OLMP Catholic School

As you can see from our student photos another busy and active week at OLMP. We have been working to increase physical activity and time spent outside so please be sure everyone is coming to school with layers and appropriate clothing for the weather as we will continue to encourage outdoor time as much as possible. We have also opened up some additional spaces for student activity at the school as we are doing well to adapt to our new routines for this school year. Our gym has been opened up during lunch and breaks. The gym has been split to accommodate two cohorts at a time with grade 9 & 10's having access over lunch and 7 & 8's during afternoon break. The fitness room is open to our grade 11's and 12's as well. Middle school students are also encouraged to check out the new book this week on our outdoor book walk - "The Joke Book" by Roy McKie.

Please stay tuned for a letter coming home to all OLMP Families asking for support in contributing to programming as well as our future OLMP Playground. It is important we continue to improve student access to outdoor activities. More information to come soon.

We are very much looking forward to next weeks first Monthly Assembly! This will be virtual with participating students cohorted in the gym and the rest of the school participating from their classrooms through the new OLMP tv! The assembly will include:

1) Orange Shirt Day and Seven Sacred Teaching Presentation

2) Student of the Month Presentation

3) Mask Creation Competition Announced

4) 2019-2020 School Year Awards Winners

5) Terry Fox Presentation (run to take place the following day)

Next week at our School Assembly we will be recognizing all the awards winners from the 2019 - 2020 School Year. Due to covid-19 we cannot open this celebration to our greater school community to include family and friends, however we will announce winners at our assembly and then each of our winners will be called for photos outside following the celebration. We will be sure to share these photos with families and the greater community following the ceremony through email, the school newsletter and local media. For those that do not attend school on this day we will be sure to mail your awards to you and past grads will be recognized in door drops closer to Thanksgiving. Moving forward OLMP will continue to celebrate our annual awards the week prior to Thanksgiving annually. This will allow greater accuracy as all government marks are finalized by this point.

We are so proud that our school year is off to such an amazing start and now we can tweak a few tiny items that have room for improvement. We kindly ask that parents/guardians that are dropping off their child at the start of the day choose to drop off on Mount Pleasant Drive or that they use the student parking lot (the lot on the far side of the building away from the main entrance). We have created a loop in the parking lot to allow parents to drive in and drop off that will help to ease some of the traffic congestion. We have received complaints at the school regarding drop-off and pick-up in the alleyways and we want to be good neighbors. Mrs. Thiessen will be outside the next few mornings to help with directing traffic and to help guide parents/guardians through the new loop system. See a map below with the new loop location. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Student fees are now activated and can be viewed in the parent portal of PowerSchool. Please note that grade 7 - 12 semester 2 fees won't be added till February 2021, a reminder will come out when those fees are available to pay in the New Year.

To pay current fees for student go online and log in to https://powerschool.eics.ab.ca/public. This is also where you can update annual demographic and consent forms. The video tutorial on how to access and pay fees is below to guide you. If you need assistance with your PowerSchool account, please contact the school at 780-672-2975.

It is also important to note that textbooks not returned from last school year have been charged to the students account as well. If you still need to return textbooks please do so and the fee will be removed.

For those struggling to pay fees a fee waiver form can be completed to apply for relief. This form is linked below. Once complete it can be dropped off at the school or it can be scanned to our account clerks email - lorindatw@eics.ab.ca

“It’s got to keep going without me”

September 1, 1980 – It was a dull day in Northern Ontario when Terry Fox ran his last miles.

He had started out strong that morning and felt confident. The road was lined with people shouting, “Don’t give up, you can make it!” words that spurred him and lifted his spirits. But after 18 miles he started coughing and felt a pain in his chest. Terry knew how to cope with pain. He’d run through it as he always had before; he’d simply keep going until the pain went away.

In honour of this amazing, courageous Canadian we are having a Terry Fox walk and hotdog

lunch on October 1st. Hot dogs will be a toonie with proceeds going to the Terry Fox Foundation.

• Thursday, September 24th - Beach Day !!
• Friday, September 25th (no school) - deadline for grade 5-8 Student Council Applications
• Monday, September 28th - Photo Day
  
• Wednesday, September 30th - School Assembly (virtual) / Awards / Orange Shirt Day
• Thursday, October 1st - Terry Fox Run (dress for the weather) - Hot Dogs toonie BBQ.

Wearing an orange shirt and promoting the slogan, Every Child Matters, is an affirmation of our commitment to raise awareness of the residential school experience and to ensure that every child matters as we focus on our hope for a better future in which children are empowered to help each other.

English as Additional Language Programing (EAL)

OLMP offers specific programming for students in our building whose first language is not English. Language acquisition is monitored through periodic formal and informal assessments. These findings are used to deliver ESL programming that addresses the linguistic, cultural, spiritual, and academic needs of these students. This may be in the form of in-class support, small group lessons, or targeted classes for English Language Learners. (ELLs)

The goal of the program is to provide these students with the necessary educational programs and academic supports to enable them to communicate in English fluently and competently enough to complete their education.

ELL Lead Teacher: Mrs. Helen Rodin

Contact email: helen.rodin@eics.ab.ca

Anxiety 101 : What you and your child need to know about anxiety.

Anxiety is normal. Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. It alerts us to threats, protects us from danger and helps us reach important goals. For example, it is normal to feel anxious when encountering a bear on a hike, or before taking an important exam.

Anxiety is not dangerous. Although anxiety feels uncomfortable, it is temporary and will eventually decrease. The sensations we experience in an anxious situation are designed to alert and activate us. They are normal and part of our body’s natural response mechanism. Our body is smart enough to know when to “amp up” and when to “calm down.”

Anxiety is adaptive. Anxiety helps us prepare for real danger, such as crossing a busy street. It can also help us perform at our best, and motivate us to study for an exam or practice for a big game. When we experience anxiety, it triggers our “fight-flight-freeze” response and prepares our body to react. For instance, our heart beats faster to pump blood to our muscles, so we have the energy to run away or fight off danger. Without it, we would not survive. We need some anxiety.

Anxiety is part of life. Trying to eliminate anxiety from your child’s life is almost impossible. Since anxiety is everywhere, one of the greatest gifts you can give your anxious child or teen is the confidence and skill to tolerate or manage anxiety whenever it occurs, and to continue living his/her life anyway!

Anxiety can become a problem. Small doses of anxiety in certain situations are useful. However, when your child is worrying much of the time, avoiding fun activities, or refusing to go to school because s/he is scared or worried, anxiety has become a problem. Think of unmanageable anxiety like fog: if it covers everything, makes it hard to see, stops you from doing what you usually do, and generally gets in the way, then it has likely become a problem.

*If your family would like further support or information in regards to anxiety, please contact me by phone or email.

~Laurie Kushnerick~

Family Wellness Worker

Phone:780-672-2975

Email:laurie.kushnerick@eics.ab.ca

Anxiety Canada: ”Anxiety 101- What You and Your Child Need to Know About Anxiety”

http://www.anxietycanada.com/articles/anxiety-101-what-you-and-your-child-need-to-know-about-anxiety/?_ga=2.95467932.1051699378.1600876150-47882806.1600876150

For Families In Need of Technology at Home

My name is Linden Seto and I'm the owner of King's Computer Repair in Camrose and we are collaborating with Higster Computer Repair in Sedgwick. We have created a project to help students in the area's of Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Flagstaff and surrounding areas. If there are any students or families in need of a computer to do school work, please have them contact us.

We are doing free computer rental for any students and families in need. All that is required is a signature on a form, and a $20 refundable deposit, which will be returned upon safe return of the devices.

The rental comes with a Desktop (500GB- 1TB Hard Drive, 8 GB of RAM, i5-i7 Processor), 1 Monitor (22 - 24"), 1 keyboard, and 1 mouse.

For more information you can reach:
Kings Computer Repair: 780-226-8301

Student Council is back at OLMP this year. If you are interested in getting more involved in making our school and community even more awesome, scan the QR code to apply for Student Council! Meetings will take place virtually and Student Council representatives will be involved in assemblies and many school wide events.