Thunder News Flash – June 2, 2018

As many of you well know, our Gr. 7 students received the Sacrament of Confirmation on May 30th. I wish to thank Mrs. Dos Santos, Ms. Foster, and Mrs. Schut who worked with the Gr. 7 class in preparing them for the Sacrament of Confirmation. I also wish to thank Fr. Hien who has always gone out of his way to connect with our students. I also would like to express thanks to His Grace, Archbishop Miller, who fought traffic from Vancouver to celebrate the mass with students and the Parish prep kids.  Archbishop Miller spoke to the parents and the students about the importance of developing a relationship with Jesus. In commenting on the letters of parents and of students, Archbishop Miller pointed out that parents and teachers create the environment for an opportunity for children to encounter Christ in their life. Our Gr. 7 students are now entering into a stage of their life where they are going to have take ownership of their faith. However, may we continue to provide the environment for that gradual ownership of faith to happen by praying with our children, by attending mass, by going to confession, by setting an example of faith, and by discussing the lessons of scripture with them. Again congratulations to the students on their Confirmation!

We are pleased to announce the St. James & St. Ann’s Education Committee Members for 2018/19:

Erika Glocker, Nicola Humphreys, Chris McKinnon, Tasha Mijinke, Kellie Ouimet, Mike Rauch, Stephen Scharff and Marcus Van Noort. They will serve together with Principal, Terri Sask and Archbishop’s Representative, Fr. William Ashley.

Thank you to the outgoing EC Members: Daniel Anctil, Paul Charbonneau, Anne Keough and Claire Wilkie for their years of hard work and dedication.  Thank you also to outgoing Archbishop’s Representative, Fr. Hien and Acting-Principal, Chris van der Pauw for your leadership and commitment to our school.  May God bless you both.

Please pray for the new Education Committee along with the new Archbishop’s Representative and Principal, as they lead this wonderful school into the future.

We are pleased to announce that we will be turning our current Library space into a Learning Commons which will contain the Library as well as a Makerspace.  A Makerspace is a place where students can come to design, explore and create projects with simple tools and materials, all under the supervision of an adult.  In order to get our Makerspace off the ground we need a variety of supplies and tools, and we are hoping you can help with this.

As most families do, you probably have a variety of extra school supplies or craft items laying around your house, and you are wondering what to do with them.  Well, we are in need of new or gently used items such as:

• Student scissors
• Glue sticks
• Pencil crayons, crayons or markers
• Rulers
• Pencils and sharpeners
• Chalk and erasers
• Dry erase markers
• Pipe cleaners, googly eyes, beads, buttons, straws, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, stickers, cotton swabs, yarn, felt pieces, pom-poms, ribbon, etc.

With Father’s Day coming, maybe dad is getting some new tools or simply needs to sort through the tools he has.  We are in need of the following tools that are gently used and still in good working order:

• Cordless drill (ex. Ryobi 18V)
• Drill bit set (1/8” to 3/8”)
• Measuring tapes
• Screwdriver (hand) sets (Robertson, Torx, Phillips, slot)
• Driving bit set (ex. Ryobi)
• Hand saw, hack saw and keyhole saw
• Allen wrench set
• 1/4” to 3/8” combination wrench set
• Metric combination wrench set
• Hammers
• Pliers
• Crescent wrench
• Vise (ex. Stanley portable quick vise)

If you are able to help with any of these donations we are very grateful.  Please bring your donations to the school starting on June 12th.  If you would like more information about our plans, or would like to help in other ways, please email Mrs. Sask at tsask@stjameselementary.ca.  

Dear Parents,

There is a weekly Catholic podcast that is a doing a 3 week book study starting Monday, June 4th on “Gaudete Et Exsultate – On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World” by Pope Francis. We would like to invite you to join in by getting the document free online at the vatican website, by purchasing it through Holy Family Catholic book store, or by ordering it on Amazon.ca

Our Lost and Found is overflowing with clothes, shoes, and other items again. Please have a look through the Lost and Found as we will be sending the items off to charity as of June 15th. Thank you.

Alex and Dana McCune of Sts. Joachim & Ann, along with Fr. Donnelly of St. Joseph’s (Langley) are putting on their first Catholic summer camp in July! 

The camp will be held at St. Catherine’s Elementary in Langley from July 9-13, and we would love to have your help in reaching your students. We are geared towards ages 7-15 and have planned a week full of fun activities that celebrate our faith and life in Christ.

Please click here for more information.