Community School News

President’s Message

Makoto Osawa

Thanks to all of our teachers and members, we have come to the end of the 2005 school year. Also, with the efforts of parents and volunteers, we were able to hold events such as the undokai, Heritage Days, the gakugeikai, and the speech contest. Thank you for your support.

During the spring break we will be moving our library to a different room. Please come and help out with the move.

On Friday, April 7^th, the first term of the new school year will start. See you at the school refreshed and ready to go. Please don’t forget that after the opening ceremony there will be a general meeting for all members. If you cannot participate, please submit a proxy letter.

Principal’s Message

Sanae Ohki

The last class for this school year is on March 24^th. Fifty-eight students will receive certificates of achievement. Thank you to all of the parents and teachers for working together in guiding the students through their studies.

While living in Canada, our students do their best to cover the same amount of material that is done in Japanese language arts classes, so it is quite difficult. Students are studying very hard, and the certificates of achievement are meant to honour them for their efforts. Please take the time at home to look at the certificate and praise your child.

This year, three teachers are retiring: Shukuda-sensei; Kagawa-sensei; and Nakano-sensei. All three of these teachers have taught at the school for a long time and have contributed much in not only teaching Japanese but also in the make-up of our program. They have put great efforts in their teaching roles as well as in other activities such as developing grade objectives, creating teaching methods; preparing homework; and planning for the gakugeikai. Even after leaving our school, these teachers will no doubt still encourage the students to study hard.

In replacement of the three retiring teachers, three new teachers will be starting: Yamazoe-sensei; Osawa-sensei; and Toyooka-sensei. They have been training in March and are all wonderfully dedicated teachers. Also, in April Tsuneda-sensei will take over as Principal. Students, following the guidance of such great teachers, please continue to work hard in your studies.

From the Board

Osawa Makoto

As of the new school year, the newsletter, annual report and handbook of student work will be distributed via E-mail. This decision was based on being more environmentally friendly and simplifying the toban duties. In order to send material electronically, we need everyone’s E-mail address. Please include your E-mail address when you fill out the school application for April.

Speech Contest

Our annual speech contest was held in the science room of Richard Secord School on Friday, March 10^th. Ten students from grade 5 and up participated, while the grade 4 class joined as members of the audience. The speakers and their topics were as follows:

Grade 5

Geio Oh Children’s Town

Hikari Kikuchi Submarines in Lakes

Anna Kaide New World

Jenny Zhang My Diet Failures

Ky McLean Doru

JHS 1

Emma Gerard The Earth is Being Damaged

Imin Liu The Speech Contest

JHS 3

Jamie Chen Bored? Why Not Start a Hobby?

Mio Dunwald Humans: Where are You Going?

Eileen Ramsey Special Time

Although the judging was based primarily on the speeches that evening, effort put into the preparation for speeches was also part of the evaluation criteria. There were four judges this year: Chief Judge, Daniel Ito (parent rep); Osawa-san (school membership rep); and Okamoto-sensei and Nakano-sensei (teacher reps);

Right from the winter vacation, the students worked hard generating ideas, writing, editing, and rehearsing. And, despite the nervousness one can feel in front of an audience, they did their best in their presenting their opinions. Many of the speeches were memorized and given directly to the audience, and/or they included wonderful expressions that grabbed the hearts of the listeners. It was touching to see the expression of self-satisfaction on the faces of the participants after they finished their speeches.

.The results of the contest were as follows:

1^st place Eileen Ramsey (JHS 3)

2^nd place Jamie Chen (JHS 3)

Jenny Zhang (Gr 5)

Congratulations to Eileen, Jamie and Jenny.

A final note – thank you to all of the parents who helped out.

Keiko Oba

The Library Needs Volunteers!!

Tuesday, March 28 9:00 am – 2:00 pm

In preparation for the new school year, we have to move our library to the room in the south part of the school. Because there are many books to be moved, we need lots of help. Lunch and baby-sitting will be provided so please come and help if you can.

Riyoko Shimizu, Librarian

2006 School Year Payment System

Please refer to the information below when preparing to pay lesson and memberships fees for the new school year (form attached). Please pay Yumiko McLean by Friday, April 7^th.

Lesson fees

Jr Kindergarten (1 child): $19 x 10 months = $190

All other students: $38 x 10 months = $380

Memberships fees

Regular members (parents) and teachers: $10

Other members: $30

If paying by cheque:

^§Full payment – dated April 1

^§3 payments (dated April 1, Sept 1, Dec 1)

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Sobestukai (Farewell Party)

At the end of March, Ohki Kocho-sensei, Shukuda-sensei, Kagawa-sensei, and Nakano- sensei will be retiring. In order to show our appreciation of their long commitment to education at our school, we parents are planning a sobestukai (details below). In order to get the preparations ready, we need to know who will be coming. Please RSVP Masahito Oba by March 31^st (TEL: 430-0226; Email: moba@telus.net).

When: Saturday, April 8^th – 12:00-14:00

Where: EJCA Hall

Cost: $20 per person

* This party if for adults.

Parent Shifts (Toban) for March/April

Mar 24 – Ito; Fedrau

April 7 – Oba; Yamamoto

April 13 (Thurs) – Kikuchi; Abe

April 21 – Motoda; Morita

April 28 – Oh; Idoga

* If you need to make a change in the schedule, please contact Setsuko Dunwald (437-3457).

* Apology – We posted the toban schedule last month, but we inadvertently left out Abe-san. Abe-san’s dates were 6/24 and 11/3. We are sorry for the omission.

The Community School News is printed in the fourth week of each month. If you have any questions and/or comments, please let us know.

Translated by Terry McLean

Community School News March 2006