A Farewell from the Grade 6s - video

The buses have left, the backpacks and indoor shoes and gone, and I am sitting in my empty classroom reflecting on how amazing this year was. I was blessed with a group of students who were inquisitive, hard working, and kind. They demonstrated leadership and teamwork at every step along the way.

This was also my last day at Holy Redeemer as I will be off on "daddy daycare" next year and then moving to St. Gabriel's elementary in the fall of 2014. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Holy Redeemer and appreciate all of the support in the Holy Redeemer community. Thanks for the wonderful and generous cards, gifts, and messages. I will cherish them.

Below is the farewell from the Grade 6s video that was shown at today's assembly. It is amazing! Mr. Ullrich has taken this to a new level - I know that I will be viewing this video often in the future.

All the best over the summer and best of luck at Holy Trinity (for my grade 6s) and in grade 6 (for my grade 5s). I was blessed to have you in my class.

WOW - What a great day!

Thank you so much for everyone that played a part in setting up and participating in today's leaving ceremony! A special thank you to Mrs. Hurley for accompanying our singers with her guitar and a huge thanks to Mr. Ullrich for the countless hours he put into creating this year's farewell slideshow.... I know that everyone was a little teary eyed at the end.

For those that may have missed the ceremony (and therefore the slideshow) or those who want to watch it again (and again and again) like I do, Mr. Ullrich sent me two versions.

Final 3 minutes (smiles and finale video)

The whole slideshow (12 minutes)

Hope everyone had a great time at Fun Haven! Looking forward to hearing the stories tomorrow... report cards go home tomorrow!!! Almost done!

Leaving Ceremony - songs (please practice!)

We have been practicing the two songs that we will be singing at the leaving ceremony. Students need to memorize the words to both these songs as they will not have access to the lyrics during the ceremony. Students have been handed hard copies of the first song but I thought I would post them here too.

Song #1: Children of the Light

• download lyrics HERE
• listen to the song HERE

Song #2: You've Got a Friend

• download lyrics HERE
• listen to the song HERE

We will be doing a ceremony run through on Monday morning in the gym so students are asked to know these lyrics for Monday.

450+ Sandwiches in 35 minutes!

WOW - thanks everyone for your generosity! We were able to make over 450 sandwiches for Shepherds of Good Hope. Students worked in teams of 6 to get the bread prepped, put mustard and margerine on the slices, add meat, and pack the sandwiches. They actually were so efficient that we quickly realized that bread was going to be our limiting factor. Ms. Izsak ran out and brought 20 more loaves.

Below is a video of our sandwich making process:

Grade Six Farewell - June 25

Formal invitations to the upcoming grade six leaving ceremony are being distributed but I thought I would share the information here as well (along with some other important tidbits).

The Basic Info:

Date: Tuesday, June 25

Time: 12:30pm-1:30pm

Location: School Gym

There will be a cake reception following the ceremony.

Some Other Important Information:

The doors to the gym will not be opened to the parents until 12:10pm. We will be setting up in the morning on Tuesday and will still be doing some final touches during the lunch recess (11:10-12:10). We will be having slides of the grade sixes playing on a loop from 12:10pm until 12:30pm. We ask parents to come in, find some seats and watch the slides. This will help us to start and end on time.

Some students have mentioned that they may not be at school in the morning. If this is the case, I am hoping that all students will be at the school by NOON at the latest - dressed and ready to go - as we have to get our lanterns lit, line up properly, and review final details. Students are to meet in the learning commons at noon to prepare for the ceremony.

The dress code is "looking better than a normal school day" not "prom". This is not a graduation. It is a liturgy and ceremony to say farewell to our grade sixes. Common items worn by boys are nice pants and a button down shirt (tie is optional, but tucking in the shirt might be nice). Common items worn by girls are a skirt and nice shirt. Think Easter Sunday mass when selecting what to wear. 

Finally, we are setting up enough seating for each students to bring approximately 3 guests. If there are more than this in your party, please be considerate of others in terms of seating (e.g. small children sit on adult's lap, larger parties split up as to not take up too much of a front row, etc...). 

An Overview of the Ceremony

We will start with a liturgy at 12:30pm. The students will be running the show, doing the readings and reflections, and will participate in a "rite of leaving". Following the liturgy, we will recognize each student individually with a certificate. During this time parents will have a chance to take picture of their child with his/her teachers and the school principal. Following this we will be handing out some awards and will end the ceremony by watching a slideshow of the students' grade six year (with some other surprises thrown in). 

Funhaven Event (after ceremony)

A reminder of the event at Funhaven following the ceremony. This event is being organized by an awesome group of parents, the school is not the organizer. Therefore, questions about this event should be directed to the parent organizers. All students have been given information about this event through paper handouts.

Parents, if you have any questions or concerns, have your child speak to their teacher or send a note/email. We are planning a classy send off for our grade sixes and hope to see you there!

Rocket Launch

WOW - what a week! Algonquin College on Monday, St. Brigid on Thursday, and on Friday we joined the grade 6 classes together to build and test rockets! Using the dependent variable of "flight time", students brainstormed a variety of different independent variables that they could test. Some of these included: height of nose cone, amount of water, amount of pressure, number of fins, and size of fins.

Each group tested one variable and recorded their results. We will be analysing these results next week.

Below is a short collection of photos and videos taken at today's launch.

For more information about rockets and the forces involved in flight, check out the brainpop video (currently available FREE!) by clicking on the BrainPop logo below:

Have a great weekend and HAPPY FATHERS' DAY!

Sandwiches for Shepherds

In keeping with our school board theme, “By Our Works, We Show Our Faith”, we will be participating in a sandwich making project for the Shepherds of Good Hope. In order to co-ordinate this class project, we are asking that each student contribute a suggested five dollars worth of supplies (e.g., bread, mustard, margarine, meats). In class on Friday, students signed up for a specific "ingredient" to bring in for Wednesday's sandwich making session.

Things to keep in mind:

• A loaf of regular white bread makes approximately 10 sandwiches. 
• A sandwich consists of two slices of bread, margarine, mustard, and one slice of meat. 
• In order to make as many sandwiches as possible, the most economical ingredients should be used. 
• No-name brand products are quite appropriate, as are items “reduced for quick sale” since the sandwiches will be consumed quite soon after their preparation. 
• Meats such as bologna, ham, and mock chicken loaf are usually the least expensive luncheon meats available and very suitable for this project.

Although formal letters regarding this project were sent home Friday, a copy of the letter can be found HERE.