MULGRAVE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
	1325 EAST KEITH ROAD NORTH VANCOUVER BRITISH COLUMBIA V7J 1J3 PHONE 604/984-9030 FAX 604/984-9034

April 18, 1997

Dear Parents

Michael Roethe (G.5) was inadvertently omitted from the Mulgrave "Can You Dig It" Odyssey of the Mind team which recently placed seventh at the Provincial Championships. We congratulate Michael on his excellent participation, and as well for becoming the second Mulgrave recipient of a 'Special Commended Award in Class D (12 years and under) from the 1996 Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Competition.

SCIENCE FAIR

The Second Annual Mulgrave School Science Fair is fast approaching. Next week our school will be filled with Science Fairs from Kindergarten through to Grade 5. The students will have the opportunity to share their projects with their classmates and students from other grades during class time. Parents will be able to view the Science Fair on the following day.

COME AND SEE THE CHILDREN'S CELEBRATION TO SCIENCE

THURSDAY, APRIL 24

3:30 - 6:00 P.M.

The school will close at 6:00 p.m.. Students are not required to remain at the school during this time; however, if students wish to remain at the school for part of this time in order to stand by their Science Fair and explain their creation to the visiting adults, they are free to do so. Children are not permitted, however to wander unattended as their sole purpose for remaining behind is to represent their projects. All children remaining must be picked up by 6:00 p.m.

Due to space constrictions, all science fair projects should be taken home on Friday, April 25.

We all look forward to seeing you on the 24th!

FROM THE CHAIR

I think we all recognize that one of the best investments we can make is in our children's education - that's why we chose Mulgrave. And if we can receive a tax deduction for that investment it would be an added bonus

The Board of Directors and our auditors have now determined that that can happen - at least with respect to the Building Fund deposits. These deposits are parents' funds held by the school while the pupil is in attendance. You may now donate those funds to the school and obtain a tax deductible receipt for the full amount for 1977. It's a great way of helping Mulgrave as we move forward without the need to write another cheque! A Donation of Building Fund form is attached and I encourage you to make this very welcome donation. By the way, the Vice-Chair and myself have been in competition to be the first to sign up!

Spring Gala is just around the corner and I know that the Gala Committee will still be delighted to receive any last minute contracts for auction items. Our Gala event at the Waterfront Centre Hotel will be an enjoyable and magnificent evening - bring your friends! I look forward to seeing you on
May 9.

Jim Robertson (Andrew , Christopher- G.3)

TRACK AND FIELD

The track programme is in full swing. The teachers are making every effort to arrive at the park as soon as they can after classes are dismissed. It is important that the children are not left unattended at Mahon Park. Please ensure that there is a teacher present before you leave your child at the park. Track practices will finish at 5:00 p.m., and the children will be ready for pick-up at that time.

Thank you for your efforts.

SPORTS DAY

Please amend your calendars from May 26, which was the original planned date for our Sports Day. We have children attending performances at the Children's Festival on that date and as a consequence, we have re-scheduled the Sports Day for Thursday, June 5th. If it unusually pours rain(?), our second choice date will be on Tuesday, June 10th.

A PUBLISHED AUTHOR IN GRADE 2

Alexandra Todd has written an original fairy story which was accepted by the Vancouver Sun for publication. It appeared in the Thursday edition of the newspaper and makes excellent reading

Congratulations, Alexandra!

CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL

Monday, May 26th.

Grades 2, 3 and 4 will attend two performances:

11:30 a.m. S.W.A.R.M. with the V.S.O.

Passion, personality and plenty of percussion! S.W.A.R.M. (Symphonic Work Assembly of Rhythm and Movement), is a high- voltage ensemble which brings together structured music, invented instruments and choreographed movement. Their innovative style, fusing world music traditions with 20th century harmonic concepts, is played on fantastic instruments hand-crafted from the industrial surplus of western civilization

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

S.W.A.R.M. with the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra

For two performances S.W.A.R.M. joins the Vancouver Youth Symphony for a no-holds-barred exploration of music. The audience is in store for some real excitement when some of Vancouver's most gifted young classical musicians meet these off-the-wall industrial artists

1:30 p.m. BLACK UMFOLOSI

The idea for Black Umfolosi started when a group of young boys from Bulawayo decided to put on a show of traditional dancing and singing at their school. Since then, Zimbabwe's exciting a capella answer to Ladysmith Black Mambazo have gone on to tour the world. They perform awesome traditional Zulu war dances, haunting southern-African folk songs called Imbube as well as their now famous Gumboot Dance. The exotic sounds, costumes and movements instantly bring to life Africa's everyday culture of song and dance for young audiences.

Monday, May 29th.

Grade 5 students will attend two performances in French!

10:00 a.m. Les aventures mirobolantes de Don Quichotte

The Stupendous Adventures of Don Quixote

Le Théâtre du Gros Mécano turns daily life into moments of magic with the adventures of the great hero of world literature, Don Quixote. At the end of his tumultuous life he becomes obsessed with visions of chivalry and decided one day to wander the country as a knight errant, in search of worthy causes. He ropes an unsuspecting neighbour, Sancho Panza, into serving as his squire and invents a great imaginary love, Dulcinea. This French adaptation of Cervantes' classic encourages children to hold fast to their dreams and aspirations, and to constantly reinvent their world.

11:30 a.m. Les Maillots Bleus

Be what you want to be! This is the message of singers Nicholas and Benoit, a high-energy pop-rock duo from Québec described as a mini- Woodstock for kids. They win awards for their hip style which blends infectious musical rhythms with French language vocals that explore life, the environment, friendship and the importance of realizing personal dreams. Les Maillots Bleus, who appear with Vancouver musicians, provide a perfect learning opportunity for French Immersion students or a great chance for all kids to hear some incredible music.

KINDERGARTEN AND GRADE 1

Although we telephoned the Children's Festival Box Office on the very morning of opening, we were unable to obtain tickets for events which would capture the minds and hearts of our K and G. 1 children, and for this reason only, our youngest students will not be attending the Children's Festival through the auspices of the school this year. As families, however, you may like to spend a Sunday at the Festival, and I am, therefore, enclosing information about Sunday June 1st which is the day of "The Big Birthday" for on that date, Vancouver celebrates twenty years of Children's Festivals.

Our Maths correspondent James Mennie is presently teaching his beloved subject in Indonesia prior to spending his summer months at U.B.C., where he can be found teaching teachers how to teach Maths in a dynamic fashion.

A TASTE OF MATHEMATICS

How many of us remember log tables or slide rules? It doesn't seem that long ago that a slide rule was considered state of the art technology for students studying science or mathematics in grades 11 and 12. Now students from kindergarten through grade 12 are expected to use calculators. In the early grades students use fairly simple calculators but by the time students get to the senior grades they are expected to use sophisticated graphing calculators. In fact the newest calculators are so powerful they are referred to as hand held computers and can be plugged into a computer in order to access additional programs and greater memory.

Even more significant than the introduction of calculators is the effect that computers is having on our lives and, in particular, on education. Just as the invention of logarithms by John Napier in 1614 revolutionized the world of business, commerce and scientific research, the computer is revolutionizing business, industry, commerce, and education. The speed at which these changes are taking place is extremely rapid. Personal computers only became common in the work place in the 1980's, and networking of computers is really a phenomenon of the 1990's. Networking started as a way of linking computers within an office and rapidly expanded to linking offices world wide. Now we have Internet systems available to anyone who has a computer and a modem.

How will technology affect mathematics teaching in schools? It is hard to tell as things are changing and developing so fast it becomes difficult to make predictions. Suffice to say there will be significant changes in the next few years. The federal government plans to have every one of Canada's 20,000 schools connected to School Net by 1998.

James Mennie

FAMILY MATHS!

Linda's grandmother had her 79th birthday on Sunday and her grandfather had his 84th birthday the day after. If Linda's mother bakes a cake for each of them and put the full number of birthday candles on each cake, how many candles were required?

If candles are sold in packets of ten candles, how many packets of candles did Linda's mother have to buy?

OLIVER'S COSTUME CORNER

To the parents of the 'workhouse' boys. Due to the large numbers . I have not been able to obtain enough pants to complete their costumes.

It would be greatly appreciated if each family could , if possible, supply their 'orphans' with ragged pants. Please send trousers which are too large, baggy, patched, beltable, suitably uncared for!. It would be greatly appreciated if your 'orphan' could bring these items to school for fittings on Tuesday, April 22.

SPIDER SONGS!

Have a good weekend

Linda Hamer
Headmistress