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Messages from Across the Grades
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Junior Kindergarten "JK"
Students across our Junior Kindergarten classes show an open mind and heart by exploring S.T.E.M activities and the importance of celebrating events together as a family, like Lunar New Year. They have further explored having an open mindset by sharing their unique stories, often involving people, time and places in their lives, through our one of a kind story studio!
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Grades K/1
The Kindergarten and grade one students were introduced to interesting animals when Mike’s Critters came to our school. Students discussed how animals live, what they eat and how they survive the winter. Kindergarten students have also read the book “How to Fill Your Bucket” and explored ways to show kindness and an open-heart. In grade one, students also learned about Chinese New Year and Korean New Year in class. Students are always excited to learn about the traditions of cultures.
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Grades 2/3
Grade two students have been learning about their responsibilities to themselves at home, at school and in the world. Students read the book "How To Be a Lion" by Ed Vere. They discussed how the book connects to being open-minded and open-hearted. Everyone has the right to be themselves and there is more than one right way to act, think or care for others. Grade three students are preparing for their upcoming Kindness and Anti-Bullying assembly by learning about peaceful conflict resolution strategies through reading discussions around books such as "My Secret Bully" by Trudy Ludwig.
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Grades 4/5
Grade four students explored the relationship between goal setting and a growth mindset, specifically the process of setting S.M.A.R.T goals. Students collaborated and prepared for the upcoming grade four assembly on gratitude and respect. Meanwhile, grade five and six students are practicing kindness activities in honour of the upcoming Pink Shirt Day. Students are practicing open heartedness and having an open mind through exploring New Year celebrations around the world, including participating in Lunar New Year customs. Students are also participating in a reading challenge leading up to "World Read Aloud Day" on February 1st.
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Grades 6-8
Grade six students set positive intentions for the year and are working on friendships by creating kindness cards. Students are learning the value of kindness and understanding that their kindness is a gift. Students worked on creating their vision boards and establishing a positive growth mindset to start off 2023 in the most positive way. Grade seven and eight students started setting S.M.A.R.T goals and learned the importance of dreaming big and making positive choices. Students write kindness cards to one another weekly in order to create an energy of appreciation in the classroom.
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Literacy: Sharing with an Open Heart
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Jamie donated $200.00 to the Pythagoras Academy library with the money he collected from a service project in 2022. He took time outside of his regular class schedule to meet with Mrs. Powell, our director of Literacy, to choose the new books for the library. Jamie considered the needs and wants of himself, his friends, and other students in the school for these new book titles. Being open-hearted can be shown in so many ways! A big thank you to Jamie Z. in grade 6Mc for showcasing an incredibly kind example of being open-hearted.
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Musical Theatre: Exploring with an Open Mind
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Musical Theatre is a time that we are allowed to explore. Whether students are developing their own characters with morals and flaws or just starting with the building blocks of storytelling by creating simple stories with a beginning, middle, and end; theatre is a space where we challenge ourselves to explore our beliefs and create. It’s important for students to find their own unique way to creatively express themselves. In theatre, this is a welcome and open challenge. Individuals who express themselves through visual art are essential to the design process by developing and sketching detailed costumes and sets. They can then delve into the connections that exist between visual arts and theatre, including how they intersect. These connections exist across all subjects and all parts of the cast and crew are equally important. They all exist together and work towards a unified goal with an open heart and an open mind. Each part of the cast and crew explores out of their own field and learns more about the others, which in turn continues to develop their own unique way to creatively express themselves.
Mr. Nathan Purcell
K-8 Musical Theatre Specialist
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Spectacular Student Examples of G.R.O.W
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We couldn't miss the opportunity to highlight some of the amazing examples of G.R.O.W amongst students and staff so far this year. These students and staff have taken time outside of their regular school and work schedule to go after their goals with an open heart and open mind. A few examples amongst the many within our PA family include the following:
Gino- Grade 4: The youngest participant of his competition, Gino has recently achieved 100% score during the 3/6 round of the Mathematics Olympiad Competition. We are very proud of your hard work and wish you the best of luck during your final competition in March!
Junchen- Grade 5: This talented and practicing Wushu athlete recently participated in the 8th World Junior Wushu Championships, where he has succeeded in securing a position in the world team. Please take a look at this video for more information.
Winnie, Megan and Austin- Grade 6/7: These students attended a PA after school club focusing on real world challenges in AI, robotics and space exploration. Their designs were chosen and are featured in an online Lunar Gateway Gallery that is shared with the Canadian Space Agency, Western University and Steamlabs. Outstanding work!
Harley- Grade 7: Congratulations to Harley on achieving first place in the Elite International Music Competition! His passion and dedication for playing the piano have led to him being invited to play in Carnegie Hall, in New York, for the second year in a row!
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Many of our teachers participate in school professional development opportunities inside and outside of school time. Sometimes, these opportunities are provincial-wide and require all teachers to participate. Other times, taking part in these learning sessions is purely because our teachers demonstrate lifelong learning and a desire to instill the best educational practices for our students. We would like to highlight a few recent instances, among many, where our teachers demonstrate having an open heart and open mind towards newer technology and effective instructional practices:
Congratulations to our IT/ADST teacher, Mrs. Vihovska, on becoming a Seesaw Ambassador! Pythagoras Academy is an active user of the Seesaw app for schools and we are excited about this achievement. Mrs. Vihovska now has the ability to share her activities with the whole Seesaw community and not just our school community. She can also evaluate and give feedback on the new features that come out for Seesaw and share class feedback with developers. #Seesaw #SeesawAmbassador
Congratulations to one of our JK teachers, Ms. Elder, who sought out best practices when wanting to utilize our Story Studio. She has taken the time to examine the research, watch lessons and accumulate new knowledge to best facilitate these learning opportunities for students. There is a plethora of materials available for teachers to use and guide their practices, but when educators take the time to understand the best way to use these materials and instructional practices it can make for the most impactful learning possible.
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Wellness: G.R.O.W-ing Together
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As we close out another year and step into 2023, many find it’s a time for reflection. At Pythagoras Academy, students and staff are continuing to explore and reflect on the meaning of G.R.O.W. Specifically, students and staff are focusing on the letter “O,” which stands for being open-hearted and open minded.
According to the Oxford dictionary, being open-hearted is defined as being kind, loving, and honest. Meanwhile, being open-minded is defined as being willing to consider ideas and opinions that are new or different from your own. At Pythagoras Academy, students show this through performing acts of kindness and sharing what or whom they are grateful for, as well as collaborating on projects while actively listening to each other. Students and staff also practice the 5 Chairs 5 Choices behaviour model. In this behavioural model, someone who is open-hearted and open-minded is sitting in the ‘dolphin’ chair. When you are a dolphin, you detect other people's feelings and are able to help out when needed.
Ms. Una Miljevic
Wellness Coordinator
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Informational Technology at Pythagoras Academy
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The First Lego League team from Pythagoras Academy showed excellence during BC Provincial Qualifier Tournament on January 14th, 2023 in Victoria, BC
We are thrilled to announce that our “Pythagoras Penguins” team scored in the top-ranking rounds this year during their in-person qualifier at the Lansdowne Middle School in Victoria on January 14th. The team had an incredible result by achieving the Champion’s Award 3rd Place. We hope our team will do amazing during the FLL Challenge BC Championship in March at the Meadowridge School. Currently, the team is working very hard to improve their presentation and score during Robogame.
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As we continue to work towards solutions to new challenges, students' confidence and teamwork skills continue to be built and applauded. Pythagoras Academy has held award winners each time they have participated in the program, and we are happy to continue the tradition this year.
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Upcoming School Events and Important Dates
February 2: Lockdown Drill
February 16: Earthquake Drill
February 16: Musical Theatre Show
February 17: Pro D Day (No School)
February 20: Family Day (No School)
February 21: PAPO General Meeting
February 22: Pink Shirt Day and Assembly
February 24: Report Card Day
February 28: Fire Drill
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Upcoming Community Events and Important Dates
February 3-12: 2023 Stride Burnaby Arts Festival- Burnaby
January 20 - February 5: Dine out Vancouver Festival- Vancouver
February 18-20: Fan EXPO- Vancouver
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Scan this QR code to be taken to our PA WeChat Channel
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