1. education
2. school

George Bonner Elementary School
May Newsletter
3060 Cobble Hill Road, Mill Bay, B.C. V0R 2P3
Principal: Mr. Chris Clark Phone: (250) 743-5571 [email protected]
Office email: [email protected]
EARLY DISMISSAL
A reminder that Wednesday, May 13th, is the final 2 hour early dismissal day of the
school year. Students will be dismissed at 12:18 pm and busses will be running two hours
earlier than usual.
STUDENT REGISTRATION
As the end of the school draws near, we are starting the process of looking at next years
staffing and what our class configurations might look like. Both of these things are
entirely dependent on student enrolment in the school. Should you or someone you know
plan on registering new students at George Bonner next year, please do so as soon as
possible. Thank you for helping us prepare for next year.
SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM
The George Bonner Safe Arrival program is run by parent volunteers in order to help
ensure student safety. Should your child not arrive at school, a volunteer will call you to
ensure your child is home. If you call ahead to let the school know, you will not receive a
call. Should you wish to be added or removed from this program, please call the school.
Thank you to all the parent volunteers that make this program possible!
SPRING PHOTOS
On Tuesday, April 22nd, Lifetouch Photography from Victoria visited the school to take
class, whole school and individual photos. Class photos will be provided free of charge,
but the whole school photo and individual photos have a fee should you wish to purchase
them. Individual photo proofs will be sent home and you can order online. Whole school
order forms are available at the office.
EARTH DAY AND LIGHTS OUT CANADA
April 27th was “Earth Day” and also ”Lights out Canada Day” so staff and students shut
off as many lights as possible throughout the day in order to save energy. Well done,
everyone!
VISITOR SIGN IN
A reminder that any visitors to the school between the hours of 8:25 am and 2:18 pm
should be signing in at the office and putting on a visitor tag so staff know who is in the
school. Thank you for helping us ensure the safety of your children.
SCHOOL TRACK MEET
On Thursday, May 28th, students in Grades 4 - 7 will be participating in the school track
meet at the Cowichan Sportsplex. The students and staff will be traveling by school bus.
Children should wear proper footwear and gym strip (shorts and t-shirt) to compete.
Since it may be hot and sunny, students should bring a water bottle, sunscreen and a hat.
In the event of light rain, a raincoat may be necessary. If the weather is poor, the track
meet may be canceled and we will have a regular school day.
Students should bring a bag lunch. The concession will be open but expect long lines at
the concession. If students spend too long waiting in line at the concession, they may miss
their scheduled event.
Children will be expected to behave appropriately and follow the George Bonner
Elementary School Code of Conduct. We must encourage all students to stay off the
track while races are in progress. We do not want to see anyone get hurt.
We will be running the events from 9:20 am - 1:40 pm. Results from the school track and
field meet will help to determine the participants for the District Meet tentatively
scheduled for Friday, June 5th.
Parents are welcome to observe and cheer for participants. We are also looking for
parents who are willing to help run events. If you are able to volunteer at the track meet,
please fill out the green notice that went home with students on Tuesday, May 5th.
SPORTS AND CLUBS
Next week the George Bonner Junior or Senior girls soccer teams will be travelling to
Duncan in order to participate in mini soccer tournaments at Sherman road soccer fields.
The emphasis of these tournaments is fun and participation. Go Bonner Bears!
GRADE 6/7 CAMP IMADENE TRIP
Through dedication and commitment to Thursday pizza sales, we are able to provide a
year-end day trip to Camp Imadene on Mesachie Lake for all Grade 6/7 students on
Monday, June 15th. This is a wonderful opportunity for the Grade 6/7 students to enjoy a
fun day in the sun doing a variety of outdoor activities. Students will be able to choose 2
- 3 activities from the following list:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
archery
swimming (supervised by a certified lifeguard)
climbing wall
challenge course
BMX course
canoeing and kayaking
group games
The trip is part of the PE program for all Grade 6/7 students so we are requesting all
students attend. If your son or daughter is not able to attend, please contact your son
or daughter’s teacher to make other arrangements.
We will need several parents to supervise the students. We need at least 7 parents to
supervise for the full day to keep the student to adult ratio to 10:1. If you are able to
help out with supervision for the trip on June 15th, please watch for the permission form
to arrive soon. Due to the nature of the activities, a high-risk form must be completed
by both parents which will be included with the permission form. We look forward to a
great trip to Camp Imadene on June 15th.
JUMP ROPE FOR HEART
This year’s Jump Rope for Heart event is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27th. The
primary students will participate in healthy heart activities in the morning and the
intermediate students will do the same in the afternoon. Starting next week, George
Bonner students will be encouraged to collect pledges for heart disease and stroke
research through the Jump Rope for Heart campaign.
Students can fundraise online or in person. An envelope and parent information package
about the process was sent out this week. Thank you in advance to all students and
families for supporting this event.
SCHOOL WIDE RUN
Last month’s school wide run was the Rainbow Run in support of cancer awareness and
research. The students of Divisions 3 and 4 organized the run, fundraised over $500.00
and also spoke to students about cancer.
Every division in the school chose a colour, which represented a different cancer, and
wore that colour to school for the rainbow run. Thank you to Mr. Ingram, Mr. Launder
and their students for all their hard work. It was a great event! Did you see us in the
newspaper?
This month’s school wide run will be on Friday, May 29th and the spirit day theme will be
twins. For Twin’s Day, students are encouraged to dress alike with a peer as their twin.
Parents are welcome to join us for the run. The warm-up begins at 10:30 am.
LIBRARY NEWS – Mrs. A. Brockhurst
Things are busy as usual in our wonderful George Bonner Library. Our library monitor
teams have been hard at work at lunch hours, helping supervise activities, shelving books,
and doing other important jobs. I am very grateful for their help! Prize-draw winners
for April were: Erin, Emily S., Maddy G., Shayla, and Sam G.
We had a visit from Clyde Woolman, a Vancouver Island author of young adult novels. His
presentation focused on the writing and editing process and was very well received.
We recently received 2 boxes of new books which the students are very excited to read!
Scholastic Book Order forms for May will be going out next week for Divisions 1 through
12 from the library. (The Kindergarten classes are handled by their own teachers so may
have a different due date and ordering agenda.) These orders will be due back at school
by Monday, May 11th.
There have been a few regular adult helpers this year who come in on a weekly basis to
shelve books (thank you Tara, Joan, and Ann) but I am always on the lookout for more! If
you're familiar with the Dewey decimal system, love books, and enjoy seeing what the
students are reading, please stop in to see me any Monday or Wednesday.
TC 10K – GEORGE BONNER BEARS
On Sunday, April 26th, ten students and a number of adults competed in the Times
Colonist 10 km run in Victoria. Everyone had a great time and some very fast times were
posted. Well done to all members of the Bonner Bears team. The race was the culmination
of three months of practice where children saw huge improvements in their fitness and
endurance. Congratulations to Matthew M., Brandon L., Ethan B., Jack D., Zack T.,
Jeremie J., Cohen C., Heywood C., Keegan M., and Dibs F. You should all feel proud of
your determination and commitment. A huge thank you to all the parent volunteers,
families and teachers who helped with the training sessions and ran the race in support of
our school team.
PAC NEWS
Call for Nominations for the PAC Executive for the 2015-2016 School Year
Hello Bonner Parents! As there are only a couple of months of school left in the 20142015 school year, it is time to call for nominations for the PAC Executive positions for
the 2015-2016 school year. The elections will be held during the June PAC
meeting. ALL parents are part of the Bonner PAC and ALL parents are welcome and
encouraged to attend the meetings and support/volunteer for PAC activities and fund
raising. Please consider putting your name forward or nominating a parent for a PAC
position. It is a very rewarding service and no prior experience is necessary. We have a
lot of fun and more hands make for light work. PAC meetings are held once a month and
alternate between morning meetings at 8:45 am and evening meetings at 6:30 pm so that
all parents have an opportunity to attend. The next PAC meeting is scheduled for
Tuesday, May 19th at 6:30 pm in the Library. Everyone is welcome! Can't make the
meetings but still want to get involved? There is always lots of stuff to do between
meetings and the help is always appreciated. The PAC can be contacted at anytime at
[email protected]
The positions up for nomination are as follows:
Chairperson
Vice Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Fundraising Coordinator
If you are interested or have any questions regarding these positions and their duties
please feel free to contact the PAC via [email protected]
HOT LUNCH
The May Hot Lunch will feature Moo's Pizza and will take place on Tuesday, May 26th.
There will be no paper order form going home with the students for this Hot Lunch as we
will be switching over to the new online ordering system: hotlunches.net. The menu,
online ordering and the ordering deadline will be available once all details for the Hot
Lunch are finalized. An email will be sent out to Bonner parents at that time. **Please
note that there will be no orders accepted once the deadline has passed. This ensures
that we are able to give accurate numbers to the restaurant and the PAC and it allows
adequate time for preparation and shopping for supplies.**
Thank you to all those parents who have already registered for the service. If you have
not yet registered you will need to register in order for your students to participate in
May's Hot Lunch. It only takes a few minutes to register your students. Please follow
the registration instructions below:
First step is to go to http://bonnerpac.hotlunches.net
To use the system, you will be required to register and provide your name, phone number
and email address. This site has an SSL Certificate to provide full security of your
personal information, and only the information required to manage the lunch program is
required. The volunteer site administrator cannot access your password and you select
your own user ID.
To register for an account click on the "REGISTER" tab on the main menu bar. This will
take you to the registration form to create an account for your family. Each family will
have one account and each student at the school will be linked to this
account. Our SCHOOL ACCESS CODE is GBHL. You can also find George Bonner if you
click on schools and scroll down to the alphabetical list for schools in British Columbia.
Provide the other information as required to complete your registration. Once you have
registered, you can immediately LOG IN.
Once you have logged into the system you will be at the "Welcome Screen". This is the
first screen you will see each time you login and from here you can quickly access the
major sections of the system.
The first step is to add your students to the system so that orders can be placed
them. To add your children to the system click on the "Students" button to access
student management screen. To add any student to the system you must click on
"Add a Student" button to access the form. The "Student Administration" screen
allow you to specify your child's name and select which class he or she is in.
Once you have entered the information click the "Add New" button
for
the
the
will
This is the basic instruction on how to register your child. Once you are registered feel
free to read the Parent Instructions Guide under the Help Tab.
If you have any questions please feel free to email PAC Chair Kristen Leclair
at [email protected] NEXT PAC MEETING
Yes, the PAC does a lot of Fundraising but we do more than that. If you would like to be
involved in supporting, encouraging and improving the quality of education and the wellbeing and safety of the students in our school, you are invited to attend the next PAC
meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, May 19th at 6:30 pm in the library.
E-MAIL ADDRESSES
A reminder that we hope to eventually get e-mail addresses for all families so that we
can reduce the number of paper notices we send home, therefore saving paper, hydro and
trees. If you have not given us your e-mail address and would like to receive electronic
notices, please email the office at [email protected].
COMMUNITY NOTICES
South Cowichan Recreation:
South Cowichan Recreation is pleased to offer the following programs this spring: Please
call 250-743-5922 for more info or to register.
Junior Golf Clinic
Drop-in Basketball
Home Alone + First Aid
Pro D Camp (Rock Climbing)
Junior Mountain Biking
Babysitters Training
Ages 7+
Grades 2 - 7
Ages 10+
Ages 6 - 12
Ages 9 - 15
Ages 11+
Wednesdays, May 6 - 27
Thursdays, May 7 - 28 @ Bonner
Saturday, May 9
Friday, May 15
Thursdays, May 21 - June 11
Friday/Saturday, June 12/13
Please call 250-743-5922 for more information or to register.
Youth Recreation Programs – The Hub:
The HUB at Cowichan Station is excited to offer a free after school sports and
recreation drop-in program for youth age 11-14. This program is supported by Canadian
Tire Jumpstart which recognizes the important life benefits that participation in sports
and physical activity can have in the life of a child/youth. All welcome. A parent/guardian
must complete a participant information form for their child on the first visit.
Fridays, May 22 - June 12, 2015 (3:45 pm - 5:00 pm)
Please feel free to email Sadie for more information:
[email protected] or visit the site at http://cowichanstation.org/.
BC’s 16th Family Fishing Weekend – June 19 – June 21, 2015
The Valley Fish and Game is hosting a family fishing day at Mayo Lake on June 20th from
9:00 am to 3:00 pm. This is a free event - no fishing license required on Family Fishing
Weekend. There will be free hot dogs, pop and lots of prizes.
Mayo Lake Park is a beautiful 3 acre nature park near Skutz Falls, located on Mayo
Road. There is a wheelchair accessible fishing platform, a small boat launching area, and
picnic tables. You can check out our website at www.valley fish and game club.
Please call Wally Baas with any questions: 250-749-4025
Cowichan Valley Soccer:
The Cowichan Valley Soccer Association together with EPIC Sports is offering two
soccer camps this summer:
July 20 - 24, 2015
August 10 - 14, 2015
9:00 am - noon
9:00 am - noon
Maple Bay School
Maple Bay School
$140.00
$140.00
The camp is open to all boys and girls ages 6 to 16. Please note that the location of the
camp is in Maple Bay. This is due to pending construction of our new turf field at the
Sherman Road fields.
Registration is now open online at www.cowichansoccer.com
Further Information on Epic Sport at www.epicsport.ca
Questions; [email protected]
George Bonner Elementary Monthly Calendar – May 2015
MON
TUES
WED
THUR
FRI
1
Professional
Day
SAT
2
SUN
3
4
Div. 5/7/8
to Mt Z
8:45-2:00
5
Div. 14
Eves Park
6
Staff
Meeting
Grade 7 to
Kelsey for
orientation
9:50-12
7
District
Cross
Country Run
TTOC
shortage?
CR4YRS
12:30
8
Div.
5/6Metis
Camp
Div. 11/12
to Wendy’s
House
9
10
11
Junior Girls
soccer
tourny
12
Senior Girls
soccer
tourney
13
PLC day-2
hour early
dismissal
Div 6/10
salmon
release
14
Div. 9/13 to
Butterfly
World
Div 11 to
Bug Zoo
15
Day in Lieu
16
17
18
Victoria
Day
19
PAC
meeting
6:30 pm in
Library
20
Div. 5/12 to
Eves Park
21
Ready Set
Go 12:30
22
Band
performance
10:30
Glen Lyon
Norfolk
23
24
25
26
PAC hot
lunch
27
Jump Rope
for Heart
28
GBE Track
Meet at
Chesterfield
Primary
Sports Day
29
Whole School
Run
Twin Day
30
31