Every child shines!

December 1, 2010

Christmas Concert Corrections

Please note the correct date and times

for the Christmas performances:

Primary Concert Divisions 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Wednesday, December 15th

1:30 pm and 6:30 pm – Grief Point Gymnasium

Intermediate Concert Divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5

Thursday, December 9th 7:00 pm – Max Cameron Theatre

(Brooks Secondary)

We will be collecting donations of non-perishable food items at both concerts.

Student Leadership

Christmas Cheer Food Drive The leadership council will be visiting each class this week to promote the Christmas Cheer Food Drive. Students are asked to bring in a non perishable food item, or as many as their family can donate during the next week, with the last day being Monday, December 6th. The leadership council will then count the items and prizes will be awarded to the class that can bring in on the most items. Mrs. Marshman and Ms. Lundell have a long history with this great cause, with the top winner always being the food bank. Thank you to everyone for supporting this important event.

Name Our New School

Send in a name for the new elementary school

being built at Gordon Park to replace Grief Point

Elementary School.

Please email suggested names to -

info@sd47.bc.ca or drop names off at any

School District 47 school or the School Board

Office - by December 15, 2010.

Student Recognition The following students will be recognized at the assemblies on Friday, December 3rd . We hope that parents, guardians and relatives will be able to come and help us celebrate their accomplish-mints and hear about the wonderful things that are going on at our school! Div. 1 – Gr. 7 (Mr. Oldfield) James Southcott Sydney Liknes Allahna Somji Scott Young Div. 2 – Gr. 6/7 (Ms. Sullivan / Ms. Banks) Jayden Saban Katie Tuba Charlotte Schreurs Cassidy Martinig Bayley Hollingsworth Div. 3 – Gr. 5/6 (Ms. Lundell) Keaton Mastrodonato Joshua Chernoff Catherine Chinn Maddie Yule Div. 4 – Gr. 5 (Mr. Brown) Beth Whitaker Donovan Savage Luke Orlinis McKenna Long Grant Heuckroth Matthew Ure Div. 5 – Gr. 4/5 (Ms. Marshman / Ms. Whitehouse) Cody Johansen Amanda Butler Jillian Banks Kaden Kozmeniuk Nicholas Cappiello Div. 6 – Gr. 3/4 (Ms. McKinty) Raylyn Webber Ian Petula Christopher Chernoff Linden Wiltse Div. 7 – Gr. 3 (Ms. Morris) Rosie Weymer Drew Deglan Elliot Smith Andrew Crookshank

Div. 8 – Gr. 2/3 (Ms. Butula) Aliyah Rachkowski Amber Schur Brooklyn Vanderkemp Elisa Fisk Morgan Tyler Div. 9 – Gr. 2 (Ms. Tait) Hannah Mazzelli Annika Schmunk Madeline Burt Colin Guenard Ariana Reid Chelsea Butler Div. 10 – Gr. 1/2 (Ms. Bond) Maddox Koivu Damion Kinneard Samantha Shortridge Cynthia Skorey Div. 11 – Gr. 1 (Ms. Adams) Marik Agius Andrew Krowitz Danny Schreurs Sarina Glen Div. 12 – Kg (Ms. Taylor) Derek Pearson Audrey Behan Ranae Babcock Tanner Burt Div. 13 – Kg (Ms. McLean) Thomas Trouten Madison Vandenakker Phoebe Schur Madelyn Davies

Recognition Assembly

Friday, December 3rd

9:45 am – Primary

Divisions 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7

10:45 am - Intermediate

Divisions 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Term 1 Honour Roll

Grade Six

Academic Achievement Bryson Cecconi Joshua Chernoff Catherine Chinn Cole Forsythe Brett Kinley Bayley Hollingsworth Justin Johansen Hallie Narayan Sylena Romanyshyn Tyana Sacree Charlotte Schreurs Maddison Yule Academic Effort Sarah Decock Wesley Ferreira Erin Findlater Ethan Gilham Konner Koshey Jack Long Cassidy Martinig Arianna Shannon-Oliver Katie Tuba

Grade Seven

Academic Achievement Calli-Ann Abbott Matthew Cappiello Teresa Coe Kent Gassen Elise Hocking Jeremy Hopper Ricci Leitch Sydney Liknes Meghan Loewen Gracie Mavin Callie McNeil Jayden Saban Nicole Shigeoka Carolyn Smith Allahna Somji James Southcott Jade Whitaker Tim Wriglesworth Scott Young Academic Effort Oliver Chiasson Aydain Kolt Christian Kolt Emily Lister Mitchell Needham

Winter Wonderland Skate Reminders

Students will be bused to and from the Complex. Our PAC has generously offered to sponsor this event for our children! There will be absolutely no cost to students for rentals. Here are some important reminders:

If students have their own skates please bring them.

All students must wear a helmet to go on the ice. A

hockey helmet or bike helmet is acceptable. If you

have one please bring it!

Please do not send money for food. The vending

machines will be off limits.

Students who wish to play hockey should bring their

own sticks.

We would love to have parents and guardians join us for a skate, a game of hockey and particularly to help lace up skates!

Friday, December 10th

10:15 am – 11:15 am Div. 6 – Ms. McKinty Div. 7 – Ms. Morris Div. 11 – Ms. Adams Div. 13 – Ms. McLean

Monday, December 13th 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Div. 4 – Mr. Brown Div. 8 – Ms. Butula Div. 9 – Ms. Tait Div. 10 – Ms. Bond Div. 12 – Ms. Taylor

Tuesday, December 14th 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Div. 1 – Mr. Oldfield Div. 2 – Ms. Sullivan Div. 3 - Ms. Lundell Div. 4 – Ms. Marshman

Grade 6/7 Volleyball Our girls’ and boys’ volleyball teams successfully wrapped up their seasons last week. The students improved tremendously over the course of the season and learned valuable lessons about commitment, teamwork and sportsmanship. We would like to thank Ms. Lundell for taking the time to coach the Boys’ Team and Ms. Sullivan for guiding the Girls’ Team this season.

Congratulations to the 2010 Boys’ and Girls’

District Champions!

Grade 6/7 Boys’ Team: Matthew Cappiello Tyler Carpendale Bryson Cecconi Joshua Chernoff Myles Elliott Zachary Evans Cole Forsythe Ethan Gilham Walker Harris Jeremy Hopper Dean Jantz Justin Johansen Brett Kinley Aydain Kolt Christian Kolt Jack Long Keaton Mastrodonato Adam McLaren Mitchell Needham Casper Poelen Jayden Saban James Southcott Trent Sundberg Billy Walters Tim Wriglesworth

Grade 6/7 Girls’ Team: Callie Ann Abbott Marisa Bolton Mira Bolton-Hicks Teresa Coe Destiny Dendewicz Erin Findlater Elise Hocking Bayley Hollingsworth Victoria Lane-Fougere Ricci Leitch Sydney Liknes Meghan Loewen Callie McNeill Hallie Narayan Claire Robertson Sylena Romanshyn Tyana Sacree Charlotte Schreurs Meggan Skorey Carolyn Smith Allahna Somji Keily Tietzen Katie Tuba Jade Whitaker Leah Wilson

Thank you all for doing such a wonderful job of representing Grief Point!

Green Lima Beans

In an effort to meet our goal of reducing the school’s carbon footprint, we are trying to advertise school events by having students visit each class, rather than creating posters. We hope this small action will have a positive impact. Freezing Fridays continue to be effective in reducing the amount of energy our school uses, and with the last one being on the same day as PJ day, not many students even noticed the heat was turned down!

P.A.L.S. PALS, or Parents as Literacy Supporters, is a fantastic program that was spearheaded in School District No. 47 by past Grief Point Principal and current School Trustee, Ms. Mary James. The kindergarten teachers in our school district have been working with students and their families to implement valuable early-literacy strategies. Three times during the kindergarten year, parents/guardians/grandparents and/or other relatives are invited to spend a special session learning about literacy and numeracy strategies that they can use with their children at home. Each session has its own focus: Session #1—Literacy, Storytelling, and Comprehension; Session #2—Emergent Reading (rhyming & letter recognition); and Session #3—Numeracy. Our first session was held on Tuesday, November 16th and was a huge success! We had a great turnout of parents and grandparents, many who had all ready previously attended the sessions with an older student.

Many thanks to our kindergarten teachers Ms. McLean and Ms. Taylor and of course, a big thank you to Ms. James for setting up and delivering the program.

We look forward to the second session in the new year!

Division 12 Trip to Safeway

Thank you to Safeway and Starbucks for being such gracious hosts!!

The Vow of Silence

On November 19, our class, and many other schools

around the world, took the vow of silence.

The vow of silence is a day when we stand up for

children’s rights. We raise awareness for those

children who are silenced by poverty, war and

oppression.

What we did is we didn’t speak for a whole day and

communicated using mini whiteboards. It was hard

to keep quiet but we all did pretty well.

At recess and lunch we were allowed to talk although

some of us didn’t and then after school some of us

still kept silent.

We are proud to have taken part in the vow of silence

and raised close to $90.00 for our local Salvation

Army.

By Jade Whitaker and Meghan Loewen

Division 2 – Grade 7

Reading Heroes Congratulations to our latest Powell River Kings “Reading Heroes” recipients: Nov. 22 Annika Krowitz – Grade 4 Nov. 29 Carsyn Casparie – Grade 5

We have accumulated way more “Losts” than “Founds” over the past few weeks! If your child is missing something and you have the opportunity please come in and take a look. There are some very nice items of clothing.

Thank you to Trevor Herron for coming into Division 4 (Mr. Brown – Gr. 4) and sharing information about his career with our students.

After School Art Grade 1 – 6

3:00pm – 4:15 pm January 4 – March 8, 2011

Join Ms. McLean on Tuesday, January 4th at 3:00 pm in the Art Portable for an hour of art for ten weeks. We will be exploring different kinds of art mediums and focusing on Environmental Art. At the end of the ten weeks we will celebrate with an art show for parents and students to view the work of the art students. A nominal fee of $25.00 will be charged to help purchase materials for the art class. Please sign up on the poster at Ms. McLean’s classroom. There is space for 12 students.

By Ms. Romanica

(I did promise a follow up to last month’s Counsellors Corner, but thought this was much better suited to the season. The follow up to “Six Strategies to help Your Child Deal with Anger” will be in the next CC).

An Appreciative Approach to the Holidays

There’s nothing wrong with giving your children gifts. But, as the parent, you get to define what celebrating means at your house, and shifting the focus from getting to giving will have a ripple effect. What kids are taught about behaviour and consumption becomes increasingly important once kids become aware of all the stuff that’s in the world, through commercials, shopping and exposure to what other kids have and do.

Set the tone: Let your children know that gifts from the heart are priceless. They can make things for people they love, such as handmade necklaces or ornaments or frames reserved for a special photo. Together, you could bake cookies and package them up for neighbours. When the focus is on what they can do and give, the gimmes tend to get lost in the background.

Get festive: Spend your time doing things as a family — skating, decorating, playing board games, visiting family and friends — rather than centring the holiday around gifts. The memories will outlast any item on their wish lists.

Downsize your holiday: Set a limit on spending and requests. Maybe your kids could just ask for two things this year, forcing them to decide what is truly important to them.

Give of yourself: Have your kids choose gifts for a toy drive, or sponsor a family in need. Buy a goat in Africa. Getting involved with charity, by volunteering or donating, gets children to think outside of themselves.

Information taken from “How to raise an Appreciative Child”, Tracy Chappell; Today’s Parent, December 2010.

Pajamas’ Day November 26, 2010

A note

from

Mr. Olfert

Senior Choir Welcome to December! Christmas is fast approaching, so the Senior Choir is busy preparing for two upcoming events: the annual Christmas Concert and our traditional choir outing to Olive Devaud and the Hospital’s Extending Care Unit to sing for seniors and shut-ins. After putting on such a fine performance and sounding so terrific on Remembrance Day, it would be nice if the choir would dress up for both the concert and the outing: black pants and white shirts with collars for the boys, Christmassy dresses or black skirts with pretty blouses for the girls. (Please, no t-shirts or sweatpants. Please wear nice shoes – no dirty old sneakers or gum boots.) If your child needs a shirt, please let me know. Parents and friends are most welcome to join us at either Olive Devaud or the ECU during our outing. Thank you for supporting our child’s participation in Senior Choir. Best of the Season, Mr. O

PAC Meeting Thursday, December 4th

6:30 pm ~in the library~

Dates to Note: Wed. Dec. 1 Hot Lunch Fri. Dec. 3 Primary Assembly 9:45 am Fri, Dec. 3 Intermediate Assembly 10:45 am Thurs. Dec. 4 PAC Meeting 6:30 pm Tues. Dec. 7 A & W Lunch Wed. Dec. 8 Intermediate Dress Rehearsal Thurs. Dec. 9 Intermediate Concert Fri. Dec. 10 Winter Wonderland Skate Mon. Dec. 13 Winter Wonderland Skate Tues. Dec. 14 Winter Wonderland Skate Wed. Dec. 15 Hot Lunch Wed. Dec. 15 Primary Concert Fri. Dec. 17 Senior Choir Outing Fri. Dec. 17 Last day of school for 2010 Tues. Jan. 4 First day of school for 2011

Don’t forget to check out our website at: www.sd47.bc.ca/school/gp Please bookmark it and send any feedback or suggestions to Mr. Burt.

Let it snow…

.....Let it snow.......

.....Let it snow!