Dear Lynx families/Chères familles Lynx, 

Thank you to all the families who made time to speak with their child(ren)’s teachers.    We had a fantastic turn out over the 2 days, with many teachers being completely booked out.  If you did not get a chance to speak with your child(ren)’s teacher, please email them and arrange an alternate time. 

Also, a reminder that our Band Parents’ Council and our School Council have their Annual General meeting on Tuesday evening. 

Bonne fin de semaine, 

Mr. Chad Edmonds – Principal Georges P Vanier School  

Wrestling 

The wrestling season is coming upon us! Big thanks to Coach Rando for returning and helping with the team. We will have a quick lunch time information session on Tuesday October 29 for all prospective wrestlers. At the meeting, we will discuss practice times, wrestling quads, and all details to be on the team. Please meet Mr. Cheng and Mme. Filipovic in Room 16. You are welcome to bring your lunch and the meeting will start at 12:30 pm. If you have not signed your Authorization for Athletic Tryout form for wrestling, please make sure you do so or check with your Phys Ed Teacher!  

Hindu Heritage Month 

Namaste! November is recognized across Canada as Hindu Heritage Month, which is a time to honour the rich traditions, culture, and contributions of the Hindu community in Canada. In Alberta, it is recognized in the month of August. With close to 830,000 persons identifying as part of the Hindu community in Canada, this is a time to learn about the significant role they have had in shaping the nation's multicultural identity. This is a time to celebrate and recognize the contributions across the economy, culture, arts, politics, vitality of the Canadian Hindu community and celebrating the mosaic of cultures that enrich the nation.   

Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence 

The nomination period for the 2025 Prime Minister’s Awards is now open, and we’re looking for your help in recognizing outstanding educators who empower Canada’s youth. The Prime Minister’s Awards are a chance to celebrate educators for their leadership and exemplary education practices. Any person or group (i.e. parents, colleagues, principals, board members or students) can nominate educators in three different categories:    

  • Teaching Excellence 
  • Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics 
  • Excellence in Early Childhood Education  

For more information please see the attached flyer . 

Halloween  

Halloween is nearly here, and a great number of our students are planning to dress up in costume on Oct. 31.  If you are in the process of finalizing costume selection with your student in advance of the day, please consider these questions together:  

  • Is your child's costume consistent with school norms around reasonable attire (i.e.: is there a risk of over-sharing? Will they be able to participate in all of their learning while in costume)?  
  • Does your child's costume involve a weapon?  
  • Does your child's costume represent a negative stereotype?  
  • Does your child’s costume involve a mask that hides their identity entirely? (we do need to be able to recognize if the student in costume is a BP student.)  
  • Does your child’s costume allude to committing acts of violence against others?  
  • Does your child’s costume involve excessively gory elements?  
  • Does it involve changing the colour of their skin? (Shrek green is ok, however emulating another nationality/race is unacceptable).  
  • Does it allude to a culture that is not the child's own, such as a kimono, a turban or a feather headdress, etc.?  
  • Does it mock religious beliefs (nun or priest or cleric or imam or rabbi, etc.)?  
  • Does it mock the 2SLGBTQI+ community?  
  • Is it based on tragic or violent historical moments, such as slavery, the Holocaust, residential schools or cultural role play?  

If the response to any of these questions is yes, we would ask you and your child to reconsider the costume that they will be wearing to school. We may ask them to change into attire that meets our standard of dress.  

It is our hope that the whole GPV community will be able to enjoy the Halloween activities without feeling insulted or otherwise upset or uncomfortable.  

BelCanFran Exchange Opportunities 

BelCanFran will be holding an information evening for families interested in going on exchange in the 2025-26 school year.  This will be happening at the Haysboro Community Centre on Sunday, November 3rd from 2 – 3:30 pm. Please see the attached flyer for more information.  

Yearbooks for Sale! 

Pre-order a 2024-2025 Yearbook for your student between now and December 30th for $30. This year, purchases are made directly through the Jostens website, meaning that you can also add upgrades, like personalization, to your order. Click on the following link to order your yearbook now: https://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A09700335 

LAST DAY- GP Vanier Lynx Wear 

The Spirit Wear Store is OPEN!!!!! 

Get your school swag like hoodies, t-shirts. shorts, hats, etc.. The online School Store closes on Friday October 25, 2024 at 11:59pm.    

  • GPV Spirit Wear Store is open for fall orders until October 25, 2024 at 11:59PM 
  • Spirit Wear Store Link https://georgepvanierfall2024.itemorder.com/shop/home/ 
  • Orders are typically completed in 5-6 weeks after the store closes and delivered to the school 
  • All school store sales are custom made and cannot be returned 
  • f this order is meant as a gift please contact us and we will hold the order for parent pick up 

If you have questions regarding the online spirit wear, please contact Beth Gilkes at eagilkes@cbe.ab.ca   

Upcoming Sports Dates 

Monday: Wrestling Season Starts, Jr. Girls Basketball at Valley Creek, Girls Soccer FINALS 

Tuesday: Jr. Boys Basketball at GPV 

Wednesday: Sr. Girls Basketball at Valley Creek 

Thursday: no sports scheduled 

Friday: no sports scheduled 

Upcoming Dates 

Oct 29: School Council and Band Parents Association AGM: Join the meeting now 

Oct 30: Grade 9 Band Feeder Concert – William Aberhart 

Nov 7: Remembrance Day Assembly 

Nov 8: Indigenous Education Learning Day-Non-instructional day (no school for students) 

Nov 11-13: Fall Break – no school 

Nov 14: Students return to school 

Nov 14: Grade 6 Immunizations 

Nov 15: Healthy Hunger – Booster Juice, Order here 

Nov 18-20: Grade 6 to Camp Chief Hector 

Nov 26: GPV Band Concert, 2:00 pm