World Autism Awareness Day ~ Light it up Blue!

April 2nd, 2016 marked the 9th anniversary of the very first World Autism Awareness Day. In 2007 this date was declared by the United Nations General Assembly, in order to bring the world’s attention to Autism, a spectrum disorder that affects tens of millions globally. On October 23, 2012, a World Autism Awareness Day bill was passed by members of the House of Commons in Canada which officially recognizes April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day in Canada. 

This year, World Autism Awareness Day fell on Saturday, April 2nd, so Raise the Flag celebrations took place on Monday, April 4th in schools and municipalities across Ontario.  

Hundreds of TWPS students wore blue on Monday, April 4th in celebration of World Autism Awareness Day!

Junior Speech Competition

Part of a a longstanding tradition at Trillium Woods is our riveting Junior Public Speaking Competition. Our junior grades (4, 5, 6) work in their language classes to write, polish and perform a 3-5 minute speech on a topic of their choice. Students demonstrating exceptional performance delivering their classroom speech are selected to compete against other students in the gym at the formal school competition. 

The 2016 Speech Competition took place Thursday, March 24th. All competitors did a fantastic job and we would like to congratulate the following students for their achievement in being selected to compete:

Sam 6JD, Kavin 6M, Ramen 5G, Dennis 6M, Tina 5G, Miriam 6JD, Eric 5S, Julia 6M, Ben F. 6M, Jason 5S, Ben M. 6V, Lucia 6V, Hannah 4D, Aleena 4D

Winners of the 2016 Annual Junior Public Speaking Competition are as follows:

1st Place: 

Lucia

Topic: Overcoming a Bad Hair Day

2nd Place: (tie)

Kavin

Topic: Being a Superhero

Miriam

Topic: Social Media: Benefits and Problems

3rd Place:

Sam

Topic: Dinosaurs

Congratulations to all students who participated in this exciting day! 

A thank you goes out to the junior teachers, especially Mrs. Gauthier and Mrs. Jacobs for organizing the event. Thanks also to our panel of celebrity judges: Mme Sapunjis, Mrs. Gipp, Mrs. Coleman, and Ms. Patrick.

Trillium Woods Honours Earth Hour

Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia and quickly grew to a global phenomenon. By 2009, Earth Hour grew to over 4,000 cities, including 73 national capitals and nine of the world's 10 most populated cities. Earth hour in 2016 was on March 19th, from 8:30-9:30 p.m.. Over half of the Canadian population  switched off their lights! 

 

The goal is to get as many individuals and businesses as possible to turn off their lights for one hour to raise awareness about climate change and demonstrate that people are ready to take personal action. 

 

Trillium Woods and all other YRDSB schools and offices honoured this event on March 24th  by turning off our lights and monitors from 1:30-2:30 p.m.

 

Earth Hour is a straightforward way for Trillium Woods and York Region’s municipalities and citizens to take action and celebrate our existing efforts to fight climate change. 

 

Inclement Weather Day March 24th

March 24th has been declared an inclement weather day in YRDSB and all bus services have been cancelled. Please be reminded that when buses are cancelled in the morning, they are also cancelled for the afternoon. If your child is normally bussed to school and they are at school today, they must be picked up at dismissal time.

Please also note that tonight’s school council meeting has been cancelled. We will reconvene council at our next regularly scheduled meeting on June 16^th.

2016 Teach Nutrition Innovation Award Winner

Congratulations to the students in Mr. Durgana’s Grade 4 homeroom for capturing the 2016 Nutrition Innovation Award. This year students produced a bilingual public Service Announcement promoting healthy eating. In addition to their captivating television advertisement, students used the basic principles of JavaScript to design an innovative Minecraft-themed video game that takes players on a healthy adventure! 

The, “Teach Nutrition Awards” contest recognizes health initiatives set forth by schools province wide. This year judges on the panel voted Trillium Woods Public School as one of the most creative school in Ontario for their brilliant health initiative. Congratulations Tornadoes on your prestigious achievement!

For more information please visit http://ontario.teachnutrition.ca/ 

UPower Student and Parent Presentation

On Monday, we had the pleasure of hosting Sara Westbrook at Trillium Woods. Sara is a motivational speaker specializing in resilience and respect. Her message to parents and students included a decision making formula where students learn to base quality character choices on a desired end result, despite any circumstances that might get in the way.

In the evening, families learned about how their participation in activities with their children helps kids feel confident and supported, allowing them to bounce back from life's challenges and to better handle stress. Sara talked about how learning these skills is an ongoing process for children and adults that takes time to build habits of positive decision making and maintaining focus on a goal.

We were pleased to see almost 100 families from Trillium Woods, Beynon Fields P.S., and Silver Pines P.S. come together to hear Sara's Presentation. Thanks to Ms. Moses, Ms. Chilvers, Mrs. Clubine, Mrs. Campbell, and Mr. Seto for giving up their time to support the evening. A huge special thank you to Ms. Moses for her efforts in organizing this fantastic event for our school. Click here for parent resources from Sara.

Bus Cancellation Procedure

This is a reminder for all parents that in the event that buses are cancelled:

If buses are cancelled in the morning, they are also cancelled for the afternoon.

For safety reasons, you may choose whether or not to send your child to school; however, if you keep him/her home and your child is NOT bused, you MUST call the school and report the absence. Our Safe Arrival Program dictates that we know the whereabouts of all absent students.

There may be a modified program in your child’s class due to numbers of students attending and absences of some teachers. If your child does not attend school on a day that buses are cancelled due to inclement weather, your child will not face attendance related repercussions.

Once students arrive, they are expected to stay. You can, however, make arrangements ahead of time to pick up your child at lunch.

When buses are cancelled – there are:

·         NO Lunch Service Arrangements or Special Lunches.

·         NO Special Events days or field trips. 

·         Please send a lunch with your child.

Please note:

Dress for the weather – bus cancellation does not mean automatic indoor recesses.

Information regarding bus cancellations is posted at www.schoolbuscity.com, conveyed to GTA radio/television stations, and available on the Board’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/#!/YRDSB.