Sunday, March 1, 2015

Nicole's Notes: Volume 15 (March 2, 2015)

Happy Monday TOSH Parents and Guardians!

Well, we managed not too badly last week: one late start and one early dismissal but, all in all, an improvement from the week before. Sometimes, keeping a positive attitude is all you can do!

This is a four day week ahead with our School Effectiveness Day falling on Friday, March 6. There are no classes that day and our staff will be in school doing important work around our school literacy goal, as well as focusing on classroom strategies that yield the best academic results for students. The day is being planned by our three Department Heads: Beth Peters, Sarah Jane Barrett, and David Ramsay and I have every confidence that our teachers will return to their classrooms next Monday with more tools in their tool kits as a result of their learning that day. Our Department Heads each have one board assigned period this semester that they use to meet with and support teachers. It has offered us the chance to have embedded professional development in our school this semester which, research shows, works best!

STAFF CHANGES!

We wish all the best to Krista Bryson who is now on leave awaiting the arrival of her new baby after March Break. Our staff and students welcome Natalie Hardy who will be joining us Monday to keep our music scene humming!

We also welcome back Mr. Mark Gregory who is filling in for Ms. Shirley Anne Cameron for a bit.



UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE:

March 2       Parent Council Meeting- 6:30 p.m. in library
                    AAA Basketball semi-finals @ HC Ch'town: Men @ 6 p.m., Women @ 8 p.m.
March 3       AA Women's Gold Medal basketball game @ 6 pm at HC Ch'town
March 4       Family of Schools Meeting- Nicole Out AM only
                    OH&S Meeting-8:15 a.m.
                    Grade 9 Parents' Information Night-6:45 PM
                    A Men's Gold Medal basketball game @ 8 p.m. at Chtown Rural
March 5      AAA Medal games...times TBA @ UPEI
March 6       School Effectiveness Day- No Classes
March 11     High School Principals' Association Meeting (rescheduled)- Nicole Out
March16-20  MARCH BREAK- No Classes
March 26      ELSB Principals' Meeting- Nicole Out


PARENT COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY!

The March meeting of the TOSH Parent Council will take place this Monday, March 2 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the school library. Plans are beginning for an information session for parents on the topic of drugs and youth in April. New members are always welcome, so if you can spare an hour of your time, we'd love to have your input!

A HUGE thank you goes out to all parents/guardians who contributed to the Staff Appreciation Pot Luck on Wednesday. Our Council President, Karen Smith, was instrumental in organizing this and kudos to her helpers who were there to decorate, set up and clean up: Jacqueline Reeves,Tammy Broderick,Karen Steele and Brenda Larson. Our staff truly appreciated the gesture!!


YOGA ROCKS!

On Friday, we had the pleasure of hosting Greg Weeks, yoga instructor from Stretch Fitness, in Ms. Thomson and Mr. Arsenault's Phys Ed classes. Greg also hosted a yoga session during noon hour, as well. That's a lot of yoga! It was a great way to christen our new yoga kits that we acquired compliments of the Canadian Tire grant we received. Thank you, Greg, for sharing your expertise and your passion for all things fitness! :-) 



JUST ANOTHER DAY OF LEARNING AT TOSH...

One does not have to wander far to see cool things happening in and outside of classrooms during instructional time at Three Oaks. There are lots of places where learning can take place, and Mr. Ian Gillis' Physics class spilled their motion fun out into the halls one day last week. I had to skip over remote control cars whose velocity they were trying to calculate!:) Who knew learning could be this much fun?!







SHOUT OUT TO OUR STAFF!

To Mike Trainor (pictured above) for his work preparing our Rotary Youth Parliament delegates for their session this weekend!

To Joel Arsenault and Sue Thomson for inviting Greg Weeks (from Stretch Fitness) to spend the day with Phys Ed classes, and at noon hour, on Friday christening our new yoga mats!

To Beth Peters, David Ramsay and Sarah Jane Barrett for the work they are doing to plan for our School Effectiveness Day this Friday!

To David Gallant for dodging snow related delays in order to provide the opportunity for some of our students to write the Waterloo math competition!

To Richard Beaulieu, Donnie Gallant, Scott Harvey, Mike MacKinnon, Rob Corkum, and Shannon Evans for helping our students prepare for Skills Canada competition this past week!

To Forrest Lilly for taking the time to solicit staff requests for the morning music choices! It's giving us some great variety!

To Heather Pringle for making learning goals for the week explicit in her classroom and using her "popsicle stick" technique to call on student names in order to review prior lessons and activate schema at the beginning of her biology class!

To Karen Gaudet for her "can do" approach to each day! Her attitude is contagious and appreciated!

To Shirlee Anne Campbell for her ability to think outside the box!

To Chris Higginbotham for taking a "teachable moment" while explaining parts of the cell to focus on the "language of biology"-our cross-curricular literacy goal in action! His hands on approach to higher order thinking in grade 10 science made for some interesting discussions with students in the halls last week, as well!

To Ian Gillis for taking Physics fun into the hall and challenging students to apply the concepts they are learning! 

To Debbie MacAusland and her team for catering such a delicious lunch for staff on Friday!



KUDOS TO OUR KIDS!

To Colton Profitt (pictured above) who was awarded the Frank Zakem Youth Parliamentarian Award at the Rotary Youth Parliament event this weekend!

To Colton Profitt, Allison MacNeill, Kendra Smith and Melanie Lang for representing our school so well at Rotary Youth Parliament!

To the members of the Women's AA Basketball team for making it to the gold medal provincial game this Tuesday!

To the members of the Men's A Basketball team for making it ot the gold medal provincial game this Wednesday!

To Colton Wadman for his awesome showing in semi-final A Men's play last week against Souris! 34 points and 10 rebounds for a double double! Wow!

To Cooper Phillips for his excellent work as a Peer Helper!

To Kyle Richard for always going the extra mile to help others!


Challenge:  Plan to attend the Parent Council meeting Monday evening and help spread the word to parents of incoming grade 9 students about the information meeting at TOSH on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m.

Quote of the Week:  "The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty."~ Zig Ziglar

Here's a video that I thought all parents might appreciate, but especially those of our Grade 12 students. Enjoy this final semester of the public school ride...time sure flies when you're having fun! https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=851998008149973&pnref=story

Have a great week!
Nicole

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