P.I.N.K.Parent Information & News at KKSA

December 18th, 2015

Dear <<First Name>>,

Well Wishes

As we enter in to this holiday season, I would liketo take the time to wish you and your family apeaceful season with many opportunities to createnew family memories. Whether you are travellingor remaining close to home, I hope that you aresafe and well rested. May the New Year bringincreased happiness and exciting adventures. Ithank you, our parent community for yourwillingness to always lend a hand and support ourschool community. Your dedication plays anintegral role in the success of our students.

To my outstanding staff, I extend the greatestappreciation for all that they do, each and everyday! They continue to put the needs of studentsfirst, collaborate to support student programmingand support eachother as well as our students.

LOST and FOUND, Term Clean Up

The school will be closed the first few days of the

Upcoming Dates

Mon, Jan 11thParent Council Meeting -

Focus on Cyber Safety (for

Parents)

Thu, Jan 14thECO Conference (Ms. Cohen

& Ms. Thompson with

selected students)

Tue, Jan 19thShowcase Dress Rehersal

Thu, Jan 21stTerm One Showcase @ John

English 6:30pm

Fri, Jan 22ndPA Day - no school for

students

Thu, Jan 21stTerm One Showcase @ John

holidays. We will not be able to salvage foodcontainers that remain behind with old lunchesinside. Students will be doing a locker clean-out,visit to the lost-and-found, and reminded to takehome all personal materials. We will have nocaretaker on staff for the first half of the break andno access to the school will be available.

English 6:30pm

Thu, Jan 28thFirst Ski Club Day -

Students to be determined

Looking Ahead to January

The programming at KKSA is intensive and highly integrated. When a student isaway, they miss out not only on instruction but also on the collaboration withgroup members, which is often a part of many student projects. Teachers workhard to support students when absent. Please encourage your child tocommunicate with their teacher to stay abreast of assignments and activities andvisit the kksa.ca website to access classroom work.

Learning Showcase - Save the Date!

The staff is working with the students to present a learning showcase for the end of firstterm. We will be sharing our learning at John English Jr. Middle School on Thursday,January 21. The showcase is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM. Please stay tuned formore information.

PLEASE NOTE: We will have a full rehearsal at John English on Tuesday, January19th. We hope all students will participate if possible. Grade 8 Families

For those families who did not make the information session held last week,please download and review the attachments. Critical deadlines are approaching inearly January. See summary of payment below.Our goal is to have all students participating. Please speak to Mrs. Oketch if thecost is an issue. All information is confidential. Please make all cheques payableto Karen Kain School of the Arts. (Scanned documents attached)

Payment Dates: PLEASE SEND PAYMENT FOR ALL DATES TO SCHOOL BY

JANUARY 8, 2016

January 8, 2016 $143 ($100 Deposit + $43 Insurance)(Post Dated) February 22, 2016 $313(Post Dated) April 22, 2016 $313*

* This amount may change once fundraising efforts have been determined. A newcheque will be requested.

Fundraising:Our goal is to raise funds for the school community as a whole. From the moneyraised we plan to offset the cost of the grad trip as we would each year. This yearwe hope to raise about $100 per student. We will be able to announce the moneythat can support the travel of the Grade 8 students prior to depositing the finalpayment cheques in April. I hope that this information will assist with budgetingfor the event.

Giving Tree

Thanks to the generous support from our students and families, we have beenable to support 6 families during this holiday season. Although, it is a very busytime, you made the effort to purchase gifts and send monetary support for each ofthe families. Many of our students sent kind wishes for the holidays as well as theupcoming year. I sincerely thank you for your support in making this importantendeavor a success!

“Purinapaq” (Walking Together) and Pop Tabs forWheelchairs - Written by Gonzalo 8A

Thanks to Karen Kain School of the Arts for donating 2150 bottle taps toPurinapaq that will go to The Project Pop Tabs. This organization provideswheelchairs for people in need. The Pop Tabs Project needs at least 2,500,000 forone regular manual wheelchair. They collect pop tabs and take them to metalrecycling depots. Payment is by the pound for the aluminum, and then theypurchase equipment with that money.

A few days ago, I meet with Sheldon MacLean, a member of the war veterans’organization and we received two wheelchairs to send to Peru. Sheldon told meabout The Pop Tabs Project and we decided to give them directly to theorganization. I can say this was a good way to support people here in ourcommunity and in return we received two devices to send to Peru.

Purinapaq means “walking together” in the native language from the Incas. Thisorganization was established by my family in 2007, as a non-profit project toassist people with disabilities in Peru. The organization donates assistive devicesto improve the quality of life and overall development. We and our friends werecollecting donations from different sources for the physically disabled and thosethat are blind and deaf. We donated power and manual wheelchairs, canes,crutches, walkers, Braille machines, white canes, and more. We store thisequipment in storage units and once there is enough equipment, we load it in a40 foot sea container and send it to Peru. In the past 8 years we have sent 14containers. We have a team in Peru that refurbish and distribute directly to thepeople in need. We send more than 8,000 manual wheelchairs and 1,500 powerwheelchairs as well as equipment and medical supplies for people in need. We canchange people’s quality of life in different ways!

If you would like to help Purinapaq, call this number (416) 938-9311 or you canvisit “Purinapaq Aid Project to Peru” on Facebook.

Confederation Debate

Classes 8A and 8B went back in time this week and transformed their classroomsinto conference rooms and dressed in role as the men who met to discuss thefuture of British North America. In their various colonies, they weighed the meritsand drawbacks of becoming a country. Students researched the issues of theircolony and presented their arguments, while compromising on some issues withthe aim of building a nation. Students made their history textbooks come to lifeand learned a great deal about how difficult it would have been for Canada’sfounding fathers to make a deal. Please see the pictures below.

GR 6 Eco Assembly and Spirit Day Photos

Clubs & TeamsPlease check the website for a more detailed calendar of

clubs, teams and events.

AM LUNCH PM

MONDAY Yearbook Club Art Club

Ukulele Club(starting Nov 16)

TUESDAY Math Support Me To We

BasketballPractice

WEDNESDAY Drama Club

THURSDAY Math Support Improv Club

BasketballPractice Dungeons & Dragons Club

Scrabble Club

FRIDAY Student Parliament

Cheer Club

Eco Club

Thank you for taking the time to read this week's newsletter and please don'thesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns.

Vonda-Kaye W. OketchPrincipalvonda-kayew.oketch@tdsb.on.ca

P.S. Don't forget to click on the links below to follow KKSA and stay connected!

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