Week at a Glance - April 6th

Weekly Update – April 6^th – April 10^th    

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.” St. John Paul II

Monday, April 6^th      

·         Easter Monday (no school) - Christ is risen, alleluia!

Tuesday, April 7^th    

·         Pizza Day

·         Team Unbreakable: Grade 5 Girls Group Meeting 11:30 - 12:00 in the library

·         

     Wednesday, April 8^th  

·         Pita Day

·         Gr. 3 Pioneer Trip

·         Team Unbreakable: Grade 5 - 8 Training 11:30 – 12:30  in the gym

·         

Thursday, April 9^th

·         Lunch Pails

Friday, April 10^th

·     Boys Hobby Club 11:30 – 12:30 in the gym 

Week at a Glance - March 23rd

Weekly Update – March 23rd – 27th  

“We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.” – Oscar Romero

Monday, March 23^rd     

•       Welcome back from March Break!

·      Tuesday, March 24^th   

•          Pizza Day
•         Graduation Photos for Gr. 8 Students
•         UPower Presentation - welcome to Sara Westbrook

Wednesday, March 25^th 

•       Pita Day
•     Regional Public Speaking Competition @ St. Benedict.  Good luck to Liam!
•     Confession for Gr. 2-8 Students 

Thursday, March 26^th

•      Lunch Pails
•        EQAO Parent Information Session: 6:30 – 8:00 for parents of Gr. 3 and 6 students
•     Catholic School Council Meeting @ Queen of Heaven Elementary School: 6:30P.M.

 Friday, March 27^th

•      One week until Good Friday

Highlights from the Week of March 2nd

Another exciting week at Guardian Angels has come to an end!  Here's a few of the highlights:

Metis Presentation:

On Monday, March 2nd, we had a wonderful presentation put on for our Gr. 3 - 8 students by Metis author, musician and storyteller David Bouchard.  David began the presentation by playing one of his traditional flutes, and captivated our students with stories, music, and challenged them to find that "one book" that would change their lives! Our students and teachers thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. You can read more about David at his website.

Down to Earth Presentation:
Loretta Penny came to present to our students last Wednesday and Thursday on behalf of the Down to Earth organization. On Wednesday, she did an amazing presentation called "Oceans Alive" for our FDK - Gr. 4 students: showing them the marvels of the oceans.  GA Students got a chance to visit the 'touch table' and get a hands-on experience as part of the event. 

On Thursday, Loretta returned to do a Social Justice presentation called "In My Shoes" - helping our students learn more about what they can do to effect positive change in the world around them.  Both presentations received rave reviews from staff and students.

In addition to the presentations, students were invited to visit a fair-trade craft table in support of The Good Neighbours' Club, which raises money for the homeless. G.A. students raised over $2600 in support of this worthy charity! 

Boys and Girls Basketball
Our Boys and Girls Basketball teams both faced off against Queen of Heaven in the North Halton finals last Wednesday.  The G.A. boys had a strong effort on both ends of the court, and beat a very scrappy QoH team to claim the North Halton Bronze Medal! 

Our Girls battled a tough QoH team - the lead changed several times throughout the game. Strong defense and rebounding led to the G.A. girls ultimately coming out on top 15-13 to win the North Halton Gold Medal.  

Unfortunately both the boys and girls were eliminated in the HCDSB System Playoffs, but deserve congratulations for such a successful season! Congratulations to all of the players, and their coaches Mr. Stoezel, Mr. Paquette, and Ms. K. Rattray! Go GA Go! 

Week at a Glance - March 9th

Week at a Glance – March 9^th – 13^th  

“Lent is a time to renew wherever we are in that process that I call the divine therapy. It's a time to look what our instinctual needs are, look at what the dynamics of our unconscious are.” – Fr. Thomas Keating

Monday, March 9th  

• 5 school days until March Break

Tuesday, March 3rd  

• Pizza Day
• Lenten Mass – 10:00 A.M. 

Wednesday, March 4th 

• Pita Day
• FDK classes going to Fred Penner Concert

 Thursday, March 5th

• Lunch Pails
• HCDSB Staff Appreciation Day
• Staff-Student Volleyball Game for PHACE 

 Friday, March 6th

• Spirit Day – “Colour me Green”

Week at a Glance - March 2nd

Weekly Update – March 2^nd – 6^th  

“Lent is a retreat that the Church gives us in order to re-focus on what should be first in our lives. The purpose of Jesus' life was to glorify the Father and save the world…Lent is not first a time of giving up but a time to re-choose to be the victim of Christ, the Lamb. It is a time to live the Beatitudes.”–  Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe

Monday, March 2nd  

• Metis Presentation for Gr. 3 – 8 students

 Tuesday, March 3rd  

• Pizza Day

·          Wednesday, March 4th 

• Pita Day
• Down to Earth Presentation “Oceans Alive”: FDK – Gr. 4

 Thursday, March 5th

• Lunch Pails
• Down to Earth Presentation “In My Shoes”: Gr. 5 – Gr. 8 

 Friday, March 6th

·      

Highlights from the week of February 23rd

Another exciting week at Guardian Angels has come to an end!  Here's a few of the highlights:

Public Speaking Festival:

We held our annual Public Speaking Festival on Thursday! The top speakers from each grade presented to our Gr. 3 - 8 students, with the winners moving onto the regional competition.  The speeches were all amazing, with topics ranging from famous landmarks, to personal heroes, and even why thumbs are not fingers! Each speaker did a wonderful job presenting their topic in front of hundreds of GA students, and didn't even use a microphone! At the end of the speeches, our judges deliberated for over 20 minutes before finally coming up with a winner.  Our winner for top English Speech goes to Liam S., who did a speech on gender equality.  Honorable mention to Rachel Z. Our winner for top French Speech goes to Mark R.

Special thanks to our celebrity judges: Loriann Pacenti - System Chaplain for the Halton Catholic DSB, Gladys Cook - Communicative Disorders Assistant for the Halton Catholic DSB, and Milton Mayor Gord Krantz!

Basketball Playoffs:

Our Boys and Girls Basketball teams both faced off against St. Brigid in the North Halton Basketball semi-finals last Thursday.  In our home gym, the G.A. boys led most of the first half with some dominant early play.  Unfortunately, strong rebounding led to St. Brigid pulling away in the second half, and ultimately winning the game.  The boys play for the North Halton Bronze Medal on Tuesday, March 3rd at 5:15 P.M. at Our Lady of Fatima.

Our Girls played against a very tough St. Brigid team; with both teams being very evenly matched. Both teams had very strong defenses, and with the score tied at the end of regulation, the game headed to overtime.  It took 4 (yes, 4!) overtime periods to determine a winner, with the G.A. girls ultimately coming out on top. The girls play for the North Halton Gold Medal on Tuesday, March 3rd at 5:15 P.M. at Lumen Christi.  Go Angels Go!

Goodbyes:  We wanted to wish all the best to Ms. Mackay as she retired last Friday.  She has impacted countless students and families in her time here at Guardian Angels, and will be missed!

Week at a Glance - February 23rd

Monday, February 23rd: 

• Catholic School Council – 6:30 P.M.

Tuesday, February 24th: 

• Pizza Day

Wednesday, February 25th: 

• Pita Day
• Catholic Council of Chairs – 6:30 P.M. at St. Benedict

Thursday, February 26th:

• Public Speaking Festival: 9:00 A.M. Gr. 3-8
• Lunch Pails

First Post! Highlights from the week of February 16th

This is the first post on the Guardian Angels Elementary School Blog.  The purpose of this blog is to share all of the wonderful things that are happening at our school each week.

Last week was a busy one as we move into our Lenten season.  Our Catholic Parent Council served many hundreds of pancakes to our over 900 students throughout the course of the day. As you can see in the pictures, we had griddles set up all around the gym, and our parent volunteers were very busy serving pancakes from 8:30 - 2:30!

On Wednesday, we had our Ash Wednesday celebration where we gathered Gr. 1 - 8 students in our gym for a beautiful liturgical service presided over by Father James Petrie from St. Benedict Parish.   Ashes were distributed to our students during the ceremony.  Our JK/SK students received ashes in their classrooms shortly after the liturgical service. 

On Thursday and Friday we had our annual and highly popular Zumba Fitness sessions. Each of our classes participated in a 30 - 45 minute high-energy session put on by instructors Elizabeth, Christine and Kim.  Our kids danced, hopped and shook away the winter blues! Check out the video below, and thanks to our Parent Council for organizing this event!