Monday - Assembly at 2:15 and PAC Meeting at 7:00 PM
Tuesday - Fun Cross Country Run
Wednesday - NSMS Band - 2:00 PM
Thursday - Red Cedar Author, Kristin Butcher, visits the grade 4's and 5's. Kindergarten Orientation 1:00 - 1:40 PM.
Friday - Jump Rope for Health Day (Coin Donations will go to charity)

Russell's Rules on Mathematical Shapes

The assignment from Mrs. Langejan seemed simple enough at first glance. Her class is making a book and they wanted me to complete the first page. The caption on the page read: At first I was a circle until I became a __________. All I was asked to do was draw a picture and fill in the blank and then sign my name.

I took the book back to my office and continued on with my work, but as I was working I was thinking about what I would draw as my circle. At first I pictured a basketball going through a hoop with a scoreboard showing Sidney School winning by one point in the background. Then I thought that maybe I needed a spring theme, so I switched to baseball and I envisioned a left fielder in a Sidney School uniform throwing the ball into the infield with the the famous Fenway Park Green Monster in the background. Of course Sidney would be beating the Red Sox by one. My theme was set, so I started to draw the ball flying through the air before I decided I needed my morning action break.

On my walk about I stopped into Mrs. Collins Kindergarten class. They were all seated on the carpet around a big bucket filled with different shaped objects. Mrs. Collins asked one of the students to find two rectangles and the student quickly pulled two out of the bucket. The next student was asked to find two circles. I noticed the student move a small ball out of the way, before she found two flat circles. "Correct, well done!" Mrs. Collins replied with a big smile of satisfaction on her face. I was puzzled how a student could pass over a ball for two flat plastic circles. Then she asked the next student to find two spheres. And finally the lights came on!

It hit me like a wild pitch from Nolan Ryan. A ball is a sphere, not a circle! I quietly left the classroom and headed back to the office to erase my baseball picture. Better to fix my mistake in private than to have 22 kindergarten children notify me that a ball is a sphere not a circle.

So if you are in Mrs. Langejan's class and you are reading the book done by the class called 'At First I was a circle until I became a ______', you may notice an rudimentary drawing done by me of a pepperoni and green pepper pizza. And if you look very carefully you might find some eraser shavings on the page, but you will not find any spheres.

Mon. - Pro D Day - No School
Tues. & Thurs. - Cross Country
Wed. - Bike Rodeo w/ RCMP for Grades K - 3, Grade 5 visit NSMS, Parent Night at NSMS at 7:00 PM.
Fri. - Rugby Team is playing in a tournament at Gordon Head Middle School.

Celebration of Life

This week I would like to change the flavour of my weekly post. This past week Bill Bell, one of our Youth and Family Counsellors, lost his wife Candice Owens. Candice had been suffering with ALS for the past couple of years.

Candice was also a part of our Saanich School District family. She was a Youth and Family Counsellor at CDC, Bayside Middle School and most recently ILC. She had a positive impact on all the children and families she worked with in the district and she will be greatly missed.

Our thoughts and condolences are with Bill and his family and we hope that we can support him as returns to work as much as he has supported us over the years.

Monday - Assembly - 2:15 PM and Reports Cards sent home
Tuesday and Thursday - Cross Country Practice

May 7 - Pro-D Day - No School

Russell's Rule on Social Networking

Yesterday while doing morning supervision in front of the school I noticed five grade five girls jumping around all giddy like it was Christmas Eve. I checked my calendar on my iphone just to make sure it was April and not December, before I approached them to see why they were so excited. But before I could even ask them what was going on they started bombarding me with one question. "Mr. Russell, When is tomorrow coming? When is tomorrow coming? When is tomorrow coming?"

I hesitated with my response thinking it must be a trick question, but finally replied with what I thought was an intelligent answer. "Friday at 12:01 AM. "

"No, not tomorrow. Tamara! Our friend from Mexico that comes to school here every year for a couple of weeks in the international program." They replied as a group.

"Today or tomorrow," I replied, "but how did you girls know she was coming?"

"We talk with her regularly on Skype." They replied as they returned to scanning the cars entering the parking lot to see if their friend was returning to school for her yearly visit.

As I continued on with my supervision I started thinking about how cool it was that these young people keep in such close contact with a friend who lives so far away from them for fifty weeks of the year.

So last night when I got home I took out my iphone and sent a text message to my friend from high school and told him I just wanted to say "hi".

His response, "Why are you texting me to say hi?" And as I scrolled up my phone and I noticed that we had had six conversations in the last ten days and I realized why he was so confused. Wow! New technology and social media tools are amazing for maintaining lifelong friendships no matter if you are ten and in grade 5 or even slightly older like me.