Hi there Jaguar families, and welcome to the end of another fantastic week here at John Muir. It was another busy one around here, which is customary for this time of year. We can definitely feel the excitement in the air, as we steamroll towards the winter break. I am anxiously anticipating our Winter Concert next week. If the sweet sounds emulating from our music room are any indication, we are all in for quite the treat!
We have many exciting events upcoming over the next couple of weeks. First, and possibly foremost, is our food drive for the local food bank. As previously mentioned, we have two bins sitting outside of Rasheeda's office, designated for non-perishable donations. If you are able to contribute, our community would be very grateful. If this is not a possibility, please do not worry! We realize that this can be a very stressful time of year, and the last thing we want to do is compound those feelings.
In addition to the food donation bins, we will be hosting "Cocoa for a Cause" here at John Muir. Thank you to Mrs. Purnell and Ms. Hepting for leading the charge in this regard! This coming Wednesday, after school, we will have hot chocolate on sale for $1.00. All of the proceeds will be going to the food bank. Hot chocolate will be on sale after school, on this day, with further details to follow regarding precise location of this yummy treat! Let's hope for some chilly, yet sunny, weather so that we can truly enjoy our hot chocolate with some great company!
Next week will mark our first Random Act of Kindness focus for the year here at John Muir. We will be challenging our jaguars to not only demonstrate their kindness, but to be able to recognize the kind acts of others around out school. The students will be filling out kindness ballots, recognizing the kind acts of others, and delivering them to the teacher. Each of these ballots will be put forward into a daily draw, and placed upon our tree of kindness just outside the office. We felt it would be a nice way to remind the students of the importance of being kind while also naturally offering some concrete examples of kindness in action.
Thank you to those of you that were able to return unneeded tickets for the upcoming Winter Concert. As you can probably imagine, the demand for extra tickets far outweighed our current supply. I apologize in advance to the many of you whom I will not be able to provide for. We are currently in the process of offering extra tickets to families, and will continue to follow the order of correspondence. Please remember that you are welcome to join us for the dress rehearsal this coming Wednesday at EMCS. We will begin at 11:00am.
I am sure that I do not need to remind you that the actual Winter Concert is this coming Thursday, December 14. This lovely event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 and will be hosted at the theater at EMCS. We will send out specific details for drop-off/pick-up, related to your Jaguar for that particular night, at some point next week. I am looking forward to a wonderful evening!
As mentioned, we had a fantastically busy week here at John Muir. Here is a snapshot of the events:
* Thank you to our AMAZING PAC for hosting another wonderful family evening here at John Muir. This past Wednesday marked our first annual Family Craft Night, and it was a roaring success. Thank you to the families able to join us, as the night was characterized by the smiles on all of our faces. Thank you to all of the parents whom were able to donate, and/or volunteer for this great event. It is a keeper!
* We were so fortunate to have the ArtsReach program come to our school again this year. These wonderful facilitators were in our school twice this week--once to lead some painting with our 4's and 5's and then again to get our younger kids boogeying on the dance floor! I was absolutely floored by the quality of the paintings that were produced throughout the day this past Wednesday, and our Jaguars remained motivated throughout the entire activity. Today marked a day of dance for many of our younger Jaguars. The smiles and red faces exiting the gym after this activity told me all that I need to know! We are so lucky to be able to bring these activities to our school, and thank the ArtsReach facilitators for doing such a fabulous job. Next up is some Printmaking for some of our K's and 1's, and some more dancing in the New Year.
Please note the following attachments to our Weekly:
* Charlie Brown Christmas Show
* Sooke Fastball Registration
Following are some important upcoming dates here at John Muir:
Wed, Dec. 13 Dress Rehearsal (11:00am)
Thur, Dec. 14 Winter Celebration at EMCS (begins at 6:30)
Fri, Dec. 15 PJ Day!
Thu, Dec. 21 Craft Afternoon & Christmas Sweater Day
Fri, Dec. 22 Last Day of School before Winter break
Mon, Jan. 8 School Resumes
As 2017 is quickly winding to a close, it seems a natural time for me to count my good fortunes as the principal of this wonderful little school. As I approach my first actual break as a principal, I cannot help but look back at our first four months together. I love my role as principal, and truly embrace the culture that exists here at John Muir. My learning will continue far beyond my time here, but I could not be happier to begin this phase of my career in such a wonderful environment.
Please enjoy your weekend, and rest up for a busy couple of weeks ahead!
Gord