to golf.  We were with the men, and the women had to go down a hill a little bit to their starting point.  Everyone was so nice!  They all wanted to know about the ski program .  I got some high fives too!  One guy came with his son.  He did a pretty good shot.  He bragged about it, but then his son got further then him!  That was pretty funny!  I mostly just got to relax and brag about skiing.  The weather was perfect.  One of the most beautiful courses.   It ccouldn't get much better than sitting over looking a beautiful golf course and talking about something you love.  My sister, Natalie, came to.  She was way over on the other side, on another course, being a spotter for the closest ball to the pin.  That was awesome that she helped out.  She did a great job.  Shes always up for anything.   I got a tour of the course.  Its quite something.  Thanks to all the volunteers that came out today,  Especially katrien and her parents.  It feels good ,fundraising for something you feel strongly about.  You know that your being a help. Another great day in paradise.  Thanks to everyone that golfed and donated..  We really appreciate it!  With the money we raised, hopefully we can strecth our ski program further.  See you in the winter Panorama.  Cant wait to hit the slopes!

Fresh Start at Childrens Hospital

I just got home from Calgary yesterday  We went to Children's Hospital to meet a new doctor.  I have been followed by Children's since I was born.  I spent a lot of time there when I was little.  When I was two in a half, or maybe three, I had to have surgery done on my lgs to strech out my ligaments.  I  had to have intense physio, and the doctors at childrens wanted to keep a close eye on me, so I lived in Calgary with my aunt and cousin for a year and a half.  That was a long time ago, but did go back now and then for checkups.  It sort of stopped about three years ago.   The muscles in my legs were  getting really tight, so they wanted to do Botox.  Botox loosens the muscles so they would be more easy to stretch and function.  The botox definitely loosened my muscles, that's for sure.  However, it made them so loose, I could not even stand up properly.  When we told my doctor that this wasn't working, they weren't very happy with us and we didn't hear back from them until a couple days ago.    We got a call from the Children's saying that we sort of got left behind and that there was a new doctor who would like to see me.  My mom and I jumped at the chance to go.  We were happy that they still thought about us.  We stayed with my grandparents in Calgary this time, and got to Children's the day after we got in to the city. We met Dr. Tatiana and Dr. Birkenholder.  They were great.  They wanted to know everything about me, from when Iwas born, and how I got Cerebral Palsy, to how I'm doing now.  I liked them a lot.  They didn't even push on the Botox.  We talked about what it would be like in the future for me.  I want to go to the University of Victoria, so we talked about how that would work.  It was great!  They were very through.  The only thing was, I was a little nervous to see them, so when they streched me, I had diffuculty just relaxing.  This made my muscles tight  They were worried about that.  But, they were right.  I do need to stretch more.  I think our visit was great!  I feel very hopeful about this!  They said they would follow me even after I  turn eighteen.  I would have to transfer to the Foothills, but that's okay.  Everything sounds great!  They want to see me again before my big transition to university, which is awesome.  I love going to the Children's Hospital.  I told mom that it makes me smile.  Driving up and seeing this big colourful building  for a hospital is something special.  It doesn't look like a scary hospital.  It looks like a warm place with people who want to help kids!   I hope to work at one soon.  I would love for the children's to be part of my life for a long time, even when Im all grown up.  A big hand to all the doctors and helpers who are so dedicated to what they do.  You make kids lives very happy.  Sometimes they push a little too hard on things, but that's because they want to try everything to try absolutely every possibility.  Well done children's!  You have done incredible work! 

The Wacky and Wonderful Camp Winfield

I just got back from Camp Winfield about  two weeks ago!  I had a wonderful time, like I always do.  This is my tenth year, and still, I cant get enough of that special place.  This week was great!  I had two really nice councillors, Kaitlyn, Europa, and Michelle.  My best friend Grace went with me.  This year, her and I were quite close.  There is a theme every year.  This theme was zombies vs. under the sea.  The themes seem to get stranger and stranger as the years go by!  This year, our group had a lot of older girls in it, so most of the time we hung out, talked and got to know each other.  We did do some pranks though.    We were back and forth with this boy group, pranking each other.  We toilet papered the boys dorm, and then we made fake underwear for one of their counsellors, tied it to a flagpole and wrote I  love my Mommy on it!  It was hilarious.  When your at camp, your really let your mind run wild.  Your so free at camp!    Every camper has a disability and yet they can do anything they want to.  The counsellors try so hard to make sure everyone is able to do any activity.  They make it seem as normal as possible.  They don't act like kids there have a disability.  Its all about having fun, just like any other camp.   The people that work there are something special.  They are so full of energy and sweet.   its like the world is  made for you over there!   For a week you have no worries.   You get so caught up in the struggles of everyday life and then you come  to camp and all your troubles disappear.  Even the most disabled kids are happy.  Theyère  smiling all the time.  Another good thing about going a camp for kids with disabilities is realizing how lucky you are.  Some kids struggle quite a bit, and for me, who is very fortunate to be able to walk, and function as well as I do, its always a bittersweet reminder that I have it really good!  Camp Winfield will always be very important to me.  Its gotten to be such a big part of my life, as well as many childrens.  Theres a grad night every week for kids who are eighteen and have grown out  of being a camper.  Some of the campers make speeches.  They get quite emotional about it!  Camp is special to everyone!  A place where kids can have fun, grow, and most importantly, be themselves.  Long live possibilities, long live camp Winfield.                                                                                                                                                                               

climb every mountain

Hey everybody
I know I haven't written forever.  I wanted to focus on getting school finished.  Right after school was over, I got to go on a big adventure.  Myself,  along with five other students from D.T.S.S high school,  got chosen to go spend five days up in the bugaboo mountains.    I only went for three days, but I think my trip could not have gotten any better than it was.  I got to go with my helper at school, and my good friend, Paige Ukass.  It was so nice to spend time with her.  It's quite spectacular up at the lodge.  We drove up with my mom.  She didn't stay, but thought just the drive up was an adventure enough.  The lodge was wonderful!  Everyone in there was like family and when they met you, you felt like a part of it. We started climbing right away.  I went up the mountains in what called a trail rider.  Its a seat with one wheel at the front and one at the back. It took three strong guys to get me up there!  I got to walk some too.  That was huge for me.  Ive never got to walk on terrain like that before.  It felt like I really concerd something.  The scenery up there in the mountains is breathtaking, and you just feel so peaceful.  All the guide said the best part of their job was coming up to the peacefulness of the  mountains after the  busyness of every day life!  I got to fly in a helicopter up there, and on the last day, I got to sit in the co pilot seat!  This trip was like nothing Ive ever experienced before.  I made friends with the nicest people and experienced once in a lifetime things.    Paige once said to me  " Kate, one day you and I are going to climb mountains together!"  And soon after, our dream came true.  After getting settled back into reality after all the excitement, the two of us made a book about our fabulous trip, on the computer.  Paige has a program that can take all your pictures and turn them into a book.  The book is amazing.    I will treasure it always  Thank you to all who made this amazing trip possible, especially to Rocco, the Heli skiing guy who made all this happen.  Of course, I cant forget my partner in crime, Paige.  Its amazing what we have done together.   If I can do this, I can do anything!  All I have to do is believe and I can move any mountain to make my dreams come true!

Magical movies

Did anyone watch the Oscars last night?   It was awesome!  So many awards were won!   Collin Firth  was really popular with all his awards for  his movie The kings speech!   He won best actor.   Natalie Portman won an award  for her movie the black swan.   Anne Hathaway was the host!  I loved her!  she was hilarious!   She can sing too! The best Oscar host ever!   The fun didn't stop last night!  On Opera award winners were on the show.  Anne Hathaway and Collin Firth talking about the evening. Then a group of kids that started a singing group and posted themselves on YouTube!   The group was on opera singing a and Katy Perry joined them!  That was cool! 
Everyone loved that! It was very inspiring!  For anyone that missed the Oscars,  the Oprah show yesterday was great! It pretty much summarized it all up.  Since, last night showed all the top movies of 2010- 2011, i thought id tell my top ten movies of this year too!
1.  Ramona and Beezus-  This is one of the best family movies I've seen this year.  Its about the day to day things that a typical family go through, and what its like to be the youngest sister.  Very cute and fun!  I love movies like that

2Valentines day- this is a romantic movie about how different couples celebrate valentines day.  It has all the well know stars in it, Aston Kutcher, Anne Hathaway, Taylor Latiner and Taylor swift etc.   Its a funny movie about true love and what people go through to impress they're boyfriends or girlfriends on this  special day

3.  The Blind Side-  A film that was based on a true inspiring story about a family that decides to take in a homeless young man.   It a cool story about how  a family goes out of their way to help a man in need and then  makes him a part of their family! I have never seen Sandra Bullock play a southern housewife!  I loved her acting!

4.  Extraordinary Measures-  a man and wife have two kids with something called Pompe disease.  It is very life threatening but the parents wont have them die.  So the dad tries to find this new medicine that has an enzyme in it!  He goes through a lot of struggles with finding one.  i love this movie because its  about kids in wheelchairs.  It shows how they can live just like normal kids, getting in arguments with their parents and everything.  my favorite part.  This is based on a true story that everyone should watch to get inspired.


5.  Children of a lesser God-  This isn't a new movie but i just watched it for the first time a little while ago.  A  teacher goes to a special school where all the kids are either deaf or have mental disabilities and cant speak properly.  He teaches them sign language.  The  janitor at the school is deaf.  Her and the teacher fall in love.   They fight a lot just like a married couple. One is deaf and mute and one can speak and hear.  Its really cool to see how they overcome barriers  together

6.  letters to Juliet-  A newly wed, Sophie, goes on holiday to Rome for her honeymoon.   She finds these old letters that were written years ago.  She takes the letters to these women who answers people love  letters about finding their loves.  Sophie writes back to the women that wrote the letter she found.  She hides it and the old ladies grandson finds it.  Together he and Sophie find the old women's  boyfriend and the two get married1  This is a sweet story!  Great for young couples

7.  Diary of a Wimpy kid-  A ten year oldès mom buys him a diary for him to write his feelings in!  He just started middle school and wants to be one of the cool kids!  he does not really fit in! its based on a series of books!  This is the hilarious story of what its like being a kid and trying to fit in.

8.  Adam- A  girl falls in love with this guy who has asbergers, a form of autism.  Another story about dating disabled people!  Adam  gets taught what it is like to love another person and feel for them.

9.  Last Song-  A rebellious teenager, played by Miley Cyrus, moves in with the dad she hasn;t seen in years.  She refuses to have a good time with him until she finds out he has cancer.  She finds  the musical side of herself that was lost, and romance too! 

10.  Marmaduke-  A Great Dane tells his story of being a house pet .   Hes the kind of dog that always gets in trouble but at the end of the movie he ends up saving the day.   A great story about the relationships between animals and people

So, there are some of my favorite movies of 2010.   What are some of your favorite movies of the year?

Sit ski program

Lately, Ive been getting asked a lot about if i do any sports.    Now, I can say, I ski!  Ive been skiing up at beautiful Panorama Ski hill for three years!   It all started in grade seven.    All the students in grade seven get to  go on a school Field trip up to Panorama Ski hill for five Fridays in January.    I wasn't sure if i would be able to go.   Having Cerebral Palsy, I have trouble balancing, so it would be hard for me to stand up on skis.   I kept thinking about it for quite a while, sad that I maybe wouldn't be doing what the other kids were doing   Then, the day after my birthday, I was told I could ski with everyone else!   I was thrilled! I'll never forget that day!   That Friday I got all dressed up for the day on the hill.  I don't think I've ever had so many layers of clothing on!   When I got up to the hill, I was so excited! I was bouncing around all over the place!   I ski in a sit ski.  It is like a sled on skis..  There is someone holding the ski, and someone holding tethering rope as the brake man.  I use an outrigger to help steer and lean and look the way I'm going.  Ive only fallen 3 times, but that makes me a true skier. The People who ski with me are some of the nicest people I've met!   My friend Katrien was the first person I skied with.  I loved zipping down the hill and going really fast, but mostly, I loved seeing all my other classmates go down the hill beside me.   Now, three years later, Panorama has started a Disabled Skiing group  (CADS).  There is about ten or so skiers that have a physical or mental disability that come out every Sunday to ski.  They have even have three sit skis now. Its a wonderful thing they have going on.  Even my best friend Grace Brulotte from Fernie came down skiing with me.  This has been one of our dreams to ski together and we fulfilled it!  Grace has Arthrogriposis and is confined to a wheelchair.  My  ski nickname is Skibunny and hers is  mighty mouse!  She loves the to ski.  Grace has said she has never felt so free   This program has helped so many people feel like they belong to a group and I'm so glad to be a part of the program!  Well doneCADS volunteers!  See ya on the hill next Sunday!

What i want to be in the future

Today in Planning class, we started looking at what we want to do when we get out of school.  I have been thinking of this a lot lately!  I have a few ideas. 

1.  Author-  Ever since i was little, I have loved to write stories.   They have to be funny stories!   When I was in Grade 6, my best friend Grace Brulotte and I wrote a book together.  It was about two bunnies that got stuck in Hawaii.  This was based on a true story.  My family and I went to Hawaii one year  and our flight time got messed up.  We got to stay in Hawaii for 5 more  days!  Lucky us!  When I got back home my best friend Grace met an author Bonita Forsyth that  helped us write a book based on the  trip to Maui.  I wrote and Grace drew the pictures.   It was a lot of work but it sure was fun!   I love writing in English!  Writing stories has always been a favorite hobby of mine so I definitely might look to it as a career in the future

2. Reporter-  Last year, Grace and I also got to go to the Paralympics to be reporters.  It was amazing!  We got so many once in a lifetime opportunities.   Two magical weeks for sure!  While I was there I got to report on what people thought of the games.  I really like reporting and getting to know people!  When I came home, I got in touch with Dave Lazzerino from our local newspaper, Valley Echo, and he helped me go further with reporting.  I interviewed Many Osborne, an Olympic skier.  He was such a nice guy!   it was a joy to talk to him!   in school, we have a club called Free Press.  Ive written a few articles so far.     The more i report, the more i love it!  

3.  Work with Special needs-  Ever since I was little, Ive had aids help me with school!   I get so inspired by them.  I love what they do!   I would love to work with little kids with special needs.   Maybe do a summer or out of school program like one of my aids does with me.   I would love to be part of meetings about how kids are doing and how to help them succeed!  I'm not sure physically how that would work.  I have trouble walking so I will see how much I can do to help little kids.   I am determined to do anything I want to do for an enjoyable career for me!

4.   Work with Cannasist-   Cannasist is a group of people that make different  contraptions for kids with Special needs!   They work out of University of Victoria, where I really want to go to school! I met a few  people from Cannasist when I went to Ottawa to do some public speaking.  i loved being with them!    They are wonderful people!  I would love to come to work each day with them.   I'm not sure if i will with the actual building of different contraptions. I might just go see the disabled person and talk about their needs and think of something that could help make their life easier.   I love coming up with those kind of ideas.   Making someones life easier is can always make you feel better.  

5. Motivational Speaker-   I love making people feel better, and push them to have a positive attitude.  I've done some public speaking before and I love it!   I do have a little speech impairment.  Sometimes its hard for people to understand what I am saying.   However, If i really want to do this, that's just something i need to work at!  

Whatever I choose to do in the future, i don't want to think too much about it!    i want to enjoy life, do well in school, and take it one day at a time.  If you don't do that you miss stuff you wish you did not.  Every day has new  adventures and you cant miss them.   All  I want to do is live my life... one day at a time!

Hello there!

Hey everyone,  

My name is Kate Gibbs!   I am a 16 year old in grade ten.  I  go to D.T.S.S High school.  I live in beautiful Invermere B..C.  About 3000 people live here and in the summer it swells to 30000.   Tourists enjoy the wonderful outdoor mountain life here. Skiing, hiking, swimming, golfing are some of the few activities they enjoy doing while vacationing in the valley.      I have a disability called Cerebral Palsy.  When I was born, my lungs collasped, and I lacked oxygen to my brain.   I got to fly in a leer jet over to Calgary Foothills hospital!   my Cerebral Palsy affects my walking and my fine motor skill.   That being said, Im so lucky I am here now!  I have a wonderful life!  I dont think I could ask for anything more than I already have!  I have a wonderful family.   My mom has been my best friend my whole life! We do everything together!  My dad is a fantastic cook! He makes fancy dinners for us to eat and boy are they good!  I have a sister Natalie.   I love doing things with her. She helps me out so much!   She is 13 and just started highschool.  Itès really nice to be in the same school...most of the time.    I love school  My favorite subject is english!  I love to write stories! I have an electric wheelchair to get around.   I can walk short distances, but my wheelchair gets me from point A to B a lot faster!  It also makes me more independent! I can go downtown all by myself now!  That makes me so happy!  You have no idea!  I feel just like everyone else!  I can even order my own snack at the bakery!    I have a wheelchair accesssable van!  Now I can be independent in diffrent towns.      This has made my world much bigger!  Now our streets have new sidewalks everywhere, making it much easier for me to get around.    i  have enjoyed writing a journal  everyday   for so many years.   My cousin Stephanie, and my best friend Grace got me started on a blog!  i am excited to  share my life with you!  Hope you enjoy my stories!