Mustang Memo - May 2, 2024
We have much to celebrate this week!
First of all, our DCE badminton team rocked the EIPS badminton tournament last weekend. We won gold and silver in girls and boys singles as well as mixed doubles. To top off a great day, we also won gold in girls doubles and the team trophy for the most number of wins! While winning is always fun, we are most proud of the effort put in by our students as they practiced regularly in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Hard work pays off! Go, Mustangs!
Our running club is next up as they are set to compete in the EIPS relays on May 9! They also have been training hard!
We have also kicked off our Jump Rope for Heart event for the month of May. You can read more about it in the article below.
Finally, we celebrated our incredible parent volunteers on Monday in our Volunteer Appreciation event. Our student leadership crew acted as greeters, servers and hosts for the event. We were also entertained by the Grade 3-6 choir and our kindergarten students who performed for the parents. Thanks to everyone who contributes to making our school a great place!
Have a great weekend!
Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson
Principal & Assistant Principal
You belong here!
Table of Contents
Week At a Glance
Action
- Upcoming Parent Meetings
- Jump Rope for Heart
Opportunity
- Counsellor's Corner
- Family Dance
- Write On Supplies Fundraiser
- Caregiver Series - May and June
Information
- Bus Driver Appreciation Day - May 6
- What Do We Do on Professional Learning Days?
- Parents Make the Difference
WEEK AT A GLANCE
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| Tuesday |
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ACTION
Upcoming Parent Meetings
We will be hosting our next School Council and Davidson Creek Fundraising Society meetings on May 9 at 6:30 p.m. in our school library!
We invite you to come out to get involved in our upcoming planning for the Summer Sizzler as well as to provide your input into our School Education Plan goals for the 2024-25 school year.
Please consider joining our great parent crew! We have a ton of fun and there are snacks! Tasty snacks!
We hope to see you there!
Get Your Heart Pumping this May!
It’s time for Jump Rope For Heart! This month we will focus on how we can stay healthy and active while raising money for the Heart & Stroke Foundation. As you know, this is one of our largest charity fundraisers of the year.
Our school goal this year will be $7600!
Parents should have received this letter from their classroom teachers outlining the event. You can also click here to learn how to register your child online! Students can win a variety of online thank you prizes as well as weekly prizes. To really spice up the event, the 10 student fundraisers will win a pizza party!
Throughout the month, students will learn various jump rope skills and practice them so that they are ready for our jump rope event day on May 29! All students are invited to wear red to represent heart health and students will show off their jumping skills throughout the day! Fundraising will remain open until June 7.
Let's make this an event to remember! Go, Mustangs!
OPPORTUNITY
Counsellor's Corner
Hello Mustang families!
Mental Health Awareness Week
This year’s #MentalHealthWeek is all about compassion! Join the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) in a conversation about how #CompassionConnects from May 6-12. Download your toolkit today at www.mentalhealthweek.ca
“Compassion is the strong emotion that moves us to take action to reduce suffering. Compelling scientific evidence suggests that giving compassion, receiving compassion, and allowing ourselves to experience self-compassion are all very beneficial to our mental health.”
“The word compassion is derived from Latin, meaning “to suffer together.” Researchers today define compassion as an emotional response to the struggles of others combined with a real, authentic desire to help lessen their suffering. Compassion is often confused with empathy; but while empathy is the sensing, feeling and understanding of another’s suffering, compassion goes beyond empathy, into the realm of taking action. This formula captures what compassion is: empathy + action = compassion.”
“We are physiologically constructed to be kind. Many studies have shown that human beings are built to respond to others who are in need. Researchers Rilling and Berns studied the brains of participants who were given the chance to help someone. They discovered that relieving suffering in others gives us the same positive jolt that we get from pleasure. This suggests that compassion is part of our wiring. But it doesn’t stop with the brain. Feeling compassion also has a significant impact on the body. So, for instance, when we feel compassion, our heart rate comes down, and we move into a “soothing mode.” We also release oxytocin, a feel-good hormone.”
How Children Benefit from Compassion
“In today’s complex world, social conflicts, exclusion, bullying, violence, depression, loneliness, anxiety, stress, and difficulties concentrating are often part of children’s lives. The repercussions of these challenges can pose great risks to their health and well-being. As a result, there is an increasing focus on nurturing socio-emotional skills in childhood, with promising outcomes. Research shows that nurturing caring behaviours, such as compassion, among children in educational settings can help mitigate their psychological distress and stress, while encouraging positive relationships and emotional regulation.”
At Davidson Creek Elementary we are celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week by:
- Sharing videos and information related to compassion and mental health in our daily announcements.
- Exploring stories, activities, games and discussions about compassion in our classrooms. Check out some of the stories and activities in this presentation! Compassion - Presentation (canva.com)
- Wearing our hats on May 8th for Hats on for Mental Health Day
- Compassion Sidewalk Chalk Messages- Together, students and teachers will write messages of self-compassion and kindness in chalk, outside our school.
- Whole School Activity- Building a Kindness Chain: Students will add a link to their classroom paper chain each time they demonstrate an act of kindness or compassion. At the end of the week, we will join our paper chains together with other classes.
Madison Bashaw & Kelley Mitchell
~ DCE school counseling team
Family Dance
Our student leadership crew has been hard at work planning for the upcoming Family Dance taking place this Friday, May 10 6 p.m.
Students have selected a sports theme for the dance and encourage people to dress up in their favourite sports gear or as their favourite athlete.
As well as the obvious fun you can have dancing, our leadership students have planned some incredible activities that families can participate in with some games and prizes taking place outside of the gym on the basketball tarmac.
Our DCFS parents will also be running a concession that will be accepting cash, so please make sure to bring your moola to buy a treat or two! It should be a great community building event!
See you there!
Write On Stationary Fundraiser
Do you need to purchase school supplies for your child for next year? Do you want to skip the lines and fuss of shopping at a store and not worry about dragging the supplies to the school? Do you want to support the school with a fundraiser?
We have a deal for you!
You can order your child's school supplies from Write On Stationary and they will deliver the order right to the school and a portion of the proceeds will go to our school! No muss, no fuss!
Here's how to order:
• Go to www.write-on.ca
• Click on “PARENTS – Order Here”
• School Name: Davidson Creek Elementary School – SHERWOOD PARK
• Choose your grade and place your order.
• Complete your order by clicking ‘PLACE ORDER’
• You will receive an automatic email confirmation to confirm your order has been received
• They accept VISA, MC, AMEX, Visa Debit and Interac On-line.
INFORMATION
THANK YOU! Bus Driver Appreciation Day is May 6
Join us on May 6 as we recognize and thank our school bus operators for keeping the safety of our students their first priority. We encourage you, and your children, to take a moment to say thanks to our bus operators—who go above and beyond to provide safe and timely transportation to our students.
On behalf of Davidson Creek Elementary School THANK YOU to all of our school bus operators for a job well done.
Compassion Connects: Mental Health Week runs May 6-12
Mental Health Week takes place May 6-12. To mark the week, Davidson Creek has a series of activities and lessons planned for students, all centred on Mental Health Week’s theme, “Compassion Connects.” We all have the capacity to be compassionate, and we know that doing so can make an enormous difference. Some of the school activities planned include: lesson plans shared with staff by our counselling team, videos and tips on the morning video announcements, and Hats On for Mental Health Day.
Collectively, students will learn about community-based mental health care champions, programs and communities while showcasing the importance of securing universal mental health care, what it can look like and how mental health care can be expressed and nurtured, such as within art, music and dance. In addition to school activities, students and staff can also share messages about their personal journey on various social media platforms using the hashtag #CompassionConnects.
For more information:
Alberta Health Services: Help in Tough Times
What Do We Do on Professional Learning Days?
Professional Learning Days are important opportunities for our staff to build skills and learn new ways to improve our practice. So what's on the menu for tomorrow?
Our staff will be engaging in one of the following three activities:
- First Aid Training
- Non-violent Crisis Intervention Training
- Professional Conference (English Language Arts Council Conference or Orff Music Conference)
We need our staff to be up to date on health and safety training so we are taking advantage of this day to update our skills so that we are accredited for another three years.
Parents make the difference
Here is this week's article with helpful tips for families:
Learning about people from different cultures is fun!
Respecting people from diverse backgrounds fosters a positive and productive learning environment. The summer is a great time to help your elementary schooler learn more about others and appreciate diversity.
Try these activities with your child:
- Talk to friends, neighbors and coworkers who are from different backgrounds. Ask them to share some of their experiences and traditions with you and your child.
- Watch television programs about people from other cultures.
- Learn simple words in different languages. Teach your child to count to 10 in another language. Learn how to say hello and thank you.
- Find an international pen pal. Ask your child’s teacher or a librarian to help you get started. You can also check out free pen pal sites, such as www.studentsoftheworld.info.
- Learn about holiday customs of people around the world. Go online and check out books to discover how other people celebrate their special days.
- Cook authentic recipes. Pick a culture and search online for a recipe to try. Prepare the dish with your child and enjoy it together.
- Learn about crafts from around the world. Search online for examples and make a few with your child. You could make a mask, drums, a hand fan, worry beads, tissue paper flowers and more.
Reprinted with permission from the May 2024 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2024 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.