St. John's Parish Day School's fun Spirit Week celebrates the Five Gifts of St. John's symbolized on the school logo (the leaf, heart, acorn, flame, and the cross positioned as white space in the center of the logo. In addition, we also celebrate SJPDS's partnership with our sister school in Kenya and outreach partner Kenya Connect through the annual SJPDS Walk for Wamunyu fundraiser. This article summarizes the spirit week celebrations and activities for the 2021-2022 school year, held from January 24 to 28, 2022.
The week kicked off with a virtual All School Chapel highlighting the logo symbols and gifts they represent. Student council members presented each Gift's meaning during the Chapel. Each day of the week, students and staff dressed down and wore the spirit wear or the school spirit color of the day, which corresponds with the day's Gift (logo symbol). Throughout the week, students enjoyed various fun activities to celebrate each day's symbol, including taking care of our Green school by recycling and picking up trash, thinking of ways to help others, showing love and kindness by writing encouraging notes placed around the school and much more! See more on the theme below. Classes also enjoyed looking for a mini version of the school mascot, Spirit Bear, in different spots around the building then snapped a picture with Spirit Bear when they found him.
Spirit Week Themes
Monday/Green: The Leaf symbolizes "the development of confident, independent thinkers, people of character, and respectful citizens connected to our local and global communities." It also represents our green school standing. Celebrated on Monday, the students wore green and pledged to take care of the school; pick up trash inside and out; Limit trash from lunch; Recycle, reuse, reduce; and think of ways to help others.
Tuesday/Red: The Heart symbolizes "a loving, caring, supportive environment where childhood is preserved and celebrated." Celebrated on Tuesday, the students wore red and used heart-shaped post-it notes to leave words of kindness, love, and encouragement for others.
Wednesday/White: The Cross, positioned as white space in the center of the logo, symbolizes "spiritual growth through faith formation grounded in the Christian tradition." Celebrated on Wednesday by wearing white, students wrote thank you notes to God, and the Early Childhood students kicked off the annual Walk for Wamunyu, which raises money for student education in Kenya. In addition to our spirit colors, students could wear yellow or blue for the Walk for Wamunyu.
Thursday/Brown: The Acorn symbolizes "wonder and possibility; where opportunities for discovery abound." Celebrated on Thursday, the color of the day was brown and students got to be creative and design original murals.
Friday/Yellow: The Flame symbolizes "innovative curriculum and teachers who know and serve each student as they grow academically, socially, and spiritually." Celebrated on Friday by wearing yellow, students shared books about innovation and creativity and wrote thank you notes to teachers and special people in their lives. The Lower School students participated in their portion of the Walk for Wamunyu. In addition to our spirit colors, students could wear yellow or blue for the Walk for Wamunyu.
Walk for Wamunyu
From Wednesday, January 26 through Friday, January 28, we held our annual Walk for Wamunyu. The students had a blast walking and running to raise funds for our pen pals in Wamunyu, Kenya, and Kenya Connect's STEM and Literacy programs. The funds will also help provide more books to the library and support running a Saturday library program. In addition to our spirit colors, students got to wear yellow or blue when they walked for Wamunyu. It was terrific having family members tune in from home to cheer on our students as they completed their laps. The Kenya Connect team also put together an encouragement video for our school: watch here.
We are so happy to share that we exceeded our $10,000 goal from last school year and this year raised $11,692! Congratulations to our top 3 student fundraisers: Luka (3rd Grade), Kylie (4th Grade), and Bryson (5th Grade)! They will each be awarded a hand-carved wooden animal from Kenya. SJPDS will also get to choose three book titles to paint on the steps of Kenya Connect's new library. Great job, Bears!
Thank you, SJPDS, for a superb Spirit Week and supporting our global outreach efforts! We're so grateful to our community for extending our spirit of giving globally and teaching our children the importance of giving to others. Go Bears!
More pictures from the Walk for Wamunyu and Spirit Week celebrations are on our Facebook album! Click here to view.