It is hard to believe there is only one month of school left before we go on holidays for the summer. Since the lifting of restrictions, our teachers have been able to provide many hands on learning experiences for their students. One way students are able to experience hands on, experiential learning is through field trips. It has been great to see the excitement of the students before going on a field trip and to see the connections to the learning they make during and after. We are very thankful to all of our parent volunteers who make field trips possible. Thank you!

We are also busy planning our summer fun day and school picnic that will take place on June 29. Students will participate in fun activities in the morning. Parents and families are invited to join their child/children for a picnic lunch from 11:45 to 1:15. We strongly encourage families to bring a picnic lunch from home as the restaurants in town are very busy on that day!

The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) is organizing a basket raffle that will take place during the picnic. The draws will be made at 12:45. More information about all the days activities will be sent home prior to June 29.

Karen Fraser and Tara Reimer

Do you ever feel like someone is watching you? It’s your kids. ALL THE TIME.

Children watch everything we do and don’t do, whether we realize it or not. Parenting is an experience in which the learning never stops. As we learn, our kids learn with us. Reflecting on what we are modeling for our kids is a great place to start thinking about what is going well and what needs adjusting.

Feel free to contact one of us if you are looking for some support.

Sandy Caners & Courtney Gangloff

Guidance Counsellors

Have you ever found yourself lost in a park or in the city? Have you ever had to explain to someone how to get to your house? Doing this requires a great deal of spatial awareness and the use of prepositional words. At school our young children explore these concepts through inquiry, storytelling, and play. Some concepts are easier to learn like up and down, but some take a bit longer to develop. You can help support your child at home with these concepts through play and conversation. You could create a fun obstacle course around the house or outside with instructions (go under the chair, around the table, through the garage, etc.). You could also model these words when talking to your child. For example, if your child is asking where there backpack is, you could say it is "next to..." or "to the left of..."

Here are some of the common prepositional words:

over • under • on • up • down • around • through • beside • between • behind • near • far • next to • in front of • right, left • north, south, east, west

Summer is almost here! Let the fun begin! It’s important to relax and take a break from school pressures. But we also know that summer is a perfect time for families to enjoy, explore and create together. A lot of this can be done in active and meaningful ways that include literacy - reading, writing, viewing and representing all the great things that happen in the summer.

Some great ideas for summer projects and activities are here. Consider these:

• Design a neighborhood scavenger hunt for or with your kids - perhaps offer to other families in the neighborhood

• Family stories - have your child interview a family member and share what they learned at a family gathering

• Go for a walk and look for letters of the alphabet in the buildings

• Make a shopping list and then go shopping together

• Read a book together and then watch the movie

• Create a scrapbook together about a trip or fun thing you did in the summer

Another idea is to get involved at Jake Epp library this summer. The library has lots of exciting summer programming. They will have weekly programs for K-grade 8, storytime in the park, and movie nights. Online registration begins on June 15th.

We hope you have a wonderful summer filled with lots of relaxation, creativity and fun!

Elder Marlene has been meeting weekly with the Indigenous students in our school. We have been so grateful for her care as these children have learned Anishinaabemowin, cultural teachings and craft making. We’re looking forward to a special visit from her grandson who will bring his drum and do some singing and round dancing with the children in June. One of our grade 3 students said, “I am so grateful to be able to spend time with other Indigenous people like me who can speak my language. It reminds me of home.”

Some classes have also been participating in outdoor forest school days with an Indigenous forest school practitioner from Momenta. As teachers, we are learning from Adrian Alphonso, the importance of being in balance and creating opportunities for children to be in balance. Balance means paying attention to the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional parts of a child. Inside the walls of the classroom we tend to focus on the mental piece of ourselves and can easily exclude the other three needs. When we spend time outside all of these parts of ourselves are more easily in balance.

Hello from Woodlawn PAC,

Wow, we can’t believe we are already heading into the final month of school!

Thank you to all the families of Woodlawn for making this year a successful one. We appreciate your continued support.

Upcoming events…

The Woodlawn parent advisory Council (PAC) is excited about planning one last event for the students. So exciting that we get to have our school picnic on the last day of school. We will be collecting items for a basket raffle that will take place at the picnic.

Please bring an item that supports the theme of the basket that's assigned to your child's classroom. Items are due by June 20th.

Class Themes:

Art & Creativity 1S 3T 2LR

Backyard Fun 4 K KM 3/4A

Baker's Delight 3R 2PR 1P

Beach day 4G KR 3/4D

Sports 4B KG 2MF

Dress up 1C 3/4M 2H

Family night 1JC 3K 2KF

I love to read 1G 3/4B Staff

The Woodlawn PAC has big fundraising goals for adding outdoor structures for our kids, so if you wish you could also make a donation to Woodlawn PAC. All donations over $20 will receive a tax receipt. Please make cheques payable to Woodlawn School.

DRAW DATE : JUNE 29th

Tickets for the gift baskets will be sold at the picnic on June 29th with the draw to take place at the picnic.

Ticket prices

10 for $2

25 for $5

Thank you in advance for all your contributions.

Are you an outdoor enthusiast?

Our PAC is currently in the process of forming a Beautification team. This team will work alongside our teaching staff to help with any current or future projects, that are needing to be completed on our playground.

A sign up genius will be created shortly to further explain these projects and opportunities to help enhance our playground! STAY TUNED

PAC members needed!

The Woodlawn Parent Advisory Council works to support our school. We do this through fundraising for various projects, providing feedback to all administration, and organizing special appreciations/activities for the students and staff.

Our next meeting is scheduled for June 7th at 11:05am in the gym.

If your interested in attending a meeting, please join us. All are welcomed and we hope to see you there.

Thank you again

Woodlawn PAC

We are very excited that we get to celebrate our grade 4 students at the end of June. The teachers have been busy planning some fun events. Please take notes of the following dates:

• Monday, June 27 - Grade 4 farewell. This will take place in the morning at 10:00. Parents are invited. A picnic lunch will follow. Lunch will be provided by the school for the students. Parents are invited to bring their own lunch and join us.
• Tuesday, June 28 - Rainbow Stage - The Hockey Sweater. Cost will be covered by the school. More information and permissions will be sent home shortly.

Will your student be starting a new school in fall? Click HERE for some great information for parents to help their children succeed when moving to a new school.

If your child will not be attending Woodlawn for the 2022-2023 school year please contact Mrs. Melissa Thiessen at the school office at 204-326-6110 or by email to woodlawn@hsd.ca as soon as possible.

Angela Martin - KM

Trudy Smeltz - KS

Samuela Isenschmid Reimer - KR

Elena Cornelson - 1C

Chris Schroeder - 1S

Jason Dyck - 1D

Jenn Cuppage - 1/2JC

Amanda Cipriano - 1/2C

Heather Penner - 1/2P

Pat Reimer - 2PR

Leah Read - 2LR

Kristen Falk - 2KF

Kristen Reimer - 3R

Cathy Toews / Angela Gosselin - 3CG

Shawn Kehoe - 3K

Jordyn Arcand - 3/4A

Michael Bourget - 3/4B

Andrea Dick - 3/4D

Lisa Martens - 3/4M

Jerilyn Koslowsky - 4K

Simmy Gandhi - 4G

Marlene Funk - 4F

WISE Kid-Netic Energy is excited to be back on the road and hosting camps this year. Wise Kid-Netic Energy Stem Camp is available for kids ages 9 -15. They will be hosting camps in Steinbach. Click HERE for more details.