 |
 |
 |
|||
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|||
The
Courier
A Newsletter for the St. Clair Secondary Community
February 2005
The past months have been very busy here at St. Clair. Our students and staff are continuing to make tremendous progress on academic, extracurricular and social fronts. Across every subject area, a dedicated and professional staff has committed themselves to preparing students for success. This semester has gotten off to a great start. Many successful activities have been completed and a full slate of exciting events is planned for the remainder of the school year. Your support of these initiatives has been appreciated.
Our robotics team, the "Iron Colts" recently competed at two competitions. This dedicated team composed of staff, students, community volunteers from Suncor, and Ontario Power Generation had incredible results. Thanks to Mrs. Dudek, Mr. Finnie, and Mr. Stevens to raising the students' interest and learning in the high-tech area applications.
Congratulations to the following staff on their recent family additions: The Girardi family welcomes Jack, the Hazzard family welcomes Fynn Loise, the Meston family welcomes Marshall, the Bracewell family welcomes Connor, and the Kaija-Macauley family welcomes Anna and Ethan. We wish all these families the best in the future.
St. Clair School Council is looking for parent representatives to join the School Council. These meetings are focused student learning and the best interest of all students. If interested, contact the school and speak with me. Meetings are open and everyone is welcome to attend. The next meeting is April 25, 2005 at 7pm in the Student Services room.
This issue of the Courier accompanies the student report card for semester two, term one. The report contains information on attendance and course grades. Please review this information with your son or daughter. Parent's Night is Thursday, April 21, 7-9pm. Interviews will be held in the two gyms and in our cafeteria. We invite all parents to share 5-7 minutes with each of your child's teachers. This will allow more parent contacts for the teachers on this one evening. If you feel you require more time, we would be glad to make arrangements for a longer session at a time convenient for you and the teacher.
Second semester will continue with a variety of events. Prom and Graduation preparations are all getting under way. We look forward to seeing you at track events, rugby, soccer, baseball and badminton events. Come out and support our student athletes.
Sincerely,
Mr. S. Keane,
Principal
School Nutrition
Advisory Committee
at St. Clair
Back in November (2004), a group of teachers
concerned about the nutrition environment at St. Clair met to discuss
some concerns they had about the health of our students and what was available
for them to eat at school. Since the, both a student and a staff survey
have been done to get some feedback about changes that need to be made.
A discussion with Chartwell's (the food service company in our cafeteria)
and a discussion with Savco (the food service company for the vending
machine) centered around what changes could be made that would improve
the nutrition of the foods offered to our students. We have had valuable
input from 4 students who volunteered to sit on this committee. Nutritious
food choices at school are an important part of a healthy lifestyle. In
order to ensure the physical, emotional, and social well-being of our
students we need to engage the support of everyone in our school community.
Our goal is to develop a school food policy that reflects our philosophy
and beliefs as well as guiding our decision making as we implement some
changes.
If you are interested in having some input in this process, please leave your name and number with our receptionist and Karen Rutledge will be contacted about any upcoming meetings.
Visual Arts Department
Congratulations senior art students who won
all the prizes in the SODA (Sarnia Organ Donors Association) Contest:
1st - Tyler Rose
2nd - Anna Pekinasova
3rd - Alanna Smits
Kidsfest Logo Contest: Vashti Barkhouse
Recycle and Reuse
Donations are gladly accepted of magazines, containers for storage, squeeze
bottles, old frames and matts, scraps of wood, mirror and plexi glass,
yarn, ribbon, fabrics scraps, gift cards, wallpaper, paints, shells, pine
cones, tiles, old rolling pins, blow dryers, irons, blenders.
News from Enrichment/Resource
Odyssey of the Mind:
- In your Dreams - One team competed April 9th (results in April 11th)
- Finals in May at Boulder, Colorado
Debate Team:
- Entered three tournaments and progressing each time
- hoping to host a debate tournament at SCSS in early May
Upcoming Enrichment Opportunities:
- Ryerson and Much Music Tour - Toronto, April 13th
- Hide and Seek workshop - JMSS, April 15th
- Forensics workshop at the University of Windsor - April 27th
- Queen's University Mini Enrichment Program - May 8-13th (five students)
- Actor's Anonymous BDHS - May 17th
- CSI Ridgetown RDHS - May 18th
- SHAD Valley - Angela Lee and Lisa Blenkhorn
Independent Study and Extended Activities
- Two students currently taking 1/4 credit courses
Enrichment Website:
http://scottlalonde.lkdsb.net
(follow enrichment link)
News from
Student Services
Second semester began with the option sheet
process. Counsellors visited all the classes over a two week period prior
to students choosing their courses for next year. Verification sheets
went home for parent approval following the Spring Break. If you have
not returned this form with your signature, we would request that you
do so. Counsellors are now in the process of checking the student choices
for appropriate program including level of study and prerequisite courses
necessary for success.
St. Clair is also preparing for Grade 8 Orientation, which will occur the week of April 25 until April 28. Counsellors, students and staff will make the prospective grade 9 students welcome as they tour the building, participate in mini classes, speak with student leaders and dine in the cafeteria. Grade 8 parents attended an information session at St. Clair in January, prior to students choosing their program for next year. There was an excellent turnout of interested parents. This dialogue reinforced parents' knowledge of diploma requirements and gave them an opportunity to ask questions.
Students who have applied to college and university have begun to receive offers of acceptance from the post-secondary institutions. The mid-term grades for second semester will be sent to OCAS and OUAC towards the end of April. Many of the Universities will base scholarship offers on these interim marks. Final marks are sent early in July. Students are reminded to maintain their grades until the close of the school year since all offers are conditional based on success in June. Students interested in applying for student financial assistance (OSAP) are reminded that they may apply online at www.osap.gov.on.ca once they have accepted a program offer at college or university.
Summer school applications should start arriving in Student Services in May. Students wishing information should see a counsellor. Most of the courses offered in the summer are for upgrade only. Students wishing to upgrade a credit must have achieved a minimum mark of 40 in the course or permission from the principal. The courses offered in this manner are primarily Math and English. Counsellors welcome parent inquiries regarding summer school or program requests for next year.
Any questions??? Call one of the counsellors: Susan Beastall, Laurie Leckie, Jerome de Schiffert, Dan Thorner or Student Services Secretary Kathy Beattie.
From the Music Department
The SCSS choir has been hard at work preparing
for this semester's concerts. On April 8, we performed at the annual Celebration
of Music, which showcases the talents of schools across the LKDSB. Our
choir is definitely a one-of-a-kind blend of students (including ESL)
and teachers.
On Tuesday, May 24th at 7pm everyone is invited to attend our Spring Music Night. Featured groups include the Senior Band, the choir, the Jazz Band and this semester's Vocal Class. Come and hear some great music as well as support the talents and hard work of some of St. Clair's finest.
From Special Needs
Department
The Special Needs classes at St. Clair have
a busy spring planned. On top of a very busy work experience program and
our community outings, we are planning to attend the annual Bowling Tournament
organized by Mr. King at AMSS and the annual Track and Field Day organized
by Cynthia Blair and Wendy Hehn at St. Patrick's High School.
May is Community Living month. Community Living is celebrating 50 years of active participation in the Sarnia Community assisting Special Needs individuals. They have several activities planned including: The Mayor's Breakfast on April 29th, a free in-house Soup Luncheon on May 6th, and a day bus trip to see the Blue Jays "Day with the Jays" (transportation and tickets for $50). The Walk On has been moved to July. For further details on any of these events please call Community Living at 332-0560.
We have a great group of Peer Tutors in our gym program this semester. They have contributed to a successful and enjoyable gym class. Our program has also been fortunate to have three fantastic peer tutors in the classroom: Sara Morrison, Jen Hext and Trisha Bressette. Their great energy, sense of humour and all round helpful manner have been greatly appreciated by staff and students.
Many of our students are involved in our work experience program. We have 13 students working in a variety of locations: St. Clair Cafeteria, shredding and attendance for the office, Zellers, YMCA, Our Kids Child Care, Wawanosh (Lougar St.), Sherwood Restaurant, Micro Sports and A&P London Road.
We are in the middle of a six week series on Job Readiness sponsored by Community Living in preparation for their very successful Supported Summer Employment Program. Last year several of our students, or the age of 16, took part in this program during the summer.
The Special Needs Department would like to give special thanks to Lambton College Co-Op Students that have had placements with use this year: Tara Jenkins - CYW 3rd Year, Stephanie Hybers - CYW 2nd Year, Krista Bissonnette - ECE 2nd Year, Jeff Buchanan - SSW 2nd Year and Merrilee McMillan - SSW 1st Year. They have all contributed greatly to our program.
In closing, the Special Needs Department at St. Clair would like to invite parents of our students to visit us during Parent's Night on April 21st.
Prom
Date: May 28th
Tickets: on sale until April 25th $70/couple $40/single
Theme: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Prom Baskets: on sale at lunch 1/$1 or 3/$2. Support prom by purchasing
a ticket for the his & her prom baskets with a value of $500 each.
Volunteers are needed for chaperoning the evening, monitoring our open house, assisting with decorations and clean-up and assembling our new ceiling. If you can donate time to our prom that would be great! If not, you may be interested in making a donation of items that you discover while spring cleaning.
Be sure to plan on attending our open house from 2-4 on May 28th to see how the prom committee transforms our school into a Midsummer Night's Dream.
News from the
Family Studies Department
Second semester classes are very busy so
far this semester. The grade 11 Shelter class toured the dream home to
see what current home designs look like and to get some new decorating
ideas. Most of use were ready to move in! It was beautiful. They have
also toured Marshall Gowland Manor and McKinnon Access to see how shelter
meets the needs of a variety of people. Their first creative project -
a chenille pillow - was a great success.
The Grade 11 Parenting and Living and Working with Children class have toured Lamton College and the Early Years Centre. How lucky we are to have these facilities in town for our students. These students are busy working one-on-one with a young child doing some observations and hopefully planning an excursion towards the end of the semester for their child. The Parenting class will be busy with their Baby Think it Over project in April. We sure hope they don't lose too much sleep with those mechanical babies.
The Grade 10 Individuals class has just finished discussing fast foods and snacking and making their pretzels from scratch. Their inspiration cubes were truly inspiring and very creative. Congratulations go to Shannon VanOosterom, Amanda Deelstra, Kate Fleming, Elysia vanKlaveren, Vashti Barkhouse and Jen Leonard for achieving over 85 so far this semester.
The Grade 10 Food & Nutrition class has been practicing many of the Kitchen Basics, while preparing a variety of flour mixtures. They have completed their own Cook Book and will be displaying their Vitamin and Mineral Posters shortly.
The Grade 12 Food & Nutrition Sciences class have completed their survey on Food Choices and Lifestyles, and are now initiating a few activities that will encourage students and teachers to make wise decisions. Posters promoting personal choice, announcements for healthy cafeteria lunch specials, displays for Fast Foods & Snack taste testing, and a Healthy Lunch contest were started during Nutrition Month (March). More physically active types of initiatives are being planned for May and June.
The Fashion Industry class is very busy sewing their own line of garments (4 coordinating pieces) while preparing for "A Night at the Roxbury" Fashion Show, on May 12 at 7pm. Thank you in advance for your support of the Humane Society and the Family Studies program at St. Clair!
Come out and join the many activities that are offered by the Family Studies Department.
St. Clair Ski Club
Vermont Trip
On the evening of Tuesday, February 8th,
a coach bus left St. Clair full of students and chaperones headed for
three glorious days on the slopes of Jay Peak in Vermont. Too excited
to sleep, most of the students watched movies, played cards and socialized
their way through the 12 hour bus ride.
When we finally arrived on Wednesday morning, we were treated to a full buffet breakfast, after which it was time to hit the hills! The facility was awesome, the hills were fantastic! Twelve inched of powder one day and 18 inches the next led to incredible conditions. At the end of each day, skiers could literally ski to the door of their hotel where a hot tub, sauna and buffet dinner awaited. One evening was spent in a progressive euchre tournament and Mardi Gras celebrations while the other night's activities included a moonlight snowshoe hike to a cabin in the woods for a fire and hot chocolate. Needless to say, there was a lot less energy apparent on the ride home. All skiers went home content and tired out from their three day ski adventure
TCJ??? What
is it?
It's the new Horticulture course offered
at St. Clair. We are two months away from completing our very first semester
of this new course. Some of the areas that we have covered are: flower
arranging, bulbs, herbs, careers, resumes, taxonomy, and botany. These
lessons were accompanied by guest speakers, videos, labs, seed plantings,
bulb plantings, bus trip to Canada Blooms, various botany labs, flower
arranging for Valentine's Day, equipment assembly and a cooking with herbs
lab. We still have many activities to go and so little time left. This
week they will be trained and certifies for pesticide handling. We are
planting trees on the school property for Arbor Week. The St. Clair Region
Conservation Authority and the City of Sarnia have approached us for help
with tree and flowerbed plantings and we hope to still visit a greenhouse
operation and the Mandaumin Woods. We are open for ideas for community
involvement and since this is a beginning course with a limited budget,
we are always looking for freebies. One man's junk is treasure for our
horticulture course (pots, tools, cuttings, plants). This course is open
to all Grade 11 students and the focus is to provide a stepping stone
into the horticulture industry. Come join us!
Student Parliament
of 2005
Activities:
- February 18th - a blacklight dance - the first of it's kind
- Non-Smoking week - information booklets, stickers and posters were handed
to the students
Contribution to the Community - we raised over $2500 with students volunteering
to cut their hair to support Graham Holmes and his family
To those students who gave generously - Thank You!
Members this year:
Prime Minister - Brennan Reurink
Deputy Prime Minister - Angela Lee
Junior Prime Ministers - Melinda Charbonneau & Travis Cranmer
Minister of Social Affairs - Laura Mai
Minister of Records - CJ Adams
Minister of Finance - Kaitlin Holland
Ministers of School Spirit - Caitlin Rudanycz & Kati Chivers
Other Members: Amanda Deelstra, Jenna Dawson, Jenna Hampshire, Lauren
Reurink, Ryan McLaughlin and Curtis Walton
Junior Girls
Volleyball
The junior girls volleyball team won the
city championships again this year. Ending up in a disappointing third
place in the league the girls had to play a tough away game at St. Pat's.
The Colts dominated the court and beat the Irish three games straight
to advance to the finals.
With many injuries and a 2 and 4 record against the Petrolia Lancers the girls went into the finals as the underdogs. Showing their charachter the girls handled the Lancers easily after a first game loss, taking the next three.
Excellent job team! Cassie Tamming was named MBP for the playoffs!