The Patriot Report – December 6, 2019

“May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you” (Rom 15. 5-7).

The above excerpt is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, which features as the second reading for mass this weekend. St. Paul wrote his letters as form of instruction in how to build community. His lesson on the importance of welcoming others is critical. One of the highlights of my day is when students shout hellos and goodbyes to me as they enter and leave the school. What a joyous feeling this creates. It is so simple yet so powerful and children seem to do this naturally without instruction. This Advent season, may we all work a little harder to tap into our inner child and build a welcoming and harmonious community through our smiles and friendly greetings.  

This month St Jude School is supporting The Door is Open which is a drop-in ministry that provides food for people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

The class that brings in the most donations will win a pizza lunch so keep on bringing donations until Dec 13! Their special requests are for pasta, pasta sauce, and tuna cans.

You are also welcome to bring in donations when you come to watch the Christmas concert on Dec. 12. Your generosity is very much appreciated!

St. Jude School is now receiving applications for Kindergarten. If you know of families that are considering St. Jude School please encourage them to apply right away so that spots can be guaranteed. New families are encouraged to email office@stjude.ca to set up a tour and to pick up an application package. 

Our annual Christmas Concert is taking place on Thursday, December 12, 2019. We will have an afternoon performance at 1:30 pm for parents to attend and then the evening show will be at 7 pm. The doors for the evening show will open at 6:30 pm. The doors for the afternoon show will open at 1:00 pm. We are encouraging extended family members to attend the afternoon show due to limited seating at the evening performance. Alongside our evening Christmas Concert will be the Christmas Concert Bake Sale. We look forward to seeing you there.  

Click here to read about your child’s costume and rehearsals for the Christmas Concert. 

This year the school is hosting a Dinner Dance on Saturday, December 14. To make this event a success for our school we need your help and support. If you have a business and would like to sponsor our event, please click here to learn more. 

Thank you to all who have supported our fundraising efforts. All raffle monies and stubs must be returned by December 7th. Contact pec@stjude.ca for more information.

Preparation for our first annual Christmas Masquerade Dinner and Dance is in full swing. Volunteers are needed. Contact pec@stjude.ca for more information.

We are looking to fill the following Supervision positions. Please contact Ann Tang, the Participation coordinator at eparticipation@stjude.ca if you are available.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8:10 – 8:50 am

Pick up of orders will be after school on Monday, December 9 in the cafeteria. Receipt/invoice need to be presented and chocolates WILL NOT be sent home with children. Thank you.

St. Jude School is modernizing its hot lunch ordering. Over the past several months we have noticed several inefficiencies with our hot lunch ordering. First, paper orders can be forgotten by students and can be lost between school and home. Second, parents are liable to forget if they have ordered because the order forms are kept at the school and it is difficult to remember if you ordered or not. Third, the sheer volume of orders results in a lot of paperwork by the office and our parent volunteers, which can lead to errors. We believe Munchalunch will allow us to eliminate most if not all of these inefficiencies.  

Several other Catholic elementary schools use Munchalunch as a platform for managing their hot lunch program. With Munchalunch, orders are completed online. You can pay online and receive an email confirmation of your order. The school is able to better process the orders and ensure accuracy in delivery. In January, parents will receive instructions about how to set up an account and order hot lunch for your child(ren). 

We hope you are as excited as we are about Munchalunch coming to St. Jude!

The Advent Assembly this week will take place at 11:30am on December 13 in the church. All are welcome to join our primary students as they prepare for the Third Week of Advent.

Students in Gr. 6 and 7 made toques for Covenant House. A Covenant House representative came to the school to receive the toques and expressed gratitude for the generous acts of our students. 

Students in Gr. 2 had fun today with Patriots Spirit Day. Wearing their spirit wear and making crowns of the New England Patriots of the NFL brought a true smile to Mr. van der Pauw’s face (who happens to be a fan of the dominant team).