Volume 1
Issue 4
April 2, 2015
AK WIGG PUBLIC SCHOOL
1337 Haist St., Fonthill, ON, L0S 1E0
IMPORTANT DATES:
NEWSLETTER

April 2 Autism
Awareness Day

April 3 Good
Friday
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

April 6 Easter
Monday
this opportunity to recognize and thank the staff for the many contributions they make to our

April 7th JK SK
class trip to Agape
Valley
doing for AK Wigg Public School!

April 10 Author
David Skuy
visiting Grades 4-8
after lunch

April 22nd Earth
Day

April 24
Princesses &
Pirates Spirit Day

April 28th—
Grade 5 students
to Racing Against
Drugs program

April 29th Grade 4
class to Niagara
Falls Museum

April 30th
Badminton
Tournament
Ms. Hotham for her work with the Intermediate Girls Basketball Team and for all her work
organizing the Spirit Day Program
Mrs. Lawler for her work as Computer Site Manager and for all her help in the school library.
Ms. Breadner for her excellent work with her Grade 1’s this year!
Mrs. Cunningham for her support with primary soccer and T-ball
Mrs. Ianizzi for organizing our author visit, the Book Fairs and for her ongoing work in our library!
Mrs. Bradley for coordinating our Remembrance Day Memory book project and display. She also
worked with Mrs. Stefaniuk to organize Dance Club this year!
Mrs. Stefaniuk for coordinating Dance Club and for assisting with School Advisory Council.
Monsieur Lacasse for coaching our Badminton team and Cross Country.
Mrs. Abraham for running Choir, Talent Show and for training our DSBN Road Race participants!
Mrs. Fucile for her ongoing support assistant coaching the Jr Boys Basketball team and the Intermediate Girls volleyball team. Mrs. Fucile also regularly acted as Teacher in Charge this year!
Mrs. Young for her work with coaching Junior Girls Basketball.
Mr. Hildebrandt for coordinating intramural Ball Hockey, the Speeches Competition and our
Track and Field day as well as Jr. Girls Basketball, Intermediate Soccer and Cross Country.
Mr. Eliopoulos for his support with the Dreambox Challenge and Intermediate soccer this year!
Mr, Triano for coaching Cross Country, Track & Field and Intermediate Soccer, supporting Mr.
Hildebrandt during our Speech Competition & always being helpful with our assembly setup.
Mrs. Shepard for assistant coaching Intermediate Boys basketball.
Mrs. Tennier for for her dedication in supporting AK Wigg students!
Mr. Dropppert for all his hard work with the Early Act Club and our first Wigg Winter Classic
event and Junior Basketball.
Mr. Kurland for being our Health & Safety Rep and for coordinating Rocks and Rings and our
upcoming June Pan Am Games Day. Also for his support with Ball Hockey and Soccer.
Ms. Szpurko for coordinating Jump Rope for Heart and for her work supporting our students!
Mrs. Sawatsky and Mrs. Koziej for their work supporting students in our Kindergarten program!
Mrs. Nicholas doing such an amazing job in our office and for always being so friendly, helpful and
welcoming to everyone!
Mrs. Bedard, Mr. St. Pierre and Ms. Hunsley for making sure that AK Wigg is the cleanest
Contact us at:
Phone: 905-892-2605
Fax: 905-892-0660
Email:
[email protected]
M. Zwolak - Principal
It looks like Spring has finally arrived! Another busy month is ahead of us! I would like to take
school each and every day. The following are examples of the many terrific things they are
A VERY BIG
TO . . .
AK WIGG PUBLIC SCHOOL —
April Newsletter
Page 2
On March 12, twenty-two A.K.Wigg students paticipated in the Area 2 Chess Tournaments
playing 190 students from the following schools:
Richmond
Westmount
Glynn A Green,
Pelham Centre
Winger
McKay
Oakwood
Diamond Trail
WE Brown
Our boys and girls played very well in this very positive chess sportsman tournament.
Here are the results by grade:
Gr.1 William Looby 3rd place Korten Free 5th place
Gr. 2 Callaway Harlos 1st place Max Pasma 2nd place Savannah Speck 4th place
Gr.3 Tyler Anderson placed Merek Triano 4th place Miria Diab placed Kayla McCall placed
Gr.4 Ben Iannizzi 4th place Josh DiRaddo 5th place Gr.5 Ben Wynia placed
Gr.6 George Martinson 5th place Isaac Pasma 1st place Isabel Song 3rd place and
Parker Triano 4th place
Gr.7 William Hansler placed
Gr.8 Joshua Lahn 4th place Zachary Pasma 1st place Elliott Song 4th place
Andrew Suthons tied for 2nd place Joshua Flores tied for 2nd place.
Thank you to the parent drivers and the excellent and sportsmanship and behavior by the whole
group of chess participants.
NEWSLETTER DRAW
The character education focus for the month of
April is…
YES, I/WE HAVE READ THE APRIL NEWSLETTER.
PLEASE ENTER OUR NAME(S) IN THE NEWSLETTER DRAW.
COOPERATION
We work together as a team to achieve a common
Student’s Name / Family Name
goal or purpose.
Parent Signature
AK WIGG PUBLIC SCHOOL —
April Newsletter
Page 3
This is just a reminder
to parents of our Grades
3 and 6 students that we will be holding our
annual administration of the EQAO Assessment between May 25 and June 5th, 2015. It is
very important that all grade 3 and 6 students
are at school and on time during these days.
Please remember that students perform to
their best ability with lots of sleep and a good
breakfast. Parents of Grades 3 and 6 students
can also view important information about
EQAO, including sample practice questions, on
the EQAO website: http://www.eqao.com/
Parents/parents.aspx?Lang=E
Did you know: Baby Teeth are Very Important!
Tooth decay is the number one chronic disease of children.
Tooth decay can lead to pain, infection, difficulties eating,
speech problems, self-esteem issues, decrease school attendance and poor overall health.
Niagara Region Public Health (NRPH) screens
approximately 25,000 students each year in
elementary schools
38% of these students have tooth decay, which is
unacceptably high.
Baby teeth are important! Early preventive care is critical in reducing the likelihood of your child developing
painful and serious health problems later in life.
Fluoride is not added into our water supply. Therefore,
it is recommended that all residents brush their
teeth twice daily with fluoridated toothpaste as soon
as the first baby tooth erupts (birth to three years –
rice grain size portion, three years and older – peasize portion of fluoride toothpaste)
Floss your child’s teeth daily until age eight
Ensure your child eats a healthy diet and limits sugary
drinks and snacks (ex. fruit roll-ups, gummies and
juice boxes)
Children should visit at dentist every year starting at
their first birthday to prevent problems from starting
Fluoride varnish and sealant applications are very effective in preventing tooth decay
NRPH has free programs and preventive services to assist
children and youth in getting the dental health care they
need. For more information please call the Dental Line at
905-688-8248 or 888-505-6074, ext. 7399.
ALLERGY ALERT REMINDERS
We have students at AK Wigg with a variety
of severe and/or potentially life threatening
allergies to TREE NUTS, PEANUTS, SHELLFISH, EGGS, DAIRY PRODUCTS, DOGS,
SESAME SEEDS, GREEN BEANS, PEAS and
SCENT. Although we have emergency action
plans in place to support these students in a
potential emergency, the support of the AK
Wigg community comes when families work together to avoid sending these products or anything containing traces of them to school.
With the weather improving, we have noted
that people are taking the opportunity to walk
their dogs when picking children up from school.
Please note that dogs are not to be on school
property due to potential student allergies,
fears and issues related to health/hygiene/
safety.
Thank-you in advance for your support and cooperation with these requests in helping us be
proactive about the health and wellness of all
our students.
LATE ARRIVALS OR STUDENT
ABSENCES
Please be sure to contact the school
office prior to the commencement of the
classes in the morning or afternoon if your
child is going to be late or absent from school.
Attendance will be checked by classroom teachers and
forwarded to the office as soon as possible after student entry at the beginning of the day and again after
lunch. The office will make contact with the parent(s) or
guardian(s) regarding an "unexplained absence" to
confirm knowledge of the student's absence from
school.
---------------------------------------OUR SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING
WILL BE ON MAY 28th AT 6pm IN THE LIBRARY.
All Welcome
Tips to Make Math Fun!
According to Jo Boaler, a leading researcher of mathematics, parents and guardians play an important role
in shaping their children’s mathematical futures. She is working to dispel the myth that only some people can
be good at math. Here are her tips to help you help your child this year:
Never praise your child by telling them that they are “smart”. Instead, praise what your child has done.
Say, “It is wonderful that you have learned how to add numbers”, not “Wow, you can add numbers,
you are so smart.” Encourage them to work hard because hard work leads to high achievement.
Never share stories of math failure or even dislike. Never say “I am not good at math”, even when you
see your child struggle with a math problem. Always be excited about math homework. Don’t worry if
you can’t do your child’s homework. Ask them to explain it to you. This can be an encouraging experience.
Always praise mistakes and say that you are really pleased that your child is making them. Did you know
that when we make mistakes, our brains grow? Mistakes ignite activity in the brain. Making mistakes in
math is one of the most useful things we can do…it means the brain is growing! Encourage children to
work on problems that are challenging for them, so that they can make mistakes.
When you help your child, do not lead him/her through work step by step, as this takes away important
learning opportunities for them. It is more helpful to ask your child to draw the problem out, or restate
the problem in their own words. Try not to do the thinking for your child!
Encourage your child to make sense of math at all times. As your child works through a problem, keep
asking, “Does this make sense to you?” “Why?” “Why not?” Discourage guessing and encourage
making sense of something. Here are some questions to ask:
What is the question asking you?
How could you draw this question?
How did you get that answer? (ask this whether it is right or wrong)
Can you share your strategy with me?
Can you try a different way of solving this?
Would this strategy work with different numbers?
What is important about this work?
Never time children or encourage faster work. Timing math activities creates math anxiety!
When your child answers a question incorrectly, try to find the logic in their thinking. Children usually have
some logical thinking. Try to make sense of their thinking and honour it.
Encourage students to think flexibly with numbers. Developing number sense is critical to understanding.
Encourage your child to look for friendly numbers. For example, 41-17, can be thought of as 40-16.
Give your child math puzzles. Puzzles inspire children mathematically and are very good for mathematical development.
Play games. Games are great as well for mathematical development. For young children, any game with
dice will help. Board games such as Yahtzee, CandyLand, Snakes and Ladders are all great! For more
games and puzzles, visit www.youcubed.org
These tips are excerpted from Twelve Steps to Increase Your Child’s Math Achievement and Make Math
Fun,
Jo Boaler, Standford University, CEO, youcubed