Speaking of taking care of our mental health, this weekend is an extra long weekend with Friday being a PD day and Monday being Victoria Day. We hope you take some time to rest and reset.
NO SCHOOL – May 15 & 18
Have a great long weekend everyone!
CHECKPOINT – May 21
Meetings will run 8:00-4:30 and they will be 20 minutes long.
YEARBOOK
This is a year that is going to be remembered for a long time! You can still send pictures of the boys learning at home to Mrs. Reimer: dreimer@northpoint.school
Still need to buy a yearbook?
Please order a yearbook online at ybpay.lifetouch.ca. The school id is 13427420. Order deadline is June 19. Only those yearbooks that have been paid for will be ordered.
Please check if you have ordered or not before ordering again. If you don’t remember, please contact Dorothy Reimer or go to https://ybpay.lifetouch.ca/Order/SelectOrderHistoryEmailAddress and use the email address of the mother of the student. I have entered in those who have paid by cheque using the mother’s email address.
PASSION PROJECTS
- Submit all documentation on Google Classroom
- Include a video that is 2-6 minutes
- Intro yourself
- Tell what you learned
- Why did you pick the topic
- Provide a demonstration (optional)
- Do not email Passion Project to your teacher
Community Clean-up – May 1
Inspired by Grade 4’s Sam M., some of the boys took up the challenge to learn about how serious the worlds garbage problem actually is and how some small, simple actions can make all the difference.
Tapping into our Artistic Talents – May 7
On Friday, we were joined by two very talented artists – Mr. Carl White and Ms. Maya Gohill. They taught the boys how to discover art by looking at form, colour, texture, and mood to understand it better. Then they challenged the boys to take a famous piece of art that represents their feelings during these crazy times and recreate it using everyday items found at home.
A HUGE thank you to Carl and Maya for coming in and sharing so much passion and expertise. We learned a lot from both of them.
Handing in Art Work: Hand in your image or video using Google Classroom. Make sure you attach the file before you hit the submit button. If you have any questions or need help submitting your art, please do not hesitate to ask Mr. Qureshi.
https://classroom.google.com/u/0/c/NjgxMzQ1MDkzOTla– It is due before the next Action Friday, May 15th.
Feel free to email Carl or Maya with any questions, to ask for help, or if you want to just send an email expressing some thanks you can do that as well.
Pitch Competition
It’s week 3 of the new virtual Pitch Competition in Flipgrid, where students record a 60 second business pitch for a chance to win a gift card and have it posted online. Flipgrid is a fun and simple platform for making compelling videos with plenty of special effects. Instructions, ideas, and dozens of YouTube examples are posted in Google Classroom and on Flipgrid.
The pitch, accompanied by the online business plan, should be submitted by June 1. There’s $150 in gift cards that will be awarded as follows: One winner from each of the grade 1-3 classes and two from each of the grade 4-9 classes will win a $10 gift card. Results will be announced June 8th. Good luck to all the presenters!
THANK YOU
to our front line workers
We know that we have a number of parents that are working on the front lines during this pandemic. We would like to share stories with the boys about how you are making a difference in the world by putting yourselves at risk for others every day. Please share your stories with us (or a family member can do it for you) by sending an email to Dorothy Reimer with the following information:
- Name:
- Son’s Name:
- What is your job?
- We would love to hear any stories you would like to share about your experience:
WHAT ARE THE BOYS UP TO?
NOTABLE NAVIGATOR
This week’s Notable Navigator is Mr. Redick! Mr. Redick has been teaching for over 30 years but each day comes to school with the same passion and enthusiasm he had when he started his career. His ability to build strong relationships with his students and his absolutely relentless work ethic make such a positive impact on the school as a whole. In addition to his responsibilities as our grade 4-9 math specialist, Mr. Redick also acts as our director of student services, helping to review incoming student files and develop individualized development plans for each student. He is instrumental in reviewing student files for admissions. Mr. Redick will jump in anytime and anyplace to help out. He has built two awesome traditions at North Point – our amazing Utah Trip and our Hot Dog Thursdays! Oops and don’t forget a sour soother along the way here and there as well!!
Navigators Squads
Standings to date:
Mountaineers: 1143
Aviators: 1535
Mariners: 1860
Astronauts: 2151
KIDS DIG DIRT!
GROW YOUR OWN PIZZA
Written by Sharon McCormick, Poppy Innovations
(Taken from Calgary’s Child Magazine)
If you’re looking for a fun and healthy project to get the kids involved in this Spring, how about growing your own pizza? Yes, you read correctly… growing your own pizza is an easy gardening project that your family can do together while encouraging healthy eating habits.
Did you know that 70 per cent of children aged 13 to 20 spend less than an hour outdoors a day (2013 Active Healthy Kids Report Card)? Gardening is a fun and easy way to get active outdoors while focusing on the health benefits of growing your own food. Kids will also love making a pizza with fresh ingredients from their pizza garden!
What you will need:
- Garden stakes (these are inexpensive to buy at a garden centre or just use sticks from broken-off tree branches)
- String
- Three different types of pizza vegetable seeds (such as onions, pepper, spinach, broccoli)
- Three different types of pizza herb seeds (such as oregano, basil and parsley)
- Tomato plant
Activity
Choose an area in your garden to use as the pizza garden and mark this area off with string. You can do this by placing some stakes in a circle in the soil and walking around them with string so that it creates a border. Divide the circle into seven wedges – see, even the garden is shaped like a pizza!
If you don’t have enough space for a circle, just plant the seeds throughout any of your garden beds ensuring they get the desired amount of sun indicated on the seed package. Plant each type of seed in the individual sections so you have three different types of vegetables and three different types of herbs. The final wedge can be planted with a tomato plant. Water and weed as needed and watch as the pizza garden grows!
If you’re new to gardening and don’t know where to start – or just don’t have space for a garden – many neighborhoods have community gardens where people can work together to grow delicious, fresh food. Poppy Innovations also offers community garden plots for rent as well as services to manage your garden if you don’t have time to get it started or weed and water it yourself.
Planter and container gardening is also a great way to experiment with gardening, especially if you live in an apartment or condo. There are lots of workshops available on how to grow garden planters.
Remember, you don’t need a green thumb or lots of space to be a gardener. It’s as easy as taking your kids to the garden centre and letting them pick out seeds for their favorite fruits and veggies (pick ones suitable for Calgary’s climate for the best results).
Read the planting directions and get started! Kids will have fun getting their hands dirty, watering and watching their plants grow. And you’ll all enjoy the many benefits of gardening like stress relief, exercise and healthy eating. When your kids pick out their own seeds and are responsible for planting and watering them, the more excited they’ll be to harvest the crop and savor the fresh food.
So go out and play in the dirt and watch your pizza grow!
Sharon is the founder of Poppy Innovations, a new social venture that provides a range of interactive education and fun programs across the food spectrum, from gate to plate. Empowering individuals and families to be actively involved in producing their own healthy food through gardening and cooking will pave the way for making healthy food choices.
