Like us on Facebook St Thomas More School. Grande Prairie Catholic School District #28. Principal s Message

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1 February 2015 Like us on Facebook St Thomas More School St Thomas More School PO BOX 2245 Fairview, AB T0H 1L0 Ph Fax Grande Prairie Catholic School District #28 Principal s Message Inside this issue: Principal Message Faith Reflection/ Kodiaks Calendar/ Ronald McDonald House Pictures 1 2 & 3 4 & 5 6 & 7 Happy February Parents!! The month of February begins with a change of semesters and new courses for our Senior High students. We continue to offer Flexible Options in Senior High to allow students to choose from a variety of courses designed around their interests. On Monday, February 2 we will welcome His Grace, Archbishop Pettipas and Mr. Carl Hetu, who will be visiting our school to talk to junior and senior high students about the Catholic Near-East Welfare Association. His Grace, will also be present for the dedication of the "Father Kindervater Learning Commons". Over the past year, our staff, particularly Mrs. Janet Stewart has transformed our traditional library into a collaborative learning space where students from multiple grades can meet, collaborate, create and work, accessing several modes of technology. This is an ongoing process and we are continuing to work to evolve this space to a Collaborative Learning Center for all students and staff. A huge thankyou to Mrs. Stewart for all her work on this transformation! On Tuesday, February 10 several students from grade 6 to 9 will attend Mighty Peace Day in Grande Prairie. This event challenges students to make better choices and that their choices CAN, WILL and DO make a difference. Basketball continues to be a huge activity in our school with 4 teams competing in league and tournaments, preparing for Zones in March. Go Kodiaks Go!!! Wednesday, February 18 is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Advent a time to be used to reflect on our beliefs and remember the sacrifices Jesus made for us. As we enter the half way point of the year, I would like to pause and consider our theme from the beginning of the year- "Show 'Em What You're Made Of". Take time to talk to your child- what are they sharing with others. We have athletes, academics, artists and advisors. Use those talents and gifts from God- He didn't gift them to us to be put in a jar on a shelf but rather to go use and share them with all those around us. Lent/ AB Health 8 & 9 Wishing you many blessings for the month of February. AB Health 10 Mrs. Paulette Goodall & Mrs. Michele Allen Parking On South Side Of School Please be courteous and cautious when parking near the elementary doors. Make room for others to park, and keep the lane way clear. Remember small people don't always watch for you, you need to be watching for them.

2 Page 2 Like us on Facebook St Thomas More School Faith Reflection Russ Snoble, Religious Education Consultant A God-sized Dream In the book of the prophet Jeremiah we read, For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11. Jeremiah s words affirm for us that God has a dream for the best version of ourselves, of doing and achieving things we may never have thought possible, esp. as a young person. The Lord calls each one of us to do infinitely more than we can even accomplish on our own. God teaches us that He will guide us. Through His word He teaches us all how we can accomplish all the things He has called us to do. Can you imagine what the kingdom of God will be like if you gave it your full participation? Think about what a difference the world would be like if you wholeheartedly pursued using all your gifts and talents. Trusting God to reveal His dream in your life and give you hope requires an extraordinary act of willpower but the payoff is out of this world. God will provide you with whatever we need but is up to you to ask first. Why not start now! Catholic Family Services Catholic Family Services provides counselling support to children and families within your school community. The School Liaison Program is a partnership between Family & Community Social Services, Grande Prairie Catholic School District and Catholic Family Services. Catholic Family Services a registered non-profit/non-denominational agency supported by donations, grants and fundraising as well as a sliding fee scale. We promote healthy families through education and support as well as provide counselling for individuals and families experiencing problems in living. We provide high quality professional counselling, educational workshops to assist in prevention rather than crisis intervention and support groups for children and families. As a true community agency we ensure that everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, has access to professional counseling. Clients pay only what they are able to. The counseling program relies heavily on private donations and fundraising events such as Spring Fling. This year's Spring Fling Event will take place Saturday evening, March 21 at the Pomeroy Hotel and Conference Center. The evening admission will include an "Art Walk", entertainment by Ron Pearson-Magician, wine, hors d'ouevres, raffles, and door prizes, live and silent auction. If you would like to purchase tickets or make a donation to support this event please call Catholic Family Services at Charitable receipts will be given for donations.. We hope that you and your friends will join us.

3 February Page 3 BRONZE Congrats to our Jr Boys basketball for earning a bronze medal from the Gord Ivey tournament. Kamryn Lund in action during one of the games at the Gord Ivey basketball tournament

4 Page 4 February 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat nd Semester Begins Bishop visits Grad Pictures Café Thomasse High School Report Cards go home Hot lunch Subway Sr High Basketball Mile Zero Jump Rope for Heart Café Thomasse Hot lunch Hot dog PD DAY- NO SCHOOL Family Day NO SCHOOL Mass 9 am Hot Lunch STM Burger Jr High Basketball Ray Waters Sr High La Crete PD DAY NO SCHOOL Café Thomasse Hot Lunch Taco in a bag Kindergarten Sr High Basketball Earle Guertin

5 Page 5 Accountability Pillar Survey As an annual check-up on the education system, the Accountability Pillar provides an opportunity for Alberta Education and school authorities to ensure that we are equipping students for success. The Accountability Pillar uses a set of 16 indicators consisting of surveys of students, parents and teachers on various aspects of quality; student outcomes such as dropout and high school completion rates; and provincial assessments of student learning. From January to the end of February, Alberta Education will be conducting the annual Accountability Pillar Survey. In January, parents of students in grades 4, 7 and 10 will receive a survey from Alberta Education. In February, students in grades 4, 7 and 10 and all teachers will be completing their surveys online at school. Our district also has a Faith component to the survey that we would like all participants to complete. Please note that Don t Know is considered a negative response numerically in the survey. Surveys need to be returned to Alberta Education directly. All surveys are anonymous and ask questions about experiences with the school. In addition to English and French, the parent survey is available in Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, Blackfoot, Cree, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Urdu. Your participation in the survey helps provide important information on the quality of education your child is receiving, so we encourage you to return your survey promptly. We use these results to create our three year Education Plan. Survey results will be available to school authorities in May 2015, and will be reported publicly as part of their 3-Year Education Plans and Annual Education Results Reports. We thank you for your time spent completing these surveys and helping us strive for continuous improvement in providing quality education at our school. Drop In Badminton Interested in Drop In Badminton? Begins Mid February. Students, adults, seniors are all welcome. For further information please contact Mike Rudakewich at To STM Students, At Ronald McDonald House Northern Alberta, we rely on the kindness of the communities in which our families live to help keep us focused on serving our mission of keeping families of sick or injured children together during times of crisis. It is with the help of your staff, students and community that we continue to deliver family centered and holistic support programs that help to bring hope and comfort to our families and help children recover faster, with their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers by their side. Thank you for supporting the 2014 White 2 Red campaign in support of RMHNA. Dale Bond Manager of Development, Grande Prairie Ronald McDonald House Northern Alberta

6 Page 6 Future Cake Boss s? Foods 10 celebrated the end of their Baking module with a Cake Boss competition. The students developed some very creative cakes! Well done. The English 20 class have some very interesting final projects for Macbeth on display in the Learning Commons right now.

7 Pagte 7 STM ROCK N HOUSE A BIG Thank-you to Cheryl Biegel from the Fairview Curling Club for continuing to help and promote the curling program at STM! You rock!!

8 FAMILY LITERACY DAY Literacy Day We celebrated Family Literacy Day with a book swap, and then the staff put on a play for the students at the Readers Theater We had lots of happy readers!

9 Gr 10 Retreat Please mark your calendars, the Gr.10s have their Religion Retreat Day at the Parish on Monday March 9 Looking for.. Do you have any of these items that you would like to donate to the Learning Commons. Legos and decks of cards and cribbage boards. Rising Star Rising star Sydney Mae performed two amazing shows on Jan.17th. Sydney is only 13 years old!! It was a fund raiser for the gr 4 Edmonton class trip in June.

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13 Total $ Please note that we have added a healthy choice on the forms to see how it goes. Please make sure your orders are in on or by the due date to ensure your child gets a lunch. You can pay with cash or cheques, all cheques made payable to STM Trust Account. Families may combine payment on one cheques but please attach all orders together with the payment Make certain to write your child's first and last names as well as grade on each order purchased SUBWAY SALE for Thursday Feb 5 Student Name: Grade: White Ham x $4.00 ea = $ Brown Pizza x $4.00 ea = $ Cold Cut Trio x $4.00 ea = $ Carrots or carrots/peas or carrot/celery x $1.00 ea = $ All Subs come with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, pickles, mustard & mayo Special Instruction: Order deadline Tuesday Feb 3 Total $ Proceeds go to the Yearbook HOT DOG SALE for Thursday Feb 12 Student Name: Grade: Hot Dogs x $2.00 ea = $ Hot Dogs w/ Cheese x $3.00 ea = $ ADD juice box & cookie x $2.00 ea = $ Carrots or carrots/peas or carrot/celery x $1.00 ea = $ Mustard and Ketchup are available Order deadline Tuesday Feb 10 Total $ Proceed go to Grade 4 Edmonton Trip STM BURGER SALE for Thursday Feb 19 Student Name: Grade: Burgers x $4.00 ea = $ Meal Deal x $6.00 ea = $ Carrots or carrots/peas or carrot/celery x $1.00 ea = $ Meal deal includes cookie and juicebox Order deadline Tuesday Feb 17 Total $ Proceeds go to STM Voyageurs TACO-IN-A-BAG SALE for Thursday Feb 26 Student Name: Grade: Taco x $6.00 ea = $ Carrots or carrots/peas or carrot/celery x $1.00 ea = $ Salsa & Sour cream are available to add on Special Instructions: All tacos come with lettuce, cheese and taco seasoned meat Order deadline Tuesday Feb 24 Total $ Proceeds go to SEVEC PIZZA SALE for Tuesday MARCH 3 Student Name: Grade: cheese x $3.00 ea = $ Hawaiian x $3.00 ea = $ pepperoni x $3.00 ea = $ Carrots or carrots/peas or carrot/celery x $1.00 ea = $ Order deadline THURSDAY FEB 26 Total $ Proceed go to the Learning Common