News From The Nest Feb 27 to March 3 2023
Spotlight on Learning: Be More Than a Bystander Presentation
This past Monday, our grade 9 and 10 students had a special visit and presentation from members of the BC Lions football team. This assembly was a part of our diversity week events and was particularly meaningful as we celebrated PRIDE day, Pink Shirt day, and cultural diversity. The “Be More Than a Bystander” program designed specifically for youth in grades 8-12 and emphasizes the role everyone can play in promoting healthy relationships and creating more respectful, peaceful schools and communities. The Be More Than a Bystander program is based on the work of Jackson Katz, an educator, author and filmmaker, who is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in the field of gender violence prevention education.
The message was clear, bullying in all forms whether physical, verbal, or social, in person or on social media is one of the biggest issues students across the province face. The presenters spoke of the tremendous long-lasting impact even one incident can have on an individual’s sense of self-worth, and connection to the school community.
The challenge posed was “don’t just stand there, do something.” Presenters shared numerous ways that students could intervene and put a stop to the bullying they witness and provided resources for students to anonymously report an incident as well as local organizations that provide support for those who are victims of violence. Our number one job as educators is to provide a safe and caring environment for students to thrive in. If we don’t know what’s going on, we can’t stop it. Come talk to us. Send us an email. Tell your parents, friends, youth pastor, grandparent, or counsellor. We all share the responsibility to do everything we can to keep Mouat a place that everyone wants to be.
Dry Grad 2023
This past Friday night, we had the chance to celebrate this year’s graduating students with our annual dry grad event. The hallways here decorated in the Roaring 20s theme and the students showed up dressed to impressed with many beautiful dresses, bowties, and suspenders. A big thank you to all the parents for their hard work planning, decorating and supervising the evening. A HUGE thank you to all the people and local businesses that donated some amazing prizes for the raffle including 3 pairs of Vancouver Canucks tickets, 4 VIP Abby Canucks tickets, a Yeti cooler full of goodies, hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards, blankets, backpack, gym memberships, and 2 Acer chrome books. Our grads are so fortunate and we are so grateful.
Diversity Art Exhibit
As a part of this week’s diversity celebration, we were invited to an in-house art exhibit put on by our very own group of extremely talented artists.
About the Multi-cultural art show: We often associate culture with old traditions, but it is a living thing. Culture is happening and evolving right now. We live in a multicultural community and our students collectively speak over 40 languages at home. Our schools is a microcosm of our community, country, and all of humanity. The art in this show represents the interests, hobbies, aesthetics, mental health, spirituality, gender, identity, and ultimately the experiences of students whose ancestors who are from this land, students who were born and raised locally, and students who have come here more recently. Each piece is an artifact of our current society and culture.
Erase Parent Session
erase is all about building safe and caring school communities. This includes empowering students, parents, educators and community partners who support them to get help with challenges, report concerns to schools, and learn about complex issues facing students.
Establishing Respectful Relationships and Consent in Our Communities – Student and Parent Session
In these sessions, they will explore the topic of consent and the dynamics of gender-based violence. They will discuss the current state of gender relations faced by our children in both the physical and digital landscape and the potential for exploitation within these relationships. Trainers will provide Parents/Caregivers tips and tools on how to discuss these topics with their children to create positive family connections. There are two virtual sessions available and both sessions are geared towards high school students and their families.
Option #1: Date: February 27, 2023 from 6:30pm - 8pm
Link to register: https://event-wizard.com/EstablishingRespectfulRelationshipsandConsentinOurCommunitiesStudentParentFeb272023/0/register/
Option #2: Date: March 8, 2023 from 6:30pm to 8pm
Link to register: https://event-wizard.com/EstablishingRespectfulRelationshipsandConsentinOurCommunitiesStudentParentMar82023/0/register/
Share your Feedback – Proposed Calendar for 2023-24
The Abbotsford Board of Education is currently seeking feedback from families, employees, students and the larger community on the proposed calendar for the 2023-24 school year. Feedback will be collected via the school district's Engagement Portal, engage.abbyschools.ca, until March 1, 2023.
Share Your Voice: Local School Calendar Survey
Read the News Release: Abbotsford Board of Education seeks public input on 2023-24 School Calendar
Character Word of the Week – Awareness
To be aware is to have knowledge and understanding that something exists, whether it be a situation, subject, idea, or belief. Self-awareness describes a conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and interests. It allows us to see the difference between how we see ourselves and how others see us.
In our day-to-day lives demonstrating awareness means you can hear, see, and feel how your words and actions impact others. Awareness allows you to see the perspective of others and gives you the ability to reflect on how other people hear, see and feel about you.
Self-Care Mondays
MARCH: THE BENEFITS OF POSITIVITY
Positive thinking, or an optimistic attitude, is the practice of focusing on the good in any given situation. It can have a big impact on your physical and mental health. That doesn't mean you ignore reality or make light of problems. It simply means you approach the good and the bad in life with the expectation that things will go well. So make every effort to be POSITIVE!
This week’s self-care tip is about: POSITIVE THINKING and AFFIRMATIONS
Making the effort to think positively can improve both mental and physical health for many. Shaping and framing your thoughts to spark joy and contentment can do wonders for you. An example of this is positive affirmations. A positive affirmation can be defined as positive phrase or statement that we repeat to ourselves such as: “I am a nice person.” I work hard.” Even something like “I love sunshine.” So, take a moment today to say 10 positive statements about yourself!
Information:
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/positive-thinking-overview
https://www.bettersleep.com/blog/how-positive-thinking-can-improve-your-mental-health/
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Coming up this week Sunday February 26
Monday, February 27
Tuesday, February 28
Wednesday, March 1
Thursday, March 2
Friday, March 3
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Check out all the happenings around the school last week and what's happening this week. A reminder that this Friday, March 3 is an SLO Day, which means the warning bell will ring at 9:24 and classes start at 9:30.