Thunder News Flash – December 1, 2018

This week the principals had the opportunity to gather for our Catholic Educational Leadership Days from Wednesday to Friday.  Our speaker was David Wells, a catechist and author who has spoken at conferences around the world.  The focus of our time together was on our theme – “What do you want of me, Lord?”  David quoted many Church documents and theologians, but over and over he talked about how we cannot lose our joy.  One of my favourite things he said was “don’t replace your enthusiasm with cynicism”.  Often we think that enthusiasm is naive and cynicism shows a measure of intelligence, but the opposite is true.  

David also talked about how we don’t evangelize by shouting our faith message at people, but instead we need to practice the “theology of accompaniment”.  When you “accompany” someone on their journey, you walk with them, get to know them, and learn why they believe or feel what they do, rather than rail against them if you disagree with them.  In Catholic education in an elementary school, Jesus leads with us and takes on most of the load as we journey with our students every day for as many as 8 years.  That is truly accompaniment.

David summed up his message to the principals by saying that the real answer to the question “What do you want of me, Lord”, is that God wants us to pray.  He referred to two types of prayers – inherited prayers which are the more formal prayers that unite us when we pray together, and encounter, which is the language of a personal encounter with Jesus.  If we want accompaniment, we need more encounter with Jesus.  We need to stop addressing God like it is an essay, and use fewer words.  Simply put, we need to trust God and just say “Thy will be done”.

On December 11th from 1:00pm – 8:00pm we will be holding our Parent/Teacher Interviews.  The purpose of these interviews is to discuss your child’s progress to date this year and to answer any questions that may have come up after reading your child’s Progress Report that will go home on December 7th.  We will once again be using an online booking service, and you will be able to begin booking your child’s interviews starting on December 1st.  Please click here to access the website and book your interview.  Just a reminder that these interviews are for the Parents and Teachers only, so children should not attend, and there is no school on that day.

The Grade 7 class is going to be knitting items for the Migrant Farm Workers in Abbotsford and they are in need of some yarn.  If you have any yarn at your house from past projects, or are able to purchase a ball or two of yarn to help with this worthwhile project, your donations can be brought to the school office this week.  In addition, the Grade 7 class is also going to be making an art project that requires the metal rings from mason jars, and they need 12 – 15 per student.  These metal rings can be any colour, so if you have old canning supplies that you are no longer using, and are able to donate the rings to the Grade 7 class, these can also be brought to the school office this week.  The Grade 7 class appreciates your donations!

The school will be hosting Community Coffee on Tuesday, December 4th at 8:30am in the school Library.  This is a wonderful opportunity for community members from both the school and the parish to join together for some coffee, treats and great conversation.  Bring your toddlers as well as there will be toys and colouring pages set out for those children who are not yet in school.  We hope to see you there!

It is hard to believe that it is that time of year again, but applications for siblings will be available at the school office beginning on Monday, December 3rd.  If you have children in the school, and have a younger child who will be entering Kindergarten in September 2019, please come to the school office to pick up an application form.  If you have children in the school, and have other children who will be entering Grades 1 – 7 in September 2019, and you are hoping that they can attend the school, please come to the school office to pick up an application form.  These applications must be filled out and returned to the school no later than December 19th as we begin to take applications for new families to the school on January 31st.  We need to know how many spaces we have available, especially in Kindergarten, as the spaces fill up each year very quickly.

We will once again we hosting a special luncheon for the seniors of the various parishes that support St. James & St. Ann’s School, as well as the grandparents of school students.  This will take place on Wednesday, December 19th – doors will open at 12:00pm, lunch will be served at 12:15pm and they will be treated to a special 1:00pm performance of our Christmas Musical. Please invite your child’s grandparents and the seniors of the parishes to attend this lunch and show, but please have them call the school at 604-852-1788 to R.S.V.P. by Monday, December 17th so that we know how many people to set up for.  We look forward to seeing many people attend and serving the senior members of our community.

The Thunder Club has a number of senior students from our school who attend after school, and they are looking for some donations of items for them to use – specifically Lincoln Logs and Popular Mechano.  If you have either of these items at home, and your children no longer play with them, please consider donating them to the Thunder Club.  Or, if you would like to purchase these items and gift them to the Thunder Club, your donations would be gratefully accepted. 

Come and pray the rosary with us for our school community at 8:30am every Thursday morning.  Please note that we have changed our location and will now meet each week in the school Library.  Small children and babies are welcome.

Are your children considering making some extra money by babysitting?  Help set them up for success by registering them in the Red Cross Babysitting Course which will be held at our school on Mondays from 2:45 – 4:00pm on February 4th, 11th, and 25th and March 4th.  This course is available for students who are a minimum of 10 years of age by the start of the program, and we must have a minimum of 16 students registered for the program to go ahead.  The program teaches the basics of babysitting, rights and responsibilities, getting along with participants, holding, diapering, feeding, bedtime, toys and activities, accident prevention and handling emergencies.  The cost of the program is $60/student.  If you are interested in having your child participate in this program, please pick up a Registration Form at the school office before the Christmas break.  The program will be taught by Coleen Melsted, an instructor from the Red Cross, and Mrs. Filiatrault will be the teacher sponsor for the program.