MARY PHELAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL
MAY 2014 NEWSLETTER
8 Bishop Court, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2R9
Phone: (519) 821-1060/ Fax: (519) 821-7122
Principal: Mrs. Linda Cotnam
Catholic Education Week 2014
SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT:
Mary Phelan Catholic School, in partnership with its community, will provide a safe, orderly environment
in which students focus on their academic growth. Self-worth and the dignity of all will be fostered within
a Catholic context, enabling students to become productive citizens and life-long learners.
“Catholic Education: Serving in the Love of Christ”
MAY 5 – MAY 10, 2014
What is Catholic Education Week?
Each year the Catholic community of Ontario engages in a week-long celebration of the unique identity and
distinctive contributions of Catholic education during Catholic Education Week.
What is the theme of Catholic Education Week?
This year’s celebration entitled, “Catholic Education: Serving in the Love of Christ” is scheduled for the week of
May 5 – May 10, 2014. We remember that we are called to ‘walk and grow in faith together’. Our growth is
primarily a relationship with God, who at our Baptism, called us by name. But the response of each of us to that
growth is both personal and communal. We grow in our faith in the nurturing atmosphere of our Catholic
Community be that of our local parish, our home, or our Catholic school community.
Catholic Education Week is a welcome opportunity to celebrate the Mission of our Catholic schools as they strive to
integrate the Gospel values of Jesus Christ in every aspect of the school’s life and curriculum. The following
themes will be integrated in our reflections and activities throughout the week.
SUB - THEMES
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Serve with faithfulness
Serve with humility
Serve with compassion
Serve with justice
Serve with joy
Every year, the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (OCSTA) provides our Catholic Schools with a
resource kit to help schools prepare for Catholic Education Week. Using these resources as well as our own
developed activities we have prepared a series of activities which will highlight how our school is ‘Serving in the
Love of Christ’.
We hope to see many of you during our school celebrations.
~ A Mother’s Day Prayer ~
Lord Jesus, Son of God above, You, too, have known a mother’s love
Mary the Virgin gave You birth, so You could serve us here on earth.
Today we ask with all our heart, Lord Jesus, graciously impart
Your boundless grace and loving care to faithful mothers everywhere.
For letting Mom our teacher be; for precious truths learned at her knee;
For all she’s done throughout our days, accept our thanks and endless praise.
Help us to thank them, Lord, we pray on this and every other day. Amen.
May 2014
Dear Parents/Guardians,
It is hard to believe that it is already May. The snow is finally gone and tulips are beginning to bloom.
May is quite the busy month as you will see in the calendar and lots of exciting things are happening for
Catholic Education Week. Please check the calendar for the list of events.
Please note that one of those days, Thursday May 8th, our school will be participating in a Try on a
Career Day and Career Panel Presentations. These are two of the many activities associated with
Catholic Education Week in an effort to educate students about the many career options that they have
available to them. These events will promote career awareness and support the Career Education
Council (CEC).
The CEC is a not for profit organization that connects business and education to help students explore
careers, gain meaningful workplace experiences and discover a vibrant connection to the workforce and
the future. For more information on the CEC visit their website at www.careereducationcouncil.ca
We are requesting a voluntary donation of $1.00 per student with 50 cents to be donated to the CEC
and 50 cents to be donated to the Sister Christine Drop-In Centre. Students will be encouraged to come
to school dressed in a career of their choice. Should you have any specific uniform attire and/or devices
that you use for your career, we would appreciate it if you could bring these items to the school in order
for the children to investigate and try them on and/or for your child to share with his/her classmates.
Thank you to those who will be participating in our Career Panel. There will be two on Thursday which
all classes will be invited to attend. Please contact the school for further information about how you
can become involved in this exciting day.
We look forward to this event as we continue to expand the knowledge our students have about various
careers. It only takes one story or journey to spark the interest of a child and this could create a future
dream and destination.
Sincerely,
Linda Cotnam
Principal
P.S. I am still looking for a tradesperson (e.g. welders, electricians, plumbers, etc.) for the Thursday,
May 8th 12:45 p.m. presentation. Please contact the school 519-821-1060 if you can help out or know
someone who can.
UPDATE
 EARTH DAY
The SK students celebrated Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22nd by delivering flowers to our Bishop Court
neighbours. They attached an Earth Day picture to the flowers with environmental tips that they
wanted to share. They met some neighbours along the way and received two thank you cards from
neighbours that really loved the idea. Here is the list presented by our SK students:
Happy Earth Day
We hope you had a wonderful Earth Day and give you some Earth Day Tips:
Remember the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Reduce is the first and most important R.
Reduce garbage by buying less.
Reuse is the second R.
Reuse paper, shopping bags and plastic containers.
Recycle is the last R.
Recycle paper, plastic and cardboard.
Compost; vegetables and fruit waste.
You can use the soil from the compost in your garden.
Turn it off; Turn off the lights and electronics when you leave a room to save energy. Turn off the water
while you brush your teeth to save water.
Love,
The Mary Phelan Senior Kindergarten Class
Visit www.wwf.ca for Earth Day events, ideas and information
UPCOMING EVENTS

FAMILY MASS
The Bishop Macdonell Catholic Secondary School Annual Family Mass will be held Sunday, May 4th at
11:00 a.m. The service will take place at Church of Our Lady Immaculate. Everyone welcome!

CATHOLIC SCHOOL COUNCIL (C.S.C.)
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 5, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the
conference room. All are welcome. We are always looking for new members so if
you have two hours a month to attend meetings and help our school, please come to one of our
meetings. The meeting for this month has been changed from Monday, May 12th to Monday May 5th
due to the Volunteer and Staff Recognition Evening at the River Run.

SCHOOL SPELLING BEE
Mary Phelan Catholic School is very excited about their first ever School
Spelling Bee. On Wednesday, May 7th at 12:45 p.m. three finalists from each Grade Level (1 8) will compete and try to be the last speller standing in the Spelling Bee Competition.
Students will be separated into four competition levels, Grade 1/2, Grade 3/4, Grade 5/6 and
Grade 7/8. Please come and join us for this exciting academic competition!

JUMP ROPE FOR HEART
Once again Mary Phelan Catholic School will be participating in a “Jump Rope for Heart” Day to raise
funds for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. On Friday, May 9, all students will spend part of the day
participating in various physical activities involving skipping and jumping. It is hoped each student will
have raised some funds from family and close friends to support this worthy cause. There is information
on the collection envelope about how to collect donations online if you choose to fundraise in this way.
It is safer for your child and for the foundation. Please return the collection envelopes to the school by
Thursday, May 8. We respectfully ask you to return the collection envelope to the school on or before
May 9th, whether you choose to fundraise (cash/cheque or online) OR NOT! Thanks to Mrs. Priamo
and Mr. Cafarella for organizing Jump Rope for Heart!

VOLUNTEER/STAFF RECOGNITION EVENING
This year the staff/volunteer recognition evening for Wellington Catholic District School Board will be
held Monday, May 12, 2014 at the River Run Centre. This year’s recipient of the Volunteer Award is Ms.
Margaret Steinlin and for the Catholicity Staff Award, Mrs. Caroline Priamo. Ms. Steinlin is a trained
volunteer for our Strong Start program, she assists some of our younger students improve their
confidence and ability in reading acquisition. She dedicates many hours helping in our school library. We
thank Ms. Steinlin for the many positive contributions she makes to our school.

VICTORIA DAY - HOLIDAY
Monday, May 19th, 2014 will be the Victoria Day Holiday. School will be closed and there will not be
classes for students.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS MAY 2014
On Wednesday, May 21, 2014 students from the Wellington Catholic District School Board and the
Upper Grand District School Board will participate in the annual Special Olympics track and field meet!
A variety of adaptive events will be held at the St. James Sports Field for participants between the ages
of five and fourteen. The focus of the Special Olympics is friendly competition, companionship and fun
while providing an opportunity for students in developmental programs to set goals, develop skills and
improve their overall levels of fitness. Each participant is matched with a peer coach, enlarging their
social contacts within their home school and providing emotional support as they compete. Best wishes
to Marlea Watson, Lauren Host, Anne Podmore, Haylee Dymkowski and Claire Stultz who will be
representing Mary Phelan School this year!

THREE PITCH TEAMS
Try-outs and practices will take place during May for both Girls’ and Boys’ Three Pitch Teams for the
Board Tournament to be held for the Girls’ Team on May 28th and the Boys’ Team on May 29th. Both
tournaments will take place at the Guelph Lake Baseball Diamonds. Coaches Lamont, Cafarella and the
Board Convener Hynes encourage all Grade 7 and 8 students to experience fun and skill on the field of
Three Pitch.

ART INNOVATORS’ GUELPH
The Art Innovators’ Guelph are hosting the Art Show on May 28th at 131 Ontario Street, Guelph from
6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Please see the attached poster for more information.

PRIMARY AND JUNIOR EQAO ASSESSMENTS FOR GRADE 3 AND 6 STUDENTS
EQAO Assessments for grades 3 and 6 students are scheduled for Mary Phelan students as follows: Gr. 3
May 27 - May 31 and Gr. 6 June 1 – 5. It would be most appreciated if you could avoid scheduling any
appointments for your children during these days.

GRADE 4 & 5 SCHOOL BIKE RODEO
The Mary Phelan Catholic School grades 4 & 5 bike rodeo will be held on Tuesday, June 3, 2014,
beginning at 12:30 p.m. In order to participate in the rodeo each student must have achieved a score of
75% or higher on the bicycle exam. Helmets are also required if participating.

LET’S TALK SCIENCE TRAINING
Congratulations to Sarah Byrne and the grade 7 and 8 students who have been awarded the School
Youth Action Grant of 500 dollars. In cooperation with Ms. Hynes, the students prepared a grant on a
Local Food and Farm to School initiative. Students will now participate in a training session run by the
Let's Talk Science Volunteers from the University of Guelph. The students will have an opportunity to
explore and research the importance of local farms and will consolidate this learning with a hands-on
experience.
REMINDER

YEARBOOK UPDATE 2014
We have only received less than 20 yearbook request orders. As was mentioned in the April Newsletter,
we need to pre-sell enough yearbooks in order to proceed with the production of a yearbook this year
as we cannot experience a financial loss. We are looking at an on-line secure version but are presently
investigating the security of it.

MOVING???
This is a reminder to families who will be moving and not returning to our school community for
September 2014. Please contact our school office 519-821-1060 as this helps us prepare and plan
classes more accurately for next school year. We can also help make your child(ren)’s transition to a
new school much easier. Also, if you are aware of any recent families who have arrived in our
community please encourage them to visit or call our school. New students are always welcome.
CONGRATULATIONS!

BADMINTON TEAM
Mary Phelan Wins Badminton Championship!!!
Congratulations to the grade 7/8 students in winning the small school badminton tournament. Many
students placed first. Congratulations to boys A team Teo Favrin and Mitchell Morrison, the boys B
team Devon Driscoll and Jacob Fries, the mixed B team Hilary Davidson and Dylan Watson, the mixed C
team Charlotte Mannella and Jacob McWhirter and mixed D team Victoria Finoro and Riley Morton.
Congratulations also the the 3rd place teams, girls A team Rachel Guanzon and Tess Lovell, girls B team
Lauren Hinchliffe and Alice Labuda and the Mixed A team Jack Varney and Natalia Kostecki. Great
sportsmanship was also shown by our subs, Evan Curtis, Joel Hoogaars, Jewls Groshok, Sara Milla,
Kaitlyn Robertson and Zack Valiquette. Thanks to our Team Managers Victoria Zanon and Mikayla
Bridgeman for their help and support with the team. A special thank you to Mrs. Garaffa and Mrs.
Tessel for their time and skills development with our team.

SKILLS CANADA COMPETITION
Some of our grade 8 students competed in the Canada Skills Competition held at St. Joseph Catholic
School in Fergus. The competition was held Monday, April 7th. Congratulations to our Skills Canada
teams who will be attending the finals on Monday, May 5th at RIM Park. Way to go Joe, Lauren, Claudia
and Sara!
THANKS

PARENTING LIBRARY
Thank you, thank you and thank you again to the Parent Council members who, through their diligent
efforts, were able to receive a Parents Reaching Out Grant for a parenting library and what a wonderful
addition it has made to our school. The next time you come to visit, please see the book rack in the front
foyer and all the many books that can be signed out by parents. There are numerous books that will help
us with the many diverse characteristics/personalities of our children and with our parenting journeys.
All we ask is that you put down your name, the book number and the date the book was signed out and
then a return date, when returned. Take a book, enjoy the book, return the book!
Thank you to James Mitchell, Judy Byrne, Kathryn Hennick, Julie Wayne, Rebecca Reia and Debbie Zen.
(former member) A special thanks to Joe Pinheiro (from Jaspin Enterprises) who made the bookshelf for
our front foyer. (See attachment for the list of books that are available for sign-out).

SPRING FOOD DRIVE
Some friendly competition between a grade 5/6 and grade 6 class helped raise a total of 632 items
between the two classes for the Food Drive. The total amount collected was over 750 lbs. of food. The
students should be very proud! The Food Bank was very pleased.

GRADE 8’s ENJOYING PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS
Our grade 8 students enjoying dancing to the Virginia Reel during a recent gym class with Ms. Hynes.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION

SUMMER ADVANTAGE/LEARNING ADVANTAGE
Mary Phelan Catholic School will be making available a summer activity workbook called "Summer
Advantage/Learning Advantage" for the end of June 2014. "Summer Advantage/Learning Advantage"
is a fully-coloured 192-page activity book designed to reinforce and maintain students' academic
learning skills over the summer months, before they go into next year’s class. There is one 192-page
activity book per grade level from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 7. All the units in each book are
created by Ontario teachers, and are fully aligned with the Ontario curriculum expectations. All books
have eye-catching graphics, numerous activities where parents can be involved in their child’s learning,
and suggested follow-up activities featuring a family focus.
Students in Grade 7 & 8 may purchase our LANGUAGE TOOLKIT which provides essential language skills
required for success in Secondary School.
Further information about the “Summer Advantage/Learning Advantage" program is included in the
brochure that was sent home previously with an order form that is due back to the school by June 16,
2014.
The cost of each book is $20.00 (includes all taxes). Cash or cheques only please. Cheques should be
made payable to “Summer Advantage or Learning Advantage”.

FROM THE DIOCESAN OFFICE:
(From: Teresa Hartnett, Family Ministry Office, 905-528-7988 ext. 2250)
PARENTING TIP OF THE MONTH
Tip #75 – Every child is a diamond in the rough, with value and dignity; a child of God. As parents we
need to be generous in providing loving affirmation to our children, so they will grow to recognize their
inner rich and vital gifs. A parent’s love teaches a child to know God’s love and to learn of their
significance in the world. With love they will discover a mine full of gems within themselves.
MARRIAGE TIP OF THE MONTH
Tip #55 – Men and women are sometimes said to be as different as night and day and yet, those two
times of the day are united, blending into each other, each providing something to the world. As husbands
and wives we bring unique qualities to our relationships, blending together to make our own special union
of love. Seeking to understand, accepting and embracing our differences and rejoicing in moments of
similarity serve to create a relationship that is both confident and loving.
Attachments:
1) BISHOP MACDONELL ANNUAL FAMILY MASS
2) WDGPH – Immunizations
3) WDGPH – More Free Dental Care
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Mental Health Newsletter
SAID AT Presentation
Wellness Matters – Presentation @ St. Paul
Art Innovators’ Art Show – Ontario St. Guelph
The Homework-Chore Hassle Presentation