DIFFERENCEThe St. Jude’s Academy

Your Monthly Whole-School Newsletter Celebrating Student Successes and Events

JULY 2020

What A Year!This school year, which has been like no other we have had, has come to a close. Although it has been a difficult time for everyone amidst the COVID-19 pandem-ic, the SJA community has prevailed, togeth-er. We have remained connected throughout Continuous Learning, finding creative new ways to enjoy extra-curricular activities, in-cluding after-school programs, House com-petitions and school-wide contests! We have

DATES TOREMEMBER

July 13 - August 19Summer Camps

Wednesday, Aug. 26Lower School Orientation (5 - 7 pm)

Thursday, Aug. 27Upper School Orientation (3:30 - 7:30 pm)

Wednesday, Sept. 9First Day of School

worked together with our SJA families, listening to your valued opinions, to bring you the best, most supportive, com-prehensive and con-nected online learning experience.

Instead of slowing down, we ramped up our ac-tivities this month to en-sure everyone was cele-brated – 1st Virtual Arts Showcase - Imaginari-um, Shakespeare Radio Play, House Cup, 1st Vir-tual Track and Field and so much more.

As the school year ends, our students graduate on to higher things —some advance one year in their program, others advance on to the MYP and DP and our Grade 12 students graduate high school, advancing to university and beyond! We are so proud of all of our stu-dents for their hard work this year, especially in their ability to stay en-gaged and enthusiastic about their education throughout the last few months.

This year to create a unique experience, our Grade 12 students grad-uated with a historic graduation ceremony: the SJA Mobile Gradu-ation Ceremony! A per-sonal grad ceremony in celebration of their years of academic suc-cess. SJA also hosted vir-tual Grade 6 PYP Grad-uation, Grade 10 MYP

Graduation, along with Promotion Ceremonies for JK and SK, Grades 1 to 5, Grades 7 to 9 and Grade 11.

Going beyond to cre-ate memories together, from all of the SJA fac-ulty and staff, we thank you, parents/guardians and students, for taking this journey with us.

Aaron Sawatsky, Found-er, and Melissa Chin, Head of School

ACADEMICS

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Our Promotion & Graduation CeremoniesThe Promotion Ceremonies for JK to Grade 5, Grades 7 to 9 and Grade 11 students held on June 24 were well-attended by students, families, faculty and staff. They captured how proud we are of all our students this year. Those attending these virtual celebrations on Zoom saw video highlights of their year, the promotion ceremony and academic awards videos, heard from their teachers and were able to talk to each other and their teachers after the ceremony.

The Graduation Ceremonies for our Grade 6 PYP and Grade 10 MYP students held on June 25 provided these students with a celebration of the culmination of their hard work. All guests, faculty, staff and students heard from our students and faculty. The ceremonies includ-ed a highlight video and the PYP and MYP Graduation ceremony videos.

The Grade 12 Graduation/DP Virtual Ceremony held on June 19 captured how proud we are of the achieve-ments of all our 2020 Graduates. All guests, faculty, staff and students heard from our Founder, saw the Grad Mobile Diploma ceremony video, the Academic Awards video and the General Awards video. The cer-emony highlights included speeches from Shaheer A (2019 Valedictorian), Parwaiz D (2020 Vale Dicere) and Vivian W (2020 Valedictorian).

Have you seen these videos?• Grad Mobile Ceremony Video: https://vimeo.com/430777824/4c3e264763

• Academic Awards Video: https://vimeo.com/430773931/772b29b834

• General Annual Awards Video: https://vimeo.com/430828815/e9ff35440b

• 2020 Graduate Awards & Recognition video: https://vimeo.com/424083016/3633932293

• Where Our 2020 Grads were accepted video: 100% Acceptance to University

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JUNIOR KINDERGARTEN Name SubjectKrish A. MathKrish A. FrenchAmihan D. LanguageAmihan D. MusicAairah M. Physical EducationSaakshi S. Unit of InquiryHannah A. MusicBurhanuddin B. Unit of InquiryBurhanuddin B. FrenchJacob B. Physical EducationPreet K. Language Muhammad Zain S. Math

SENIOR KINDERGARTENName SubjectSahir D. MathZaina K. FrenchZaina K. LanguageAva V. MusicSahir D. Physical EducationPakhi A. Unit of InquiryAhaana K. MusicAmogh M. Unit of InquiryAhaana K. FrenchAaryan S. Physical EducationAishini G. Language Jelani V.B. Math

GRADE 1Name SubjectNoah T. MathRohan M. FrenchNoorah S. LanguageWilliam P. MusicLeeah A. Physical EducationRiya S. Unit of InquiryFarah T. MusicAidan J. Unit of InquiryRiaan G. FrenchIshaan S. Physical EducationFinley R. Language Sahana G. Math

GRADE 2Name SubjectArmaan S. MathArmaan S. FrenchMason P. Language

Kai S. MusicRonan B. Physical EducationSimrin C. Unit of InquirySyra I. MusicKian N. Unit of InquiryKaniska K. FrenchRithika T. Physical EducationArya G. Language Kaysha M. Math

GRADE 3Name SubjectNafeezah H. MathJulia D. FrenchJoshua G. LanguageSophie V. MusicJulia D. Physical EducationSummer R. Unit of InquiryLeah A. MusicJoshua K. Unit of InquiryKeshav J. FrenchMya A. Physical EducationSami K. Language Evan M. Math

GRADE 4Name SubjectRohaan M. MathArya N. FrenchArya N. LanguageAryana B. MusicAryana B. Physical EducationAlister W. Unit of InquiryVaibhav P. MusicJulia S. Unit of InquiryVaibhav P. FrenchJacob G. Physical EducationAashrith A. Language Vaibhav P. Math GRADE 5Name SubjectMaxime N. MathMaxime N. FrenchSanjana S. LanguageMaxime N. MusicAlyssa V. Physical EducationJai S. Unit of Inquiry

St. Jude’s AcademyAcademic Awards 2020

JK to Grade 12

continued on page 4

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Kaitlyn C. MusicKaitlyn C. Unit of InquiryDaksh J. FrenchDaksh J. Physical EducationNicole M. Language Daksh J. MathPranati N. Unit of Inquiry

GRADE 6Name SubjectDivyansh T. MathEva K. FrenchEmana R. LanguageAanika S. MusicEmana R. Physical EducationVishva S. Unit of InquiryRonit M. MathSethumi H. FrenchSurkhab M. LanguageRonit M. MusicRonit M. Physical EducationManny C. Unit of InquiryRajan L. MathGokul V. FrenchCaitlyn N. LanguageJoshua A. MusicJaya V. Physical EducationJoshua A. Unit of Inquiry

GRADE 7Name SubjectManisha B. ScienceManisha B. Language & LiteratureSuravi K. Individuals & SocietiesLucas L.C. The ArtsMarina P.C. Design Chelsea S. Language AcquisitionEthan Y. MathematicsEthan Y. Physical & Health Education

GRADE 8Name SubjectMehar G. ScienceJas S. Language & LiteratureJas S. Individuals & SocietiesJarniko G. The ArtsNicole W. Design Mehar G. Language AcquisitionAdiyah A. MathematicsSia S. Physical & Health Education

GRADE 9Name SubjectAvneet S. ScienceIlias F. Language & LiteratureLeah D. Individuals & SocietiesPujie J. Language AcquisitionSohana B. Design Adrian M. Language Acquisition

Leah D. MathematicsLeah D. Physical & Health Education

GRADE 10Name SubjectLiz O. ScienceLiz O. Language & LiteratureLiz O. Individuals & SocietiesJun Ho L. Language AcquisitionAudrey C. Design Liz O. Language AcquisitionLiz O. MathematicsKrish J. Physical & Health Education

GRADE 11Name SubjectDavid A. MathematicsFatmata Binta B. English HLFatmata Binta B. Theory of KnowledgeFatmata Binta B. Business HLHuanyu D. Math: Analysis and ApproachesVictoria M. Math: Applications and InterpretationLujain O. MathematicsLujain O. BiologyLujain O. Business Alisson S. French SLAlisson S. Biology HLBinman S. ChemistryBinman S. PhysicsBinman S. Language AcquisitionJinqiao S. Chemistry SLNihal V. History Nihal V. Language & LiteratureWenrui W. Physics SLLuqing Y. Philosophy

GRADE 12Name SubjectGiorgio A. DP BiologyGuodong W. DP Business Management Giorgio A. DP ChemistryAna Paula R. DP HistoryYutong W. DP Language BAlexander H. DP Language A: EnglishYutong W. DP Language A: MandarinGabriel S. DP Mathematical StudiesYutong W. DP Mathematics SLFrederick M. DP PhysicsJohnathon W. DP Theory of KnowledgeNathan C. Ministry BiologyWenxin T. Business LeadershipJiaqi S. Ministry ChemistryJoshua A. Ministry EnglishNathan T. Health and NutritionWenxin T. Math: Calculus and Vectors

Grade 10 – Jamar BGrade 11 – Aaron B Grade 12 - Reem IPYP Gym - Syra I PYP Gym - Ronit MPYP Music – Noorah SPYP Music - Aanika SPrimary French - Alina CPrimary French - Mya AJunior French - Caitlyn N Junior French - Arya NJunior French – Jordan LMYP Gym - Chelsea SMYP Gym - Ilias FMYP Music - Anushka DMYP Design – Saibya K MYP Design - Chelsea SMYP French – Akashdeep B MYP French - Lynne SESL - Fangzheng (Lyon) S

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JK - Aairah M JK - Angelina YSK – Shan BSK - Nathaniel MGrade 1 – Callum LGrade 1 – Armaan SGrade 2 – Aarna M Grade 2 - Zayn Q Grade 3 – Samaira AGrade 3 - Mya AGrade 4 – Jad EGrade 4 - Ali JGrade 5 – Maya WGrade 5 - Medha MGrade 6 – Daniel KGrade 6 – Aamna A Grade 6 – Liliana QGrade 7 – Adam FGrade 8 – Alan CGrade 9 – Arya J

Reflective Award Winners for June

St. Jude’s Academy In The NewsThe media loved our mobile graduation story. We were featured on:CTV News, CITYTV, NEWSTALK1010 and City Parent Magazine For complete coverage visit: https://stjudesacademy.com/news/st-judes-academy-in-the-news/

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Just Learn It Our 2020 SJA Grads were given an exclusive op-portunity to follow their passion – to learn some-thing they were passionate about…

Throughout the month of June the graduates were engaged in one final learning project. In groups or individually, they selected a topic or skill that they wanted to learn more about. Each graduate created a product. Most will use these products, skills and learning in their future endeavours. Some projects showing focus, passion and career goals included:

Caesar Z – PhotographyReem I – Sewing Zaid A – Yoga Nathan C – HarmonicaDarnaz M – Investing in the Stock Market Parwaiz D – Marketing Plan Ryan B – BoatingVivian W – JapaneseAbdullah F and Nathan T - Computer Game Cre-ation Gabe S, Kanvar M, Giorgio A and Alex H – Stock Market

Yushen C – Fashion Johnathon W – “The art of conversation”

Action StarsSahana (Grade 1) Learning about living things and their habitats in class, Sahana went to the Toronto Zoo drive-through safari and explored all the dif-ferent animals and their habitats. She shared the information and pictures with the class about ev-erything she learned on this trip.

Kian (Grade 2) started a Go Fund Me for his cous-ins’ family who lost everything in a fire

Rithika (Grade 2) created an endangered animals quiz for her class.

Ayen (Grade 2) took his physical education to a whole other level and biked 12 km!

GRADSthe

MISSIONonly

#JustLearnIt

C O M I N G J U N E 2 0 2 0

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Phys. Ed. UpdateJK to Grade 3 students were encouraged to par-ticipate in SJA’s first-ever Virtual Track and Field Week! The students joined each Zoom session with school spirit and excitement. They all demonstrat-ed excellent sportsmanship towards one another and celebrated one another’s achievements. The remainder of the online school year included a JK and SK student competition in Minute to Win It where they learned skills and activities that could be done at home throughout the summer.

Grade 1-3 students learned a TikTok dance/chal-lenge of their choice to celebrate all we have done together this year.

The Grade 4-6 classes worked on different ways to stay active and healthy at home. Students cre-ated at-home workouts, games and activities to help keep themselves, and others fit. They took part in daily exercises and locomotor challenges that tested their balance, coordination, strength and endurance. They also worked on forming new healthy habits like eating healthy snacks, drinking enough water, keeping their home clean and getting enough sleep. Students had a lot of fun during our first-ever Virtual Track and Field event, where students showed off their physical abilities in a range of areas.

French UpdateThe JK students learned the names of various ani-mals and categorized them into three categories. They played fun games to practice their vocab-ulary. The SK classes learned how to express their feelings in French. They sang songs and played Jeu de mime (“Charades”) to practice these emotions and how to greet each other. The Grade 1 classes learned about the different types of animals and their habitats.

Grade 2 students learned about endangered an-imals and their habitats. Grade 3 students learned about food, how to write recipes, and the step-by-step process. The Grade 4 students reviewed concepts including the future tense. Students ex-plored poetry in French and wrote their very own Cinquain poems.

The Grade 5 students learned about expressions of time in order to conjugate past, present and future verb tenses. They learned the concept of biodiver-sity and the effects that human activity has on it, drew activities and the verbs for each action, did the passe compose, the future and the imperfect tenses, worked on adjectives.

The Grade 6 students learned about “Les Faits Divers” to enrich their vocabulary about random facts in life and learn about the passive voice of verbs in French.

Music UpdateThe Kindergarten students learned songs about butterflies. Grade 1 and 2 music students enjoyed singing songs in different languages, including “La Bamba” in Spanish and “Che Che Koolay” a West African song. Students enjoyed playing in-struments they have at home such as shakers and drums while they sang.

Grade 3 music students loved composing digital compositions on Song Maker and Online Launch-pad and sharing them in Zoom classes.

Students in Grades 4 and 5 studied the piece ‘Pic-tures at an Exhibition’ by Modest Mussorgsky and wrote their own music based on the different pic-tures expressed in the piece! Grade 6 students focused on ‘Carnival of the Animals’ by Camile Saint-Sans and wrote music to express different animals. Grade 5 and 6 students continued to practice together as a band, making good prog-ress, even while online.

Lower School News

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Endangered SpeciesGrade 2 students presented summatives for their Endangered Species Unit after selecting an en-dangered or vulnerable animal and completing a research assignment on the animal.

Lower SchoolAnthologiesThe SJA Anthologies were created as a special gift and memory for all students in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) from JK to Grade 6. Each class book features art and writing from each student including a self-portrait featured on the cover. The Anthologies were delivered to each student.

This creative writing competition was optional and open to all students in Grades 7 to 11. Students could submit short stories, scripts or poems. The top winners were announced during the House Cup Ceremony held on June 26. Top winners included:

1st Place Nicole W (Grade 8) - Graveyard Tree

2nd PlaceCarter C (Grade 10) - In The Movies

3rd PlaceAnushka D (Grade 7) - No title

4th PlaceAlexandra L (Grade 8) - “i can’t breathe...it hurts”

5th PlaceKaaya D (Grade 9) - Lost Love

6th PlaceAdditi M (Grade 9) - An Extraterrestrial Message

The top three are now published on our website https://stjudesacademy.com/continuity-of-learn-ing-grades-7-to-8/ and https://stjudesacademy.com/continuity-of-learning-grades-9-to-11/

SJA Creative Writing Competition

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Shakespeare Radio Play: A Mean Girls twist on Macbeth follows the rise and fall of a stu-dent from nobody to high school royalty, as she brutally crushes all those who stand in her way.

With the arrival of COVID-19, school closures and quarantine, it seemed that the SJA Annu-al Shakespeare production would have to be put on hold. However, through SJA’s continuity of learning, Zoom and Discord, the MYP year 4 and 5 students were able to band together and turn this year’s annual production into a Radio Play! Consisting of seven episodes, the Grade 9 and 10 students combined the trag-edy of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the high school dramatic comedy of the movie, Mean Girls, to create this year’s modern take on a Shakespeare classic.

Episodes were released to the Upper School community and then on the SJA IMAGINARI-UM Virtual Arts Showcase.

St. Jude's Academy presents the

MEAN GIRLS

YOU WON'T WANT TO

MISS I T !

MACBETH

VER S I ON O F

A GRADE 9 AND 10 PRODUCTION

June 5, 2020 at 11AM

Shakespeare Radio Play

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Spelling Bee Award Winners Receive Their MedalsIn June’s Newsletter we listed all the Spelling Bee winners. Here are some of those winners wearing the medals that were delivered to them.

A Student’s Passion For History Is RecognizedMingbo M, a Grade 11 student with a strong in-terest in history, created a wonderful piece about the history of Prussia that was done voluntarily. This extensive and documented work was an achieve-ment recognized by both faculty and staff. We hope he will continue to share his love of history with us at SJA and with others.

JK 1st Place - Preet K.

JK 2nd Place - Ayaan D.

JK 3rd PLace - Angelina Y.

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Become the Famous Art

Art!

Launch of SJA Imaginarium – A Virtual Arts ShowcaseWe launched the website for St. Jude’s first Virtual (JK to Grade 12) Arts Showcase: Imaginarium on June 24. This website was created to highlight the talent and skill of our St. Jude’s family and collat-ed it all together just for you to enjoy. This website is a celebration of our students’ work this year, all in one easily accessible place. There was a wide selection of art, both visual and performance, for everyone to experience. The members of the SJA community could take a trip back in time to the Christmas concert, or see what our students cre-ated while being online. They could experience the journey of art from all our SJA students (JK to Grade 12). Everyone was encouraged to check out the various sections including the Upper School’s Shakespeare Through the Ages and then visit the Teacher Projects to see how artistic our teachers have been this year.

In case you missed it, you now have until July 22 to enjoy all the art projects on the Imaginarium web-site. https://www.sjaimaginarium.com

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June 1 to 5 Challenges Watch Video

https://vimeo.com/430762755/fc012c66dd

June ChallengesSTUDENT LIFE

Upper School Challenges included: Family Meal Challenge; Lego Head; Make Up; Side-walk Art and TikTok Challenge

June 8 to 12 Challenges – Watch Video https://vimeo.com/430762586/6b9fe469ab

Challenges included: Bake Some Cookies; Basketball; Bug Hunt; Seven Second Chal-lenge; Puddle Splash and Read Under a Tree.

Continuity of Learning goes beyond just academics at St. Jude’s Acade-my. Our dedicated Student Life De-partment works hard to ensure that students are active, engaged and having fun while learning online.

Lower School Challenges included: Ball Kick (Soccer); Egg Run; Fly a Kite; Hopscotch; Limbo; Outside

Hike and Sidewalk Art

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St. Jude’s Academy has a rich and vibrant school culture largely because of our House System, which brings together staff and students from all different parts of the school, from Junior Kinder-garten all the way up to Grade 12. Houses have been an integral part of schools for hundreds of years, and St. Jude’s Academy students get to be a part of this very special tradition. They are part of a House that accepts and welcomes them. Students are placed into their House before they even start at our school, ensuring that students feel a sense of belonging from the very first mo-ment they cross our threshold. With the start of our ‘Neophyte Week,’ Houses are developed through outdoor education, Spirit Day challenges and var-ious team-building events. The camaraderie of the House System is a foundational element of the community at St. Jude’s Academy. Although we are always one large family of students, parents and faculty, the light-hearted competition be-tween Houses allows students a forum to embrace healthy challenges and experience stunning vic-tories and crushing losses, all while surrounded by those they’ve come to know as family over their years at St. Jude’s Academy.

House Cup Day celebrates our large family!

Zeta Beta Pi: 2,563,100Theta Sigma Psi: 2,535,400Kappa Iota Pi: 2,509,000We will Rock You Video: https://vimeo.com/432960225/6a1b8982f1History of the House Cup Video: https://vimeo.com/432960739/98b4f09cb8Travelling House Cup Video:https://vimeo.com/435044874/6fc4bf31a2

2020 House Cup Presentation

It’s official! Zeta wins back-to-back years. Congratulations, Zeta!

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Track and FieldWhen we heard that Track and Field would be on-line, we were disappointed to think that this great day would not take place in 2020, so we turned it into Track and Field week!

We were very pleased with how it turned out! A week-long event, with numerous fun and fitness challenges every day, provided a fun and com-petitive environment! Great job to all the partic-ipants at St. Jude’s Academy and The Maples Academy! Congratulations to all the students who won med-als (which they received through delivery!). The fi-nal house points awarded for Track and Field 2020 were: 1st Place: Zeta (718,000), 2nd Place: Theta (511,800), 3rd Place: Kappa (501,400) (Zeta’s com-manding lead in this competition is what secured their overall House Cup win for 2020.)

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St. Jude’s Academy’s First Yearbook

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Educational & Adventure Summer Fun Camp

July 13 - August 14 JK - Grade 5

www.stjudesacademy.com/camps/summerTo Register: Email bsmith@stjudesacademy.comVery Limited Space Available

NEW Low Price of $99 forSJA 2020-2021 Registered Students

$149 for Non-Registered StudentsMeals & Snacks Included

Check our website to learn about the COVID-19 precautions we have in place to keep our campers safe!

https://stjude-sacademy.com/camps/summer/

Summer Camps

FOUNDER and INTERIM HEAD OF SCHOOL: Aaron Sawatsky; EDITOR: Ann Harvey

Send Your Comments, Questions & Address Updates to: editor@stjudesacademy.com

EDITORIAL REVIEW COMMITTEEA. Harvey, H. Hocevar, M. Haag, C. Sawatsky,

P. Beresford, M. Filion, S. Neal, R. Leang.

The St. Jude’s Academy Difference is a monthly communication created and distributed

electronically to members of the SJA Family of Schools Community during the academic year.

© St. Jude’s Academy 2020

ST. JUDE’S ACADEMY FAMILY OF SCHOOLS

ST. JUDE’S ACADEMY

THE MAPLES ACADEMY

OAKWOOD ACADEMY

St. Jude’s Academy2150 Torquay Mews, Mississauga, Ontario905-814-0202 www.stjudesacademy.com

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