Principal’s Message
Dear Families, It is hard to believe that November is already here. October was a fantastic month here at Stephen Central School. I would like to sincerely thank parents and families for your continued positive support for our school community. Thank you for your generous support of our Coastal Coffee and The Whole Pig fundraisers. Coastal Coffee and Whole Pig orders will be available on Monday November 2 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the school.
Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a silent moment of remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace. We honour those who fought for Canada in the First World War, the Second World War, and the Korean War, as well as those who have served since then.
More than 1.5 million Canadians have served our country in this way, and more than 100,000 have died. They gave their lives and their futures so that we may live in peace. Following the First World War a French woman, Madame E. Guerin, suggested to British Field-Marshall, Earl Haig that women and children in devastated areas of France could produce poppies for sale to support wounded Veterans. The first of these poppies were distributed in Canada in November of 1921, and the tradition has continued ever since. Poppies are worn as the symbol of remembrance, a reminder of the blood-red flower that still grows on the former battlefield of France and Belgium. One day every year, we pay special homage to those who died in service to their country. We remember these brave men and women for their courage and their devotion to ideals. We wear poppies, attend ceremonies, and visit memorials. For one brief moment of our life, we remember why we must work for peace every day of the year.
Donna Gregus – Principal
From the School Council Chair
Parent Council would like to thank everyone for their continued support with our fund raising event. Final numbers are still to be tallied and will be reported on in December. Please pick up your coffee or The Whole Pig products on Monday November 2, between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Please bring a cooler to keep your meat items cold. Thank you also to the new faces that continue to attend our meetings. Your support is greatly appreciated. Everyone is more than welcome to attend. Our next meeting is Monday November 16th, at 6:30 p.m. in the Library. Everyone is welcome. Please join us!!
– Paula Eagleson
Thank You to……
THE GRAND BEND ROTARY CLUB for their generous donation of $500 towards literacy materials in our school, AND for their donation of a personal dictionary for all of our grade 3 students. We will use the money to purchase classroom and home reading program material. We appreciate the support of our local Rotary Club and their commitment to education and literacy.
A Reminder
If your child is going to be late or absent, PLEASE call the school before 9:00 a.m. to notify us of their absence. If we don’t hear from you, we will call your home, cell, work or emergency contact person to verify the location of your child.
Cross Country
Congratulations to all of our cross country runners for their determined effort! The regional meet was held on October 9 at Morrison Dam and we saw some exciting finishes! The following students received a medal in their age division: Nathan W., and Sara G-S. We would also like to congratulate the “8 Year Old & Under Boys” team, the “9 Year Old Boys” team, and the “11 Year Old Boys” team for all placing in the top 3 teams for their age category. Way to go!
The district cross country meet was held on October 15 at Wildwood Conservation Area. We took 24 runners to this event – more than double from last year. Some races had over 100 runners. Congratulation to Michael K. who received a 3rd place medal at his age division that day!
The coaches, Mrs. Peck, Ms. Rowell and Ms. Reed, would like to thank all athletes for representing our school so well, and our student helpers who were “trail guides” during our daily practices. Also a big thank you is extended to parents for their positive support at both meets and school practices.
Silver Birch
Our Silver Birch reading programs will be kicking off on November 13th in the school library. There are ten books written by Canadian authors for each of the three Silver Birch program. These books were selected by the Ontario Library Association (OLA), in each of the following programs:
- Silver Birch Express or grades 3 – 5
- Silver Birch Fiction for grades 5 – 6
- Silver Birch Nonfiction for grades 4 – 6
These programs are to encourage reading for fun. The students will have approximately five months to read at least five or more of the books in one of the three categories. Each student, who accomplishes this goal, will have the opportunity to participate in an Ontario wide vote for students. They will be choosing their favourite book near the end of April 2016 in one of these categories. All votes will be sent to the OLA in Toronto for tabulation. There is a banquet in May in Toronto to award each winning author. Students will have the opportunity to read at school in the library during one recess per week. The books are also allowed to be checked out and taken home. In order for students to participate in these reading programs, the students must consistently return their library books on time. These reading programs are voluntary. If your child signs up for one of these programs please encourage them to read, so they may obtain their goal to Vote in April!
Thank you to the Grand Bend Rotary club for their generous donation to help fund the literacy programs at our school. Once these programs are completed at the end of April 2016, the Silver Birch Books and Blue Spruce Books will become part of the Stephen Central Public School library collection for all students to check out.
Blue Spruce
Students in grades JK – 3 will be participating in the Blue Spruce Reading Program. Each participating teacher will be choosing a month between December and April to conduct this program with their class. All ten books in this program will be read to the students. Each student will then have the opportunity to vote in an Ontario wide student vote. They will choose their favourite book from the program. All votes will be sent to the Ontario Library Association in Toronto for tabulation. There is a banquet in May in Toronto to award the winning author.
Remembrance Day
We will be hosting our annual Service on November 11. The time has yet to be determined by our Legion. We will post this information on Facebook as soon as it is available. Families and friends are welcome to attend this solemn service.
Huron County Christmas Bureau
We will be supporting the Huron County Christmas Bureau. New, unwrapped gifts, for children ages newborn to 18 years old, can be brought to Ms. Wondergem at the school. The gifts will be placed under our Christmas tree until they are brought to the Christmas Bureau. Ideas for gifts are toys, pajamas, jewelry, body wash, hair accessories, books, gift cards to popular merchants (i.e. Shoppers, Canadian Tire or iTunes), socks, underwear, shampoo, cream rinse, deodorant, or waterproof mittens. The smaller gifts are needed just as much as the larger items. Your donations will be gratefully accepted at our school from November 25 – December 3, 2015.
Each child/family, who donates a gift for the Bureau, will also be given a paper ornament to decorate and place on our school’s Christmas tree.
The Snack Program
We are asking for donations for the Snack Program which would help to save our money for the food. We would appreciate the donation of paper cups (to be used for juice or snack mix), disposable bowls for cereal, plastic spoons, napkins and Ziploc bags.
Soccer
The regional Junior Soccer tournament was held in Clinton on October 15th. Eight boy’s teams and eight girl’s teams competed in the tournament and Stephen Tigers had an outstanding showing. Both the boy’s and the girl’s teams displayed exceptional team work and sportsmanship, working extremely hard as a team during each and every game. The weather was chilly but the rain held off and it was a fantastic day. Thank you to the parents who came out and cheered us on. Thank you to Mrs. Ryckman, Mrs. Beierling and Mrs. Parkinson for coaching this year’s teams.
Character Corner
The character attribute for the month of November is “Courage: Caring enough about the consequences to do what is right”.
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” ~ Mark Twain
“The best way is always through.” ~ Robert Frost
Random Act of Kindness Week at Stephen
Teach Your Children About Making Kindness a Priority on November 2 to 6 (and always)!
The message is simple: Do something nice for someone and ask nothing in return other than they do something nice for someone else. Part of the beauty of this initiative is that it doesn’t have to cost a cent.
Since 2008, Random Act of Kindness Day has brought communities together by engaging citizens in small acts of kindness and generosity.
This year we want to reach students and families in our community and help them to learn how they can make a difference in their community through kindness.
Think of it as the ultimate anti-bullying strategy…To teach our community to be kind.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
— Aesop
Talk to your children about the positive power of kindness and help us engage them in engage them in Random Act of Kindness Day/Week, November 2 to 6!
Author Visit at Stephen
We are thrilled to announce that Canadian author Michael Wade of the, “And Then It Happened” series are coming to Stephen! He will spend the afternoon of December 9 sharing his exciting journey as an author with us. A huge thank you to our parent council for helping to sponsor this wonderful opportunity for our students!
In the 2014-2015 school year, Michael had the pleasure of visiting 325 schools, making him Canada’s busiest guest author!
Students and staff alike enjoy his dynamic, humourous presentation which focuses on the power of words and the fun and importance of reading.
Some of the points included in his visit are:
The Writing Process: Michael talks about the writing process that students are taught in school (rough draft, editing, revision, final draft) and compares that to what an author does when writing a book. He shows copies of his (very) rough drafts, edited copies of his work, and the final product.
A short, fun writing activity: This short activity involving the audience demonstrates to students that anyone can be a humour writer.
Where his ideas come from: Michael tells how he gets his ideas and reveals which stories actually happened to him or someone he knows!
A new story! Michael reads a story that he is currently working on. He asks for audience feedback and suggestions, alternate endings and what the students would do if they were the main character. Some of the best suggestions come from kids!
He entertains questions throughout the presentation.
“And Then It Happened”
The book series is written as a first-person narrative, and follows the adventures of the unnamed narrator and his two best friends, Gordon and Paulo. The boys are constantly getting into trouble at school, home, and in their neighbourhood. The books are divided into chapters, with most referencing the chapter before, but most chapters can be read as self-contained stories. Every chapter contains the line “and then it happened,” which usually introduces a conflict that the boys have created and must work past.