A Message from Mrs. Closner

Over the past few weeks there have been many wonderful events and activities happening at our school. Here are some highlights of the exciting events that have taken place since the last issue of Summit Says was published.

Honesty Assembly

Mrs. DaSilva’s grade 3 students and Mrs. Andrews’ kindergarten students led the Honesty assembly on March 30th. Through singing meaningful songs, the students clearly explained what Honesty means and why it is so important. Thank you to Mrs. Da Silva’s and Mrs. Andrews’ students for doing a wonderful job leading the March assembly!

Summit Climbs Summits

Thanks to the generosity of our parent council we now have a class set of pedometers. During Daily Physical Activity (DPA) time, students kept track of the number of steps they took using the pedometers. As our name implies, Summit Heights students were able to climb all the summit heights in Canada!

Primary Author Visit

On April 8, our kindergarten to grade 2 students had an opportunity to visit with author Philip Roy, who brought along his incredible submarines made from recycled materials. He captivated our young readers with his stories and structures!

Junior Play

On April 13, grades 3-6 were entertained by Roseneath Theatre, a production company that has been delivering professional quality educational performances to schools world-wide, for 33 seasons! Their play, The Incredible Speediness of Jamie Cavanaugh was a hit with the students and staff! The play’s focus addressed, with humour and compassion, the challenges many students and families face today. Classrooms were provided with curriculum-related study guides for additional support and discussion. The students were engaged and thoroughly enjoyed this meaningful production which promotes positive role-models and character education.

International Day of Pink

On April 13, students at Summit participated in the International Day of Pink to raise awareness of gender stereotypes and anti-bullying. Summit’s Social Justice League visited each class, read a book and led a class discussion. Students wore pink to stand up against bullying and celebrate diversity.

Earth Day

On April 22, Earth Day at Summit Heights began with Walk to School Day. It was wonderful to see so many students and families walking to school together. The Eco Team organized a Recycle Hat Contest. Students made creative hats out of recyclable materials.

Raptors Spirit Day

April 24th was Raptors Spirit Day at Summit. Students and staff were invited to show their support for the Toronto Raptors by wearing their Raptors and/or red and white gear. #WeTheNorth!

Track and Field Day

Track & Field Day at Summit is always an exciting event for grades 1 through 6. On May 3rd, students participated in a variety of athletic events organized and run by our staff. Approximately 60 students competed at the Regional Finals at Esther Shiner Stadium. Approximately 16 students from that meet will be moving on to the North Conference Finals. We wish those students lots of luck as they compete in June!

Paperless Day

Summit Heights is part of the WR3 Family of Schools. On May 4 WR3 had Paperless Day. Students participated in a multitude of exciting and innovative activities in their classrooms.

We Bake For Change

Every class in the school provided The Social Justice League with a class recipe. During Education Week the Social Justice League baked all of the recipes and sold the food as a fundraiser for Free the Children. The recipes were also compiled into a cookbook that was sold during our Open House. Thank you to everyone who supported this fundraiser by purchasing baked goods and/or a cookbook! If you missed the opportunity to buy a cookbook, we still have a limited amount available, for only $5!

Sports@Summit

Our grade 5 and 6 students have been engaged in a variety of sports this spring. We have an Ultimate Frisbee Team, Girls Soccer Team, and Boys Soccer Team.

We are very proud of the athleticism and sportsmanship that the Summit students continue to demonstrate.

Oliver With A Twist

In late fall, a very talented group of students began preparing for Summit’s production of Oliver With a Twist! Staff and students worked diligently through lunch hours, recesses, and after school to get ready for a take-off of the Charles Dickens classic. On May 18, the fruits of their labour came to fruition and the performance was a huge success!

As we move toward the end of the school year, I’d like to thank all the students, staff, parents, guardians, and volunteers, for supporting all of our events and activities, here at Summit Heights. Your commitment and support make all these events and activities possible!

Mrs Chan’s Class: Thoughts on Change

As we approach the end of the year, thoughts of "change" come to mind. Soon all the students will have new routines for the summer, some will make new friends, others will try new experiences or go to new places that they've never explored before. And soon enough, your child will be starting a new grade in the fall. Big changes are coming.

Yet it is all too easy for us to overlook the small changes in life. As I watch the little seedlings in my garden appear (quite magically, if you ask me), I can't help but think about the little changes each student in my class has made over the course of the year. Like seedlings, sometimes the growth is quick and other times it is slow and steady. But not one child is left the same as when they began grade 1. Deep, meaningful change often takes time and experience and so it is my hope that the changes that matter most have led my students to become more patient, kind, empathetic, and wise. A tall order for 6 and 7 year olds but not at all impossible.

So for our contribution to this month's newsletter, I'm passing the mic to my students. Here's what some of them have to say about "change".

"I used to not like the work but now I do like the work."

"My writing used to be big but now it's small."

"I used to always call out but now I raise up my hand like everyone else."

"I used to not have friends but now I have a lot!"

"I used to take really long to do my work but now I don't take that long."

"At the beginning of the year I wasn't honest but now I am."

"I used to not know how to spell words but now I know how."

"One thing that has changed about me is that when we are writing stories, I know how to make my story interesting."

"When I started grade 1, I used to write big but now I write smaller."

"I used to have a lot of corrections on my work but now I have less."

"When I started grade 1, I didn't do my work well but now I am trying to make my writing make sense."

"At the start of the year, I couldn't do lowercase a's but now I'm amazing at doing lowercase a's."

"I wrote messy at the start of the year but now I write neatly."

"I know how to write seed stories now."

"I used to move around on the carpet a lot but now I don't."

"I used to take a long time writing my Friday letter but now I don't."

"I used to be bad but now I'm not."

"I wasn't as kind as I am now."

"I know what being a good friend means."

"Mrs. Chan has inspired me to do more things."

"I can do math and when it's hard, I figure it out and then it's easy!"

"My teacher taught me how to make stories and now I like it."

"I learned how to help people out when they need me because when they need me, I know, and I can come and help."

"I didn't read well before and now I'm finding quotation marks and reading louder with expression."

"I can sound out words and I understand what that word means."

"At the beginning of the year, I was scared but now I'm not."

Mr. Buckingham's Class: Grade 2 Haiku poetry about spring

Watermelon sun

Rainbow grass nature flowers

Melting waterfalls

-Gavin

Flowers are growing

There is lots of rain outside

Spring is here awesome

-Olivia

The snow is melting

The green grass is now growing

Winter is now over

-Marcus

In spring the snow melts

It starts to get very warm

Yay now it is spring

-Leonard

The sun is shining

Summer is coming soon

The snow is melting

-Jack

The flower smells good

The sun is shining brightly

My hair is tingly

-Jake

There's a butterfly

Her name is butterylove

She is very cute

-Sofie

Beautiful water

Canary landscape trail

Blue Jays waterfall

-Jamie

Look up in the nest

Birds in a tree they are so free

Spring is for the birds!

-Jacob Y

Trees have hives for bees

They have nests for birds and wasps

We need trees to live

-Evan

Animals are out

They are ready to get food

They hatched cute cubbies

-Jesse

Spring is beautiful

Like a daisy in the sun

Butterflies are cool

-Jacob Max

The rainbow comes out

The butterflies are shining

The rainbow is gone

-Ruby

Butterfly deer birds

Water trees and ducks and air

Rainbow robin bugs

-Izabella

Watermelon bugs

Exploration ducks blue jays

Melting waterfall

-Oliver

I saw birds chirping

Two birds I saw there Robin egg

They have nice footprints

-Gideon

Mrs. Jackson’s Class: Persuasion in the Media

By Emma BB. and Sammy W.

On May 2 2016 Mr.Jackson's class started working on Language unit Persuasion in the Media. We have been learning about all the different types of ways commercials, ads, posters, TV shows and people and how they try to trick people into buying or thinking certain things.

We have been taught that they use different types of techniques that make people want to get their product. Some examples include Humor, where they show funny ads so people remember it, the Plain Folks Appeal that caters to the everyday person, or Fear where they try and scare you into doing what they want. These techniques are called propaganda.

Our goals are to be able to identify who the target audience is, understand what they are telling us, and recognize the techniques being used so that we don’t get tricked or manipulated by the media. As a class, we are making our own commercials and ads that have different types of techniques and target audiences. Another goal is that when we get older we are able to make good and proper decisions when trying to persuade others. We want to avoid stereotypes.

Ways that our class made ads included making videos on our devices, using Google Drawings or on paper. Our ads included different types of propaganda techniques that we have learned so that our ads will be more interesting to the target group. One of the assignments we made was to make an ad (print or video) trying to persuade others to live (or not live) on Mars!

In the end we have learned a lot about persuasion in the media. We have learned about the different places we can see ads. The different techniques used and the targeted audiences. Now we know what to look out for!

Mrs. Bates Class: Narratives by the Grade 1’s

The Story of Bob and Joe – By: Dylan Stotland

A long time ago in outer space there lived aliens. They lived on planet chocolate chip. It rained chocolate chips!

One of the aliens was called Bob. The other one was called Joe. Bob was nasty. Joe was nice.

One day Bob was eating the planet. The planet was disappearing fast. Everyone was sad.

Joe decided to give Bob rotten chocolate so he would never want chocolate again!

Then Joe made Bob a new island. It was called Candyland. Bob was very happy to move there and planet Chocolate Chip was saved!

The Quiet House – By Kate Lindover

In a quiet neighbourhood far away, there was a quiet house. You never heard a sound from that house.

In the quiet neighbourhood there were two animals. Their names where Fluffy and Orange. Fluffy was a dog and Orange was a cat.

One day Orange and Fluffy were fighting over the quiet house. They both wanted to live in the house! So Orange scratched Fluffy and Fluffy bit Orange. The fight was very bad and went on and on!

Finally, the fight stopped and they decided they would share the house. So both of them got the house and they loved it there. They even agreed about what bedroom they would have.

Fluffy and Orange lived happily ever after quietly in the quiet house.

The Man and City Mouse – By Charlie Rigby

In a busy, big city there was a man and a mouse. The man’s name was Snow and the mouse’s name was Funny. Snow was nice. Funny was funny! They lived together in a big tall building and they were happy.

One day Snow was told he had to move out of the big, busy city because someone else wanted to live in their apartment. When Snow told Funny, who was always happy that they had to move, Funny became sad!

Then Snow was told that the person does not want to move into his apartment anymore. Snow and Funny were very happy that they did not have to move and lived happily ever after!

Friendship at Summit Heights – By Maya Donsky

In a school that is very tall, children played fun games. The school was pink and grey brick and the children would do math and language.

One of the children was called Lola and she had a best friend called Maya. Lola was fun and she liked to do many things. Maya liked to jump on trampolines.

One day the two best friends got into a fight over what store they would open up when they were grown up. Maya wanted to open up a bakery but Lola wanted to

open up a pet store. In the end they decided they did not want to be friends anymore.

Later, Maya’s mom talked to her and gave her advice. She said, “Lola is your best friend and I bet if you apologize she will too.”

The next day, Maya went to school and said sorry to Lola. They decided to have a pet store with a bakery upstairs. They would sell dog outfits that looked like cupcakes and sell cookies shaped like dogs! They were best friends again.

The Story of the Witch and the two Evil Sisters! – By: Lexi Mindel

A long time ago, in a faraway land there was a tall tower. The tower was black and white.

In the tower lived a witch and her two evil sisters. The witch and her sisters were evil because they took people away into their tower.

One rainy day the witch and her two evil sisters saw a little, happy girl in the forest and they decided to take her away to their tower! The little girl felt very sad.

All of sudden a nice witch came and her name was Rachel. She took the little girl back to her home where she was safe.

The evil witch felt sad because the little girl had escaped. The little girl lived happily ever after!

The Girl and the Missing Colours – By: Mira Rosenberg

In a land far, far away there was a house that grew girls out from its roofs! These girls loved to colour and there was a colouring party every single day.

There was one girl who loved to colour and her name was Emily. She especially liked the colours black and white. One day as Emily was colouring in black and

white her room lost all of its colour! Her room became black and white! She was so surprised that she told her dad!

Her dad had a plan. Her dad told her to colour her pictures in colour and the colours in her room would come back. It worked!

Later she played at the party with her friends.

The Far Galaxy – By Evan Lasky

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there was a galaxy called Eviloon. There were lots of creatures on Eviloon. Some were good and some were bad.

On the main planet lived Juligon, Emila, Machie, Wonia, Ashiah, Dilion, Briaon, Ashilyly and Jackon!

One terrible day, Guygon – who was bad – and his 90000000000 people attacked! Everybody screamed! All the planets were covered in bad guys. It was really, really not cool.

The aliens from galaxy Eviloon set up a trap, but Guygon’s shuttle was too big to fit in it. Luckily, there was an earthquake, and the ground shook and the galaxy broke into a lava pit. Guygon’s shuttle fell into it. The good aliens were hiding behind a bush the whole time. They laughed their antennae’s off!

The Cat Who Ran Away! – By Ashley Starkman

In a front yard there were flowers that talked and leaves that talked and every time a person came out they would stop talking!

One of the flowers was named Ashley. She was nice, very nice. Nicer than everybody. She was awesome. She was coloured like a rainbow.

One day the cat that lived in the house ran away! They could not find the cat. Everyone in the house and garden was sad.

Ashley the flower and the human’s in the house looked for clues to find the cat. They looked and looked until they found him. He was in the park.

They took DoDo back home and everyone was happy.

Princess Malisa and Prince Rider – By Winona Kirsh

A long time ago in a faraway land there was a beautiful castle with flowers all around it. There were big flags and green grass and there were parties all the time. It even had magical birds that do anything for anyone!

There were fairies and a prince and even a princess and a monster. The fairies were called Liv and Maddie. They were pixie fairies. Prince Rider was Princess Malisa’s brother.

One lovely afternoon, Malisa and Rider were playing outside and a monster kidnapped them. He put them in cages and he did bad stuff to them!

Later, the monster came and took them out of the cage because he was planning on eating them. However, Prince Rider kicked the monster and grabbed Princess Malisa and they both ran away!

They got home and the pixies asked the magical birds to make a party to celebrate!

Bears – By: Saige Weinreb

A long time ago in a tall and beautiful house lived 4 bears. Two of the bears were tall and 2 of the bears were little.

The Papa bear was 50. The Mama bear was 40 and the 2 baby bears were 5 years old.

One Saturday, Baby bear 1 said “Don’t come into my room!” but Baby Bear 2 went into her room anyway and then they got into a fight! They pulled each other’s hair!

Papa and Mama came into the room and helped the baby bears solve the problem. Papa said “Stop” and he carried Baby Bear 2 back into his room.

The Bear Family lived happily ever after!

The Story of the Jay Brothers – By :Jack Tytel

In a large plaza there were many stores – Asher’s Department Store, Jack’s Garage, Jack’s Arcade and Jack’s Delicious Food.

The Jay brothers owned and worked at all of these stores. Jay was very nice. Jay D. was mean and Jay A. was sporty.

One nice day, Jay D. called a wrecking ball company and they came and knocked down the plaza! He laughed and said “see you later – HA HA HA HA!” Jay D. wanted his brothers to have to pay to rebuild the plaza. Jay D. did not like his 2 brothers because they always fought with him.

Jay A. and Jay called the police and Jay D. got arrested. When he came out of jail they fired him. They had rebuilt the plaza and when Jay D. got out of jail he had to pay his 2 brothers back.

Jay and Jay A. lived happily ever after.

Rainbow Adventure – By: Matthys Terblanche

A long time ago there was a land called Rainbow Land. The Land had beautiful rainbow balloon houses.

There was a rainbow Pegasus called Rainbow and he had a best friend called Smilley. Smilley was a Narwhal and they love to fly and swim.

One day when they were having fun, a tree giant came and took Smilley. He ran away with Smilley! Rainbow followed the tree and the colours of the land went out.

Rainbow found all of his friends to help him and they knocked the tree down. Rainbow got Smilley back!

They locked the tree into prison and had a water fight. They lived happily ever after.

The Three Sharks – By: Emme Artman

Once there was a beach in Florida, with 3 sharks. A lot of people visited the beach and they liked to swim and play.

There were three sharks who liked to swim and watch other people who were at the beach.

There was a bald man coming to the beach, and he was poor. He was a thief! He needed food and money and he looked for old food and money so he can get rich. He was trying to find money from other visitors at the beach.

The three sharks saw him, and called the police.

The old man was arrested, and taken to jail, and the sharks lived happily ever after, watching the people.

The Kid Who Got Robbed – By: Logan Taub

In a faraway galaxy, far far away lived loads of lovely planets.

In one of the planets lived 5 people. Their names were Logan, Dylan, Ryan, Matthew and Felicia.

One night a robber came and took Ryan away to his lair. Ryan was scared!

His family found Ryan in a cage and they freed Ryan but the alarm went off! They all managed to escape!

Later they had a party watching a movie and they lived happily ever after.

The Planet of Hotness - By: Pierce Goodman

On a faraway planet named Welcome, there grew video games everywhere. It was very hot on this planet.

One of the video games was called NHL16. He had a best friend named MLB14. They loved to play each other’s video games.

Suddenly, a mean, angry man flew onto the planet, and unplugged all the video games! The man dropped the plug, but quickly got it back in his hand. Then he dug a hole, and put the plug in the hole!

Then, a Goodman flew onto the planet. He found the hole and pulled the key out of the hole!

Goodman plugged the video games back into their sockets and the games played happily ever after!

The Playground By Lia Sekler

A long time ago in a far way land, there was a magical playground. On the playground there were swings and slides. The ground was blue. It was blue like the sky!

Two boys played on the playground. Their names were Ryan and Mark. They were best friends. They had sleepovers every day! Another girl also came to the playground with her mother. Her name was Lia.

One day, Lia saw the two boys together and ran to them. She asked them, “Can I play?”

They said, “No!” Lia became so angry, she told on them to her mother.

The mother asked the boys to play with Lia, and they said “yes”.

Everyone played together until they had to go home.

Bike Ride Battle By Asher Bensimon

A few years ago, there was a stadium. It was the PANAM Games stadium for bike riding. It was the biggest bike riding event in the world. It was crowded with people.

One of the riders was called Mad Man. He was grumpy and crazy and he liked competitions. Another one was called Ryder. He was fast.

“The day has come!” the announcement said. “Go to the starting gate, Mad Man and Ryder”.

“Random start! Riders ready? Watch the gate, dun dun dun dun dun! Go, go, go!” Mad Man is in front. Suddenly, Ryder’s bike stopped working. He fell down, hurt himself, and went to the hospital. He broke his leg bone!

Mad Man went to visit Ryder in the hospital. He told Ryder “good job! You did a better job than me!”

“Thank you” said Ryder.

A new guy is coming into town. His name is Harry. He is a good bike rider. I heard he can be a replacement for Ryder, while he is recovering and watching the competitors.

Harry is racing today. It is the second biggest riding event in the world. He is the new champion! Ryder is happy for him.

The Stolen Soccer Ball By Ari Lantz

A long time ago on an enormous soccer field there was lots and lots of grass growing. When a game was going on, the nets were always cheering for the home

team because the home team was really good, and the other team was not that good.

The first net was named Jack, and the second net was named Johnny. Toronto Best was the home team, and the other team was called Miami Bruisers. The Miami players were rookies, and the players from Toronto were pros.

One afternoon Johnny was looking for the ball on the cup, but it was not there. That means someone, must have stolen the ball. The ball is stolen. That is not good. It means that we can’t have a championship game. So it will have to be a tie until we find the ball!

A long time has passed and the ball has not showed up, but the field has cameras to see where it is. The coaches talked. “There are two tracks”. One coach decided to go to the left track, and the other decided to go to the right track. “Wait! I see him – he is holding the ball! Let’s go get him!” They ran so fast, that they stopped the robber and got back the ball. They started the game again and the home team won 7 to 3.

Mrs. Eisen: Lessons from the Track

For many students and teachers, Track & Field Day is the favourite day of the year. The day is spent running, jumping and cheering. Even if the 100 metre sprint, 400 metre run, hurdles and triple jump are not your best skills, being outside with the whole school and putting your all into the physical tasks seems to bring out the best in all of us. Following the May 3rd school wide event, a track and field team was selected and these students prepared for the North Conference Meet. Wow, did Summit Heights compete! We had many students place in their events and have 16 students now moving on the North Conference Championships at York University on June 7th. Summit Heights will be competing in: long distance and short distance running, relay team sprinting, hurdles, triple jump, shot put and standing long jump.

It is truly amazing to watch a student's look of determination on her face as she pushes herself at a difficult task. All of our students put their heart into these tasks and come away with greater confidence and joy of sport.

On behalf of the Track & Field coaches- Mr. Anton and Mr. Maskerine, I'd like to say what a privilege it has been to watch the Track team train and compete. We are looking forward to the conference championships and City Finals.

A Message from our Council Chairs

As our year draws to an end, we’d like to thank all the volunteers who’ve helped make this another successful school year. From field trips to pizza lunches, you’ve all made a difference. A big thank you to Jennifer Morton and Kayli Baliban for another memorable Grandpal Day; to Amy Levine, Elise Sieradzki and Alex Donsky for a spectacular yearbook; and to Carole Freeman and Suzanne Yoo for an amazing Grade 6 Graduation! We look forward to seeing you all next year.

A Message from Grandpal Day:

The kindergarten children had a great time on Monday, May 16 when they brought their Grandpals to Summit. The three kindergarten classes performed some spectacular numbers for their Grandpals that morning. They also had the chance to spend time with their Grandpals reading in the library, participating in an art activity, playing games and eating many wonderful treats in the gym. We would like to thank all our fabulous volunteers who helped to make this day so special for the children and their Grandpals.