Thunder News Flash – April 10-14

The ladies who run the Hot Lunch Program have asked for your help to ensure that your forms are filled out properly.  Much information is often missing, which makes it a puzzle for these ladies to try and figure out who the forms belong to, and who the food should go to.  While you have one form to complete, these ladies have more than a hundred forms to go through each month.  Please note the following information must be included:

• Your child’s first and last name
• Your child’s grade
• Your phone number – this is particularly important if something is missing on the form
• Your child’s food choice filled in completely

Once the forms are sent in they are placed into a binder, so it would be very helpful if the forms were simply folded in half, or in quarters.  It is also important to make sure that the money actually stays with the form – please use an envelope, or paperclip the money/cheque to the form.  Thank you from the Hot Lunch Crew!

The class and group photos for any sports teams and clubs, will take place on Tuesday, April 11th.  Please note that students must be dressed in their full uniform, including their sweater, for these photos.

St. John Brebeuf is running a toy drive in the month of May in support of the Prison Ministry, and we would like to help by collecting toys as well.  These toys are used by children who are visiting their mom or dad for an hour or two in prison, or if they are having a weekend visit.  The ages of the children are from 2 – 10 years old, and toys may be new or gently used.  In particular it would be wonderful if we could collect colouring books, crayons, dolls, trucks, toy tools or toy kitchen items, books, balls, sandbox toys, children’s DVDs and bubbles.  We will be collecting these toys from May 1st to May 18th, and they may be dropped off in the large collection box by the office.  We thank you in advance for your generosity.

It is with mixed feelings that we announce the departure of three staff members this year.  Mrs. Kathy Robbins who taught Kindergarten for a number of years, as well as supported children with their reading skills, and most recently has been a member of our Learning Resources Department, will be retiring at the end of June.  Mr. Bill Ward who has been the custodian at the school for many, many years will also be retiring at the end of August.  Finally, Mr. Stephen Greaux who has taught Grade 5 for the past 8 years will be moving on at the end of June to teach in the public system.  While we wish them all well in their new ventures, they will definitely be missed.

We are happy to announce that we have hired Miss Sheena Lewis to be the Coordinator of our Learning Resources Department beginning in September.  Miss Lewis brings with her many years of experience working in this area, as well as 10 years of experience working at our Superintendent’s Office as an Educational Consultant in the area of Special Education.  Her expertise will certainly be a gift to our school and our students.

St. Ann’s Parish invites all parents and caregivers to join them for “The Parenting Teenagers Course” (produced by ALPHA).  Enjoy dinner and a first-class parenting video-and-discussion program to build our parenting skills.  This course is for anyone involved with children aged 11-18.  Those with younger children are also welcome.  A preview of the course can be viewed online by clicking here.  Topics include:

• Keeping The End in Mind
• Meeting Our Teenagers’ Needs
• Setting Boundaries
• Developing Emotional Health
• Helping Them Make Good Choices

Dates:  April 21st & 28th, May 5th, 12th & 26th

Time:  6:30 – 9:00pm

Cost:  $20 per person (This fee includes all five sessions)

To register click here.  To email for more information click here, or call 604-683-0281 ext. 50221.

This week is Holy Week, and we will be spending time at school learning about the importance of this special time in the Church.  On Holy Thursday, April 13th, our school will be in session from 8:30 – 2:30.  While we realize that St. John Brebeuf is dismissing at 1:00pm, we hope that you will consider keeping your children at our school on April 13th for the whole day as we have many special activities planned for the day.  Please note that even if your children will be leaving early you should send them to school with a recess snack and a lunch.  The school will then be closed on Friday, April 14th for Good Friday, as well as Monday, April 17th for Easter Monday.  We hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.

• Our WALKATHON kickoff happened this past Friday with our first PEP RALLY.  The Grade 7’s entertained everyone with a music video and skit and they taught students this year’s Walkathon cheer.  STUDENTS ARE VERY EXCITED about raising $25,000 for technology for every classroom in the school this year!
• WALKATHON PACKAGES including pledge sheets went home on Friday.
• THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO PLEDGE FOR WALKATHON 2017:  IN PERSON using the pledge sheet (cash or cheque and tax receipts are issued for donations of $25 or more); ONLINE by clicking here to go to our website, and then clicking on the “Donate Now” button (Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted online and tax receipts are issued for donations of $25 or more)
• Look for more Walkathon 2017 information each week in the Thunder News Flash.

We will once again have the opportunity to collect or make donations for our Walkathon online through the CHIMP website.  However, it is important to note that this year due to some changes at CHIMP, we will simply be building on last year’s page.  So, while it may appear that we have already collected quite a bit of money for Walkathon 2017 through CHIMP, please note that these are last year’s totals, which we unfortunately cannot remove from our donation page.  Let’s try and double what is listed below for each class as these are the amounts that we collected last year:

• Kindergarten – last year’s total was $25
• Grade 1 – last year’s total was $490
• Grade 2 – last year’s total was $482
• Grade 3 – last year’s total was $120
• Grade 4 – last year’s total was $175
• Grade 5 – last year’s total was $335
• Grade 6 – last year’s total was $265
• Grade 7 – no online pledges were collected

Due to the fact that some donors did not specify a Grade or student when they made their donations, the total that we collected through CHIMP last year was $2,677.  Let’s try and double these classroom amounts and the total donations collected so that we will raise at least as much as we did last year through CHIMP.  However, it seems like last year the class to beat was Grade 1, so let’s challenge ourselves to meet or beat what they collected last year, to come up with an even larger total amount collected through CHIMP this year!