Thunder News Flash – April 13, 2019

We are about to enter Holy Week, and for Christians this is the most important week of the year.  The week begins with Palm Sunday where we mark Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and we celebrate his triumph by processing into church with our blessed palms.  We then focus our attention on the Easter Triduum beginning on the evening of Holy Thursday and ending on Easter Sunday where we celebrate the passion and resurrection of Jesus.  These days are truly an immersion into what it means to be a Christian, and the culmination of the entire liturgical year.  We need to spend these days suffering with Jesus and bearing the cross so that one day we may be worthy of rising with Him.

Please note these important dates in April:

• Thursday, April 18th – Holy Thursday – dismissal at 12:55pm
• Friday, April 19th – Good Friday – no school
• Monday, April 22nd – Easter Monday – no school
• Friday, April 26th – Walkathon – dismissal at 12:15pm

Please click here to sign up for your Walkathon Fundraising Assignment.  This is first-come, first-choice, so do not delay.

The Fundraiser requirement of your Parent Participation commitment is fulfilled by working up to 3 hours at one of our fundraisers held each year.  This is in addition to the 20-hour parent participation commitment to a task group.  Walkathon is the last fundraiser of the year, so if you did not work at Fun Night or Movie Night, this is your last chance to sign up for a fundraiser.  If you do not fulfill your Fundraiser commitment, your $150 Fundraiser cheque will be cashed in June.

If you have any questions, please email Erika by clicking here.

We will once again be celebrating Spirit Week from April 23rd – 25th as we lead up to the Walkathon.  Our Dress Down Day themes for those days are as follows:

• Tuesday, April 23rd is Favourite Character Day – your child may come dressed as their favourite fairy tale character, superhero, character from a novel or picture book, etc. 
• Wednesday, April 24th is Wacky Wednesday – this could mean your clothes are put on inside out or backwards, it could mean your hair is wacky, it could be a twin or triplet day, etc.
• Thursday, April 25th – P.J. Day – no explanation required!

Please note that as always what your child wears must be appropriate with no ripped clothes, spaghetti straps, inappropriate sayings on t-shirts, short shorts, masks or weapons on Character Day, etc.  If your child does not want to participate in a particular Spirit Day, they can show their school spirit by dressing in their Thunderwear on any or all of these days.

The next Work Bee will take place today, Saturday, April 13th from 9:00am – 2:00pm.  The weather looks quite rainy, but there is still the opportunity for some outside work for those who are dressed for the weather.  We look forward to seeing all those who are signed up to help, and those who need to make up some parent participation time!

Why not join the Parent Prayer Group for this last week of Lent in praying the rosary for our school community at 8:30am on Thursday mornings.  Please note that they meet each week in the school Library.  Small children and babies are welcome.

Please note the following:

• Walkathon permission forms – due back to the office on Thursday, April 18th
• Absentee Notes – if your child was absent in March and we still have not received a note from home, your child brought home an Absentee Note from the office on April 12th.  Please sign this note and return it to the office as soon as possible
• Re-Registration Forms – if you were missing any information, cheques or signatures in your child’s Re-Registration Package, your child would have brought home a bright purple piece of paper on April 11th indicating this.  Please check your child’s backpack to see if you received this notice and come to the School Office as soon as possible to bring in the missing information or make the necessary changes

Please join us for the following special activities during Holy Week, all taking place in the school gym:

• Wednesday, April 17th – the Grade 5 class will be presenting the “shadow” Stations of the Cross starting at 1:30pm.  Please arrive early as the gym must be in darkness for this to be effective and we will not open the doors to let people in once we have started
• Thursday, April 18th – the Grade 7 class will be presenting a reenactment of The Last Supper starting at 9:00am

Walkathon 2019:  Friday, April 26th – ONLY 2 WEEKS AWAY!  

The WALKATHON is now just TWO WEEKS AWAY and we hope that everyone has their calendars marked for FRIDAY, APRIL 26TH.  It is always a fun and exciting day filled with school spirit.  There will be a free hot lunch after walking, for all students, participating families and staff.  We hope that students are busy collecting pledges to raise money for a 3D Printer, new Sports Equipment and new Science Equipment.

Every student who collects Walkathon pledges WINS A PRIZE and there are lots of exciting Walkathon prizes to be won!

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO PLEDGE FOR WALKATHON 2019:

• IN PERSON using the pledge sheet (cash or cheque accepted and tax receipts are issued for donations of $25 or more). Please click here if you need additional pledge sheets
• ONLINE through our school website by clicking here.  (Visa, Mastercard and Amex accepted online and tax receipts are issued for donations of $25 or more).  Currently we have collected $1,105 in pledges through this online platform, and we know that we can collect much, much more this way!

Bring your pledge sheets in on Tuesday, April 23rd by 8:45am for an Early Bird Prize and so we can tally up how much we have raised so far!

Let’s show our community that every little bit helps and together we can raise $25,000!