Volume 4 Issue 3

When our Science Fair was done and the parents came to look at the displays, they were judged. There were several good projects. Here are the people that got first in the Elementary section:

Jeffrey Kachkan - Insulation, Justin Creran - Left/Right Pawed, John Lavallee - Solar System, Nicholas Kozelko - Better Coffee Cup, Darko Sajdak and Tyler Kubas - Boeing 777.

In the Junior High section Nikki Weselake and Alexandra Kozelko - Growth Bacteria, Alex Babinsky - Airwaves/Airheards, and Alexandra Shkandrij and Jarika Winfield-Bzdel - AHA.

All of these students will be going to Tec-Voc for another Science Fair where they will going against all of the first place winners from other schools. All of the students who won first place should improve and add to there projects, because the Tec Voc competition is more challenging.

	From top left to right: Alex with his Airwave Project, John with his Solar System Project and Tyler and Darko with their Boeing 777 Project.

Ronald McDonald
by Tasia

On March 14th, 2001, Ronald Mc Donald came to our school. He talked about Ecology. Ecology is about the three R’s. The three R’s are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Reduce means not to use as much. Reuse means to use things again. Recycle means to not throw things into the garbage that can be Recycled. When he came to our school he picked me as his helper. He also picked some other people as his helpers, too. He also asked us questions on how we could reduce the use of things like water and electricity. He asked us how we could reuse things like plastic containers and paper bags. I really enjoyed the presentation because I learned something new and was reminded of things that I already knew but had forgotten.

St. Patrick's Day
Mackenzie

St. Patrick was born about 390 AD in Roman Britain. As a youth he was kidnapped by a group of Irish men and sold into slavery in Ireland, where he worked as a sheperd. Lot’s of people think that he drove all of the snakes out of the country.

St. Patrick is a hero in Ireland. There are about 60 churches and cathedrals named for him in Ireland. One of the most famous cathedrals is St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. These grounds bear the mark of the place where St. Patrick baptized his converts.

Leprechauns are also associated with this holiday. According to the legend, the Leprechaun is an Irish fairy. It is told that Leprechauns are mean, unfriendly, and live alone. Also, they make shoes and hide pots of gold. The legend says if the Leprechaun is caught by a treasure hunter then he must tell where is treasure is, unless the Leprechaun can trick the hunter and vanish.

Creating Pysanka

Using a pencil, lightly sketch the main division lines on a raw egg. Next, heat the kistka, melting the beeswax, so that you can get the thin lines of wax. All lines that are to remain white are drawn with melted beeswax on to the egg. The wax acts like a protective covering, sealing the color on to the egg.

The entire egg is then dipped into the yellow dye. Any part of the eggshell that is not covered with wax will turn yellow. All parts of the design that are to be yellow get covered with wax to seal in the yellow color.

The egg is then dipped into the orange dye. The wax covering the white and yellow parts of the design is still on the egg. The wax needs to stay in place until all the designing of the egg is done. All parts of the design which are orange need to be covered and protected with wax while the egg is orange.

The red color on the egg is the most predominant color in designing the Pysanka. All aspects of the design to carry the red color are covered with wax. Then the egg is dipped in to the last, darkest dye, black.

Once the egg is removed from the black dye, all the wax that was applied from the very beginning is removed. By holding the egg next to the candle flame, the wax is slowly melted off.

Then a coat of high gloss is applied for the finishing touch. 

The Easter Basket

At Easter time and the end of the fast, Ukrainian people take food to the Church to be blessed and eaten after the Easter Liturgy. Some of the traditional foods that are blessed for Easter are: Pascha (Easter bread), Babka (sweet bread), ham, sausage, butter, cottage cheese, eggs, horseradish, salt and pysanky (decorative and symbolic purpose only).

The meaning of some of the foods are explained below.

Pascha
The Easter bread, is a large round loaf of bread made of white flour. It is elaborately decorated with a braided cross and many rosettes. It symbolizes the joy of the New Life that is given to us by Jesus Christ.

Babka
The babka is a tall, cylindrical, sweet bread enriched with raisins, butter, and eggs. It is decorated with a simple cross. It symbolizes the richness of eternal life.

Ham
The meat is symbolic of the great joy of Easter.

Kobassa
A spicy garlic sausage of pork products is symbolic of God's favour and generosity.

Cheese
Cottage cheese, reminds people of the moderation that we should have in our daily lives.

Eggs
Hard boiled eggs are used. The egg is symbolic of Christ's death and Resurrection.

Pysanky
Eggs are decorated with symbols from nature. Intricate patterns are applied with stylus dipped in melted bees wax. The egg is dipped into successive dyes.

Butter
The butter reminds us of the goodness of Christ which in turn we should share with others.

Salt
The salt helps people to recall that we are committed to be followers of Christ and carry out His word: "You are the salt of the earth...".

Horseradish
The horseradish mixed with grated beets is symbolic of the Passion and Death of Christ.

Candle
The candle, made of beeswax, is placed in the basket and lit during the blessing celebration. It is symbolic of Christ "the light of the world" who brought us the glorious good news of New Life.