​Dear Lynx families, 
Let me start out by sending a big thank you to School Council for providing the funds to host our guest speaker Leo Barbe this past Tuesday. This is another piece of our work here at Vanier to create a more connected, aware and healthy student body. His message included: 
Every single day you make a choice 
Powerful people own both choices: good and bad 
People you hang-out with dictate your future 
Visualize: what is the leader you want to become, imagine this with detail 
Talk back to your ego: I can and I will 
I hope that your child(ren) spoke to you about it afterwards, if not please take a moment this weekend to ask them about it. Teachers are working with students over the next few weeks around his messages, and creating some word art that represents what we took out of the presentation and what we hope Vanier will become in future years. Once this is complete, I will share it in an upcoming weekly update. 
Next week is the start of La Semaine de la Francophonie and we will be having a raft of activities to recognize this. We kicked it off a little early last Monday with a Cabane à sucre visiting where students had a chance to eat maple taffy. It also gave homerooms a chance to decorate their doors in the spirit of various countries that are members of the Francophonie. 
Next week is also the start of Ramadan, and I would like to wish those families celebrating Ramadan Mubarak. If your child(ren) will be away from school on the 22nd, or later in April to celebrate Eid, please let the school know that we can adjust it in the attendance.  
Bonne fin de Semaine, 
Chad Edmonds – Principal GP Vanier 
 
School Planning Engagement for 2023-2024 
This is the time of year when we begin looking ahead to the next school year. Part of this process is engaging with our community for feedback to shape our School Development Plan (SDP) and budgetary process. We will discuss this process at the next School Council meeting this Tuesday. You can watch this short video that discusses school development planning and budgetary processes, which can be accessed here. 
We welcome and invite your feedback. The engagement survey is currently open and you can access the survey here. 
 
Semaine de la Francophonie/French Week 
Next week is a very exciting week for us! Students in our Leaderships classes and staff have been planning engaging and fun learning experiences with our upcoming Semaine de la Francophonie. This celebration of French culture will be infused throughout the day, every day of the week. There will be French themed food for sale in the cafeteria as well.  
Our Artist in Residence will feature Mat Mailandt is a professional actor and comedian, who is also fluent in French! You've probably seen him on TV in various commercials, notably as Todd in the current Leon's campaign. He's performed in hundreds of comedy shows all over the world with some of the best in biz including Colin Mochrie (Who's Line is it Anyway), Andrew Phung (Kim's Convenience) and Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones.) He's also the co-host of Bites and Bits a deliciously cheeky podcast about food and comedy. “Comedy and youth are a perfect combination. Using the tenants of improv, sketch and stand-up comedy, students will develop communication skills, teamwork and problem solving techniques in a fun, safe environment.” 
Everyday activities: 
French Trivia in Announcements 
Selfies with Bonhomme  
Friendship Bracelets (like ceinture fléchée) in Foods room 
Hot Chocolate Sales $1.00 
French Movies in the library 
French Karaoke 
Minute to Win It in Drama Room 
Pétanque (Monday only) 
Snowshoeing (Monday & Tuesday) 
Cafeteria Menu: 
Monday: Simple Simon Pies 
Tuesday: Croissant Sandwich 
Wednesday: French Toast and Chicken Cordon Bleu 
Thursday: Poutine 
 
GEM – Session  
It is GEM time again:) and we are getting ready for our last session at U of C. 
Our second GEM session will occur on March 18 th, 9:30am - 12pm. Please drop of your child at then parking lot outside of the Math Sciences Building at the University of Calgary. Math Sciences Building 612 Campus Pl NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4V8 
The drop off time is at 9:15. This is also the location for pick up at the end of the day. Mme Shah will be at this location. Please do not park at these drop-off zones. 
We hope all students involved enjoy the session! 
 
School Fees 
A friendly reminder that second semester school fees have been posted to your students Power School account. 
Your Power School account is an online portal that not only allows you to pay school fees but also to view your child’s report card, attendance and grades throughout the year.   
If you do not have a Power School account you can click on the link below and follow the steps to set one up.  
https://www.cbe.ab.ca/support/Pages/MyCBE-PowerSchool-Creating-Account.aspx 
If you are unable to access your PWS account, please call the school and we will assist you as best we can. 
 
Loonies for Literacy 
Our school is participating in Loonies for Literacy again this year – to date we have raised $662.00 of our $1,000 goal.  Thank you so much for supporting this initiative.  We are currently the top fundraiser for this year’s event. 
Please continue to share our link with friends and family so we can reach and maybe even exceed our goal! 
Last year our school community raised $862.00.  These funds  have allowed us to purchase popular new books students have requested.  We will continue to take student book requests to ensure we are providing titles that will keep them interested and engaged. 
We hope this will continue to promote a love of reading for our students here at GP Vanier.   
If you would like to donate, please click on the link below and share with friends and family you think would like to support this amazing initiative.  The campaign will run for from February 1 to April 23. 2023.  We have set our schools goal at $1,000 and would love to see the same community support to make this happen. 
https://educationmatters.akaraisin.com/looniesforliteracy2023/GeorgesPVanier To make literacy more equitable across the city, for every dollar raised by a school during this campaign, another dollar will be provided to a school in need through contributions from community partners like yourself. Learning to read opens up a new world of information, imagination, and communication; literacy is essential to developing self-esteem, an understanding of the world, and one’s place in it. Please join us in ensuring that no student falls behind. 
 
Upcoming Dates 
March 20 - 24: Semaine de la Francophonie/French Week 
March 20 - 24: Artist in Residence – Mat Maitlandt 
March 21: School Council Meeting: Click here to join the meeting 
March 21 & 22: Grade 9 Field Trip Journey 2050 
March 24 & 25: School Council Casino Fundraiser 
March 25 – April 2: SPRING BREAK 
April 3: Back to School 
April 6: Eastern Canada Trip MANDATORY Parent Meeting 5:00pm 
April 7: Good Friday (no school for students) 
April 10: Languages Symposium/System Professional Day (no school for students) 
April 13: Grade 6 CPO Field Trip ​