May is the month of Mary, the namesake of Our Lady of the Assumption School.  Mary is a model of compassion and mercy towards all.  Recently our staff finished a book study of The Church of Mercy by Pope Francis.  My section of the book study focused on Mary, Mother of Evangelization.  Pope Francis tells us “three words sum Mary’s attitude: listening, decision, and action.”  Throughout her life Mary listened to God.  After listening and reflecting Mary “decides to entrust herself totally to God.”  Finally, Mary acts.  Once she understands what God wants of her she does not hesitate, but quickly acts.  Just as Mary listens, decides, and acts; we too are called to do the same.

As you may know, our school community has raised close to $300,000 for Jump Rope for Heart over the past 34 years.  We are one of only a few schools in all of Canada that have accomplished this.   Thank you for supporting the event and thanks to the committee consisting of Mrs. Duke, Mrs. Ellert, and Mrs. Pedersen.

Our Grade 5 parents have been busy planning for the Spring Fling Bingo which will occur on Friday, May 27^th from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00p.m.  The doors will open at 6:15 p.m., so come early to get a good seat.  All families are welcome to donate prizes.  Prizes may be dropped off at the office.  The Spring Fling Bingo is a very important community event so we’d love to have you attend.  Funds raised at the bingo support next year’s Grade 6 SABC trip (any extra funds will go to year end field trips).

Congratulations to all the participants and the winners of our Regional Science Fair.  Our Assumption School students did an awesome job!  A thank you is extended to all of the students for their submissions.  I would also like to thank Mrs. Graf, Mrs. Greeno, and Mrs. Lank for their leadership with the Science Fair.

With May starting, there are only thirty-eight school days left in the school year.  This means eight weeks of hard work, good attendance, reviews, and assessments.  Students in Grades 6 will be writing their Provincial Achievement Tests in May and June.  The end of the school year is quickly approaching.

Planning for next year continues.  Hopefully by the June newsletter I can inform our parent community about the structure of our homerooms and teacher assignments.  Next year we will be continuing our policy of no parental requests (Thank You for Trusting Us blog).

Respectfully yours,

Greg Kostiuk