Administration Message

The Student Voice is a middle years student council at Ecole Van Walleghem School that undertakes a global initiative each year as the “Action” component of their 5-star commitment made to the school. This provides opportunities for students to demonstrate initiative and to take responsibility for themselves, for their school and for their community.

In November 2008, Auntie Rita, a Ugandan aid worker came to the school to personally thank our students for their generous gifts of school supplies earlier that year. Members of the Student Voice met with Auntie Rita and asked what they could do to make a real difference to the lives of people in Uganda. The students learned that through Heartstrings Mission they could build a house for a family in need. They knew immediately that they had found a concrete way to make a difference!

With five thousand dollars in donations, they would be able to build a home for a homeless family. And so, the idea of Brick by Brick – Building Hope was born. Student Voice members immediately got to work using the tools of their generation – video and the Internet. Students made a video which features music composed and performed by one of their teachers who took inspiration from the enthusiasm and passion of his students. Images and messages on the video are all written and voiced by the students.

Over the last three months, Student Voice formulated the campaign they launched on February 26, 2009 at an assembly for students and staff at the school. The school's Parent Council was so impressed and excited about the project that they purchased the first $500 worth of bricks by presenting a cheque to the school at the assembly, thus laying the foundation for the success of the project.

Students in the school are talking to their families about the project, with the goal of selling 500 bricks needed to build one house.

The students hope their inspirational video will move people in our wide reaching community to buy one or more “bricks” for just $10 each.

Already, there have been inquiries from outside the city and even outside the country as news of the project spreads rapidly, thanks to the video on the school website www.pembinatrails.ca/vanwalleghem .

Symbolic bricks with donors' names are already being placed on the bulletin board in the school's front foyer as a visual yardstick of the building of the house.

Join us in this exciting, international, student-led project.

We invite you to help build hope in Uganda - brick by brick.

Brad Burns and Cheryl Chuckry

Your Administration Team

Library Links

I Love to Read.......in March!

In order to promote the love of reading with our students we will be having a gently used book sale on Wednesday, March 11th in the Library.

We are looking for donations of gently used books appropriate for the kindergarten to grade 8 levels.

If you should have any please send them to school by Monday, March 9th.

All students will have the opportunity to visit the book sale and make purchases with their classroom teachers. The books will be sold for $ .25 a piece. All proceeds will go towards the Brick to Brick, Building Hope initiative where we are helping to raise money to build a house for a homeless family in Uganda.

Thank you very much for your support!

VW Family Night

Come on out to the VW Family Night on March 12th!

Doors open at 6:45 pm, show starts at 7pm featuring LuLu and the TomCat, a musical edutainment show followed by refreshments in our Community Room. 

Come out and join the fun!

Calendar (online)

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Please Note:

• Lunch Program Receipts will be sent home Tuesday, March 3rd.

Band News

more . . .

Do you love to sing? Would you love to sing with others who share your passion for choral music?

Pembina Trails Voices, Pembina Trails School Division's honour choirs program for talented choristers in K-12 invite you to consider auditioning for the 2009 – 2010 season. Audition packages will be available from your school office or your school's music specialist

April 6.

For detailed information about PTV, check the website at http://www.pembinatrails.ca/

program/pembinatrailsvoices .

Roots of Empathy

Roots of Empathy is alive and well at VW!

Hazel has more than doubled her weight since birth.  She weighs in at 9.8 kg and has increased her length by 18 cm, finishing her eighth month at 71 cm long.  She is thriving, happy, healthy and seems to enjoy her interactions with the students and adults in Mrs. Craddock's Gr. 6 class. 

Students are learning first hand, the development stages and milestones of the first year of life.  We often use the lessons about baby Hazel to extend to the students' lives and how they are developing themselves.  Topics covered so far have been: sleep, emotions, temperament, crying, and caring and planning for baby.  It is wonderful to see the positive reactions on both the students' faces as well as baby Hazel when she comes in the door for our monthly visits.

Wolverine Words

Congratulations to the 40 skiers who attended our winter cross-country ski club on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout January and February. We covered a lot of territory and a lot of ski skills and had so much fun in the very fresh air.

We celebrated fitness throughout February, Heart Month, with Mrs. Sauder's grade 1-3 classes participating in a wide variety of heart healthy endurance, strength, and flexibility exercises and activities. Grade 4-7 students got to experience wearing heart rate monitors as they performed many aerobic fitness activities.

Early Years students can look forward to racquet sports throughout March with middle years students learning more badminton skills.