Our focus this month is on Habit 6 Synergize: Together is Better, which fits in well with the season of Lent. The two big ideas of this habit are to Value Differences and Seek Third Alternatives. Valuing differences is the foundation of creating synergy and this seems to be lacking in our society today. We are effective when we value and embrace the differences of others rather than rejecting or tolerating them. We need to see our differences as strengths and not weaknesses. Here are some things that we can we do to value differences:
- Respect, include and value everyone’s skills and contributions.
- Know the unique strengths of the people you work and live with.
- Actively seek to learn from others.
- Seek out different ideas and points of view.
- Take advantage of the strengths of others and differences of opinion to achieve better results.
Lent is about prayer, fasting and almsgiving and sharing our time, talent and treasures with others. It is also a good way for us to practice valuing differences. One way we are doing this at STC this month is through our Student Lighthouse Team. We started with good intentions in January but just really got sidetracked with COVID and the overwhelming number of students (47) who applied to be on the team. We are blessed to have so many students wanting to share their time, talents and treasures with us. Our goal is to have all students who expressed interest, be able to share their talents with at least one leadership activity.
Another area where we will need to practice valuing differences this month is with the lifting of the restrictions by the government. We have put together a plan for our community to ease back into more familiar procedures. While the restrictions are lifted, we are being cautious as we are still in a pandemic. Our goal is to continue to create a safe, caring and welcoming atmosphere. Through COVID, we have discovered different ways of doing things and are going to keep some of those procedures in place. Our speaker at Teacher’s Convention, Dr. Robyne Hanley Dafoe reinforced this idea for us. She said that we are in an integration stage of recovery and if we simply return to what was, we are missing out on the learning from the past 18 months.
Masks
- Adults and students are no longer required to wear masks. However, we highly recommend that masks be used as a means of reducing the transmission of respiratory viruses. Whatever your choice may be, we will support it.
Cohorts
- We will not have any cohorts in the school. However, we will try to limit the number of classes that students interact until our March 21 recess change.
Assemblies and Gatherings
- We will gradually be increasing the number of classes gathered together. We may be too large to fit all of the school into the gathering space so we will continue with a hybrid of online and in-person celebrations.
Fieldtrips
- We will be moving forwards with field trips. The school is booked to attend St. Francis’ production of Beauty and the Beast on Tuesday, March 29. Grade 6 Orientation will be at St. Francis on March 23.
Recess and lunch
- We will continue with our lunch and recess stagger for a few weeks. As students will not be limited to staying in a designated area, we want to give them time to get used to the choice before all students are outside at once.
- On March 21, we will not stagger our lunch and recess breaks.
- Also, on March 21, microwaves will be available during lunch recess as we will have student microwave helpers from our Lighthouse Team.
Drop Off and Pick Up
- Drop off and pick up will continue to be outside at the muster points. We feel that we are better able to ensure student safety as we know which students have been picked and can see them crossing the parking lot. We also want to keep the hallways less congested at the start and end of the day. Parents are still able to connect in person with the teacher on a daily basis at the end of the day.
- Students who arrive after 8:05 will need to enter through the front doors.
- In the morning and at the end of the day, students will be able to play on the playground. Please remember that supervision starts at 7:50 am.
Access to the Building
- We will be transitioning to a more open school environment and will be following an “access with a purpose” model so that we can monitor entry to the building.
- As was the norm before COVID and for the safety and security of the people in the building, all exterior doors will be locked except for the front door. Parents, visitors and guests will enter through the front door and check in at the office.
- Parents are welcome to come to the school for different reasons, such as, dropping off lunch, picking up students for appointments, looking through the lost and found items, volunteering for hot lunch.
- We want to provide opportunities for parents to attend events as we know it has been a long time since this was possible. We thought that opening our Lenten liturgies up to parent attendance would make a nice transition. If you choose to attend, please check in at the office and we will show you to your seats.
- Monday March 7 – Lenten Liturgy at 9:10 led by 3.4 Davey
- Tuesday March 15 – Lenten Liturgy at 1:25 led by 1.2 Picton and Alvarez
- Monday March 21 – Lenten Liturgy at 9:10 led 1.2 Picton and Alvarez
- Monday March 28 – Lenten Liturgy at 1:25 led by 1.2 Mouly, Schori, New
- Monday April 4 – Lenten Liturgy at 9:10 led by 1.2 Mouly, Schori, New Monday April 4 – School Council Meeting from 6:00 – 7:00pm
- Volunteer to help out with hot lunch
We know that not everyone will agree with our plan as some will see it as moving too fast while others will see it as moving too slow. We tried to Seek a Third Alternative by balancing the two sides and trying to create wins for everyone. We welcome us working together in our move towards more familiar processes. St. Teresa summarized Synergize when she said, “I can do things you cannot and you can do things I cannot. Together we can do great things.”
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