By K. Smawley
Basketball is already quickly coming to an end.
The Theresetta teams are on the countdown to CARA and CWAJHAA tournaments. League games have wrapped up and the teams have been keeping busy playing exhibition games over the past few weeks.
On Feb. 19th the girls travelled to Brownfield for an exhibition game and although they lost, it was an exciting game because at the end they could officially say that everyone on the team has scored at least one basket this season. With so many new Grade 5 players on the team this year, getting everyone a basket was a team goal.
The girls hosted Donalda on Feb. 25th for another exhibition game and though they played hard, they lost. It was a close game though, and the older girls on the team showed their leadership skills. The coaches of the team have mentioned numerous times throughout the season that they are proud of the positive attitude and level of encouragement the older players have displayed in every game. Keep it up girls!
The boys travelled to Erskine on Saturday, Feb. 8th for a one day tournament. They started the day by playing the Grade 9 Stettler team. They played well but lost the game before going on to win against Coronation. That put the boys second in their pool so they got to play for the bronze medal and third place. They were up against a team from Trochu and after a close back and forth battle, the Theresetta Knights came home with the third place win. Well done boys!
On Feb. 19th, the boys’ team played an exhibition game against Gus Wetter. The Knights lost the game, but it is always a good learning experience to play against an older, more experienced team.
The boy’s team travelled to Stettler on the 26th to take on the Stettler B team for an exhibition game. Coach Finkbiner took only the young players this time as some extra experience for them and they had a good time testing out all their skills during some longer shifts.
The Theresetta curling teams had a great day in Stettler at CARA!
They had two teams entered and both teams had strong showings in their round robin play, both winning two of their three games which made them both move on to the quarterfinals.
After a hard quarter-final, one team lost out to last year’s, and eventually this year’s, CARA champions from Erskine. They played so well all day, and had lots of fun! The team is made up of all Grade 7s, so they are looking forward to many more curling seasons together! The other Theresetta team won their quarter-final, then played the Erskine future champs in the semi-final, losing by one point! From there, the team advanced to the bronze final against a Gus Wetter team. They played well but ended up taking home forth place. It didn’t feel like a loss though, the curlers made so many great shots throughout the day, it was a great experience!
It was a very long day for this team as they played 24 ends, and had four games back to back to finish the day. Both teams did a great job representing Theresetta school and they played hard all day. Well done curlers! It was an awesome second season for the Theresetta Curling Program!
The Grade 3/4 class has been talking about social justice issues in their class with Mrs. Ries over the past few weeks. In response to all of the things they have been discussing, the class has run two fundraisers recently as a way to help out some social causes.
On the same topic, they had Lynn Cole, from Brownfield, come in to talk about a recent trip she took to Uganda.
She told the students about the extreme poverty people experience there, how many of them only have access to one meal of rice a day, and how they do not have easy access to water, like we do. The students chose to take this cause on as their next social justice project and want to raise money to help the people of Uganda as much as they can.
After learning all about multiple social causes, the class held their first fundraiser event called, “Pet the Puppy” on Feb. 11th. The 3/4s invited all students to visit their classroom at lunch one day to visit seven friendly, cuddly puppies, loaned to the class by the Zimmermann family.
Students donated food bank items in order to get their turn with the soft, soothing pups.
Proceeds from that fundraiser, which included multiple backpacks full of food and $92.30 in donation, went directly to the local Castor Food Bank. The 3/4 class toted the donations down to the Food Bank on Feb. 27th and learned from Sue Goodkey all about the service it provides to the community.
The class’s second fundraiser happened on Feb. 28th, and it was called, “Pet the Kittens” who were loaned to the class by the Boxma family. The class asked for monetary donations this time, and were able to raise $85.05 for their chosen cause to help out people in Uganda.
Some students and staff chose to participate in a Disconnect Challenge throughout the month of February. Starting on Feb. 10th, participants logged how much screen time they used for the whole week. Then, on Feb. 17th, they disconnected and found non-electronic focussed ways to occupy their time.
Fifty people took on the challenge, including student’s family members, and they recorded their experiences during the ‘technology fast’.
On Feb. 25th, the Grade 1/2 class presented to the whole school about Shrove Tuesday, also fondly known as Pancake Day around the world. Shrove Tuesday is an important day in the Christian Calendar, as it marks the day before the beginning of Lent.
Pancakes are commonly eaten on this day to use up ingredients like eggs, milk, and butter, before the season on Lent begins and people sometimes give up rich things like these while fasting. The Theresetta students and teachers were happy to partake in Pancake Day, normally the most exciting hot lunch of the year, who doesn’t love pancakes! Then the following day, the school participated in an Ash Wednesday liturgy, where they all received ashes on their foreheads to represent the beginning of Lent. The beginning of Lent is also a very important time in the Church and the act of having ashes put on your forehead is a sign of repentance. Students and staff are now observing Lent for the next 40 days, not counting Sundays, and some chose to give up something for this period in the same manner that Jesus fasted for 40 days before starting his ministry.
There were three dress-up theme days during the month of February. First, 70’s Day was a fun Spirit Day organized by the Theresetta Student’s Union. There were lots of groovy outfits strutting up and down that halls on Feb. 19th as people had found, or made, some severely seventies themed attire.
The next dress-up day was Pink Shirt Day on Feb. 28th. This is a day that started here in Canada after a boy who went to school in a pink shirt was bullied because of his shirt colour.
The third dress-up day was wearing stripes for Rare Disease Day on Feb. 28th. Theresetta participated in this day, along with many in Castor, to show awareness for the many people in our world, and those specifically in our community, who are living with rare diseases.
Mrs. Kneller’s music classes are hard at work these days practicing as much as they can for the upcoming Coronation Music Festival Performances in March. Performances by Theresetta groups are happening in the Coronation School Gym on March 11th starting at 10 a.m. Please come out and listen to what has come from hours of dedication.
This term all junior high students are participating in Outdoor Education on Wednesdays and the group is already hard at work planning, prepping, and researching for their big camping trip that will be happening in May this year.
Students are researching what to expect at their Cavalcade group campsite near the Two O’Clock Creek. Their trip will include multiple smaller hikes, and one day-long hike to Allstones Lake. Along with a visit to the Columbia Icefields and the Athabasca Glacier and the Interpretive Center there.