Thunder News Flash – February 11, 2023

Thank you for coming out to Movie Night! 

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported our school at our Winter Movie Night last night!  Everyone had a great time watching “WALL-E” 

A huge Thank You to our sponsors and donors 

Sponsors: 

North Built Construction: https://northbuiltconstruction.ca/ 

Westlynn Meats: http://westlynnmeatsandseafood.com/ 

Donors: 

Anonymous 

A big thank you also goes out to all the families who attended as well as the staff, parents and students who shared their time to help make Movie Night a success. 

Working together as a community, using our gifts of time, talent and treasure, we can reach our fundraising goal for this year.  Every dollar adds up and it all benefits the students of St. James & St. Ann’s.  Thank you for your support of our great school! 

Berryhill Frozen Blueberry Case Fundraising Orders due this Monday:  

Our current fundraiser, 10lb Cases of Frozen Bluberries, is underway.  You can buy yours for $30/10lb case. The school makes $10/case sold!  An online order form can be found here: https://forms.gle/LhNGEHTY1K7tusox6.  Direct Debit and Cheques accepted.  Cases will be ready for pick-up at 2:30pm on Thursday, March 2 at the school.  We cannot store cases that are not picked up at this time.  

Please complete yours by 3pm Monday, February 13 and help support our school!  Thank you! 

There are a number of upcoming events at the school to be aware of:

February 13-14 Candy grams for sale – 25 cents each.  Students can still send a Valentine Candy gram to a friend in the school. These will be delivered on Feb. 14.

Catholic Schools Week – February 13th – 15th – at school we will be focusing on what we love about being in a Catholic school.

Valentine’s Day & Pink Shirt / Respect Day – Tuesday, February 14th:

• this will be a dress down day for students to wear their Valentine’s Day colours (red, white, and especially pink).  As always, the clothes that students wear must be appropriate – no ripped/torn jeans, no inappropriate slogans or graphics on their clothes, no short shorts, and no spaghetti straps.  At St. James & St. Ann’s School we believe that every day is an “anti-bullying day”, so we will be focussing on being extra kind to others on this day
• if students are bringing Valentine’s Day cards to share, they must bring a card for everyone in their class – Teachers will provide their students with a class list to help with this
• while we do not encourage food treats at school, if your child does want to bring a small treat for each student they should be attached to the Valentine’s Day card.  Treats should be store bought, individually packaged, and nut-free.  Cards will be distributed and collected in a bag, and all treats will be taken home so that parents can determine if the treats are able to be eaten by their child
• the Gr. 7 students will lead a Sock Hop for the Primary & Intermediate students at recess and lunch recess on this day

Catholic Educators’ Conference – Thursday, February 16th and Friday, February 17th:

• There will be no school for students on February 16th or 17th as teachers will attend the annual Catholic Educator’s Conference

Family Day – Monday, February 20th

• No School

Shrove Tuesday – February 21st

• The school will be providing pancakes for all of the students in our school to help celebrate Shrove Tuesday
• DRESS DOWN DAY – DRESS LIKE YOUR OLDER SELF – $2 – students are encouraged to come to school dressed like an older version of themselves.  The Gr. 7’s came up with this great idea and we can’t wait to see what our staff and students will look like in the future!  Money collected will help go to replenish our outdoor play equipment such as soccer and volleyballs, etc.

Ash Wednesday – February 22nd

• Please join us for Ash Wednesday Mass at 9am

Annual General Meeting – Wednesday, March 1st

• the meeting will take place in the Gym from 6:00 – 7:00pm
• at the meeting we will give you a brief summary of this school year, and then some preliminary information about next year, including the new tuition rates for 2023-2024
• Re-Registration Packages for our current families will be handed out at the end of the meeting – parents will be emailed the information to sign up online for an appointment to bring the completed package back to the school

The next Work Bee will take place at the school today, Saturday, February 11th from 9:00am – 2:00pm.  This is a great way for parents to accumulate 5 hours towards their Parent Participation commitment.  Please also ensure that you bring gloves for both inside and outside work, as well as any small, cordless gardening tools you are able to bring.  Your work around the school, both inside and outside, is much appreciated.

Did you know that you can attend Mass at the Sacred Space at Abbotsford Hospital?  Several of our staff and school families will be attending the next two hospital Masses on February 26 and March 26 at 4:00pm. These Masses are a regular Sunday Mass celebrated at the hospital praying for those who are sick and those who care for them. Patients are brought down if they are able to leave their rooms and others who work at the hospital join us if they are available.  If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Wakely or Mrs. Dos Santos for more information.

Bottle Returns: Just a reminder that we have an account for the school at R & T Depot, 31550 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford.  Simply put your containers in a clear bag, and drop them off at R & T Depot using their “Return-It Express” service.  Go to the kiosk, punch in our school phone number (604-852-1788) and the number of bags you are returning – there is a 6 bag limit per drop off.  The machine will then print your labels, then you put one label on each bag, and place your bags into the Express Kiosk chute.  The deposit monies will then be credited to the school’s account – what a simple fundraiser for the school.  We thank you for your support.

Mabel’s Labels: Create your own Personalized Labels for everything that goes back and forth between home and school, and more!  Just think about all of the items you will soon have to put a label on – what an incredible time saver!  Click here and choose St. James & St. Ann’s School from the list.  Then shop and your labels will ship directly to you, and the shipping is FREE!  St. James & St. Ann’s School earns a percentage from all the sales.

Due to the fact that we will be at the Catholic Educator’s Conference next week, there will be no Thunder News on Feb. 19th.  We wish all of you a restful Family Day weekend with your families!