Friendship Celebration on Valentines Day

This Monday, February 14th we celebrated Valentine's Day with a lovely school wide celebration of friendship in the gym.  The grade sixes and twos where the main celebrants for this occasion and what a beautiful job they did.  We started of with a few words from our principal, Mr. Clericuzio who introduced a moving musical video demonstrating the power of love and acceptance around the world by celebrating each of our unique gifts and talents.  Take a look at an unusual rendition of the song "Stand By Me."



Here is our opening prayer and gospel reading that were the focus of our devotion:

Jesus,

Loving companion of Your children,

You have extended Your friendship to all,

You opened Your arms without discrimination,

Offering Your warmth to those seeking comfort.

Endow me with the virtue of such a friendship,

To know, love and trust all on an equal basis;

To share my patronizing without favouritism,

And to be pleasant towards the destitute.

Fashion my heart to reflect Your qualities,

Those befitting of a cordial association.

Jesus, You showed me the way to true friendship.

Amen

John 15:9-11

A reading from the Gospel of John.

As the Father also loved me, so I have loved you.  Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments, and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

The gospel of the Lord.

PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS.

To help illustrate the definition of friendship the grade sixes read a story called the " Sandwich Swap," by Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan and Kelly S. Dipucchio.

It is about two little girls who didn't like each other because they were different and both thought the sandwiches they brought to school were weird, until they tasted them!  They became very good friends.  It's an awesome book about friendship.

The grade twos led by our dance teacher Mrs. Nells-Sampson, came out of the crowd like a flash mob and began dancing to the song, "You Got a Friend in Me," from the movie Toy Story.

Later that day each class celebrated Friendship Day by exchanging valentines and treats. I am not saying there wasn't a lot of chocolate around that day...

...some families came up with a creative and healthful way to give a sweet treat like this bottle of "Love Potion."

Recipe for "Love Potion"

1 small bottle of water,

1 single serving of Koolaid Singles,

1 fancy heart shaped drinking straw

A pretty cellophane gift bag decorated with hearts,

Home made labels on your computers to place over the bottle's label that read,

"Happy Valentines Day - 1 Bottle of Love Potion"

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

February is Heart Month!

There are several ways to think about your heart.  One as the muscle that keeps our blood pumping and us alive and two as an outward expression of our goodness and intentions to others.  We at Monsignor William Irwin try to stay alert to both of those definitions.  On February 1st the teachers of Edmonton Catholic Schools took part in a district wide faith development day at the Shaw Conference Centre.  It has been our goal since September to create a student faith day on the same theme as our teachers, The Beauty of Life; Awaken your senses and stir your heart.   We compiled seven sessions for students to take part in that would physically engage them to be aware of the beauty of God's presence in their lives.

We started with an assembly where Father Mike connected what the beauty of life might mean to us with the bible.  We sang a couple of songs and we watched an inspirational video by the group Third Day, God of Wonders. 

During the first session the grade fours and some of the grade sixes worked as a prep crew making sandwiches and compiling a brown bag lunch to be donated to an inner city school today.  The Lunch Brigade led by Mr. Clericuzio our principal and Mrs. Brilz made 137 bag lunches for students in our city who might of otherwise have gone hungry today at lunch.

The assembly line.

The entire student body collected friut for a friend for the same school.

Completed lunches ready to go.

The delivery crew.



While feverish sandwich making was taking place in the staff room, reflective painting was going on in the art room with Ms. Stang.  She had the students reflect on the beauty and awe of a sunset and paint a gorgeous water colour of it.

Mrs. D'Agostini our Vice Principal was engaging her group of young students in cartooning a response to "What things bright and beautiful do you see in your life?"

By the look of Elisha's picture in Gr. 1C, she sees many of God's wonders in her life!





Mrs. Motoska had her session thinking about the lyrics to popular Christian Music and what they mean in "Movin Music."



Father Mike, our District Chaplain came to spend some time with us.  He brought his faithful companion Nemo the long hair daschund along with him to the delight of our students.  He told bible stories to the grade ones and discussed the complexities of becoming an adolescent with the older students and how faith can give us confidence to overcome any obstacles we may face.

Our Kindergarten students were exposed to an activity many of them have witnessed their parents doing - Yoga!  Some of them even borrowed their mother's mats.

 Cheryl Shinkaruk, our Phys. Ed. and Wellness Consultant for the district, taught these junior yogis about the breath of life in her yoga session.

Finally, Madame Brassard our very own grade two french immersion teacher led a relaxing and reflective guided meditation taking the students on a personal journey to meet Jesus.

Teaching children to visualize and to relax their minds and bodies can be of great benefit to their health.

Here's a heart health question for you to answer.  What is the sum of these two acitivities?

That's correct!  The sum of healthy eating plus 30 minutes of regular exercise a day equals...

A strong heart!

Here are a few heart healthy facts to get you motivated :

For the month of February remember to love yourself by eating right, exercising and being good to others!

Grade 1B Winners of the Rainbow Lunch Club Challenge

Congratulations to Madame Irvine's Grade 1B french immersion class for having 100% participation in the last two weeks Rainbow Lunch Club Challenge.  They all brought a healthy well balanced lunch for the two week blitz that inspired many in our school to see how delicious and easy a noon time meal could be when following Canada's Food Guide.  Our hope is that these and many other students will continue this healthy practice for the rest of the year to come. 

Madame Irvine's 1B's will enjoy an afternoon at our new Terwilliger Recreation Complex that just opened up last weekend.   You deserve it!