If people tell you that Santa Claus isn’t real, tell them to think again! Saint Nicholas lived in the 3rd and 4th Centuries AD(CE). He lived in what is now known as Turkey, but what was then a Greek area of the Roman Empire. The legends surrounding his life grew and evolved over the years, eventually leading to our modern picture of Santa.
In much of Europe and in many parts of the world, St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6, or on another date other than Christmas. For more information, check out the St. Nicholas Centre.
What’s Left of Me is one of the books nominated for the Surrey Teens Read Book of the Year competition. Check out the other titles here at your school library.
Advent Wreath and Candles. source: Clemens PFEIFFER, Vienna (CC / wikimedia)
The Holiday Season in the western world has traditionally been synonymous with Advent, literally the period of expectation of an important arrival. For Christians the season of Advent is about the anticipation of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ. In the Christian Church, on each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, candles are lit as symbols of Advent.
Be sure to check out our display of books for “Holidays and Holy Days!”
Celebrate the power of sport by wearing a jersey, sweater or uniform of one of your favourite teams today. It is National Jersey Day in Canada, a chance to show off your team colours and recognize the powerful role that sports plays in our lives. Sports bring us joy and escape. We learn so much about life from sports. Sport clearly impacts our physical health, but our mental, emotional and spiritual health also benefit.
American Thanksgiving marks the unofficial start to the “Holiday Season” in the United States and in Canada. As the days become shorter and weather gets worse, we prepare for many weeks of festivals, parties and celebrations. Some of these are religious in nature while many are secular. It is a month of Holidays and Holy Days.
Come down to the school library to join us as we celebrate this wonderful time of the year. Check out our displays related to Christmas and the many other holidays of the winter including Kwanzaa, Yule, Hanukkah, New Year and more. And come back here to see more online as we celebrate “Holidays and Holy Days.”
pretty girl – 13 is one of the books nominated for the Surrey Teens Read Book of the Year competition. Check out the other titles here at your school library. Find out more about Surrey Teens Read at surreyteensread.weebly.com
At Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary today we have our annual assemblies to observe Remembrance Day. We honour the memory of those Canadians who have fallen in war. We do not celebrate or glorify war, but we pay respect to those that have paid the terrible costs of war.
This coming weekend will be a long weekend for students, a chance for rest and However, it is important to remember that Remembrance Day is not one of the those holidays that is just an excuse for a long weekend. Please take some time over these next few days to reflect on what Remembrance Day is all about. And on Monday, plan to take some time to honour those that have died and those that have served. Whether you attend a ceremony in person, or check out the television coverage of the ceremony in Ottawa, take some time for Remembrance.
Half Bad is one of the books nominated for the Surrey Teens Read Book of the Year competition. Check out the other titles here at your school library. Find out more about Surrey Teens Read at surreyteensread.weebly.com
Not a Drop to Drink is one of the books nominated for the Surrey Teens Read Book of the Year competition. Check out the other titles here at your school library. Find out more about Surrey Teens Read at surreyteensread.weebly.com
Diwali is celebrated by millions of people in India, Canada and around the world. Hundreds of millions of Hindus celebrate “the Festival of Lights.” People of other faiths, including Sikhism, also celebrate. For Sikhs the festival has added significance as it generally coincides with a Sikh celebration known as Bandi Chhor Divas. For more on Diwali check out:
Altered is one of the books nominated for the Surrey Teens Read Book of the Year competition. Check out the other titles here at your school library. Find out more about Surrey Teens Read at surreyteensread.weebly.com
“The historic decision to include women in the legal definition of “persons” was handed down by Canada’s highest court of appeal – the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain – on October 18, 1929. This gave women the right to be appointed to the Senate of Canada and paved the way for women’s increased participation in public and political life.” (From Status of Women Canada: Persons Day.)
source: famous5ottawa.ca
It may seem incomprehensible to us that women were not considered to be “persons”, at least under a strict definition of Canadian law prior to 1929. The “Famous Five” led the fight all the way to the highest courts of the land to include women in the legal definition of “persons.”
“The exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word “person” should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?”
Today we can celebrate that victory, and the slow but steady change in Canadian society towards equality for women. We still have a long way to go, and sadly, in much the world, women are still denied equality, a “relic of days more barbarous than ours.” Persons Day is a chance to celebrate how far we have come, and to reflect on how far we still need to go.
Tomorrow you can celebrate the REAL Santa Claus.
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 