Miss Gill's Nifty Nighthawks

Dear Families,

It is with a warm and open heart that I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and soon to be a Happy New Year! I hope you have an enjoyable and safe holiday with all your family and friends. We all lead such busy lives, but I believe the holidays are a time to stop, listen and think about all the ones we love, cherish and respect. I am very blessed to have such caring, loving, and amazing family, friends, and students in my life. Speaking of students, I will certainly miss seeing your child’s enthusiastic, warm, and beautiful smile over the holidays and I am delighted we’ll all be reunited and get back into our daily routine of fun and learning in January! See you January 9th with a smile :)

Thank You:
I would like to take this moment to extend my thank you to all my families and their children who took the time, energy, and love to give me such heart-soaring gifts for Christmas. I will cherish them ALL. It means the absolute world to me knowing that I have your unconditional love and support. Also, knowing that you believe in me as your child’s teacher is something that I cherish deeply. My students are my greatest gift! It has been a tremendous year thus far, and I look forward to creating many more beautiful memories in 2017! I'm SO HAPPY to be part of the Nighthawk family!! Again, parents thank you so much for your generous gifts!!

Donations to the Food Drive:

A huge thank you to all the families in our class who contributed to our school's food drive! We used Thank you, thank you!! Together we all made a significant difference in the lives of those in need. The Spirit of the holidays is about giving, caring, and being there for our loved ones, but also to those less fortunate than us. It is a proud moment to be a Nottawa Nighthawk!

C.C.I. Band Visit:

On Wed., we had the pleasure of having the CCI band visit our school to perform some songs for us. Students were up moving and a grooving to the holiday cheer! It was a memorable experience :)

Artist Visit:

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my thank you to all parents who supported our artist visit, it was a remarkable experience! We had the pleasure of having Mr. Sean Dawson visit our classroom today. It was clear to all of us, Sean’s passion, dedication, and love for art radiated from the moment he stepped into our classroom until the final stroke of his paint brush. He had the students explore various water colour techniques and produce a landscape painting that illustrated foreground, middle ground and background, creating the illusion of depth. It was truly amazing to see all my students thoroughly engaged, having fun, and producing some brilliant paintings!

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” -- Pablo Picasso

Thank you Sean for reinforcing this powerful quote - it is so very true!! We thoroughly enjoyed having you join our learning community, you are an inspiration!

If you would like more detailed information about our artist, please visit his website:

www.swd-art.com

Below are some pictures of our time with Sean J

Empathy Assembly:

What a powerful performance today by my students!! I am sooo proud of everyone for their dedication, hard work, and efforts in preparation for this assembly. Amazing work boys and girls! If you were able to attend, thank you so much for your love and support. I know it meant the world to the class. I am sure you're beaming with pride just as much as I am :) A memorable moment which we'll seal deeply in our hearts forever!

I would also like to personally thank three special people in my life for attending today's performance as well. Thank you to Mr. Roth, Mrs. Roth, and Grandpa (all the way from Victoria BC) who came to support us! Your continued love and support in ALL my teaching endeavours is appreciated, always!! I love you!! Xo.

Congratulations to Tate and Hannah W. for receiving the Empathy award! You truly demonstrate this trait in your thoughts, words, and actions! Thank you for BEING YOU!

My Friends' House Donations:
Santa's visit to our school was a huge success because of all the wonderful students and families who donated to My Friends' House. Mrs. McEachern and I delivered all the donations after school today and we had 2 car fulls!! WOW, thank you!! I know Santa's heart was filled with joy, too!! He is so proud of each and every one of you for sharing your gift of giving to others who need it. Thank you so much for your generous contributions :) Here at Nottawa Elementary we know the true spirit of Christmas! Maybe next year, Santa will be back to visit us again!!