Dear Families,

It is with a warm and open heart that I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and soon to be a Happy New Year!  I hope you have an enjoyable and safe holiday with all your family and friends.  We all lead such busy lives, but I believe the holidays are a time to stop, listen and think about all the ones we love, cherish and respect.  

I am very blessed to have such caring, loving, and amazing family, friends, and students in my life.  Speaking of students, I will certainly miss seeing your child’s enthusiastic and beautiful smile over the holidays and I am delighted we’ll all be reunited and get back into our daily routine of fun and learning in January!  See you on the 7^th.

Edible Christmas Tree Creations:
It was an exciting day in our classroom!  Students worked on a writing piece (procedure) on how to make an edible Christmas tree.  They used their language notebook to record their ideas and in the end, they got to evaluate and try their tree treats!  They looked YUMMY!  

Thank you parents for your continued generosity in providing numerous delicious toppings for our class to share, use, and build their sweeeeet trees!  Check us out! 

PJ Day:
Thank you to all the staff and students who dressed up in their PJ’s for our movie day to support the leadership team in their initiative to continue raising school spirit!  It was a FUN day for one and ALL!  Look at all those cozy jammies, blankies, and stuffies!

Thank You:

I would like to take this moment to extend my thank you to all my families and their children who took the time, thought, and energy to give me such heart-soaring gifts for Christmas!  I will cherish them ALL.  It means the absolute world to me knowing that I have your unconditional love and support.  Also, knowing that you believe in me as your child’s teacher is something that I cherish deeply.  My students are my greatest gift!  

It has been a tremendous school year thus far, and I look forward to creating many more beautiful memories in 2019!  I'm SO HAPPY to be part of the Nighthawk family!! Again, parents thank you so much for your generous gifts!! 

Empathy Assembly:

What a powerful performance yesterday by my students!!  I am sooo proud of everyone for their dedication, hard work, and efforts in preparation for this assembly.  Amazing work boys and girls!  If you were able to attend, thank you so much for your support.  I know it meant a lot to the class. I’m sure you're beaming with pride just as much as I am :) A memorable moment which we'll seal deeply in our hearts forever!

I would also like to personally thank three special people in my life for attending yesterday's performance. Thank you to Mr. Roth, Mrs. Roth, my Ma, Mrs. Boucher, and Mrs Bell who came to support us!  Your continued caring and nurturing ways in ALL my teaching endeavours is appreciated, always!!  I love you!!

Congratulations to Coleton and Emma for receiving the Empathy award!  You truly demonstrate this trait in your thoughts, words, and actions!  Thank you for BEING YOU!

Business Fair:

Thank you to all the staff and students for supporting this year's Grade 8 business fair.  Our gym looked fantastic with all the creative business ideas!  I was in awe!  It was a tremendous success and helped raise funds for their trip to Montreal in the spring.  Way to go Nighthawks!

Santa's Visit to Help Support My Friends' House:

Santa's third visit in a row to our school was a huge success because of all the wonderful students and families who donated to My Friends' House!  We must have had close to 500 items!!  I delivered all the donations after school yesterday and we had a car full!!  WOW, thank you!!  

I know Santa's heart was filled with joy, too!!  He is so proud of each and every one of you for sharing your gift of giving to others who need it.  Thank you so much for your generous contributions :)  Here at Nottawa Elementary, we know the true spirit of Christmas!  Maybe next year, Santa will be back to visit us again!!

A Gift of Peace:

Your child has brought home a holiday gift to share with YOU.  Inside you will find a peace stone, peace poem and a peace dove to hang on your Christmas tree!  Peace is one of our greatest gifts we can give to each other to help continue living in a safe, strong, and free country.  We must all continue striving towards treating one another with love and peace.  This will contribute to a wonderful life for one and all.  

Thank you to Mrs. West, the kids art teacher who had the students paint a beautiful reindeer picture as well!  I'm sure you'll love their creation!  Happy Holidays!

Mindfulness:
Below is the song we performed at our empathy assembly yesterday!  They did a wonderful job with their singing and using their assigned instruments to accompany the song!  It's a very catchy tune with powerful words and images :)  Ask your child what the songwriter's message is!  Maybe over the holiday, they may even perform it again for you!

Growth Mindset:

“Be kind to the world, and the world will be kind to you!” – Becca

Namaste,

Ms. Gill