By now you have probably heard some stories about the last Fresh Air Friday that sound pretty far-fetched and outrageous. Unfortunately, they are probably close to the truth. It was the first one we have ever had to come back to the school early and we hung on as long as we could. It started as every other FAF - we donned our vests and travelled to the river. We had no sooner gotten settled for our lesson before our activities when a crow landed right beside us. At first we ignored him but he soon made it impossible to not acknowledge him. Some of you might be familiar with this little fella as I took pictures of him pecking on our window last week and he has been hanging around the intermediate playground as well. He was very curious and hopped closer to the children and pecked on a boot. We attempted to shoo him off and he hopped right back. He was certainly not afraid of us. By this point the anxiety of some of the children was rising. The situation quickly ramped up as the bird continued to hop about and refused to go away despite our best attempts. We tried to keep the scene calm but some children were grabbing at the bird or shooing it away, some were screaming in fear, others were beginning to sob quietly or laugh uproariously. Eyes were as big as hen's eggs. Eventually we decided to remedy the situation by returning to the school as the children were too worked up to listen well and the crow refused to leave. The crow flew off as we began the walk home and we all breathed a sigh of relief. As we settled in the school field to debrief the children and decide on our activities for the remainder of the afternoon, the crow swooped down and returned to his previous behaviour- hopping about and pecking at boots or hands- causing a repeat of the scenario we had thought we left behind. We sent the children to the playground to move away from the bird and he sat on top of the monkey bars and began to swoop low over the children's heads. At that point we decided to move into the school as many of the children were crying and upset. We later heard that he is a rescue bird who was hand raised and has a family in Batchelor Heights and spends his days exploring the area. I have a feeling that we will be seeing him at BEST again.

• ​Don't forget to send library books back for exchange by Tuesday.
• Someone has sent in the top of the skating permission form with two toonies taped to it. Unfortunately I need the bottom section of the form and don't know who it belongs to as there is no name on it. Please contact me and send the bottom of the form if it was meant for your child.
• The vision screening that was scheduled for today had to be cancelled. The public health nurse will reschedule in the new year.
• Report cards went home with your child last week. Keep the report but please sign and return the brown envelope so it can be used for the next reporting period. Please contact me if you have any questions.
• Items for our class sponsored PAC Raffle Basket are due Friday, Dec. 13. Our class basket theme is Chocolate. All the baskets will be raffled off the evening of Thursday, Dec. 19 at the concert. Thank you for the donations for our class raffle basket. 
• Skating permission forms for January are due back with $4 by Dec. 13. Please join us at MacArthur Arena on Thursday,  Jan. 9 and 16.
• January hot lunch orders  are due to the office by Monday, Dec. 16.
• All library books are due back by Monday, Dec. 16 for inventory before the holidays. 
• BEST PAC sent home a notice last week as they are raffling off the VIP Couch and Parking Spot for this year's concert. Raffle tickets (at the bottom of the notice) are $2.00 each and must be sent into the office by Dec. 18. Winners will be notified Dec. 19.
• BEST will have a dress rehearsal of our Winter Concert Wednesday, Dec. 18. We will be performing on stage in front of the school and then staying in the gym to watch the other classes perform. Costumes/ fancy dress are not necessary.
• We will host 2 performances of the BEST Winter Concert on Thursday, Dec. 19. One at 1:00 pm and one at 6:00 pm. Please have your child in our classroom no sooner than 5:45 pm and no later than 5:55 pm Thursday evening (the classroom doors will be closed before 5:45). The children will stay in our classroom during the evening performance until you come to pick them up. If your child will not be attending the evening event, please let me know ASAP so I can make changes as needed.
• Friday Dec. 20 will be Pajama Day at BEST and the primary classes will be participating in mixed grade activities with a Christmas focus between recess and lunch. There is a rumour about a special activity in the afternoon. Please ensure your child is wearing enough clothing to stay warm during outside recess and lunch play time.
• The PAC is hosting a hot dog lunch on Friday, Jan. 10. Orders are due to the office by Friday, Dec. 20.
• Christmas gift idea? We have scheduled two skating sessions the first two Thursdays of January. If your child does not have skates they are welcome to borrow them from the school but the sizes might be off and they are a kijillion years old so not terribly warm or comfortable. This is a good time to start looking in secondhand shops for something suitable as the school books skating time for all classes every year.
• School is back in session Monday, Jan. 6 2020 (!!).
• The December sight words are: but, friend, give, good, in, look, up, see, want. Please feel free to practice them at home. We will practice them regularly in class.
• BEST monthly newsletter can be found here.

Go forth and Be Excited!

As we have in the past, BEST will be supporting the Salvation Army Food Drive. We will be accepting nonperishable food donations either in the decorated boxes at the office or in our classrooms. We will be collecting donations from Monday, Dec. 9 to Wednesday, Dec. 18. Thank you for your contributions.