TLA Newsletter: October 21, 2022
Enrollment; Staffing; Evaluation; School site update
Enrollment as of October 12, 2022: We are pleased to report an upsurge in enrollment from last year’s 155 students to this year’s 174, including 9 international students, some of whom we welcome for a partial year. Please continue to spread the word about our school to your friends and like-minded acquaintances who may be looking for a setting such as ours for the education of their children. We do not have a grade twelve class this year, so there will be no graduation in June.
Staffing: We welcome three new staff members this year, Mrs. Kinga Champion (nee Dobozy) who returns to TLA after a 19-year leave of absence, who is teaching two days in grade two, Miss Constance Muradyan, who teaches the remaining three days in grade two, and High School French, and Mr. Attila Varszegi, who has the grade five home room and also teaches Latin and High School English.
External Evaluation at TLA The Ministry team will be visiting TLA on Friday, the fourth of November, to carry out the major six-year inspection of the school. We look forward to the completion of this important evaluation of our school.
Indigenous Day at TLA The whole-school welcomed Jenelle and Glenn from the Papsilqua Reserve 2 in the Fraser Canyon at Spuzzum, as they visited TLA to share with us numerous aspects of Indigenous life and culture, including storytelling, indigenous math, indigenous lore and customs, how to prepare and barbecue salmon, pre and post contact history, how racism and segregation was carried out in the past and is still carried out in the present, residential schools and the unintended effects they had on Indigenous family life, Native artwork, and a host of other topics.
The students sang an Inuit welcoming song, “O Siem”, for the couple as they arrived, which they joined in singing, and then as they were about to depart at the end of the day, the community sang Holy God We Praise Thy Name and then the choir sang a polyphonic “Anima Christi” for them in Latin which they truly enjoyed and were visibly moved by. Staff and students lingered long after the day-long event was over, having profound discussions with the couple.
In several ways, it was kind of a reciprocal gathering where we were exchanged cultural, social, and historic stories, gaining insights into each other’s lives and cultures. In many ways it was as much of a professional development day for the staff as well as it was an instructional day for the students – and it seems that in many ways, the staff may have gotten as much or more out of it than the youngsters. For their part, the students were engaged and respectful throughout the talks. We have made a great connection with these two indigenous neighbours.
School Site Update We have received legal advice about our 25-year lease arrangements which the school’s board of directors is in the process of reviewing, with the intention of getting it signed in the coming week. This will provide the stability necessary for our school to move forward decisively with our ongoing seismic pre-renovation explorations and analyses. We anticipate getting together with our families in late November to hold a Question and Answer session with the builders, service providers, engineers, and project managers to address any questions that you may have about the upcoming seismic upgrade. Due to the slow nature of planning applications with the civic authorities, it is likely that we will not have to adjust our current school year, calendar and schedule-wise to any serious degree, so that is something good to consider.
Interim Report Time Parent Teacher Conferences We look forward to meeting with all parents on Monday, October 24 to discuss your children’s progress!
Student Activities at TLA Students have participated in a wide selection of activities in the opening months at TLA. These have included the Grade Eleven and Eight kayak leadership trip to Admiralty Point at the entrance to Canada’s southernmost fjord, Indian Arm, the primary students trip to the Pumpkin Patch, Our TLA Indigenous Day and Salmon Barbecue with Jenelle and Glenn from the Fraser Canyon, Bubble Ball for grades 3 – 11, A VSO trip for intermediate grades, the Knights of Columbus Catholic Citizenship Essay for Grades 8 – 11 which our high school students took a part in, the All Saints Projects coming up on November 1 with its devotions in the chapel for primary, intermediate and High School, the All Souls Day Pilgrimage to the Gardens of Gethsemane for the whole school on All Souls Day, Camp Squeah trip for Grades 8 – 11, The Sister Mary John Morriss Roman Catholic Challenge Invitational meet will be run by us this past weekend at TLA with 21 teams from seven local Catholic schools participating. We are holding the second RCC competition at St. Pat’s Elementary in Maple Ridge on November 19th. TLA runs all the local RCC Competitions, and has done for the past 26 years. We hope to take a number of teams to compete in Oregon in the new year.
Meet the Teacher Night and School BBQ Biggest such event ever at TLA! Held in mid-September, we introduced the staff, discussed several TLA yearly events, and then met and mingled with the parents and families old and new. A major difference from former years when TLA staff catered the event, this year, parents took on the job, allowing staff to meet everyone in a much more convivial manner.
Walk-A-Thon Pledge Collection Continues For Another Week! The main event took place on the Thursday before the Thanksgiving weekend at Mackin Park. The weather was perfect and there was a vibrant positive attitude in all present! The students have reported a total of $40,200.00 in pledges to date, making an average pledge total per student of $231.00! We hope to get over that total in pledges this year so are encouraging the students to do their best in this effort for one more week. 9% of the students have not yet reported any significant pledge collection to date so they still have time to meet their family commitment to the cause. Our incentive prize awards ceremony will take place in early November when all the pledges have been submitted.
Religious Life Resumes At TLA Our school chaplain, Fr. Daniel Geddes, FSSP, and his new assistant Fr. Kent Grealy, FSSP, have resumed confessions, masses and adoration at school. Fr. Ralph Oballo, FSSP, who was part of our TLA community for the past several years has been transferred to Alberta.
Pro D Day at TLA The first of these days was held on the Friday before Thanksgiving and involved Fr. Daniel Geddes and Fr. Larry Lynn.
The day was dedicated to a review of the recent Indigenous Day at TLA, and the follow up which will take place for our students. As TLA was founded by a card-carrying Metis, Allan Garneau, we have a connection to our First Peoples in more ways than one! The two Fathers spoke about residential schools as well as the Catholic spirit of evangelization, and we viewed and discussed Fr. Lynn’s film, In the Spirit of Reconciliation. The afternoon was dedicated to divisional discussions about unit planning, yearly plans and ensuring that things are in place for our upcoming inspection.
