The Patriot Report – October 22

“How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” – John Burroughs

Each year at least one of my reflections I write will be on the beauty of the fall colors. I never tire of seeing the burst of color that some of the trees around our school offer at this time of year. How drab life would be if we did grow tired of the beauty of creation!

Beauty ensnares us and captures our attention. We are drawn to the beautiful. Think of how many people post pictures of beautiful sunsets full of rich colours, awe inspiring vistas from atop mountains, and still lakes surrounded by forests. Not only are we drawn to the beautiful but we want to share this experience with others. Why?

In his book, What is God? How to Think About the Divine, the American Theologian and professor John Haught, provides a roadmap for how we might think about the divine. He leaves the question of who is God aside, and instead asks the reader to think about the nature of God. In his book, one of the ways he suggests that we can encounter the divine is through beauty. He explains that, “this experience of being grasped by the beautiful is one of the clearest models we have for expressing what is involved in the intuition of the divine.” God speaks to us through beauty. It is why we are drawn to it. It is why we want to share beautiful moments with others. 

You know this to be true. I can speak with confidence because each of us has had a moment, and perhaps many moments, in which we are overwhelmed by beauty. Whether it is beholding your newborn child or admiring in awe the power of a natural landscape, or feeling a deep sense of calm when appreciating a morning sunrise. These moments, in which we find ourselves almost in a trance, lost in the beautiful are moments of encounter with the divine, with God. But these moments are short lived and fleeting. We experience it and then it moves away from us. How many times have you found yourself lost in the beauty of a sunrise only to be jarred out of your trance by a thought about work, or a noise in the kitchen, or one of your children asking for something. Such is the way of life. We experience profound moments but they do not last forever. 

The short lived nature of these moments are all the more reason for us to appreciate them. We long for beautiful moments because we long for God. May each day provide you with a moment in which you can experience beauty, the type of beauty that speaks to you in the depths of your soul. See those moments as encounters with God. See those moments as God’s way of letting you know that there is much beauty, truth, and goodness in all of creation. See those moments as God’s way of letting you know that you too are part of the beauty of creation and worthy of profound respect and appreciation.

“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” – Roger Miller

School administration and teachers have seen an increase in discipline problems and misbehavior during indoor lunch times. We have traditionally not gone outside during rainy days. However, our observations of students during indoor recesses is confirming that our students need to go outside. 

Teachers relayed this information to parents during Parent-Teacher Conferences yesterday. 

Here is what you need to know:

• Rain or Shine we will go outside effective Monday October 25, 2021
• All students will go outside 
• Parents must make sure their child has a raincoat/winter coat (hoodies are not good in rain), proper footwear (i.e. rubber boots), and an optional umbrella
• If a child is not properly dressed we will notify the parents in writing but the student will still go outside
• If a child consistently is not dressed for the weather, school administration will reach out to the parents to discuss the matter

We believe that this decision is best for our students physical and mental health. We thank you for your support.

On October 29 we have our next Care Day, which is a noon dismissal and a non-uniform day. I want to provide further guidelines for this day with respect to Halloween Costumes and Colours. 

• Costumes may be worn providing that:
  • no violent costumes – no weapons of any kind (swords, guns, knifes, etc) are permitted
  • no grotesque or gruesome costumes – this means no fake blood, no ghoulish masks, no horror costumes
  • no devils or anti-Catholic costumes or images
  • no sexually suggestive costumes – many costumes online are now sexually suggestive and parents must exercise caution here

We want to encourage our students to wear costumes that are age appropriate and school appropriate. Students do not have to wear a costume. Students who do not want to wear costumes are encouraged to wear halloween colors (orange, black, white, purple, lime green) or halloween themed shirts that are appropriate. It is a non-uniform day so jeans and a halloween shirt or halloween colored shirt is more than acceptable.

Any student that is found wearing something deemed by school administration to be inappropriate will be asked to either change or will be sent home. 

The other day I spent the first parts of my morning walking the grounds and picking up garbage. Two items were most common: disposable masks and candy/granola bar wrappers. It seems that disposable masks are finding their way onto our grounds more and more. It was rather shocking how many I picked up. About half of them were child sized. The other common item was food wrappers. Some schools have banned such foods due to the garbage on the school grounds. We have garbage receptacles outside for students to put their garbage in but it is clear that this does not always happen. With Halloween approaching, I am worried that more candy wrappers will be found on the ground.

Parents, please speak to your children about being responsible with their snacks and their masks. If their mask breaks it is to go in the garbage and not be left on the ground. If they have a snack that comes in a disposable wrapper please remind them to use the garbage. 

We all need to take care of our school grounds and ensure that garbage is not left in parking lots, on playgrounds, or anywhere on our school grounds. 

Thank you for your cooperation. 

The following items are part of the Patriots Spirit Wear:

• current PE strip (shirt and shorts)
• Patriots hoodie
• Patriots sweatshirt  
• Patriots sweatpants
• Patriots long sleeve warm up shirt
• 2021 Walkathon Shirt

• Patriots hoodies and long sleeve shirts online as of Monday October 25th until November 7th. The items would be removed online as of November 8th.
• Orders can be completed online through the Cambridge Uniform website – click here for more info
• The approximate turnaround time, after the cut off date (November 7th), is 4-5 weeks. Timelines are subject to change. 
• Sweatpants are unavailable at this time due to continued supply shortages

Updated as of October 22, 2021.

The gray Patriot’s Gear is available for order.  Please click here to order.  

We are excited to welcome kindergarten sibling registration for children born in 2017, turning 5 in 2022. These children will begin kindergarten in September, 2022.  We ask that you complete this form to hold a spot for the sibling.  

The PSG is looking for new members!  To know more about what we do, please visit our web page here: https://stjude.ca/parent-support-group/. 

Contact info:  Anthonette Imperial,  psg@stjude.ca.

A valid Criminal Record Check (CRC) must be on file for parents who will be volunteering in our school in any of these parent participation categories:  

• Library
• Coaching Assistance / Refereeing / Extra-Curricular
• Playground / Parking Lot Supervision
• Hot Lunch helper
• Classroom / Office helper

For existing families:  the office will email you if your CRC is expiring or expired.  

New families:  If your parent participation involves any of the above, you will need to complete a Criminal Record Check as soon as possible.  This check is free and can be completed online. Simply click on the link below and follow the on-screen instructions. You will need to enter the Access Code to be identified as a volunteer at St. Jude School.

Online Link: https://justice.gov.bc.ca/criminalrecordcheck

Access Code: KVLB9GCYEW

We currently have the following items available for sale in our Consignment:

3 – Girls Tunic – size 5 – $10 each

If you would like uniform items to be sold in consignment, they must be in good to excellent condition. They need to be the current uniform and not the old one. You will need to set a price and fill out a form. Please contact Mr. van der Pauw if you would like an item to be sold. From time to time we will post what is available for sale in consignment. 

Reminder of Uniform Schedule:

Monday to Thursday – Uniform

Fridays – Patriot Spirit Wear