The Bowen Island Community School Grade 5 Leadership teams have been undertaking a variety of projects to develop their leadership qualities and to help make a local, and global, positive difference! Some of the projects include: Jump Rope for Heart, a Kindergarten Craft Club, and working with the local post office on a multi-part initiative that they would like the community’s help with.
The first part for the Grade 5 Leadership Team of Vale, Lucas, and Storm is a May Stamp Drive for charity. They are hoping that everyone in the community could start saving their used stamps by cutting or carefully tearing them off their mail (please try to keep the stamped ink postal mark if there is one) and then donate them by dropping off used stamps in the collection box at the BICS main office.
The May stamp drive will end on May 31, and then the Grade Five Leadership Team will take all the collected stamps to the post office at the beginning of June, where the post office staff will give them to a local volunteer who gives them to a charity that globally benefits children in need. The post office accepts stamp donations year-round, but the students really want to spot-light stamp-saving in May on behalf of this long-time community volunteer stamp collection initiative.
The second part of the Grade 5 postal initiative is to raise awareness about how to properly address envelopes and tips about sending mail. The students are going to visit classrooms and teach envelope-addressing skills and challenge students to write a letter to friends or family.
These skills aren’t just something kids need to learn about... apparently many people in general (including people who live on Bowen Island) don’t know how to address an envelope properly, which can cause a lot of confusion and delays at post offices.
The Canadian postal system does its best, but if there is no return address, and the letter or package isn’t deliverable, it will go to the large UMO building at the Undeliverable Mail Office! So: don’t create UMOs!
A few tips for addressing envelopes:
• Use upper case letters, or print lower case neatly
• Blue or black ink is most easily scanned
• Avoid using Canada when addressing domestic addresses
• You may add ‘local delivery’ for on-island Bowen Island mail, but this is optional
• The return address should be on the upper left of the envelope and be in smaller font than the address (or on the back, top of an item)
• Leave room for the stamps/postage
• Do not hyphenate the postal code, do not use extra punctuation unless it is part of a proper name (ST JOHN’S)
• Adding art, especially extra lines and stripes, to a package can confuse the scanners, so try to keep the artwork and patterns to the inside
• Do not send dangerous or hazardous goods... many people accidentally send goods that can become a hazard. There are some things that might surprise you, that become hazardous in various situations, such on airplanes due to cabin pressure changes. Go online to find a whole list of dangerous goods, from strong magnets to mothballs!
• Also, when you are sending mail, do not mail with the gift-wrap on the outside, and don’t use string, twine, ribbon, or bows that can get caught in mail-sorting machines
For more information, check out the online information at Canada Post.
A big thanks to Postmaster Karen Shea and all staff at the Post Office for taking the time to meet with BICS Grade 5 Leadership students and showing them a glimpse into the inner-workings of the post office and how to address envelopes.
Students also learned about the history of stamp collecting, how stamps can be a way for artists to show their work, as well as to feature important social, environmental and historic information. They are very excited that used stamps can also be turned into a way to help children around the world and hope the community will support them in their May Stamp Drive.
For more information, please contact Community School Coordinator Sarah Haxby, [email protected]
