Newsletter #4 – December 2022

It is hard to believe that our calendars are open to the month of December already. As we begin to experience more inclement weather, please be reminded that I will be communicating directly to our school community through the REMIND notification service should we encounter any bus cancellation or school closures. Please see our website for steps to sign up for REMIND.

I am very thankful for your continuous support of our school through participation in school events like the Christmas Bazaar, Book Fair, and our well-attended parent-teacher interviews. Please see below, other events planned for this month. On behalf of the members of our amazing school staff, I would like to wish you and your family a safe and wonderful holiday season. A Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate these traditions!

STUDENT RECOGNITION ASSEMBLY

We held our Student Recognition Assembly on Dec. 2. The school value on which we focused in November was “Compassion”. Congratulations to all award winners! We are very proud of our students’ efforts in following our school values. The value on which we are focusing in December is “Collaboration”.

BERNIE BRENNAN AWARD

Last month, Austin Roy, one of our students in grade 6, was presented the Bernie Brennan Award for his volunteer work throughout the school. The award is named in honour of Mr. Brennan, a local veteran of the Korean War, who volunteered at Lord Aylmer for many years. Austin, a very deserving recipient of this award, is one of the school’s role models who takes initiative to help out in many ways at the school. Congratulations, Austin!

LORD AYLMER ALUMNA PENS AN AWARD-WINNING ESSAY

Congratulations to our former student (and now Symmes student), Penelope Adkins. While in Grade 6, she was encouraged to enter the prestigious Royal Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition in May of 2022. This is the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools, having begun in 1883. The 2022 competition saw a record-breaking 26 300 entries. “Each year, young people write on a theme that stems from the Commonwealth’s values and principles, developing key literacy skills whilst also fostering an empathetic and open-minded world view.”

Penelope won a bronze award for her touching and thought-provoking essay, which is a stunning achievement. Her Lord Aylmer family is thrilled for her and wish her continued success in all her endeavours!

CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP-HONOURING MS. BEMI

Students and staff at Lord Aylmer School honoured one of its staff members last month with a surprise assembly. Gbemisola Akinboyo (“Ms. Gbemi”) took the Oath of Citizenship last month to become a Canadian citizen and the school community wanted to congratulate this wonderful member of the LA team. Ms. Gbemi, a very popular daycare educator at the school, was congratulated by students Bryson and April from her daycare group and presented with an arrangement of flowers (red and white, of course!).

Ms. Gbemi took a moment to speak to the children and staff about the ceremony in which she became a citizen. She also expressed her pride in our country and why she chose Canada over other countries she could have selected. The assembly concluded with the playing of the national anthem.

WQSB Commissioner for Lord Aylmer’s ward, Cathy Goldsborough, and Chairperson Wayne Daly, were also in attendance to honour Ms. Gbemi.

GOVERNING BOARD

The next Lord Aylmer Governing Board meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday, December 14th at 6:30 p.m.

PD DAYS AND DAYCARE

Daycare follows the school calendar which means daycare is closed from December 26th – January 6th. Our next PD day is January 23rd. The form will be sent through Remind on January 11th and the form will close on January 18th. December payments are due by the end of December.

INCLEMENT WEATHER

Please ensure children are dressed appropriately for the weather. Students will be outdoors as much as possible. An extra pair of dry socks and mittens or gloves are recommended. Please label all clothing items.

LOST AND FOUND

Our lost and found tables are overflowing. Please don’t forget to label your children’s clothing. All labelled items will be returned. Any unclaimed items will be donated at the end of each month. A picture of lost items will be sent through Remind monthly.

STUDENT ABSENCES

Please don’t forget to call the school if your child will be absent or late. When leaving a message, please include the date and the reason for your child’s absence. If you wish to make any changes to your child’s after-school routines, you must contact the office and the daycare before 2:00 pm. Messages left after 2:00 may not be heard until after dismissal.

Jr. Campus: 819.684.4888

Sr. Campus: 819.684.6801

Daycare: 819.684.1494

FOOD DRIVE FOR THE FOOD BANK

Lord Aylmer will be holding two food drives to help our local food bank for the Christmas holidays and beyond. The week of December 12-16th, students will be able to donate non-perishable food items at the school. We will collect the donations and deliver them to the food bank at the end of the week. We are so happy to be bringing this tradition back as it was discontinued during the last three years due to COVID.

DRIVE-THROUGH FOR THE FOOD BANK

The second food drive will take place on Saturday morning (December 17th) from 8:00 AM until noon and will provide an opportunity for our families and wider community to make donations to the food bank. Our annual Drive-through for the Food Bank will be set up at the Senior Campus front parking lot on Dec.17 th . Please join us in this campaign by dropping off non-perishable food items or cash donations. We have it on good authority that Santa will also be rolling up his sleeves to help out that day.

ANGEL TREE AND CHRISTMAS DINNER FOR OUR FAMILIES IN NEED

This year, Lord Aylmer is once again creating an Angel Tree to support our students during the holiday season. We will be supporting 14 families in need this year. Angels are now available for families to select at the front entrances of each campus. Each angel will be labelled with a family number, gender and age, so it is important that the angels be returned with the gift! We ask that you purchase an age-appropriate gift, wrap it, attach the angel and return it to the school by December 19th.

In addition, we will be accepting monetary donations in order to purchase Christmas dinner for our families. Please consider supporting Lord Aylmer families and as always, we appreciate everyone’s contributions!

MESSAGES FROM OUR AMAZING HOME & SCHOOL

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR

On November 24 th and 25 th, our Home and School held a Scholastic Book Fair at the senior campus. Thank you to all our wonderful students, parents, grandparents, family, friends and volunteers who helped make our Scholastic book fair such a big success. Home and School raised over $2000 to be used on new books and resources for the school. Thank you to all for coming to our book fair.

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR

WOW! What a tremendous turnout! A huge thank you to our wonderful community for coming out to support our school and local vendors! Hats off to the local businesses that donated prizes for our raffle and our lovely bakers who made the bake table a huge success! And of course, a big thank you to our many volunteers who helped to make this event happen. Fun was had by all, but Santa and the kids may have had the most fun of all! Happy and safe Holidays to all!

PIZZA & SUBWAY

Pizza Dates: Dec. 2 & 16

Subway Dates: Dec. 9 & 19

Get your Pizza & Subway for the 2nd Quarter. Make sure to get your orders in before Friday, January 6, 2023 on our Home & School Shop at: https://www.lordaylmerhs.ca/shop. The second quarter is for January to March pizza and subway lunches. We cannot accept late orders.

PURDY’S AND DFS

These fundraisers are now closed. We are happy to say we raised over $900.00! For all those who made purchases, please keep an eye on our H&S Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LordAymerHS for pickup details.

FUNDRAISER HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS

Fundscrip: Christmas made easy! Fundscrip offers gift cards for over 270 retailers including Winners, Best Buy, Walmart, Dollarama, Toys R Us, Maxi, Rona, Cineplex and the list goes on. Shop for yours now!

New in the glam shop! LA Toques are here!

Stay warm this holiday season with our new LA glam toques! For more information about our Home and School please visit the Lord Aylmer Home and School website at https://www.lordaylmerhs.ca

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER