The Patriot Report – May 5, 2023

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Mohammed Ali

At the heart of the Christian message is the idea that one must serve others in order to gain eternal life. A story comes to mind that illustrates this point well. 

While I was attending the newly founded Archbishop Carney Regional Secondary School, my mom came to work at the school as an Educational Assistant in my senior years. While I may have been a little disappointed that my mom was now going to be working at my school, I was somewhat happy that I would no longer have to take the 701 bus home. I had a built-in ride. 

At the end of the school day, the one thing I always wanted was to get home as soon as possible. I would impatiently wait for her to finish in the Learning Resources department. And then I will get super annoyed when she offered to drive other kids home. This often meant getting home later as she would drive them right to their home. 

I can recall on one occasion, after dropping off another student, my mom asking me why I was so short tempered and annoyed. I told her that I just want to get home and I don’t see why she need to drive so many other kids home. Why the heck couldn’t their parents pick them up?!? And then came the wisdom of my mom: “Christopher (always knew it was serious when she used my full name), never turn down the opportunity to help someone out if you are able to help them.” The rest of the ride home was silent and I have remembered those words since. 

Sometimes you just need a mother’s wisdom to remind you of what matters most in life.   

We are one week away from the Walkathon!

Students are reminded to bring in their pledge sheets every Friday so that we can get a sense of how close we are to meeting our goal of $30,000. 

To donate online click here: Charitable Impact

All online donations will receive a Charitable Tax Receipt from Charitable Impact. If you are making a cash donation greater than $25 please make sure that your name and address is clearly written on the walkathon sheet. If you are making a donation by cheque, please make cheques payable to St. Jude Parish with School Walkathon written on the Memo Line. 

Thank you for supporting our fundraising efforts!

Please email eparticipation@stjude.ca if you are available on May 12. Crossing Guards are especially needed. 

Come spend some time in the sun and fresh air while gaining participation hours!

Each class is fundraising to hit certain targets. 

Each class that raises an average of $100 per student will receive extra recess and a movie afternoon. 

Each class that raises an average of $150 per student will receive extra recess, a movie afternoon, and a non-uniform day. 

Each class that raises an average of $200 or more per student will receive extra recess, a movie afternoon, a non-uniform day, and a class party with pizza, drinks, and ice cream treats. 

As part of our Walkathon celebration, this year each student will get a Tie Dye Shirt. The school has purchased white shirts for our students and early next week we will tye dye the shirts. Students will not touch the actual tie dye as we do not want uniforms to become accidentally dyed. 

Shirts will be rinsed and washed and returned to students for Thursday, May 11. All students are to wear the Tie Dye shirts on the Walkathon. 

The Tie Dyed Walkathon shirts will be kept by the students but they are not to be part of the uniform or patriots spirit wear. They are a gift to each student for working hard to collect pledges for our Walkathon!

This week our students had the opportunity to enjoy a special meditation/stretching session from Pietra Fitness during their PE class. Their instructor, Alison ten Bohmer, is a parishioner at St. Mary’s Parish and the school librarian at St. Mary’s School in Chilliwack. She is a fully-trained and certified Pietra Fitness instructor and has been visiting schools and parishes promoting this Catholic alternative to yoga.

As we approach May 7th, we keep our First Holy Communicants in our prayers. The mass will start at 2:00pm on Sunday, May 7th. All are invited to attend. 

Please note that the registration fee for 2023-24 will be withdrawn on May 15, 2023.  Thank you. 

It’s Yearbook ordering time again! Like last year, our yearbook ordering will be completely online through our school portrait company, Lifetouch.  
The order deadline is May 15, 2022 so order today!
 
Step 1: open  ybpay.lifetouch.ca   in your browser.
Step 2: type in the Yearbook ID code 14136523
Step 3: type in your child’s name and grade. You may order multiple copies under one name or add an additional order under a different name (additional orders can be added on the next screen).
Step 4: Online payments methods accepted are American Express, Mastercard, Discover, or Visa.
 
Please note the order deadline of May 15, 2023. Late orders will not be able to be fulfilled.

Cambridge Uniforms is recommending that parents place uniform orders for September 2023 before the summer months as supply issues can cause delays. Please read the letter from Cambridge Uniforms by clicking the link: Letter to Families

Follow this link to complete your hot lunch orders in support of Gr. 7 fundraising. 

http://bit.ly/3YGZhFu

Our Gr. 7 Student Ambassadors will be available to provide tours of our school to prospective families. If you know of someone who might be interested in attending St. Jude School, I encourage you to tell them to sign up for a tour. Any interested family can email registrar@stjude.ca to schedule a tour. 

Cheques for successful referrals for the 2022-23 school year will be distributed in the coming weeks. 

Every student that is referred and enrolls in our school for the year results in a reward of $200 for the the referring family. 

To learn more about the referral program, please click here.