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Principals Message

Thickwood Thunder
We CAN Make A Difference!
May 2012

http://thickwoodheights.sharpschool.com/

Thickwood Heights Teachers Recognized for Excellence Every year the Fort McMurray Public School District selects nominees for the top first year teacher in the district and the nominees for the provincial Excellence in Teaching awards. This year I am very pleased to announce that the district choice of nominee for best first year teacher is Dale Baggs, who teaches kindergarten at Thickwood Heights! Additionally, two of the four district nominees for the Alberta Excellence in Teaching Awards come from Thickwood Heights School: Val Gondek, our music teacher, and Mrs. Heighton, who teaches Gr.3 Mrs. Baggs is a terrific first year teacher! She has a student centered classroom that allows the class to get directly involved and get invested in their learning through collaboration and cooperation with others. You will often find Dales students spread out throughout the classroom working on group centers and accomplishing learning objectives in a wonderful way. There is never a stagnant moment in Dales class; she is always circulating around the classroom keeping students on task and providing additional support for all of the different learning styles within her classroom. Most recently there has been a real buzz of excitement in the room as she brought two baby bearded dragons into the classroom, and everyone is fascinated watching them feed, explore and grow within the classroom terrarium!

Mrs. Baggs

Mrs. Gondek

Mrs. Gondek is a legend in our district Countless students testify that because she was their teacher, they became engaged and captivated by music, and their involvement has continued ever since Mrs. Gondek has established a stimulating program of learning in her music classes. Before she came to Fort McMurray School District, Band and Choral programs were after school options, now they are thriving programs at all levels. Val motivates students to exceed their expectations. Some of the ways she does this is by organizing workshops, special coaching sessions, countless hours of rehearsals out of school time, and structured practice time, where students are challenged to maximize their potential. What a wonderful legacy she has established!

Mrs. Heighton

Mrs. Heighton has more energy than most teachers who are half her age! She is always one of the first teachers to arrive at school, and one of the last to leave, motivated by her passion and focus for teaching. Her mind is always mulling over new ideas and plans, to the end that every child gets the very best opportunity to learn. Mrs. Heighton came to our district a few years back, with a varied career which had included such things as working as a CBC reporter (television), teaching in locales as varied as Antigua (with CUSO), Goose Bay, Labrador, and Andorra!. Her creativity is evident in the way she has created a stimulating program of learning in her Gr. 3 class. Who can forget her Christmas play where every child in the class was included, as Mrs. Heighton wrote and tailored roles so that each child was comfortable, whether they had a major individual speaking part, or were part of a choral group! Like Mrs. Gondek, Mrs. Heightons legacy will be the countless kids whose lives she has touched over so many years!.

The Minister of Education will be announcing the provincial award winners for excellence in teaching on May 21, These ladies are tops in Fort McMurray....I wonder if any of them will be tops in Alberta!

The Busy Month of May May is a busy month at Thickwood! Through the month the students will be participating in the Amazing Waste Race, focusing on Litter Prevention and environmental challenges and contests. The week of May 7-11 is Staff Appreciation week, and through the week. If there is a special teacher or EA who you specially appreciate, next week is the week to express your thanks! That week coincides with Childrens Book week, so there will be a special author visiting our school on May 9. Rina Singh will be making special presentation to Gr. 3, Gr. 4, and Gr. 5 boys. The Grade 5 girls will be at Girl Power on May 9, and the Grade 5 boys will have their special day (Mega Boyz) on May 23. The Grade 5s have a specially busy month, as Thickwood Heights has been selected to be the accompanying childrens group for an Edmonton Symphony Orchestra concert in Fort McMurray in June! Throughout May, the Gr. 5s will be practicing along with musicians from the ESO. What an honor!

On May 16, Science Alberta is coming to town with special workshops for the Gr. 1, 4, 5, and 6 classes. These 75 minute long workshops are all linked to Albertas Science curriculum: Light and Shadows (Gr. 4), Learning to Build (Gr. 1), Flight (Gr. 6), and Electricity (Gr. 5). After the Victoria Day long weekend, we have Aboriginal week. Mrs. Young, our FNMI educational assistant is coordinating special activities during the week in celebration of the tremendous cultural contributions of the first Canadians. The last week of May is Scholastic Book Fair week and the culminating week of the Amazing Waste Race. May 30 will be our Family Fun Night with a difference... it will be a Green Day featuring cleanup activities and a litterless Barbeque for all! We hope to see you there. Finally, for parents of young children, Thursday, May 30 (6-9 pm) and Friday, June 1 (9-11 am) will be our Kindergarten open house times. Be sure to tell your friends to visit... Thickwood Heights School is Fort McMurrays best kept secret... a gem of a school, and a great place to work and learn!

Thickwood Heights is proud to announce we are competing in the Amazing Waste Race! How can you help to make Thickwood Heights the cleanest school in Wood Buffalo?
Thickwood Heights Idle Free Zone: This month, we are learning about ways to help keep our environment clean and healthy. We ask that anyone who is dropping off or picking up students to please make sure their vehicle is not left running. We hope to save you a little bit of gas, and keep our environment free of unnecessary pollution and emissions. Thank you for helping to make our school ground a healthier place. Litterless Lunches Most of the prepackaged lunch have containers that end up in the garbage. Try to make your lunch in reusable containers with the intent of having no garbage (except organics like banana peels, apple cores, etc) once youve finished eating it. Eco-Seed Newsletter Sign up for the Eco-Seed Newsletter. All you have to do is email beautification@woodbuffalo.ab.ca saying youd like to be added to the Eco Seed Newsletter. If you tell them which school youre attending, we will receive 250 bonus points in the Amazing Waste Race Challenge. We need all the points we can get so sign up today!!! March for the Environment Come to the school on May 31 following our month end assembly and participate in our March for the Environment. Ribbit will be joining us as we march around our school community with ideas for creating a healthy school community.

Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice

A Bite of Health
Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice

Ms. Moores APPLE Health Facilitator April, 2012

FunDmental Sun Tips

Plan to be outside in the early morning or late afternoon. Stay in the shade and out of the hot sun between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. If you are in the sun between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. wear long pants, long sleeves and a hat with a wide brim to protect your skin from sunburn. Use sunscreen lotion or cream that is SPF 15 or more. SPF means Sun Protection Factor. Use a sunscreen that says broad-spectrum on the label. It will screen out most of the UVA and UVB rays. Put sunscreen on your skin 20 minutes before you go out and reapply 20 minutes after being out in the sun to ensure even application of the product and better protection. Dont forget about putting sunscreen on your lips, ears and nose. These parts of your body burn easily.

Why is vitamin D important? Vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets in children, and softening of the bones and osteoporosis (fragile bones) in adults. Vitamin D is also needed by many other parts of the body, including muscles, nerves, skin, glands, and the immune system. Why is it called the sunshine vitamin? Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin because our bodies can make vitamin D from the sun. When sunlight hits our skin, the ultra-violet B (UVB) sun rays are used to make vitamin D. Can I meet my vitamin D needs from sunlight? Sunlight on our skin is a major source of vitamin D; however, it is not possible to safely get all the vitamin D we need from the sun. One reason can be the time of year: during the winter months (October to March) northern parts of the world, such as Alberta, lack the UVB rays needed to make vitamin D. Be sure to include a variety of vitamin D rich foods, such as milk, and get active outdoors to soak in the sunshine vitamin to keep your bones, teeth and bodies active and healthy.
Source: Alberta Health Services, Road to Healthy Living.

Source: Heath Canada http://www. Hc-sc.gc.ca/hi-vs/pubs/sun-sol/safety-prudence-eng.php

Sweet as Sunshine Smoothie

Ingredients 2 cups strawberries, fresh or frozen 3/4 cup pineapple chunks, fresh or frozen 3/4 cup sliced peaches, fresh or frozen 3/4 cup sliced fresh pears 1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt Grape-Nuts cereal or blueberries (for garnish) Instructions Allow the strawberries to thaw slightly Combine all the fruit and blend in a blender or food processor in small batches. Add the yogurt to the blended fruit. Serve in cups. Top with a sprinkle of Grape-Nuts or a few blueberries.

Smoothies are a great way to increase fruit and dairy intakes. Substitute with any frozen fruit you may have on hand; leftover frozen bananas can be substituted for the pineapple. Smoothies made with frozen fruit may be a little thicker than those made with fresh fruit. If required, thin the mixture by adding some fresh fruit juice. The flavor combinations of smoothies are endless; experiment a little and have fun with your food!
Source: Strive for 5: http://www.gov.ns.ca/hpp/publications/S45-Resource-Guide-Eng-Web.pdf

May 2012
Sun Mon Tue
1 Subway

Wed

Thu

Fri
4 Thickwood Heights Spring Market 3-8 5

Sat

2 3 Gr 3 & 6 Part Mary Browns A Written field test

8 Mucho Burrito

9 Author Rina Singh visiting Gr 3-5 in library 16 Gr 6 PAT, LA Part A School wide clean up PAC mtg-7 pm 23

10 Extreme Pita

11

12

13 Mothers Day

14

15 Pizza Hut Gr 3 PAT, LA Part A National Denim Day 22 Wok Box

17 Boston Pizza Pasta

18 No School

19

20

21 Victoria Day No School

Aboriginal 27 28 29 Pita Pit

Awareness 30 Green Day Family Fun Night Volunteer Tea 2-3 pm

24 Twin Day Pizza Hut Pasta Week 31 May Assembly 11 am Subway

25

26

Scholastic Book Fair

Scholastic Summer Book Fair Buy 1, Get 1 Free!

Once again, we will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair from May 28th the June 1st. This is a great time to purchase books for summer reading. All books are buy 1, get 1 (of equal or lesser value) for free! Scholastic donates 50% of our net sales to designated childrens hospitals across Canada through Childrens Miracle Network as well as to select big Brothers Big Sisters agencies in our area.