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| A Sadochok student colouring in the gym on Tuesday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day |
| Catholic schools are unique communities with different personal and cultural values than the corresponding communities found in public schools. |  |
To celebrate the uniqueness of our schools, Catholic Schools Week has become an annual event that builds an appreciation of the educational achievements and spiritual benefits of attending a Catholic school. It acknowledges the many teachers and students who work in these schools, and celebrates the opportunities that Catholic Schools have to offer.
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The Catholic Schools Week celebrations at IHMS began on Monday with a “Winter Carnival”. This was very similar to last year’s “Winter Fest” and consisted of 10 different team based activities. Monday was also a NUT day (“No Uniforms Today”) because every student came to school dressed in the colour of their team. Half of these activities took place outdoors on the school playground while the other half took place indoors. There were 10 different teams, each wearing a unique team colour, and each team contained students from every grade from K-8. Since there were 10 teams and 10 activities, each team spent a few minutes on a particular activity before moving on to the next.
Outdoor Activities
Outdoor Activity 1
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Outdoor Activity 2
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Outdoor Activity 3
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Outdoor Activity 4
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Outdoor Activity 5
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At the halfway point, there was a short break in order to allow the outdoor teams and the indoor teams to trade places. Students needed this time to either change into or out of their outdoor clothing. The activities continued after this 10 minute break.
Indoor Activities
Indoor Activity 1
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Indoor Activity 2
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Indoor Activity 3
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Indoor Activity 4
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Indoor Activityy 5
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Since Tuesday, February 14 was Valentines’s Day, it was also a NUT Day, in this case “Red & White” Day. The day started off with an assembly in the gym where the students took part in a colouring activity. The students were paired up with another grade (with one group of 3 grades) into the four corners of the gym – Sadochok paired up with grade 8, grade 1 with grade 7, grade 2 with grade 6, and grades 3, 4, and 5 all got together to form a larger group.
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| After gathering in the gym on Tuesday morning, students paired up with another grade (or in the case of the grade 3, 4, and 5 students, with two other grades) in one of the corners of the gym. |
A large Catholic Schools Logo. created by Miss Rowe, was separated into four parts and taken to each quarter of the gym for the students to colour. Of course, not everyone in the group was able to colour at the same time, so students not actively colouring the logo were kept occupied colouring a sheet of paper with either a cross or a heart.
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| Students got together in their groups and either coloured the large section of the Catholic School’s Week logo or they coloured a sheet of paper with either a cross or a heart on it. The bottom photo shows the final product. |
After completing the colouring activity, the students were in for one more surprise – a Valentine card exchange. During the previous week, every student in the school made a Valentines’s Day card for another student in a different grade. These personalized cards were collected last week and were now being distributed in the gym by the grade 6 students. Since everyone made a card for another person, everyone also received a card from someone else.
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| The grade 6 students passed out Valentine’s Day cards yp all the students. Since everyone made a card for another person the previous week, everyone also received a card from someone else. |
On Wednesday afternoon, everyone gathered in the gym at 1:35 p.m.to watch three spirited games of staff vs. students dodgeball. There were 3 student teams (K-3, 4-6, and 7 and 8) with no clear winner in the first two games, but the grade 7 and 8 students easily beat the teachers in the last game.
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| Photos from the three student vs staff dodgeball games |
On Thursday afternoon, everyone gathered in the gym after lunch to watch a movie (“The Secret Life of Pets”) projected on the gym wall. Chips and juice boxes were provided to the students.
Friday, February 17, the last day of Catholic Schools Week, was an inservice day for the teachers at St. Mary’s Academy. While IHMS teachers (and teachers from other Catholic schools) were busy attending the inservice, students had a day off from school. Since the following Monday was a holiday – Louis Riel Day – it was a long 4 day weekend for the students and a great way to finish off a fun and exciting week!