The Hawk Talk

Contact us at:

Phone: 905-945-8022

Fax: 905-945-4277

E-mail: nel@dsbn.org

N E L L E S P U B L I C S C H O O L 118 Main St. Grimsby, Ontario L3M 1N8

IMPORTANT DATES TO

REMEMBER:

Fred Penner Concert (FDK-3)

March 2

Niagara Falls Art Gallery

(Gr. 1-3) March 3

Milk orders for April, May & June

go home March 3

Spririt Week March 7 - 11

Toonie Popcorn for sale every Tuesday (First Break)

Pizza Days are every Wednesday

March Break

March 14 - 18

Skating (Gr 1 - 8) March 30

Sharing Assembly April 1st at 9:30 am (Don’t forget to wear your Character Ed T-shirts)

School Council Meeting April 25

at 6:30 pm

Check out our website at:

Website: http://www.dsbn.org/Schools/Nelles S. De Divitiis, Principal

March Newsletter A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Nelles Families,

March is upon us. The school year is essentially half way over! En-

suring that learning and safety continue to be our top priorities is truly

due to our strong partnership between home and school.

The power of pink could be seen at Nelles and all DSBN schools

across Niagara on Wednesday, February 24th. Staff and students wore

pink to show their support in the effort to end bullying. The District

School Board of Niagara does not tolerate bullying, whether it hap-

pens in-class, off school property, or online. All students and staff

believe that everyone has the right to be respected, and the responsi-

bility to respect others. Educating students about bullying, how to

recognize it, and how to stop it, is an important emphasis at Nelles

School. Through anti-bullying initiatives that take place throughout

the year, students learn about the powerful role they have to play in

putting an end to bullying.

Nelles also promotes positive, healthy behaviours through character

education. Character education helps students to become positive,

productive members of society by modeling attitudes and behaviours

that support the well-being of others. We wear our character educa-

tion t-shirts with pride!

With the holiday approaching, we wish all of our Nelles families a

wonderful March Break and look forward to the many exciting plans

we have in place for the second half of this school year.

Sincerely,

S. De Divitiis

Principal

SCHOOL REGISTRATION

If you have junior kindergarten aged children at home or know someone who does

(who lives in our school area), please have them register now for the new school year.

Also, please let any new families to the neighbourhood know to register their children at

our school as soon as possible. Your help is always greatly appreciated. When registering, we require

your child’s birth certificate and immunization record. Please, also provide us with proof of address.

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NELLES PUBLIC SCHOOL - March Newsletter

SCHOOL COUNCIL

Our next scheduled School Council

meeting is April 25 at 6:30 pm.

SPEECHES

All ten students did a great job presenting their

speeches in our gym on February 23.

Congratulations to our top three junior students:

Payton R., Payton T. and Lily R.

We wish them luck representing Nelles at the Beamsville

Legion’s Public Speaking Contest.

Thank You

Our Valentine’s Cake Raffle on February 11th was once again a huge success. Many thanks to all who donated items for this event. A big thank you to Mrs. Backman and the many parent volunteers who helped to make it a great success!

HOVERBOARDS AND MOTORIZED SCOOTERS

We understand that these are the latest trend and can be fun. However, there are far too many safety con-

cerns for us to allow on school property. Therefore, due to safety concerns, hoverboards and motorized

scooters are not permitted on school property. Furthermore, if a student brings one of the above items to

school, the office will contact you to pick up immediately, as we are unable to store on school property. We

thank you for your continued support and cooperation in helping keep all students safe.

BASKETBALL

Congratulations to our Intermediate Girls and Boys Basketball Teams who did and outstanding job representing Nelles School. This years’ teams were coached by Mr. MacEwen and Mr. Huebert.

Girls Team: Boys Team: Clair T Ireland V Mason G Brendan K Darian M Sophia S Jakson W Liam B Ava C Abbee-Marie L Landon H Griffin R Jenna M Maddi E Dylan J Angus P Sarah W Megan M Elisha B Sam N

VENDOR FAIR @ JACOB BEAM

Jacob Beam is having a Vendor Fair on Saturday, March 5th, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Thanks.

February is a month where many of us feel as though the cold and dreary days will never end. We

just wait and hope for spring. Thankfully, we had Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day Raffle, dance, Valen-

tine's Day, and even P.J. Days to keep us busy and energized until the warm weather arrives. We can al-

ways cuddle up and stay cozy with a great book while these slushy days drag on. We are thrilled to say that

we added 19 new books to our Nelles library bringing our new total to 2,138 books. So take some time to

check these books out and look for our new display of books in March. Thank you from Mr. & Mrs. Nethery,

Mrs. Sutch and Mrs. De Divitiis for your continued support for "The Birthday Book" program.

February Birthday Wishes Go Out To:

Parker Gr.2 Star Wars Adventures: The Will Of Darth Vader

Brynley JK Cinderella: Kindness And Courage

Benjamin Gr.3 Star Wars: Ewoks

Vivian JK My Little Pony: Hearts And Hooves

Devin JK Superman: A Giant Attack

Mitchell Gr. 2 Science On The Loose & Time For Kids: Robots

Kirsten Gr. 6 Deep Blue

Liam SK Star Wars: Finn & The First Order

Avery Gr.4 Dork Diaries Of A Not So Perfect Pet Sitter

Mrs. Nethery The Present, Frank Einstein And The Animated

Motor, Hug A Bull & Great Big Schoolhouse

Liesl Gr. 4 Geronimo Stilton: The Third Journey Through Time

Morgan Gr.4 Thea Stilton: The Lost Letters

Jordan SK Winter Break Wipeout

Maia Gr.3 Fancy Nancy: Peanut Butter & Jellyfish

Connor Gr.3 Captain Underpants And The Sensational Saga Of Sir Stinks A Lot

Page 3

NELLES PUBLIC SCHOOL - March Newsletter

PINK SHIRT DAY

It is important that all students in the DSBN feel they are part of an inclusive, supportive

school community and feel safe coming to school each and every day. This is really

important to us. No matter the school though, each student within it will be faced with

challenges. It is important that we take care of each other and understand that we are all

responsible for standing up and doing the right thing. We all wore our pink shirts on

February 25 to show each other and ourselves what it means to be a part of such an

amazing, supportive school.

Particularly in recent years, the relatively new phenomenon of social media has potentially opened the door

to increased bullying. Although not always intentional, it is something that will be a part of our lives, no mat-

ter the age, unless something is done. Anyone can be bullied, but anyone can also be a bully. Bullying does

not have to happen. Pink Shirt Day is one step in educating people to be more aware of themselves and

others in a positive way, and perhaps more aware that innocent actions can have negative results. Positive

actions make a difference.

NELLES EARNS THE GOLDEN SHOE AWARD!

The Active Safe Routes to School Summit in Niagara brought together school boards and schools, municipal staff and elect-ed officials, public health, police, members from active transportation citizens’ groups, non-profit groups and business. Jacky Kennedy from Green Communities Canada spoke about advances happening nationally to support active school travel. Panelists from planning, engineering, public health, school and transportation provided impressions about local successes and challenges. Participants added to this knowledge throughout the day. The Heart and Stroke Foundation will capture actions that came out of group discussions to inform next steps for Ni-agara. Actions that emerge from similar events across Ontario will be further discussed at a provincial summit in May. At the event, our school received a Golden Shoe Award for leading the way for active and safe school travel in Niagara.

Congratulations to all of you who make it easier for our students to walk or bike to school.

DANCE CLUB

The Nelles Dance Club will be performing at the DSBN Dance Showcase this year! Thank you to Mrs. Gray and Ms. Dickson for coaching and organizing for this great event!

LEGOROBOTICS

The Junior and Intermediate Lego-robotics Teams did an amazing job representing Nelles at the Brock competition in Febru-ary! Go Golden Hawks! Thank you to Mr. Rutledge for coaching both teams.

MAKING SAFE LUNCHES AT HOME

Packing lunches for school takes time and energy but taking the time to follow these tips could prevent a

foodborne illness in your family.

CLEAN

Wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and warm water before preparing any meal.

Make sure you routinely clean countertops, utensils and any lunchboxes or lunch bags.

Raw fruits or vegetables can be contaminated with bacteria. Wash them with clean water and a

scrub brush before eating.

KEEP COLD FOOD COLD

Foods like meat, chicken, seafood, eggs and dairy products must stay cold to stay safe. Use

frozen freezer packs to keep food at or below 4C (40F).

Use an insulated lunch box/bag and keep it away from heat sources. Place freezer packs between

food that needs to stay cold. Refrigerate items the night before to get your lunch box/bag off to

a cool start.

KEEP HOT FOOD HOT

Hot food must stay hot at above 60C (140F). Use insulated containers and keep them closed until

ready to eat, or take your food cold and reheat it in a microwave.

Please keep in mind that any leftover food items coming home in your child’s back pack can carry bacteria or

have the ability to support bacterial growth. These bacteria can grow rapidly to harmful levels when food

safety precautions are not followed. If these items have not been properly stored, place them in your green

bin, do not consume them.

FIT 4 FUN SPORTS CAMP Enjoy a full week with friends and students from the community actively participating in a variety of sports and activities. This successful camp is in its 4th year, run by Nelles’ own Mr. Huebert. This summer experience will give your child several fun, skill-based sports activities. Besides instruction in all the major sports, the kids will also enjoy some of their favourite gym games: dodgeball, capture the flag, octopus, lord of the rings, tag games, etc.

Date: July 18th—July 22nd (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) Location: Central Public School

Cost: $135 ($110 for each additional family member) **T-shirt, snacks, etc. Ages: 8 to 12 years old (roughly)

Everyone is invited. Brochures with detailed information will be available to students at Nelles, and in the Grimsby community. Please do not contact Nelles School directly. Instead, please direct all questions to camp director, Jamie Huebert at: fit4funsportscamp@gmail.com website: fit4funsportscamp.weebly.com

UNDERSTAND NUMBERS WITH YOUR CHILD

Research tells us that in mathematics, higher achieving students have a stronger flexibility and understanding

of the relationships between numbers. In classrooms, educators are working with students to build skills with

understanding and connections, to help develop their sense of number as well as learning and remembering

facts. This helps them when problem-solving.

Think about knowing 4 + 7 = 11 simply as a memorized fact.

Now think about knowing that 4 + 7 = 11 because it is a 3 + 7 and 1 more (linked to knowing that 10 is an im-

portant number).

The understanding of this relationship can help a student to think flexibly about 64+27.

In the same way, it can be thought about as 60 + 20 + the 10 (that was made by the understanding of 4+7) and

1 more = 91

As a parent, you can support your child in thinking flexibly about how numbers are related:

What other numbers or facts is this connected to?

Example: 6 + 7=? This is like the double I know of 6 + 6 and then 1 more.

What do you know that might help you get there?

Example: 7 x 4 =? I remember that 5 x 4 = 20, so then I have to add on two more 4’s, which is 8, to get 28.

What is another way that you can know that?

Example: 4 x 25 =? I can think about money and know that 4 quarters is $1.00, so 4 x 25 = 100