Happy Holidays!

After months of hard work, it's time to take a break, folks!

Enjoy the week off, Canada Day, FIFA World Cup soccer, and whatnot.

YOUR PICTURE GALLERY IS NOW LOADING...

And welcome back on Monday, July 5th!

w00t!!

Picnic on Thursday, June 24th

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE:
Weather sucks, at 7:20 a.m., but we'll still head out to Bluffers Park to take in a different view of the place. Here's the latest weather report:

7 am	22°C		Light rain	SchoolDay Forecast
8 am	22°C		Cloudy with showers	Highway Forecast
9 am	22°C		Cloudy with showers
10 am	23°C		Cloudy with showers	Sunshine Destinations
11 am	23°C		Cloudy with showers	Attractions Forecast
12 pm	23°C		Variable cloudiness
1 pm	24°C		Variable cloudiness
2 pm	24°C		Cloudy periods

Weather looks good, says the 2 a.m. report:

9 am	21°C		Variable cloudiness
10 am	22°C		Variable cloudiness	Sunshine Destinations
11 am	22°C		Variable cloudiness	Attractions Forecast
12 pm	22°C		Variable cloudiness
1 pm	23°C		Variable cloudiness

Level 4 - 5 classmates will be carpooling and going directly to Bluffers Park on Thursday morning, arriving at 10 a.m. Please confirm with your ride the pick-up time and place; do NOT go to 200 Consumers Road by yourself in the morning. Check the rides board by Wednesday morning. Those giving rides include: Alvarro, Liji, Dylan, Yong, Norman, and Hande. See you there!







  

Just before going on our one-week summer vacation, June 28 through July 2, we will be going to Toronto's Bluffer's Park on Thursday, June 24, for a LINC school picnic, at 10 a.m.

The plan right now is to carpool our way there. Please confirm your rides with each other--pickup points and times, departure times, drop-offs, etc. Those with cars may plan to pick up your classmates from 200 Consumers Road or somewhere else. Parking at the picnic place is free before 5 p.m.

Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. Bring your camera, a big potluck dish, games, comfortable shoes, drinks, and a huge expectation of fun!

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Three Thoughts on a Happy Father's Day!

First, a word of thanks to the Creator of humanity for making us, putting up with us when we rebelled and turned away, and then reaching down in love to save us:

Ephesians 3:14-19 (New International Version)

A Prayer for the Ephesians

 ¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom his whole family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Footnotes:

1. Ephesians 3:15 Or whom all fatherhood

Second, to think out of the box in terms of employment. Why not be an employer instead of an employee? Why not be a best employer? The Toronto Star lists 50 best employers in the GTA, including:

Guy Ozery, left, and Alon Ozery are brothers who run Pita Break; and

Sammie Kennedy, who in just 3 years has gone from someone who didn’t exercise at all to a certified trainer to the head of a fitness company.

 Third, to think out of the box if you choose to be an employee, like one of Toronto Star's "New Workers [with] New Skills." What did you bring with you to Canada that would make our companies more competitive, make you the better worker, and make our nation a better place?

Canada in the Global Village, and Vice Versa!

Canada isn't even in the FIFA World Cup Finals, but like the rest of the world, we're there in South Africa--in spirit! Thanks to CBC, here's the link to all the up-to-the-minute updates for native Canadians and immigrants from all 32 nations represented there!


Then Ontario will be hosting some of the world's most influential decision makers at the G8 and G20 summits in Huntsville and Downtown Toronto. According to the Canada International website:

The G8 Summit will take place in Huntsville, Ontario, June 25 and 26.

The G8 plays a leading role in international affairs. In partnership with the global community, it has helped establish concrete responses and gather significant resources to address critical global challenges. Canada is committed to working with its G8 partners to establish key initiatives to deal with these challenges, particularly development and international peace and security.

As president of the G8, Canada will champion a major initiative to improve maternal and child health in the world’s most vulnerable regions.

And,

The G20 Summit will take place in Toronto, Ontario, June 26 and 27.

In 2008, G20 Leaders met for the first time in Washington to develop a coordinated response to the global economic crisis. The Washington Summit was followed by summits in London (April 2009), and in Pittsburgh (September 2009) where Leaders designated the G20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

The G20 Summit in Toronto will provide Leaders with an important opportunity to follow through on the commitments made at previous summits, and to continue the work of building a healthier, stronger, and more sustainable global economy.

Can you figure out the following charts on G20?

Field Trip Friday June 11 to Fairview Mall

This Friday's field trip will see you partner and mentor a schoolmate at Fairview Mall.

VENUE: Fairview Mall - Food Garden (on the Lower Level; look out for MicroSkills participants from Levels 1 and 2)
TIME: 10 a.m.

Come prepared to have fun, speak a lot of English, shop or window shop, and do a bunch of walking!

Enjoy working on a list of 18 secret questions, specially prepared by Teacher Ariane!

Online Shopping Theme This Week

LATEST UPDATE:  Living Social offers wine making, off-road bike adventures, skin therapy, and more. Yet another: TeamSave.ca, based out of Toronto's Ryerson University! Past deals include salsa dance lessons, wine glasses, and family golf and baseball entertainment in Newmarket.
Check out this other group-buying player, GroupClick, here. It may be smaller, but like the other site, GroupClick features deals on fine dining, mani-pedis, dry cleaning, car detailing, and more!

Remember the Groupon lesson today? If you're interested in joining, here's the link.*

What other websites have you used for online shopping? Share them on your blog!

Also, don't forget to check the blog later this week for our field trip to Fairview Mall. We will be mentoring Level 1 and 2 students!



* So, what happens if you order and then cancel your order?
Well, you'll get an email with this note:

Hi Silly Guy,

This email confirms that we have canceled your order for $20 for a Four-Hour Paintball Package at Eastie Boyz Paintball ($50 Value)

Please allow 5-7 business days for your credit to appear on your statement.

Thanks for using Groupon!

The Groupon Team - http://www.groupon.com

Directories, Cookies, Design, Detergent, Antarctica, and Ideas Generation!

Free coffee and cookies after, eight of us participants from MicroSkills Language Program soaked in several lifetimes of experiences shared by Toronto entrepreneurs in a wide variety of businesses. Pictured at break time below are Alvaro, Max, Nelly, Irene, Artur, and Ammar (not pictured: George Siu).

Keynote speaker Idris Mootee blew business stereotypes away with his PowerPoint presentation on "Strategic Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership for Radical Times."

Some of the examples of radical innovation that peppered his speech included:

• Latvia's issuing of organ donor certificates to 3rd-time speeding offenders
• Le Whif inhalable "chocolates"
• Shelves for Life transformer caskets
• mould-themed pilfer-resistant sandwich bags
• wheel-shaped water cans
• Twitter-enabled hydro meters
• pink-coloured penitentiaries in South Carolina

The Panel Session that followed offered other ideas, including:

• partnering with direct competitors to survive and succeed (Yellowpages.ca)
• leaf-shaped tea cookies and bartering of products/services (Tea Aura)
• investing in emergent competitors (Umbra)
• product/service differentiation (Soak Wash)
• think tank pizza parties, mistake celebrations, lifelong giftable travel deposits (Gap Adventures)

What are the takeways from the rest of the MicroSkills participants? Well, we're all ears!