Hello Mahogany Families!

What does it mean to be thankful? This weekend as we head into the Thanksgiving Holiday, we have been reflecting with students around what they are thankful for. We have heard about family, parents, grandparents, pets, stuffies, extracurricular activities, walks in the wetlands, friends and so much more. The common theme is always about connection and relationship. As human beings we crave connection and build relationships for places to share our best and worst moments...someone to have as a soft place to land. The deeper the relationship, the harder it is when it ends. The deeper it becomes during hard times. The word I chose as my school ‘word of the year’ to focus on is Joyful. I intentionally chose this as my word to help keep me focused on a growth mindset and as a reminder to look for joy, it is always all around us, even in darker times, sometimes we must look a little harder to find it.

October is a challenging month for me, while as I have shared how much I love all that fall brings, October seems to be a month where so many sad things have landed for me over time. I have to look hard for joy in October, and many of you may have a ‘month’ that is your challenging time too. This is where that intentional search for Joy comes in hard for me...I have to dig deep and really look for it. Funny thing is that as I live in the Joy, I have been thankful for the little moments and those moments are now taking the lead. As I think about the joyful moments that I can celebrate and be thankful for this weekend and while I would normally be worrying about the things I ‘have to do’ to get ready for Thanksgiving, I am instead giving thanks for what I ‘get to do’. And, remembering that I don’t have to do it alone, that I have family, friends and a whole bunch of ‘soft places to land’ people that I know are there for me and I can count on. I am thankful for those relationships, and I plan to be intentional in planning those joyful moments and keeping them close to my heart this October. I hope you all can find you people this weekend and remember that you are stronger with them, and they are stronger because of you!

Whatever you may be going through, remember, the relationships you have and the connections you hold are the people to celebrate with and your soft place to land this Thanksgiving weekend. Whatever your traditions may be this long weekend my hope for you is that you find the joy and take the time to give thanks for something positive happening in your life.

Wishing you all a joy filled weekend and a very Happy Thanksgiving if that is the tradition that you celebrate.

Tracy and Christine

Inspiration

“What is today we were just grateful for everything?” Charlie Brown

Weekly Wonder

What are you grateful for?

Updates and Administrivia

Hoop Dancing Residency

This week all students will be working with Jackie Wabasca to learn about Hoop Dancing. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about hoop dancing and connect to our TRC commitment. This is an in-school residency (like an in-school weeklong field trip). This is a parent paid program, fees will be added to your MyCBE account.

Walk for Wenjack Week

Dear Mahogany Families,

Did you know that Mahogany School is a Downie Wenjack Legacy school? This means that Mahogany School is part of a national initiative to engage, empower and connect students and educators to further reconciliation through awareness, education and action(#reconciliACTION).

Walk for Wenjack Week is coming soon.  It runs from October 17 – October 22.  We invite Mahogany students and their families to track their steps during these 6 days.  What a great way to get together as a family and get outside to enjoy nature!  While you are on your walks, we encourage you to track your steps and record them on the tracking sheet provided.  At the end of the 5 day (October 21)  please send your step count to your child’s homeroom teacher via email or by printing the page and sending it in your child’s backpack.

View a short video for some more information about the Downie Wenjack foundation.

We thank you in advance for your participation and support of our Walk for Wenjack initiative.

Sincerely,

Mahogany School Staff

Walk for Wenjack Step Tracker

School Council / Parent Society

Thank you and Congratulations To our outgoing and our incoming new School Council Members! This week our School Council AGM was held.

We would like to thank our outgoing Council Co-Chairs

Amit S. and Tanmai S, Secretary: Andrea S. We appreciate all you have done to get us up and running as a brand-new school! We appreciate the work you will also do to help our new Council transition into their roles.

Congratulations to our incoming School Council Members!

Welcome Council Chair: Daielle B., Vice Chair: Amit S., Secretary: TBA, Key Communications: Hayley B., Volunteer Coordinator: Rachel S.

Our next School Council Meeting will be on November 5, 2024, at 6:00 PM at Mahogany School followed by our next Fundraising Association Meeting will be the AGM which will be held in person at Mahogany School All parents/guardians are welcome to join! Doors will be open at 5:45 PM. Please join us in the Gathering Space.

Happenings

Upcoming

Mon., Oct. 21 Day 1

• School Photos
• Regular Day

Tues., Oct. 22 Day 2

• Walk for Wenjack Assembly 10:00 AM
• Regular Day of Classes

Wed., Oct. 23 Day 3

• Regular Day of Classes
• Wellness Wednesday

Thurs., Oct. 24 Day 4

• Regular Day of Classes
• Fun Lunch - Subway

Fri., Oct. 25 Friday Schedule

• Non-Instructional Day – No School for Students
• Professional Learning Day