Posted: December 11, 2022
News and Information
Pancake Breakfast Reminder
The PAC Pancake Breakfast is this Friday. We are so grateful to the team of parents who will be volunteering their time to provide this fun event for our students. As classes are scheduled to eat at various points through the morning, please have your child eat some breakfast at home before they come to school, as we are only able to accommodate 4 or 5 classes at a time, and hungry kids are, as you probably know, cranky kids. If experience in previous years has taught us anything, it’s that breakfast at home certainly won’t spoil any pancake appetites.
Food Bank
Demand for food banks on the rise with 1,000 new users per month in Greater Vancouver
Food Bank demand is up everywhere this year. Richard Bulpitt Elementary has an annual tradition of collecting food bank donations leading up to the break. This year, we are collecting cash (well, School Cash Online) donations rather than food. We’ve been reading that cash donations help food banks more than food donations do, as they can take advantage of some economies of scale and can access fresh food too. If you are able to help, click here.
Hanukkah (info via Wikipedia)
Next weekend marks the start of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, commonly called a menorah or hanukkiah. One branch is typically placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called the shammash (Hebrew: שַׁמָּשׁ, “attendant”). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the shammash until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival.[5] Other Hanukkah festivities include singing Hanukkah songs, playing the game of dreidel and eating oil-based foods, such as latkes and sufganiyot, and dairy foods. Since the 1970s, the worldwide Chabad Hasidic movement has initiated public menorah lightings in open public places in many countries.[6]
Originally instituted as a feast “in the manner of Sukkot (Booths)”, it does not come with the corresponding obligations, and is therefore a relatively minor holiday in strictly religious terms. Nevertheless, Hanukkah has attained major cultural significance in North America and elsewhere, especially among secular Jews, due to often occurring around the same time as Christmas during the holiday season.[7]
To the RBE families who celebrate, we wish you a Happy Hannukkah!
Kwanzaa (info via Wikipedia)
Kwanzaa (/ˈkwɑːn.zə/) is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day.[1] It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966.
American Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 during the aftermath of the Watts riots[2] as a specifically African-American holiday.[3] Karenga said his goal was to “give blacks an alternative to the existing holiday of Christmas and give blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society.”[4] For Karenga, a major figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the creation of such holidays also underscored the essential premise that “you must have a cultural revolution before the violent revolution. The cultural revolution gives identity, purpose, and direction.”[5]
According to Karenga, the name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning “first fruits”.[6] First fruits festivals exist in Southern Africa, celebrated in December/January with the southern solstice, and Karenga was partly inspired by an account he read of the Zulu festival Umkhosi Wokweshwama.[7] It was decided to spell the holiday’s name with an additional “a” so that it would have a symbolic seven letters.[8]
During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said it was meant to be an alternative to Christmas. He believed Jesus was psychotic and Christianity was a “White” religion that Black people should shun.[9] As Kwanzaa gained mainstream adherents, Karenga altered his position so practicing Christians would not be alienated, stating in the 1997 book Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture that “Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday.”[10] Many African Americans who celebrate Kwanzaa do so in addition to observing Christmas.[11]
We wish all families in our community who celebrate Kwanzaa happiness and joy this season.
Christmas (info via Wikipedia)
It is also, of course, Christmas season. Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25[a] as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.[2][3][4] A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night.[5] Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries,[6][7][8] is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians,[9] as well as culturally by many non-Christians,[1][10] and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it.
The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies.[11] When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then spread the word.[12]
There are different hypotheses regarding the date of Jesus’ birth and in the early fourth century, the church fixed the date as December 25.[b][13][14][15] This corresponds to the traditional date of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar.[16] It is exactly nine months after Annunciation on March 25, also the date of the spring equinox. Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world. However, part of the Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. For Christians, believing that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity, rather than knowing Jesus’ exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas.[17][18][19]
The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, and secular themes and origins.[20] Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving; completing an Advent calendar or Advent wreath; Christmas music and caroling; viewing a Nativity play; an exchange of Christmas cards; church services; a special meal; and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe, and holly. In addition, several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Christkind, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions and lore.[21] Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. Over the past few centuries, Christmas has had a steadily growing economic effect in many regions of the world.
If your family celebrates Christmas, we wish you a merry one!
Lost and Found
Have you lost something at school? A hoodie? Jacket? Lunch Box? Water Bottle? One shoe? The lost and found at the school is under the stairs by the courtyard and is brimming with clothing and items that students have left. Please check it before Dec 16, as we will be washing and donating anything left after this date. Parents can check the lost and found at the courtyard entrance.
Winter Break Attendance
If your student is going to be starting the winter break sooner than the last day of school (Dec 16) or if they will be having an extended winter break not returning on Jan 3, 2023, it is very important to let the office and your student’s teachers know. RBEAttendanceVoicemail@sd35.bc.ca Please email with the name(s) of your student(s) and what dates they will be away from school. Please make sure you take all your student’s cloakroom items and materials .
STUDENT MISSING EXTENDED SCHOOL TIME – Student Missing School Time Form
If your student(s) are going to be away from school due to an extended vacation, or a family leave please fill out form in the link above and email to cdavies@sd35.bc.ca
Moving?
If you have plans to move and will not be returning to RBE in January 2023, parent/guardians are asked to inform the school as soon as possible if/when they know that their child(ren) will be leaving our school. Please complete our withdrawal form and email to, cdavies@sd35.bc.ca Please make sure you take all your student’s cloakroom items, materials and return any library books.
PAC Update
Pancake Breakfast
Vancouver Giants Fundraiser
We are selling tickets for the game on January 20 at 7:30pm, vs Kelowna Rockets.
Stay in the Know
Follow the Richard Bulpitt PAC Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/745815738765109) or our Instagram (@rbepac) to stay up-to-date with all the details!
Quote(s) of the week
Something to Read or Watch…
- I came across this article last week, and it really made me think as we come into a time of year that many people actually find difficult and stressful. There’s an art to happy memories – you can make more by experiencing more ‘firsts.’ At one point, the author suggests that gastronomic firsts – that ‘new and memorable experiences can come in the form of food.’ It has me making some bold new menu plans for the break.
- And in case you need some inspiration, here’s one set of suggestions of things to do this month around the Lower Mainland. Lots of lights, of course (did you know there are some at Williams Park, as a drive-thru experience), but some other good choices too. I can vouch that the ocean tends to be nice and clear at this time of year in places like Deep Cove and Belcarra. Just time your walk for a low-ish tide to explore the beach. The same website has a list of free activities in Vancouver this December.
- And if you go for a walk in the woods, remember the logs on the ground are alive! Click the image below or here to go to the much-larger original.
Things to Remember from the Calendar
Monday, December 12
- Basketball Open Gym – Grade 5 boys – after school to 4pm
Tuesday December 13
- Basketball Open Gym – Grade 5 girls– after school to 4pm
Friday, December 16
- Pyjama Day
- PAC Pancake Breakfast
- Last day of school before winter break
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