Monthly Archives: September 2022

Good afternoon Tornadoes!

Tomorrow is National Truth and Reconciliation Day across Canada. At St. Teresa, we will continue to bring awareness to our school community. We begin each school day with our land acknowledgment – blessing the land on which we gather and showing respect for our heritage. Each class will be acknowledging the day with different activities and discussions. We will all participate in a special virtual presentation by First Nations NBA Entertainer Quincy Mack on location from The Six Nations of the Grand River, where our students will learn the true meaning of Orange Shirt Day from the founder Phyllis Webstad herself. In a combination of storytelling, music, and sports, this powerful presentation also celebrates the fact reconciliation is enabling us to heal and begin to move forward.

Please show your respect tomorrow by wearing orange!

Dear Tornado Community,

Picture Day is coming soon on Thursday, October 13th! We are working with a new company called Pegasus which will be providing some new features.

The class composites are unique to each child, they are personalized with their own photo for a very inclusive picture program. The composite is created after retake day so they can pick up any students who missed the original day. The composite will also include a photo of the school building.

No money is collected on photo day and parents will have the opportunity to view the proof prior to making a purchase online with the company. Proofs will be sent home approximately two weeks after photo day. Parents will have their own unique access code and will order directly from the Pegasus website, no money is collected by the school.

Share your beautiful smiles on Picture Day!

Composite sample

Terry Fox Run

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Elementary School is honoured to support the Terry Fox Run once again! Staff and students will be participating in a schoolwide walk/run on September 29th! Our fundraising goal is $300!  Let’s see if we can meet or surpass this amount. Donate online at:  https://schools.terryfox.ca/14374 Every dollar counts!

Students, remember to dress for the outdoor weather.

Bus 316 has been delayed 10-20 minutes.

On Wednesday, September 28th, students, staff, parents/guardians are invited to wear a purple shirt to help raise awareness of the impact of concussions and head injuries. We will recognize Rowan’s Law Day by educating and engaging in activities that increase awareness about concussions and share Rowan Stringer’s story.

Rowan’s Story:

Rowan Stringer loved rugby. A competitive and keen athlete, she was captain of her high school’s team. Tragically, in May 2013, 17-year-old Rowan died as a result of head injuries she sustained while playing rugby. In the week before her last game, Rowan was hit twice while playing, likely sustaining a concussion after each blow. Her concussions went unreported, and she continued to play. Rowan suspected something was not right—she texted a friend about her condition and used Google to search for information about concussions. When she was hit again in her final game, Rowan suffered what is known as Second Impact Syndrome— catastrophic swelling caused by a second injury to a brain still healing from previous trauma. Rowan collapsed on the field on May 8th, 2013, and died four days later.

Rowan’s Law:

In 2018, a new law called Rowan’s Law was passed in Ontario. It will help protect people who play sports or play active games in schools, help teachers, parents/guardians and coaches learn about preventing concussions, and help people who get concussions to recover. Have you ever bumped your head or body? Probably! We’re all at risk of sustaining a concussion but because some bumps can hurt our brains and our brains may need a lot of time to heal, Rowan’s Law was created.

Thanks to Rowan’s Law, all sports organizations and schools in Ontario will have new rules in place around concussions. Even when we do our best to prevent injuries there is always some risk. Rowan’s Law will help coaches, teachers, and parents/guardians, know when a child has suffered a suspected concussion and that they should immediately stop participating in physical activities, and help them to identify when it’s safe to play again.

Rowan’s favourite colour was purple, so we are asking staff and students to wear purple on this day. Together, we can learn how to play a little safer.

Bus 316 has been delayed 10-20 minutes.

Good Evening Tornado Families:

The season of fall arrived this past Thursday and it did not disappoint. It was a cooler than expected evening for our School Open House and Meet the Teacher night which did not dampen our spirits as we had the pleasure of meeting our parents at our first social event in two years! Thank you to everyone who came out to meet our staff and supported our BBQ by purchasing a meal.

On Wednesday we will be recognizing Rowan’s Law Day by wearing purple to bring awareness to the seriousness of concussions and brain injury.

On Thursday, we will be having our Terry Fox Run as we honour our Canadian hero who ran and fought to find a cure for cancer.

This week, we will also recognize Truth and Reconciliation Week, where schools across Canada will be engaging in age-appropriate educational activities to raise awareness of the residential school system and how its legacy affected Indigenous Peoples and shaped the country we live in today. Truth and Reconciliation Week was launched by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and will culminate in the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Orange Shirt Day) on September 30th.

This week:

Monday, September 26

• Truth and Reconciliation Week begins

Tuesday, September 27

Wednesday, September 28

• Rowan’s Law Day
• Hat Day

Thursday, September 29

• Terry Fox Run

Friday, September 30

• National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, Orange Shirt Day

Terry Fox Run

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Elementary School is honoured to support the Terry Fox Run once again! Staff and students will be participating in a schoolwide walk/run on September 29th! Our fundraising goal is $300!  Let’s see if we can meet or surpass this amount. Donate online at:  https://schools.terryfox.ca/14374 Every dollar counts!

Fresh From the Farm Fundraiser

All students brought home a Fresh From the Farm Fundraiser form on Friday.

What is Fresh from the Farm?

Fresh from the Farm provides a healthy fundraising alternative to schools by selling fresh Ontario-grown fruit and vegetables. Since 2013, over 2,200 schools have raised over $1.9 million for school initiatives, selling 4.3 million pounds (lb) of Ontario-grown produce.

Why Participate?

• Schools keep 40% of sales.
• Families enjoy fresh, Ontario-grown fruit and vegetables.
• Fresh from the Farm promotes a healthy school environment while providing an opportunity for students to raise money for school initiatives.
• Provides opportunities for students to learn about agri-food and healthy eating
• Supports Ontario farmers and our local economy

Our campaign runs from now until October 6^th!

Catholic School Advisory Council

Our first meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 4th at 6pm St. Teresa of Avila School. Thank you to everyone who has expressed an interest through SchoolCash. Invitations and the agenda will be sent out before the meeting. Everyone is welcome!

What is the Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC)?

St. Teresa CES is fortunate to have an active Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC) that acts in an advisory capacity to our school’s administrative team and is also instrumental in supporting our school community through a variety of initiatives such as:

• Assist in busing of students for extracurricular activities
• Purchase of outdoor play equipment (balls, skipping ropes etc.)
• Support for the marginalized and local families in need
• Classroom support funds
• Support guest speakers
• Grade 8 graduation, support for trophies, plaques, medallions, engraving and yearbook
• Subsidy for student agendas
• Support costs for Gr. 8 retreat (busing etc.).
• Technology (Tech. Tubs for Chromebooks)
• School Yard Improvements
• Busing for Athletic Activities

What are the Roles and Responsibilities of CSAC Members?

St. Teresa Catholic School Advisory Council Members:

• Are people of good will who have a special commitment to the faith formation and education of our students
• Place the overall interest of the students and St. Teresa school first
• Have a vested interest in preserving the tradition and reputation of St. Teresa Catholic School and the preservation of the teaching of Catholic education in our publicly funded schools
• Participate in School Council meetings and school initiatives and programs
• Seek to reach a consensus in the decision-making processes of the Council

SPIRIT WEAR UPDATE

We are looking at having a different company produce just St. Teresa of Avila spirit wear t-shirts so we can pass on the savings to families and avoid the shipping fee. You can still order from entripyshops if you’d like to order more than just a t-shirt. Please stay tuned as information will be sent out this week.

The Lunch Box

We are in a holding pattern as we wait to hear from the vendors for hot lunches. We will share as soon as the information is finalized. We are still hoping for an October startup.

Region of Waterloo Library Programs for Sept-Oct and Nov-Dec

RWL SeptOct Programs 2022

RWL NovDec Programs 2022

POSSIBLE BUS CANCELLATIONS

If your child takes the bus, you’ve probably heard about the cyber-attack on the WRDSB. This attack has affected Student Transportation Services’ ability to plan bus routes and has led to technicians building routes one student at a time, creating a large backlog. We apologize for that! Transportation services are also experiencing driver shortages as some drivers are leery of returning to work in a post-Covid world, managing up to 72 energetic students on a bus is challenging, and some drivers are faced daily with frustrated parents as many routes are running late. Please understand that many of our drivers are actually running extra routes on top of their regular routes to help ensure our students can ride a bus home. Please help us show our drivers compassion and thanks as they are really doing the best they can. Effective September 19, 2022, a school bus route will be cancelled when the driver shortage causes a route to be late by more than 30 minutes consistently. Affected students and families will be informed immediately of the cancellation period.  Cancellations are done on a week-to-week basis. Families will be informed the day prior to any cancellation. Cancellations will be posted on the STSWR website with an expected return date.

• Register for notifications on the STSWR parent portal
• Check the Bus Delays page on the STSWR website

The Bus Delays page will be updated with cancellation information each afternoon by 4:30 PM.

The Umbrella Project Message for Parents

Help your child identify their strengths

There are so many admirable researchers that have dedicated their careers to childhood wellbeing and Professor Lea Waters at the University of Melbourne is one of these great minds. Much of her research centres around developing a strength-based approach to parenting. Specifically, she has found that children cope better with stress when they know what their strengths and strong coping skills are and when we, as parents, help to connect our child to their strengths.

So how can we use the Umbrella Project to parent from a strength-based perspective? Beginning in October, we will be focusing on learning about and practising a different umbrella skill. As you learn about each skill, be sure to help your child recognize which skills are strengths for them. Maybe your child naturally gravitates towards kindness, is great at taking on challenges with grit, tries lots of new and unfamiliar things with an open and flexible mind or has a highly developed sense of purpose. There are plenty of positive coping skills and your child is probably already very good at some of them.

In order to have the best wellbeing outcomes, we don’t want to miss the important step of having them recognize these skills in themselves. We want our children to know when they are using those important strengths.

Remember that all of the coping skills work best together, so we also want to notice the skills our children may not have developed yet. When you notice a hole in your child’s umbrella of skills, this is a great opportunity to look at the parenting tips for that skill and select the few that work best for your family dynamic. By focusing on the combination of knowing our strengths and continuing to develop new skills, over time we can have a huge impact on our child’s resilience and happiness in the face of challenges.

Learn more about strength-based parenting in this 2 minute video.

Health + Happiness,

Dr. Jen, The Umbrella Project

A Few Reminders:

• Please continue to complete the COVID-19 School Screening each day for each child before coming to school and closely follow the instructions: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening
• Please be sure to return all start up forms to the school ASAP and complete the required forms on SchoolCash.
• Please ensure you have returned the necessary medication and forms for any medical perils (anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes, etc.) to the office.
• We are a nut-free environment. We have students with life-threatening allergies to nuts and other allergens. Nut-alternative products are also not permitted.

Dates To Remember:

October 4^th – First CSAC Meeting 6pm

October 10^th – Thanksgiving and Open House for Elmira Nature Reserve

October 13^th – Picture Day

Come to our school BBQ and meet the teacher event TODAY!

Time:  5pm to 6:30pm

BBQ Menu ~ Choice of 4 oz Burger, Jumbo All Beef Hotdog or Jumbo Veggie dog with a single-serve bag of chips and a bottle of water. Cost $7/meal (Cash, please; payable at the BBQ)

We are excited to host our Tornado students and parents/guardians today! It is a great night to come with the family, travel through the school at your own pace, meet our staff, and see your child(ren)’s learning space!

We invite all families to meet on the blacktop where we will begin right at 5pm with a short prayer and a few words. We kindly ask that students remain with their grown-ups during this event and not attend the event without their parent(s)/guardian(s). Do not feel as though you have to come for the entire time. A quick drop-in is just as nice.

We are looking forward to a fabulous evening of food, friends, and good cheer!

P. Pizarro

Principal