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MONTH OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
June is traditionally the month devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Catholic devotions and has existed since the early days of the church when Christians meditated on the pierced heart of Jesus. This devotion was spread by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque who had a vision of the Lord on June 16, 1675. Pope Leo XIII consecrated humanity to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on May 25,1899. This year the church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 19
th.
OUR DAILY PRAYER FOR JUNE
This month we will celebrate the virtue of
fairness, which is the ability to be open-minded and act in a just and fair way. Fairness allows us to treat others with mercy and compassion -- to feel with and act for another person. God wants us to live together as a family in creation, to share and to help each other.
Let us pray for the virtue of fairness, the desire to live by the rules of God's kingdom
every day of our lives. AMEN
FRIDAY MASS
Please join us for the Friday school Mass at 9:00 a.m. The link to the Mass can be found by clicking
http://stmichaelsparish.ca/. Hymns can be found on the school website.
At the end of Mass, we encourage your family to pray the following:
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that You are in the Blessed Sacrament.
I love You above all things, and I long for You in my soul.
Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.
As though You have already come, I embrace You and unite myself entirely to You;
never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen
SCHOOL RESTART—THANK YOU!
We thank all those families whose children attended school on Monday and Tuesday this week. With everyone’s help and cooperation, everything went extremely smoothly. Parents, you were amazing! You all followed the procedures by bringing your children on time, sending in the required health assessment “ticket” and all their supplies for the day, and picking the children up on time. Thank you for making our back to school plan work!
And we can’t say enough about our students! They followed their teacher’s instructions to a ‘T”, washed their hands, kept their distance and were very cooperative and engaged in their learning. While the teachers missed their students at home, the limited number of students in the building helped us with the gradual re-entry and enabled us to work on practices and routines which will become common place.
Families who have changed their mind and would like their children to come to school beginning on June 8
th are asked to contact their child’s teacher no later than
noon on Thursday, June 4th. Teachers will need to rearrange their classroom; therefore, advance notice must be given. The same will hold true for the weeks following.
CHANGE TO DROP OFF PROCEDURE BEGINNING MONDAY, JUNE 8TH
Beginning on Monday, June 8
th, we are going to make a change of where the students line up. We will be meeting most students closer to the school in anticipation of new routines for September.
Parents are still to arrive around 8:40 a.m. If you arrive earlier, please have your child(ren) remain in your vehicle. A reminder that the playground is not open before or after school.
New Locations
The
Kindergarten and Grade One teachers will be standing by the
Adventure Playground
The
Grade 2 and 3 students will line up by the
side door of the school. Their teachers will have placed small cones where the children are to stand to maintain their physical distance.
The
Grade 4-7 students will walk by themselves to the
upper parking lot and line up as they would for a fire drill, with cones marking the correct physical distance.
Students practiced lining up in this new way this past Tuesday, and we anticipate everything will go smoothly. Parents are reminded to remain in their vehicle or in the parking lot to wave to their children.
Holmes Street is
not to be used for Drop Off during this time.
FRIDAY, JUNE 12TH PRO D DAY
There will be no remote instruction or Zoom meetings on
Friday, June 12th as teachers will be participating in a Pro D Day. We do encourage all our families to take part in the online Mass at 9:00 a.m. that day.
Enjoy your long weekend!
ONLINE AUCTION UPDATE
We would like to thank all the families who placed a bid on the Class Ceramics we had for the Online Auction.
We were able to raise $1550 and establish a new record for our Class Projects. We would like to thank our children, the teachers and the parents who volunteered to create the beautiful ceramics - Andrea Piccolo, Chloe Kim, Claudia Bonciu, Jessie Au, Junghwa Lee, Maricel Megyessi, Teodora Nechita and our Ceramics coordinator Deborah Carion.
The highest bid went to:
Gr K – Manalo Family
Gr 1 – Basura Family
Gr 2 -
Gr 3 – Minto Family
Gr 4 – Leung Family
Gr 5 -
Gr 6 – Buzgar Family
Gr 7 – Serban Family
Thank you for your generosity! Information on payment and pick up will be provided at the beginning of next week.
For those who are still considering making a cash contribution to this year’s Auction, please kindly send a cheque payable to the St Michael’s Parish, with a note Auction 2020. Thank you!
The Auction Committee
NEAT UNIFORMS
It is time to be thinking of ordering your child’s school uniform from our supplier,
Neat Uniforms. Please check out their website
www.neatuniforms.ca to place your order. You can also phone their call centre at 604-205-7560 for inquiries or to place an order Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Or you can reach them by email at
info@neatuniforms.ca.
Neat Uniforms is also selling reusable face masks made of 100% Egyptian Cotton which come in 3 different sizes. Details are found on their website.
Please note that now is the time to take advantage of the following:
- 10% focus week rebate.
- New bundle offerings (with discounts up to 20% off) which allows for greater flexibility to meet your individual family requirements.
- Free shipping to your home.
- An extended return and exchange policy to December to give you comfort knowing you will not get stuck with the incorrect product or size.
- Neat Uniforms will provide a return exchange policy form and prepared label
- Any returned items are being quarantined for up to 2 weeks prior to being opened and processed.
If you have any questions or problems, please ask to speak with Sam, the Neat Uniforms Manager.
ODYSSEY OF THE MIND Q & A WITH JOSH AND EMMA
Josh (Gr. 6) and Emma (Gr. 5) have been involved in Odyssey of the Mind since Josh was in Gr. 3. They are our resident Odyssey experts and recently participated in the Odyssey World Finals for the second year in a row. Last year they went to Michigan and this year it was a Virtual World Final due to COVID-19. Josh and Emma have been on the same team for the past 3 years. A special thanks to Mrs. Benes who has been the sponsor teacher of the Odyssey of the Mind team for several years!
Q: Why do you enjoy Odyssey of the Mind? What was your most interesting challenge?
Josh: I get to create many things such as handmade gears, a walking vehicle, a balsa structure that could hold 730 pounds, expandable wings, and a light projected membership sign. The most interesting challenge was making gears for the vehicle with a jigsaw and router.
Emma: I enjoy Odyssey because it gives me something to do and something I can be proud of. It gives me the freedom to express my creativity. The rose backdrop I made for this year’s World Finals was my most interesting challenge.
Q: How did you prepare for Worlds? What were the steps you needed to take to get there?
Josh and Emma: We needed to make new props, record our presentation, and practice spontaneous problems.
Q: How was this year’s World Finals different than the year before:
Joshua: This year Odyssey of the Mind Worlds was virtual because of the pandemic. It was very different from going to Worlds last year. I think it was better in some ways and worse in others. I think it was not as exciting as last year. Last year I enjoyed staying on campus with other teams and watching other teams compete. I enjoyed being immersed in the spirit of creativity and hard work and meeting other like-minded kids. Virtual Worlds was much more relaxed. I stayed at home. Last year we were stressed out from traveling and packing. Overall, I enjoyed last year's Worlds more.
Emma: This year after the qualifiers, I was sad that two of our team members were unable to continue. Virtual Worlds was very different from the actual Worlds. In the Virtual Worlds' long-term presentation, everything played just like it had in my mind. However, Virtual Worlds was full of surprises like how we would do the spontaneous challenge. Virtual Worlds was also different because we did not need to pack our props. In the actual Worlds, my brother and I spent over 10 hours packing and setting up the props. We also had to drag suitcases filled with all of our props around three airports! I liked last year's Worlds more because the whole experience was amazing. The first time you go there, it’s all new and amazing. Both Worlds are an adventure that I will never forget.
Q: What was your project about this year? Were there specific challenges that you encountered…how did you solve these? What are you most proud of?
Josh: We were supposed to build a balsa wood structure that could hold hundreds of pounds and do a presentation. Yes, there were specific challenges but I just pushed through. I am most proud of creating a balsa wood structure that held 730 pounds! Our overall results were decent.
Emma: We were supposed to build a balsa wood structure that could hold hundreds of pounds.
Working with half our team was a challenge. We thought about what was necessary in the performance and acted accordingly. We had limited time. Covid 19 was a challenge. We used things we could find in our house. Being the only one doing the acting was hard but I just got used to it. I am most proud of the rose backdrop.
Q: What are your fondest memories of Odyssey?
Josh: Going to worlds in Michigan last year and going to UPS (I had to ship my structure) this year. I have fond memories working with Emma.
Emma: Finally completing the balsa wood character and the rose backdrop. Going to Michigan last year. Learning that my brother will always be there for me!
Some of the comments from the World Finals judges:
- Well done for a brother and sister, 2-person team!
- Impressed with how you overcame this challenge virtually and were able to present this thoughtful solution with only 2 team members—WOW!
- Your background: WOW! Absolutely love the detail.
- Detail in the Balsa parrot was impressive…The construction was really cool! Interesting use of Balsa shavings to mimic the texture of feathers.
- You really embody the OMer spirit—excellent job!
Thought of the week….
“When I was crossing into Gaza, I was asked at the checkpost whether I was carrying any weapon.
I replied: Oh yes, my prayer books!”
St. Teresa of Calcutta
