Fall is one of my favourite seasons, I only wish it was longer.  The highlight of fall for me is Thanksgiving.  On January 31st, 1957, our Canadian Parliament proclaimed…
“A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed  … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.”  Canada has a long history of celebrating Thanksgiving.  Martin Frobisher, the famous explorer, is credited with the first Canadian Thanksgiving in 1578 when he held a formal ceremony giving thanks for surviving his long journey.  Thanksgiving is a time to get together with family and friends and be thankful for all the blessings we have.  A big part of our blessings is celebrating our faith.  This year, as part of our three-year faith plan G.I.F.T. (Growing in Faith Together) we are focusing on Rooted in Christ.  Celebrating our faith is definitely a gift and something to be thankful for.  At Our Lady of the Assumption I am thankful for the many blessings God has given us.

I am thankful for…

• the warm welcome the parents, students and staff;
• the countless hours the staff put into our school to make it a wonderful place to learn;
• the support of our parent community in fundraising and putting on great events like the Back to School BBQ;
• Fr. Lukas celebrating our Blessing of Families;
• our strong relationship with All Saints Parish;
• the dedication of Mrs. Clewes, Mrs. Marcotte, Mrs. Ellert, Mr. Matsalla, and Miss Martin in organizing and supervising a terrific Southern Alberta Bible Camp trip for our grade 6 students;
• the excellent parents that fundraised for our SABC trip;
• the terrific prayers the grade six students have written and read over the intercom every morning;
• all the many gifts our students and staff have;
• our community relations with the University of Lethbridge;
• the many smiles I see at recess;
• the many different views and perspectives in our community;
• the diversity of our school;
• being rooted in Christ;
• being part of the gift of Catholic Education.

I am truly thankful for all the gifts God has given me and the learning community of Our Lady of the Assumption School.

Have a terrific start to fall.

Greg Kostiuk