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GLYNN A. GREEN SCHOOL
1353 PELHAM STREET, FONTHILL, ON, L0S 1E0
905-892-3821
GAG@DSBN.ORG
Gator gab
April, 2015
Superintendent: Wes Hahn 905-641-2929 x 54111
Wes.Hahn@dsbn.org
Trustee: Dale Robinson 905-680-2427
Dale.Robinson@dsbn.org
Principal’s Message
Has Spring sprung? It’s hard to tell this year! Whether we can see the signs of spring or not, April
has arrived and the month is packed with a variety of events!
To start the month we will be celebrating the grand opening of our Learning Commons by honouring the Fox family for their generous donation as well as our other families, community agencies
and fundraisers today, Wednesday, April 1st from 2 to 5pm. Come and join us in this celebration!
(see further details on page 6).
This is also the month whereby we host our Volunteer Appreciation to acknowledge all of the family members and community helpers who help to make Glynn A Green a wonderful place to learn
and grow. The appreciation is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29th at 11:15 am and invitations
will be handed out in the near future.
Book Thursday, April 23 on your calendars for our Parent Reaching Out guest speaker, Natalia
McPhedran, who will be making her presentation on Raising Resilient Children. This is a free event
for parents and it will start at 6pm. (More details on page 3)
Read up on how Glynn A Green will be renewing our commitment to the earth during the week of
Earth day, track and field dates and an update on our School Transportation Committee on page 2.
Junior girls and boys’ basketball leagues are under way and our intermediate badminton team will
start training this week.
Special thanks to all the families who supported our dance a thon, which in return
will help to send many local children to camp this summer! It was a great success
thanks to your generous support.
This week-end is our Easter celebration. Enjoy the long week-end with your families!
M. Mussari
Glynn A. Green Fun Fair
Mark the date of Friday, May 29th on your calendar!! Glynn A. Green’s annual
Fun Fair will be held on May 29th and we hope to see you and your family out for
an enjoyable evening.
School Transportation Committee Update
Hello from your school's STP Committee! Congratulations to the parents and students
who continue to walk and use other active transportation to school. On March 26th we
had over 50 walkers. Thanks to Mrs. Howey and Mr. Swan for supporting our special
days!
We will continue with our Walk to School days scheduled on the 4th Thursday of every
month on Thursday, April 23rd. Hopefully the weather will be warmer and we will have
even more walkers out.
In late April we will be doing a survey to see how many students walk or ride to school. We will
be creating a Greening Tree which will have different coloured leaves to represent our mode of
transportation. Dark leaves= walk and bike, Pale green leaves= walked part way or carpooled
with another family or took the bus, Tan leaves= family car without friends or neighbours.
The Committee has also been planning a bike rodeo for students on June 9th. There will be a
bike skills course for the participants in grades 1 to 6 to ride, as well as safety information. We
would greatly appreciate having some parent volunteers to help with the day. The current plan is that the
rodeo will start shortly after the school day begins and wrap up by about second break. More details about
the event will be posted in our May newsletter!
Eco Team Update
Niagara Region Waste Management Presentation
On Tuesday March 24th students from Grades 1 to 8 learned about Niagara's curb side Recycling and
Green Bin programs through a fun and interactive approach. They learned about waste diversion using
the 3R's...Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Students also had the opportunity to meet Gracie the Grey
Bin, Ben the Blue Bin, and Phil the Green Bin!
Earth Day
During the week of April 20th-24th students throughout our school will renew their commitment to the
Earth. Students will learn about solutions to help reduce their impact on the environment every day.
They will also participate in a spring cleanup of our school yard as well as our outdoor classroom.
Top 5 Actions for Earth Day
Smart Shopping – buy what you need, not what you want
Simple Savers – replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs
Transportation Alternatives – walk, cycle, car pool and use public transportation
Food Choices – choose local and organic foods that are in season and support local farmers
Washing and Drying – wash full loads of clothes in cold water and hang to air dry
Track and Field Dates
Our Glynn A Green Track and Field day is scheduled for Monday, May 4th with a rain date of Thursday, May 7. We will set another date for our 1500m races. The regional meet is set for Monday,
May 11th and the DSBN meet is on Monday, June 5th.
DSBN Road Race—April 26th
The DSBN road race is scheduled for Sunday, April 26th at the DSBN Education
Centre at 191 Carlton Street in St. Catharines. Fun for the whole family!
10 am—1 km road race for all ages
participants
10:30 am—5 km for all ages
BBQ for all
Proceeds to Education Foundation of Niagara and Niagara Nutrition Partners
Info at www.efnonline.ca
Raising Resilient Children Guest Speaker for Parents
Parent engagement event - On the evening of Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 6pm , author Natalia
McPhedran will be coming to Glynn A. Green to share her knowledge about Raising Resilient Children.‖ This special presentation is free for parents/guardians/ neighbours and has been made available through a PROgrant (Parent Reaching Out) from the Ministry of Education's Parent Engagement Office. Natalie wrote the book: Life With KIDS - Empowering Our Children To Be Ready For
the Real World and copies will be available for purchase on this evening. Our author states, ―I believe it IS possible to raise kind and emotionally secure children with the use of good old fashioned
parenting: structure, limits, responsibility and support. Yes, it's a challenging time to parent. That's
why as a certified coach, I can show you new ways to communicate with your children that will
have a lasting impact on your parent/child bond. Your kids have mobile devices, they're on social
media and they need guidance. It's time to learn - are you in?"
We hope you will join us for an evening of information and reflection. We will be sending home an
information sheet closer to the date to gather numbers. See you on April 23rd at 6pm!
Chess at Glynn A Green
Congratulations to the Gators for another amazing year of
chess. We had over 60 students join us this year. From this
group, 19 were chosen to represent our school at the regional chess tournament on March 13 at Richmond Street
School. Mr. Mako wants to thank the team for their perseverance, sportsmanship and for a very strong showing. The following are the team members and how they placed:
Grade 4- Jessica S., Samuel J. 1st place, Aakash S. 2nd
place, Hayden K.
Grade 5—Preston D. 1st place, Hailey B., Valerie L.
Grade 6- Jeffery S. 3rd place, Ethan D., Patrick F., Ian S.
Grade 7- Owen D., Ryan B. 1st place, Drew C. 1st place, Sejal K.1st
place
Grade 8– Jake S. 3rd place, John H., Kira T., Mitchell K.
Special thanks to Mr. Mako for organizing the club as well as training
and supervising our team and to the parents who drove us to the tournament!
Glynn A Green Learning Commons – Artist of the month
April, 2015
Artist: Patricia Haftar
Resides: Welland, Ontario
Website: PatriciaHaftar.com
Medium: acrylic
Patricia paints a range of subjects, including still life and flowers but her favourite subject is landscapes. She paints from places she visits – Eastern Provinces and Ontario with a special emphasis on
The Niagara Peninsula.
―I make art to satisfy an inner instinct to communicate with my viewers in a way that supersedes
what mere language can describe.‖
Patricia has paintings displayed at:
The Greens on Lily Street Gallery in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba;
Civic Square Art Gallery in Welland Ontario;
Art For All Canada in Toronto, Ontario;
Gallery 329 in Ridgeway, Ontario;
Rosberg Gallery in Niagara Falls, Ontario
Patricia is currently the Vice President of the Pelham Art Association (since 2006), and is also the coordinator of the Pelham/Welland Art Tour (since 2012)
She has participated in many juried art shows where she has won top prize for her work.
Upcoming events to see Patricia’s work and meet her in person:
Pelham Art Festival, Pelham Arena, May 8, 9, and 10
Artistry by the Lake, N.O.T.L., July 4 and 5
Summerfest – Art in the Park, July 16, 17, 18, and 19
Patricia is a retired school teacher and knows how tight a school’s budget can be. She has graciously offered to donate 50% of any sales she makes during her time at Glynn A Green School to be
used for student programing!
Volunteer Appreciation—Wednesday, April 29, 2015
We would like to recognize, celebrate, and thank all of the volunteers here at Glynn A. Green
School. All of our volunteers will be invited to attend our School Assembly on Wednesday
April 29th at 11:15 am. A reception with light refreshments will follow in the upstairs foyer.
Thank you for your commitment to our students! Invitations will be sent out later this month
and we kindly ask you RSVP by April 24th.
School cashonline
Have you registered yet? We know you have many different priorities competing for your attention
each day. To respect your time, we’d like to help you save both time and effort. You’ll be able to
approve permission forms and pay for school items, such as fieldtrips and school spirit wear, milk,
and hot lunches online. It takes just five minutes to register for this service. You can access the service by visiting our school website and clicking on ―School Cash Online‖. You will need your child’s
OEN number to register. It can be found on their most recent report card. You can use School Cash
Online with confidence; it is a safe and secure portal. Using School Cash Online, you may never
have to search for spare change again! That is, unless you’re looking for coffee money.
We are in competition with the other pilot schools using School Cash Online in DSBN. So far, we
are in 3rd place with 35% of our population registered. We would like to win a Staples $500 gift
certificate for supplies for the school! Help us to pull ahead of Orchard Park and Crossroads! Also,
the first class room to have 100% registration at Glynn A . Green will win a pizza party for the whole
class. Please take the time to register today!
Dance-a-thon—great success!
The Kids Helping Kids Club is thrilled to announce that this year's
Riehl Dance-a-thon was once again a success! Not only did the students have a fun day of dancing, they also raised $4060.00 from
pledges and profits from the canteen! This will help us send many
well deserving kids to camp this summer! Thank you so much for
helping us provide opportunities to children that they would not otherwise have and for continuing to honour Isaac through this wonderful event! A special mention goes to Tess B., Payton V. and Ethan
E. for being our top 3 fundraisers! Thanks to Mrs. Cook, Mrs. Gall,
Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Haining and the Kids Helping Kids group for
your time and efforts in planning this special event to help others in
our community. Thanks to all the parents and to the Talk team who
helped us with the canteen and joined in on the fun!
Mad Science
GAG is proud to announce that the Mad Science program is in full swing at the school. We have 47
students from grades 1- 6 enjoying all the science experiments that the program has to offer. The
students will continue to meet every Tuesday until April 28th.
DSBN Grade 6 & 7 Girls’ Technology Camp
The DSBN Girl's Technology Camp will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2015 - 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM at
the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls. This is a fun, dynamic educational program
that allows girls to focus their abilities in area of science, technology, engineering, and math. Camp
encourages future engagement with these subjects and helps kids discover the range of possibilities that exist through amazing experiments, activities, and mentors. The event is sponsored by
IBM Canada and the camp is free for grade 6 & 7 girls! Parents can register their girls online at
http://www.dsbn.org/girlstechcamp
Space is limited so sign up soon!
Hairy Challenge 2015 by Mary Kate Jeffery
This year’s Hairy Challenge is to take place on Monday, June 15th. Students and any family
members who have chosen to donate their ponytails will receive their free haircut on that day.
All of the ponytails will be donated to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program. This program
takes ponytails of 8 inches or longer and makes them into wigs. The wigs are given to Canadian
Cancer Societies across the country and then distributed free of charge to people dealing with
hair loss due to cancer treatments.
It takes at least 6 ponytails to make one wig and real hair wigs can cost thousands of dollars.
People say that real hair wigs are much more comfortable to wear, look more natural and can
even be cut. Last year, we had over 35 people donate their ponytails. To date we have 14 people donating this year. We would like to match last year’s number or even exceed it.
If anyone is interested in donating to this very worthwhile cause, information sheets and permission forms will be available from your teacher or call Susan (parent volunteer) 905-892-8827 or
email tjeffery2@cogeco.ca with any questions. Further details about the day will be discussed in
upcoming assemblies and newsletters. Please, please consider donating to this very worthwhile
cause. It won’t cost you anything and you have the power to change someone’s life!
NEW FOOD ORDER SYSTEM
Pitas and Pizza are NOW available online, please register with schoolcash and order for the month
of May and June. If you do not wish to order online please have your child obtain a paper copy
from their teacher or the office. Orders are due April 28th.
www.thelunchlady.ca: Thursday, May 14th& June 4th (905-735-3469)
Have any questions? Need to cancel? Meals cancelled before 8 AM on the day of service will receive
a credit for another time. Trip? 3 days notice is appreciated. stephanie@thelunchlady.ca
Learning Commons Grand Opening Celebration !
After receiving a generous $25,000 donation from the Fox Family, the Fox Family Learning Commons, named for this honour, will officially open today, April 1st, 2015 at 2 pm. After discussing it
over a year ago at the SAC committee meeting, 27 parents came together to form a committee to
lead this transition with a goal. With the generous donations from the parents, the community and
local businesses, the committee was able to reach its goal! Under the leadership of Ann Holmes,
the Learning Commons is a place where the students, the faculty and the local community WANT
TO BE.
"I personally want to thank you all the parents on the committee for donating their time, expertise
and/or money to make this vision a reality. We should all be very proud that we have been able to
provide our students and faculty with such a comfortable and relaxing modern day learning commons where they can come together to learn and grow with the best that technology and reading
materials can offer." Jennifer McGregor, Chair, Library Enhancement Committee.
An official Press Conference will take place today, Wednesday April 1st at 2 pm in the Learning
Commons followed by an open house until 5 pm. Please come by anytime to see and learn all that
this modern day learning commons can offer your child!
April 2015
MONDAY
Dreambox
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Have you registered 1
Day 2
your children on
Learning Commons
cashonline yet?
Grand opening
challenge
continues!
Keep working on 5
lessons per week!
2
Day 3
FRIDAY
3 Good Friday
NO SCHOOL
Lunch Lady Day
Media conference
2pm
Dreambox math
challenge continues! Open house 3:30 to
5pm
6
7
Easter Monday
Dreambox math
challenge continues
NO SCHOOL
Mad Science 3:30pm
13
14
Day 8
THURSDAY
Day 4
Day 9
8
Day 5
9
Day 6
10
Day 7
Day 1
17
Day 2
Day 6
24
Day 7
Pizza Day
15
Day 10
16
Pizza Day
Mad Science 3:30
pm
20
Day 3
21
Day 4
22
Day 5
23
Walk to school day
Earth Day
Lunch Lady Day
Mad Science 3:30
pm
Raising Resilient
Children Guest
Speaker for Parents
6pm
27
Day 8
28
Day 9
Food orders due—
have you tried
cashonline?
Mad Science 3:30
pm
29
Day 10 30
Co-operation
Assembly
Volunteer Appreciation 11:15am
Pita Day
Day 1
Spirit day—‖fancy
day‖