Thunder News Flash – December 7, 2024

Please join us on December 19th for our Christmas performance!  

You are invited to the greatest birthday bash ever! This energetic children’s Christmas celebration is overflowing with colourful characters, plenty of humour, a clever story, and a clear evangelistic message: what will you do when Jesus knocks on the door of your heart? Join skeptical news anchor Rod Stark as he covers a small story with a big message. The Best Christmas Present Ever! will delight audiences of every age.

The Matinee is scheduled for 1pm on December 19.  The evening performance is scheduled for 7pm.  

We are excited to offer a special performance of the Christmas Musical this year for the Seniors of our 4 parishes and grandparents of the students in the school.  We will be offering a light lunch at 12:00, followed by a performance of our Musical at 1pm.  We are looking forward to welcoming our treasured seniors from our community to help us celebrate the Advent season.  This special lunch and performance is open to SENIORS ONLY.  Please RSVP by calling the school office at 604-852-1788 or email the office at office@stjameselementary.ca by December 9th.  No late RSVP’s will be accepted as we will be ordering the food based on the RSVP numbers.  Doors open at 11:45.   Please email the office ASAP to let us know if you plan to attend.  Thank you!  

Donations are beginning to come in for our Christmas Giving Tree this year.  Please consider donating a food item or gift card to those in need this Christmas.  All donations will gifted to Nightshift Street Ministries.   Our campaign will continue to run until December 13th.  To indicate your donation item, we will be using the same process as when parents sign up for conferences.  You will simply go online and select the item you will be purchasing.  If you want to select another item, you simply have to add another item.  Once you have purchased your item(s), your child may bring them to the school in the morning and place them in the collection bins outside of the Library, and your child will be given an ornament to place on the Christmas tree.  Any gift cards that are purchased should be brought directly to the office by your child.  The link to the electronic sign up has been shared with parents.

Donation items that we are looking for include:

• Superstore Gift Cards ($20 or more)
• Jam (large Costco size)
• Peanut Butter (large Costco size)
• Powdered Hot Chocolate (large Costco size)
• Marshmallows
• Chocolate Bars
• Individually Wrapped Candy
• Mini Chocolate Bars

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”    (Matthew 25: 35, 36 NIV)

We are once again hosting a free family skate event for our school community. This year we have booked the ARC (Abbotsford Recreation Centre) arena for Friday, December 20th from 1pm – 2:30pm. All families and siblings are welcome to join us. Please note that Helmets are required for everyone 8 and under (Bike helmets and ski helmets are permitted). Skate and helmet rentals will be available for rent by donation. The address for ARC is 2499 McMillan Rd. Please call or email the office to RSVP. What a great way to kick off the Christmas break, looking forward to seeing everyone there!

The December Work Bee will take place at the school Saturday, December 14th, from 9am-2pm.  You may want to bring gloves for outside work. It would also be greatly appreciated if you could bring any small gardening tools, particularly a rake.  Please also bring a lunch for the mid-day break.  Thank you once again for all of your hard work to keep our school well maintained and beautiful!  

All remaining Work Bee dates for this year have been uploaded to the School Calendar.