Kobza's Komments

The other morning as I was wandering around outside on supervision, it struck me how nice it was to hear the laughter and screams of the students.  Call me crazy, but yes after the cold of February, even the screams were welcome.  It was encouraging to see the differing types of play going on around me:  a couple of tag games on the playground, wall ball on the side of the school, students running around in the field and quite a few students practicing their skipping.  With the coming of the nice weather there are many things to look forward to in April.

As we progress through the season of Lent, our staff and students are putting on amazing celebrations. There are many liturgical traditions that have stayed the same since I was last here.  The playing of Holy Ground, having the grade six lantern bearers lead the classes into the gym, and the processional for each celebration set the tone for each week.  The highlight of the Lenten season is always the Passion Play performance by the grade sixes and I am looking forward to seeing this again on Thursday the 18^th at 2:00 pm. I am also looking forward to a few upcoming events.  Our grade 5 and 6 classes are off on Tuesday the 2^nd to the Enmax Centre to see the Pioneer Hi-Bred World Men’s Curling Championships.  I am a huge advocate of fine arts in schools and am excited that on the 3^rd all of our students will get to experience the Evergreen Theatre performance of The Three Little Pigs & B.B Wolfe.  Some of our students will also get the opportunity to take part in this show where the wolf is a climate change scientist trying to encourage the pigs to embrace better building practices. Then on the 10^th, the grades 4-6 students are off the University of Lethbridge Theatre to see FLVT’s original student written musical production of  Cursed Through Time. Having worked for many years on these productions it is going to be different to just be an audience member. Another event I am looking forward to is the Jump Rope for Heart Kickoff Assembly on the 11^th at noon.  It is impressive to note that this school has been supporting the Heart and Stroke Foundation for 37 years.  It definitely explains the numerous enthusiastic skippers that are constantly practicing their skills. I cannot wait to see the routines that the students will perform at the assembly as what I have seen so far tells me that it will be of a high quality with some difficult tricks thrown in.

Spring may be one of my favorite times of year as it is a time of renewal and new growth. This not only happens physically, but also occurs spiritually through spiritual retreats. One of the marks of a Catholic school is that is sustained by Gospel witness and that the staff are living witnesses to the Gospel and are intentional disciples of Christ. We were blessed to have an amazing speaker, Sarah Hart, for our Divisional Spiritual Development Day a few weeks ago who really made us think differently about the fruits of the spirit. On April 1^st we have our annual staff retreat that is based around our namesake, Mary. The retreat committee has been working hard to plan our activities for the day which will culminate in a living rosary.

Finally, as living witnesses of Christ and the Church, we need to advocate for the gift of publicly funded Catholic education.  Currently in Alberta, it is under attack so it is essential that its supporters come together to advocate for our constitutional right.  As a result, our school division is creating a GrACE (Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education) group.  The mission of GrACE is to unite the spirit of Catholic education in order to educate and communicate with one voice.  It is a platform for those committed to Catholic education to be advocates and witnesses for our schools’ successes and their future. Committee members of GrACE may be employees of the division, parent or Catholic parishioners.  The time commitment will not be excessive but it is important that all committee members are passionate about Catholic education.  The Board Chair and Superintendent will make the decision on representation from those names submitted. Please contact me by April 7 if you are interested in putting your name forward. 

May the blessing of Christ be with during the Lenten and the Easter Season.