AHE November 2024 Newsletter
Principal’s Message
Dear AHE Families,
October was a fun and exciting month with so many added memories to the 2024-25 school year: The Pumpkin Pie Picnic, Haunted House, Halloween Parade and the addition of Spice! Thanks to all of you for participating in the Goal Setting Conferences last week as students, teachers, and care givers spent some time planning the next steps in learning. Teachers are now working on assessments and will soon start working on our first written progess profiles that will go out to families on December 13.
The cold weather is upon us, and while we are enjoying the sunny autumn days, it won’t be long before winter is here. Please dress your students for the outdoors as our classes will continue to learn and play outside.
It’s another busy and productive month coming up! Thanks to all AHE families for their caring and enthusiasm!
Mrs. Mair
Communicating Student Learning
The goal of communicating student learning is to ensure that communication between home and school is effective and timely, so that:
• parents are well informed about their child’s progress and growth;
• parents are involved as supporters in a dialogue about their child’s progress and the best ways to support and improve learning.
• students are provided with information that is meaningful to them and helps them to improve their own learning.
• students take ownership of their learning, with teachers as their facilitators, and parents/caregivers as their supporters.
A full parent guide to Communicating Student Learning will be sent out to families this month. The first Written Learning Update will be sent home to families on December 13th.
Remembrance Day
Our assembly will be held at 10:45am on November 7th. Parents and community members are welcome to attend. Our school community will be recognizing those who have served our country and those who have contributed to and are continuing to preserve peace in the world. Thank you to our grade 7 leaders for leading this year’s assembly. There will be no school on Monday November 11, to observe Remembrance Day.
School Sports
Cross Country Running
Our Cross Country Running season was a huge success. Each school hosted a running race and AHE was well-represented! Congratulations AHE on winning the Golden Shoe award at BVE! Thank you to Mrs. MacLeod and Ms. Johnson for coaching (and practicing even in torrential rain) and to all of our parent volunteers! 
Badminton
Badminton is always a popular sport at AHE. Grade 6 and 7 practices and playoffs have been taking place in P.E. classes and at recess and lunch under the guidance and coaching of Mr. Cadegan, Mrs. Vickers, and Mrs. Gadbois. Please note the date change for the upcoming tournaments!
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Tuesday Nov. 12 @ 2:45 – Grade 6 Singles at AHE, Grade 7 Singles at BVE
Thursday Nov. 14 @2:45 – Grade 6 Doubles at AHE, Grade 7 Doubles at BVE
Tuesday Nov. 19 @ 2:45 – Grade 6 Mixed Doubles at CPE
Thursday Nov. 21 @ 2:45 – Grade 7 Mixed Doubles at CPE
Haunted House
Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make the Annual Grade 7 Haunted House a great success! Grade 7 students planned, organized and made the evening a spooky extravaganza. New this year was the less spooky version in the library. Thanks to Mr. Gardiner and the grade 7 parents for their support in baking, manning the front door and cleaning up! The students raised $1400 towards their year-end trip to Sunnybrae.
Careers Week
Careers Week is November 25-29th. This year we are focussing on “How We Use Numeracy in our Careers”. We’ve had a few volunteers willing to present to classes. Please reach out if you would feel comfortable sharing in front of a group! To kick off Careers Week, Monday, Nov. 25th will be ‘Dress as Your Future Career Day”.
Avalanche Awareness
In November, our students in K-7 will be taking part in Avalanche Awareness presentations. The presentations are provided by local avalanche professionals and educators. This year they are offering:
- “Know Before You Go” which is an introduction to general winter safety for K-7, including the buddy system, general mountain awareness, avalanche characteristics, and backcountry safety.
- Outdoor rescue training and fun hands on activities for grades 3-7. These will be held in our school yard.
Rhythm By Nature
Patrick Carrick will be in Revelstoke once again this month to lead drumming workshops woth our students from grade 3-7. Patrick is a certified facilitator & trainer with a passion for bringing people together through the power of music. An experienced percussionist, Patrick has worked within a wide variety of musical genres and ensembles.
However, Patrick’s true love lies in the drum circle.
Patrick’s approach to facilitation is not only rooted in his deep knowledge of world rhythms but his ability to connect with people of all ages and backgrounds.
“No matter who you are or where you come from, we all have a heartbeat and the ability to connect with rhythm… it’s in our nature!”
Students in grades 3-7 will take part in workshops on November 19 and 26 with a final presentation to the whole school on December 3 (time to be announced). Parents are welcome!
Parent/Caregiver Series
This year we are offering a parent series on the second Tuesday of each month on topics that parents have shared with us.
Where: Sessions will be held in the RSS library
When: 6:30-8:00pm with a streaming option available for parents who would prefer to join from home. (links will be provided before each session)
Bios of the presenters can be found at the bottom of this newsletter.
Nov 12 – How’s and Why’s of Sex Ed For Parents and Caregivers with Jessica Wyslouzil
Learn how to chat about bodies and the birds and bees, when to do so, where to find correct info, how to respond to questions, and the basics of sexual health for your family. 1 hour presentation.
Dec 10 – Mental Health: Worries and Anxiety – what is “normal”? with Hilla Shlomi, CYMH and Dr Brett Batchelor
In this presentation, parents will learn about worries and anxiety, how to identify when their child is struggling, and how to best support their children when coping with worries. Dr Batchelor will run a Q&A for parents where he will answer questions parents may have about mental health and assessments.
Jan 14 – Understanding Teen Sexual Health with Jessica Wyslouzil
We will discuss relationships, boundaries, consent, pregnancy and prevention, STI’s and prevention, and where to find great resources, support and info. (this presentation is geared toward caregivers of elementary aged students, but is open to parents of kids of all ages, and pertains to kids of all ages).
1 hour presentation, 30 minutes of discussion.
Feb 11 – Cellphones: What’s Healthy, What’s Not, And What We Can Do to Support Our Kids with Hannah Beach
Mar 11 – Under
standing Adolescents from the Inside-Out with Hannah Beach
Apr 8 – Reclaiming Play: Revitalizing Childhood to Combat Anxiety and Aggression with Hannah Beach
May 13 – Having Courageous Conversations with your Child – with Hilla Shlomi, CYMH
Talking with your child about their mental health struggles and risky behaviours is hard and scary. Many parents avoid it because they don’t know where to start… some worry they will say the wrong thing and make the situation worse… In this workshop, parents will learn about youth’s risky behaviours (e.g., substance use, self harm, suicidal behaviours) and explore ways to have courageous conversations about these behaviours with their children.
June 10 – TBD
Presenters:
Jessica Wyslouzil, Sex Educator, LPN, Yoga Teacher, Owner of trailblaze Sex Education.
Jessica has been a nurse for 17 years, and a sex educator for 4 years. She has trained under Options for Sexual Health, Dr Nadine Thornhill SE, Anne Hodder-Ship SE, Dr Bianca Laureano SE, and Cam Fraser Sexologist. She is a parent of a local teen, and lives and works of the unceded lands that have been stewarded by the Sinixt, Sexwepemc, Syilx, and Ktunaxa nations (and is an ally to the land back movement). She believes that excellent sex ed is the foundation to true wellness through your lifespan.
Hannah Beach is an award-winning educator, author, emotional health consultant, and keynote speaker. She is the co-author of the best-selling book Reclaiming Our Students: Why Children Are More Anxious, Aggressive, and Shut-Down than Ever—and What We Can Do About It, with Tamara Neufeld Strijack, a trauma-informed resource for teachers and parents rooted in the relationship-based approach, now being translated into multiple languages internationally (including French, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Ukrainian and Korean) and has been adopted by school boards across Canada. She was recognized by the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 2017 as one of five featured changemakers in Canada.
Her bestselling I Can Dance book series, supporting the emotional health of children through expressive play won a 2017 Gold International Moonbeam Children’s Book Award and has been adopted by multiple English- and French-language school boards across Canada.
Hannah received the City of Ottawa’s annual Celebration of People Education Award, which recognized her expertise in developing innovative, inclusive programs and resources. Her work with children has been shared and highlighted in distinguished venues across the country, including the Senate of Canada, multiple universities, as well as national and international conferences.
As the founder of celebrated experiential discovery programs at Dandelion Dance™ and Tournesol, Hannah has spent over 25 years developing and delivering programs for children and youth. She is a Neufeld Institute Authorized Presenter, delivers professional development services across the country, and provides emotional health consulting to schools. She also speaks at national and international conferences about the emotional roots of aggression and anxiety and how we can create the conditions for resilience.
Hannah is an emotional health and play-based learning consultant for Britannica Education, where she develops courses which are facilitated by the Britannica Education team across the globe.
Hannah has three children and lives on the West Coast of Canada.
Hilla is the Associate Team Leader at Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH) here in Revelstoke. CYMH offers culturally responsive, inclusive, and family-centred services for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and youth with mental health and wellness needs that impact their daily life. Hilla has presented to Revelstoke parents at the PAUSE (Parents As Ultimate Supporters and Educators of mental health) at all three schools.
PAC News
How is it November already? It feels like just a week ago we were welcoming October! We had a fantastic month filled with meaningful events.
First, a big thank you to Save On Foods for their generous donation of 30 pies and whipped cream for our Thanksgiving Pie Day. The students truly enjoyed this special picnic lunch, and we couldn’t have done it without the help of our amazing volunteers.
We also hosted our annual Scholastic Book Fair during the student conferences. A big shout-out to Megan Ali and Jillan Casson for their hard work in organizing the event! We appreciate all the parents who volunteered to set up, tear down, or assist during the fair. Thanks to all the support from our school families, we raised over $1,600 in books for Arrow Heights—an incredible achievement!
Looking ahead, our next event is a Kawakubo hot lunch on Wednesday, November 20th. Keep an eye out for order forms coming home in planners soon! If you’re interested in volunteering for this hot lunch or any PAC event, please reach out to us at pacarrowheights@gmail.com.
While we’re not rushing into December just yet, don’t forget that Pac will host our annual Holiday Craft Fair on December 13th. Start brainstorming with the kids about what crafts your family would like to contribute!
I’d also like to remind everyone about our upcoming PAC meeting on Monday, November 4th, at 6:30 PM in the AHE library. Child care will be provided, and we welcome all parents, caregivers, and grandparents to attend.
Numeracy
Counting Collections
Counting Collections is an instructional routine during which a pair of students choose a collection of objects to count, choose different ways to count their collection and record and share their count. The routine is connected to the decades of research behind Cognitively Guided Instruction. It is a routine that focuses on children’s mathematical thinking and is rooted in social constructivism and thus, usually involves students thinking, talking and doing math together in pairs. Depending on the age and experience of the students, collections range from 10 objects to collections in the hundreds. Tools to support counting can be provided, such as ten frames, cups, bowls and small plates. After counting their collection in multiple ways, students can record their count on a large whiteboard (math graffiti board) , mini whiteboards, on a blank piece of paper or on a structured recording sheet.
We are collecting items for our counting collections “bank”. If you have multiples of items at home that you would like to donate please drop them off at the office. Examples; bottle caps, pasta, birthday candles, stones, marbles, game pieces, paper clips, crayons.
Indigenous Education
This month, classes will be taking part in the Art Alleries tour. The Art Alleries installations provide our community with so many opportunities to interact with progressive, socially-conscious art. This tour of the Art Alleries will feature stops to highlight the works of Ric Gendron, Delrée Dumont, and Zuzana Riha. To learn more about Indigenous Education in our district, check out their new website: https://ied.sd19.bc.ca/
Upcoming Dates:
November 4: PAC Meeting 6:30-7:30
November 7: Remembrance Day Assembly 10:45
November 8: Professional development Day
November 11: Remembrance Day (No School)
November 12: Badminton Singles Tournament
November 14: Badminton Doubles Tournament
November 14: Community Kitchen Hot Lunch – Mac & Cheese
November 18: Whole School Assembly
November 19, 26 : Rhythm By Nature Workshops
November 20: PAC Sushi Lunch
November 22: Avalanche Presentations K-7
November 25-29: Careers Week
November 25: Dress As Your Future Career Day
November 27: Avalanche Presentations (outdoors)
November 28: Community Kitchen Hot Lunch – perogies
November 29: Grade 6 Immunizations
Stay connected!
Please visit our website arrowheights.sd19.bc.ca
