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.”  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 Sharing Our Bounty.  All year we will be sharing our 3Ts: time, treasure, and talents.  Celebrating our faith is a gift and something to be thankful for.  At Father Leonard Van Tighem School I am thankful for the many blessings God has given us.

I am thankful for…

• the warm welcome the staff, students, and parents have shown me;
• a very respectful and focused student body;
• the countless hours the staff put into our school to make it a beautiful place to learn;
• the support of our community putting on great events like the Back to School BBQ;
• William celebrating our Opening Mass and the Blessing of Families;
• our strong relationship with St. Martha’s Parish;
• the dedication of our staff, parents and students in representing our school in volleyball and cross country running;
• the terrific prayers the grade seven students have written and read over the intercom every morning;
• the recent honour of receiving a Blackfoot name, Niitsitapikoan;
• to all the returning FLVT students that are doing their CCH Faith in Action hours at FLVT;
• for being part of the Spring Production;
• the many parents and staff that came to our opening School Council meeting;
• our community support of our fundraising so we can participate in rich educational events;
• the great student attendance. 87% of students have 90%+ attendance, 55% of students have perfect attendance, and 97% of student have 75%+ attendance;
• the many events on our October calendar;
• all the many gifts our students and staff have;
• the diversity and the many different views and perspectives in our community;
• being part of the gift of Catholic Education.

I am genuinely thankful for all the gifts God has given me and the learning community of Father Leonard Van Tighem School.

Have a terrific start to fall and Happy Thanksgiving.

Greg Kostiuk