Monthly Archives: December 2020

For those of our DGH families who celebrate Kwanzaa, we wish you a happy beginning to this week of celebration. Canada recognized Kwanzaa beginning in 1993. Kwanzaa is a time for people of African heritage to celebrate their culture and history. Starting on December 26, it lasts for 7 days (ending on January 1).

Interested in learning more? Check out this link at CBC Kids.

For our DGH families who celebrate or recognize this day, Merry Christmas to you! I hope the day brings time for family, good food and time for relaxation. In what has been an extraordinarily difficult year in so many ways, so hopefully this day brings some good times and good cheer! My hope for the day? A good book – preferably something to do with history or general science!

While NORAD normally protects the air space over North America, on Christmas Eve it uses its radar stations to track Santa. When my kids were younger, this was definitely something that we checked out every year. Are your kids interested in checking it out this year? If so, click here, or the url is directly below.

noradsanta.org

Radar stations and Santa – few activities could be better! Only one more sleep…

On behalf of the DGH staff, I would like to wish our DGH community a safe and wonderful holiday. 2020 has been a trying year for so many in our community, province and country and a year that many of us will be happy to see end!

That being said, the start of the school year has brought positives. First and foremost, simply having the majority of our students and staff back in our bricks and mortar school has been wonderful. While there was tremendous trepidation as school began in September (by all involved), watching the smiling faces of students (and staff) as students landed in classrooms and reconnected with friends they may not have seen for almost 6 months was worth all of the effort in the getting the school year up and running. Being able to move learning forward in a more traditional sense was also something students and staff equally appreciated. I spoke with many staff regarding this prior to the school year’s start; all felt the same: they were ecstatic about having students in front of them rather than a computer screen!

From my (and the larger staff and community) lens, the support of our community has been rather impressive. The vast majority of our students have done an amazing job of wearing their mask and following our new routines. In large part that is due to the support and efforts of our families who have encouraged their child(ren) to follow these routines. While no one can truly predict what will happen as the school year continues, the routines implemented in school has definitely led to fewer student absences due to illness to this point in the year. Thank you for all of your efforts in supporting the school in this area.

As we head into the holidays, I truly hope every DGH family has at least some additional opportunity to enjoy family time together. However, you choose to recognize and enjoy the holidays, I hope there is time for good food and good times, and that everyone remains safe and sound.

We look forward to seeing all of our students back on January 4, 2021! And, to be honest, it seems quite terrifying to typing in “2021”!

Thank you to the Little Britain Foodland who donated the pancake mix and syrup for our Pancake Breakfast this Friday, December 18!  As you can imagine, feeding almost 300 students requires a large amount of mix and syrup, so this was no small commitment!

Thanks also go out to Kori Bartholomew, parent to a DGH student, who donated mini individual cups to hold the syrup, and who provided some industrial sized mixing bowls and whisks with which to make the pancakes.  It will make the morning go much less “lumpy” (it was the best pancake pun I could “make” in the final week of school before holidays!).  

All items were in the school long enough to be quarantined, or were sanitized as per our regular routines.

Your generosity is appreciated and made for a great start to the final day of school before the holidays!

DGH, our final Spirit Day before the holidays is tomorrow, Friday, December 18: Christmas Sweater Day! It has definitely become one of the favourite Spirit Days in recent years. Again, this is one of those Spirit Days where students can create their own Christmas Sweater and do it in such a wide variety of ways. Or, students can create their own Christmas Sweaters. We have seen some extraordinary homemade sweaters over the years. Whichever route you go, Huskies, make it happen for tomorrow!

To be honest, it is a bit of a house divided this year in terms of NFL Ugly Christmas Sweaters. Mr. Moreira (one of our nighttime custodians) who loves the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ms. Clench (grade 5/6 LTO teacher) who loves the Philadelphia Eagles, and Ms. Graham and Mr. Parish who love the Dallas Cowboys will no doubt all be showing some team pride in their sweater choice on this day!

Thank you to the many who were able to donate to our Christmas Families Programme!  

Thank you to Rustically Signed who provided a significant donation to go towards the purchase of gifts and/or food for the families supported by the school.  Rustically Signed ran a fundraiser, with proceeds being donated to Dr. George Hall PS.  We received another sizable donation of gifts from an anonymous donor.  While the donor does not wish to be recognized, please know that the gifts were perfect for the ages of the children involved in the program!  Thanks also go out to the many individual families who donated a gift, food, cash through SchoolCash online, or a gift card.  All of YOUR support meant a number of local families having a wonderful Christmas – even in these difficult and challenging times. 

Your generosity embodies those virtues that we ask our children to demonstrate.  When children see their families donating to support others it makes a lasting impact that can last a lifetime, encouraging them to volunteer their time and resources to support the less fortunate. 

Our students’ creative abilities will also be on display tomorrow, Thursday, December 17: it’s our Christmas Pyjama Spirit Day! There are almost limitless possibilities here Yes, you could go with store bought pyjamas (and there is nothing wrong with that). However, we know that many students will personally decorate their pyjamas in a Christmas theme. Which route a student (or staff member) goes is just fine! We are looking for a high degree of participation again! Keep the Spirit Days going, Huskies!

DGH community, do not forget that this Friday, December 18 is our Pancake Breakfast. As noted in a previous post, our Pancake Breakfast will look different this year.

Students will not be gathering in the Gym by class (normally we have 2 or 3 classes in the Gym at the same time). Instead, pancakes will be delivered to classes (class by class). Normally, we have a number of volunteers who help with pancake cooking; this year it will be the four office staff (Ms. Starr, Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Whiteway, and Mr. Parish) doing the cooking and delivering of pancakes. Pancakes will be plated in the kitchenette and delivered to each classroom.

Remember that we are asking students to bring in their own cutlery (it’s one way to reduce garbage).

While the Pancake Breakfast will look different this year, we are excited about still being able to make it happen! A Pancake Breakfast is a great way to start the final day of school prior to holidays!

This is one of our more popular Spirit Days: Christmas Hat and Socks Day! There are so many ways to decorate your Christmas Hat or Socks! In my case (it is Mr. Parish writing this post), I have been wearing a different pair of Christmas Socks since December 1, so this is a Spirit Day I will definitely like! As always, the more students and staff who participate – the better! Christmas Hats and Socks don’t have to be store bought. We feel confident that many staff and students will show their creative side through their homemade creations!