A Message from Mr. Cockburn...

February 25, 2015

Catholic Schools are Special 2

Past Events 3

Upcoming Events 4

School Council News 5

Phoenix Sports 6

Carnevale 7

Parent Information 8

Superintendent's Message 9

Archbishop’s Message 10

March Calendar 11

Inside this issue:

Edmonton Catholic Schools

St. Philip School

Dear St. Philip Students and Parent/Guardians,

The month of February was extremely busy, culminating with our Family Skate Night hosted

on February 25th at Evansdale Rink! We would like to thank the teacher coordinators Mrs.

Fedorak and Mrs. Giacobbo for organizing this great family event! The students and families

enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies, and skating again this year along with the usual door prizes

for the children! A special thank you to our parents for all of the prize donations.

I would also like to recognize and thank the teachers involved in the organization of this year’s

Italian Carnevale, Mrs. DeGrazia, Mrs. Verduci and Ms. Caramia. What an amazing and won-

derful annual Italian cultural event our students experienced again this year! A very special

thank you goes to the staff, the parent volunteers, the Parent School Council for their help in

subsidizing these important events and all of the community businesses that donated goods or

money to help cover costs! None of this would be possible without everyone’s’ contributions.

The month of February this year had a very special focus! As is customary at St. Philip School,

the students and staff focused on Random Acts of Kindness and every class did something

special, but this year the grade 3 and 4’s took this initiative to another level. They incorporated

Random Acts of Kindness with their Transform Project which focused on our theme this year

of “Being the best version of ourselves by living by the Golden Rule”. The result was their Gold-

en Rule Project. The students prepared videos and pictograms for morning announcements

that focused on kindness, respect, friendship and anti-bullying in a way that helped the entire

student body reflect on our two rules of Safety and Respect and our on-going mandate “to be

the very best versions of ourselves on a daily basis by living by the Golden Rule”. They also

collected and donated cereal to the breakfast program at one of our other Catholic schools for

those students who come to school on a daily basis without eating breakfast. What amazing

transformational work our Grade 3 and 4 students and teachers have done! Please know that

this kind of work is being done in every classroom at St. Philip School and this is only one ex-

ample of the amazing project based Transformational Educational work taking place this year

at school.

Random Acts of Kindness week, the Golden Rule Project, in conjunction with our Catholic sea-

son of Lent, helps to remind us that we can be like Jesus to others through our acts of service

and kindness to others. Often during Lent our focus is on making specific sacrifices and giving

up something. We should never forget that our kindness and the help we offer others are

likely more important in building a caring community than our personal sacrifices.

On a personal note, as I reflect on my time here at St. Philip School, I would like to say that it

has truly been a blessing and privilege to be a part of such an amazing, inspirational and dy-

namic learning environment! I am honored to have had the good fortune to work with such

dedicated students, parents and staff who truly do make every effort on a daily basis to be “the

very best versions of themselves!” As a school community, St. Philip has much to be thankful

for!

Please join us on March 25th for Demonstration of Learning to celebrate your child’s progress

and learning! We wish you a great month of March.

Dean Cockburn Jennifer Zubot

Principal Assistant Principal

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Lunch

Thank you to our hot lunch mom’s for ordering, picking up and serving our students on this day!

Don’t forget to bring the

family out for our annual

“Family Skate Night” on

February 25th at Evans-

dale Community Hall. Lo-

cated at 9111-150ave.

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PATHS IN OUR SCHOOL

All feelings are OK! It is what we do with those feelings that can be good or bad. Uncomfortable feelings like sad, mad, frustrated, disap-pointed, scared are things that we sometimes feel. The important thing is to help our students choose positive ways to express or show their feelings. Positive ways to express uncomfortable feelings might be to talk to someone, take deep breaths to calm down, take a break from the situation, ask for help… In our PATHS lessons and throughout the day, we talk about how to handle uncomfortable feelings by using the control signals poster. Ask your child to show

you the three steps of Red, Yellow and Green!

Ash Wednesday

Celebration

On Wednesday, February 18th, St. Philip School held their Ash Wednesday Celebration in the school gym. Father Paul led the celebration and the students, staff, and parents received ashes on their foreheads to mark them as willing par-ticipants on their Lenten journey toward Easter.

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Our Grade 1 and 2 students celebrat-ed 100 days of school on February 9th! Each class was involved in nu-merous cross-curricular activities such as dressing up as a 100 year old per-son, creating an unique masterpiece with 100 pieces in art, participating in 100 exercise activities in gym class, counting to 100 in math, participat-ing in a 100 day scavenger hunt and seeing what he/she could do in 100 seconds.

The Antyssey

Kindergarten Zoo 2U

On Wednesday, January 28th, the grade 1-6 students had the opportunity to watch the play “The Antyssey” in the school gym. This play contains many themes of varying complexity, such as:

Fear of others is often unfounded, We are all unique, Families come in all shapes and sizes, Listen to your heart to find out who you really are, and Team-work gets things done.

100 Days of School for Grade One!!!

On February 10th, the Kindergarten class

had an in-class presentation by ZOO 2 U!

The students were introduced to a tor-

toise, a hedgehog, a micro pig, a parrot,

a bunny, a chameleon, a guinea pig

and an iguana. They learned many new

facts about these animals and the chil-

dren got up-close and personal with

them too! What a fun morning of hands-on learning!

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DEMONSTRATION OF LEARNING

Please set aside some time to join us for our Demonstration of Learning.

When: Wednesday, March 26th, 2015 from 3:00 to 4:30 PM and 5:30 to 8:00 PM

*Yes, students must attend the Demonstration of Learning with their parent as they are leading the presentation of their learning.*

It is not necessary to book a time for your child-led Demonstration of Learning. You will have the opportunity to speak to your child’s teacher and to have your child lead you through activi-ties designed to highlight his/her learning and progress.

We look forward to your participation.

IMPORTANT CHANGE IN DISMISSAL TIMES FOR SPRING BREAK!

Kindergarten students will attend school on Thursday, March 26th from 8:20 AM to

11:20 AM. No Kindergarten classes on Friday, March 27th, 2015.

Grade 1 to 6 will have a full day of school on Thursday March 26th!

Please send lunch!

There will be regular classes for students in Grade 1 to 6 on Friday, March 27th, 2015 in

the morning only! Dismissal for spring break is at 11:50AM.

SPRING BREAK

Spring break is from March 30st to April 6th. Classes resume April 7th at 8:20 am.

St. Philip Pride Days The first Friday of each month from now until June we will be celebrating St. Philip Pride Day.

This is a day that students can celebrate being a Phoenix by wearing their St. Philip clothing or

school colours (green/white/red).

All clothing orders were sent home in December, but there are some extra white t-shirts for sale in

the office if you are interested. The cost is $15.00 per shirt. Please see Mrs. Zubot.

School Council News...

Our next School Advisory Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 18th.

Our Family Dance will be held on Friday, May 1st at 6:30p.m. This year’s dance is on St. Philip Day so wear spirit clothing or our school colours of green, white and red.

** Mark your Calendars**

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On Friday, January 31, students participated in the Heart and Stroke Jump Rope for Heart Fund-raiser. Students did a jumpcredible job of raising a total of $4735.85 !!! Thank you to everyone who participated and helped in the fundraising for this fun event. Prizes will be distributed when they arrive. Way to go St. Philip!

Thank you to the following parents and members of our St. Philip Family for volunteering to help out at our December and February bingos.

Also a big thank you to the Knights of Columbus who have helped volunteer as well!

We still are looking for volunteers for the Monday, May 18 Bingos. We need 5 volunteers for the afternoon bingo ( 10:15 am - 3:45 pm) and 4 volunteers for the evening bingo (4:15pm - 9:30pm). All Bingos are at the Fort Road bingo hall located at 13403 Fort Road. Bingo profits help subsidize school field trips and activities.

Your help is appeciated!! Please contact jettlag9@hotmail.com if you are able to volunteer.

HOT LUNCH

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the February 20th Hot Lunch: Isabella & Donna Coccimi-glio, Tania Garritano, Helena Sommer, Sylvia Sciroli & Veronica Monteiro.

Our next Hot Lunch is March 20th, Little Caesar’s pizza will be served. The theme will be Pajama Day. If you can volunteer, please call the school at 780-475-3566.

Remember to have your order in on time no late or-ders will be accepted.

Mrs. K. Born Mrs. Y. Mazzotta Mrs. B. Ritchie

Mrs. S. Guido Mr. P. DaSilva Mrs. T. Garritano

Mrs. S. Sciroli Mr. M. Charrois Mrs. M. Gamache

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Running Room Relay

Floor Hockey Tournament

Congratulations to both of the boys and girls St. Philip

Floor Hockey teams for winning BRONZE at the Cardi-

nal Leger Tournament on January 29th. Most Valua-

ble Player awards were given to: Kyle & Danika. Most

Sportsmanlike Player awards were given to Marco and

Jenna. Thank you to Mr. Cockburn and Mrs. Zubot for

coaching. It’s great to be a St. Philip Phoenix!!

Congratulations and thank you to the follow-

ing Grade 6 students who make up the St. Phil-

ip School Relay Teams!

They represented our school well at the Run-

ning Room Indoor Games held at the Butter-

dome on February 17th.

Giacomo 6A Zainab 6B

Jose 6A Mya 6A

Yobel 6B Danika 6A

Muslim 6A Madelyn 6A

Dante 6B Meaghan 6A

Kyle 6A Jacqueline 6A

Nico 6B Kaylee 6A

Domenic 6B Sylvana 6A

Siem 6A Kayla 6A

The Girls Relay Team will advance to the

quarter finals and compete in the 8x200

Metre Relay at the Butterdome on Saturday,

March 14. Go Phoenix Girls Go!

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On Friday,

February 13th

2015, St.

Philip School celebrated the beginning

of Lent with a “Carnevale”!!! As one im-

portant stage of our Catholic religion

ended another has begun. February 17,

2015 was Shrove Tuesday, the day that

marked Jesus’ departure into the desert

for 40

days and 40 nights. It is a time for all

of us to change our hearts and to

prepare for lent. Being part of “Carnevale” allowed the students, staff and community of St. Philip School to have an authentic Italian experience. The students engaged in many different activities that provid-ed them the opportunity to experi-ence the Italian Culture and to cele-

brate Lent as it is done globally. These stations and activities included

mask making, gelato tasting, pasta

sampling, games, face painting, do-nated baked goods and even a chance to bake traditional Carnevale sweets. This event could not have been successful without the involve-ment of teachers, staff, parents and

students. A huge thank you to the

f o l -lowing businesses for their generous

donations: Cobbs Bakery, The Italian

Bakery, TNN Cleaning and Mainte-

nance, Roma Flowers, Sicilian Pasta

Kitchen, De Fazio Gourmet, and The Italian Centre Shop. Thank you as

well to the Italian teachers for organ-

izing this event. This day will always

be remembered by everyone who participated. It was the beginning of

changing our hearts.

Carnevale

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Parents as Role Models

Parents tend to be the strongest role models in

their child’s life and this can be a strong parenting asset.

Imagine all of the wonderful things you want your child to be,

for example, kind, respectful, and honest. If you choose to model those traits, your child is likely to follow suit. As a role model, it is important to recognize that you have a range of emotions and re-sponses. It is not realistic to expect you can always model happy, calm behaviour. There are up-setting moments in life that can make you feel sad, frustrated or angry. However, if your child sees that you are angry, for example, but able to handle it appropriately, they are more likely to handle their own anger appropriately too. If you treat others with respect and consideration, chances are your child will do the same.

A similar outcome can be expected with respect to alcohol. If your child sees that you choose to celebrate special occasions without alcohol – they learn something. If alcohol is used, it is critical to model responsible drinking. This is not a moral judgment about choosing or not choosing to drink alcohol, but recognizing that what a child sees and experiences is more likely what they will choose for themselves. Here are some things you can talk about with your child to build healthy role mod-els:

Share experiences - Tell stories about family or friends who show real kindness or determination in their lives. Talk about who you admire, and why? This will help your child realize that different peo-ple behave differently. Your child may begin to consider which people they would like to try to emu-late as they grow up.

Learn from others - When you see strangers in public behaving in ways that are kind and consider-ate take the time to talk about this behaviour with your child. When you see strangers behaving in ways that are inappropriate, take the time to talk about this as well. Discuss different behaviours with your child, and encourage them by complimenting them when they behave well.

Learn from mistakes - Everybody makes mistakes; it is part of being human. If you do make a mis-take, such as losing your temper or over-drinking at a family function, it is possible to talk to your child about this without burdening them with adult problems. You can apologize and explain that you made a mistake but that you are trying hard to change. The important thing is to reassure your child that you love them and that adult problems are not their fault.

Upcoming Literacy Evening!

Are you a parent of a child in Kindergarten or Grade 1?

Please join us at St. Philip School on March 3 at 6:30 p.m. to learn more about how to support your child with his or her reading skills!

If your child is in kindergarten or grade 1 and you are interested in coming that night, please con-tact the office or your child's teacher as soon as possible. Invites went home in the Friday enve-lopes on February 6th.

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March 2015

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with

all your strength ~ Mark 12:30

In this scripture passage, a scribe is asking Jesus which commandment is the greatest of all. Jesus’ response is clear, and He follows with a

second commandment… to love your neighbor as yourself. It seems like such a simple thing to do, to love, yet we only need to look around us

to see how difficult this simple act is for people and for society. Lent offers us a unique opportunity to bring this commandment to life. I wish you

a special Lenten awakening that is to be found in selfless acts of love.

Literacy and numeracy are deeply embedded into learning each day. We are excited to announce the first ever ECSD Numeracy Week which

will profile this essential aspect of daily learning! Just like we promote literacy and reading during Read-In Week, Numeracy Week will be an

annual celebration of numeracy. The goal of Numeracy Week is twofold: to promote a greater understanding of what numeracy is, and to show

how numeracy is important for learning in every content area and for life! The week will be held annually in conjunction with International Pi Day

– March 14. Our first ever Numeracy Week will run March 9-13th, 2015, with Pi day being on Saturday March 14. This year’s Pi Day is very

special because with it being 2015, and the first 5 digits of pi being 3.1415, this will not occur again for 100 years! Visit our website to learn

more. https://www.ecsd.net/news/pages/numeracy-week-in-edmonton-catholic-schools.aspx

We have a new way of gathering information from our parent community about how we are doing. This year, we will be using a three stage pro-

cess using Thoughtexchange. Thoughtexchange is an online community engagement tool that allows us to reach out to parents and staff af-

fected by the decisions made in our school district. We learn about what is important to you to support student learning. You will receive more

information from your school. Visit http://ecsd.thoughtexchange.info/invitation from March 2-11 to share your valuable opinions.

There are so many opportunities for our District students to shine this month; Spring Into Art, Band Share Day, and Heart of Glee are just of few

of the ways in which our students get to share their gifts and talents with the broader community. Please visit our website for more information.

In Edmonton Catholic Schools, we continue to provide ongoing, excellent professional learning opportunities to all teachers through Transform:

Christ-centered Learning for Today and Tomorrow. Through the coaching component of this professional learning model, our teachers are

working with school learning coaches and district consultants as “elbow partners” to plan-teach-document-reflect on student learning to ensure

that students perform well academically and thrive socially and emotionally.

On February 17, 2015 at our public board meeting, four school communities presented their successes with coaching to move all K-12 students

forward. Their stories illuminated how students’ and teachers’ passion for learning is contagious and how empowered students are to be en-

gaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit. The teachers explained that while coaching was critical to their progress, so,

too, were the rich professional learning sessions on student-centered teaching that have been provided through Transform. For example, on

February 19, 2015, all schools engaged in a livestreamed session about research-based assessment practices from Dylan Wiliam, an interna-

tionally known researcher. We continue to grow and learn together in our district through our vibrant professional learning program.

Did you know that your child has a district supported Office 365 account? This educational productivity toolset includes an email account, 1

terabyte of cloud file storage, web-based versions of Microsoft Office including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote, and the ability to down-

load and install Microsoft Office on up to 5 home computers (Mac or PC). This Office 365 account can be accessed from any computer with a

web browser by visiting http://portal.office.com and using their 7-digit school ID @school.ecsd.net (e.g. 1016026@school.ecsd.net) and their

school computer password. They can also use these credentials to use and log into mobile apps on iPhone, iPad, and Android.

In closing, I would like to leave you with an excerpt from Pope Francis’ Lenten message.

During this Lent, then, brothers and sisters, let us all ask the Lord: “Fac cor nostrum secundum cor tuum”: Make our hearts like yours (Litany of

the Sacred Heart of Jesus). In this way we will receive a heart which is firm and merciful, attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed,

indifferent or prey to the globalization of indifference.

Sincerely,

Joan Carr, Superintendent

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March 2015

Great Lent and “Crossovers”

In the automobile industry “crossovers” are vehicles built on a car platform combining features of a sport utility vehicle with those from a passenger

vehicle, such as fold-down rear seats, extra cargo space, and a liftgate.

In reality, Jesus invented the original crossover. His voluntary sacrifice on the cross allows us to crossover from sin and death to eternal life. That’s

what we celebrate at Easter. And that’s what we recall in Great Lent, the forty days of preparation for the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord.

Great Lent is simply put a return to the Father.

The biblical story of the fall of Adam and Eve is a story of the loss of our original beauty and our exile from God. It is the story of our rebellion

against the Creator and the transformation of the world as paradise with God into a place of hardship, struggle and self-centredness.

Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden as a result of their disobedience. Ever since, humanity sat outside the Gates of Paradise and

was prevented from crossing over into full communion once again with God, that is, until the coming of Christ the Messiah.

Adam and Eve have placed themselves outside the Gates of Paradise.

The Lord took a handful of dust from the earth.

He breathed into it and created me, a living man.

He made me lord and master of all things on earth.

Truly I enjoyed the life of the angels.

But Satan the deceiver, in the guise of a serpent tempted me;

I ate the forbidden fruit and forfeited the glory of God.

Now I have been delivered to the earth through death.

O compassionate Lord, call me back to Eden!

Adam was exiled from paradise through disobedience.

He was driven from eternal bliss, deceived by the words of Eve.

He sat naked and weeping before the gates of paradise.

Let us hasten to enter the season of fasting;

Let us carefully obey the Gospel commands,

That we may be made acceptable to Christ our God

And regain our home in Eden (Vespers of Cheesefare Sunday).

The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, the new Adam, opened up for once again the possibility for earth and heaven to be reunited. Jesus de-

scended from heaven unto earth so that we might ascend from earth unto heaven. The crossover.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross transcended the great abyss of sin and death and restored our original humanity and dignity.

O holy paradise, planted for me by God and lost by our weakness,

Grant that I may once again gaze on the flowers of your garden.

And the Saviour said, I do not wish the death of my creation.

I desire that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

For the one who comes to me I shall never cast out.

This Great Lent, let us prepare ourselves through prayer, fasting and works of charity to celebrate the Easter and the original crossover which leads

us from sin and death into eternal life.

Bishop David Motiuk

Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton

St. Philip Catholic School

8720—144 AVE

Phone: 780-475-3566

Fax: 780-478.9659

March 2015

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 Grade 5 Drum Workshop

3 3A & 3B Fieldtrip to St. Albert Art Studio ( Literacy Night 6:30p.m. Gr. 6 to City Hall

4 Kindergarten fieldtrip to Save On Foods

5

6 St. Philip Pride Day Pep Rally @ 2:00p.m.

7

8

9 Red Sky Per-formance @ 9:00a.m.

10 Grade 3A to Oil Kings game

11

12 13 Kinder Cooking

14 Running Room Relay Race

15 16 17 St. Patrick’s Day

18 School Council Meeting @ 6:30p.m.

19

20 Hot Lunch (Little Caesar’s) & PJ Day

21

22 23 Report Cards Home

24 Transform Student Showcase

25 Demonstration of Learning 3:00—4:30p.m. 5:30– 8:00p.m.

26 Full Day of Classes Kindergarten classes today

27 Half Day of Classes (out at 11:50a.m.) Stations of the Cross @ 11:00a.m. No Kindergarten Classes

28

29 30

31

Spring Break

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