Lord Tennyson Elementary PAC - Home of the Tigers - News Blog

Try out speed skating at Kits Rink on Dec 18!

12/6/2022

Vancouver Velocity Speed Skating Club invites you to join us for our year-end Skate with Friends event! Get a taste for speed skating, win prizes, and enjoy some holiday treats!

Where and when
Kitsilano Ice Rink
2690 Larch Street, Vancouver BC, V6K 4K9
Sunday December 18th
6pm - 8pm

Register here!*
* Underage participants must have an adult register as well (the adult is not required to go on the ice).

Who can participate?
Anyone (especially kids aged 5+!) We ask that you be comfortable skating on your own (or bring someone who can help you).

Cost
We suggest a minimum $5 donation per skater - we are fundraising to replace our aging safety crash mats! You can donate online here, or bring a cash donation to the event. (You will get a tax receipt for donations $25+ made through BC Sport, but not for cash donations.)

If you need skates, the rental hut will be open, and we ask that you bring a toonie to help offset our cost for the rental hut and skate rentals. You can also just add $2 to your donation amount when you donate online.

What to bring
Please bring gloves, helmets, and your skates! As mentioned the rental hut will be open if you don’t have skates. We have limited gloves we can share, and helmets are available for free.

Learn more at vancouverspeedskating.com, and feel free to reach out to info@vancouverspeedskating.com with any questions.

Holiday Concerts Featuring Talented Tennyson Parents 2022

12/5/2022

The highlight of the holiday season for most Tennyson families will be the school holiday performances and the winter holiday assemblies. But, if you’re looking for some other cultural events to get into the holiday mood, you may want to check out these concerts that feature some extremely talented Tennyson Parents.

Tennyson mum, Melody Courage, will be the soprano soloist at the Vancouver Bach Choir’s Handel’s Messiah on Saturday December 10. Since Handel’s Messiah premiered in 1742, it has become an annual tradition and celebration of the pinnacle of choral music.

When: Saturday December 10th, 2022, 7.30-10.00pm
Where: Orpheum Theatre 601 Smithe St, Vancouver
Tickets: Buy tickets online

Tennyson dad, Trevor Mangion, will be helping to put on the Vancouver Cantata Singers’ Christmas Reprise XIX at Holy Rosary Cathedral on Saturday, December 17. You will be treated to traditional carols and contemporary Christmas compositions for unaccompanied choir at their 19th Christmas reprise.

When: Sat, 17 December 2022, 2.00-3.00pm
Where: Holy Rosary Cathedral Vancouver, 646 Richards Street Vancouver, BC V6B
Tickets: From $11.15. Buy tickets online

Please let us know at info@lordtennyson.ca about any other talented parents so we can share the details on the blog.

Holiday Hampers 2022

12/3/2022

Holiday Hampers
We have an opportunity to make a meaningful difference for local families again this holiday season. Holiday Hampers are a tangible way we can alleviate stress on families and bring joy. Tennyson has an amazing spirit of helping others and we have a number of families from a nearby elementary school who would be incredibly appreciative of the support! There is growing need and this year we have 20 families (last year we collected for 16 families). Any contributions are completely voluntary as we recognize that this is only one of many opportunities for charitable donations this time of year.

Deadline for all contributions is 9 am Monday December 12th, 2022.

This year we will streamline things to ensure that the children receive something on their wish list. Hampers are in classrooms.

Each hamper should include:

Gift card or money for groceries
Gift card or money for gifts for families
Specific gifts on the families' wish list (contact your class parent for details or email pac.dpac.rep@lordtennyson.ca if you do not have a class parent. Please do not include alternate gifts)
Some sort of holiday treat (e.g., cookies, chocolates, candies, etc.)

Families are welcome to send money to their class parent to contribute to grocery or other gift cards, or larger toy purchases. If you do not have a class parent, please contact pac.dpac.rep@lordtennyson.ca to find out where to send your e-transfer (include “Hamper” and Division # in the message).

Families appreciate having spending power to make their own decisions so contributions to a Gift Certificate for gifts is also a great option.

We will deliver the hampers to the receiving school by Monday December 12th so that they can arrange with families to pick them up before the winter break.

Thank you for your support!

PAC meeting agenda for November 30, 2022

11/29/2022

1.       Call to order

2.       Land Acknowledgement

3.       Approval of Agenda and New Business Requests

4.       Previous Minutes Approval (Oct 24)

5.       Principal’s Report: Diane Martinson

6.       Vice Principal’s Report: Kateryna McNicol

7.       General Updates
a. Finances
b.       Parent speakers
c.       DPAC
d.       Diversity and Inclusion Committee

8.       Other Updates
a.       Events & Activities
b.       Fundraising
c.       Volunteering

9.       Any other business?

Hot lunches are back! Fall 2022

11/5/2022

The first Lunch ordering session of the year is now open! Order by Wed, Nov 9 23:59, if you want the first Monday Sushi Lunch.

This year we are starting off with offering Sushi on Mondays and Pizza on Thursdays!

I know you want to order lunches immediately (and you should do it very soon) but PLEASE take a moment to chat with your child about their lunch choices.

Ordering Info
Ordering is open now (and will remain open for late orders) but orders must be placed by Wed, Nov 9 @ 23:59  in order to receive the first sushi lunch on Monday November 14th, and by Sat, Nov 12th for the first pizza lunch on Thursday, November 17th.

There are 17 lunch dates to order for! (Nov 14th - Jan 26th)
These are many lunches, but changes/cancellations can be made by yourself or if needed (with a week’s notice) by contacting the    lunch administrator. The MunchaLunch  link can be found at www.lordtennyson.ca (bottom-left of the homepage). If you are new to the school, use the www.lordtennyson.ca  link to create your account. Once you hit “submit my order”, your order has been submitted even if you do not pay immediately.   If you need to make changes, email hotlunches@lordtennyson.ca.

All parents will be asked to update their children’s division when they first log in. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - IF THE DIVISION IS NOT CORRECT, WE CAN’T GET THE LUNCH TO THEM!

This ordering session covers 8 Sushi Mondays and 9 Pizza Thursdays … if you don’t gasp at your total, you may have missed some days (see the notes below on Menu 1 & Menu 2 and what it means). Of course, the system allows complete flexibility (order everything, nothing, or any amount in between). Feel free to split your payment into 2 cheques (made out to Lord Tennyson PAC) including one post-dated cheque for half of your total. Munchalunch is using Stripe.

Be sure to read the Menu 1 & Menu 2 info provided below to avoid hungry children with no lunches!
Only pre-ordered lunches will be provided - there will be no “day of” sales.

Kindergarten parents (and anyone else) - lunches can be added in late so please feel free to wait and see what your child thinks as the lunches start. You can add an order anytime but it takes one week for the lunches to start (we order in advance from suppliers). Changes can also be made to orders (with a weeks notice).

Options
Sushi Monday
Our Sushi provider will be Tennyson parent owned Sushi Mugen (located at Davie and Hornby). Sushi options include California roll, cucumber roll, avocado roll, salmon roll, tuna roll, edamame, chicken teriyaki and agedashi tofu. No drinks or treats are on the menu - please send a water bottle for your child.

*PLEASE PACK A FORK IF NEEDED*

Pizza Friday
Uncle Fatih’s is our pizza provider again this year (cheese, pepperoni, Hawaiian or mixed veggie … you can order multiple slices. No drinks or treats are on the menu - water bottles please.
Allergy alert: Usually, Uncle Fatih’s pizza crust contains sesame seeds. Although our pizzas will not have sesame seeds, we can not guarantee cross contamination.

PLEASE READ THE MENU 1 / MENU 2 INFO BELOW - VERY IMPORTANT FOR NEWBIES AND PARENTS WHO LIKE TO ALTERNATE BETWEEN SUSHI AND PIZZA. YOU MUST ORDER FROM BOTH MENU1 AND MENU 2 IF YOU WANT WEEKLY LUNCHES … THEY COVER ALTERNATING WEEKS.

Menu 1 & 2: What does it mean?
Sushi and Pizza are set up as Menu 1 & Menu 2. They cover alternating weeks (to save time when ordering but still allow flexibility - for example, it is easy to alternate between cheese and pepperoni pizza).
Order from BOTH Menus (1 & 2) if you want lunches every week! If you only order from Pizza Menu 1, your child will get pizza every second week.

If you would like to alternate between pizza and sushi (sushi Monday one week and then Pizza Thursday the next week), use opposite menus for them … for example, order from Sushi Menu 1 and Pizza Menu 2. Sushi Menu 1 and Pizza Menu 1 always fall in the same week.

Want lunches only once or twice a month? Planning a family vacation? You can easily remove any days at the END of ordering (keep going until you see the dates listed).

**** If you do not receive a Munchalunch reminder email, your child will not have a lunch provided. **** Please remember to pack a lunch for your child if they do not have one ordered that week.

We can only provide what was actually ordered (not what you hoped to or intended to order).

You can log in to Munchalunch anytime to check your orders. Use the My Account - View My Orders tab.

If you have any questions, please email   hotlunches@lordtennyson.ca

Fundraising & Bursaries & Volunteers
For this session, hot lunches won’t be a fundraiser and that is reflected in the price. However, please know, this could be different next session and prices may go up. Bursaries that cover the cost of hot lunch are available for any student. Please contact the school administration.

With no fundraising group happily volunteering, we are looking for lots of volunteers from the whole parent group. If you think you can help with the clean up from 12:45 to 13:45 on Mondays and/or Thursdays,  please sign up here. Thank you so much in advance!

What a Howl!

10/30/2022

Friday night's Halloween Howl was an amazing show of community! It was so fun to get together in the new school for a big party. More than 700 guests packed the hallways, multi-purpose room, and gym of the new school that were decked out for Halloween.

Because we were in a new space, this year’s Howl looked a little different. The lights stayed on in the hallways which were adorned with Halloween decorations. In one pod there were spooky stories, arts and crafts, and batty bingo for the younger set, and in the other pod, there were games for older kids. In the courtyard, there was hockey, and DJ Harman had the crowd jumping at the disco in the gym. A highlight for many was having their energy read and destiny predicted by the magnificent fortune tellers.

The party wouldn’t have happened without volunteers. Thank you to Ashley, Carmen, Darren, Janice, Jenny, Magda, Orla, Sarah, Shana, Trevor, and Tricia, who did a superb job planning and organizing the event. They only had three and a half weeks to pull it all together! And, of course, a huge thank you to the fantastic parents who volunteered to work on the night, who baked delicious treats and made Jello, who judged the pumpkin and costume contests, who helped set up, and who stayed late to tear down at the end of the night. Tennyson has always had a strong culture of family and community. This was our first official event in a few years and it was exciting to see this community gathering again to help create special memories for our Tennyson families. You all played a part in making this night so much fun! We couldn’t do this Howl without you!

Finally, thank you Mme Martinson, Mme Kateryna, and all the Tennyson staff for supporting this event and the Tennyson community. We appreciate you all so much.

Now, what you’re all waiting for…the contest winners.

The pumpkin carving contest was amazing and the costume contest judges had another tough go this year trying to pick winners from the amazing and creative costumes on display.

PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST WINNERS
Primary Students:

Scariest: Wyatt, Grade 3, Division 8
Funniest: Charlie, Grade 3, Division 10
Best Traditional: Alexandra, Grade 2, Division 12
Most Creative: Phoebe, Grade 3, Division 8
Judge's Choice: Larabelle, Grade 1, Division 15

Intermediate Students:

Scariest: Chase, Grade 6, Division 2
Funniest: Henry, Grade 5, Division 6
Best Traditional: Nick, Grade 5, Division 4
Most Creative: Anna, Grade 5, Division 6
Judge's Choice: Emily, Grade 4, Division 8

COSTUME CONTEST WINNERS
Best Family

Avalon and Mathilda Lawson (Victorian Vampires)
Ella and Kiera Menezla (Angels and Devils)

Best Group:

Maxine and Noelle Leach (Trolls)

Primary Students:

Scariest: Elizabeth Le Nobel (Spider), Grade 1
Most Original: Alexa Bataille (Popcorn), Grade 2
Funniest: Felix (Talking Bear), Grade 3
Judge's Choice: Otto Bachynski (Haunted House Door), Grade 2

Intermediate Students:

Scariest: Svea Vasilevich (Dead mother), Grade 5
Most Original: Kayvan Tourmer (The Up House), Grade 7
Funniest: Dahlia Powell (Cat Lady), Grade 5
Judge's Choice: Isabella Murray Koenig (Dragon), Grade 4

Thank you to everyone who took part, and congratulations to the winners. Costume contest winners, come to the front of the school on Monday at drop off, to collect your gift cards.

PAC Meeting Agenda: Oct 24th

10/24/2022

Call to Order – Acknowledgement of meeting recording – please mute your mic
Land Acknowledgement
Approval of Agenda and New Business Requests
Previous Minutes Approval (Sep 24)
Principal’s Report: Diane Martinson
Vice-Principal’s Report: Kateryna McNicol
Treasurer’s Report (short update)
Key Updates

Fundraising plan for 22-23 school year
Halloween Howl!
Hot Lunch – volunteers needed starting in November
Parent Speaker update
Diversity & Inclusion Committee update
DPAC update
Stream of Dreams
Hamper drive for Mt .Pleasant families
Volunteer opportunities:

Email blast, PAC secretary, MunchALunch, Lost & Found

Dates for November general and executive meetings
Hybrid meetings - would people attend in person if this was offered?

New business

Tennyson Tigers have a great start to the cross country season

10/6/2022

Thanks to the coaching and support of Coaches Andy and Richard, the Lord Tennyson cross country team had a superb start to the season this week.

More than 60 Tennyson Tigers ran in the sunshine at the Camosun park mini-meets on Tuesday and Thursday. All the athletes tried their hardest, many won place ribbons and lots ran personal bests. Congratulations to them all.

Thank you too to our teacher sponsors, Mme Kateryna, Mme Taillefer and M Raphael. Your support and encouragement is greatly appreciated.

If you have any photos to add to the blog post, send them in to blog@lordtennyson.ca

Lord Tennyson PAC Meeting Agenda – Sep 26, 2022 7pm

9/24/2022

Call to Order – Acknowledgement of meeting recording – please mute your mic
Land Acknowledgement
Welcome parents / caregivers new and old
Approval of Agenda and New Business Requests
Previous Minutes Approval (June 20)
What is the PAC and what is its role?
ELECTION – Chair and Vice Chair – DPAC
Meeting the new Principal + report (including Quebec update): Diane Martinson
Vice-Principal’s Report: Kateryna McNicol
Treasurer’s Report
Budget recap
Funding requests
Key Updates
- Welcome Back BBQ – Thank you to the volunteers!!
- Parent Speaker line up for the year
- Noonhour Programs
- XCountry - update
- Hot Lunch – Coordinator’s needed
- Howl – what to do with boxes and event itself – strike a committee? New Coordinators?
- Diversity & Inclusion Committee update
- DPAC update
- Volunteer opportunities:
  - class parents, PAC secretary, MunchALunch, Lost & Found, Howl
- Set date for October meeting. New Executive (with new Chair/Vice Chair) will set dates for rest of year at October meeting.
- Future meetings in person, online or hybrid? If hybrid, who figures out the technology?

New Business Items

IMPORTANT DATES
Wednesday, Sep 28: Terry Fox Run
Thursday, Sep 29: Orange Shirt Day
Friday, Sep 30: National Day for Truth & Reconciliation – no school
Monday, Oct 24: Photo Day (retakes Nov 15th)
October: PAC Meeting - TBD

September 30th, 2022 - Truth & Reconciliation

9/24/2022

Many people are wondering how to observe Truth and Reconciliation Day in a respectful way. How can we talk with our children about Truth and Reconciliation? As adults, how can we take steps towards Truth and Reconciliation ourselves? Monique Gray Smith, a mixed-heritage woman of Cree, Lakota and Scottish ancestry gives her answers to these questions in this 10-minute video.

Tennyson's Diversity & Inclusion Committee has also put together these resources for you and your family:

LEARN

The word Indigenous explained
Namwayut: we are all one. Truth and reconciliation in Canada
Use the Teacher’s Guide on Native-Land.ca to find out more about the nations, languages or treaties that belong to the land you live on. Share with friends and family across the country.
Learn how to pronounce Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and then learn some greetings.
Listen to the Truth and Reconciliation Summary Report.
Read books by indigenous authors to and with your children.
Listen to The Secret Life of Canada’s "What do you really know about the Indian Act?"
Sign up for Indigenous Canada, a free online course to learn more about Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada.
Visit the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion for resources.

GIVE

Donate to the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society. While you do, find out more about Friendship Centres here (a 10 minute listen.)
Donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.

EVENTS

Arts Umbrella
https://www.artsumbrella.com/national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation-au/?bbeml=tp-FpPVFJLH9UOzP33EroyMFw.j7XoECg67SEeHAZCKiqwW8Q.rIwnFWrhKjkuWu-hnNv0QRg.l8x297a3AM0Wti7d-vRauZw Instead of closing our doors on September 30th, families are invited and encouraged to join us for a meaningful day of reflection and education. Activities and talks will be age-appropriate and led by Indigenous artists and knowledge keepers.
CTYP - Frozen River
https://www.carouseltheatre.ca/plays/frozen-river-nikwatin-sipiy/
In nîkwatin sîpiy, Grandmother Moon tells the story of two eleven-year-olds, born under the same blood moon, but in different parts of the world. This new play follows their stories as they meet in a forest, and that of their descendants who meet in the present day in what is known as Manitoba. A broken promise from the past can be righted when there is finally an openness to learn from those who have protected and honoured the waterways for centuries.

On behalf of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, thank you for taking the time to learn more about Truth and Reconciliation. If you have would like to be a part of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, please email to join us.

The Tennyson PAC Team