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Celebrations around the World: Connecting with our Communities

Dear family and friends,

Celebrations happen at various times throughout the year. I hope you were one of the lucky ones to experience the first live in person winter concert featuring our very own Pythagoras Academy band and choir, in 2022. It was an amazing concert that brought our Pythagoras Academy community together. 

I was fortunate enough to be able to travel home to Australia to celebrate Christmas with my family, which I haven’t done in 3 years! Although my flight was delayed by 3 hrs leaving YVR. Others in the days following my departure were not so lucky with flights being canceled due to the snowstorm that hit Vancouver after my departure.

Whatever adventures you experienced over the winter break, I hope that you were able to celebrate with family and friends safely, connect with your community by lending a helping hand shovelling snow or meeting other like minded people playing in the snow in your community. 

Happy Holidays,


Ms. Leanne Ho
Vice Principal of Curriculum

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Messages from Across the Grades

Junior Kindergarten "JK" 

No matter how big or small, an act of kindness goes a long way. The holiday season is great for spreading cheer, gratitude and kindness! Junior Kindergarten students have been learning about ways to spread kindness throughout their school and the local community. Students participated in the #LondonDrugs #stockingstufferforseniors initative, where they gifted various items to senior citizens in their local community.

Grades K/1

In Kindergarten, students have been reading celebratory stories from all different cultures, decorating Christmas trees and painting winter scenes. During circle time, they have been discussing the various ways we celebrate this holiday season. Students have also been singing festive songs in English, Mandarin, French and Spanish. In Grade 1, students decorated our class Christmas tree with beautiful, hand made ornaments and baked cookies. We ended the year with students learning about the different ways everyone celebrates Christmas around the world.

Grades 2/3

Grade two students learned about the various winter holidays celebrated around the world. In Ms. Claman's class, students focused on Hannakah. They created Star of David decorations to showcase their knowledge at the winter concert. In grade three, students completed a reading comprehension task on Christmas around the World. They created various crafts such as stars, stockings and paper chains and featured them during the winter concert.

Grades 4/5

Students in grade 4 explored the letter “G” for "Gratitude" in G.R.O.W. They described important aspects of communities and participated in activities that helped them evaluate their own community members. Students participated in the Blanket BC Drive. In addition to learning about the methods of government around the world and how they compare with Canada’s system of government, grade 5/6 students learned about different cultural and religious traditions from Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. These traditions include: Bodhi Day, Saint Lucia Day, Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas and Kwanzaa.

Grades 6-8

In addition to partnering with the BC Blanket Drive, Grade 6 students have paired up internationally with a school in Pennsylvania to connect their ideas and thoughts through Seesaw Blogging. Students have been learning about positive ways to share their messages, ideas and thoughts online while protecting their digital identity.

The Grade 7 and 8 students have enjoyed their time with our younger community members by creating memories with the JK class. From weekly buddy reading to baking cookies, the power of connecting with others has been a positive experience for all.

Celebrating and Connecting through Literature

Holiday stories are a popular choice for students to read in the library during the month of December. These stories allow children to share holiday characters like the Grinch who stole Christmas, Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. New to the library this year was Peppa Pig's Christmas and a joke book with 165 Holiday jokes. Students enjoy reading the stories about Santa's arrival down the chimney with presents for the sleeping children.

The library also has nonfiction resources to read about celebrations around the world. There are so many festivals of light at this time of the year. Hannukah is celebrated for 8 nights and in 2022 this holiday is at the same time as Christmas. All of us share so much in common-celebration, lights, family and friends gathering together, food and gifts. The Holiday Collection is available to read all year.

Happy Holidays to everyone in our Pythagoras Academy community.
 

Mrs. Lois Powell
Director of Literacy
Teacher Librarian

Wellness at Pythagoras Academy

Winter holidays are a time to regenerate, spend time with family and friends and celebrate the joys of all winter has to bring us. In some parts of our community, not everyone is so fortunate to experience the magic feel of winter. Each year at Pythagoras Academy, students and staff celebrate and engage in a variety of festive activities and practice the act of giving back to the community through various charitable activities such as the toy and blanket drive. Through these acts, students practice applying elements of G.R.O.W. and learn how to generate a culture of kindness.  

For me, giving back to the community in winter has always been a big part of my holiday traditions. I gather blankets and unused clothing to deliver to a local shelter each year. I have found that this not only helps to put a smile on someone’s face, but also makes me feel good about myself. Here are some activities to do over winter break with your family and friends to practice connecting with the community and generate G.R.O.W: Make a Christmas card for someone who might be on their own or arrange a catch-up call with friends and/or family. 


Miss. Una Miljevic
Vice Principal of Student Life
Grade 4-8 Team Lead/ Grade 4 Homeroom Teacher
Wellness Coordinator

Informational Technology at Pythagoras Academy
Recently, grade 2 students had an interesting task during an Informational Technology class. Using Wedo 2.0 Lego kits and working with a partner, students built a miniature Santa on a sleigh, riding the reindeer Rudolf. They also had to program their sculptures by moving forward at a slow speed and playing jingle bells sounds. Some students even modified their Santas by adding additional details and decorations. During this task, students had to work together and identify pieces that are needed to complete a build.
Meanwhile, students also had to make sure that everything rotates properly and Santa is not following over when the motor is on. Students had to test it and identify any possible programming constraints, make changes and explore different ways for Santa and Rudolf to move. At the end, students shared their projects with their communities and reflected on their creations using the Seesaw app.

Upcoming School Events and Important Dates 

January 9: First Day of Term 2  
January 19: Fire Drill
January 27: Lunar New Year Activities and Dress Up 

Upcoming Community Events and Important Dates 

January 2: Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden- Vancouver
January 20: Dine out Vancouver Festival- Vancouver
Current- January 29: Burnaby Photographic Society's 25th Annual Print Exhibition- Burnaby
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