Spring 2024 Newsletter

Dear Holy Name of Mary Families –

We hope that our newsletter finds all of you well and enjoying the longer days and rising temperatures.

We are now in Lent, and we have begun to prepare our hearts for Holy Week when we remember the sacrifices of Jesus. As our Lenten project this year, we will be accepting gently used clothing donations beginning March 18th until March 26th. The clothing collected will be donated locally to The Hub here in Almonte. We thank you in advance for your kind contributions to our Lenten almsgiving initiative.

Please continue to consult our school calendar that was sent to all families on Monday morning for a list of upcoming events within our school and Parish community. The calendar can also be found on our school website.

March Break is just around the corner and whether you are staying local or travelling – we wish everyone a wonderful week off.

With kind regards,

Colleen Donovan

Holy Name of Mary Parish, in conjunction with the school, continue to work together to prepare our students for the Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation. Important dates are noted below for the participating families. More details will be emailed in advance of these dates.

April 4th - Confirmation Retreat at the school

April 10th - Confirmation at the Parish

April 20th - First Reconciliation at the Parish

May 5th - First Communion at the Parish

Pink Shirt Day, which is celebrated annually, will take place this year on February 28th. This anti-bullying initiative which aims to raise awareness and put an end to bullying in schools, workplaces, and on the internet, stresses the importance of supporting one another, advocating for those people in need and creating positivity in the world. The mission is to create a more kind, inclusive world by raising awareness for anti-bullying initiatives.

On Pink Shirt Day we are encouraging all students and staff to wear pink to stand in solidarity against bullying and to remember our Christian call to care for others. Let us work together to spread kindness and compassion throughout our CDSBEO community.

Our school will be closed for March Break during the week of March 11 - 15. We hope our students and their families have a relaxing and enjoyable break.

HNOM students and staff will be attending Mass at Holy Name of Mary Church on March 27th at 10:30 am. All families are welcome to join us at the Church.

The school will be closed on Friday, March 29th and Monday, April 1st for families to recognize Good Friday and Easter Monday.

A reminder that due to a rare total solar eclipse on April 8th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, CDSBEO has made changes to the previously scheduled PA Day to ensure everyone's safety. The April PA Day originally set for Friday, April 26th, is now rescheduled to Monday, April 8th.

Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Team was busy in December, preparing and delivering presentations for Women's History Month. Students researched, prepared and presented lessons to younger students at Holy Name. These presentations were based on four historically significant Canadian women:

• Roberta Bondar - Astronaut and Neurologist
• Manon Rheaume - Professional Hockey Player and Olympian
• Viola Desmond - Human Rights Activist
• Nell Shipman - Film Director, Author and Animal Rights Activist

The team also offered a colouring contest for all students who participated in the presentations on these Canadian women.

The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Team are: Chloe Kennedy, Keira Guthrie, Morgan St. Pierre, Hanna Sparks, Shaelin Chalmers and Charlotte Kennedy.

Skating is off to a great start! Everyone has enjoyed some ice time over the past few weeks. Some of our youngest students have mastered skating forwards without assistance. Many classes have enjoyed learning new skating skills like pumps, crosscuts and knee bends. In the older grades there have been some great games of Octopus. We are looking forward to a couple more sessions before the March Break. Thank you to all the volunteers who have been able to come tie skates and spend some time on the ice with us!

Please note March 7th (kinders) and March 8th (grades 1-8) are the last skating days.

This winter HNOM returned to Mount Pakenham for Wednesday night ski club! We want to thank all of the parents and staff for the support to get this club off the ground and running. Each week, 50 students ranging from grades 4 - 8 came to school excited to spend their night at the hill with their friends. From the beginners who took lessons and learned new skills each week, to the experts who could take on the runs with their eyes closed, the club offered fun for all! Keep shredding that pow and see you on the hill next year Wolves!

Did you know our library is back up and running again? Classes have a weekly library time when they are welcome to sign out both French and English books. If your child’s teacher has begun to send home library books, be sure to send them back within the week so that your child can have another book choice.

ALSO…

Holy Name is participating in the Forest of Reading Program. This is a program offered throughout Ontario for Kindergarten to Grade 2 children. Students are read new books, and then they vote on their favourites. The book that is the most beloved, earns the title of the Blue Spruce Award 2024.

At the beginning of January, HNOM held an assembly to recognize those students who placed in the top three for their Remembrance Day Contest entries held in our area by Legion Branch 240.

Below is a list of the winners in each category.

• Primary Colour Poster Contest - Rose Puddington won 2nd place
• Junior Colour Poster Contest - Samantha Szpak won 1st place and Harrison Hickey won 2nd place
• Junior Black and White Poster Contest - William LaBrie won 1st place; Ryder Coady won 2nd place and Egan Shaughnessy won 3rd place
• Intermediate Black and White Poster Contest - Sophie Stewart won 3rd place
• Junior Poem Contest - Charley Forget won 2nd place and Adrina Lotan won 3rd place
• Intermediate Poem Contest - Shaelin Chalmers won 1st place; Charlotte Kennedy won 2nd place and Mason Finner won 3rd place
• Junior Essay Contest - Gabriel Pashynsky won 1st place; Maks Recoskie won 2nd place and Charleigh Smithson won 3rd place
• Intermediate Essay Contest - Cayden Elsner won 1st place; Sophie Stewart won 2nd place and Charlotte Kennedy won 3rd place

Congratulations to everyone! We wish our first-place winners' luck as their submissions move on to the next level of judging.

A special thank you to Pat Muldoon from Legion Branch 240 for volunteering his time to hand out the awards.

In January we held a "welcome back assembly" where we recognized and congratulated our Coding/Lego team. Our Green and Gold Wolves participated in a tournament that took place on December 3rd in Kanata. The Green Wolves and the Gold Wolves represented our school community in a way we can all be proud of. The Gold Wolves were awarded the Core Values trophy. This award is given to the team that best displays the Core Values of: Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork, and Fun. See picture below of our deserving champs!

Grade 6 - 8 students at HNOM have been very busy during lunch recess competing in various intramurals sports.

Floor Hockey Champions:

Ryan McGowan-Beard, Aden Gamble, Braedyn Stoddart, Hunter Smith, Tieryn Hooper and Murray Guthrie.

Intramural Volleyball Champions:

Olivia Seguin, Canton Kennedy, Mason Finner, Egan Shaughnessy, Keegan Fernette, Ferris Brown and Chloe Kennedy.

Intramural Soccer is currently underway with seven teams competing for the Championship Trophy!

On Wednesday, February 14th, our Junior Girls' and Boys' hockey teams competed in a Board hockey tournament at the Carleton Place Arena. The competitive hockey team finished second in a very close final game. Our recreational hockey team took home the bronze medal.

Great effort and sportsmanship displayed by all players!!

Volleyball: In December, our Holy Name of Mary Grade 7/8 boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams participated in the regional Upper Canada District Volleyball Tournament at Carleton Place High School. Despite facing formidable competition from larger schools, our boys demonstrated a commendable positive attitude and excellent sportsmanship. As our boys' team is predominantly composed of Grade 7 students, we anticipate they will become even stronger competitors in the coming year. The girls' team also performed admirably, securing a notable victory by defeating the CPHS A team in a set. We commend all our players for their outstanding efforts and teamwork, and we are immensely proud of their achievements. Great work, Wolves!

“Rock On": Our Grade 7/8 French Immersion students have recently been introduced to the sport of curling. We are pleased to announce that they have quickly picked up the sport and have turned out to be great curlers! This activity has allowed them to acquire new skills while having fun. We look forward to seeing how they continue to progress in this exciting sport.

A reminder to families whose children will be absent from school for 4 or more days for vacation or other travel, that a Temporary Absence Form needs to be completed and handed in to the office prior to your child's absence from school. The Temporary Absence Form can be found on our school's website or a copy can be picked up from the front office.

Holy Name of Mary School is currently accepting registrations for the 2024/2025 school year. If you have a child who will be 4 years old by December 31, 2024, and you would like to enroll them in Kindergarten, please visit our school website www.hnom.cdsbeo.on.ca for information on registering your child on-line. We encourage families to register soon as we are currently planning for the upcoming school year.

Our Catholic School Council met on Tuesday, February 20th in the School Library. During the meeting, tentative plans for upcoming social events were discussed as well as other topics.

The next Catholic School Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 16th at 5:30 pm in the school Library. A TEAMS meeting link will be available for any parent who wishes to attend the meeting from home. Please contact the school office if you would like to attend via TEAMS.

Please note, that once approved, minutes of school council meetings are posted on our school website.

Holy Name of Mary staff and students would like to thank School Council for the donation of funds to purchase a variety of new outdoor toys for our students. The toys were purchased in early January and the students have been enjoying playing with them at recess time.

Please see below for information from the Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Health Unit.

Our lost and found is bursting at the seams! Please remind your child to stop by the rolling rack and table at the front of the school to check the items we have collected to see if any items belong to them. We also encourage parents to drop by the school to check out our lost and found area. We have noticed a number of snow pants and winter jackets that students may wish to have over the March Break. All items remaining at the end of March will be packaged up and delivered to the Hub to help support our community.