Every child shines!

November 17, 2011

Remembrance Day Assembly

On Thursday, November 10th, we held our school Remembrance Day assembly in the gym. It was very well done and our students respectfully honoured all the men and women who have courageously served our country.

Special thanks to our honoured guests, Royal Canadian Legion members Mr. Harry Caton and Mr. Art Mansell, Constable Kenning of the RCMP and Lieutenant Dragana Bjelica of the Royal Canadian Navy. We would also like to thank our student emcees Maddie Yule and Victoria Lane-Fougere for doing such a wonderful job of leading the assembly and Sam Muir, Erin Findlater, Bayley Hollingsworth and Trent Sundberg for their impressive Powerpoint presentation. Mr. Olfert and our amazing Senior Choir performed three incredible songs that helped make the assembly even more meaningful for our students.

Lest we forget!

Classroom Allergy Awareness

We felt that all parents would like to be aware that

several children in our school have severe, life

threatening food allergies to either nuts or seafood.

The classroom teachers of these students have done a

great job informing their classes but, due to the

severity of the situation, we sent out another

reminder to all the students in those classes again this

week. Anaphylaxis is a medical condition that causes a

severe reaction to specific foods and can result in

death within minutes. Although this may or may not

affect your child’s class directly, we want to inform

you so that you may choose to send foods to school

with your child that are free from peanut or nut

products. If you would like more information or have

any questions please do not hesitate to contact Mr.

Burt.

Oops! Mr. Burt made a mistake in the last newsletter! Ainsley Needham ran in the Fall Cross Country Meet last month and came in 5th place out of all the Grade 3 girls. Way to go Ainsley!

School Website

View our newsletters in colour! Find a lot of

useful information about our school! Our

website address is: www.sd47.bc.ca/school/gp

Please bookmark it and send any feedback or

suggestions to Mr. Burt.

SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTER ONLINE In our effort to reduce paper usage at Grief Point, we now have twenty families signed up to receive their Newsletter by email. If you would like to receive the Newsletter online, here is how it works:

Parents will go to our school site

www.sd47.bc.ca/gp

At the bottom left there will be a section

called “Newsletter Subscription” where you

will enter your email address and select

“submit”

You will then receive an email to verify that

the email actually belongs to you, which will

direct you to click on a link which will

complete the subscription process.

Once you have entered your information it is

all stored on a “Newsletter Mailing List” on

the school website and you will receive the

Newsletter via your email.

Grief Point PAC on Facebook

We are always trying to find more ways to communicate with our students’ families. Our PAC has created a Facebook page (Grief Point PAC) in hopes that more people may be able to keep up to date. This page will be most effective by having more parents who "like" the page and receive the updates - please share this page with your friends and ask them to come join!

Contact Information Updates

A reminder to parents and guardians, that if

any of your child’s emergency contact

information or personal information changes

our office manager, Ms. Jolie, needs to know so

that she can make the changes official. Thank

you for your cooperation with this.

Powell River Kings

“Reading Heroes”

Every Monday morning, the Powell River Kings

send three of their finest (Cohen Adair, Daniel

Schuler and Jordan Benton) to our school to read

with our students and then to hone their hockey

skills on the our hockey court at recess.

Each week we nominate a student ‘Reading Hero’

by grade. Our ‘Reading Heroes’ so far have been:

Grade 1: Braiden Swanson

Grade 2: Damion Kineard

Next week we will be honouring a Grade 3

student and so on!

Thanks to the Powell River Kings and the First

Credit Union for this wonderful program!

Fall Fun

Thanks to all of our wonderful

crossing guard volunteers for

helping to keep our students safe!

If you can help out, please contact

Mr. Burt.

Grade 4 Students Visit Sliammon

Dre s s in g for th e We ath e r

As th e wea th er is ch a n gin g, p lea se rem in d you r ch ild ren to d res s a ppropria tely for th e con d ition s . We t ry to h a ve ch ild ren ou ts ide a s m u ch a s pos s ib le a t reces s a n d lu n ch . We feel it is im portan t for th em to get ph ys ica l a ct ivity a n d en joy th e fres h a ir . It is n ot a ba d idea to keep a s pa re s et of cloth es in you r ch ild ’s ba ckpa ck or , if pos s ib le, in th e cla s s room in ca s e you r ch ild n eeds it . If it is a down pou r , ch ild ren will be kep t in s ide.

Hey, all

students

who love ART…

Peak Publishing is inviting Powell River area

students to submit their artwork for the

17th annual Powell River Peak Christmas

issue cover. Your work could be seen in

thousands of homes.

Please ensure that you follow the sizing

required. In the past, terrific entries

have been disqualified because they were

the wrong size. The size required is 10.25

inches wide by 8 inches tall.

The winner will be presented with a cash

prize and laminated copy of the front page

featuring their artwork.

Please submit your entries to the Peak

office on Marine Avenue by 4:00 pm on

Friday, November 25th.

Tell us a story about Christmas…..

Write a story of 300 words or less. All

Powell River students from kindergarten to

grade 12 are eligible. Stories will be

judged on quality of writing, clarity of

presentation and originality of theme.

Entry deadline is 4:00 pm on Friday,

November 25th.

Prizes will be awarded in different age

categories. Winning entries will be

published in the Peak’s Christmas edition in

December. Entries must bear the name,

age, grade, telephone number and school of

the writer.

Send entries by mail or hand to:

The Powell River Peak

4400 Marine Avenue

Powell River, BC V8A 2K1

Or by fax: 604-485-5077

Or by email: copyeditor@prpeak.com

November Assembly Draw Winners

A & W Lunch Andrew Crookshank Melaina Mastrodonato Cohen Mastrodonato Lukas Shipley

Swim and Skate Arianna Shannon-Oliver Thea May

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Lister and A & W Restaurant for sponsoring our monthly draw!

Upcoming Events

Fri. Nov. 18 Crafts will be collected from classrooms Mon. Nov. 21 Dance with Mariah Sheridan continues Tues. Nov.22 Volleyball – Final Game Wed. Nov. 23 Hot Lunch Thurs. Nov. 24 Grade 7 Dance Fri. Nov. 25 Crafts will be collected from classrooms Mon. Nov. 28 Dance with Mariah Sheridan continues Tues. Nov. 29 Newsletter Fri. Dec. 2 Primary Recognition Assembly (9:45) Intermediate Recognition Assembly (10:45) Crafts will be collected from classrooms Wed. Dec. 7 Hot Lunch Thurs. Dec. 8 PAC Meeting Fri. Dec. 9 Kid’s Holiday Craft Sale Mon. Dec. 12 Winter Wonderland Skate Tues. Dec. 13 Winter Wonderland Skate Fri. Dec. 16 Last Day of school before Winter Break

Having Fun!

Friday – December 9th

In the Gymnasium This is a Grief Point PAC fundraiser. All money raised will go towards PAC initiatives. How can you help? We are asking students, parents, grandparents, guardians to make simple crafts and donate them to the holiday craft sale. Crafts can be dropped off in your child’s classroom. Parents will collect the crafts every Friday. Remember to keep it simple! These items will all be selling for $1 - $2 each. Students can attend to purchase holiday gifts for their family and friends. After the student purchases the gift, it will be ‘wrapped’ in a paper bag, which will be sealed and labeled, ready for gift-giving! If you have any questions, please contact Tara Chernoff at 604.485.0814.

Student Writing One of our school goals this year is for our students to improve their writing skills. As a staff we are very excited about this goal and are employing a variety of strategies throughout the school year to give our students more opportunities to develop their writing skills! In every newsletter we will be showcasing some samples of student writing . We will include both Primary (K-3) and Intermediate (4-7) samples throughout the year. Please ask your children at home what they are writing about at school, better yet have them do some writing for you at home as well!

Should School be Compulsory?

Grade 5/6 (Mr. Brown-Div. 4) Should school be compulsory? It used to not be. Why is it now? In some countries school is not compulsory. Most intelligent people think school shouldn’t be compulsory. People think school shouldn’t be compulsory because even if you don’t go to school you can still get a job. It also means more playing – hockey, pets, sledding, swimming, etc. As a bonus, you wouldn’t waste as much paper on homework or school work. There would be less global warming, more clean air, and earth’s lifespan would become much longer leading to longer human existence. Also, you wouldn’t have to write boring essays such as this. Since you would find a job you liked in your town you wouldn’t want to move, make life simpler. Some people think school should be compulsory because you need a college degree in some jobs, but nobody said you can’t go to school. They also say it is hard to work your way up, but people in the past did it so we can too. So it is clear that school shouldn’t be compulsory. By Cole Needham

In Canada children are forced to go to school; if they can’t go to school they must be home schooled. I think the government has every right to make school compulsory. Anyone can see that kids should go to school. Why, if we didn’t have to go to school then no one will go! If we didn’t go to school, we wouldn’t be able to go to university and get a good job without a high school diploma. If we didn’t go to school, we wouldn’t meet new people and learn new things. If I wanted to be a doctor or a nurse I have to go to university, and, like I clearly stated, we can’t go to university without a high school diploma! If you didn’t go to school you wouldn’t enjoy and respect the weekends as much. If you wanted to travel you would have to go to school to read a map! If you didn’t go to school you would have to do way more chores. If you want to go to France you would have to learn French and it would be a lot easier to do so if you were with a class. Of course, some simple-minded folk believe school shouldn’t be compulsory. That is quite silly because if kids weren’t forced to go to school, all they would do is play video games. However, you would eventually get bored and life just wouldn’t be fun! So really, any reasonable person could see that of course school should be compulsory! By Annika Krowitz In Canada school is compulsory between ages 6 to 16 except for Ontario and New Brunswick up to 18. In the past school was not compulsory. Up until the late 19th century. So why should it be now. There are many other ways to get an education. Formalized school teaches you just the basics, not life skills. Many people don’t like the idea of school being compulsory. My opinion is that school should not be compulsory. There are many other things that you could be doing with your time, other than sitting in a formal classroom. Think about it. You could be out making money at a much earlier age. You could learn the basics from your parents. As you get older, you can

undertake an apprenticeship and learn by someone that knows about that job. You could also survive off the natural environment like some of the people in Africa do. Unschooling, is a big movement in the United States. People of this movement believe that self-directed education in a natural environment make people more prepared for the real world. Some people still think school should be compulsory. They think that school teaches you good life skills to have a good life. They believe that it’s not really possible to live completely in the natural environment. That is completely wrong, because the Natives did. Others think that school helps you learn good skills so that you can get a better job. Most good jobs require extensive on the job training. Official school only gives you the basics. Because children spend so much time in a formal classroom or with formal studies, they often miss out on hands-on learning. So that’s why I believe that formal school should be optional for kids. By Steven Ahmed

King of

Moles By Samuel Muir

Grade 7

One ordinary day, Samuel Muir, was blissfully

playing online in his room. When suddenly a pop-up,

well…popped-up, and rather irritated Samuel. “Oh

bother” said Sam as he pressed the escape key.

Then, he went on with his gaming, when he felt a

rather vigorous shaking in his spine, creeping

reverently up to the base of his skull. He chose to

ignore this nonsense. He then went up a level in his

game, the nerdiest accomplishment on the face of

the Earth. In his rather blind rejoice, something

caught his eye, a small chasm in the corner of his

room. This, understandably, alerted Sam to the

point where he kicked off his blanket to investigate

this matter further. While he was in the act of doing

so, a larger chasm opened up and enveloped his

entire dresser. This put Sam somewhat on the

edge, as he was wondering what was going on,

another chasm opened, and swallowed Sam whole.

He was than falling, hurtling to immanent doom. He,

of course, knew not of where gravity was taking him.

He then felt an abrupt, sudden, inevitable, stop.

20 hours later

Sam later woke from his blunt force trauma slumber,

somehow. He slowly and feebly got up to his feet,

to find the terrifying silhouette imprint of himself on

the face of a rock. He then examined his injuries, to

his surprise, not many. He started to walk. Then he

grasped his torso, a piercing pain struck him. “A

cracked rib!” gasped Sam, with the limited air in his

lungs. Then Sam sucked it up and marched, wincing

in pain with every step. Maybe five minutes later, he

saw a palace or the closest thing to a palace

underground. As he gingerly approached the gate,

to his surprise, it opened! Than a small man came

out. This man was very short, 3 feet at the most,

hair covered his face with what looked like whiskers.

He walked up to Sam and said “Hail Samuel, king

of all mole people!”

And that’s how I became king of all moles.

The End

JOIN US AT FAMILY PLACE IN THE TOWN CENTRE MALL

Parenting Group Sessions for Parents

of Children ages 2 – 5

3 sessions – register for 1 or all 3!

Friday, December 2nd

10:00 – 11:30 am

“Getting from NO to YES” – turning confrontation

into compliance.

Friday, December 9th

10:00 – 11:30 am

“Sleep Strategies” – supporting your child’s bedtime

routine.

Monday, December 12th

10:00 – 11:30 am

“Supporting and Understanding the Angry Child”

Preregistration is required, space is limited. To

register contact Colleen Mudry at 604.485.3090.

Limited child minding available onsite for young

children.

“BIG BUDDIES”