December 6th was the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. But violence exists in many forms. It exists in our everyday lives, from bullying to domestic abuse.

Last month, the St. Matthew's Leadership Group worked to raise awareness of this serious problem. Students organized a Christmas campaign called "Shower With Smiles" in aid of the Iris Kirby House, a shelter for abused women and their children. Sadly, the holiday season is always a time of great need for such a shelter. Among their needs were personal care items such as shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothbrushes and tooth paste.

The St. Matthew's community came together and donated over 200 items to make these women and their children more comfortable in their time of need. A big thank you to all who supported our school project.

The Grade 3 students of Holy Name of Mary Academy in Lawn recently designed and painted their own t-shirts. The activity was one part of an ongoing effort in our school to promote sustainability and conservation. Through a cross-curricular approach, the students used Art to express their understanding of Tuckamore and other trees found in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Learning about and building connections to our surroundings is a wonderful way to instill an appreciation of our environment. The Art lesson began with a movement/simulation activity as students became growing trees in different settings under varying conditions. After some planning and designing they used fabric paint in a relief technique to create the trees on their shirts. The activity successfully linked Art, Social Studies and Science and students had fun creating their unique t-shirts!

The Eastern School District wishes to advise parents/guardians of a potential disruption in the delivery of food service operations. Chartwells is a private food service company that operates the cafeteria in 42 schools in the Eastern School District. The food service workers are employed by Chartwells and represented by CUPE Local 4885. These workers are not employees of the Eastern School District. See attachment for full story.