Manor Park Public School students support stray cat rescue

By Manor Park Chronicle

Manor Park Public School grade-5 students used their media studies savvy to help Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue (OSCatR) get more stray cats adopted.
Manor Park Public School grade-5 students used their media studies savvy to help Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue (OSCatR) get more stray cats adopted. Photo: Joanna Harvey

Making curriculum relate to the real world isn’t always easy, but our grade 5 ETFI (English to French Immersion) classes had a chance to do just that recently.

During our media unit and discussion on advertising, we connected with the Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue (OSCatR) to help their organization, while giving our students the chance to make a real difference with their work.

OSCatR is a non-profit organization dedicated to getting “adoptable” cats off the streets and home around the national capital region. The group also manages feral cat colonies.

Our grade-5 students decided to use their knowledge of media and advertising to try and help the rescue get more cats adopted this holiday season.

As a non-profit, OSCatR raises funds throughout the year with many different initiatives.

In December, they partnered with Pet Valu to create a “Giving Tree” of ornaments that list items fosters need in order to care for the cats they have taken into their homes.

Cat bios and pics

The grade-5 classes took on this task. Each student reviewed the biographies of cats they wanted to help, and created an ornament for the Giving Tree.

They also wanted to make “Catvertisements”–one page advertisement posters to profile each cat for prospective adoptive families.

The students were completely engaged in this meaningful task, and worked hard to create effective posters to help these cats, and OSCatR.

The ornaments and posters were on display at the Beechwood Ave. and Ottawa Train Yards Pet Valu stores in December.

Congratulations to Manor Park Public School’s grade 5 ETFI students for their help with this initiative. You really embody our school motto–Manor Park Makes a Difference.

This article was submitted by Joanna Harvey, a grade 5 teacher at Manor Park Public School.

Manor Park Public School grade-5 students used their media studies savvy to help Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue (OSCatR) get more stray cats adopted.
Manor Park Public School grade-5 students used their media studies savvy to help Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue (OSCatR) get more stray cats adopted. From left to right, in the front row, Kyla Butler and Hailey Raymond and, back row left to right, Findley Doull-Cunningham, Shamus Shillington, Ben Hoyles, Michael Efe-Voigt, Talia Agaba, Mylah Joly and Hazel Rank. Photo: Joanna Harvey
The students reviewed biography of each cat and created ornaments for a “Giving Treet”that listed items would-be adopters would need for their new companions. They also made “Catvertisements”–one-page advertisement posters to profile each cat for prospective adoptive families. Photo: Joanna Harvey
The students’ ornaments and posters were on display at the Beechwood Ave. and Ottawa Train Yards Pet Valu stores in December. Photo: Joanna Harvey
The students’ ornaments and posters were on display at the Beechwood Ave. and Ottawa Train Yards Pet Valu stores in December. Photo: Joanna Harvey