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| Outcomes Made Clear in Mrs. Bell's Classroom |
It is nice to be facing a five day week of learning ahead! We had a great School Effectiveness Day on Friday which focused time on our two school goals for this school year:
1. School Effectiveness Goal- Our teachers have agreed to make the learning goals for each lesson clear to students every day by posting them on the whiteboard, on the slide show they are using, etc. so that every student will be able to answer the question: "What are you learning?" Research has shown that this has a significant, positive impact on student achievement. I visited Mrs. Bell's classroom on Friday and took a picture of the course outcomes she has posted at the front of her room (see above). The classroom work is clearly linked to these outcomes each day so that students will know why they are learning the material and how they will be assessed on it. This is just one example of the awesome work our staff is doing each day to set our students up for academic success!
2. School Literacy Goal- Our data from the provincial Grade 9 common assessment (2013) and our own school common assessment given to our current Grade 11 and 12 students when they were in Grade 10 (2011 and 2012) suggests that our students need practice in Expository writing: writing to explain something or to support an argument or position. This skill applies to every course in our school and will be needed by our students after they leave high school. Our Block D teachers have already done a small assessment with their classes to see at what level students are achieving right now in three areas: Ideas, Organization, and Vocabulary. We will be using strategies in every Block D course at least this semester to see if we can help students improve their writing skills in these three areas. Two more small assessments will be done in April and May to monitor our students' progress in expository writing.
WELCOME to Mrs. Suba Aiyer who will be teaching SCI 431AR for the remainder of this semester while Mrs. Jennifer Halupa is out on maternity leave. We wish Mrs. Halupa all the best and look forward to meeting the newest member of our TOSH family very soon! Mrs. Aiyer comes to us with a Master of Science degree in Physics and several years of teaching experience here on the Island and in India. She is excited to be joining our staff and is looking forward to sharing her passion for math and science with our students!
WELCOME to Ms. Heather Doucette who is joining our staff as an Itinerant Educational Assistant in the afternoons!
WELCOME to Ms. Kayla Paynter who is starting her student teaching placement from UPEI in Phys Ed and Family Living 621 with Mrs. Thomson on Monday!
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| Daniel McKenna |
Three Oaks has a strong tradition of students leaving our graduation stage to go on to do awesome things in the world! It is always wonderful to have visits with, or hear about the accomplishments of, these former students. As our current students make their course selections for next year, they might be inspired by the paths taken by some of those who roamed the Three Oaks halls before them! Here are a few who popped up recently:
Daniel McKenna (Class of 2008) stopped in on Friday to celebrate the news that he will be accepting his first teaching position in a middle school in Saskatoon, SK this fall. Daniel is currently finishing his BEd at St FX and was Student Union President of Mount St. Vincent University during his undergraduate years. He trained for that position by serving as TOSH Student Council President 2007-2008!
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| Brett Montgomery |
Brett Montgomery (Class of 2011) is the newest member of the Summerside Police force. He completed his studies with the Holland College Police Academy this year and has been hard at work ever since! On Thursday night, I was pleasantly surprised when he arrived to offer his security presence at our school dance. Brett was a Spirit Leader when we hosted CSLC 2008 and a Peer Helper. When I asked him what the best part of his current job is, he answered, "Just having the chance to talk to people and to help them." I felt very safe when he walked me to my car at the end of the night! :-)
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| Ryan McKenna |
Lauren, Daniel and Ryan Keefe
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| The Keefe's |
Lauren Keefe and her younger twin brothers, Daniel and Ryan, were very involved in student leadership during their years at TOSH. All three attended a CSLC away and Ryan was Student Council President while Daniel served on the executive as Student Council Treasurer. Ryan completed his Business degree at UPEI and has had a successful career to date with DVA; Lauren recently graduated with her Bachelor of Law and Master of Business degrees from UNB; and Daniel just heard that he will be going to the University of Ottawa to continue his medical study in the area of Urology. I guess attending Math Camp in high school really helps a person get ahead in the world after all! ;-)
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| Heather and Kaillie Humphries |
We are very proud of TOSH alumni, Heather Moyse, for achieving her SECOND Gold medal in the two man bobsleigh event at the Olympics held in Sochi, Russia last month! Heather has achieved a great deal, both academically and athletically, since she was a student here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Moyse), and we are brainstorming ways that we might be able to celebrate her accomplishments in a significant way here at school. Stay tuned!
COURSE SELECTION 2014-2015!
It's that time of year again! All current Grade 10 and 11 TOSH students received a copy of the Course Selection Handbook for 2014-2015 from homeroom teachers and a course registration form to complete with help from their parents/guardians. Mr. Jason Gallant and Mr. Jim Donovan will be speaking with every homeroom individually between now and March 14 to go over a few key "look fors" and answer any questions students may have as they choose their courses for next year. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT STUDENTS CHOOSE THEIR NEXT YEAR'S COURSES CAREFULLY in order to avoid disappointment later. Here are some things for parents to consider as they help their son/daughter make these important academic decisions:
1. Students should be choosing courses that truly reflect their academic ability vs their work ethic. We want all our students working to full potential so that they will have the maximum number of options available to them after graduation. Please encourage your son/daughter to take courses at the highest academic "level" possible for him/her. They will thank you later!
2. Grade 12 students planning to attend university need AT LEAST 5 "621" level courses on their transcript at graduation time. Please note that not all "621" courses (i.e. FAM 621) are necessarily accepted by every university. It is important to know entrance requirements for the specific university and program your son/daughter wishes to attend. Choosing a rigorous Grade 12 program will help keep options open later on.
3. Please read the section about Math courses CAREFULLY! There are two "streams" after Grade 10: "Arts" Math (521A and 621A) and "Science" or "Enriched" Math (521B, 621B and 611). A student can not take MAT 521A and 521B and receive two credits because the curriculum outcomes are too similar, so please only choose ONE of these. Also, MAT 521E should NOT be taken with MAT 521A or MAT 621A. Again, only one credit can be granted due to similarities in curriculum! MAT 521E is an elective credit meant for students in the "Science Math" stream.
4. Students in Grade 12 are only allowed to choose one Study Period in their Grade 12 year.
5. "Full Time Status" means a student is registered in at least 7/8 courses in a school year.
If you have any questions about your son/daughter's course selection, please do not hesitate to call Student Services (Mr. Donovan) or the Main Office (Mr. Gallant) to ask! The Homeroom Teachers will be helping students complete their registration forms, as well.
UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE:
March:
10 MADD Assembly
Parent Council Meeting- 6:30 p.m. in Library
17-21 March Break-No Classes
April:
3 Parent Teacher Interviews (Evening)
4 Parent Teacher Interviews (Day-No Classes)
7-11 DELF Testing (Grade 12 FI Students)
18 Good Friday-No Classes
21 Easter Monday-No Classes
24 Principals' Meeting-Nicole Out
MADD ASSEMBLY MONDAY!
Our Climate Crew is hosting a multimedia assembly Monday afternoon that is sponsored by MADD Canada. The Crew will be making a donation at the end of this assembly to our local chapter of MADD which will be represented by Gloria McNeill, a local mother who lost her son, Adam, when he was killed by an impaired driver. This assembly will kick off our Safe Driving Awareness Campaign week.
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| Safety First!! |
Our students had the opportunity on Thursday at noon to experience how severely their judgement and perceptive abilities will be impaired if they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol and then try to drive. RCMP officer Guy brought in goggles that simulated this experience and the students who tried them on were asked to "walk a straight line" in the skylight. Not too many were successful doing that!! This awareness campaign will also shine a light on the number of people who text or use cell phones while driving. Statistics show that this can impair a driver as much as being under the influence!
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| Jessica wondering why that line keeps moving?! |
There is a strong connection between good attendance at school and a student's academic success. Even an "excused" absence means 73 minutes of instructional time missed. If those start adding up, it can cause a lot of stress for the student who may find him/herself falling quickly behind.
If your son/daughter has to miss school for whatever reason, please inform us in the office by phone or submitted note and ask your child to touch base with his/her teachers to see where missed work can be located. This could mean accessing assignments on SAS or a teacher's course blog, asking for available handouts, and/or getting notes from a classmate. Many teachers offer extra help classes for all students, so that option is there for students who have missed time and want to come and ask questions.
Please be aware that the teachers of students who have to miss extended periods of class time for whatever reason may not have course materials on hand in advance. I have asked our teachers to provide what they have available when asked, and then inform students about what topics will be covered during the absence as well as how to go about staying on top of things/catching up. Teachers can not be expected to reteach material that was missed, but they will certainly answer any questions students may bring up in help class. If students are missing a lot of time due to chronic illness, please contact one of our Counsellors in Student Services to ask about the possibility of tutoring support.
We will be generating letters home to parents/guardians at 4 and 8 absences just to keep the lines of communication open. We are also going to activate an automatic e mail "push" on SAS that will send you an e mail each time that attendance and/or marks have been entered for your son/daughter on SAS. Our current data indicates that only 28% of our parents have logged into SAS since January, which means that this communication tool we thought was connecting our parents and teachers around student progress is not a successful one at the moment. If you do not wish to receive these SAS e mail notifications, please e mail Mr. Jason Gallant at xjgallant@edu.pe.ca and let him know.
We will be discussing strategies for improving student attendance (including the number of students arriving late for class) at the school and Board level in the very near future, and I will keep you updated on the progress of that.
APRIL FINANCIAL LUNCH AND LEARN!
Our school will be hosting approx. 30 Agriscience 801 (Crops and Soil) and Culinary 801 teachers from across the Island on Tuesday, March 11 for a Department of Education in service pertaining to the Light Garden Project that will be happening as part of these courses next year. Our Culinary teacher, Rochelle Sullivan, had a leadership role to play in getting this project going, and it will see every high school equipped with a light garden in which the AGS 801 students can grow herbs that will then be used in recipes by the CUL 801 students. Partners from the Culinary Institute and agriculture sector will also be in the school on Tuesday to share their expertise with Island teachers.
UPEI OPEN HOUSE DURING MARCH BREAK!
Grade 12 students who are considering attending UPEI next year are invited to attend classes there during our March Break (Tuesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 19). Lunch and tours of the campus are included, and there are a limited number of spaces available. Interested students are asked to e mail VPA@upei.ca BY THIS THURSDAY to register!
KUDOS TO OUR KIDS!!
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| Mrs. Bryson takes a "selfie" during Band Days on Wednesday! :) |
To the members of our TOSH Band program (some pictured above) who represented us so well at the
provincial Band Days in Charlottetown last week!
To the TOSH members of the AAA Midget minor hockey team (pictured above) for their strong showing this year! Members are: Rourke Perry, Brady Albert, Owen Arsenault, Jessie MacFarlane, Logan Vander Velden, Kolton Stright, Kirk Arsenault, Chasse Gallant, Spencer Groom, Brett Arsenault, Dan Fingler, Jorgen Strom, Blake Arsenault, Ryan Campbell, Cody Deighan, Cameron Gillis, and Koby Bridges.
To our students who placed in the Skills Canada competition last week:
Cody Cole- Automotive
Jordan MacLean- Workplace Safety
Bloyce Walfield- Welding
Isaiah Martin- Aerospace Essentials
Chris Gallant- Aerospace Essentials
Congratulations to Branson Mayne from KRHS who placed in Auto Service and Matthew Arsenault from KISH who placed in Outdoor Powered Equipment. They are taught their trades by our TOSH instructors, so we celebrate their success in this competition as well!
To the members of our Men's Track and Field team who have been invited represent our province at the Nike High School Grand Prix Track and Field Invitational in May: Jack Fingler, Jordan Gallant, Jessie MacFarlane, Alex MacFadyen, Nick Meade, Daniel Meister, Ryan Merrett, Matthew Tanton, Austin Taylor, Brittan Turner and Brolin Turner!
To Jillian MacIntyre for being chosen by the Free the Children organization from students across Canada to participate in a humanitarian build in Kenya, Africa for three weeks this summer!
To Jacob Brown for being awarded a spot on the "Sub Zero Winter Expedition" to Labrador over March Break where he will be working with a small group of Canadian Cadets. Bring a warm jacket, Jake!!
To the members of our Women's AAA Basketball team for winning the Silver medal at provincials!: Jessica Gillis, Tiffany Cameron, Tara Campbell, Taylor McAulay, Julie Campbell, Charlotte Thompson, Carrie McGuire, Laura O'Neill, Ashley Simmons, Julie Woods, and Erica Raynor.
To the members of our Men's AAA Basketball team for winning the Bronze medal at provincials!: Tanner Mendoza, James Meek, Chris Richard, Colin MacKay, Mateo Gomez, Ty Wright, Max Hammer, Matthew Arsenault, Jordan Black, Aidan Smith, Matthew Tanton, and Jayden MacLean.
To the members of our Men's AA Basketball team for winning the Bronze medal at provincials!: Logan O'Brien, Hogan Arsenault, Jacob Majcan, Riley DesRoches, Colton Wadman, Logan Comeau, Braden Toombs, Mitchel Henderson, Devon Geary, Ben Smith, Zack Mallett, and Cyler Vos.
To the following students who received Student of the Week nominations recently!:
Jerika Slaunwhite: For
lending an extra hand in Mrs. Peterson's room and Mrs. Gillis' room. Also for
washing the dishes in Mrs. Peterson's room! :-)
Chelsey Wilson:For
turning in a lost phone!
Tanner Mendoza: For handing in lost money and for a great
job on Pink Shirt Day!
Jasmine Geary: For
handing in lost items!
Seabille
Bergeron-Dawe: For
handing in lost items!
Caitlin Gallant: For
getting the highest mark on her biology test!
Brittany McLellan: For getting the highest mark on her biology
test!
Cameron "Cam Cam 16" Gillis: Great
start to the semester in Design Technology!
Logan Arsenault: Great
skill development in Design Technology!
Huai Yu Chang: Great
dedication to learning in Design Technology!
Jedd Moore: Excellent skills thus far in Design
Technology!
Jamie Doyle: Great
start on first test in Math!
Katie Geary: Good
effort and result in math test marks!
Kendra Perry: Great
Math test score!
Keisha Poirier: Great
Math test score on Test #1!
Jade Vidito: Practice
makes perfect in Math! Great start!
Matthew Gardiner: Excellent
score on Math Test #1!
Brandon MacIsaac: Great
start in the semester in Math!
Bloyce Walfield: Huge
effort in Math class each day!
Mackenzie Arsenault: Great
start to the semester in Math!
Kiera-Lee Noye: Great
result on Math Test #1
Tyler Strongman: Super
effort in English!
Emma Paynter: For
being a keener in Computer class!
Dylan Hutchinson: For helping people debug their code
in Computer class!
Sara Compton: For receiving 100% on her first two English assignments and for working consistently well all semester!
Challenge: Review your son/daughter's course selection form, sign it to show that you agree with the choices, and ask him/her to return it to the homeroom teacher by Friday, please!
Quote of the Week: "Take a rest; A field that has rested gives a bountiful crop."~ Ovid
Have a wonderful, restful March Break!
Nicole
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