The Eagles' Nest

Our muscle-bound crew of grade 4s loading the the truck with donations of food, socks, mittens and other goodies for Centre 55’s Share A Christmas Program.  Thank you to everyone who donated.

Bottle Drive

We’re optimistic that El Nino will hold and the weather will remain winter warm on Saturday, January 9th for our first ever bottle drive!  Save those holiday empties and bring them to The Beer Store at 1270 Woodbine Ave (north of Mortimer) between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.  We are looking for brave and hearty volunteers to receive and sort bottles in the parking lot from 9:30 (set up) to 1:00.  You can sign up at the VolunteerSpot sign up page or by emailing us directly at earlhaigschoolcouncil@gmail.com.  We will keep the shifts short but please dress for whatever the weather may be that day.

Happy Holidays!

School resumes Monday, January 4. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Festivus, or Time With Family we wish you a joyous holiday season.

Next School Council Meeting – Wednesday, January 20.

Stay in touch – You can get all sorts of updates via our Twitter account @EarlHaigCouncil and Facebook page http://on.fb.me/20yB1TH

 

 

Save the date – School Winter Concert!  Dec 10 at 6:30 in the gym. Please note that to accommodate the 150 kindergarten students in the school this year’s concert structure is a little different. The Kindergarten students will perform from 6 – 6:30, then there will be a brief intermission to allow the students and their families to leave the gym and head home if they so choose. In past years we have asked everyone to stay, but this year you have permission to head out. Grade 1 – 8 classes (room 19 & 21, 22, 26 Recorders and 27) along with the Earl Haig Singers, Glee Club, Ukelele Club and Band will take the spotlight from 6:45 – 8:00.

Check out the Lost and Found! 

Why not look for that missing mitten or shoe while at the Winter Concert? Newly labelled bins make the Lost and Found easier to navigate. Thanks to Ms. Shea and Mr. McLachlan for bringing order to chaos.

Supporting our Community

Visit the school’s front lobby and you will find a very special pine tree presented by the Earl Haig Public School Community and the Me to We Club. This holiday tree is the hub for our donations of much needed goods for Community Centre 55’s Annual Share a Christmas Programme.

The Centre is collecting items for four of their initiatives:

1. The Annual Food Drive: Please send pre-packaged foods in boxes, tins or bottles.
2. Teen Angel Programme: Teenaged children often get missed in our enthusiasm to give to the very young.  We hear that gift cards are high on the wishlist of teens!
3. Pet Lover’s Programme: Four legged, furry family members need our support too!  Pet food, treats and toys are greatly appreciated by pet owners in need.
4. Holiday Tree: Let’s help keep our neighbours comfy and cozy by donating new mittens, gloves, hats and scarves.

Donations will be accepted until Monday, December 14th.

Last call for QSP

Get those orders in, this is the last weekend for the official campaign! QSP sells virtual and paper magazines, excellent for reading, collages, and cutting up to illustrate school projects. The school code is 3721016.

Minions – Movie Night

Wow! Thank you to the intrepid organizing committee and ALL the students and their adults who attended the sold out showing of Minions. It was inspiring to see all the families streaming towards the school last Friday evening. Pizza and veggies were eaten, Sponge Bob prizes were won, and everyone had a great time. Stay tuned for more Movie Nights in 2016. (But one more time  – thank you to the organizers Nicole Lambe, Tamara Robertson, Andrea Szego and Andria Keen!!)

Fix Our Schools 

“Did you know that there is $15-billion of disrepair in Ontario’s public schools? This means schools with classrooms that are too hot or too cold, ceilings that are leaking, windows that need replacing and countless other repair items that aren’t visible until they become a problem. You won’t know a school boiler should have been replaced 4 years ago until it conks out in the middle of winter and school is closed!

With a new federal government that has promised increased funding for infrastructure, there is going to be new money flowing to Ontario. Fix Our Schools wants to ensure that public schools benefit from this new money.

So now is the right time to let our provincial government know that we want to see an increase in infrastructure investment in Ontario’s public schools!

If you are concerned about the state of disrepair in Ontario’s schools, please participate in the letter writing campaign launched by the Fix Our Schools campaign: http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=33ed0a98313433d8705b1afd3&id=47da554d03&e=22a5b0472a .  All you need to do is click the links, enter your local MPP’s email address, your name and your mailing address. Very easy!”

Thanks from Krista, Co-Founder – Fix Our Schools

Mr. Taylor: The King of Borden Ball

Going into Mr. Taylor’s grade 3 gym class the student’s enthusiasm for is clearly palpable as they all wiggle and squirm waiting for the announcements to be over so the gym class can start. It’s easy to see why Mr. Taylor is such a well-loved teacher. When asked what they think about Mr. Taylor, the students all shout to me that they love him, he is “fun”, “funny” and he “gives lots of parachute time”. 

Mr. Taylor has been teaching at Earl Haig for 7 years. His favourite sport to coach is track and field because it’s so diverse, but he loves coaching all the sports. While Mr. Taylor likes to win, his philosophy is to make sure everyone is included. “Winning is enjoyable” he says, but “it’s not the first goal”. His main emphases are teamwork, cooperation and sportsmanship over winning.

Originally from Scarborough, Mr. Taylor did his undergraduate degree at Trent University. He followed that up with degrees at Queens and OISE   for Education. He is currently doing an MA in International Education at Charles Sturt University (yes it’s Sturt, not Stuart – seriously) in Australia, hoping to maybe teach overseas one day, something I am sure his young sons Wes (age 6) and Mateo (age 3) would love. Secretly I am suspecting that Mr. Taylor really wants to go overseas so he can bring Borden Ball to the rest of the world. Go Mr. Taylor!

Next School Council Meeting – Wednesday, January 20.

Stay in touch – You can get all sorts of updates  via our Twitter account @EarlHaigCouncil  and Facebook page http://on.fb.me/20yB1TH

Thank you to the 48 parents, guardians, and staff who completed the Fundraising Survey in June 2015. A summary document of the results are on the blog under the heading School Council – Agendas and Minutes. Lots of exciting fundraising activities are planned for the next few weeks and months including the cupcake sale in February, a bottle drive, and a parents night out. In November we have QSP magazine sales and a movie night to kick things off.

QSP is the Cat’s Meow

This year’s QSP campaign will be online only running from November 17 –  December 2. For those unfamiliar with QSP, it is a magazine subscription site. Magazines make great gifts, or you can donate a subscription to a waiting room, long term care facility, maybe your favourite teacher as a classroom teaching aid…The school’s QSP code is 3721016 and the website is http://www.qsp.ca

Movie Night!

Who loves Minions? Join us in the gym on Friday November 27 to watch Minions. Entry is by donation, pizza, veggies will be for sale. Please bring your own cup or water bottle, water will be available. Doors open at 6:00. There are door prizes up for grabs including a Sponge Bob prize pack, and maybe, just maybe, reserved seating for the school winter concert!

We need volunteers to help with set up, suprvise the bathroom (minimize spit balls on the bathroom ceiling) and other tasks. Sign up here Volunteer Spot sign up

 

Where the Money Goes

The money we raises over the year goes to support many things around the school; supporting grade 8 graduation, new balls for the gym, and a new faucet in the school kitchen. But one of the biggest is Scientist in School (SiS), a popular program that brings investigative workshops into each classroom in the whole school. From studying insects, to figuring out how to build a newspaper bridge that can support the weight of a play car, our kids love SiS.

Don’t let me tell you how great SiS is, let’s hear from the students themselves.

“My favourite one was in grade three, because we did a lot of cool science experiments and we learnt about famous scientists.”  Luke, Grade 4.

“I like them because they are fun, really fun, and you get to build stuff.” Macie, Grade 4.

“I learnt about insects, we even made one with pipe cleaners. And oh, we did a bug dance.” Cambie, Grade 1

“We did it on energy.  The best part was all the fun activities.  I wish we used more wind power and solar power because it is better for the environment.” Anika, grade 3.

“I liked holding the foxes skin.” Lachlin, grade 2.

“We did pulley’s and gears.  It’s like a field trip in the classroom.” Tessa, grade 3.

“We did forces.  We got to use a lot of different equipment. It was fun.” Olivia, grade 4.

“It’s really, really, fun.  It’s kind of like a day off in school.” Simon, grade 4.

“Science can be anything and everything.  I love science and I am not afraid to be anything other than who I am when I do science.”  Maeve, grade 5.

And …. just to pitch to the parents to volunteer for SiS …. (they need 4 parents for each class).

“Volunteering for SiS in my kid’s classroom, was a really fun and rewarding experience.  I will definitely do it again next year.”  Parent of grade 3 and 6 students.

Do you have an idea for a fundraiser? Great at writing grant proposals? We would love to hear from you.  Drop by the principal’s office or email Andrea Szego, school council chair, at earlhaigschoolcouncil@gmail.com

Save the date – School Winter Concert!  Thursday, December 10th our Little Eagles will fill the gym with music.  Details, including the start time, to be announced.

Next School Council Meeting – Wednesday, January 20.

Stay in touch – You can get all sorts of updates  via our Twitter account @EarlHaigCouncil  and Facebook page http://on.fb.me/20yB1TH