December usually reminds me of all the marking I have to do over the holidays (hence the book pictures) but it also makes the students of my class 'shine' in their generosity.
December has also been a busy month for giving - both in charity and amongst friends. We have several important causes/events to celebrate.
Gift Jars - (December 13th was jar shopping day) The PAC has come up with a wonderful idea for fund-raising. Each child was encouraged to bring a gift themed jar. These jars may contain a ‘bath’ theme, ‘candy’ theme, ‘toy’ theme, ‘sticker and stamp’ theme, ‘coffee and tea’ theme etc.
The class
(Mrs. Webber's) who brought the most gift jars, received cookies and milk and the opportunity to go 'jar shopping' first! (Well Done!)
Classes followed in the order of number of jars collected. The class with the second largest submission of jars were chosen to go shopping, and so on, through all of the classrooms. Wow! What a fabulous idea and an amazing set up. The gymnasium was filled with tables offering jars for $5.00, $2.00 and $1.00! Such a great bargain for Christmas shopping and a great idea to raise money for the schools. Already, students were discussing next year's "Jar Sale". I even received a couple of gift jars courtesy of
Devon and Eric C., which was very thoughtful. As usual, Willoughby's Parent Advisory Committee presented a unique fundraising idea and made it successful. Kudos to PAC.
A big thank you to
Mrs. Chan for coming in and helping our students craft a fabulous gift. Everyone was able to produce a card craft that looked as though it was bought in a gift store (but better). Such a professional touch. I later talked Mrs. Chan into helping out with Mrs. Sofiak's class. Heh! The poor woman was put on the spot! But we all know that Mrs. Chan is an outgoing and amiable woman, so she graciously signed on to present to another class.
Another fundraising drive, Toys for Tots, also went well. Overall, I am pleased with Division Four's charitable and generous nature. I am proud of my students’ willingness to rise to any occasion.
Last, but not least, our students enjoyed a
Secret Santa exchange. Unfortunately, I missed the event due to an ill child and the exchange wasn't handled quite the way I would have liked it. One student did not receive her secret Santa gift, but being the ever-so-classy gal, she didn't make a fuss or blow an angry fuse. She wanted to speak to me first before she reacted. As it turned out, her gift had been stored away in my file cabinet for well over a week but my Teacher on Call failed to understand with the note I left. Christmas is a hectic time for everyone, including TOC's, so the misplaced gift is just '
one of those things' that happens to all of us and I am sorry that I wasn't there to sort things out.
As usual, Division Four responded to the girl's situation with charitable generosity; offering to share just-opened Secret Santa gifts with her, and offering to purchase a new Secret Santa gift which they would bring in the next day. Such an amazing group of kind-hearted children. I am proud to know them.
Willoughby Elementary took part in the School District’s Wear Blue on Friday to demonstrate our unity against all forms of bullying. Furthermore, we submitted entries towards a poster contest that visually demonstrated the impact of cyber-bullying. Not only did the students’ drawings make all of us realize how pervasive and threatening cyber-bullying is, but our own Marissa H.’s poster made such an impact that she was a winner of the district wide cyber-bullying poster contest. Her poster will appear in the 2008 Cyber-Bullying Awareness Calendar. Each Winner and Honourable Mention will receive a calendar and Marissa has won her class a Sony cyber-shot digital camera. The 2008 Calendars will be selling for $5.00 (proceeds to support further Cyber-Bullying Awareness activities). If you are interested in buying a calendar, please contact Sandra Averill: saverill@sd35.bc.caMarissa H. was the overall winner from Willoughby Elementary, and some (posters) honourable mentions are: Andy K. - Willoughby, Rebecca L.- Willoughby Kelsey O. –Willoughby(Slogans) honourable mentions: