Dear Friends,
Greetings from your neighbour to the north – Canada!  The word Canada is an Iroquoian word meaning village.  Canada has about 32 million people and is divided into ten provinces and three territories.  One of our territories (Nunavut) was formed in 1999 – it’s neat knowing that we are older than one of our territories.  Our school is in Renfrew, a small rural town in Ontario.  We are about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Canada’s capital city, Ottawa.  Our national anthem is O Canada and our national languages are English and French.  We have French as a second language classes at school.
In winter, we have a lot of snow.  We play hockey, and are very proud of our six NHL teams (especially the Ottawa Senators!).  We also go sledding everyday at lunch recess during the winter.  In the summer we play soccer, go swimming in some of Canada’s many lakes and rivers, and go camping in Algonquin Park.
Did you know that Canadians invented the game of basketball, the electric lightbulb, goalie masks, newsprint, the telephone, and the zipper among many other things?  Canada is famous for its many beautiful parks and lakes, maple syrup, ski hills, and the West Edmonton Mall which is the world’s largest entertainment and shopping centre.
We are very excited to learn more about each of your states.  We hope that you have a chance to visit our beautiful country someday.  Best wishes to all from the students in Mrs. Reid’s Grade 1-4 class at the Renfrew & District Christian School