Dear Families,

Thank you to ALL the students who dressed in GREEN to honour St. Patrick's Day!

As we enter into our March Break, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe, enjoyable, and rejuvenating break with your loved ones!  Some of my students have mentioned that they've going away (e.g., a cruise, Florida), that's terrific!!  In the past, I've been to Florida with a dear friend, however, this year that isn't the case, but I am planning on seizing all the wonderful and fun winter activities that Collingwood has to offer such as snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, skating, and maybe even downhill skiing at Blue Mountain.  I am very much looking forward to hearing and reading (your child will be writing about a special event upon his/her return to school) all about their BREAK and the special things they did with YOU!  Although, we won't be at school, I wanted to also wish you a HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!  A few students dressed in GREEN today to celebrate this occasion :) 

PINK SHIRT DAY PREVAILS:
Since Bullying Prevention is extremely near and dear to my heart, I have decided to promote and encourage my class to wear PINK every Wed. as a means to help us continue thinking about, learning, and growing to help put an end to this issue.  Anti-Bullying must be encouraged everyday.  Through this endeavour, I believe we CAN and WILL make a strong message for our class and school family to have NO PUT DOWNS in our school community!!  Parents who wish to have their child participate in wearing PINK on Wednesdays, please do so :) I will also have pink bandanas available to those students who do not have pink clothing to ensure everybody is included.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation and caring in this endeavour!

"The POWER for CHANGE" - Bully Prevention

Mrs. Roth:
As many of you may already be aware, Mrs. Roth came in to supply teach for me last Wednesday because I was coaching our intermediate boys' basketball team in Collingwood.  Although Black History falls in the month of February, Mrs. Roth seized this opportunity to prepare a day of purposeful, engaging, and informative teachings about Black History - the inequalities that many men, women, and children faced in our past.  I am delighted to share just how much the boys and girls retained from this day of magical learning.  Mrs. Roth has an innate ability to connect deeply with children and she utilizes this asset to help guide, mentor, teach, and support student learning in topics that are near and dear to her heart to help instill positive change - building safe, strong, and respectful communities in which ALL INDIVIDUALS feel ... understood, accepted, and loved.  Embrace differences.  It is unfortunate this wasn't the case for people of colour in the past, but we have come a LONG WAY, and are moving in a direction that illuminates HOPE.
To help consolidate our learning, Mrs. Roth introduced a powerful song called "Rosa Sat."  The lyrics and message of this song are powerful!  Each student created a Visualization (mental imagery) to express their thinking about what the song writer's message was.  I have taken photographs of your child's work (see below), please take a moment to find and see theirs and ask them about it and what their thinking was :)  Thank you Mrs. Roth for your heartfelt teachings, we will carry our NEW learning everywhere we GO!  "Powerful thoughts in TINY packages!"  You are an inspiration in our hearts and minds!!

Karrington

Conrad

Miika

Brody

Layla

Ava

Jacob

Alexander

Carissa

Emma

Nolan

Ashlee

Daniel

Kurtis

Karina

Cassius

 Quote:
"Have BIG dreams, you will GROW into them!"

Namaste,

Miss Gill