COLLÈGE GARDEN CITY COLLEGIATE December2016Newsletter
GCC’s 2016-2017 School Goals
Our school staff creates a school plan every year which is
submitted to the Board Office and ultimately, to the Government of Manitoba. The intent is to decide, as a staff,
what our priorities will be at College Garden City Collegiate
that will further strengthen and enrich our school community. From this plan, we have identified the four following
school goals that have become our school focus:
a) That all our students feel comfortable and safe within
our school walls;
b) That our teachers continue to extend their ability to
differentiate their teaching in order to meet the diverse
needs of their students;
c) That we continue to find new and innovative ways to
integrate our Indigenous Peoples’ perspectives into the
daily life of our school;
d) That we, as a staff, continue to activate subject area
and grade level discussions that support reading, writing
and numeracy skills for our students.
Depending on individual passions, our teachers have committed to work on one of these goals collaboratively with
their colleagues throughout the 2016-2017 school year.
Our work has already begun and we are excited about
what this school year will bring!
Collège Garden City Collgiate 711 Jefferson Avenue Winnipeg, Manitoba R2V 0P7 Phone: (204)339‐2058 Fax: (204)334‐7252 www.7oaks.org/school/gardencity twi er: @gc_gophers Important Dates 2016– 2017
WINTER BREAK – DECEMBER 23rd TO JANUARY 6th, 2017 January 9, Mon * School Re‐Opens ‐ Day 5 Jan. 10 ‐ 13 * Provincial English Language Arts Assessment Jan. 17, Tues * Parent Council Mee ng – 6:30pm—Library Jan. 16 ‐ 18 * Gr. 12 Français langue seconde–Immersion 40S Jan. 24 ‐ 26 * Gr. 12 Provincial Mathema cs Assessment February 3, Fri * Semester Break ‐ NO CLASSES Feb. 6, Mon * First Day of Semester 2 Classes – DAY 1 Feb. 10, Fri * Reports Cards available on Parent/Student Connect Feb. 14, Tues * Parent Council Mee ng @ 6:30pm Library Feb. 15, Wed * Half Day ADVO Day Feb. 20, Mon * Louis Riel Day – NO SCHOOL Feb. 22, Wed * G.C. Collegiate Open House Eve 6:00–8:30pm March 8, Wed * All Period Day Mar. 9, Thurs * GC Registra on Day ‐ NO CLASSES Mar. 14, Tues * Parent Council Mee ng @ 6:30pm Library Mar. 17, Fri * PD Day – NO CLASSES Mar. 20, 21, 22 * Grad Picture Re‐Takes MAR. 27th TO MARCH 31st SPRING BREAK – NO SCHOOL April 3, Mon * School Re‐Opens – DAY 5 Apr. 11, Tues * Parent Council Mee ng @ 6:30pm Library Apr. 12, Wed * All Period Day Apr. 13, Thurs * Reports Cards on Parent/Student Connect Apr. 14, Fri * Good Friday – NO CLASSES Apr. (TBA) * Grade 9 Immuniza on Day – Morning only Apr. 20, Thurs * Parent Teacher Discussions – Evening Apr. 21, Fri * Parent Teacher Discussions – NO CLASSES May 3, Wed * All Period Day May 9, Tues * Parent Council Mee ng @ 6:30pm Library May 15, Mon * School PD Day – NO CLASSES May 17, Wed * All Period Day May 22, Mon * Victoria Day – NO SCHOOL May 29–June 1 * Gr. 12 Prov. English Language Arts Assessment June 1, Thurs * Divisional Grad Pow Wow June 5 – 7 * Gr. 12 Français langue seconde–Immersion 40S June 13, Tues * Parent Council Mee ng – 6:30pm June 13–15 * Gr. 12 Provincial Mathema cs Assessment June (TBA) * Athle c Banquet – Marigold Restaurant June 26, Mon * GC Grad Convoca on RBC Conv. Centre, 7:00pm June 27, Tues * GC Grad Dinner and Dance – RBC Conv. Centre June 29, Thurs * Administra on Day – NO CLASSES June 30, Fri * LAST OFFICIAL DAY OF SCHOOL ‐ Report Cards are available on Parent/Student Connect COLLÈGE GARDEN CITY COLLEGIATE From GC’s Band and Music Department Band
We’ve had a great start to the 2016-2017 school year
in the band department. We have many students
participating in band from grades 9-12 in both concert and jazz band. We just had an amazing concert
with our jazz students at the CCFM on Nov 29th that
featured all our jazz students in our instrumental and
vocal programs.
We had a wonderful concert on December 8th at
Jubilee Place on the campus of MBCI. It featured
our grade 9, our grade 10 and our senior band live
on stage. It was a great evening!!
April 29th, 2017 marks the first of many “Big Band
Dances” that our instrumental jazz program will host.
This event will take place at Canad Inn (Essence)
beginning at 8pm. Tickets cost $10.00 and will be
available for purchase in the New Year. Along with
featuring our wonderful and talented musicians we
are also planning to put on a silent auction and
50/50 draw and have a late night snack. Come join
us on April 29th and wear your dancing shoes!
Arctic Climate Change Youth Forum
Five of our students will be participating in the Arctic Climate
Change Youth Forum at Elmwood High School on Dec. 5th.
They will be hearing from Dr. David Barber, Canada Research Chair in Arctic system Sciences as well as from Andrea Brazeau, a 19 year old from Kangiqsualujjaq, Nunavik.
We will also be taking part in 2 workshops and attending a
panel discussion.
These five students are all part of the Arctic Issues club that
meets weekly. Some of their current goals are to revitalize
the recycling program at Garden City Collegiate and to explore green initiatives for our school community.
Choral Program
The year is off to a good start in the choral program. We’re coming off a busy November with
many performances. In the middle of the month,
we took all 7 of our choirs and vocal jazz
ensembles to ChoralFest where our choirs had the
opportunity to perform for other ensembles and
get some expert advice from some of Canada’s
best choral conductors. The GC Chamber Choir had
the privilege of singing at the ChoralFest Gala
concert, wrapping up that week. Our students
came away from this week with more tools in their
vocal toolboxes and renewed inspiration. The
month ended with a Jazz Concert at the Centre
Culturel Franco-Manitobain and a Choral Concert at
Jubilee Place. Other events of the month included a
performance by GC Groove at the Divisional GSA
Conference, and by the Chamber Choir at GC’s
Remembrance Day Service. The choir teachers feel
fortunate to have such committed and positive
students singing in our choirs! We are looking
forward to what the rest of the year holds.
COLLÈGE GARDEN CITY COLLEGIATE Y.A.M.I.S. (Youth Against Mental Illness Stigma)
The Garden City Y.A.M.I.S. group is up and running again this year. We started the year
with our 3rd Peace of Mind event at Park Theatre where students and staff from schools
around the city stomped out stigma through poetry, dance, song, and stories. The group
is currently busy working on ways to decrease anxiety in our own school. We developed
a YAMIS bulletin board (located outside of the library) with quotes, facts, and mental
wellness activities. We are also looking at making changes to the library to create a more
quiet space. On February 5th the group will be teaming up with Margie Reis from Seven
Oaks Arena, and Suzi Friesen from Project 11 to host a Mental Health Awareness event.
The event will be taking place at Seven Oaks Arena, and there will be familiar faces from
both the Manitoba Moose and Winnipeg Jets. Listen to announcements for more details!
All staff and students are welcome to be part of our group! We meet every Wednesday
at either lunch or in the morning. Connect with any Y.A.M.I.S. member or Ms. McDonald,
Ms. Stokotelny, Mrs. Medwick, Ms. Cao or Ms. Sorensen for more information!
From the Counselling Department
We wanted to provide students and families with some ANXIETY-reducing resources.
Check this link out for the top anxiety apps of 2016. Many of
them are free, or cost very little. They range from calming music, to apps that explain anxiety, and others that help identify
triggers and useful strategies for coping with stress and anxiety.
http://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/top-iphone-androidapps#1
Studies show that practicing mindfulness can reduce anxiety
and depression significantly. This fairly new practice can be
puzzling, but it is very basic by nature. Mindful.org provides
recommendations for literature, articles, activities and ideas on
how to practice mindfulness in your daily routine.
http://www.mindful.org/
The following website is an interactive site that explains anxiety
in clear terms, BUT it also includes some very practical strategies for coping with stress and anxiety and healthy living ideas!
It is from ANXIETYBC!
http://youth.anxietybc.com/right-thinking
Here is a list of valuable phone numbers in our community that
could help during a crisis:
Kids Help Phone: 1- 800-668-6868
Klinic: (204)786-8686
Seven Oaks Teen Clinic: (204)938-5900, located at #3-1050
Leila Avenue
Child and Family: (204)944-4200
Rainbow Resource Centre: (204)474-0212
Mobile Crisis: (204)949-4777
Teen Clinic: (204)940-2025 601, located on 601 Aikins Street Includes psychology and a nurse practitioner
Gay Straight Alliance
This year, Garden City's Gay Straight Alliance
has hit the ground running! We have started
revamping our bulletin boards, offering
information pamphlets, in addition to posting
current events in the LGBTQ*2S Community
at GC and in Winnipeg. We held a successful
Halloween bake sale, and helped decorate the
office with our GSA-inspired pumpkins. We've
seen our core group of students continue to
attend, and have also welcomed some new
members this year. Our regular attenders
and some of our allies attended this year's
Divisional GSA Gathering at Maples Collegiate
where we enjoyed amazing performances by
GC's Reality Check and Garden City Groove,
as well as a talk by Two-Spirit Mantioba's Albert McLoed. We have some fun and
delicious activities planned for this December,
so stay tuned!
COLLÈGE GARDEN CITY COLLEGIATE November 30th All Period Day
Ms. Ringer’s grade 10 science class visited the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food
Discovery Centre on November 30th for all period day. They took part in the Water
Systems and Global Warming program. The students got to tour the Discovery
Centre where they walked out to the compost sheds to learn about some of the
research being done at the Glenlea Research Station, as well as in the agriculture industry. Once back inside
they got right to work using molecule building blocks to create photosynthesis and greenhouse gases. The
students then got to meet a real farmer named Harley who taught us about farming, global warming, and its
relation to agriculture. We capped off our visit with a game of Greenhouse Gas
Jeopardy where the students did a fantastic job using all of the new information they learned!
Students listening to their Final Jeopardy
Question
Students building molecules
Students on a Discovery Centre Tour
GC SPORTS Varsity Girls Volley Ball Team trip to Halifax in October 2016 of Dalhousie Varsity Volleyball
Tournament this past October. This was every player’s first time experiencing the beautiful and
unique East Coast lifestyle. The girls placed 7th in the tournament, and had the opportunity to watch
the Dalhousie University Women’s team in action. Aside from the volleyball the team was able to
take in many East Coast highlights such as a campus tour of Dalhousie University, seafood dinners,
walking along the Halifax Harbour, Peggy’s Cove, Bay of Fundy, and the Canadian Immigration
Museum. This is one trip that the girls (and coaches) will never forget!
COLLÈGE GARDEN CITY COLLEGIATE Junior Varsity Boys Volleyball
The Garden City Junior Varsity Boys Volleyball Team had a very successful season. The boys won three out of four tournaments, including the
prestigious twenty-four team MBCI tournament and the River East
tournament that included the top twelve teams in the province. The
team was also tied for first in KPAC with a record of 9-1 and were are
now the second ranked team in the province going into Provincials. The
boys worked extremely hard all year and their hard work paid off. They
advanced to the JV AAAA provincial final for only the second time in our
school’s history. Unfortunately, they were unable to defeat the number
one ranked Lord Selkirk Royals. Kalen Reyes and Chris Gatchalian were
both named to the AAAA provincial all-star team and Ethan Harder was
the MVP of the MBCI tournament. The boys had an amazing year and
made a lot of great memories! Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball
The JV Girls volleyball season ended earlier this month.
The team accomplished some amazing things this season!!
Their 3rd place finish at the St. Mary’s tournament earned
them a spot in the MHSAA top ten rankings. They battled
MBCI at the Selkirk tournament in a very exciting and well
played match. The girls lost in playoffs. GC Football Team
On November 23rd at the annual Winnipeg High School Football
League banquet, Garden City student-athlete Riley Francey was
awarded the 2016 Harry Hood Memorial Award. This trophy is
awarded annually to the high school football player who
exemplifies the highest standard in playing ability, school
citizenship, fair play and scholastic standing.
The selection of the award winner is made by a special committee
consisting of select members of the high school football
community in Manitoba. A scholarship of $500.00 is awarded to
the winner which can be applied to university next fall.
The Harry Hood Memorial Award is the most prestigious award in
the WHSFL and Riley is a most deserving recipient. He is the very
first Harry Hood Memorial Award winner in Garden City football
history. His work as a leader and top performer on our football
team is matched by his honor roll academic status, as well as his
countless hours of volunteerism in our community. Our football
program and school community as a whole are very proud of this
accomplishment – Congratulations Riley!
COLLÈGE GARDEN CITY COLLEGIATE Community Services –Submitted by Janet Schindell- Volunteer Coordinator
2016 started off very busy. I had a very dedicated group of students organize the annual Terry Fox Run,
they planned and organized the event. It was very successful, raising over $700.00. We continued our
monthly volunteering at Winnipeg Harvest and Siloam Mission. We have gone 6 times since September
donating about 18 hours of feeding approximately 1000 families. We will be continuing this ongoing
volunteering opportunity until June. Our divisional day was held at Garden City this year, we had a large
contingent of student volunteers to help run the day. November was very busy recruiting for the
upcoming holiday season. We had over 60 students volunteering at the Santa Claus parade and the
Children’s Museum holiday tea. We have partnered again with the 7 Oaks Optimist club and are selling
Christmas Trees at Garden City Shopping Centre. We are also working with Take Pride Winnipeg as Snow
Angels. In this program students are paired up with Seniors in the community and shovel snow for them
over the duration of the winter (hoping for lots of snow!). In November we held the annual volunteer
fair, an event where volunteer organizations come in to recruit volunteers. We were fortunate that 15
organizations joined us this year. Over 500 students participated in the morning event which was a
great success. December calls for busy rap up to 2016 – Christmas Cheer Board, hamper delivery and
Sinclair Community Centre’s breakfast with Santa. Looking forward to many more opportunities for our
students. If you are aware of organization requiring volunteers for their event in 2017 please contact
Mrs. Schindell at [email protected] to register your group.
A warm “Thank-You” goes out to the student body. Keep on giving and Happy Holidays!
HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON
ON BEHALF OF STAFF AT COLLÈGE GARDEN CITY COLLEGIATE