St. Mary School News P.O. Box 479 100 13 St. Ph: 354-2944 / Fax: 354-2650 Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0 Webpage: http://stmarybv.gpcsd.ca/ Email : toddabbott@gpcsd.ca Parents Please call the school when your child will be late or absent. After hours please leave a message for the secretary. And a reminder that students should not arrive at school prior to 8:17 as that is when teacher supervision begins. December 6th Feast of Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas is called "Wonder-Worker" because of the number of miracles attributed to him, particularly after his death. Like all of those who earn the name "Wonder- Worker," Saint Nicholas lived a life of great charity, and the miracles after his death reflect that. Principal s Message. Dear Parents, With report cards and parent-teacher interviews behind us, we head into the last two weeks of classes before the Christmas break. And these next few weeks will be an extremely busy time here at St. Mary School with class citizenship projects, our Christmas Concert (Dec 15th) and school Christmas dinner. (Dec 21st). In the midst of these hectic times, please bear in mind that we are also into the season of Advent the coming of the birth of Jesus. Please work with us to Welcome to Mrs. Christy Teasdale, recently hired to replace Mrs. Schmidt in our kindergarten class. We wish you the very best in your assignment here at St. Mary. And Mrs. Schmidt enjoy that beautiful bundle!!! remind our children of the true meaning of Christmas. With this in mind, please consider joining us for our Christmas Mass at 10:30 a.m. on December 21st. As always, grandparents are welcome also. Congratulations and thanks to all those taking part in another fantastic volleyball season a great year. Thanks also to those that have stepped up to put together basketball teams for our students. Good luck to all in your games ahead. From all of us here at St. Mary Catholic School, best wishes for a safe, happy and blessed Christmas followed by a prosperous New Year! T. Abbott Principal Follow us on Twitter and Facebook St-Mary- Beaverlodge CONGRATULATIONS To Ms. Slawson on being named principal of our school, effective January 1st, 2017. You re going to be great in your new role! A teacher will be hired before we break for Christmas to replace Ms. Slawson in grade one.
P A G E 2 Faith Series: Christmas Concert Our concert will be Dec. 15, with performances at 1:00 and 7:00. Please bring an item to donate for the Food Bank. In Catholic classrooms across the province, prayer tables are getting a new look. The green cloth of ordinary time is removed and replaced by the rich purple that marks the season of Advent. The tables are adorned with an Advent wreath, as well as other symbols to mark this liturgical season. They serve as a reminder of what Advent is; a time of preparation. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, in their Parent Council News Please contact Bev Dean to volunteer to help with Christmas Dinner on Dec. 21. Donations towards this dinner gladly accepted. School Council Cookbooks; we still have a number of cookbooks for sale and they ll be available for purchase next week during the concert. publication, Celebrating the Season of Advent, states, Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year. While it expresses the deep longing of all humanity for God, it celebrates the threefold coming of the Lord: remembering the events that surrounded the Lord s coming long ago, celebrating his coming among us today, and looking forward to his final coming in glory. Yet at times it can be challenging to keep our focus on the meaning of Advent. This time of year is often stressful and busy. It can be difficult to set aside time and focus on preparing ourselves for Jesus. But it is then that we should heed the words of St. Francis De Sales, every one of us needs half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy- then we need an hour. So I pray that you are able to find time each day, maybe not an hour, but some time, to quiet yourself, and spend time with our Lord. Just as the pray table is prepared, prepare yourself. Ready your hearts and minds for the celebration of Jesus birth, the good news of the incarnation, and get ready for the day when our hearts will no longer be restless, for they will rest in God. From my family to yours, I wish you a blessed Advent and Christmas Season! ~Laura Tapson Parents For Progress News Parents for Progress are planning to hold a raffle during the afternoon and evening Christmas Concert performances Dec. 15. They are also planning to hold a 50/50 draw for the evening performance. Please come out to support our future playground! If anyone would like to make a donation to the playground, there are tax receipts available through the District office; cheques can be made payable to the school.
P A G E 3 Remembrance Day Activities In their studies to develop their posters, poems and essays for the Legion contests, students learned about sacrifices made by soldiers who fought for our country. We want to thank Andy Meggitt, Jim Frissell and Michael McCoy who attended our Celebration of Remembrance on November 10th. Jim and Andy served several years as UN Peace Keepers, Jim in Europe and Andy at sea. Mrs. Trudel organized the Night in the Trenches for junior high and high school students. Eighteen students from our school volunteered to dig trenches and sleep in them overnight. Thanks to all those who helped by lending their expertise in the field, in the planning, and in providing meals and hot drinks to our participants. Without the support of our wonderful community, this event would not be possible.
Thank you to the following who have generously donated to help keep our School Snack Program going: St. Luke s Anglican Church Ginny Letendre IODE Ladies and Tracey Mecham for donating and helping with our Night in the Trenches. Thanks to the ladies of the St. Mary s Catholic Womens League who have been helping out with making sandwiches for our school snack program. PARISH NEWS St. Mary s Parish Christmas Schedule ST. MARY S ADVENT RECONCILIATION SERVICE Tuesday, December 20 th 7:00 pm at St. Mary s Church CHRISTMAS EVE Saturday, December 24 th Mass at 5:00pm in Rio Grande Mass at 7:30pm in Beaverlodge Mass at 11:00pm in Hythe CHRISTMAS DAY Sunday, December 25th Mass at 11:00am in Beaverlodge NEW YEAR S EVE Saturday, December 31st Mass at 7:30pm in Beaverlodge NEW YEARS DAY, SOLEMNITY OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD Sunday, January 1st Mass at 11:00am in Beaverlodge The inter-denominational Service of the Nine Lessons Sunday, December 4th at 7:00 pm is being hosted at Beaverlodge Alliance Church. All are welcome to join them for an evening of Christmas Carols, hymns and readings. Snacks to follow.. Altar Servers and Ministers of Communion Training and Refreshment Training will be held on Sunday, December 11th immediately after the 11:00 mass. Anyone interested in learning to be an altar server is welcome to attend. Pizza Lunch to follow. Roman Catholic Initiation for Adults (RCIA) is available at St. Mary s Church. Contact the Church office at 780-354-2415 for more information. School Mass Come Join our school in celebration of Mass this December 21st, 10:30 am St. Mary s Church.
P A G E 5 December 2016 St. Mary Catholic School, Beaverlodge Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 2nd Sunday of Advent 5 Dismissal 2:45 6 School Council Meeting 7pm 7 Hot Dog Sale 8 9 Pajama Day Dismissal 1:15 ECS Friday 10 11 3rd Sunday of Advent 12 13 14 Subway Sale 15 ECS Day Christmas Concert 1:00 & 7:00 16 17 18 4th Sunday of Advent 19 20 21 School Mass 10:30 Christmas Dinner 11:30 22 Christmas Sweater Day 23 No School 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 No School Christmas Vacation; School Resumes Jan. 9 Beaverlodge TGP Receipts Keep collecting and bringing in your receipts that total over $25 (not counting tax or tobacco). The Beaverlodge TGP store generously gives us a 3% rebate cheque; so it really adds up. Toy Wagon Needed We are looking for a Little Tykes or Radio Flyer wagon if anyone has one they don t use any more. It is needed to help transport a small student who is unable to walk to the playground.
Traffic Safety P A G E 6 Handicapped Parking Spaces Please do not park in either of the two designated handicapped parking spaces as they need to be available at all times to those with the Wheelchair symbol in their window. We have a child that uses a wheelchair and her family needs access to a spot as they transport her to and from school. Tickets may be issued to anyone inappropriately parking in those spaces. It should be common sense to proceed very carefully on to school property during drop-off in the morning and pick-up in the evening. Please be extremely cautious when on school property and remember, the bus loop is for buses only. Town police and the RCMP have been asked to keep an eye on vehicles rolling through the 3-way stop in front of the school. Book Fair Was a Huge Success Thanks to all who came out and supported our Book Fair. We had record sales, which means Lots of new books for the Learning Commons.
Original artwork by our very own Sara MacIntyre Lost and Found Please check the Lost and Found box in the gym entrance on a regular basis, and especially just before the Christmas break.
P. O. B O X 4 7 9 1 0 0 13 P A G E 9 NOT TOO LATE TO ORDER SCHOOL PHOTOS FOR CHRISTMAS Dear Parents, As Christmas quickly approaches, many of you may have forgotten to order your child s school portraits. It s not too late to order for Christmas delivery! If you have your proof sheets just go to mylifetouch.ca to order your portraits and take advantage of our wide variety of backgrounds and product offerings. If you lost your proof sheet, please call 1-800-473-5090 and one of our customer service professionals will help you with the ordering process. All orders received by December 7 th will be delivered in time for Christmas. Thank you and Merry Christmas from Lifetouch!
December Beaverlodge Public Library Programming and Events Calendar Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 Christmas Day 4:15-5:45 Mad Science S 2.0 Hot Ch0colate and Cookie Socials All Day 12-4 Good Puppy! Hot Ch0colate and Cookie Socials All Day 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10:30 Teddy Tuesday 11:30 3:30 Open Prgm 3:30 5:00 Lego Club 3:30 4:30 Harry Potter 4:30 5:30 Art Tastic! 6-8 Fabric Arts 4:15-5:45 Mad Science S 1.0 LOUD! AT THE LIBRARY 1pm Matinee Double Feature!! The Grinch And Elf Hot Ch0colate and Cookie Socials All Day 12-4 Good Puppy! Hot Ch0colate and Cookie Socials All Day 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 10:30 Teddy Tuesday 11:30 3:30 Open Prgm 3:30 5:00 Lego Club 3:30 4:30 Harry Potter 4:30 5:30 Art Tastic! 6-8 Fabric Arts 4:15-5:45 Mad Science S 2.0 Hot Ch0colate and Cookie Socials All Day 2pm- Sharing Social LOUD! AT THE LIBRARY 7-9 Movie Night National Lampoon s Christmas Vacation - PG 12-4 Good Puppy! Hot Ch0colate and Cookie Socials All Day 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 10:30 Teddy Tuesday 11:30 3:30 Open Prgm 3:30 5:00 Lego Club 3:30 4:30 Harry Potter 4:30 5:30 Art Tastic! 6-8 Fabric Arts 4:15-5:45 Mad Science S 1.0 No Programming Christmas Eve! CLOSED 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Boxing Day CLOSED No Programming ART TASTIC! MASH-UP 1-5pm Bring boxes from home and make something while we watch two Christmas Classic Movies! No Programming No Programming No Programming 20