Jan 17th – Greetings Dragon Nation:
We want to welcome our St. Isidore families back after a well-deserved holiday break and a wonderful first week of learning. We hope that you feel rejuvenated and have had lots of time to connect with family and friends. We look forward to continuing our learning as we enter 2023 with a collective commitment to making 2023 the best year yet!
Students of the Month for December:
Last month’s Umbrella theme was Intrinsic Motivation and we would like to acknowledge the following students who led by word and deed:
Nicholas O Valentina B Brandon E Amelia V
Sophia E Jack R-S Henrick A Jerusha K
Mikki V Isabella E Sophie K Nathan B
Emma C Jada S Austin E-G Gianna W
Martina A Ave R Paola G Rondell M
Valentine Friendship Fun Fair: 
St. Isidore School council is delighted to share that we will once again be running a Valentine Friendship Fundraiser from February 1- February 14, 2022, to support experiential learning opportunities for our students (e.g. Museum, Zoo, Coding, Scientists in Schools). Our goal is to raise $1,000 through donations and pledges which is approximately $7 per student. Our Friendship Fun Fair will be held the afternoon of February 14th and will involve students rotating through various activities led by staff.
What can you do? Help your child secure pledges/donations from family and friends. There are prizes for classes with the highest average pledge amount, early-bird draws and more. Two ballots with your child(ren) names will automatically be included in the random draw bins and contributions of $25.00 and above are eligible for tax receipts.
Please make sure you add the names, email address, and donation contribution for each person on Cash Online. This will be good fun for all! Thank you in advance for supporting our amazing school.
Pledges and donations are being accepted until midnight on February 14th!
Umbrella Project: January Theme of Grit
Don’t just ponder on what you are passionate about… get out there and try as many things as you can!
Grit isn’t just about perseverance. Passion for your goals goes a long way in helping you stick with something long term. The guru of grit, Angela Duckworth, has found that introspection isn’t going to give your kids the passion they need for developing grit. They can’t just sit around thinking about what they care about. To truly follow the path of passion and purpose they need to get out there and try lots of different stuff. This will allow them to really understand what motivates them, what gets them out of bed in the morning and down the road. This is one of the most important bits of sustained grit. We’ve all had the experience of thinking we would love a sport, subject or job, much to our dismay when we actually get a chance to try it and find it’s not what we thought it would be.
When you see an opportunity for your child to try something new, jump on it. Let action be their guide in finding that longer term goal, job or pursuit that they can really get behind. Take time to debrief with them after new experiences so you can support them in doing more of what they are passionate about.
You can watch this week’s short video here. (And hear me sing!)
Can’t wait to see what your child tries,
Dr. Jen, The Umbrella Project
