April 7, 2013
Welcome!
I would like to begin by saying a big thank you for such a warm welcome last week. I arrived last Wednesday and was greeted with many smiles and warm words of support from the community of Bishop Pinkham. As I made my way around the classes to introduce myself to the staff and students, the buzz of active learning was everywhere and it was very moving to meet the great people who have built this community.
Based on the feedback that I have heard from the staff, students and parents, I would like to continue the legacy that Mr. Scott began by documenting the weekly happenings at Bishop Pinkham. I will be updating this blog, twitter and Facebook accounts and would encourage anyone to contact me if you have any comments. I have posted the communication options at the end of this week's blog.
And now for some updates and news!
the week that was...
Recycled Art Contest
Our recycled art contest is back! Beginning last Tuesday, students will have the entire month of April to create an artwork made entirely from recycled or up cycled materials.
Grade 9 Vaccinations
Last Thursday, the remaining Grade 9 students received a final round of vaccinations. This should have been the last visit to complete the vaccinations, but if you are the parent of a Grade 9 student, it might be a good idea to ask whether your child did, in fact, complete their visit. If you have any questions please contact the office to confirm.
Welcome!
I would like to begin by saying a big thank you for such a warm welcome last week. I arrived last Wednesday and was greeted with many smiles and warm words of support from the community of Bishop Pinkham. As I made my way around the classes to introduce myself to the staff and students, the buzz of active learning was everywhere and it was very moving to meet the great people who have built this community.
Based on the feedback that I have heard from the staff, students and parents, I would like to continue the legacy that Mr. Scott began by documenting the weekly happenings at Bishop Pinkham. I will be updating this blog, twitter and Facebook accounts and would encourage anyone to contact me if you have any comments. I have posted the communication options at the end of this week's blog.
And now for some updates and news!
the week that was...
Recycled Art Contest
Our recycled art contest is back! Beginning last Tuesday, students will have the entire month of April to create an artwork made entirely from recycled or up cycled materials.
Grade 9 Vaccinations
Last Thursday, the remaining Grade 9 students received a final round of vaccinations. This should have been the last visit to complete the vaccinations, but if you are the parent of a Grade 9 student, it might be a good idea to ask whether your child did, in fact, complete their visit. If you have any questions please contact the office to confirm.
Congratulations to our BP participants!
Concurso de Deletreo
Last Thursday evening, 5 of our Grade 6 Spanish students participated in a CBE-wide spell-a-thon at Dalhousie School. Srta. K. Gilbertson proudly supported our BP students along with 25 other CBE Spanish students from Grades 4-6. It was inspiring to see our students encouraging each other so enthusiastically and I am proud to admit that Ms. Shantz and I also managed to learn a few new Spanish words as well! Congratulations to Shanelle V, Hailey S, Hana P, Jack H. and Andres S!
Last Thursday evening, 5 of our Grade 6 Spanish students participated in a CBE-wide spell-a-thon at Dalhousie School. Srta. K. Gilbertson proudly supported our BP students along with 25 other CBE Spanish students from Grades 4-6. It was inspiring to see our students encouraging each other so enthusiastically and I am proud to admit that Ms. Shantz and I also managed to learn a few new Spanish words as well! Congratulations to Shanelle V, Hailey S, Hana P, Jack H. and Andres S!
French Cafe
Paris was alive at BP last Friday morning! As a fundraiser for our students going to Québec, students and staff were treated to some delicious crêpes with strawberry coulis in our cafeteria. In case you missed this delicious treat, for $5 you will be able to partake in this fundraiser again this Friday April 12th at 9:45-10am. The money raised will go towards lunch and spending costs during the trip.
Special Visitor
On Friday afternoon, Councillor Pincott met with our Grade 6 students to discuss the roles and responsibilities of the provincial government. This is the second year that Councillor Pincott has spoken with our Grade 6s and the discussion proved to be interactive and peppered with interesting questions from our students. Thank you to our Grade 6 teacher community for organizing this event.
this week...
Québec Capers
As a fundraising opportunity for students going to Québec, students will be putting on a Variety Show at lunch in the Drama room from Monday-Thursday. Admission is $2 and free popcorn is provided. Amusez-vous bien!
Outdoor Education
From Tuesday-Thursday this week, 24 of our Grade 9 students will be participating in a 3-day winter camping trip at Mosquito Creek in Banff National Park. Students will be learning winter survival skills, including shelter building techniques while using snowshoes as their method of transport. We look forward to posting some updates and photos of the students building their outdoor shelters, stay tuned and connected to our Facebook and Twitter accounts. Thank you to Mr. D. Jordan, Mme. A. MacPhee and Mr. S. Paget for your work coordinating this trip.
Leadership Committee
Our leadership committee students will meet again on Tuesday at lunch with Ms. J. Tuttle to work on their upcoming presentation for our elementary feeder schools. Based on their experience at We Day this year, these 25 motivated students decided that they wanted to talk to kids younger than themselves about being proud of who they are. The hour long presentation will include an artistic mural activity, which will address issues like confidence, self image, individuality and bullying. We are very much looking forward to the results and will update you when we have a date for our Grade 6 presentation.
BP Language Fair
On Thursday and Friday this week, Bishop Pinkham students will be participating the first official BP Language Fair. Our Languages Learning Leaders, Mme. S. Abboud and Srta. K. Gilbertson, have organized this 2-day initiative so that students can have an opportunity to focus on their target language. Teachers have organized themselves in pairs and will offer students a variety of project-based activities that will combine multiple subjects and languages . We are looking forward to share some of the results with our community and will also be displaying examples of some of the projects in our Learning Commons.
Québec Student Meeting
On Friday April 12, there will be a Québec student meeting in the Learning Commons from 8:30-10:00am. Please see Mme. S. Abboud if you have any questions.
Track Season
It is hard to believe with the latest snowfall but the track season has begun. Although outdoor practices were cancelled on Monday, the track season has officially begun. Practices will run at lunchtime, with the exception of high jump, and students in Grades 6-9 are encouraged to participate and try out for as many teams as possible. The track meet will be held on May 8th. Go Panthers!
a little further ahead...
Student Heath - Wellness Day
Our Health Initiatives Learning Leader, Mr. D. Jordan, is coordinating a half-day student health and wellness day on April 23, in conjunction with the outstanding Grade 9 PARTY [Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth] program. Teachers are working in grade teams to build a program for all our students that will focus on a targeted adolescent physical or emotional health issue most relevant to each age group. I would like to acknowledge the considerable support of our School Nurse, Ms S. Ewaskiw.
Paris was alive at BP last Friday morning! As a fundraiser for our students going to Québec, students and staff were treated to some delicious crêpes with strawberry coulis in our cafeteria. In case you missed this delicious treat, for $5 you will be able to partake in this fundraiser again this Friday April 12th at 9:45-10am. The money raised will go towards lunch and spending costs during the trip.
Special Visitor
On Friday afternoon, Councillor Pincott met with our Grade 6 students to discuss the roles and responsibilities of the provincial government. This is the second year that Councillor Pincott has spoken with our Grade 6s and the discussion proved to be interactive and peppered with interesting questions from our students. Thank you to our Grade 6 teacher community for organizing this event.
this week...
Québec Capers
As a fundraising opportunity for students going to Québec, students will be putting on a Variety Show at lunch in the Drama room from Monday-Thursday. Admission is $2 and free popcorn is provided. Amusez-vous bien!
Outdoor Education
From Tuesday-Thursday this week, 24 of our Grade 9 students will be participating in a 3-day winter camping trip at Mosquito Creek in Banff National Park. Students will be learning winter survival skills, including shelter building techniques while using snowshoes as their method of transport. We look forward to posting some updates and photos of the students building their outdoor shelters, stay tuned and connected to our Facebook and Twitter accounts. Thank you to Mr. D. Jordan, Mme. A. MacPhee and Mr. S. Paget for your work coordinating this trip.
Leadership Committee
Our leadership committee students will meet again on Tuesday at lunch with Ms. J. Tuttle to work on their upcoming presentation for our elementary feeder schools. Based on their experience at We Day this year, these 25 motivated students decided that they wanted to talk to kids younger than themselves about being proud of who they are. The hour long presentation will include an artistic mural activity, which will address issues like confidence, self image, individuality and bullying. We are very much looking forward to the results and will update you when we have a date for our Grade 6 presentation.
BP Language Fair
On Thursday and Friday this week, Bishop Pinkham students will be participating the first official BP Language Fair. Our Languages Learning Leaders, Mme. S. Abboud and Srta. K. Gilbertson, have organized this 2-day initiative so that students can have an opportunity to focus on their target language. Teachers have organized themselves in pairs and will offer students a variety of project-based activities that will combine multiple subjects and languages . We are looking forward to share some of the results with our community and will also be displaying examples of some of the projects in our Learning Commons.
Québec Student Meeting
On Friday April 12, there will be a Québec student meeting in the Learning Commons from 8:30-10:00am. Please see Mme. S. Abboud if you have any questions.
Track Season
It is hard to believe with the latest snowfall but the track season has begun. Although outdoor practices were cancelled on Monday, the track season has officially begun. Practices will run at lunchtime, with the exception of high jump, and students in Grades 6-9 are encouraged to participate and try out for as many teams as possible. The track meet will be held on May 8th. Go Panthers!
a little further ahead...
Student Heath - Wellness Day
Our Health Initiatives Learning Leader, Mr. D. Jordan, is coordinating a half-day student health and wellness day on April 23, in conjunction with the outstanding Grade 9 PARTY [Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth] program. Teachers are working in grade teams to build a program for all our students that will focus on a targeted adolescent physical or emotional health issue most relevant to each age group. I would like to acknowledge the considerable support of our School Nurse, Ms S. Ewaskiw.
Shave Your Lid for a Kid
This is a student initiative that has been led by the fearless Ms. J. Tuttle and the student leadership team. Students will be hosting the Shave Your Lid for a Kid event at Bishop Pinkham on April 26. This event, which will raise funds to support young people affected by cancer, has been in full swing at BP and, at the last count, students have been able to raise over $26 000.00!!!! There are over 35 participants who will have various sections of their hair shaved off at our pep rally and we would encourage parents to attend this event and celebrate this outstanding fundraising initiative.
Volunteer-a-Thon
Earlier this school year, one of our parents contacted the school with an innovative fund-raising idea. This idea builds on the Think-a-Thons that many of our students were involved in during their elementary school experiences. This idea, though, is for students to commit volunteer hours and to raise money for the school by getting people to sponsor them for those hours.
This initial idea has evolved through continued work by this parent and Srta. Gilbertson. We are now making concrete plans for our first ever - THE first ever - Volunteer-a-Thon, which will be held May 4 through May 20. More information about specific volunteer opportunities will be available soon.
communication
e-mail
We are using e-mail more now to provide directly-relevant information to BP families. Most teachers use e-mail as their primary communication tool with parents. Staff e-mail addresses are found on our webpage at: staff contact list. Send a note to [email protected] with your child's name and we will make sure that your address is added to our records.
social media
We are continuing to increase our use of the school Facebook page and Twitter accounts. If you 'like' our Facebook page at bit.ly/bishoppinkhamfacebook, daily updates will find their way into your News Feed. Following @bpbulletin will provide you with daily updates, as well.
school webpage
The webpage at cbe.ab.ca/b645 will continue to contain much of the important information for parents, including calendars and bus information. We will try to keep it as updated as possible with the information it contains.
contact me
As always, I welcome your comments, questions, and concerns by e-mail at [email protected] or telephone at 403 777-7840 [2123]
Thank you - Michelle Howell, Principal
Bishop Pinkham School
This is a student initiative that has been led by the fearless Ms. J. Tuttle and the student leadership team. Students will be hosting the Shave Your Lid for a Kid event at Bishop Pinkham on April 26. This event, which will raise funds to support young people affected by cancer, has been in full swing at BP and, at the last count, students have been able to raise over $26 000.00!!!! There are over 35 participants who will have various sections of their hair shaved off at our pep rally and we would encourage parents to attend this event and celebrate this outstanding fundraising initiative.
Volunteer-a-Thon
Earlier this school year, one of our parents contacted the school with an innovative fund-raising idea. This idea builds on the Think-a-Thons that many of our students were involved in during their elementary school experiences. This idea, though, is for students to commit volunteer hours and to raise money for the school by getting people to sponsor them for those hours.
This initial idea has evolved through continued work by this parent and Srta. Gilbertson. We are now making concrete plans for our first ever - THE first ever - Volunteer-a-Thon, which will be held May 4 through May 20. More information about specific volunteer opportunities will be available soon.
communication
We are using e-mail more now to provide directly-relevant information to BP families. Most teachers use e-mail as their primary communication tool with parents. Staff e-mail addresses are found on our webpage at: staff contact list. Send a note to [email protected] with your child's name and we will make sure that your address is added to our records.
social media
We are continuing to increase our use of the school Facebook page and Twitter accounts. If you 'like' our Facebook page at bit.ly/bishoppinkhamfacebook, daily updates will find their way into your News Feed. Following @bpbulletin will provide you with daily updates, as well.
school webpage
The webpage at cbe.ab.ca/b645 will continue to contain much of the important information for parents, including calendars and bus information. We will try to keep it as updated as possible with the information it contains.
contact me
As always, I welcome your comments, questions, and concerns by e-mail at [email protected] or telephone at 403 777-7840 [2123]
Thank you - Michelle Howell, Principal
Bishop Pinkham School