Thunder News Flash – December 15, 2018

We are now entering the third week of Advent. The candle for the third week is rose coloured, and symbolizes joy.  If you look at a sunrise, there are many different shades of pink that are represented.  In the same way our joy can be expressed in many different ways, but it should never determined by the way we feel.  Instead it should be focused on God.  When we focus on the faithfulness of God our joy may be exultant; when we focus on the presence of God in our lives our joy may be unwavering.  In the Bible, Paul tells us to be joyful always and Jesus tells us that with God all things are possible – the combination of these two messages should help us to carry the joy of the third week of Advent all throughout the year.

Just a reminder that the Work Bee which was scheduled for December 8th has been rescheduled for today, December 15th from 9:00am – 2:00pm.  

Our Christmas Giving Tree is now up and the tags are on the tree.  Just a reminder that students are not allowed to take a tag from the tree unless they have permission from their parents.  If you would like to give your child permission to take a tag from the tree, please email the school by clicking here and let Mrs. Dlugan know that this is all right.  Please provide a price range for the gift that you would like to bring in, and Mrs. Dlugan will help your child pick a gift tag.  There are still a number of tags left on the tree, and we are hopeful that we will be able to fully support the charities that are dependent on our generosity.  Donated items will go to support the following charities:  St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic Charities Justice Services (Prison Ministry) and NightShift.  

We thank you for any and all donations which we will gratefully accept until December 19th at 9:00am – please note the change in date and the addition of a time deadline.  

While it has been quite mild this week, we still need to remember that the children need to come to school dressed appropriately for the weather.  Please remember that we do send the children outside to get fresh air and have some much needed time to burn off some energy even when it is rainy or cold.  Children should come to school ready for all kinds of weather with a good jacket with a hood, boots, gloves, scarves, etc.  

It is hard to believe that it is that time of year again, but applications for siblings are now available at the school office.  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.  Admission is by donation.

We look forward to seeing many people attend and serving the senior members of our community.  The Grade 6 class will be taking care of serving the seniors, and the Baking/Cooking Group will be providing the desserts, along with some donations from the Grade 6 class.  

The generosity of the Grade 5 students and all of those who wrote cards for the incarcerated was so appreciated!  For most, the Christmas bags you contributed towards are the only Christmas present they will receive.  You helped them know that someone cares and they are not forgotten.  May God bless you abundantly for your kindness.

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.  

The Grade 5 class, together with their Kindergarten buddies, have put together a beautiful Christmas book and basket of treats which will be raffled at the Christmas Musical on December 20th at the 7:00pm show.  Tickets are on sale at lunch time, and will be sold for 25 cents each.  Money will go to help cover the cost of the Christmas Musical, as well as a donation will be made to Chalice.  We appreciate your support.

The Lost and Found is overflowing, and many of the items are uniform pieces.  Any items left in the Lost and Found will be donated as of December 21st – uniform items will be put in consignment for others to purchase and non-uniform items will be donated to a local charity.

You may have already heard your child singing the song that their class is learning for our Christmas Musical, but just in case you haven’t been blessed with this treat yet, we will once again be showcasing the talents of all the students in the school as we present to you “The Christmas Shoe Tree”.  Join us for a creative retelling of the Christmas story which will be presented on Wednesday, December 19th at 1:00pm for the seniors and grandparents, and again at 1:00pm and 7:00pm on December 20th for our school families, friends and relatives.  Please note that on December 20th, St. James Parish will also be hosting a Christmas Concert at 7:30pm – that means the parking is going to be very difficult  We have contacted St. John Brebeuf and they will allow us to use their parking lot for the overflow, and of course there is street parking as well.  As many of the audience members at the Parish concert may be elderly, we are asking our able-bodied parents to perhaps park at SJB or on the street, as you are able to walk farther, more easily.  We thank you for making this accommodation that will allow all of us to enjoy the many celebrations taking place.

Just a reminder that doors will open for parents to enter the gym 30 minutes before each performance starts, and the students should be in their classrooms no later than 6:30pm for the evening performance on December 20th.  Those students who have acting roles in the Musical should follow the instructions of their Director.

Please come to St. Ann’s Parish to celebrate Mass in Spanish:

• All Wednesdays at 7:00pm there is Spanish Mass at St. Ann’s Parish.  Come!  Todos los Miércoles habrá Misa en Español a las 7:00pm en la Parroquia Sta Ana
• All Sundays at 1:30pm there is Spanish Mass at St. Ann’s Parish.  Todos los Domingos habrá Misa en Español a la 1:30pm en la Parroquia Sta Ana.  Acompáñanos!