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We managed to finish up our Welcome Back Week activities with Green and Gold day (Picture evidence provided! :-)), our first school dance (No problems or suspensions! Great kids!), the Tyler Durman assembly (SO well received by staff and students!), and TEAM 2015 activities (Thank you Peter Bolo!). Whew! It has been an interesting and positive start to the school year, and we look forward to the opportunity this week will bring to settle in and get focused. Thank you to all of you who were able to come out for our Parent Information session Thursday evening. We felt that Tyler did a great job for us and he was very impressed with the ohana (family) "feel" of our TOSH school community.
This Monday, we will welcome Mr. Richard Beaulieu as our new Welding teacher. Mr. Beaulieu has extensive experience in the trade and is a Red Seal Welder. We know that he will bring a wealth of expertise to share with our students and we thank him for making himself available to us so quickly!
We also welcome Barb Ramsay who will be filling in for Scott MacGregor (EA) for 6-8 weeks.
Please note that I am heading out of province on Tuesday morning (until Sunday) to attend the Canadian Student Leadership Conference 2012 in Weyburn, Sask. I sit on the national CASAA board and will be installed as President at this CSLC. I will be keeping in touch via e mail and phone, but please direct any questions or concerns this week to my capable teammates: Mr. Jason Gallant (xjgallant@edu.pe.ca) or Mr. Gerald MacCormack (gkmaccormack@edu.pe.ca).
Dates to Note in September:
25-30 CSLC 2012: Weyburn, Sask. (Nicole out)
27 Terry Fox Walk (at TOSH)
28 Grad Photos begin
NOTE: There is a $20 sitting fee for grad photos and grads sign up for a time on the main bulletin board here at school. It is also possible to make your own sitting appointment at Heckbert Studios. Please ensure that your grad has his/her photo taken before January to ensure inclusion in this year's school yearbook!
October:
1 First Parent Council Meeting: 6:30 p.m. in the library. Everyone welcome!
2 Academic Awards Assembly (2011-2012 school year)
8 Thanksgiving Monday (No school)
11-12 Annual PEITF Teacher's Convention (No school)
22 Career Day (Post-secondary information meeting for Grade 12 parents: 6-7 p.m.
Displays in gym for all parents: 7-8:30 p.m.)
By now you may have heard stories from your son/daughter about the adventure that was TEAM 2015 for our Grade 10's on Friday! It was a well-kept secret and the kids were pretty excited when we told them they would be spending the entire day with us! We have received very positive feedback from the students and everyone who was involved. Our goal was to connect our Grade 10 students with one another and the school in a positive way and I think we achieved that. What they choose to do after this experience will be up to them!
In a nutshell, here's what happened!:
9:10-10:30 a.m. Tyler Durman presentation (Full school assembly)
10:30-10:45 a.m Snack (provided) and explanation of the goals for the day
10:45-12:00 Ice breaker activities with Peter Bolo
12:00-12:45 Lunch (provided) in sticker groups
12:45-1:00 Explanation of the afternoon and some more fun :-)
1:00-2:00 Session A:
a) Half to attend Drug Information Panel in the Caf
b) Half to 300's to participate in two half-hour sessions:
(i) Student Council 2.0 and Getting Involved!
(ii) How To Get Good Grades in High School!
2:00-2:10 Break
2:10-3:27 Session B: Groups reversed as per Session A
In the end, every Grade 10 in attendance experienced a top-knotch motivational speaker, an opportunity to connect with and get to know new people in their Grad Class of 2015, free food on us!, and three workshop sessions that provided worthwhile information as they begin their high school careers.
There are more than a few people to thank!:
Tyler Durman for setting the stage and making us all think!
Quality Inn Summerside for hosting Tyler Durman for us!
Atlantic Superstore Summerside for helping us provide the snack and water for the day!
Greco for helping us provide pizza and garlic fingers for 300!
Andy Cook (RCMP), Dr. Steve MacNeill, and Allan Gallant for their excellent and honest sharing as part of our Drug Information Panel.
Mrs. Sandra Sheridan (Counsellor) for her work in setting up one of the workshops.
Grade 10 Teachers for taking a day away from curriculum instruction to focus on this important, "alternate" curriculum!
Peter Bolo (retired Athletic Director and Leadership teacher-Westisle) for facilitating the ice breaker activities and giving our students permission to have so much fun together!
And last, but certainly not least!...
Our Council Executive Members and Leadership 621 students who were able to attend for the connections they made, for setting up and cleaning up, for running the STUD CO 2.0 workshop, for modelling the enthusiasm and behaviour we wanted to see from everyone that day, and for being so incredibly GOOD! The day would not have had the same impact without you! THANK YOU!!
There are very few of us who have not been touched in some way by cancer-either directly or indirectly. Our staff and students will be participating in a short walk in Terry Fox's name at the end of the day on Thursday, Sept. 27-weather permitting. All donations received will be forwarded to the Canadian Cancer Society and kudos is extended to the Athletic and Community Works Councils, as well as the Leadership 621 class for working together to plan this important event. Terry had a "$1 for every Canadian" goal when he ran his Marathon of Hope. If we even collected that much from each person in our building, we would have raised close to $1000! Please encourage your son/daughter to bring along a donation that day if possible.
If you haven't already done so, please forward your son/daughter's $26 student fee to Mr. Jason Gallant in the main office ASAP. If you are experiencing financial concerns, please do not hesitate to let one of the administrators know. We connect student fee payment to a student's ability to participate in school activities (like dances/proms), as well as extra-curricular teams and clubs. If there is a problem, it would help us to know. Otherwise, please help us by sending your $26 along!
We have a lot of students who rely on our school's breakfast program for a healthy start to their school day. We have wanted to expand this service to five days/week but we are in need of parent or community volunteers to help us put food out by 8 a.m. and put things away before 9 a.m. If you have some time to share and would like to help, please call the school to leave your name and contact information or simply e mail Tami Arsenault: tlarsenault@edu.pe.ca
(GRADE 10 FOCUS)
As part of our new Grade 10 initiative this year, we have established two assignment completion centres in the school which are open and staffed at noon time each day: Math/Science (620) and English/Social Studies (619). Students in Grade 10 who do not complete required assignments for completion of any core course will be required to attend a noon hour "catch up" session until the work is complete. Our goal is to have all our Grade 10 students working at maximum capacity and meeting curriculum outcomes before heading into Grade 11 next year. This space is also open to Grade 11 and 12 teachers who want to mandate its use with their own students. There will be teachers there to help each day, and we will need your support if/when your child refuses to attend his/her assigned work session. If that happens, we will contact you to let you know! School success depends on three partners: teachers, students, and parents. We promise to do our part, which is to offer help as needed and keep you informed of your child's progress throughout the semester.
WRITING ASSESSMENT- WRT 421
Our WRT 421 students will be participating in a school-generated common assessment of their writing literacy skills that will take place during class time this week. Our WRT 421 teachers will mark these together on October 3 and 4 ("moderated marking") and the results will allow our teachers the opportunity to determine where student strengths and weaknesses lie. After that, they will be able to fine-tune their teaching plans to better meet student needs in this area. We began this process last year and found that it provided us with a lot of important data with which to inform (and celebrate!) our practice. Imagine a doctor prescribing medication without ever doing some tests on the patient to see what is wrong in the first place?! Same idea. We want to know how to best further our students' literacy levels in the most efficient and effective way possible.
KUDOS TO OUR KIDS!
See the list under TEAM 2015 to start!
To our Women's Soccer Team for representing us so well off Island at the St. FX tournament this weekend!
To Colton Profitt for being acclaimed as the Student Government Council Grade 10 Rep.
To Jaime MacLean and Nicole Gallant for their awesome "sticker" skills!
To Caitlin Carr for her videography work on Friday!
To Millee McKay for going out of her way to "connect" with others!
Challenge: Take time this week to talk to your son/daughter about Semester 1 courses and how things are going. If he/she is experiencing difficulty, let us know!
Quote of the Week: "Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow."~Anthony J. D'Angelo
Have a wonderful week!
Nicole
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