MARCH 2017 Lenten Prayer Father, Through our observances of Lent, Help us to understand the meaning of Your Son s death and resurrection, and Teach us to reflect it in our lives. Change our selfishness into self-giving. Help us to embrace the world you have given us That we may transform the darkness of its pain Into the life and joy of Easter. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen Table of Contents ADMINISTRATORS MESSAGE... 2 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATIONS... 2 STAFF CHANGES... 2 HOME READING PROGRAM... 2 PROGRESS REPORTS AND DEMONSTRATION OF LEARNING... 3 DISMISSAL FOR SPRING/EASTER BREAK... 3 Solidarity Lunch - Wednesday, March 22 nd... 3 Bake Sale Social Justice Club... 4 WISEST Conference - February 21 st... 4 Terrific Kids and Fruit of the Holy Spirit Patience... 4 Pink Shirt Day February 22 nd... 5 Grade 6 Hockey Hooky and National Flag Day... 5 SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS... 6 SPELLATHON... 6 Next School Council/School Advisory Council Meetings... 7 Shrove Tuesday Pancake Lunch... 7 Hot Lunch... 7 Boston Pizza Operation Education... 7
FROM THE PARISH ST. DOMINIC SAVIO... 7 NEWS FROM THE SUPEINTENDENT AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION... 8 ADMINISTRATORS MESSAGE We have entered into the Holiest season of the Christian calendar Lent. We began our Lenten journey with our annual Ash Wednesday celebration and we will end with Easter. This is a time of preparation for the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us. May we too sacrifice by giving up something that is dear to us or by doing good deeds. Last month was a very busy one for us, and we would like to extend sincere appreciation to our parent community for your support and positive involvement in your child s learning. We wish to acknowledge the volunteer efforts of many parents who assisted with fieldtrips, hot lunch, and the Shrove Tuesday Pancake lunch. God bless you for your generous contributions of time and talent! We sincerely appreciate your continued support of our staff, the school, and our community. We look forward to meeting you at the upcoming Demonstration of Learning. (A. Scarpelli-Mannarino and D. Hatch) KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATIONS We are now accepting registrations for the French Immersion and Spanish Bilingual Kindergarten 2017-2018 school year. Registration forms are available in the school office. Please note, to be eligible, your child must be 5 years old by March 1st, 2018. Our Kindergarten Open House will be on Wednesday, March 8th at 7:00 p.m. Please tell others about our school word of mouth is our best advertiser! STAFF CHANGES We would like to officially welcome Mlle Victoria Roduta to our staff. She will be teaching class 4A and has been with us since March 1, working alongside Mme Lorraine Murray. We will be bidding farewell (again) to Mme Murray and would like to thank her for helping us while we were waiting for Mlle Roduta to finish her contract at Ecole Holy Cross. HOME READING PROGRAM The Home Reading Committee would like to say huge congratulations to our two winners as the Kings of the Jungle for Term Two: Class 1A and 5A read the most minutes per student from December to March. They will be treated to a class party on Thursday, March 23rd in order to celebrate their reading accomplishments!
PROGRESS REPORTS AND DEMONSTRATION OF LEARNING Report Cards will be available on PowerSchool for grades 1 6 on Friday, March 10 th at 4pm and Demonstration of Learning will take place on the afternoon and evening of Thursday, March 16. Please plan to come and celebrate the success of your children during these times: 1:00 4:00 pm and 5:00 8:00 pm. Student success is definitely enhanced with a good relationship between home and school. Your child s classroom teacher may contact you with an email or letter stating how they want to organize the Demonstration of Learning. If they do not contact you in this regard, please feel free to come any time within the aforementioned hours. DISMISSAL FOR SPRING/EASTER BREAK Thursday, March 23 rd will be a FULL day of school. We will move the HALF day to Friday, March 24 th and we will dismiss the students at 12 noon for Spring Break. Classes will resume on Monday, April 3 rd, 2017. We wish you all a restful break. Solidarity Lunch - Wednesday, March 22 nd On Wednesday, March 22nd, the Grade 6 Social Justice Club is looking forward to hosting our Solidarity Lunch from 11:30am until 12:15pm in the school gym. Our Solidarity Lunch is a yearly Lenten tradition where our whole school community gathers together to share a simple meal. Students and staff will be served a bun, slice of cheese and an orange. Everyone is encouraged to please bring a water bottle. The Social Justice Club is asking, if possible, that each student brings a loonie or a toonie as a donation. This year, the students have chosen the Stollery Children s Hospital as the recipient of these donations. We are very blessed to have Tannis Peterkin, Youth Philanthropy Coordinator, joining us on that day. She will speak to the students explaining what the hospital does with the donations and describing the different services at the hospital. She will also be celebrating Class 5A and 5C for all their efforts raising money for the Stollery with their Electronics Recycling Roundup. We are excited to thank this group of students for their wonderful fundraising efforts at the same time! We would like to thank everyone in our community who supported our Recycling Roundup by dropping off old electronics.
Bake Sale Social Justice Club The Social Justice Club would like to say a huge thank you to all the students who purchased some treats at the Bake Sale on February 17th! The students raised a total of $644 during the Bake Sale which means that we have now been able to purchase 5 animal bundles for the families in Nicaragua. Thank you to all the families who baked the treats that were sold and a huge thank you goes out to Tammy Thornton for her help setting up and running the bake sale all day long! WISEST Conference - February 21 st On Tuesday, February 21st, Mme Suzanne accompanied Julia (6A), Tessa (6A), Eleanor (6C) and Camila (6C) for a full day conference at the University of Alberta. The WISEST conference goal is to demonstrate to young girls how women can be involved in science, engineering and technology careers. After a whole group presentation with chemist Dr. L amoureux, the girls worked in a lab to extract DNA from a banana and performed a variety of tests on rocks and minerals to sort them. The final group challenge was to build a wind turbine The group came back to school with a renewed passion and greater understanding of science, engineering and technology! Terrific Kids and Fruit of the Holy Spirit Patience This month, staff will be keeping an extra eye open to witness students whom show great patience. As presented at our monthly Assembly, patience can be shown towards yourself, towards others and towards God and Jesus. As we are now in the Lenten season, we may need to demonstrate patience in order to remain true to our sacrifice, our increase in prayer and our increase in good deeds.
Pink Shirt Day February 22 nd It was so wonderful to see a sea of pink in the FLG hallways and classrooms on Wednesday, February 22nd. Students wore pink to show their support and encouragement for kindness. Each class renewed the Power of One Pledge and filled out poster boards with statements showing that We have a Voice. We are so proud of our students who try each and every day to fill their encounters with others with love and kindness. In the photo is the Pink Shirt Day homeroom challenge winning class 3A. Grade 6 Hockey Hooky and National Flag Day On Wednesday, February 15th, all the Grade 6 students went downtown to spread some Canadian and kindness cheer in the Ice District. Before the Oil Kings game at 11am, our students walked downtown and greeted pedestrians with Canadian flags, enthusiastic hellos and notes of kindness. The students excitement was well received and they were so happy with the number of smiles and thank yous that they received in return.
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS SPELLATHON As you may be aware, the School Advisory Council with the support of our school is continuously raising money for various school activities. Did you know that the SAC subsidizes fieldtrips for every student? The SAC also funds special days and projects like Shrove Tuesday Pancake Lunch last week, Winter Carnival/Día del Niño last month, as well as various other events throughout the year. Why a Spell-a-thon? A Spell-a-thon is an activity that generates funds and involves the students as well as promotes learning. Who will participate? All students at École/Escuela Father Leo Green from Kindergarten to Grade six. How will this work? Each student will receive a number of words (English/French/Spanish) for their grade level, as well as a pledge form. Students are asked to get pledges from sponsors for their participation in this activity. Children will be reminded it is important they do not go door to-door to collect pledges for their own safety. They should speak only with people that are known to your family. There are two ways that sponsors can make a pledge: * By donating a flat amount to the student. * By donating an amount per correct spelling word. This amount could be a quarter or even a dollar whatever the sponsor prefers. *Please request cheques are made out to Father Leo Green SAC. The entire school will have their spell-a-thon test in the month of April. Our Goal? We hope to raise $10,000. All the money raised will go towards various SAC activities. What can you do to help? Parent involvement is crucial to our success. Parents can help their child/children get sponsors (family, friends, neighbours, co-workers) and of course, practice for the test. Please keep in mind that since we didn t sell Little Caesars Pizza Kits in the fall, this is our only major fundraising campaign (aside from the casino) for this school year. A Spell-A-Thon Package with all the details will be sent home with each student on Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Should you have any questions regarding the Spell-a-Thon, please contact: Marina Kingsley, SAC Director at flgsac@gmail.com or 780-802-5705.
Next School Council/School Advisory Council Meetings The next meetings will be Tuesday, March 21st at 6:30 pm in the school library. All parents are welcome to attend. If you re interested in getting more involved in SAC activities and ensuring your child s school continues to be a fun place to be, we strongly encourage you to attend this SAC meeting, as we ll be doing some planning for the next school year. Shrove Tuesday Pancake Lunch Our Shrove Tuesday Pancake lunch last week was once again a fun and successful event! It is always a challenge cooking pancakes and sausage for 440 students, staff, and volunteers, but with all the amazing help that so many of you provided we did it. A big, heartfelt thank you to everyone who volunteered their time to help. The kids love this event and we could not do it without you. A special thank you to Barb Kreller for organizing this huge event! This year we were very fortunate to receive a generous donation from MLA Heather Sweet and her team. They helped contribute many of the groceries such as pancake mix, margarine, plates and juice. Given our reduction of fundraisers this year, the donation was greatly appreciated. Thank you, MLA Sweet! Hot Lunch There will not be a Hot Lunch during March due to Lent. The next Hot Lunch date is April 26. Boston Pizza Operation Education If you celebrate your spring break week off school with a family dinner night out, please remember that we re still collecting any Boston Pizza Dine-in, Take-out & Delivery receipts that you, your family & friends have purchased. The ITEMIZED bill is what they require. Receipts from ANY Edmonton area Boston Pizza location are eligible, as well as the many outlying locations. FROM THE PARISH ST. DOMINIC SAVIO Ash Wednesday is on March 1 and Masses are at 8:30 am and 7:00 pm. A reminder that Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence from eating meat. Day of Confessions Wednesday, March 8 from 9:30 12, 1-5, 6-9 pm. Confirmation Class 2 Tuesday, March 14 from 6-8 pm. First Communion Class 5 - Tuesday March 21 or Wednesday March 22 from
6-7 pm. Lenten Confessions Tuesday, March 28 at 7:00 pm Confirmation Class 3 Tuesday, April 4 from 6-8 pm. Holy Week and Easter Masses: Palm Sunday April 8 5:00 pm April 9 9:30 am and 11:30 am Holy Thursday April 13 7:00 p.m. Good Friday April 14 3:00 p.m. (Day of fast and abstinence) Holy Saturday April 15 4:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Food Baskets 9:30 p.m. Easter Vigil Easter Sunday April 16 o 9:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. Confirmation Class 4 Tuesday, April 18 from 6-8 pm. First Communion Retreat Saturday April 22 from 10:00 am 2:00 pm. First Communions April 22, 23 29, 30 and May 7 Confirmation Retreat Saturday, April 29 from 10:00 am 4:00 pm. Confirmation Saturday, May 6 @ 5:00 pm. NEWS FROM THE SUPEINTENDENT AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
March 2017 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ~John 3:16~ The Gospel of John is deeply rooted in love-the love of our God and His Son for us, our love for God and his Son, and our call to love each other. This particular verse of the Bible is one which you will often see posted simply as a scriptural reference, John 3:16, on signs at public events, sporting events, and at roadsides as an example. It is a message that Christians love to share, and even non-christians recognize the symbolism. This passage is also a perfect one for us to reflect upon as we enter this Lenten season. This is the time when we realize that God s love, manifest in the gift of his Son Jesus, leads to eternal life. These words are the ever-present message that whispers to us from the cross. The Archdiocese of Edmonton is once again celebrating a Day of Confessions. The day will be held throughout the Archdiocese on Wednesday, March 8, 2017. Visit their website to find times in your parish. http://www.caedm.ca/pastoralparishservices/divineworship/dayofconfessions-hours The Spring brings many opportunities for our students to showcase their learning in the fine arts. This month, students from across the city will share their talents in many ways. Spring Into Art, a student art exhibition, runs from March 6-19 at the U of A Enterprise Square building. Band Share Day is on March 7 at the Winspear, and Heart of Glee is on March 16 at 7pm at the Myer Horowitz Theatre. Our Council of Elders is hosting a Pipe Ceremony to welcome and honor the Spring season at St. Francis of Assisi School on March 23 at 10 am. Visit the Council of Elders section on our website to learn more about their role in sharing knowledge with our staff and students and fostering relationships between our District and the Aboriginal community. This year, we have an increased focus on building a positive mathematical culture and creating environments of numeracy within classrooms and across the school. Whether it be a continued focus on deepening basic math skills or making authentic connections between daily learning in math and the broader world around us, our students are moving forward in their journey towards in-depth mathematical literacy. At the elementary level, a guided math structure enhances the learning of all students through targeted instruction by the teacher; over 100 teachers have attended workshops in this area this year. Our secondary students are deepening their mathematical skills through an intentional focus on problem solving, critical thinking and assessment. Students are experiencing success through engagement in rich mathematical tasks such as problems of the week, an example of which can be found at this link http://cemc.uwaterloo.ca/resources/potw.php, as well as many local, national and international math contests. Numeracy week happens March 13th-17th; we are looking forward to hearing exciting stories about mathematical learning! 2
As you prepare for your Lenten journey, I would like to share some words from Pope Francis. He reminds us that serving others can be as basic as acknowledging their sacred human dignity Lent is a favorable season for opening the doors to all those in need and recognizing in them the face of Christ. Each of us meets people like this every day. Each life that we encounter is a gift deserving acceptance, respect and love. (Message of the Holy Father Pope Francis for Lent 2017, 07/02/17) Have a wonderful month! Sincerely, Joan Carr Superintendent
Our Lenten Journey The season of Lent this year onbegins March 1, Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time to Create Ourselves Anew. It is a season for praying, fasting, and almsgiving to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christ's Resurrection at Easter and for our own Redemption. Often, we are asked, why do we need a special time of year to concentrate on these things... shouldn t we always be creating ourselves anew? Of course, we should always work towards being the best person we are called to be. The Church recognizes, however, that we are all human. We do need special times to remind us what it means to be a person of faith, a follower of Jesus. Lent is one of these special times. We often focus on fasting and almsgiving during Lent and sometimes forget about praying. There are many tools that the Church has given us to help us pray, including form prayers like the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, and other practices like Lectio divina, Visio divina, and Ignatian Contemplation. Another form of prayer that is, perhaps, lesser known is the Examen, which was originally developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola. This form of prayer, although it was originally prayed primarily by the followers of Ignatius, known as Jesuits ( Pope Francis is a Jesuit), it is certainly accessible to all of us. The prayer card to the right sums up the practice very nicely. The Examen is a contemplative form of prayer that allows us to take time out of our busy day to spend with God. The Examen is a prayer that helps us to seek the presence and the movement of God in the events of life as it is lived. The first time we do it, we may find that it goes kind of fast, maybe only 5 minutes. As we continue praying this way, however, we will find that the time passes quickly and we may end up spending 15 to 20 minutes or even half an hour. It is a wonderful way for us to look at our lives through the loving eyes of our God. During Lent, we are encouraged to pray, to fast, and to give of ourselves. This year, let s make sure that we remember to spend some quality time with God in prayer, maybe using the Ignatian Examen. God bless, Ed Jean Secondary Religious Education Consultant
March 2017 Kathleen Nguyen, Elementary Religious Education Consultant Journeying through Lent as a family Lent is the 40-day season of preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday which falls on March 1 st this year. Ashes are placed on our forehead in the shape of a cross as a sign of our humility and contrition. The ashes come from the palms that were blessed on Palm Sunday the year before. Lent is a time of purification and enlightenment. During this time, we use the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to prepare ourselves. This year, try picking one thing in each of these three areas as a family and do it intentionally. Prayer Ask your family: What is one way we can develop our relationship with Jesus through prayer this Lent? The aim of the Lenten practice of prayer is to get closer to Jesus. One way you can do this is by taking 15 minutes and listen to Jesus talk to you through the gospels. You can even get an audio version of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NRSV) and listen to it together as a family. Fasting The Church calls us to fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and on Good Friday, the first day of the Triduum. For these two days, fasting involves eating two small meals and one medium size meal that is no bigger than the two small meals combined. Abstinence means that we do not eat meat. Fasting throughout the 40 days of Lent is all about conforming our hearts to Jesus. Ask your family: What kind of fast do we need to have in our life? What is something that is keeping us from being present to each other or others? Your fast doesn t have to involve food. You might choose to fast from Netflix, Facebook, or from checking your phone constantly. Almsgiving Ask your family: How can we let God use us in this time to bless others? Almsgiving can involve giving of your time, talent, or treasure. For example, you could decide to share your time by volunteering as a family. You may wish to share your musical talents by giving the gift of music to the elderly. If you decide to give money, do it consistently throughout the season of Lent. (It is called a Lenten practice because it is meant to be intentionally done throughout the 40 days.) When you are doing one of these things, you are taking time to bless someone else. Family friendly 2017- Solidarity Calendar from Development and Peace: https://www.devp.org/en/lentcalendar-2017
AMORIS LAETITIA CHAPTER 6: SOME PASTORAL PERSPECTIVES A partner is defined as a person who takes part in an undertaking with another or others. Between the people of Faith and the Church, we make for excellent partners on a journey that leads us through life and to God. An exceptionally important part of this journey is that of marriage. To every person, marriage is an exciting mystery filled with potential which requires our best effort to understand and responsibility to develop: truly it engages us all. Pope Francis Amoris Laetitia speaks to how the partnership of marriage involves a role and responsibility of man and woman to become a committed couple. It recognizes how a couple shares something with one another which they will not and could not share with any other person on this earth: it is a love unique between them and from any other form of human relationship to be found. This is so because God designed it to be so; God created us to connect with another and we sense this within our very selves. The first experience of this bond of love is within our families. It begins and is felt in child to parent, it is seen between mother and father, and it is developed in families to our communities. Indeed, the qualities and intention of a strong marriage are its own reward; we follow this by the example of those who live it well and the way in which they inspire others to live and give to the same. Within any new relationship there is always excitement and challenge. As education prepares us for our future, so a quality formation in marriage will assist in preparing couples for a life lived between two and among the wider community. A couple does not know what they may encounter together; but they desire to be prepared, both to overcome challenges and delight all the more in the joys which will surely occur. The Church stands ready and willing and is eager to offer pastoral assistance through this time of early growth. Sound preparation and mature formation will become the foundation to their success. And, the simple ways can often be the surest of ways to achieving this success: intimate time together, communication in community, and speaking with God. Over time, and as this couple matures, they will then be able to give back in witness and wisdom perhaps to children and hopefully to younger couples who explore and learn this for themselves. In so doing, each person of every family will pass on the tradition and values received, and so contribute to the experience and heritage for a future generation. Amoris Laetitia affirms how love is always a gift from God; like any good gift, we seek to show and share it with those around us. A married couple in love naturally share their love with those around them. The Church in general, and the Parish in particular, are places which recognize, celebrate, assist, protect and promote their relationship. In turn, the couple will receive affirmation, advice, and assistance as we would within a home. However, if a married couple no longer attends the Church or choose not to draw on their Faith which brought them to each other, it may become similar to walking a long path alone. Such a path is indeed private and a couple will have one another on which to draw support, but it eventually becomes lonely and they risk becoming lost or subject to greater difficulties without help. Furthermore, to do so would be for them to miss out on a shared experience of past and present with others, while the rest of the community misses their contribution for the present and the future. The Church continues to offer and desires to share the sacredness of the Sacrament of Marriage. Like a guide on a journey or an expert within a field, so the Church can and will be for a couple who are searching their hearts in love: it is and will always be a companion who seeks to introduce and relay God s will for them. The Church has travelled this road of life for over two thousand years and so can point out what to do, where we should be, with whom we should seek company, when we ought to arrive, and why we are capable of doing so successfully. It is through this purpose which Amoris Laetitia expresses and confirms how husband and wife are always special partners to each other, and how married couples are vital and valuable partners with the Church; together, we will then be and become the faithful partner to God - God who is and remains our pastoral partner for life and for all. ~Father Dean Dowle