NMPPS NEWSFLASH

DEC 2013 N M P P S S C H O O L N E W S L E T T E RK INDNESS & C ARING

Nelson Mandela Memorial

Dec 6 : Nelson Mandela Memorial Assembly

Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world.~Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela1918-2013

Nelson Mandela Park Public School remembers Madiba and celebrates his

life.

Our students performed very well at Convocation Hall & represented our school with PRIDE!

Our  newsflash  is  produced  by  the  students  of  Nelson  Mandela  Park  PS  for  the  students  and  parents/caregivers  of  our  school  community.

Nelson Mandela Park PS has a long and distinguished history from when we originally opened our school doors in 1853 as Park PS to our November 17th 2001 renaming to Nelson Mandela Park PS that Nelson Mandela himself attended. Last Thursday, December 5th 2013 we added another chapter to our story when we came together as a

school community to watch the new Nelson Mandela biopic Long Walk to Freedom. When we planned for our community movie night on December 5th 2013 we had no idea what extra signi!cance that night was going to take. On December 5th 2013, hours after Nelson Mandela passed away here we were as a school community gathered together to watch this beautiful !lm that celebrates the life of our namesake. It was one of those moments that if you were at the theater that night you will never forget. Parents, caregivers, former students, and community agencies connected to our school were sharing what turned out to be a historic moment. The next day we brought our students, staff, some community members, and invited guests for a tribute to Nelson Mandela that was pulled together in about 12 hours, and was done with such class and honor. Myself and Mr. Morgan were very proud and appreciative of how staff, students, and community members came together to celebrate the spirit of Mandela. Our tribute to Mandela was broadcast not just across Toronto on CP24 live, but across the entire country with coverage on CBC, CTV and Global national newscasts. It was a !tting tribute to a man that was such a huge !gure in the universal !ght for equality and peace. I remember hearing about Nelson Mandela and his anti-apartheid struggle when I was a student in elementary school. When he was elected president of South Africa, I remember it as a monumental occasion. His story is one of such perseverance in the face of obstacles that most people would have decided the struggle was no longer worth the personal sacri!ce. Our December 6th tribute and the work we will continue to do moving forward to keep Mandela’s memory alive will help the children of Nelson Mandela Park PS understand Mandela’s role as a leader who ended apartheid in South Africa, and broke down a system of discrimination. Through our school focus of “hope” and “purpose” we will have our students see themselves as agents of change, who like Mandela have the capacity to give back to their community, and help make their world a better place. As Mandela often said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” With the right mix of nurture and support we can have our students be leaders of tomorrow. Maybe a future Prime Minister of Canada is walking through our halls today. Let us continue to work together to keep the spirit of Mandela alive, and ensure all the children of Nelson Mandela Park PS are given the opportunity to reach their utmost potential. It is not always easy, and there will be bumps along the road, but together we can make Nelson Mandela Park PS a place that truly honors the struggle and legacy of the dearly departed Madiba.

Sincerely,Jason Kandankery Ainsworth MorganPrincipal, Nelson Mandela Park PS Vice-Principal, Nelson Mandela Park PS

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. ~Nelson Mandela

Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom Community Gathering

Revised Common NMP Expectations

• Follow directions the first time. • Keep hands, feet and objects in your own space.• Always speak kindly.• Walk and talk quietly in the school.• Play safe games that include others.• Be respectful of yourself, others and the school.

“What does Nelson Mandela mean to you? How do you keep his spirit alive ?”

• This past month has been !lled with so many Mandela moments as we remember and re#ect on his life and his in#uence.

• Nelson Mandela was a hero. He fought for what was right for South Africa. He sacri!ced 27 years of his life in jail, !ghting for his people. Nelson Mandela was a courageous leader. Nelson Mandela was an inspirational, respectful man. He will always be an important part of our school. - Noosa

• Nelson Mandela is more than just a man. He is our teacher. He is our friend and we should all be aspiring to be like him one day. Now, everyone has their own idea of what a hero is, maybe you won’t be a civil rights leader, you could be a doctor, or a police officer, but to achieve those dreams you need to think about Nelson Mandela as more than just a man or a man that our school is named after. We need to think of him as an icon to make the world a better place. He has done his part and now it is OUR turn to do ours. - Radid

• To me, Nelson Mandela represents peace, strength and unity for all people and I am proud to attend Nelson Mandela Park Public School. - Savvoi

• Nelson Mandela visited our school in 2001 for a special ceremony. Our school which is the oldest in Toronto, was honoured by changing its name from Park Public School to Nelson Mandela Park Public School. Nelson Mandela was an inspiration to the world. As Canadians we should take pride in what he stood for. He is Canada’s !rst honourary Canadian citizen. He is one of us and we are all of him. He was a man who believed in equality, non-violence, forgiveness, and peace. We should all continue to honour him in that way. - Jalen•Nelson Mandela was a kind man who cared not only about himself, but others too. He was nice to everyone no matter your race or skin colour. He made people happy no matter the event or situation. He found the good in everyone and fought for his people of South Africa. Nelson Mandela died on  December 5th, 2013. The memorial for Nelson Mandela was nice not only for the people of South Africa but also for the people of US and Canada to carry on the Spirit of Nelson Mandela -Sa!ya

Performing at the Verity Gala

We sang at the Verity Gala Event. We went to the TDSB Board meeting. We sang to the Board of Trustees. We sang the Canadian National Anthem and the South African National anthem. We got lots of claps and we were told it was a great performance. Everybody liked it because it was everybody together. There were also Grade 1’s and they said their speech from our assembly. By Iesar Room 201

I Have a Dream (Excerpts) I have a dream that in the world for one day, just one day everyone, every living thing, shall have something to eat, drink, and a place to call their own. I have a dream that everyone in the world will have a right to an education. We can all change the world. We need to know, as Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which I can use to change the world”. So before you pull the trigger, stop, think of how you can change all of mankind with your education. Fight for yourself and !ght for what is right, even if you are standing alone. Be a leader, use what God has given you for the good of the world. I have a dream that I can grow up to not hear that one of my childhood friends from Regent Park has been shot and killed. So all my brothers and sisters, let’s !ght for the FREEDOM OF THE WORLD! - Basboos

PEACE

Since the character trait is kindness and caring, Rm. G01 walked to the !re station and donated food to help those in need.

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women Room 316 recognized inspiring women in the world. Some chose their mother, some chose a singer or actor, others chose women who had fought for the rights of women. Students made posters of inspirational woman. December 6th is a day to remember the role that women play in our lives and make pledges to live a non-violent life.November 11th Peace Assembly

In Flanders Fields: Matthew, Landon & Xavier Kindergarten singers

Room G01 Giving Back!

Singers at Verity Gala Event

Giving Back - The Mandela Way

Omar ‘s Inspirational Woman

Mandela Singers Perform

In Flanders Fields

Nelson Mandela Park P.S. is !lled with students who want to take initiative and be a leader representing our school. There was a chance to do so by joining the student council. The students were given a choice of what they wanted to do: from Prime Minister to the Minister of Finance. All interested students created a speech to give to the school. All speeches were phenomenal and the winners were chosen by votes. The audience chose...

Paul Mendes (Gr.8) -Prime Minister, Rida Ahmed (Gr.7) -Deputy Prime Minister. Ibraheem Idroos (Gr.8) -Minister of Finance, Yousif Abdulrahim(Gr.8) -Minister of Sports/Culture Momena Chowdhury(Gr.8) -Minister of Information.

We know they’ll do well.

NELSON MANDELA PARKEXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Mrs. Sirilas’ class plays music. We play the violin every Friday after lunch for 1hour in the music room. We take our violins home so we can practice. Sometimes it is hard to get it perfect... but it is fun playing HAMMER BAND.

MOVEMBERIn November, the Grade 1 team drank milk and made milk moustaches to raise money for Men's cancer. Each time we drank a milk and made a moustache Helen and Mr. Fowler donated money. We were happy that some nice moms and other teachers also gave us money to !ght cancer. We got our pictures taken and had a lot of fun. - A!yah  with editing help from Sadia

Practicing with our violins

In November, Helen and Mr. Fowler's classes went to the Daniels Spectrum to watch animated !lms. The Film Festival had a lot of movies and we got to answer questions in between the movies. The best !lm was called 'Private Eyes. It was about a boy who had eyes everywhere because he used all of his senses. The people that would like the !lm the most would be between 3-12 years old. Everyone should go to the Film Festival. - Sidra with editing help from Sadia

Grade One’s have been skyping with classes in Minnesota and New Jersey. We have gone international!

REGENT PARK F ILM FESTIVAL

HAMMERBAND

NEWS FROM GRADE ONE

Our Student Council

Enjoying the Films

Our Movember Moustaches

ART ALL AROUND

by Darrius by Shamiq

Youth Empowering Parents at Nelson Mandela

Park Public SchoolThis fall, YEP partnered up with Nelson Mandela Park Public School to run our computer tutoring program with their Grade 8 students. In the heart of Regent Park, Nelson Mandela Park PS, is a major academic, social, and community hub. YEP recruited 15 enthusiastic youth tutors and 15 eager adult students. Tutoring sessions happen every Wednesday afternoon and looks like will be going strong in the new year! YEP spoke with Nelson Mandela Park PS’ Principal, Jason Kandankery, to hear what he has to say about how YEP’s program is making changes in his school community.YEP: Why did Nelson Mandela Park PS agree to partner with YEP?Jason Kandankery (JK): YEP embodies what we try to do at the school: what we do goes beyond the regular instructional day because our school is the heart of the community. We want to be building relationships with the parents of our students. This has been a great opportunity for kids to give back to them. We want our kids to see that they can give back to their community. YEP’s program does just that: it empowers kids to feel like they have something to offer. They can teach their unique skills set to their parents and community. It’s also really great that there is a small !nancial incentive for completing the program; it gives the kids an opportunity to start to learn about !nancial literacy.YEP: Youth are not often respected as sources of knowledge. They are not seen as having much to offer intellectually and skills-wise. What do you have to say in response to such attitudes?JK: This ties in to what I mentioned earlier: these children are very capable of giving back. They carry a lot of knowledge with them. De!nitely, when it comes to realm of technology, many of them are way ahead of adults. Being able to share the knowledge they know can help them see that they can give back and make their community a better place.YEP: What kinds of feedback have you gotten from the youth and parents?JK: All the feedback has been very positive. The kids feel very good about being able to help their own parents and other kids’ parents. They feel good about their knowledge being validated. They are also happy they are getting some !nancial reward for their work. Parents are able to Skype with family members in different countries on their own, which they felt like they weren’t able to do without the help of their tutors. It’s all been really positive.

YEP: In what ways do you think a program like YEP can help NM students in their formal, academic studies?JK: What the program does allows kids to boost their con!dence and communication skills. They have to be able to break things down so that adults who may not have any experience or knowledge of computers can understand. These are all huge things kids need to wrap their heads around so they can be successful academically.We will be continuing our program at Nelson Mandela Park Public School in the New Year and we look forward to picking up new skills, learning, and community building!

Congratulations to all the students, and staff members who watched, cheered and participated in the House Leagues on

November 28 at 12:15 pm in the gym. It was fun playing with the Police Officers from 51 Division. We will be having our next House League in the New Year. However instead of the officers,  its time to give our Fire$ghters a chance.

Nelson Mandela Park school students and staff went to the Eaton Center’s Indigo book store!! We all got to

buy two books for our classrooms. Indigo has let us come and choose the books and we are thankful for

that. Many classes have gone and brought wonderful books back for their class room and many more

classes are going this month. Thanks to Indigo we have lots of new and beautiful books for our library

and our classrooms.

REMEMBER to dress warmly and wear your hat and mittens. It’s a good

idea to bring a pair of ‘inside shoes’ to wear in the classroom so your boots have time to dry between playing outside.

The students in room 225 have created a mural “Under the Sea” employing oil pastel on black construction paper. We were inspired by several paintings of Paul Klee who is known for his luminous colours

and delicate lines. We all enjoyed the learning process and were very pleased with the art!

UNDER THE SEASPORTS UPDATES

Room 9 had their last weekly visit to the Parliament Street library for the year. The children made a thank you book for Bernadette the Librarian.

LIBRARY VIS ITS

INDIGO BOOKS!

Next Month we begin the FOREST of READING in the Library. There are all sorts of wonderful books to choose from

and all sorts of “EXPERT” readers to book talk with. So...get your PASSPORT, choose a BOOK, and GET READING!

LIBRARY NOTES

Sports Day with 51 Division...

...followed by delicious pizza!

Room 9 at the Library

Grade One’s exploring wind energy with Balloon Rockets

DEBATING TIME

AgreeDisagree

Dec. 20 PA Day (no classes)Dec. 23 Winter Break beginsDec. 25 Christmas (Christian)Jan 6 Back to schoolJan 24 PA Day (no classes)Jan 27 Sharing Assembly : G01, G07, 140, 221, 114, 314, 325 @ 9:30amJan 28 Sharing Assembly : G29, G32, 128, 225, 316, 323,324, 214 @ 1:20pmJan 31 Sharing Assembly : G09, G34, 222, 201, 315, 327, 307 @ 9:30amFeb 14 Report CardsFeb 17 Family DayMar 7 PA Day (no classes)Mar 10-14 March Break

Nelson Mandela Park Public School440 Shuter St, Toronto,

ON, M5A1X6(416) 393-1620

Principal: Jason KandankeryVice-Principal: Ainsworth Morgan

Main Office: 393-1620, Superintendent:  Louie Papathanasakis

Trustee: Sheila WardWebsite: schools.tdsb.on.ca/nelsonmandelapark/

Email: nelsonmandelapark@tdsb.on.caTwitter:@jjktoronto

School Council Contact: jodi.burton@tdsb.on.ca 

COMING EVENTS

CLUBS, COMPETITIONS AND PRIZES

Submit your drawing, stories, photos to the office by Jan 27th.

Wordsearch Find 15 important words that are in this newspaper hidden in the Word Search. Write them down on a separate paper with your name and room number to win!

Win a $10,000 university or college scholarship! Doodle 4 Google is a national competition inviting students grades kindergarten to 12 in Canada to redesign the logo for

the Google.ca homepage. The theme isIf I could invent anything, I would invent... check out the link, and enter to win!http://www.google.ca/doodle4google/index.html

IS CANDY BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE??

WRITE OUT YOUR OPINION

Chess Club Tuesday & Thursday @12:00pmHomework ClubTuesday & Thursday @3:30pmHouse LeaguesTuesday & Thursday @12:00pm Winners! Thanks to everyone who submitted answers. The winners are: Harris (225), Khadija (221), Ibrahim (201), Mariam (140), Saima (214), Faseehah (316), Sumaiya (201), Filsan (214), Zeina (214), Rayanul (221), Ridwanul (225), Muwda (221), Lamisa (315), Rebecca (323), Rida (323) Please see Julie BY Thursday Dec 19th to claim your prize.

SHARING ASSEMBLIESWe have Sharing Assemblies every month. Find out when your child’s class is

sharing and come join us to celebrate our learning and our Students of the Month.

Future Meeting Dates for Parents/GuardiansSnack & Chat School CouncilJanuary 16th (9-10:30 am) January 28th

February 10th (9-10:30 am) February 25th

March N/A March 25th

April 8th (9-10:30 am) April 29th

May 13th (9-10:30 am) May 27th

June 10th (9-10:30 am - Volunteer Appreciation)

News/Yearbook ClubWednesday @3:30pmYouth Empowering ParentsWednesday @4:00 - 5:30pm

Win a trip to the Raptors! All Students-of-the-Month are

entered into the draw for GREAT PRIZES!! Make sure you are in the

draw! Show your KINDNESS & CARING this month!