A Day of Fun

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….at the school’s Fun Fair

It didn’t look good …..the forecast that is. The weather station called for rain, thunder and lightning. The parents had worked for months to make the day perfect for the kids. Now it looked like everything might have to be moved inside.

It did rain early in the morning but the sun gods were on our side and a couple of hours before the fair was to start the skies cleared and the everything went forward as planned. I promised my principal that I would go to the fair to keep her company and support the community. I actually love going to the Fun Fair. A lot of former students come back to the fair and it’s great catching up with them and seeing how much they have grown.

One of the highlights at the fair is the dunk tank. Every year our principal volunteers to sit in the tank and lets the kids try to dunk her. This year our gym teacher also volunteered. The kids love it and in grade 5 they are allowed to sit in the tank as well.

: Our principal taunting the boys and girls

: Down , down…….

: …..down she goes

: My friend P and gym teacher

: No one is safe in the dunk tank

: What a good sport!

Another popular activity is the Cake Walk. Hundreds of cakes are donated. Everyone stands in line to do the cake walk. Ten participants at a time walk around the room to music and when the music stops everyone stops on a number. If your number is drawn you win a cake. For some reason my principal thinks I’m lucky and I had to play the game 14 times before I won her cake.

In the meantime M, my principal tried the Cake Walk and won on her first try. One of the kids also gave her one of the cakes that they won so in the end she let me keep the cake that I won.

The fire department and the police department come by with their trucks and cruisers and let the kids sit inside their vehicles. Just as I was taking pictures of the kids around the fire truck the department got a call and had to leave in a hurry. They quickly got the kids out of the truck and put on their fire fighting gear. It was interesting how the boots and pants are stored on the truck so that when they step into the boots the pants are ready to be pulled up efficiently.

: Getting the kids off quickly

: Ready for action

Other activities included the bouncy castle, inflatable slides, free cotton candy and sno cones, making candy skewers and decorating pots with a tomato plant to give to Dad on Father’s day. There was face painting, wheels of fortune, fish ponds and hockey. BBQs were set up with hamburgers, hot dogs and corn being professionally grilled.

: How many candies in the jar?

: One of the happy volunteers

: Hockey game

: Inflatable slide

: Professional griller

Congratulations to all the parent organizers and the hundreds of volunteers for pulling off an amazing event. Everyone present had a great time and the kids will remember and cherish these memories for the rest of their lives.

Jumping for Joy

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….and raising a little cash and awareness for the Heart and Stroke Assoc.

Today was our Jump Rope for Heart event. This is my 14th year organizing this school wide jump-a-thon. Two weeks ago we had our kick off assembly and last week the pledge envelopes went home. The day almost runs itself.

Our office assistant and her husband set up their sound equipment and provided great music for the kids to jump to. Everyone gets involved from kindergarten to grade 5, teachers, assistants, student teachers and parent volunteers.

It turned out to be a great day. It was pretty warm but there was a nice breeze and the rain held off until later in the afternoon. The donations should start rolling in next week. As of 4:00 this afternoon about $2000. came back to school in the pledge envelopes. I have no idea how much money is being raised on-line but every year more and more families are using the on-line option to make their donations.

That’s one more thing I can cross off my to do list before the end of the school year. Tomorrow is the school Fun Fair and next Tuesday I’m taking the girls’ soccer team to the West Conference Finals. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Cheers!

Highlight of My Week

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Mama Cormier

……I’ve always wanted to take students to the Daily Bread Food Bank

On Thursday I told you I had misplaced my camera and the two school cameras. Luckily they had been put away for safe keeping in the office as I had suspected and hoped.

Fifteen years ago when I taught middle school I tried to plan a trip to the local food bank so that students could volunteer and experience first hand how the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto worked. At the time, most of my students were underage and not allowed to visit the warehouse. Imagine my surprise this year when one of our primary teachers was able to organize a field trip to the new facility for our grade 3 to 5 students. My principal knew how much I had always wanted to do this so she asked me if I wanted to accompany the students to the warehouse. I jumped at the chance.

On Thursday, Mme M and I, along with four parent volunteers, escorted 29 enthusiastic students to the Daily Bread Food Bank. After registering at the front desk, the kids dropped off 150 pounds of food and then awaited instructions for their next task. A load of fresh carrots and onions had been delivered that morning so our job was to bag the vegetables into net sacks that held five pounds.

The kids couldn’t get over how big these carrots were. The parents thought that a trip to a farm was in order.

I helped bag these onions. We prepared 200 five pound bags. That’s 1000 pounds of onions.

Talk about throwing yourself into your work.

It was dirty work but the kids loved it. Some of them even said it was the best field trip, ever.

After finishing our task we were treated to a snack and given a tour of the facility. In the end, our hard work provided fresh vegetables for 200 families in the Toronto area.

Music That Brought Tears to My Eyes

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. I’m very emotional this time of year and music touches me to the core

Today L, K and I went downtown to enjoy the CBC’s Sounds of the Season concert. All day long radio shows were broadcast live with a studio audience and performances from musical guests. This year’s lineup included Nelly Furtado, Maestro Wes Williams, The Skydiggers, Rita Chiarelli, Blind Boys of Alabama, Liona Boyd and many more.

Between shows you could take part in the silent auction and bid on many wonderful packages put together by the celebrities at the CBC. All the money raised goes to the Daily Bread Food Bank. There was also an opportunity to meet your favourite CBC personalities and get their autographs and speak briefly with them. I can’t believe that I actually stood in line to do that but I have to admit that it was fun meeting the on air celebrities and putting a face to the voices we hear every day.

Dwight Drummond and Anne Marie M. from the CBC TV news

Mary Ito (left) from Fresh Air. I taught all three of Mary’s children. She’s as charming and outgoing as her picture appears.

The first show that we saw had the Skydiggers as the musical guest.

The Skydiggers

One of the numbers they sang was a cover of 2000 Miles by the Pretenders. As soon as the lead singer started the lyrics I started to sob like a baby. I couldn’t help it. I thought of my son in Amsterdam and how he wouldn’t be spending Christmas with us this year.

I couldn’t find a cover done by the Skydiggers but I did manage to find a video with the Pretenders doing this number in the 90s. I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSRUj31mTF4

Running for Terry

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Mama Cormier

…. and Kevin, Marcia, Kathy and anyone else who has or is suffering with cancer

Terry Fox was and is a Canadian hero. I say was because he passed away over 30 years ago just before his 23rd birthday. Diagnosed with a rare bone cancer at the age of 18 and after losing his right leg above the knee, Terry was determined to do something to help raise money to fight cancer and eventually find a cure.

In 1980, after secretly training on his artificial leg, Terry started his Marathon of Hope on the east coast of Canada and was determined to run all the way to the west coast. Everyday Terry ran 42 kilometres and along the way he collected money from the Canadian people for cancer research. His goal was to raise one dollar for every Canadian.

Unfortunately, just outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, Terry had to give up his journey because his cancer had spread to his lungs. Inspired by Terry’s dream, Canadians continued to raise money while Terry endured more treatments. Just before his death, Terry realized his dream when over 24 million dollars was raised.

Every year since, Terry Fox Runs across the country and in over 50 countries around the world have raised over 600 million dollars for cancer research. For the last 11 years at our school the children, staff and the community have raised over $22,000.

Thursday of this week we had our annual Terry Fox Run. After a short assembly and raising the Terry Fox flag, over 300 students, staff and parents ran around our cross country course. It was a beautiful day and full of emotion. Everyone wore large stickers this year with the names of loved ones they were running for.