Holiday Greetings!

Principal’s message:

December is upon us! It promises to be a busy month ahead as our school community gets into the holiday spirit with our annual food drive and Christmas craft fair. Thank you in advance for your support in collecting food donations for the food bank. It is greatly appreciated at this time of year. On December 15th, the PAC will be hosting the traditional AHE Craft Fair, and soon after we will all be gathering for our Christmas production, “T’was the Night Before Christmas”.

Written Progress profiles will be sent home this month. This is a formal communication of each student’s learning that includes areas of strength and stretch in Literacy and Numeracy and a self-assessment of the Core Competencies.

Our theme for the month of December is Joy; focusing on sharing the things that bring us JOY. Wishing you all a safe and restful holiday!

Mrs. Pam Mair, Principal

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Winter Expectations

SNOW is on the way (hopefully) and we are preparing ourselves for a great winter season! A big thank you to our PAC and Home Hardware for donating shovels and toboggans for each class. Please remember to send your child dressed for the weather (with extra socks and mitts) as we do enjoy playing and learning outside! The school has a few items to lend when students forget. If you have any extra snow pants, gloves, or mittens to donate, they would be gratefully accepted.

We have been reminding our students of the following playground expectations:

• Come prepared with appropriate winter/snow wear: mitts, hat, snow pants, jacket.
• Snow stays on the ground unless directed at our snowball targets.
• Only one person at a time when sliding.
• Slide feet first and on your bottom.
• Walk up hills in a safe spot beside any sliding areas.
• Invite others to play and take time to explain the game/activity.
• Respect others’ creations; break things only if you’ve made them.
• Report all dangerous and slippery areas.

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Christmas Food Drive

Our Christmas Food Drive starts December 1st! Each class has a box to fill with non-perishable items that will be transferred to the Christmas Train which sits in the front entrance of AHE. We will be collecting non-perishable items for the Revelstoke Food Bank from December 1st to the 21st. Thank you for supporting the Revelstoke Food Bank.

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Staffing Update

Coming up in the new year, we have two of our staff members returning from maternity leave. Ms. Georgia Mackenzie will be returning in January to a position in grade 7, sharing with Ms. Bieniada and Ms. Butler will be returning to her K/1 position in March. Welcome Back! While we recognize that change can sometimes be difficult for students, we will be doing everything to make these transitions easy!

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Basketball Season

The Grade 6 and 7 Basketball season starts in January this year. Look for more information coming soon. Grade 6’s and 7’s will be practicing twice per week this month as they get ready for a season of fun-filled basketball action. Inter-school play will be happening which is certainly exciting for everyone. If you have a passion for Basketball, we are frequently in need of volunteer referees. Please reach out to Mrs. Mair at pmair@sd19.bc.ca if you are able to help.

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District Grade Activities

Each year the School District supports a variety of activities within the community for each grade. The Grades 3 and 6 students are heading to Revelstoke Mountain Resort for Alpine skiing/snowboarding instruction with the RMR ski school on January 15, 22 and 29.

Also in January and February, the grade 4’s head to Mt. MacPherson for Nordic ski lessons with the Revelstoke Nordic club, and the grade 1 students will have 3 skating sessions at the Revelstoke Forum. The dates for nordic skiing and skating are TBD.

 

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Battle of the Books

There are several exciting activities happening in the library around “the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”! Each class is getting their photo taken for the Library Calendar, which is now our school tradition to bring alive popular books every year. Our district-wide reading challenge, the Battle of the Books has been launched, and it was great to see the enthusiasm on the first day when our keen readers signed up and checked out their first books.

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AHE Christmas Production

Preparations have started for our Christmas production: speaking roles have been distributed among the grade 5-6-7 students, and every class is practicing their song and dance. The theme this year is ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Families are welcome to join us for our Dress Rehearsal on Dec. 21st at 1:00 or at the evening performance at 6:30 p.m. Please bring a donation to the food bank! All students will be involved in this presentation. Further information regarding costumes and meeting times will be coming from classroom teachers.

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Lost & Found

Our Lost & Found is overflowing with valuable items! Thank you to our PAC for providing a rack to display items easily. Please pop in to take a look before the Christmas Holidays to collect your child’s items. Items that have been left behind for an extended period will be delivered to the Thrift Store on Dec. 22, 2023. Labelling items would make it

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Indigenous Education

Randy Williams, a Splatisin Elder, will be making several trips to AHE this year. We are excited to hear about his Secwepemc Culture. Each visit, he teaches a song, language, dances, stories and more! 

 

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PAC News

The countdown is on for our holiday break. PAC is holding our annual Holiday Craft Fair on December 15th. You can drop crafts off at the school starting December 11th and no later than December 14th. If you need inspiration, head on over to Arrow Heights Elementary PAC Facebook page. The craft fair isn’t possible without volunteers, so please sign up through the Google Docs link provided below. If you have any questions about the Holiday Craft Fair, please send me a quick email at pacarrowheights@gmail.com

PAC Annual Holiday Craft Fair Volunteer Signup Sheet:
https://tinyurl.com/3rmvh745

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Screen Smart

Screen Smart Revelstoke is organizing a screen-free scavenger hunt – Winter Edition! Complete the checklist that was provided by your teacher by Thursday, Dec 21st/2023 and return it to our secretary Mrs. Pendergast! Draw to win a free swim during your holiday break!

Download the scavenger hunt activity sheet here: https://tinyurl.com/yun96vd4

Coming up in January, Scott Rothermel, Safe School Coordinator, will be hosting two sessions for parents on the topic of Digital Parenting;

• Jan 18: Video Games – Risks and Rewards
• Jan 23: Social Media 101 – Risks and Rewards

   

 

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Upcoming Dates

Date	Event
December 1st	AHE Christmas Food Drive starts!
December 1st	PAC pizza lunch
December 4th	AHE PAC meeting 6:30pm
December 5th	Hot Lunch – Community Kitchen
December 11th – 14th	CRAFT DROP OFF before or after school
December 15th	FALL PROGRESS PROFILES ISSUED
December 15th	Christmas Craft Fair
December 21st	Christmas Concert 1:00pm and 6:30pm
December 22nd	Food Drive ends
December 22nd	Theme Day- Christmas Sweater Day
December 25-Jan 7	Holiday Break
January 8th	First day back to school for 2024!