PARKINSON CENTENNIAL
MAY NEWSLETTER
P AOLA A RGENTINO , P RINCIPAL • K AYE M ARTIN , V ICE P RINCIPAL • A TTENDANCE (519) 941-2461 E XT . 100
Administrator’s Message:
May is a busy month here at Parkinson
Centennial. The week of May 2 – 6 is
Mental Health Awareness week and
Education Week. We kicked off our week
with a wonderful assembly focusing on
strategies to identify when we are ang ry
and how to calm down. Refer to our
events calendar or your classroom
calendar for more upcoming events.
With the weather warming up, we would
like to remind parents an d students of the
school’s dress code. Muscle shirts,
spaghetti straps and low scooped
necklines are unacceptable. Bare
midriffs and backs are unacceptable;
shirts must be‘tuckable’ and not
excessively tight. Shorts and skirts must be
areasonable length. Undergarments
should not be visible.
Good news! Our playground climbers
have been inspected, appr oved and our
students have started using them
(providing they have safe footwear —no
boots, open-toed shoes or flip flops).
To help us plan for next year, could you
let us know if you are moving over the
summer and changing schools. Staffing is
based on projected enrolment.
We look forward to seeing you on the
evening of May 26th, for our first annual
Arts night!
P. Argentino & K. Martin
May 9, 16, 30
Swim to Survive – Grade 7
May 10
Presentation of Dracula at
Westside Secondary School –
Grades 6, 7, 8
May 12
Voyageur Presentation –
Grades 5, 6, 7, 8
May 17
Junior Kindergarten
Orientation (parents only)
May 17, 18,
19
Stream of Dreams Workshops
May 20
Bike Rodeo
May 26
Artsplosion – An Evening of the
Arts
May 25, 26,
27
EQAO – Grade 6
May 30, 31,
June 1
EQAO – Grade 3
June 14
Aerosport Trip – Junior Division
Library News
Forest of Reading Clubs
The reading clubs have come to a close. The
students have voted for their favourite
books. Approximately 175 students participated in
all of the programs. Here is what the Parkinson
students chose:
Blue Spruce(K-2) - If Kids Ruled the World - Linda
Bailey
Silver Birch Express(3&4) - The End of the Line Sharon E. McKay
Silver Birch(5&6) - Fiction - Between ShadowsKathleen Cook Waldron
Red Maple(7&8) - Fiction - Prison Boy - Sharon E.
McKay
Our vote will be combined with the rest of Ontario.
We will hear by mid-May which book wins the
award. See next month’s newsletter for results.
Battle of the Books Team
The team consisting of 7 gr. 4-6 students have
been practicing hard all month. They have read
all of the required books and are ready for the
competition on Fri. May 6. See next month’s
newsletter to find out their results.
Book Fair
There will be one last Scholastic book fair coming
in early to mid-June with lots of good summer
reads. Details to follow.
We are excited to let you know that we are launching the Best Buddies friendship
program at Parkinson Centennial Public School. Through Best Buddies students will have
the opportunity to form friendships.
While the program encourages one-to-one friendships, there is a focus on group events
to give those involved the opportunity to get to know each other and promotes
additional friendships. Events will take place mostly in the school, and might include fun
activities such as playing board games, baking, playing sports, crafts, and eating lunch together. As the group
learns what works best for them, the program will become personalized to the students participating in it.
Best Buddies is a great program that promotes inclusion, empathy, and friendship by pairing young people.
Involvement in the program enriches the lives of everyone. Our hope is that having students spend time together
in elementary school will develop friendships that last into the future.
If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to contact Mlle. Pereira or Mrs. Buchta.
What is STEM and why is it important?
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The idea is to
offer students tasks that integrate more than one subject area such as thinking
about all the angles, measurements and calculations involved in building a structure
that could stand up to the elements of our Canadian winters. STEM provides
opportunity to focus on one assignment while applying knowledge gained in a
number of subjects so knowledge gained in one area can be applied in another. Check out this link for more
information (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPJ48simtE)
Think of it like driving a car. We can’t just focus on braking or steering by themselves. We need to simultaneously
think of acceleration, steering, signaling, braking and road signs all at the same time and ideally we’d like our
students to have the same flexibility with their thinking across different subject areas.
Try this activity to promote mathematics, science, engineering and language.
Using popsicle sticks, glue, tape, and elastics, design and build a device that will launch 3 marshmallows as far as
possible using elastic bands. The elastic energy may be “loaded” by hand but the device must get all of its
launching power from the stored energy in the elastic bands.
Have fun and enjoy!
Grade 6 students will be writing their EQAO test on May 25, 26, and 27 and Grade
3 students will be writing on May 30, 31, and June 1. Please try to avoid scheduling any appointments
from 8:40 – 12:40 on these dates.
We are looking for scribes for these dates. If you are able to volunteer your time for this,
please contact Kaye Martin, VP, 519-941-2461, extension 224.
Does your child have an LD, ADD/ADHD or both? Here are some great resources to help you:
1. Work with your child to understand how they think and learn
2. Develop some strategies with your child to help them advocate for what they need to learn (technology,
accommodations to the environment or learning tasks)
Other great online resources include:
The Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario, which has lots of good information on LD and ADD/ADHD issues,
including topics about how to understand the IPRC and IEP, how to advocate for your child and topics related to
specific LDs.
http://www.ldao.ca/introduction-to-ldsadhd/what-are-lds/
The Learning Disabilities Association of Wellington County connects to the Ontario chapter, but provides links and
information about workshops and activities that are being held in Wellington.
http://www.ldawc.ca/
Our school board has also worked hard to address the needs of LD and ADD/ADHD students by providing SEA
equipment, Google Read and Write training and targeted reading programs to help LD students access the
curriculum and develop key academic skills.
Connect with your child’s teacher to discuss all the supports that are available to your child!
May Environmental Theme: CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate Change refers to any changes in long-term weather
patterns (temperature, precipitation, wind, storms) that have
been caused by humans polluting the atmosphere with too
many greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide. We
need to act now, because who can argue with reducing
pollution? Pollution can't possibly be good for us!
The world is tracking climate change. Weather and
temperature has been changing too quickly over the past few
decades, which seem to be caused by the industrial revolution
here on Earth. We are sending too much pollution (from cars,
trucks, factories, and power plants using coal) into our
atmosphere. Over the past hundred years the temperature of
the Earth has risen and this has caused many changes in
nature. For example, species of plants and animals are either
migrating or becoming extinct. Some seaside cities may soon
be underwater from rising sea levels. We are having more
severe weather patterns like tornadoes and hurricanes and ice
storms. Drinkable water sources are drying up.
What can you do to help be part of the solution? Well, all of the
things we have been talking about this year can help. It you
buy less and reduce, then less energy will be used and less
pollution will be sent into our atmosphere. If you don't waste
electricity you help out too. If you walk or bike to school or
carpool you are doing your part. If you buy locally you reduce
the greenhouse gases emitted through shipping and this helps
planet Earth too.
You can Google: "Top 10 ways you can stop Climate Change" to get more ideas on how you can help.
And finally, eat a fresh, local apple - Not only is it good for you, but greenhouse gases were not created in the processing,
canning, freezing, packaging or long distance transportation, so local apples are good for the planet too!
Slogan of the month: Climate Change is not cool!