October Opportunities
The students and staff at Sunnylea are very busy, with exciting projects going on in each class. We hope that the many parents that joined us for Curriculum Night enjoyed the opportunity to see some of the excellent work that our students have been doing. Many different extracurricular activities are also being offered this fall, including the following:
Cross Country Running for Grades 1 to 5
The Sunnylea Cross Country Running Team has attracted our biggest group, with 115 students in grades 1 to 5 running this year. Our students have been running every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. Our first competition is on October 5th, 2010 at Centennial Park. All participating students are asked to meet in the gym at 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Thank you to Mrs. Barker, Mrs. Blackwell, Mr. Copeland, Ms. Fordyce and Mr. Kyle for taking on this team. Good luck to all the Sunnylea runners!
Junior Choir for Grades 3, 4 and 5
Junior Choir practices are being held at lunchtime on Wednesdays. Junior Choir members will be performing at our Remembrance Day ceremony and again at our December concert. This year, all grade 3, 4 and 5 students (including Ms. Akinyode’s grade 2/3 class) will perform at our December holiday concert, which will be held on Thursday December 9th. All other students in grades 1 and 2 will have a chance to perform at the primary concert in the spring.
In January, Junior Choir will come to an end and Primary Choir for students in grades 1 and 2 will begin. Thank you to Mrs. Camilleri, Ms. Fordyce and Ms. Varden for working with the Sunnylea Singers.
Boys’ and Girls’ Junior Slo-Pitch Teams
This fall, our Junior boys and girls once again have the opportunity to participate on Sunnylea’s Slo-Pitch Teams. The boys’ team is being coached by Mr. Evans and Mr. Copeland. The Sunnylea Girls’ Slo-Pitch Team is being coached by Ms. Fordyce and Ms. Varden. We have had an excellent turnout as students practice and tryout to represent our school in these competitions.
Milk Bags for Mats Program
WOW! We have collected 6577 milk bags (26 mats). The group making the mats has more than they can handle for awhile, so we will suspend collection of the bags for the time being. Thank you for your enthusiastic response.
QSP Magazine Fundraiser
On October 7th Sunnylea will kick-off its fall 2010 Magazine Fundraiser. Students will bring home a package that outlines the easy steps to place online orders at Last year, QSP fundraising money support enrichment activities including:
Field Trips
Medieval Man and Roman Soldier Presentations
Tennis Clinics
Blue Spruce and Silver Birch Author Visits
Earth Rangers Assemblies
School Teams and Athletics
Arts and Crafts
Eco-School’s Student Photo Exhibit
JK Open House and Grade 5 Graduation, etc.!
Eco Schools and the Sunnylea Green Team
Over the past year, Sunnylea students, staff and parents have made great strides in working towards environmentally friendly practises at school. This year, Mr. Kyle will once again be heading up the Sunnylea Green Team, which has again been awarded with Gold Certification through the Eco Schools program.
We ask parents to continue to support our program of garbageless lunches. Please send lunches in re-usable packaging, including drinks in reusable containers. All uneaten food and drinks will be sent home for proper disposal, as we do not have access to composting at the school. Go, Green Team, Go!
October is International Walk to School Month
On Thursday October 7th, Sunnylea families are encouraged to walk to school to celebrate International Walk to School Day. In fact, the day is now celebrated throughout the month of October, while the fall weather is so beautiful. All parents and students are encouraged to support this initiative and get some fresh air and exercise by walking or riding bikes to school.
Students that walk to school on Thursday October 7thwill be recognized and congratulated for their efforts. Stickers will be handed out as students enter the school.
International Walk to School Day:
Encourages physical fitness, community spirit, and safety through awareness.
Is celebrated in 42 countries on six continents
Provides cleaner air for all
Children can walk, bike, blade scooter, skip or hop to school… but don’t drive!
Check-in points will be at both the Primary and Junior doors.
Look all ways before you cross the street. Use your eyes and ears before you trust your feet.
Terry Fox National School Run/Walk Day
Thank you to all of our Sunnylea families for supporting the Terry Fox National School Run/Walk Day. This is an annual event that encourages all participants to think about how we can work together to support each other and contribute to finding a cure for cancer. This year Sunnylea students, families and staff walked and ran together, and raised over $300 for the Cancer Society.
Please Help Protect Our Trees
Students are often tempted to climb the trees in our school yard. Unfortunately, this causes branches to break, and damage to our trees. We have asked Sunnylea students to stay off of the trees, and would appreciate your support in encouraging this in the after-school and weekend hours.
School Council Voting
Thank you to all of the parents who took the time on Curriculum Night to vote for the 2010-2011 school council members. The votes cast were unanimous in the acceptance of this year’s council members:
Denise Bambrough Radosna Bijukovic
Suzanne Blakeman Fred Cassano
Rob Chouinard Marianella Dela Barrera Luisa Galli Fazia Jones
Tina Kakaria Helen Kim Sarah McLelland Joanne McMillin Leslie Nicholson Sophia Taylor
Lisa Tremaine Sandy Turney
David Wells Patricia Wong
Our next school council meeting will be on Wednesday October 20th, at 6:30 p.m. in the library.