Miss Stefanson

Wow, I can’t believe that it’s the end of June already! Time sure flies when you are having fun! Just a reminder that we will be heading over to CC Pool for our year-end pool party on Tuesday, as well as enjoying some time in the sun at thespray park on Wednesday.

We have had some specials guests in our classroom as my parents brought my daughter out for a visit! My mom, a retired teacher, completed an art project with the kids and did some singing with them. The kids have sure enjoyed our novel study, “Sarah, Plain and Tall”. We are just finishing up the book and then we will watch the movie next week. The kids have also got into a nice routine with our guided reading centers, that we have every morning. They seem to really enjoy rotating through different ELA activities as I read with a small group. The grade three’s just finished a math unit on multiplication, while the grade two’s recently finished our data management unit, where we collected data and made different types of graphs. We have also been learning about Canada in social studies and have been completing different experiments in science, for our motion unit.

Thanks for a wonderful few months back in the classroom! I hope that everyone has a terrific

and fun summer! Mrs. Romanchuk

On the May long weekend, 6 members of the Hanley Saber Football team took part in the Football Sask. Senior Bowl which is a showcase for the top graduating football players in the province. Alexander Mann, Steven Sira, Levi Lenius, and Josh Anderson along with Coaches Kirk and Anderson were part of the North 6-man Team. This was the first time that the Senior Bowl included 6, 9, and 12 man games and the new format was a huge success. In the 6-man game, the North team defeated the South 36-9 in the game that was held on Taylor Field in Regina. Steven Sira led the way on defense, shutting down the opposition after their first and only touchdown. Levi Lenius had a huge first down reception that helped get the offense in gear as well as hauling in a 54 yd pass for a touchdown. Alexander Mann played a strong game and chipped in with 6 points on converts. Quarterback Josh Anderson earning MVP honours throwing for 302 yds and 4 touchdowns.

Five younger members of the Saber Football club put their talents on display on May 26th in the Football Saskatchewan Roughrider Bowl held at Griffith’s Stadium on the U of S campus.. Reid Ashdown, Damon Prystupa, Kody Rowlett, Kirk Simonsen and Michael Lohrey were selected to participate based on their strong performances at an identification camp held in Outlook earlier in the summer. From this camp and others held around Saskatchewan, the top 100 players were selected from all the players trying out and were brought to Saskatoon to train and compete. After participating in practices on Friday and Saturday, the players were drafted into two squads that played in a controlled scrimmage on Sunday. All of the Saber players had strong games highlighted by Kody Rowlett and Damon Prystupa being invited to try out for the U18 Team Saskatchewan squad.

Finally, two of our graduating players will be competing on July 6th in Outlook in the Can Am bowl. This competition is between a Saskatchewan 6-man all-star team and an American squad of six-man football players. Based on their performances in the Senior Bowl, Steven Sira (linebacker) and Josh Anderson (quarterback) were selected to be on this team. Joining them will be Coach Kirk and Anderson who will be running the Team Canada offense.

It’s amazing that we’re looking back at more than eighty percent of the school year behind us and only a month and a half until the end of June. I look ahead at the field trips, special days and big events we have scheduled and know that there are so many more good experiences for students ahead before their summer starts.

I know that a number of you might have some questions about how the calendar is going to affect our school day next year. There have been some changes made by the Ministry of Education which I’ll try to summarize. The Ministry has decided that students need to start their school year after Labour Day in September and end before July. There need to be 950 hours of instructional time within those dates. Schools and families both agreed that it was important to continue to have a break in February and in spring. There also were contract issues with prep time for teachers to be included into the discussions. Next year’s calendar takes all those points into consideration but in so doing, our school day time will be increased by 9 minutes. Those 9 minutes will be added to our day by starting our first period in the morning at 8:55am and our last period will run until 3:04pm. Our morning recess and noon hour times will stay the same. We will no longer have early dismissal Thursdays for an hour of teacher preparation time. Those hours will be moved to full days during the year and the other teacher professional development days have been left off the calendar which will give us more time in the classroom.

Please be aware of the class trips as they are planned and keep an eye out for permission forms and due dates for any trip fees as they come up.

Our School Community Council will be looking for volunteers for the K-6 PlayDay/Track & Field day on June 10 to help around the concession cooking hotdogs and selling lunch. Please look for the note and lunch order form coming home next week.

Kindergarten orientation is scheduled for June 7. We look forward to our meeting our future Hanley Sabers as they and their parents come to school to get a look at Kindergarten for next year.

The June Final Exam schedule is included in the newsletter and on the website and should give some focus for our high school students to start studying. Good luck students on a strong end to another good year.

The last item I’ll add this month is a congratulations to all of our Grade 12 students who will be at our graduation proceedings next month before our last newsletter for the year. I sat with a grade 12 student today and reminded them that the end of the year will be the start of something new and that’s something to be excited about. Good luck to each of you and keep working hard for the next six weeks!

That’s all for now. As always, Mr. Anderson and I would love to talk to you if you have time to drop by the office or give us a call. Talk to you soon.