Thunder News Flash – May 1-5

St. James & St. Ann’s School’s Parent Fundraising Association (PFA) will be having its first ever Pub Night on Friday, June 2nd.  It will be held at Finnegan’s Pub & Grill in Abbotsford.  Invite your family and friends for a fun-filled evening.  We hope to see you all there!

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.

First Communion will be celebrated on Sunday, May 7th at 11:00am at St. James Parish and at 2:00pm at St. Ann’s Parish.  The St. James Parish rehearsal will take place on Tuesday, May 2nd at 6:30pm in the church, while the St. Ann’s Parish rehearsal will take place on Wednesday, May 3rd at 6:30pm also in the church.  All students as well as a parent must attend these rehearsals.  We are so proud of our Grade 2 students, and a big “thank you” to Mrs. Hunger for preparing them so well.

On Wednesday, May 3rd we will be having our monthly school Mass led by our Kindergarten class, and at the same time we will be celebrating the “Crowning of Mary”.  The students are encouraged to bring flowers from their home gardens to honour Mary in this special way on May 3rd.

On Tuesday, May 16th St. James & St. Ann’s School will be hosting a Ready, Set, Learn event in the Kindergarten classroom from 1:00 – 2:20pm.  This early literacy and numeracy event is for 3 and 4 year olds, or 5 year olds who have not yet entered Kindergarten.  Come and learn how you can support your child with early literacy and numeracy skills, and help your child develop a love of letters and numbers.  You certainly won’t be disappointed!

On Tuesday, May 16th St. James & St. Ann’s School will be hosting a Ready, Set, Learn event in the Kindergarten classroom from 1:00 – 2:20pm.  This early literacy and numeracy event is for 3 and 4 year olds, or 5 year olds who have not yet entered Kindergarten.  Come and learn how you can support your child with early literacy and numeracy skills, and help your child develop a love of letters and numbers.  You certainly won’t be disappointed!

This week we will be celebrating public speaking with our Primary Speech Arts Festival on Wednesday, May 3rd starting at 12:45pm, and our Intermediate Speech Arts Festival all day on Thursday, May 4th.  These two events are for the finalists from the in-class competitions that took place last week, and perhaps are finishing up this week in the classrooms.  We will also have the opportunity to share the class poems or group poems on Wednesday, May 3rd after lunch.  We hope to see many parents in the audience!

Confirmation will be celebrated at St. James Parish this year on Wednesday, May 10th.  Please note that there will be a rehearsal on Tuesday, May 9th at St. James Parish at 6:30pm.  It is very important for all of the students as well as their sponsors to attend this rehearsal.

The WALKATHON is now just TWO WEEKS AWAY and we hope that everyone has their calendars marked for FRIDAY, MAY 12TH.  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.  Thank you to all students who remembered to bring in their pledge sheets last Friday so we could total them up and reveal the amount to students at the pep rally.

• SO FAR WE HAVE RAISED: At our final pep rally last Friday, we unveiled that so far students have raised $6,644.  This is almost $19,000 short of our goal.  Last year we raised over $25,000 with well over 80% of school families collecting pledges and raising money.  As a community, let’s do this again!
• FINAL PEP RALLY & PRIZES:  Our final Walkathon Pep Rally was held this past Friday.  Along with enthusiastic cheering and dancing, the Leadership Team showed students a variety of skits that focused on how to ask for pledges.  We also talked about the PRIZES!  Every student who raises money for the Walkathon this year receives a prize.  There are also great class prizes as well.
• BONUS EARLY BIRD PRIZES:  In keeping with the “Give Without Getting” philosophy of our school, every student who brings in their Walkathon pledge sheet and money raised on the Early Bird Day (May 9th) will have helped someone in need through NightShift Street Ministries instead of receiving an extra bonus prize.  Instead of an Early Bird bonus prize this year, students will have helped NightShift feed all those in need who come through their doors that day.
• We hope everyone is busy collecting Walkathon pledges.  If EVERY student raises just $125, we can reach our goal of $25,000 easily!
• Don’t forget that pledges can also be made through our school website or by using the Walkathon Pledge Sheet.