December 2012 Newsletter

General Lake Public School

December 2012

www.generallakenews.blogspot.com

IMPORTANT DATES

December 14 Holiday Concert Time: 12:10

December 18 Holiday Sing-a-long 2:40

                      Red and Green Spirit Day

December 19 Holiday Sing-a-long 2:40

                      Pyjama Day Spirit Day

December 20 Nov/Dec Assembly Time:  1:00

                    Dress as your favourite holiday character December 21 Last day before Holidays

                          Happy & Safe Holidays

January 7, 2013 First day of classes

January 16 School Council Meeting (Tentative)

January 27 Family Literacy Day

January 29 Grade 8 Graduation Portraits

Excellence in Teaching and Learning

General Lake Public School students can be very proud of their effort in the first leg of their educational journey for the academic year 2012-13 Parent-Teacher interviews occurred on Friday, November 16. We would like to thank you for taking the time to meet with your child’s teacher. Progress reports went home on Friday November 13^th. It would be greatly appreciated if you would return the bottom portion of the second page of the report card as soon as possible. This portion will be stapled to a duplicate copy of the progress report and placed in your child’s Ontario Student Record file. 

Safe, Respectful, Responsible and Caring Environment

Just a reminder, as we have many celebrations in our school at this time of the year, that we are a peanut reduced facility.  Please inspect all items coming into the school to ensure they are peanut-free.

WE Day Montreal

Students attended WE Day in Montreal on Nov 20, 2012. Students were inspired and entertained by Shawn Desman, Spencer West, Liz Murray, Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire, Waneek Horn Miller, Craig and Marc Keilburger and many more. General Lake students who attended this event were Wyatt Shamess, MacKenzie Holt, Braeden Leer, Conner Chalmers-Wein, Liam Jobe, Gabrielle McKenna, Fiona MacPherson, Leslie Wilkinson, Kendra Curtis, Skylar Reed and Stacy Rannou, Kimberley Jones and Kaitlyn Hambleton. General Lake is hoping to earn tickets to the National WE Day in Ottawa this Spring.  We are the change!

 

Our Habit of Mind for December is

Cooperation

“WE Day”    Waneek Horn Miller

 Speaks to Our School

Students in Grades 5-8 from General Lake Public School welcomed ‘WE Day’ speaker Waneek Horn Miller to our school on November 29, 2012 to speak about indigenous peoples and the Free The Children ‘We Stand Together’ Initiative beginning in March. The initiative is designed to bring awareness to the First Nations People.  Waneek, who is a member of the Kahnawake Mohawk tribe, is an Olympic athlete and a regular speaker at Free the Children’s  WE Day.  “WE Day” is a day long motivational event complete with celebrities  and guest speakers designed to encourage youth to become involved in both local and global issues.  Students must earn their ticket to “WE Day” by taking action both locally and globally.  General Lake has been fortunate to receive tickets to both the Toronto 2011 “WE Day” and Montreal 2012 WE Day by participating in many anti-bullying initiatives; the ‘We Scare Hunger’ food drive; and the ‘Vow of Silence’ initiative designed to promote awareness for children’s rights. General Lake is planning to participate in a penny drive for water as well as the ‘We Stand Together’ initiative in the new year. 

Cans For Cancer

General Lake Public School is very proud of Grade 5 student, Maya Lavoie.  She has been collecting cans and canned tabs to help support cancer research.  She was moved to begin this initiative when her very own cousin was diagnosed with cancer last year.  Special thanks to our General Lake community for assisting Maya in this venture.  Special thanks to Jessica Parsons for all her help with this initiative.

A Wise Use Of  Resources

Operation Snowsuit

THANK YOU for your contribution to Operation Snowsuit.  It was a great success again this year. We have left the box out in the lobby, in the event that you still find snowsuits that you wish to donate. We will gladly find them a home.

FOOD DRIVE UPDATE: We Scare Hunger

Thanks to your generous support, our school donated 400 food items to the St. Joseph Food Bank during our ‘We Scare Hunger’ Food Drive.  This will go a long way in serving families in need in our community and was received with great appreciation by the volunteer staff at the food bank.

Scholastic Book fair: A Record-Breaking Book Fair!!

Thank you everyone for coming to our book fair.  We made almost $6000.00 in total sales, which means that your support has helped our school raised over $3300 worth of books for our classrooms and library!  A Special Thank You to our Parent Volunteers, whose hard work and dedication made the book fair possible:  Adele Bemister, Angela MacKay, Jennifer Gerroir, Claudia Major, Lindsay Allan, Sarah Perras, Molly Dempsey, and Karen White. Congratulations to Madison Granter who was the winner of our door prize of $25.00 in books for her class and $25.00 in books for her family.

General Lake Remembers

On November 9, staff, students and parents gathered in the gymnasium to remember those who have fallen for our freedom and who currently serve for our country so we as a nation can continue to live in peace.  The service set a solemn message as students acknowledged the importance of this day.  Students from each division participated starting with Mme Catherine’s class who performed “Why We Wear a Poppy”.  Chloe, Dominic, Paige and Alyssa from Mrs. Ferguson’s class read various Remembrance Day passages with messages of peace and loss.  Abby and Remi from Ms. Hansen and Ms. D’Abreu’s class shared the symbolic importance of the poppy with their reading “The Story of the Poppy”.  Each class then laid wreaths created earlier in the week as a slideshow of all the collected Legion posters were displayed.   Attendees then had the opportunity to listen to Master Corporal Hingley, an active member of the Canadian Military, who shared a message of peace, freedom and hope.  Mrs. Langille’s class then did a memorable rendition of “Land of the Silver Birch” commemorating the World War II efforts.  Mrs. Slepica-Stewart’s class confidently performed “The Poppy Song” followed by Mrs. Norman’s class’ global message, “Let There Be Peace on Earth”.  Mme. Lacelle and Mrs. Legault ended the performances by leading all in the Peace Pledge.  The ceremony concluded with the Last Post, 2 minutes of silence and reveille.  All students, primary to intermediate, then left in silence showing they understood the importance of participating and attending this ceremony.  Thank you to all who attended and joined us for this memorable day.  A special thanks to Master Corporal Hingley and our masters of ceremony, Erin Stacey, Kale Robbins and Kamrie Lavoie and ushers Tyler Tremblay and Connor Chalmers-Wein and our computer technician Dominic Plamondon.

School Council News

The School Council would like to thank you for your support in all the 2012 fundraising events: Open House, Hot Lunches, Moncion’s receipts, Lamontagne 2012, and finally our Gift & Craft Show held on November 16. A special thank you to all our vendors, Santa Claus and to you all for coming to our Annual Gift & Craft Show. Also thank you to our parents volunteer: Jennifer Wiertel, Stacie Godin, Rowana Brown, Adelle Bemister, Sarah Perras and Lindsay Allan for their precious assistance in making this event possible. Congratulation to our Gift & Craft Show Door Prizes Winners:  Maureen Thompson, Glenyce Boyce, Kalie Hudson, Wendy Handerson, Angela Wyntonyk, Kristen Mcveigh, Janet Campbell, Debb Mills, Jennifer Dennique, Cassandra Fuller, Genn Lamirante  Julie Laderoute, Hayden Sparkes, Robbie Tailleur, Courtney Macleod, Isabelle Plasse, Glenda Martens, and  Paula Vanhoof.  The generosity in supporting our school and community is greatly appreciated.

Please mark your calendars, come, and join us for the upcoming School Council meetings. We welcome and encourage all parents to attend. It is a great way to know what is happening at our school, meet other parents and get involved. Meetings are from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. on: December 12, 2012 - January 16, 2013 - February 13, 2013 – March 20, 2013 - April, 17 2013 – May 15, 2013 - June 12, 2013 in the school library. Hope to see you there!   Also the School Council would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful, cheerful and safe Holiday Season.   We look forward to seeing each and every one of you in January 2013.

We have a table set up in the front entrance with all the clothes and shoes that were misplaced by our students. When you come to visit our school, please take a few minutes to look through and see if you can identify your child’s clothing. If not claimed by December 21st, clothes will be donated to a local charity.  Please help us keep our Lost and Found bins empty by labelling your child’s clothing.

Volleyball Club:  A Huge Success

For November and December, General Lake students in Grade 6-8 have been fortunate enough to participate in a Volleyball club every Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  The focus of the Club has been to develop the children’s skills as well as to promote healthy active living.  Special thanks to our coach, Mrs Crouzat, for volunteering her time to provide such a valuable experience for our students.  Congratulations to all the students for their participation. 

We wish you

a very safe and Happy Holiday

And best wishes for the New Year!