January 2019 Newsletter O God, who by a star guided the wise men to the worship of Your Son: we pray You to lead to Yourself the wise and great of every land, that unto You every knee may bow, and every thought be brought into captivity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Message from the Administration We have just celebrated the Greatest Gift, Jesus. As we welcome 2019, let us carry this Greatest Gift into our New Year. Corinthians reminds us that Love is patience. Love is kindness. Jesus Is Love, therefore He reflects patience and kindness. In a world that needs more patience and kindness, how can we all reflect this in our lives in 2019? What can we do to reflect His image in our classrooms and in our homes? What can we do to be more patient? What can we do to show more kindness? This is the challenge I bring forward for students, staff and families during the second half of our school year. Our aim should be to help our students find ways to live a life that reflects the love of Christ Jesus, reminding them that Jesus, the Greatest Gift they received at Christmas, is a gift that will not break or get worn out. They will not get bored with Jesus like material gifts they might have received. Our hope is that each student will come to realize that Jesus wants to be their gift and that He is a gift that will last forever. As we continue our yearlong ECSD District theme Walking Together in God s Love, staff and students will focus on patience and kindness and I invite parents to talk to their children about patience and kindness as we proceed with activities and challenges for them with Random Acts of Kindness, Valentines Day, Great Lent, Easter, Welcoming Spring and finally ending our year by sending off our Grade 6 students to Junior High. Thank you to our families for your support in talking with your child about their learning, for setting up successful homework routines, for reading and for practicing their basic facts with them. A great way to set students up for success is through a strong effort and continued progress every day. As a staff, we are always working and learning to grow in our profession, to become more knowledgeable, more able to share our gifts, to teach and inspire our students to work and become lifelong learners, readers, writers and problem solvers. Blessing to you this New Year! Daryl MJ Chichak Danielle Kowalchyk Principal Assistant Principal Daryl.Chichak@ecsd.net Danielle.Kowalchyk@ecsd.net 780-463-5976 780-463-5976 5704 Millwoods Road South, NW Edmonton, AB T6L 3K9 Phone: (780) 463-5976 Fax: (780) 462-3253 www.strichard.ecsd.net
BIG NEWS OFFICE HOURS 8:00am-3:30pm Early Dismissal at 11:37am every Thursday!!!! Welcome to Our New Staff Member We would like to welcome Mrs. C. Gannon as our new Grade 6 teacher. She brings with her, a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion for teaching. She will be with us until the end of this school year. We wish Mrs. Alvarado all the best as she begins her Maternity Leave and we pray for God s blessing on her and her family. Student Absences If your son/daughter is going to be absent for any reason, please report the absence at 780-463-5976. Your call will help us know the whereabouts of our students for safety reasons. HOMEWORK FOR VACATIONS When choosing vacations during our regular scheduled school term, you are also choosing to have your child miss out on valuable instructional time. Teachers are not responsible for providing homework for those on vacation during school hours. CELL PHONES/ ELECTRONIC DEVICES If parents need to contact their children during the school day, please call the office at 780-463-5976. Cell phones should be left in the bottom of their backpack and the school assumes no responsibility for lost, damaged, or stolen devices. Students are not allowed to take pictures or video of each other on their personal device at any time. Students are not allowed to text or make phone calls from their personal devices during the school day. Paths In Our School Parents..have you ever wondered how you can acknowledge your child s feelings when he/she has made a hurtful comment to someone? We need to help our children understand that all feelings are OK, but that not all behaviours are OK. Feeling frustrated is natural to feel, but name calling or throwing something at a sibling or friend is not OK. Your child may say something like this.. You re stupid. Now we have to do this all over again. You can help your child to express his feelings in a more appropriate way such as Tommy, you sound really frustrated. It s OK to feel upset with your brother, but it is not OK to call him names. As a parent, you may ask the sibling how that makes him feel when he/she is called names, then give your child better ways to express anger in less hurtful terms. Yellow Bus Cancellations The following radio stations will carry announcements with respect to transportation cancellations due to inclement weather conditions. RADIO STATIONS 630 CHED AM 930 The Light CJCA CBC CISN FM 103.9 SHINE 105.9 FM CHFA (CBC Fr.) THE CHUCK FM 92.5 TSN 1260 CFCW 840 INEWS 880 AM 95.7 CRUZ FM CAPITAL FM 96.3 Kiss FM 91.7 The Bear 100.3 FM K97 97.3 UP! 99.3 FM SONIC 102.9 FM 102.3 NOW! Radio HOT 107 FM 104.9 VIRGIN Radio FM TV STATIONS CITYTV CTV Edmonton GLOBAL Edmonton CBC TV Every effort will be made to have messages broadcast commencing no later than 6:30 a.m. Follow St. Richard Elementary School on Facebook!!!!!!
SAC News & Activities Thanks To Students at Oscar Romero High School The Kinders welcomed Gr. 11 s and 12 s from Blessed Oscar Romero School. Together they learned about the E in STEM - Engineering Design Process. The kinders designed their Monsters and with the help of the wonderful high school students, they brought their designs to life. A big thank you to Oscar Romero teacher, Mrs. Killey and to our own Mrs. Steinkey for organizing this partnership activity and we look forward to next time! STEM Recycling Items We are looking for household items that would end up in the garbage, please send in clean washed containers Milk cartons, milk jugs, cardboard, pop bottle and lids of all sizes, paper towel rolls, small boxes, thread, yarn, wire, wood, cans if we can make something with it, send it to the school please! Grand Friend Activities at Sakaw Terrace We are blessed to have a new seniors facility across the street where we can share our joy and love for our community. Some of the activities we will be involved with our Grand friends this January include: Date Grade Activity January 18 th @ 1:45 1A Birthday Party January 23 rd @ 1:30 1B Reading with Grand Friends School Council Meeting Our School Council (SAC) meeting will be held on Monday, January 14th at 6:30pm in our library; we invite all parents as we continue to work together to build our school community. Thanks To Our Santa Breakfast Volunteers Thank you so much for your support with the Santa Breakfast. It was greatly appreciated. We are still looking for STEM Volunteers Fridays are our stem afternoons, if you would like to volunteer any time, please call the school. We are also looking for any parents who are interested in sharing their talents during our stem activities. (i.e. engineers, technology specialists, nurses, etc...) Healthy Drinks and Food at School Please help us promote healthy drinking and eating at school. Please only send water or juice in lunches We have noticed pop in our recycle bins, and have expressed to the classes that pop is not a drink of choice at school! Skiing for Grades 4-6 Wednesday, January 9th ATTENDANCE & LATES Punctuality and regular attendance at school are important factors in the education of young people. As parents, you have a responsibility to ensure that your child arrives at school on time. When late, your child misses vital instruction, and is also disruptive to the class. Break the Rules Day!! Friday January 25 Details to follow in the next couple of weeks.
Build Your Number Sense Number Sense: the most important mathematical concept in 21st Century K-12 education How does number sense begin? Young children are naturally curious and develop a variety of mathematical ideas before they enter Kindergarten. Children make sense of their environment through observations and interactions at home, in daycares, in preschools and in the community. Mathematics learning is embedded in everyday activities, such as playing, reading, beading, baking, storytelling and helping around the home. Activities can contribute to the development of number and spatial sense in children. Curiosity about mathematics is fostered when children are engaged in, and talking about, such activities as comparing quantities, searching for patterns, sorting objects, ordering objects, creating designs and building with blocks. Positive early experiences in mathematics are as critical to child development as are early literacy experiences. Home is a great place to start. Have early math conversations with children. How many spoons? Which is more? How do you know? What s one more? Two more? One less? Two less? How many steps to the door? How long do you think the drive will take? Talk, talk, talk! These experiences bring math into the lives of children early on. Students approach school with a growing sense of number, and parents and others can build on this. Once children begin their mathematics in school, a variety of mathematical experiences help develop a more formal sense of number. These experiences include, but are certainly not limited to, working with place value, composing and decomposing numbers, understanding how addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division work, acquiring basic facts, and developing fluency with whole-number operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Mental mathematics is a combination of cognitive strategies that enhance flexible thinking and number sense. It is calculating mentally without the use of external memory aids. Mental mathematics enables students to determine answers without paper and pencil. It improves computational fluency by developing efficiency, accuracy and flexibility. Even more important than performing computational procedures or using calculators, students need greater facility with estimation and mental math than ever before (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, May 2005). Students proficient with mental mathematics become liberated from calculator dependence, build confidence in doing mathematics, become more flexible thinkers and are more able to use multiple approaches to problem solving (Rubenstein, 2001, p. 442). Mental mathematics provides the cornerstone for all estimation processes, offering a variety of alternative algorithms and nonstandard techniques for finding answers (Hope, 1988, p. v). Estimation is used for determining approximate values or quantities or for determining the reasonableness of calculated values. It often uses benchmarks or referents. Students need to know when to estimate, how to estimate and what strategy to use. Estimation assists individuals in making mathematical judgements and in developing useful, efficient strategies for dealing with situations in daily life. In this newsletter and newsletters to come, I will highlight ways to help your children. To help your children, practice their basic facts with them every night. Play math games with them. By now, students in Grade 4 and up should know how to multiply and divide and know their times tables by heart. If they don t, practice them every night. All families should play games like the following: Flip Up Objective: Be the player with the most cards at the end. 1. Using only the 1-9 cards from a deck of cards, deal all of the cards equally between two players. 2. Each player flips over a card from their pile and both players find the sum of the cards and call out the correct answer. The player with the first correct answer gets both cards. If the players calls out the wrong answer, the other player gets the cards. 3. Players continue until all of the cards have been flipped. 4. The winner is the player with the most cards. Pig Objective: First one to add to 100 wins! You will need two dice to play this game. 1. Player 1 rolls the dice and then calculates the sum. The player can decide to roll again or stop and take these points. 2. If a player rolls a 1 on any dice, their turn is over and they lose their points for the turn. 3. Snake eye (double 1 s) mean that the player loses all of their points and starts at zero again. 4. The first person to 100 or more wins!
Build Your Number Sense Twenty-Five Objective: Be the first one to exactly 25 wins! 1. Using only the cards 1-9 from a deck of cards, deal the cards to all the players equally. Players can look at their cards to plan their strategy! 2. The first person flips over their first card and lays it on the table and says the number. 3. The second player flips over their first card and adds that number to the card already on the table. 4. The next player flips their card and adds it to the sum of the first two cards. 5. Play continues until someone has a card that will add up to more than 25. When that happens, that player must subtract his or her number, rather than add. 6. Play continues until someone gets exactly 25. Addition Memory Objective: Have the most cards in your pile at the end of the game. 1. Using only the 1-9 cards from a deck of cards, lay the cards upside down in a grid pattern. 2. Players take turns flipping over 2 cards, trying to find two that add up to 10. If they add up to 10, take the cards and have another turn. If they don t add up to 10, turn them back over and it s another player s turn. 3. Play continues until all of the cards are gone. The player with the most cards is the winner! Crazy Eights Objective: Be the first player to discard all of your cards! 1. Using only the cards 1-9 from a deck of cards, deal out seven cards to each player. 2. The rest of the cards are placed in the center face down with the top card turned over. 3. If the first card is an 8, place that card back into the pile and choose the next card. 4. The first player discards a card from their hand that matches the same suit or same number as the center card. 5. If they have neither card, they can use an eight to change the suit to any one they prefer. If they don t have an eight, they are to draw from the deck until they have a card to play. 6. The first player to get rid of all their cards in the winner. One Hundred Objective: Be the first player to reach 100 and win! 1. Each player rolls 2 dice in turn. 2. Score only when doubles are rolled. 3. The player scores the total of the two dice when doubles are rolled. 4. The first player to 100 wins! Dice-Penny Objective: Have the most pennies at the end of the game. (If you don t have pennies, use nickels) 1. Each player takes 10 pennies and puts them into a shared pile in the middle. 2. Players take turns rolling one dice. They take away one penny for each number that is rolled on the dice. 3. To pick up the last penny, the number rolled must exactly match the number left in the pile. 4. The winner has the most pennies when the pile in the middle is gone. Chicago Objective: Score the highest total by rolling dice combinations. (You need two dice to play this game) 1. Each player rolls both dice once in each round. During the first round, he or she will try to make a total of 2. If they get 2, then score 2. 2. One the second round, try to roll a total of 3. If he or she rolls a total of 3, score 3 points. 3. Each time the player rolls the target number combination for that round, they score that number (For example: on round five, if the player rolls 5, he or she will score 5 points). 4. Continue play in this way through the number 12. 5. The winner is the player with the highest score at the end of 12 rounds.
January 2019 Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. ~Isaiah 43:18-19~ The new year brings new beginnings and new opportunities. In this passage from Isaiah, the prophet is telling the people that God s great acts in their lives are so wonderful that they need not dwell in the past but look forward to their new path. Essentially, he is telling us not to focus on things of old, but to look forward with excitement to the new journey ahead. This is a great way to start 2019; move forward to positive places with enthusiasm, joy, and peace knowing that God is with you! As always, January marks the time when we start to plan for the next school year. It is a time for families to look at registering for Early Learning, Junior, or Senior High. It is extremely important for those families who have students who will need to transition to a new level or program in the upcoming school year to research their options with Edmonton Catholic Schools and to go out and visit the sites that they are interested in. Our website www.ecsd.net has a wealth of information for families. Beginning the third week of January, when you click on the Open House Information link on our homepage you will find our 2019 Guide to Schools and Open House dates. You will also find many useful tools including our School Locator and Kindergarten Calculator. Edmonton Catholic Schools has developed a new resource to support self-regulation both at home and in the classroom. Our children need the ability to self-regulate in order to be ready. Children need to be ready to attend and inhibit impulses. They need support and time to understand how to regulate so that they can build skills, learn, participate and socialize. Learn the special FOCUS Sequence that integrates research-based strategies into a single sequence of regulating activities that can be done with any age, across any environment and all in about 5 minutes! We will be hosting a Parent Night on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 from 6:30-8:00pm at St. Anthony Centre (10425-84 Avenue). To register, please visit http://bit.ly/ecsd-parent-series or email Yvonne.Casey@ecsd.net. Our annual Faith Development Day for staff will take place on Tuesday, February 5, 2019. All our schools and sites will be closed so that our staff may gather together to continue our lifelong journey of faith formation and to celebrate Eucharist together. As you contemplate all that the new year holds for you and establish your dreams and goals, I leave you with an encouragement from Pope Francis Apostolic Exhortation Rejoice and Be Glad: "The important thing is that each believer discern his or her own path, that they bring out the very best of themselves, the most personal gifts that God has placed in their hearts."(rejoice and Be Glad, 11) Have a wonderful 2019! Sincerely, Joan Carr Superintendent
Chaplain s Newsletter THEOPHANY - CHRIST'S BAPTISM - FEAST OF LIGHTS Jesus came as a "great light" to those who languished in darkness. No other word describes Christ as accurately as the word light. He comes as a light to those who sit in the darkness of despair. He lights candles of love, joy, forgiveness, peace, and meaning in the lives of people today. In the early Church, Theophany - the day of Christ's baptism - became the day on which the converts to Christianity were received into the Church through baptism. Each newly baptized person held the baptismal candle during the liturgy. Christians who had already been baptized brought their baptismal candles to church on this day to renew their baptismal vows; to renew the commitment to Christ which they had made at baptism. As a result, everyone in the congregation held a lighted candle on the feast of Theophany. The churches became the sea of lights. For this reason, this day came to be called the Feast of Lights. The baptismal candle, in the early Church, was a symbol that the one who The Baptism of our Lord, Jesus Christ was baptized had received Christ who is the Light of the world. The candle would be kept by the one baptized and then brought to Church on the anniversary of one's baptism, the feast of Theophany and for the Easter Vigil liturgy. If the person was married, the same candle was used at the wedding. If he was ordained, he would light the candle at his ordination. When the final hour of life approached, it was lit again as the soul went forth to meet the Lord. The baptismal candle was a constant reminder for the Christian to live and die by the light of Christ. The baptismal candle may be compared to the lamps used in the story of the maidens who awaited the arrival of Christ the Bridegroom in the darkness of the night. When the newly baptized person was given the lighted candle, she was urged to keep it to meet Christ at his return, like the wise maidens who kept their lamps burning for the coming of the Bridegroom. Thus the candle becomes a symbol of the perseverance of the baptized soul until Christ's return. Among the ancient Greeks the runner who had won the race was not the one who crossed the line in the shortest time, but the one who crossed it in the least time with his candle still burning. Our goal as Christians is that we may cross the line into eternity with the light of our baptismal faith still shining brightly. Christ Himself is the light. His light shines today proclaiming to all of us: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). The light that God gives us for our present darkness was expressed so well by Louise Haskins: I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way." Resources: A Byzantine Rite. Liturgical Year. Julian J. Katrij, OSBM. Basilian Fathers Publication. Detroit, 1983. http://lit.royaldoors.net/2013/12/09/january-6-2014-the-holy-theophany-of-our-lord-god-and-saviour-jesus-christ/ Christ is Baptized! In the River Jordan! Fr. Julian Bilyj District Chaplain
Signs of Holiness in Today s World REJOICE AND BE GLAD: CHAPTER 4: SIGNS OF HOLINESS IN TODAY'S WORLD In Chapter Four, Pope Francis speaks of the signs of holiness in the world. He calls them five great expressions of love for God and neighbour that he considers of particular importance in the light of certain dangers and limitations present in today's culture. [111] These five expressions of love for God and neighbour are: perseverance, patience, and meekness; joy and a sense of humor; boldness and passion; involvement in community; and constant prayer. Francis insists on the need for holiness in all parts of our lives, including online: "Christians too can be caught up in networks of verbal violence through the internet and the various forums of digital communication." "Even in Catholic media," he says, "limits can be overstepped, defamation and slander can become commonplace, and all ethical standards and respect for the good name of others can be abandoned."[115] One sign of holiness, Francis says, is "joy and a sense of humor." "This is not the joy held out by today s individualistic and consumerist culture. Consumerism only bloats the heart. It can offer occasional and passing pleasures, but not joy." Pope Francis speaks here "of a joy lived in communion, which shares and is shared, since 'there is more happiness in giving than in receiving' (Acts 20:35) and 'God loves a cheerful giver' (2 Cor 9:7)."[128] Another sign of holiness consists in "boldness and passion," in an "impulse to evangelize and to leave a mark in this world" and in not allowing oneself to be paralyzed by fear. He told believers that "God impels us constantly to set out anew, to pass beyond what is familiar, to the fringes and beyond. He takes us to where humanity is most wounded...god is not afraid! He is fearless! He is always greater than our plans and schemes. Unafraid of the fringes, he himself became a fringe. So, if we dare to go to the fringes, we will find him there; indeed, he is already there."[135] "When we live apart from others, it is very difficult to fight against concupiscence, the snares and temptations of the devil and the selfishness of the world. Bombarded as we are by so many enticements, we can grow too isolated, lose our sense of reality and inner clarity, and easily succumb." Francis writes, "a community that cherishes the little details of love, whose members care for one another and create an open and evangelizing environment, is a place where the risen Lord is present, sanctifying it in accordance with the Father s plan."[145] "Contrary to the growing consumerist individualism that tends to isolate us in a quest for well-being apart from others, our path to holiness can only make us identify all the more with Jesus prayer 'that all may be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you' "(Jn 17:21). [146] The final sign of holiness is "constant prayer," the pope writes, describing holiness as "a habitual openness to the transcendent, expressed in prayer and adoration." Francis says, "I do not believe in holiness without prayer, even though that prayer need not be lengthy or involve intense emotions."[147] "If we realize that God exists, we cannot help but worship him, at times in quiet wonder, and praise him in festive song. We thus share in the experience of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, who said: 'As soon as I believed that there was a God, I understood that I could do nothing other than to live for him'."[155] Pope Francis tells us that "meeting Jesus in the Scriptures leads us to the Eucharist, where the written word attains its greatest efficacy, for there the living Word is truly present. In the Eucharist, the one true God receives the greatest worship the world can give him, for it is Christ himself who is offered. When we receive him in Holy Communion, we renew our covenant with him and allow him to carry out ever more fully his work of transforming our lives."[157] Fr. Julian Bilyj District Chaplain
January 2019 MON TUE WED THU FRI 7 First Day Back after Break 8 9 Grade 4, 5, 6 Skiing @ Snow Valley 10 Wear Orange & Blue Grade 3s @ Oilers Game 11 Canadian Test of Basic Skills for Grade Six Students 14 15 16 17 18 Grade 1A with Grand Friends at Sakaw Terrace 1:45 PM 21 22 23 Grade 1A Reading with Grand Friends at Sakaw Terrace 1:30 PM 24 25 Break a Rule Friday (Watch for Details) 28 29 30 31 Immunizations in the morning