June 2013
Seine River School Division
Report to the Community
Are they playing or learning?
Our Mission...
To ensure the highest
quality education by
providing learning
opportunities in a safe
& caring environment.
We Believe That...
Children need to feel
genuinely valued.
All children can learn.
Learners’ needs must be
met.
We Value...
Honesty
Empathy
Respect
By Marie-Josée Morneau, French Immersion Consultant
You enter a classroom and all you see are
students playing. Where are the worksheets? And what is the teacher doing
you may wonder. Literacy stations are
more than 30 minutes of fun and busy
activities. In fact, meaningful ongoing learning stations are proven to have
a great impact on student achievement.
If you were to circulate in the classroom
and had the opportunity to have a conversation with the students, they would
most likely know what they are supposed
to do and why these activities are important for their learning. Literacy stations
are familiar tasks strategically planned
according to specific learning targets
in the areas of reading, writing, listening and working with words. While participating in these activities, students can
authentically practice and apply what
they are learning while exploring and ex-
panding their literacy in engaging ways.
While observing literacy time at school,
you might see students who are lying on
the floor reading independently while others are reading in pairs in the hallway; these
learners are practicing some of the reading
strategies learned and modeled in class
with books they have personally chosen according to their reading level and interests.
At the writing station, students might be
writing on a topic of their choice through
different types of texts. A variety of good
examples of texts such as letters, invitations, articles, reviews, reports, glossaries
and poems might be available as models.
Posters of writing steps and class-made
checklists might also be visible as friendly
reminders. Students can also write in response to a text they have read; for example, they might compare and contrast two
characters in a book or write a letter to the
editor of a recent article in the newspaper.
The listening station often integrates technology and literacy. For instance, a small
group of students might be listening to an
animated talking book on a computer or
at the interactive white board. Students
need to hear fluent and expressive readers as models and the visual as well as the
Continued on Page....2
Are they playing or learning? Continued
audio support helps them with comprehension. Another activity could be actively listening to increasingly difficult texts
from an online library and then discuss
the key ideas or summarize the story or
the information with peers. Students can
also enjoy listening to songs with written lyrics, karaoke style, to learn new
vocabulary, discover grammar rules and
make inferences. Finally, another purposeful task might be for students to record their voice while reading and then
self-evaluate their fluency with a familiar checklist of descriptors such as reading comprehension, flow and expression.
According to Eric Jenson (2000), the brain
learns best when not feeling threatened;
students should be offered choices and
participate in meaningful learning experiences at school. Motivated students who
are enjoying playing games with their
peers instead of filling out worksheets in
isolation are most likely to improve their
literacy skills. Remember how we were
taught to spell when we were students?
Many of us were simply handed a list of
isolated words once a week and then had
to study until the spelling test on Friday.
Working and playing with words simply
helps students in recognizing word and
letter patterns, discover rules and better
remember the spelling of most frequently
used words. In this engaging environment,
students are immersed in an overflowing
2
pool of practical and content area vocabulary, expressions and sentence structures;
a rich repertoire of precise terminology
has a great impact on a student`s reading comprehension, writing and speaking
abilities. The hands-on material available at the popular “working with words”
station may include magnetic letters or
play dough for spelling, flashcards with
math, science or social studies words for
sorting and to practice phonics. Students
may play guessing games in order to review definitions and meanings of terms.
Board games could be used for practicing grammar rules, conjugating or reading comprehension, memory games for
matching synonyms or antonyms and perhaps domino games for rhyming words;
the possibilities are absolutely endless.
Educators are facilitators of learning;
their goal is to maximise the opportunities for students to expand their knowledge and strengthen their skills before
the summative assessment. Just as if you
were playing hockey and would have
many practices and drills before gameday, the learning stations are the practices after whole-class instruction has
been provided. During that time, teachers may circulate and provide constructive feedback to the students who work
independently or in small groups, just
like a good coach would do. The teacher
may also work with a small group of stu-
An Invitation to Our Community
dents or conference with individuals to
work on specific individualized learning
goals in the areas of reading and writing.
Board Priority #3: Improve Community Engagement
By Michael Borgfjord, Superintendent
In the 21st century classroom, we want
students to own their learning by becoming more responsible, collaborative and
independent learners through a range of
meaningful activities meeting their readiness levels, learning styles and interests.
By collaborating and participating actively in relevant discussions every day,
young learners will predict, investigate,
problem solve and build on each other’s
ideas to deepen their own understanding;
Literacy stations are the necessary practices to build the knowledge and skills the stepping stones towards critical thinking. Students should not be expected to
be quiet all day; in fact, we want to hear
them while they think and learn. So, next
time you come to school for a visit and
notice that students are all over the place,
louder than the teacher and having fun
while learning, perhaps you are witnessing practice time with a goal in mind.
P
ublic Education in the 21st Century is filled with many challenges and requires a collaborative environment where trust,
respect for diversity and innovation reside at the heart of our
organization. Our children are living in a time of unprecedented rates of technological advancements, global social change,
environmental changes and an ever-evolving global economy.
Our school division has been asking the question, “What does
this mean for public education in Seine River School Division?”
Strong literacy and numeracy skills still remain essential skills
that must be developed for all children but educators must continue to engage children in ways to stimulate creativity and deep
analysis. Basic core knowledge is now available with a simple
click of a button through search engines such as Google or Yahoo. We understand that the major tenets of a good education remains unchanged but it requires school systems to place a greater emphasis on higher-order thinking tasks which are engaging,
relevant and challenging for our students. It is for these reasons
that the Board of Trustees decided to seek input from our biggest
partners, the community, and make community engagement a
major priority for our division. We believe that involving our
community partners in education is essential if we want to be
the most innovative and educationally rigorous system in public
education.
I
n December 2012, the Board of Trustees discussed their
strategic action plan and carefully deliberated methods to
engage the community in more meaningful ways. Thoughtfully implementing new ways to communicate with members
of our community is no easy task and one which we believe
requires multiple opportunities to share information and dialogue about our school system. The trustees decided to engage
community stakeholders in conversations about Education in
the 21st Century and formally invited small focus groups to
participate in a dialogue about the importance of public education. Trustees asked community members two basic questions:
Ward 1
Board of Trustees
Ward 2
Ward 3
Wendy Bloomfield, Chairperson
42 Lord Ave.
St. Norbert, MB R3V1G5
Ph: 204-269-4270
Email: [email protected]
Gary Nelson
47 Riverview Dr.
Lasalle, MB R0G 2A0
Ph: 204-736-2817
Email: [email protected]
Greg Reid
843 St. Thérèse Ave.
St. Norbert, MB R3V 1H7
Ph: 204-282-4884
Email: [email protected]
Jennifer Stefansson
26 Pioneer’s Trail
Lorette, MB R0A 0Y0
Ph: 204-510-1321
Email: [email protected]
Randy Engel
Box 47 Grp 60
Lorette, MB R0A 0Y0
Ph: 204-612-1109
Email: [email protected]
Jessalyn Cahill
Box 29, Grp 20
Lorette, MB R0A 0Y0
Ph: 204-878-2746
Email: [email protected]
Robert Rivard, Vice Chairperson
Box 3, Grp 7, RR1
Dufresne, MB R0A 0S0
Ph: 204-878-2456
email: [email protected]
Theresa Bergson
Box 37, Grp 20, RR2
St. Genevieve MB R5H 1R2
Ph: 204-422-6615
Email: [email protected]
Wes Keating
RM of Ste. Anne Box 662
Steinbach, MB R3G 1M5
Ph: 204-326-9863
Email:[email protected]
• What do we want our children to do, say and know?
• How do we know when we get there?
nication, collaboration, the ability to investigate and analyze,
safe schools, rigorous standards and the importance of democratic processes as critical components of a strong public education. It also provided us with insight into the direction we must
continue to follow and the importance of providing relevant information to our communities.
A
s we prepare for the 2013 – 2014 school year the Board
is committed to engaging the community in dialogue that
will help us shape a system that supports relevant learning for
all of our staff and students. We will be developing a process to
engage the public in reviewing our mission and vision to ensure
that we continue to move forward in a progressive manner. We
will be providing opportunities for our students to provide insights into their education and develop strategies to ensure that
community partners continue to remain integral members of
our learning communities. Creating a strong education system
requires public support and collaboration built upon trust and
dialogue.
T
he work that the Board has commenced has had a profound
influence on the work of the school division. The learning networks that have been created and the commitment and
professionalism of our teachers will continue to be the foundation for creating exceptional learning opportunities for children.
We are proud of the many accomplishments that our staff and
students have achieved this past year and we hope that the evidence of learning as presented in this edition of the Via the Seine
provides our communities with information that is relevant and
meaningful.
A
lthough it is difficult to imagine the advancements and
changes that will occur in society in the next twenty years
it is clear that our children will need to have diverse skill sets
to prepare them to participate in this evolving world. We are
excited about the opportunities that will arise from our community engagement plan that will improve and support our strong
public schools.
T
hese simple yet profound questions allowed conversations
to flow freely about the importance of a strong education
system. These discussions are extremely important in aligning
public expectation with current school division priorities. The
information received and shared is important to developing a
shared purpose of preparing children to be active citizens in an
increasingly more complex global society. These questions cannot be taken lightly as we strive to develop stronger partnerships with our community. The focus groups created venues
for passionate and informative dialogue between school trustees
an
and community members. We discovered that consistent themes
eme
emerged which are closely aligned with our beliefs regarding
stude
student learning. Community members identified the following:
critical thinking, internet security, respect for diversity, commu3
What
is Balanced Literacy?
By Lori Gauthier, Middle Years Literacy Consultant
T
LITERACY
he goal of a balanced literacy classroom is to teach children to become
independent, strategic and avid readers,
writers and communicators. Developing
independent readers and writers is critical
to developing thoughtful, life-long learners. So, what does balanced literacy look
like in your child’s classroom? You will
most likely see children engaged in various
reading and writing activities such as Read
Alouds, Shared Reading, Independent
Reading, Guided Reading, Shared Writing,
Guided Writing and Independent Writing.
W
R
I
S
S
ead Alouds are an important part of a
balanced literacy program. You may
see your child’s teacher reading aloud to the
children at different times during the day.
Sometimes Read Alouds are simply for the
pleasure of enjoying a book, while other
times it is an opportunity for the teacher
to explicitly teach a reading strategy and
model what fluid reading sounds like.
hared Reading is another component
of balanced literacy. In early years, the
teacher reads a “Big Book” with the children. As the teacher reads, students are encouraged to read along with a partner while
sharing a smaller version of the same book.
In middle years, the teacher reads the text
aloud after stating a focus. She/he then rereads the text asking questions specific to
the reading strategy being taught. Some
strategies may include: predicting, drawing inferences, analyzing, evaluating or
making connections. This is a great chance
for students to practice a strategy with a
partner and have opportunities for purposeful talk about their books before practicing independently with their own book.
A
nother part of balanced literacy is
Independent Reading. When offered
a choice in reading, children will more
likely develop a love of reading. Teachers show children, as early as kindergarten, how to choose a “Good Fit” book that
they can read on their own without assistance. Children know that they need to ask
themselves four questions when choosing
a book to read independently: “What is
my purpose for reading this book?” “Does
this book interest me?” “Can I understand
what I am reading?” “Do I know all of the
4
words?”
hile children read and write independently, teachers are busy working with Guided Reading groups, or conferencing with students about their reading
and writing. Guided Reading is smallgroup reading instruction designed to provide differentiated teaching that supports
children’s specific needs. These are opportunities to provide more direct teaching in
areas of need and descriptive feedback on
individual students’ reading and writing.
n Shared Writing, the teacher and students write together, where both contribute their thoughts and ideas to the process. The teacher acts as scribe, writing
the text on chart paper as it is composed.
This is a perfect opportunity to teach a
mini-lesson on a particular writing strategy and to provide guided practice to
students before they write independently.
imilar to Guided Reading, Guided
Writing provides opportunities to assist students with any of the steps in the
writing process. It is a chance to reinforce
a strategy that was already taught or focus
instruction on students’ specific needs. It
is also an opportunity to enhance student
writing by offering specific focus lessons
to those who need new skills and challenges. Again, this is an opportunity to guide
students’ writing before they practice during Independent Writing.
RCH ‘Good
Fit’ Books: ‘I-PICK’ – What is it?
By Sandra Pott, Principal and Kerry Fredborg, Teacher
After receiving over six hundred new non-fiction books, Richer
School’s teachers have been reorganizing their classroom libraries into fiction, non-fiction and themes so that students can choose
their own books more successfully. Students are using a process
called I-PICK, which is part of the Good Fit book philosophy.
Purpose: A ‘Good Fit’ book is a book that the child
chooses for enjoyment, which he/she can also read with
a high level of accuracy, fluency and comprehension.
Here are some easy steps that we use, that you and your child
can also follow, in order to choose ‘Good Fit’ books:
1.
The student chooses a book. This is the first I in I-PICK
which means, “I chose this book to read”.
2.
We ask the student, “What is your purpose for
choosing this book?” We may also ask, “Is it for fun or to
learn something?” This is the P in I-PICK, which means
Purpose.
3.
We ask the student, “Is this a book you are interested
in?” This is the second I, which means Interest.
4.
The students read a page of the book. After the stu
dent
reads
the
page
we
ask
him/her,
“Who
did
you
read
about
and what did they do?” This is the C in I-PICK,
which stands for Comprehension. If it is a ‘Good Fit’ book
the student should be able to answer the question.
5.
We have the student read another page (or use
the same page) and ask, “Did you know the words?”
This is the K in I-PICK, which stands for Know the words.
in order for it to be a ‘Good Fit’ book. The last two
steps are the ones that tend to be challenging for students and they often need support to make LITERACY
a good choice.
Going through the steps of choosing a ‘Good Fit’ book should
only take a couple of minutes. Many children can easily choose
‘Good Fit’ books once they have mastered the process of IPICK. Other children may need more guidance from the teacher
or parents as they choose ‘Good Fit’ books. This is an ongoing
process that we will continue to learn and practice at school.
Grade 4 Student Testimonials:
Q: What do you like the most about the I-PICK process? Why?
Jadyn: “Comprehension; because I know that I can
understand what the book is about”
Riley: “Know; When I look on one page and I
understand most of the words I know I could read the
book”
Mckenzie: ”I became a better reader…I went up a level
in my reading”
Cameron: “I’m working on becoming a better reader
and I-PICK helps me”
The students should know all or almost all of the words
ESAS Writing
Adventures in K/1/2
By Laurie Orbanski, Teacher
If you walk into the K/1/2 classroom
at École St. Adolphe School, you will
hear a buzz of excitement for writing
and reading, and see a classroom library
filled with the students’ published works.
As budding authors, K/1/2 students enjoy finding audiences to whom they can
write. Recently, students decided to write
about their love for their St. Adolphe
community and wanted the community
to hear about it. With the help of their
classroom teacher, students had the opportunity to meet with the Mayor of St.
Adolphe. Students were thrilled when
they were officially invited as delegates
to present their writing to the entire
council at an official council meeting.
During their presentation to the coun-
cil, students shared their stories about
what was special, unique and important
to them about the community in which
they live. Despite being nervous, these
young authors believed this to be their
best writing experience and in fact were
excited to meet Mr. Stefaniuk; for many
of them it was like meeting a movie star!
As students learn to become writers and
readers they move through a series of stages
that include seeing themselves as authors.
When students discover that their writing
is an important part of their daily lives
and that it has purpose and meaning, their
growing knowledge of literacy, including
letters and sounds, increases. Through
reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction
texts, students learn to look at the different techniques authors use in their writing
to make reading their works interesting
to others. They then incorporate these
techniques (interesting leads, word and
audience choice) into their own writing.
Our young authors have now connected
once again with the residents of the St.
Adolphe Personal Care Home and are off
to experience their next writing adventure
that will certainly entertain the residents
and create a sense of belonging to their
community.
5
Parents:
A Child’s First Teacher and Advocate
By Teresa Hampton, Student Services Consultant
Parents
are their
child’s
first teachers and children have many important learning experiences with their
families. Parents can provide a variety of
experiences to support their child before
they enter and during their school years.
Early childhood experiences greatly impact a child’s school experiences. Families are essential partners in helping their
children learn about the world around
them through the experiences and conversations that occur. During early childhood children learn to speak, control
their behaviour, learn about emotions and
learn how to begin to take care of their
daily living needs. Experiences that help
to build these skills can occur throughout the day and do not always require
adding in any further activities. If your
child does not meet certain milestones it
is important to speak to your child’s pediatrician or family doctor, as they can
help direct you to the services you need
to support your child. Early intervention,
before your child reaches school, will
increase the chance of a smooth transition and successful school experiences.
It is important for young children to learn
the vocabulary to describe and make
sense of the world around them. Children
who have a strong and well developed
vocabulary have an easier time learning
to read. Developing vocabulary in young
children does not require any additional
planning. Talking to your child as you are
going about your day and including them
in conversations you are having will help
develop an awareness of how language
works. It is also important to take some
time every day to tell stories, and to play
with and read to your child. Children who
see adults read, act out stories and have
books at home, have a choice in what
they read, and along with some time set
aside each day for these activities, are
more likely to become life-long readers.
Managing peer relationships, emotions
and behaviour are skills that children begin to develop before they enter school.
These skills are important for children
6
to be taught as they do not know how to
manage them on their own. Parents can
support the learning of skills by teaching
their child to recognize emotions in others, ( ie: pointing out he looks mad; his
face is red so what should you do now?).
Children also need experiences with other
children to practice these skills and parents can support these experiences by arranging opportunities to play with other
children through play groups, preschool
or day care settings. It is also important
for parents to meet together and talk about
the struggles they are having and see how
other parents handle situations that arise.
If you are struggling with a child’s behaviour and emotions there are supports
provided online through the Manitoba
Government (Positive Parenting Program
http://www.manitobatriplep.ca/ ) or speak
to your pediatrician or family doctor.
As a child enters school it is an exciting
experience for families. The child may
have seen older siblings and neighbours
go off to school and now it is his/her turn.
Parents can support a successful transition to school by first understanding the
needs of their child; some children require
minimal support to transition to school
and others will require intense planning
in order to make the transition successful. So how can you support your child
as he/she enters school? Research shows
that students who have families that are
involved in their school have greater
success in school; for example, higher
grades, improved behaviour at home and
better social skills. Parental interest sends
the message that education is important
and learning can be fun and worth the effort. You may not have time to volunteer
in school daily but there are a variety of
ways that you can show your child that
school and learning are important.
Tips for Parents
At the School:
•
Attend parent teacher
conferences
•
Volunteer on field trips, in the
classroom or in the school
•
Attend parent advisory council
meetings
Helping With Homework
•
Set aside a special quiet area
•
•
•
•
•
•
with good lighting for home
work
Keep basic supplies (paper, pencil,
markers)
Set aside a regular time each
day for homework
Help your children use organiza
tional tools (school planners, calen
dars and folders)
When assigned larger projects help
them schedule their time and break
assignments into manageable pieces
If they don’t understand encourage
them to call a classmate or send a
message to the teacher
Get to know the teacher and find
out homework expectations
Students who have exceptional learning
needs at school will require additional
supports from parents and family members. These children will need a support
network to advocate for the supports they
need. Children who have exceptional
learning needs may have an Adapted
Learning Plan or Individualized Education Plan depending on the level of support that a child requires. These plans will
outline the supports that the child needs
in order to be successful in school. The
school team will complete assessments
that will determine the priority learning needs for the child. The school team
includes the professionals at the school,
and many assessments include interviews
from parents through a checklist format.
Parents are an important and necessary
piece of the planning process as parents have known their child the longest.
Parents often ask how they can support
their child with exceptional learning
needs at school. Before coming to a planning meeting parents can prepare a list
of the areas in which they feel their child
has had success and areas in which they
have been struggling. It is important for
parents to come to a meeting prepared to
discuss what they feel are the important
goals for their child. It is also important
for parents to share the strategies that are
working at home so that the language that
is used is the same between home and
school. Parents can also ask the school
team to provide the strategies that are
Parents Continued
being used at school so that they can be
used at home ensuring that the learning
occurs through all areas of the child’s life.
As students with learning needs progress
through school it is important for them
to begin to learn self-advocacy and selfawareness as they are keys to future success. Students who are self-advocates are
aware of their learning needs and are empowered to ask for the supports they need.
Tips to Develop Self-Advocacy
1. Understand their own learning needs
2. Know what supports they need
3. Communicate their needs
4. Identify future goals
5. Be an active participant in their IEP
planning process
An example would be for a child who has
difficulty with attention being able to say
“I know I am easily distracted so I need to
sit at the front of the room.” Often families are fearful that if their child receives
these supports at school that it is not preparing them for the world after school.
This is why developing students who are
self-aware is essential as it allows them
to advocate for themselves in the postsecondary and the work world. Many
post-secondary institutions have student
disability services which assists students
access the supports they need. These programs often require documentation of
the disability by a professional to put appropriate supports in place. More workplaces are now required to support people
Internet Safety
who require these additional supports.
There are many ways in which parents
can support their child at school. Parents may feel overwhelmed with finding
time to fit in homework or if their child is
struggling at school. It is important to remember to support your child and remain
positive even when it seems difficult. You
can always speak to your child’s teacher,
principal, resource teacher or guidance
counsellor if your child is experiencing
difficulty at school.
Family Groups
Supporting a sense of Community by Robert Bouchard
Parent Information Evening
By Nicole Lindblom, Teacher
The St. Norbert schools hosted a parent information night at LBC on
Thursday, May 2nd about keeping our kids safe. This presentation was by
Graham Milliken, the Education Coordinator for the “Kids in the Know”
program. Graham discussed with parents the importance of keeping up
to date on the different programs that kids and teens access when communicating with their friends or strangers. Communication between
parents and their children is very important in keeping them safe from
any situation that they may encounter when gaming on-line or messaging
with others. Graham stressed that not overreacting, and being honest with
children will help parents in dealing with internet concerns, remembering that kids make mistakes and need to learn from what has happened.
Seine River School Division teaches their students in the “Kids in the
Know” program from kindergarten to grade 9 to learn to trust their instincts and to talk to someone they trust if they are uncomfortable about
a situation they are put in. Parents should reinforce this concept at home
and remind their children what to do in a difficult situation.
Did you know??
• Statistics indicate that 92% of Canadians are concerned about the
distribution of child pornography on the Internet.
• 22% of kids have a webcam for personal use (31% by Grade 11).
• 22% of girls and 43% of boys rank Instant Messaging as the
number one activity they would like to do online.
• The majority of kids, 59%, report that they have assumed a
different identity online.
• The average luring victim is a 13 year old female.
• In 60% of the reports submitted by parents of a child victim involving chatlogs, the conversations were about sex or sex-related topics.
For a number of years, the students and staff at La
Salle School have been participating in a communitybuilding activity called Family Groups. On a monthly
basis, the entire school community will get together
to work on a specific theme and/or skill. Students are
grouped from kindergarten to grade 8 and they become a member of the specific family group for all
their years at La Salle School. Older students are encouraged to mentor and play a leadership role within
their multi-grade-leveled groups. Every year, we work
at greeting new students that start up in kindergarten
and those that are new to the La Salle community.
We also celebrate and say farewell to our grade 8 students before they leave and transition to high school.
The staff continues to work at creating and supporting an environment where students will have an opportunity to develop relationships with other students
and staff that are not in their regular classroom.
Many of the themes that we have worked on in the
past have been based on character education, universal values and supporting a sense of community.
This year our focus has been on understanding and
celebrating our differences. We are working at being
aware of the diverse needs within our community.
The specific topics have been based on the multiple
intelligences, such as Interpersonal, Intrapersonal,
Musical, Naturalistic, Logical/Mathematical, Visual
Spatial, Bodily Kinesthetic and Verbal Linguistic.
The objective is to recognize how everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. We are encouraged
to work together to understand areas that may not be
our strengths.
Numeracy
More Than Numbers:
CSNC
- GLOW
By Kristin and Colin, Students
Different Ways of Representing Mathematical Thinking
By Matthew Nikkel, Math Consultant
When people find out
that I am a math teacher,
the most common response I get is, “Oh, I
always hated math. I just
never got it.” I would
argue that nobody is
automatically terrible at math; perhaps they just
haven’t been exposed to their mathematical language.
Traditionally, mathematics has been taught exclusively using obscure symbols that have no context outside of the math
world. Students have been taught to “isolate the variable” in
an equation, or to reduce 6/8 to its lowest terms. It is no secret that many students struggle with this unique language of
mathematical symbols. Fortunately, students are beginning
to be able to express their mathematical knowledge in different ways, which opens up math to students who have traditionally struggled. There are many ways that math can be
represented and I want to take a quick look at five of them.
1.
Pictorial Representation – Students are now being asked
to make a visual representation of their mathematical thinking.
For example, a student may be asked to visually represent 6/8
and they may draw a pizza that has 2 pieces eaten from it.
2.
Concrete Representation – Students are able to interact with and manipulate physical materials to display their
knowledge. Base 10 Blocks, Integer Cubes, Algebra Tiles
and many others are now commonly used in classrooms
to help students with their mathematical understanding.
3.
Context – As opposed to asking the students to solve
problems for the sake of solving problems, teachers are connect-
ing students to real-life mathamatical context. Students may also
be asked to come up with a context for a given symbol. For example, a student may be asked to come up with a context for the
fraction 6/8. The student may respond with a story about a partially eaten pizza, or explain that on a quiz of 8 questions, they got
6 of them correct. Allowing students to provide their own context
means there are endless possible answers for various questions,
and allows for some creativity in math that has often been stifled.
4.
Linguistic Representation – Students are being encouraged to explain the mathematical processes that they are using,
either verbally or in writing. On a test, students may be given a
question with the answer already provided. They will then be
asked to explain how the answer was derived, using words, or
to create a list of instructions on how to solve something. This
is challenging for many students but it shows a level of understanding that merely solving the question would not demonstrate.
5.
Symbolic Representation – This is the math that
many of us are used to seeing. It is the use of numbers and
symbols to represent mathematical concepts and ideas.
There is nothing wrong with using symbolic representation in
math classes and assessment. However, in the past, there has been
far too much emphasis put on the symbols, while the other representations have been left out. I recall as a child being instructed
to complete question after question of math without any idea of
why I was doing the problems. The math work that students are
doing today looks very different than it used to, our students are
drawing pictures, playing games, and writing paragraph answers.
Inclusion
With all the talk in the media about “Bill
18”, and the government’s new bill to
help stop bullying in our schools, our
GLOW group at CSNC has been buzzing! GLOW (Gay, Lesbian, or Whatever) is Collège St. Norbert Collegiate’s
gay/straight alliance. In Bill 18, there is
a clause written that states that all schools
should be allowed to form student-initiated groups like GLOW so all kids can feel
safe in school. GLOW started in December 2011 after a bunch of students attended the ‘Stand OUT’ conference put on by
the Rainbow Resource Centre. 15 of our
CSNC students and 2 staff members were
inspired to come together afterwards to
connect and form our own support network. Now our group has over 25 members and our goal is to look for ways to
bring equality to ALL students at school,
to provide support to anyone who identifies as GLBTQ, to support allies (people
who believe in equal rights for everyone)
Each class has identified a goal around mastering those basic facts based on Manitoba curricular outcomes for their
grade. They will be working towards achieving that goal for
8
Parents and grandparents can help the students by playing math
games with them to help them be able to automatically identify
their basic facts.
Student success will be graphed
using the large atrium wall. It is
exciting to see student-learning successes in such a visible way
and to work together as a whole school with this common goal.
“As a gay student GLOW makes me feel
that I can be more open than I ever would
have been without it. I feel more supported and safer, and it gives me confidence I
never would have had. Coming out to the
GLOW group wasn’t difficult at all, because there is just a sense of support and
an understanding that no matter who you
are, you somehow just fit here!” - Colin
“As an ally, GLOW to me means I have
a place to be exactly who I am, without
being judged. GLOW provides us with
a place to go where we can support each
other. Ultimately I’d like to see any kid,
regardless of who they are know that
they can be part of us because GLOW
This past week, we joined up with students
at Ste. Anne Collegiate who are working
at starting a GSA group next year. The
day was filled with connecting, training,
and eating pizza! It was an inspiring day
which led us to strive for goals for next
year. We’re hoping to make the Day of
Pink even bigger, have presenters speak to
our whole school, attend the ‘Stand OUT’
conference again and maybe even create a
Seine River School Division GSA group
– where we can all come together to talk
about issues and ways to move forward.
We can only hope that all schools get the
opportunity that we have had to support
all kids. GLOW is a really good place to
start when trying to tackle all the issues
kids face these days. From bullying, homophobia and transphobia, depression,
suicide, etc. GLOW has started to change
our lives. Though we all come from different groups in the school, GLOW has
made us realize that we are all better together!!!!
Through this ‘small book for small hands’
“Faith has Freckles and Walter has Wheels” by local writer Shannon Dee
Hi! My name is Faith. I have red
hair and freckles. But did you
know…peanut butter makes me
puke? I am allergic to it. My friend
Walter loves peanut butter, but he
doesn’t eat it when I visit.”
Arborgate’s Building
Blocks of Numeracy
By Teresa Yestrau, Principal
the rest of the school year.
GLOW members Colin and Kristin answer: What does GLOW mean to you?
is a safe place in a world that doesn’t
seem to be safe sometimes.” - Kristin
DiversityBy Tanya
Celebrated
at Parc La Salle
Schulz & Colleen Kachur-Reico, Teachers
As multiple representations have been introduced into math
classes, it has helped students to have a more well-rounded understanding of numbers and number concepts. It also gives more
opportunities for students to have success if they have a better
understanding of one representation over another. Hopefully as
this transformation of math instruction continues, I will encounter more and more people who have discovered their mathematical language and have found success using it, leaving their fear
of math behind.
Teachers at Arborgate School have been reviewing their
student data trends based on divisional and classroom assessment. They recently identified a need to have students become better at recalling the basic number facts that
would be appropriate for their grade level - whether those
facts are addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.
and to help any person at the school who
just doesn’t feel like they fit. This year,
to celebrate diversity, anti-bullying and
anti-homophobia, GLOW organized the
Day of Pink on April 10th which brought
in presenters to help bring awareness to
our cause as well as address other issues
kids face on a day-to-day basis at school.
P
rincipal Jocelyn McPike heard these opening lines read
by the author at a professional-development session and
felt keenly that this book aligned closely with our school’s vision/philosophy of student-focussed and diversity-embracing
character development.
he invited the author to visit the school, to read her book
and talk to students. In preparation Mrs. McPike read
the book to the entire school asking all students and staff to
write their own pages for a book such as this and set out to
S
share each and every one of those entries with the children.
t every monthly Character Education assembly the book
entries submitted by students and staff are projected onto
the gym wall. The words are read aloud and the students listen
quietly to the stories others have to tell. Students are so attentive you could hear a pin drop.
he book may be small and inexpensive ($10.00) but it is
very powerful when used in this way to celebrate diversity!
A
T
9
On the Road Again:
Art Program
By Gabrielle Doll, Art Specialist / Teacher
The Arts
The 2012 – 2013 school year, proved to
be very exciting artistically speaking. The
K-8 schools were involved in a hands-on
art program involving one EY teacher and
one MY teacher from each school who participated in seven different art workshops I
conducted at École Ile Des Chenes School.
After each workshop, I followed up in all the
teacher’s classrooms to work with students.
Topics and techniques learned during the
workshops had teachers and students alike,
understanding and producing art they were
proud of and did not realise they could do!
Initially, we began by learning about shadow and light (value & the grey scale). We
got messy with charcoal and studied how
light and shadow can affect objects to
make them look 3-dimensional. We applied our observations to learned portraiture techniques. Teachers came back from
each workshop, with their art in hand, and
amazed their students. Then, as a class,
students would follow the same techniques and produce art they were proud of!
From portraiture, we tackled one-point perspective. Although it sounded complex to
some, with simple lines drawn on paper,
even kindergarten students were able to create a road they could ‘walk into.’ Students
created cityscapes with incredible detail.
In addition, we discussed the horizon line
and learned that there is always something
‘out there.’ Oil pastel was used effectively to create oil-painting type landscapes.
Color and acrylic painting techniques
came next, and students combined their
knowledge of horizon lines and landscapes with newly acquired painting techniques to create beautiful paintings. They
learned how primary colors can create the
rainbow and make up the color wheel.
10
Negative space, Gestalt, and Ribbon art
were popular topics as students applied
their knowledge of color theory and value
to create striking 3-dimensional-looking ribbons that were displayed in all the
schools. In addition, negative and positive space aided us with our next topic of
animal portraits. Using soft pastel, teachers inspired their students with the work
they created at the workshop. Their images were breathtaking, capturing be-
loved pets and photo-realism wildlife art.
Students followed suit in this challenging
exercise by first finding geometric shapes,
then layering color, and finally adding
texture. Results were spectacular. Lifelike realistic animals would capture your
gaze as you strolled through the hallways.
The animal portraits were a prelude to the
next art workshop - the Aboriginal Seven
Sacred Teachings. We explored numerous artistic techniques, and often teachers
tailor-made the art lesson to coincide with
what students were learning in social studies or science. Some teachers chose to have
their class create clay pinch pots in the form
of animals. Some chose to create ceramic
tiles or paint on stones, while others chose
to create Inuit-inspired soapstone carvings. Some created murals, and others created totem poles. The ideas were limitless!
The workshops will be concluding with Art
history. We will be learning about Pablo
Picasso and Salvador Dali. We will follow
through with projects on cubism and surrealism. As with the other artistic topics and
themes, there will be excellent opportunities
to incorporate other subjects within the art.
With cubism the mathematical aspect will
be explored as we use geometric shapes for
our project which will include water color
and ink. Surrealism will explore ELA, as
visual puns will be represented in acrylic.
Teachers have expressed their feelings
about this art program:
•
I have learned an incredible
amount about art. I feel like I am becoming an artist. Gabrielle makes art fun and
she gives no-fail techniques that help all
my students become successful artists.
Trudy Szun, gr. 1 teacher
•
“For the first time in my teaching
career, I feel confident doing art. I know
I’m transferring that to my students. The
automatic cross-curricular piece is just a
bonus!” Leslie Buffie, gr. 2 teacher
•
“As a new teacher, I greatly appreciate Gabrielle’s workshops. I feel much
more confident that I am offering a valuable
art class to my students instead of crafts. I
know that what she has taught me will be
valuable throughout my career.” Julie Van
Ryssel, gr. 7 teacher
2012-2013 A Year of Travel for CLC Music Students
By Paulo Borges, Teacher
This past May CLC music students completed a very successful
tour to Minneapolis. Performances at a school, a senior’s home
(where students met former Manitoba residents) and a clinic at
UND rounded out the musical duties for students. Students provided energetic performances and were wonderful “roadies” setting up and tearing down our show. We also took in some fun and
culture, including James Hill Mansion, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, the Minnesota Science Museum, Valley Fair
and shopping at the Mall of America: a very full itinerary indeed!
On the home front, CLC RememThe Arts
brance Day observations, a fantastic
Christmas Concert, a successful return of our Music Café to our
Library, appearances at the CLC Writer’s Group Book Launch,
and the CLC Fashion Show rounded out the performance season.
It’s been a busy year indeed. A special thank you to the students
of CLC for making some great music and memories!
In March, Jazz students made another successful appearance at the Brandon Jazz Festival, impressing clinicians
with their performance and improvisation skills. This project will continue to be a yearly affair, offering our students a first-class performance and learning experience.
Other outings included appearances at the Remembrance Day
service and the Christmas Parade for the town of Lorette, an
appearance at an anti-bullying event at DTS and a performance
at the June Lorette Community BBQ. Guitar students performed
original works in June at the 3rd Annual Creative Music Festival, hosted by the Manitoba Classroom Guitar Association.
The Sound of (a
Successful) Music(al)
By Jane, CSNC Student
E
C
very year at our small high school of Collège St. Norbert
Collegiate, we get the opportunity to perform a full-length
musical.
hoosing which musical to do is often a very hard decision,
but we always end up knowing we made the right one. This
year, our music program director, Mrs. Betz collaborated with
our annual art director, Mrs. Wallis, and together they decided
on a musical that our world knows very well—Rogers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music.” As it always is, the audition
and planning processes were not light tasks, but by the end of
them, our two leaders made sure that all students had an important job to do.
s a grade 12 student who is passionate about musicals particularly this one - I was honoured to be selected to play
Maria. Rehearsals were stressful 99% of the time, as it took an
endless amount of energy and dedication from everyone to make
this show a success. However, that energy and dedication shone
through, and the 3 months we spent memorizing lines, blocking
scenes, painting sets, sewing costumes, teaching choreography,
learning pit band songs, becoming our characters and involving
ourselves in many other undertakings were some of the best in
my life.
n February 26th, opening night arrived. Many people would
agree with me when I say that opening a musical is one of
the scariest experiences as a performer. It is also one of the best
feelings, and our opening performance and the 6 that followed
exceeded our expectations, as was reflected in the enthusiasm of
A
our supportive audiences.
efore we knew it, the final night was upon us. Once we went
out with a successful bang, it felt strange for this chapter of
our lives to suddenly be over. We had all committed so much of
ourselves to this show, and we all felt a little emotional and out
of sorts, but also ready to get back to normal human lives. The
end was the definition of bittersweet, although when I look back
at how much we achieved, the word bitter does not exist. I am
eternally proud and grateful to have been amidst so many students who became leaders and role models, and such fantastic
teachers who inspired
us to step it up, and to
“Climb every mountain, ‘till we found our
dreams.”
B
O
11
ELI Creative
Collaboration
By Julie VanRyssel & Mandy Knapp, Teachers
The Arts
From Concept to Competition: Students from ELI participate in FTJ
This year, École Lorette Immersion participated in Le Festival Théâtre Jeunesse.
This annual theatre competition is hosted
by the Cercle Molière Theatre to creatively
engage students through drama and to encourage development of their oral French
skills while promoting collaboration and
critical thinking. Students from ELI
wrote, rehearsed and presented an original theatrical piece called “C`est la vie”
which explored the theme of growing up.
Our process began in January when we
decided on a theme for the script. Students were then divided into smaller teams
and began brainstorming ideas about
various age groups and what it means
to grow up. Following this brainstorming process, students were expected to
improvise a scene which was videotaped
and transcribed into a script. “I liked the
improv. You get to make up stuff then
choose what you want and don’t want.”
commented Ciaran, a grade seven student actor. Once we had reviewed each
section and made some changes we had
the beginning of our script. Ally, a grade
eight student actress, mentioned that she
appreciated how “we (as students) could
come together with one idea and successfully present our ideas while having
a lot of fun.” This was the goal of the
creative process; engage the students creatively to make something that is person-
ally meaningful while putting academic
skills to use in a less formalized setting.
Following this creative collaborative process, we entered rehearsals. This is where
we connected the scenes from the various
age groups by designing brief movement
sections we called “crosses.” These transitions included students crossing the stage
while representing experiences common
in each part of life. Students did things like
riding bikes, building sand castles, playing
video games, skateboarding, taking part in
a wedding and golfing. We also created a
simple background using shadows. Large
screens were built and lights installed to
cast various shadows throughout the play.
portunity to present our creative work to a
captive audience of other drama students
completed the experience. The awards
gala was also a wonderful and exciting
opportunity to celebrate our accomplishment. The evening included everything
you would expect from an awards show,
the announcers, the spotlight and a live
band. École Lorette Immersion won the
silver medal for lighting and sound; a great
recognition for everyone’s hard work.
Next year, we are looking forward to
learning from our experience and engaging in this phenomenal opportunity to
develop creativity, student leadership and
collaboration while providing exceptional
arts programming to our students.
We started to address the technical aspects of the production at the beginning
of rehearsals. Students learned about the
countless hours that are spent behind
the scenes of a show. It was here that
a new kind of collaboration was introduced. Creative collaboration is essential among the actors performing on the
stage, but the action on the stage must
work in tandem with the committed and
diligent work of the backstage crew.
n Friday April 26, the grade 4 students at École Lorette Immersion
had their very own Musical Instrument
Exhibit in the library. Through the science
curriculum unit on sound, they were able
to make homemade musical instruments.
They were then able to present their instruments and showcase their artistic
originality to the entire school and staff.
irst, the students discussed the elements of sound (vibrations, high
pitch, low pitch, strong, weak, the notes
of different musical instruments, etc.)
Once the project was sent home, the stu12
Principal – École St. Adolphe School – Mr. Laird Laluk
Mr. Laluk obtained his Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba and is in the process of completing his Master
of Education degree at the University of Manitoba. He is currently the vice-principal at Dawson Trail School located in
Lorette, MB and has been in this role since September 2010. Prior to this assignment, his teaching experience ranged from the
classroom to the gym.
Vice-Principal – Dawson Trail School - Mr. Jayson Abraham
Mr. Abraham obtained his Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba and has four years experience in school
administration. He currently is the principal of Walter Whyte School and has also served as vice-principal at École Selkirk
Junior High within the Lord Selkirk School Division.
Principal – École Lorette Immersion – Ms. Mireille Bazin-Berryman
Ms. Bazin-Berryman has been the principal at École Ste. Anne Immersion for the past six years and is currently the vice-presi
dent of the Seine River Principals Association. She is a passionate educator who promotes inclusion and a strong immersion
program. She has been a strong advocate and organizer for French language enrichment programs such as Concours d’art
oratoire and student exchanges.
Ms. Hebert has been the principal of École Lorette Immersion for the past five years and has been a strong voice for programs
such as Roots of Empathy. She has been an active member in the provincial education scene serving as an instructor for firstyear French teachers. She has a Master of Education degree and has experience as a resource teacher and based on her experi
ences has been a strong voice for French Immersion programming.
Interim Vice-Principal – Collège Lorette Collegiate – Mr. Ron Verrier
Mr. Verrier has been a physical education teacher at St. Norbert Immersion for most of his career. He has served as the presi
dent of the Seine River Athletic Association for over ten years and has demonstrated tremendous leadership capabilities in this
role. He believes strongly in supporting rich immersion experiences in the context of physical education and healthy lifestyles.
The experience at the festival was like the
cherry on an ice cream sundae. All the
other ingredients were already there and
we would have been content, but the op-
Musical Instrument Exhibit
O
Seine River School Division is pleased to announce the following:
Principal – École Ste. Anne Immersion – Ms. Carole Hebert
By Michelle deRocquigny, Stéphanie Scheller and the grade 4 classes
F
Administrative News for the 2013-2014 School Year
dents created bilingual invitation cards
using Microsoft Publisher and then delivered them to all classrooms and staff.
F
riday April 26 was an exciting day
when 33 grade 4 students shared, in
French, their creations with all classes
and staff. Every visitor was invited
to experiment with the instruments.
F
inally, this project promoted the science program, encouraged the use
of the French language (written and oral
skills), allowed the students to experiment
with technology and developed their cre-
ativity in music and art. It was nice to see
them showing enthusiasm, knowledge
and pride in sharing their project.
2012 - 2013 SRSD Retirements
Mary Boulet - Lib. Tech. - ARB
Nadene Demkowsky - Secretary - CLC
Michelle DeRocquigny - Teacher - ELI
Laurette Fillion - Bus Driver
Julie Hebert - Lic. Tech. - EIDC
Vivianne Marcino - Lib. Tech. - ESNI
MJ McCarron - Teacher - CSNC
Suzanne Moore - Teacher - DTS
Rika Tollenaar - Bus Monitor
Sandra Valois - EA - PLS
13
2012 - 2013
Long Service Awards
Nadene Demkowsky
Bernard Lamoureux
Claudine Charriere
Vicki Bouchard
Norma Anania
Ingrid Sabatini
Cory Hignell
Eileen Dionne
Debbie Kokil
CLC
CLC
CLC
ESAI
PLS
SAE
CSNC
CSNC
SAC
40 Years
25 Years
20 Years
Anthony Fiorentino
CLC
Denis Marinelli
CSNC
Ida Yachison
ELI
Guylaine Kostal
ELI
Francine Lepage-LemoineESNI
Francois Conan
ESAI
Estelle Lesage
ESAI
Robin Freeth
LSS
Robert Woods
CSNC
Gerard Perrin
Douglas Proch
LSS
Secretary
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
EA
EA
EA
Library Tech
Principal
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
Principal
Teacher
Teacher
Resource Teacher
Resource Teacher
Bus Driver
Teacher
Clara Desrochers
RCH
Teacher
30 Years
Patricia Bolton
Lisa Yagi
Suzanne Moore
Lise Verrier
LSS
Teacher
PLS
Teacher
DTS Teacher
Transp - Dispatcher
15 Years
10 Years
Joanne Soucy
Dolores Teichroew
Christy Cooke
Erin Playfair
Jennifer Lapkin
Marlene Vincent
Jeffrey Perron
Danielle Manaigre
Catherine Mccormick
Cynthia Faucher
Lynn Hudrick
ESNI
ESAS
CLC
CLC
DTS
ESAI
ESAI
ELI
SAE
CLC
Secretary
Library Tech
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
Custodian
Teacher
Library Tech
Bus Driver
EA
EA
Leslee Trudeau
Karen Vagi
Stacey Reimer
Michele Dagdick
Jeannine Allard
Philip Rehberg
Paulo Borges
Greg Taylor
Denise Joyal
Sharon Hagglund
ALC EA
RCH EA
SAE Library Tech
LSS
Secretary
ESAI EA
CLC Teacher
CLC Teacher
Transp Bus Driver
Bus Driver
PLS
EA
Lynnette Dueck
David Gaudreau
Tanya Schulz
Jeffrey Enns
Suzanne Golden
Irene Lemky
Jan Witty
Nancy Cooper
Karen Benjamin
Lupita Keck
Nicole Lindblom
Anita Lessard-Krizak
Marianne Ullenboom
ARB
EIDC
PLS
SAC
DO
CLC
ARB
DO
DO
RCH
LBC
ESAS
EA
Teacher
Resource Teacher
Vice Principal
Psychologist
EA
EA
Payroll Clerk
Admin. Assistant
EA
Counsellor
Teacher
Bus Driver
5 Years
Ray Neufeld
Derek Gordon
Stacey Christopherson
Brian Gadient
Jason Sparling
Kelly Baker
Deborah Eismendi
Kelly Manveiler
14
ARB
ARB
ARB
ARB
CLC
DTS
DTS
DTS
Custodian
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
Resource Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
Colleen Kachur Reico
Tiffany Rudderham
Matthew Nikkel
Erik Leefe
Deanna Wu
Melody Helgason
Swan Donsanouphith
Brenda Trachsel
EIDC
ESAS
SAC
SAC
SAE
DTS
LBC
SAC
Counsellor
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
Teacher
EA
EA
EA
Chantelle Lemoine
SAC
Emond, Denise
ESNI
Tracey Kaskiw
DTS
Jane Koop
DTS
Richard Brault
Battick, Celeste
Angele Vermette-SimpsonESAS
Selina Sabourin
CSNC
EA
EA
EA
EA
Bus Driver
Bus Driver
Teacher
EA
Angela Slute
Angela Marquart
Funk, Andrea
Marilyn Peters
Ralph Hille
Jo Ann Harvey
Nicole Nicolas
Karen Smit
ARB
PLS
DTS
EIDC
ESAI
ARB
ESAS
ESNI
Custodian
Teacher
Teacher
EA
Custodian
Teacher
Principal
Teacher
15
Seine RiverBy Jackie
Supporting
Early Learners
Borgfjord, Early Years Consultant
SAC Once Upon
a Mattress – An Inside Look
Written by Kaira – Student & Stage Manager
The Arts
This year audiences were kept
laughing by Ste. Anne Collegiate’s second
musical! After last year’s success with
“Dracula: The Musical?” Directors Mr.
Warner and Ms. Van Den Bussche decided that they would try it all again! “Once
Upon A Mattress” is a parody of the classic story of “The Princess and the Pea,” or
you could say it the TRUE story of it! It
follows a castle full of marriage-deprived
Ladies and Knights (played by Tessa,
Sreanne, Samantha, Fabiola, Frankie,
Jenny, Tia, Madyson, Josef, Christopher,
and Mickey) trying desperately to get
their Prince Dauntless The Drab (played
by Justin) to get married because of the
marriage law in the kingdom: “No one
in the land may wed, till Dauntless to the
altar’s led.” But, a big problem stands in
the way - his mother. Queen Aggravain
(played by Megan) and her lackey, The
Wizard (played by Tiernan) will do whatever it takes to stop her beloved little son
from getting married. One of the Ladiesin-Waiting, Lady Larken (played by Tia
and Jenny) is in a hurry to find a princess
for Dauntless, due to the fact she has just
found out she will otherwise be an unwed
mother! She urges her lover, Sir Harry
(played by Curtis), to go and find a princess the Queen will approve of, and fast!
Being the incredibly brave man he is, he
goes on a search immediately! He brings
back a very.... anxious princess. Princess
Winnifred the Woebegone (played by
Marie) is met by the highly intimidating
Queen, and goes through vigorous training for the mysterious test she must pass
in order to be fit to marry the Queen’s
precious boy. With help from the new
kid on the block, the Minstrel (played by
Alexandra), the always positive Jester
(played by Karmen), and the attempts
(we aren’t sure if you’d call it help)
from the mute King (played by Bradley),
the castle is sure in for a BIG change!
musical. Although it required a HUGE
amount of dedication, it has been an
equal amount of fun! Nobody will ever
forget the time Megan got a Band-Aid
(that WASN’T hers) stuck to her foot, or
when in the middle of the rehearsal we
found a bag of microwave popcorn that
was ten years old. That’s right, TEN! And
yes - people did eat it, I won’t mention
any names....Tiernan.....but let me tell
you, it was gross. Performance nights
were the best, the big ‘family’ dinners
where we sat together eating and telling
strange rodent stories. These past seven
months have been hectic, crazy, exhausting, but most of all....unforgettable.
This musical has been an incredible experience for all of the people involved.
We have developed friendships that
might never have been made without this
“When I first auditioned, I didn’t
even expect a part, let alone finding a new family.” - Alexandra
(The Minstrel)
16
“What an interesting family we have!”
– Madyson (Lady in Waiting)
“Would you rather be in a musical, or be
a man?” - Josef (Knight)
“Having people decide for you if you
should marry is interesting.” - Fabiola
(Lady in Waiting)
“You upset the Queen, run for the hills!”
- Mickey (Knight)
“When I had my son, I didn’t even have
to push. I just told him to “GET OUT!”
- Megan (Queen Aggravain)
Quotable moments from the Cast!
“Musicals are awesome sauce.” - Sam
(Lady in Waiting)
“Musicals are manly as heck.” - Curtis
(Sir Harry)
“Yes!” - Frankie (Lady in Waiting)
“Only REAL men wear pink shirts and
eyeliner.” - Christopher (Knight)
“Actually, I swam the moat!” - Marie
(Princess Winnifred)
“Magic is a chicken in the
sleeve.” - Tiernan (The
Wizard)
“I love being able to go
on stage and be myself.”
- Tessa (Lady in Waiting)
“I’m not actually going to
have a baby... it was a just
a ploy to get a ring.” - Tia
(Lady Larken)
“Shake your bootaay!!”
- Karmen (The Jester)
“We became a family. SO signing up next year!” - Jenny (Lady
Larken or Lady in Waiting)
“Don’t take the term ‘Break a Leg!’ Seriously.” – Sreanna (Lady in Waiting)
“I don’t see what’s so bad about tights.”
- Justin (Prince Dauntless)
I
t has been an exciting year in our division as we continue to implement new
programs that support early childhood development. One of these programs, Kids
At Play (KAP), has allowed kindergarten
students in five schools across our division to participate in full-day programming. This new initiative is the first of its
kind in Manitoba. Although there are other full-day kindergarten programs across
the province, none of them are implementing early childhood educators as part
of the learning team during the school
day. These new programs are in place
at: Richer School, Ste. Anne Elementary,
École St. Adolphe School, École Ile des
Chênes School and Parc La Salle School
(Parc La Salle’s program is run by an independent Nursery School, CAIRNS, and
is called Strong Start).
indergarten students attend school
on a full-time basis in the abovementioned programs. They spend half of
their day with an early childhood educator (ECE) and then half of their day with
a certified classroom teacher focusing
on curriculum set out by Manitoba Education. The ECE’s knowledge of early
childhood development, observation and
assessment compliment the classroom
teacher’s knowledge of curriculum, assessment, child development and reporting. Through ongoing collaboration, both
programs link concepts from the kindergarten curriculum to play-based learning
opportunities that foster the child’s cogni-
K
tive, social-emotional, physical and language development.
he Kids at Play (KAP) program supports early learning and fosters a solid
foundation for oral language, literacy and
numeracy through rich learning experiences that incorporate play-based learning. Children are full of natural curiosity
and they explore this curiosity through
play. When kids are playing it is the perfect time for them to learn. Play teaches
kids how to problem solve, how to make
friends, how to express themselves, how
to enjoy the world around them and how
to recognize letters and numbers. All of
these skills form the foundation for a love
of learning. By experiencing full-day programming, these students receive the necessary strong start to be successful in their
learning from kindergarten to grade 12.
s this is a new initiative this year, we
have realized that we cannot look to
adopt any other program’s philosophy,
but need to establish our own focus that is
unique to the needs of our students. Kindergarten teachers and KAP instructors
have had the opportunity to meet together
on learning days throughout the year.
These meetings have been instrumental in
developing relationships of trust, exploration of new developmentally-appropriate
practices and the celebration of program
success’.
uring one learning day, we examined
the importance of the classroom environment. In order to support child-cen-
T
A
D
From the Experts:
Play lies at the core of innovation and creativity. It provides opportunities for learning in a context in which children are at their
most receptive. Play and academic work are not distinct categories
for young children, and learning and doing are also inextricably
linked for them. (Ontario Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten
Program, 2010)
In play, children represent and transform the world around them,
tered inquiry
and
active
learning, the
layout of the
classroom
must be considered by both the classroom teacher and
early childhood educator. Most kindergarten classrooms have a dramatic play
center that has a play kitchen, table, and
various props that children use to “makebelieve” the home environment. We
looked at enriching this center by changing the contents and themes throughout
the year. Instead of keeping the same play
center props for the entire year, this center could transform and change depending on the students’ interests. Students
become active members in deciding what
the play corner looks like. They may vote
on several different ideas such as a café, a
hospital, a zoo, or even a campsite. Many
students do not have the background
knowledge to determine what a new playcorner should look like or what materials
they might need so the teacher/early childhood educator builds background knowledge through read-alouds, discovery via
the internet, bringing in guest speakers,
and even going on a field trip. The classroom teacher/KAP instructor becomes the
facilitator in helping children plan for the
new center. The materials are gathered
and sometimes made by the children. The
development of a new play center may
turn into a full theme that encompasses
the entire day and it might even stretch
over several weeks depending on the interest of the children.
ext year, the KAP program will expand to École Ste. Anne Immersion.
Kindergarten teachers and KAP instructors will continue to have opportunities to
collaborate together in order to plan and
implement play-based learning practices
through learning days and planning time
within the schools.
N
providing other children and adults with a window into their
thoughts and perceptions, and often helping adults to see the world
in new ways. (BC Early Learning Framework, 2008)
Play expands intelligence, stimulates the imagination, encourages
creative problem solving, and helps develop confidence, self-esteem,
and a positive attitude toward learning. (Dr. Fraser Mustard)
Council of Ministers of Education, Canada – CMEC Statement on
Play-Based Learning
17
RCH
Earth Week
By Lorna Klopelow, Teacher
Making
French Real
By Louise Racicot, Teacher
Since I have
been
teaching in French
Immersion, I
have
always
tried to find relevant activities to connect
students with their environment. I am
always trying to find particular ways for
students to speak French in authentic situations and not always at school. It is difficult in Manitoba because the only real
French experiences outside of school that
students can be exposed to are when they
go on field trips, participate in student
exchanges or land a part-time job that
requires the employee to be bilingual.
The expectation at a French Immersion
school is that all students will communicate in French but this is a challenge.
How do we instill in students the love of
the language? Through cultural activities,
songs, media, and meeting new people,
students get an appreciation for the French
language and sometimes they are motivated to improve their speaking skills,
the quality of their second language and
the frequency with which they speak it.
Over the past 5 years, I have been involved
in a friendly competition between schools
in Manitoba that involves the presentation of French plays. The name of this
competition is Festival Théâtre Jeunesse
(FTJ). It is a week-long event whereby
students from French and French Immersion schools, from grades 7-12, view
plays, present plays, and then face a panel
of judges for feedback. The plays are often written by students. Students get to
connect with French-speaking students
from other schools. When the students
become engaged in this kind of activity,
they see the importance of being able to
express themselves in French. They are
always excited, enthusiastic and eager for
the experience. This opportunity is very
rewarding for students and teachers alike.
This year, École St. Norbert Immersion
presented the play “C’est pas nécessaire!”
It was written by a Grade 9 student from
Collège St. Norbert Collegiate. 25 of our
grade 7 & 8 students participated. “What I
enjoyed the most was performing.” (Vanessa) “I enjoyed watching all the plays.”
(Jasmine) “I liked the atmosphere. We
were all there for the same reason and everyone had fun.” (Liam) FTJ is always a
hit at our school. Students getting the opportunity to succeed in a second language,
to grow, learn and enjoy themselves, all at
the same time: priceless!
Winter
Fun at SAE
By Glenn Dawyduk, PE/HE Teacher
Recognizing diversity embraces the notion of equity and
respect and should be reflected in programs and in teaching practices. Cultural heritage, gender, (dis)abilities, social economic status, and individual interests are important traits to consider when teaching any group.
At SAE we enable all learners to enhance their quality of life
through active living and to develop positive attitudes towards
physical activity. We have a skating program that enables all of
our students to go skating each Thursday during the months of
January, February and March. If students do not have their own
helmets and skates we provide these for them. Also, as part of
the skating program, the older students played broom ball during our time at the arena. Our local parent council raised funds
to pay for the rental of the arena which is greatly appreciated.
This year we had Mr. Bill Muloin from SMD (Society for Manitobans with Disabilities) come out on two occasions and shared
the challenging sport of Sledge Hockey with our students. This
is an activity which gave our students an opportunity to experience hockey that is played by Manitobans with disabilities. This
activity was a huge success and illustrated to our students that
all individuals with various abilities can have fun and be active.
As spring weather approached, the students were able to venture out into the field area to do some snowshoeing. The
students enjoyed this activity as it allowed them to ex18
plore the many towering snow drifts this year and not sink!!
In celebration of the Festival de Voyager the Grade 4/5 classes built snow sculptures as our entries into the town contest.
The two classes brainstormed, planned and created four lego
blocks. It took three full days of working in groups who carved,
chipped and painted the sculptures. The students had fun
out in the snow working together while being immersed
in the culture of the festival.
Overall, our students have a
better appreciation for winter
and have realized that fun activities can occur regardless of
the weather and temperature.
Thank you to all the teachers
and educational assistants
who helped to make this
winter season a resounding success.
Authentic and Cross-Curricular Learning
To celebrate Earth Week the grade 2/3
class had a discussion about the “preciousness” of our planet. We looked at
some other planets in our solar system,
that are clearly inhospitable to humans,
with extremely hot or cold temperatures
or poisonous atmospheres for example.
We talked about ways that we could
protect our “Spaceship Earth.” To celebrate it’s beauty, so we took advantage
of the sunny, warmer weather on Thursday, April 25th, and went for a walk in
Richer with Baggies in hand to collect
“Planet Treasures.” We took clipboards
to record what we heard, smelled, felt, or
saw and it was amazing what we started
to notice and appreciate as we were actively looking. The excitement was obvious as students found a ladybug (Out in
the early cold spring), discovered a hole
with gushing water, or felt the hardened
sap in the grooves of the bark of an evergreen tree. There were lovely puddles
for wading in, and some tall mounds of
leftover snow for one last winter climb.
Students recorded observations on their
clipboards such as “birds flying in a family” and “lichen in the shape of a small
circle flower.” Once we were back in
school, we examined and categorized
our findings (such as acorns, bark, seeds,
feathers, stones, branches) and decided to
display them in our new hallway display
Chess
Club at PLS
By Collin Anderson, Teacher
G
rades 3 and 4 children at Parc la Salle school have
been playing chess. We started in mid-January during afternoon recesses and have continued, on and off, all
the way through April. It has been an amazing journey! The
children started with a budding interest in the game and
have held onto that interest developing into chess players.
P
arc la Salle students have been taking this new skill home
with them. Our children have been challenging their parents, relatives and friends to games of chess. The dialogue
this has developed has been truly wonderful. Children discuss chess strategies, ideas and plans. In addition to having
a good time playing chess the children have been learning
some great skills. Chess is about developing and improving
memory, pattern recognition, problem-solving and independent decision-making strategies. It requires the use of several
different math practices such as comparing values, calculating sequences and of course recognizing spatial relationships.
I
t has been fun! It was a great way to spend many of those
bitterly cold indoor recesses in January, February and
March.
case.
Other
subjects were
incorporated
such as math,
which was required to estimate how many
objects could fit on the shelves, and how
many items each student could contribute. We also made frames and captions
for the photos taken during our walk.
Sharing our learning with other students
and parents through our displays was an
awesome learning experience. It emphasized to us the importance of protecting
the earth!
SAE Wrestling
By Jens Reuter (wrestling coach) and Trisha Tarr, EA
This year, Ste. Anne Elementary School started the division’s first wrestling program. The wrestling team practiced
during lunch break in the school. This gave all students in
middle school an opportunity to learn about and practice
the “World’s Oldest Sport” in a safe and enjoyable setting.
We began with over 30 students and quickly got
down to eight very committed athletes who chose
to register with Manitoba Wrestling and enter wrestling tournaments throughout Winnipeg. We were assisted by Ste. Anne Chief of Police, Marc Robichaud,
who is a former athlete and wrestling coach. Manitoba Wrestling gave us a $500 grant to purchase mats.
Our students did very well throughout the season collecting numerous medals at the Edmund Partridge, Grant
Park, St Paul’s and East Kildonan tournaments. One of
our athletes won 3 gold medals and was undefeated in
elementary school competition, and placed 2nd in a junior high tournament. (Full results can be found at thttp://
www.mawawrestling.ca/2012-13-schedule.html.) All the
students who competed in the tournaments won medals.
We are so proud of them!
19
Orders Up!
Project-based learning at Arborgate
By Lesa-Jade Chapman, Teacher
“Learning
is
fun! Today was
awesome!”
That was the
general consensus of the grade 1/2 C and 2L classrooms
on Tuesday after they finished having
their “restaurant day.” What better way
to cover science and health learning outcomes about healthy eating and the four
food groups than to plan, make menus
and participate in running a restaurant.
Before Spring Break the students went
on a field trip to Boston Pizza where they
learned about the four food groups, types
of food and what different ingredients are
used for, healthy food handling, how to set
a table, table manners, and how a restaurant runs. This was a great learning experience for them and was a wonderful place
to springboard ideas for our own project.
In class, students compared the types of
restaurants found in our community and
province. Through discussion they began
to understand why restaurant menus can
be dependent on geographical regions.
For example, we do not have many fresh
seafood restaurants in our community because we do not live close to the ocean.
Students also learned about the four food
groups and how each one helps our body.
With that knowledge behind them they
proceeded to plan their menu by coming up with a variety of ideas for a main
dish, side, drink and dessert, all the while
keeping a balanced and healthy variety
in mind. This sparked great discussions
about healthy choices and how to make
our favourite “sometimes” food like
French fries and chicken nuggets healthy.
Students surveyed their prospective patrons, and after graphing and analyzing their data, they finalized their menu
to include two choices for each course.
Helping
the Homeless
By Tianna and Mya , Grade 4 students
Being a good citizen
and thinking about
how to help others can
begin with younger students. Here is
how two students at Parc La Salle School
set out to make a difference and did.
One day during math we started thinking about how we could help the homeless and raise awareness at our school.
We both thought back to the time (about
a year ago) when Hannah Taylor came
to our school and gave a presentation
to us about how she helped the homeless and developed awareness by creating The Lady Bug Foundation. This
foundation is now known Canada-wide.
20
The students and staff of Collège Lorette
Collegiate have been working on an interesting cross-curricular project. They
designed, built and painted an 8’x8’
children’s playhouse. The Social Justice
Group sold raffle tickets for the playhouse. The proceeds will be donated
to “Free the Children: Adopt a Village
in Makeni, Sierra Leone”. After having attended the We Day Conference in
the fall, the project was developed over
the course of the school year by students
who call themselves “United Sting.”
This project united students from multiple
and different courses, coming together to
work on one project. The design of the
playhouse was created in Mrs. Charrière’s
AutoCAD class. Mr. Lamoureux’s Wood
Technology class brought “life” to the
plans, and the playhouse was built by the
Wood Tec students. Once it was built,
Mr. Connor’s Art class was in charge of
With the food choices decided on, students began writing their menus. As a
group they planned every aspect of their
restaurant, including music, art and entertainment. All students were involved
with preparing and cooking the food for
their restaurant. This sparked a variety
of meaningful writing activities including
journaling and recipe/procedural writing.
With excitement and anticipation, our
restaurant day finally came. All students
helped set up the food stations and the
tables. Each student served one person
by taking their order, bringing out their
guest’s food in courses, and cleared dishes along the way. They added up the bill
and made change for their guest. Each
So we asked our principal Mrs. McPike
if we could do a fundraiser to help the
homeless, and decided that selling homemade cookies and homemade Valentines
would be a sure hit with the kids at our
school. At the same time we wanted to
do something good for the homeless.
Once we had the go-ahead from Mrs.
McPike we made cookies, posters, arranged for announcements and sold our
cookies for an entire week during lunch
recess. We decided that if you gave
more than a $ .50 donation you would
receive a cookie and if you gave more
than a $1.50 you would receive two cookies. We also sold some Valentine cards
LittleByHouse
in Lorette
Mathieu Fontaine, Teacher
painting the
playhouse.
The
finishing
touches, such as
drapes, were provided by students from the Fashion Tech class.
The draw date for this children’s playhouse was June 11, 2013, at the Community of Schools BBQ, in Lorette.
This project has given several students
the opportunity to contribute, through
their coursework, on a project that raised
over $3100.00 for the people in need, in
Makeni, Sierra Leone.
A Day of Pink
at Parc La Salle
By Derek Marvin, Teacher
class served each other, so all students
received the full restaurant experience
as well. Having the opportunity to serve
their peers, and their grade 8 buddies was
a true highlight for all. Although, they all
admitted that they loved eating the best!
for any amount that they could give.
On the last Friday of selling our cookies
it was talent night so we set up a table
and when people walked by they bought
cookies and gave us generous donations.
Thanks to everyone in the community
and the students at Parc La Salle as we
were able to raise $275.72. We were
very proud of the amount we raised! In
a couple of weeks we will take this donation down to the Lighthouse Mission.
We hope that the donations we raised will
have an impact on the lives of the homeless or help them in some small way.
We are Tianna and Mya and we hope that
we have inspired you to do something
good for others too!
It was a megatron dance party of epic proportions. The whole
school was pumping at full volume: a cohesive chorus of laughter, cheers, and booming bass that pulsed like a healthy heart-beat.
And, coursing through the arteries of the school on the afternoon of April 10th was the collective positive energy of teachers
and students from Parc La Salle School and École St. Norbert
Immersion. There was a unified frenzy of moves and grooves
from all involved. Organized mayhem—a flash mob! All clad
in bright pink, teachers and students alike were gyrating, vibrating, smiling and sweating. One of the school principals cleared a
space on the dance floor and engaged in a heated dance-off with
a particularly energetic grade 3 student. “I’ve never seen such
wild and impassioned moves,” a stunned bystander remarked
of the rhythmic duo, “and the student was pretty good too!”
ing. Their honest and heartfelt words described what bullying
meant to them and why the issue was important in the world
that they live in. The overall message was profound and made
an obvious impression on all of those who were in attendance.
After the speeches, the entire population of both schools participated in a flash mob: a coordinated and synchronized dance
routine to Katy Perry’s “Firework.” The gigantic smiles that
stretched from ear to ear on the faces of all the students provided
evidence that the event was a huge success. It was clear that the
afternoon had made an indelible mark on all those involved. The
attitudes and energy of all the students that morning were best
expressed by two grade 4 students when they said in unison,
“Let’s make every day a Day of Pink!”
What was the cause of such a raucous affair, you ask? Well,
it was the Day of Pink, of course. With the help of Virgin 103
radio personalities, Chrissy Troy and Jordan Knight, the Parc
La Salle gymnasium served as the venue for a serious discussion and a spirited celebration of empathy, respect and kindness.
The afternoon kicked off with a brief chat about bullying by
the radio hosts. The local celebrities related their own life experiences with bullying and described how it had affected their
lives. Students were also given the opportunity to weigh in
on the subject. Three grade 4 students, two grade 7 students,
and one grade 8 student took the stage to speak about bully21
We Created
Change !!
By Avery & Tiana, LSS Students
During the last week of January, 38
grades 6-8 students from La Salle
School organized a penny-drive
fund raiser. The fundraiser helped
to raise awareness about people in
developing countries who do not have access to safe drinking
water. The students organized information, made posters, P.A
announcements, and visited classrooms to spread the word.
We Create Change is a project directed by Free the Children that provides safe drinking water for people. For each
bag of pennies filled, ($25.00) one person will be given
the opportunity to have safe drinking water for a lifetime.
Thank you to all the students, staff, and community members
(we even had a bag at the Co-op) who helped raise $681.00.
That’s over 27 bags of pennies. We were able to provide 27 people with safe drinking water for the rest
of their lives! What
a gift!! We Created
Change!
CLC Sharing Circle:
Commitment Through ACTION
By Sharing Circle students, Mrs. Hamilton and M. Godbout
T
he Sharing Circle was created as a tool to help students at CLC develop a voice and a
sense of community and gain knowledge of the Indigenous people of Canada. This is our
second year together. By working together we feel we have made a difference in our school
and our community. We have just begun to recognize how much our efforts are needed and
look forward to continuing to help out in years to come.
his year we organized a school food drive that donated 39,276 pounds of food to the
Taché Food Bank, learned about the Seven Sacred Teachings through a Drumming
Circle, organized a clothes drive for Siloam Mission, created two community murals for our
school and created and presented stories to the younger students in our division.
s part of the Aboriginal Academic Achievement categorical grant we hope that we have
increased awareness and greater understanding of aboriginal cultures. We see ourselves
as young leaders that will continue to inspire our community, to challenge biases and
stereotypes, and to offer multiple opportunities for growth.
T
A
Breakfast
At LBC
By K. Dupuis, Educational Assistant
Do you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the
day? At La Barriere Crossings School we believe that wholeheartedly. It has been proven that students who start their school
day with a full stomach are better equipped to focus more clearly.
My name is Kathy Dupuis. I work as an Educational Assistant
at La Barriere Crossings School and I run the Breakfast Club for
our students on a daily basis.
I took over the program two and half years ago and have seen
a slow and steady increase in the number of students attending.
This program is twofold, ensuring our students arrive on time,
and allowing our students to begin their day with a full stomach.
Our Breakfast Club runs solely on donations and volunteer
hours. The students and I have been fortunate enough to have
had the assistance of our librarian, Mrs. Inness, most days since
Christmas. Numerous other staff members have volunteered
22
in a variety ways—donation of time, food preparation/cleanup,
money and/or food. We also receive monetary support from two
different grants—Breakfast for Learning and Child Nutrition
Council of Manitoba. Support has also come from St. Norbert
Bingo, St. Norbert Eagles Club-Ladies Auxiliary and the Fraternal Order of Retired Eagles. Milk has been donated by SafewayFort Richmond. We have received food donations from many
families in the area, as well as donations of gift cards from students and their families. A student and his sibling donated some
of their allowance towards a gift card for our program and they
do not even attend.
As well, we have had two large breakfasts supplied by Superstore on Bison Drive. The staff there volunteer and they bring
ALL the supplies. A pancake breakfast was supplied in January
complete with fruit trays, milk to drink and mini granola bars. A
second one in March saw smoothies being served. A huge thank
you to Superstore for all of their support. There have been 4,445
breakfasts served up to April 30 at an average cost of 97¢ per
student. We are always willing to accept donations of cereals,
fresh fruit, juices, eggs, bread and jams to our program.
This is a great way for our students to start their day. The room
is filled with chatter and laughter.
Putting the Lab
Back In Clabsroom
By Dale Kibbins, Teacher
On March 22nd, the grade 7 students from
Dawson Trail School had the opportunity
to visit the Youth BIOlab. This divisionally supported event took students to the
newly constructed facility located at the
St. Boniface Hospital. Officially opened
just a month prior to their visit, the facility
provides a space for students and teachers
to explore and experience real biomedical
science in a world-class research centre.
The day started with an introduction to
medical experiments worked on within the
complex as well as a tour of the facility.
Students were then engaged in a hands-on
activity to see how a virus spreads through
a population. It was an eye-opening experience for them to realize how many individuals they are exposed to in a day, and how rapidly a virus can move through a population.
They then went through the process of seeing how scientists can trace the origins of
a virus back to the index case or ‘patient
zero’, and learned how this could be helpful
in understanding how to prevent the further
spreading of the infection or disease, as
well as in developing possible treatments.
The students proceeded to their final task
of extracting DNA from bacteria. Students learned about mixtures and saturation points, and through a series of steps
(that can be reproduced at home; Google
‘extract DNA from a banana to try it for
yourself!), each group managed to isolate a DNA pellet from the bacteria.
Having the opportunity to work in an advanced research lab was an outstanding opportunity for students, and it is hoped that
it will help foster a deep and lasting love
for the sciences. To quote one excited student, “This isn’t the kind of thing you get to
do every day!” Perhaps in the future, they
will be the bright minds responsible for important advances in medicine. I for one am
hoping they find a way to make getting out
of bed a bit easier in the morning.
CSNC Europe
Trip March 2013
By Hannah , CSNC Student
London, Paris and Amsterdam - the three
cities CSNC visited on this year’s Europe
trip and we had a blast in all three. Europe is very different from North America
and that was very visible in our first stop,
London! We did several tours in London
- a walking tour, a bus tour and a Jack the
Ripper tour; they all gave us a very different perspective of London. We went to
a couple of museums - a history museum
and an art museum, and we explored Camden Market. On our final day in London
we went to the Tower of London. There
we saw the crown jewels and learned a
lot about British Royalty. The next day
we took the Chunnel, a train that travels under the English Channel, to Paris!
I was really excited to be in Paris! We started off by walking around the city and seeing different famous land marks from afar.
We saw the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame and
the Louvre. We visited all three up close
later on. Paris is a very beautiful city; we
took a bus tour and a river boat tour to see
it from every angle! We also visited the
Versailles Palace; it is huge and filled with
art and gold. We went up the Eiffel Tower
at night and saw all the shining lights of
the city. Another place from which you
can get a good view of Paris is Montmartre, a hill where lots of artists hang out,
because it offers a great view of the city.
for a bike ride, which was a lot of fun and
one of the highlights of the trip! In Amsterdam we also visited the Anne Frank
House. It is a very historically powerful
place, which was also pretty emotional.
All in all, we had an amazing trip! I think
I can speak for everyone by saying that
we are so glad to have had this experience!
We took the Thalys train to get to Amsterdam. Once in Amsterdam, it quickly
became apparent that Amsterdam would
be more laid back than the other cities we
visited. This was especially nice after the
hustle and bustle of London and Paris. We
went on a walking and canal tour of Amsterdam. Amsterdam has a lot of canals
and a lot of bicycles! We rented bicycles
on the final day and a couple of us went
23
ARB Students By–Viktoria,
Exploring Their Futures at the Career Symposium
Ally, Alina, Grade 8 students
O
n April 9, 2013, the grade 8 classes and Career Trek students of
Arborgate went on a field trip to the Career Symposium in Winnipeg. We boarded the bus filled with anticipation and full of curiosity about
what awaited us. Everyone had different expectations, but the
hours that followed blew our minds. Entering the building was
like stepping into a different world. I remember looking into
everyone’s faces and seeing that glow of excitement light up in
their eyes. We ascended the stairs, still looking around in amazement. Our supervisors trusted in our independence, and simply
told us to get lost and explore. And we did.
e explored every corner of the building, following our own
intentions and getting caught up in all the different pros-
W
pects accessible to us. We got carried away with our plans and
dreams for the future and started to see everything from a new
perspective. While some just wandered about, lost in their own
world, others took part in presentations by exceptional speakers
who were exceedingly experienced in their careers. Through the
course of the day each and every one of us had the opportunity
to discover our individual mind.
ur hungry attentions got fed by this wonderful field trip.
We all were definitely happy with what we were shown
that day and were given enough information to establish goals
for our own futures. We were taught that it’s O.K. to have wild
goals and that these goals are possible to accomplish in a variety
of colleges. Now we will be ready to start our own future!
O
Our Trip to Québec City
By Mme. Harding and the ESNI Grade 7 students
at the Québec aquarium. We went rock
climbing at the Délire Escalade, enjoyed
beverages at the Ice Hotel and spoke more
French than we ever thought possible.
Then from April 15th-22nd, our exchange partners came to visit us!
This year we had an unforgettable experience! We participated in an exchange
funded by the YMCA from March 1118th with a school from Québec City
called École des Pionniers. Many of us
were flying for the first time, and after
a bit of turbulence we arrived safely!
We were greeted by our exchange partners and their parents at the airport and
that is where we met face to face for the
first time. Thanks to technology, many
of us had already “face-timed” or talked on Facebook prior to the exchange.
We quickly went to the host school
and were fed a delicious pizza meal.
During the week, we participated in many
new and exciting activities such as: downhill tubing at Valcartier, watching a movie
at Imax in French and touching stingrays
24
We were so excited to host our group
here in Winnipeg! We think we did a
great job! We were fortunate to have
Dave Gaudreau, the St.Norbert MLA,
present a Manitoba flag to our visitors at
our meet-and-greet pizza meal. The following days were filled with new experiences such as visiting the Legislature with
Dave Gaudreau as our special chaperone,
eating and shopping at Polo Park and at
the Forks, volunteering at the YMCA
and swimming in their pool. We had a
special presentation from the Winnipeg
Police Service K-9 Division. It was awesome! We went to the Royal Canadian
Mint, tried to do old-school roller skating
at Wheelies (we even tried the limbo!),
loved the Nonsuch and the dinosaurs at
the Manitoba Museum and learned how
to sing and dance to the song Footloose
(or as they would say it Froot Loops!)
at MTYP. We shared our important love
of Slurpees and some of us even got to
go see a Jets game (TRUE NORTH!).
The Quebec students were surprised to
hear our National Anthem being played
every morning. A few of the Quebec stu-
dents even said some of our morning announcements over the intercom. What a
surprise when a special bus showed up
at our school to take our partners to the
airport on their last day here…through
the tears came smiles of excitement when
they saw the stretched Hummer limousine! That’s how we roll here in Manitoba
- pretty classy eh? What a great send off!
All in all, we are so thankful to so many
people for helping us have this experience.
We believe other students should have the
opportunity to go on exchanges in order to have new experiences, meet new
people, make new friends, learn new cultures and languages and have the freedom
and responsibility of being on their own.
We learned to take risks, not to be afraid,
how to budget our money and choose things
to buy, how to act in public places (we
were often told how polite we were!). We
are closer now with our friends and teachers from school because of this experience.
Thank you to everyone who helped make
this exchange happen and be the best it
could be!
SAI HostsByaJennifer,
“Café
Parisien”
Student
O
ur grades 7 & 8 classes of École
Ste. Anne Immersion hosted a Café
Parisien in our library on Thursday March
7, 2013, with the assistance of our teacher.
The goal of this event was to raise funds
for our Newfoundland Exchange Trip in
June 2013.
ur teacher brought to us the idea of
hosting a Café as a fundraiser as well
as to promote oral French. We had lots
of fun brainstorming menu items. It was
incredibly difficult deciding which food
and beverage items could go on the menu,
and finally we decided on the following:
chicken and cheese quesadillas, cheese
buns, tortilla chips and salsa, Caesar salad,
various cheesecakes, banana chocolate
chip muffins, fruit smoothies, juice boxes
and coffee. The most difficult part was
deciding which desserts to serve because
O
there were so many delicious ideas! Once
we received our food orders from parents,
we were able to plan how much food we
needed to purchase.
n preparation for the Café, we had to
select specific tasks to perform. We
created likely scenarios and scripts. We
were then able to practice our roles to
ensure we were ready for our guests.
n the day of the big event, we were
able to set up the café, which meant
putting up tables, selecting bright and
inviting tablecloths and centerpieces, and
placing the cutlery. We also learned how to
prepare the food, like flipping quesadillas
and blending fruit into smoothies. Then
we started greeting guests as they arrived.
We planned to serve over ninety people
and therefore had to prepare three separate
reservation times.
fter the guests were welcomed, our
ushers directed them to their assigned
tables. The waiters, after practicing for
days, served our guests, utilizing only a
French vocabulary. With much patience,
the guests waited for their delicious
food, and seemed to enjoy every morsel.
Naturally, after the Café’s customers left,
the tables had to be cleaned; this was
perfected by the bussers, clearing plates
and putting out new cutlery for our next
I
O
set of reservations.
n the end, it was
a fantastic day as
well as an excellent
experience
for
our class and the community. It turns out
we selected a good variety of food for
our menu. Our service was amazing due
to all the practice we had in class prior
to the beginning of the Café Parisien.
We attempted to remain extremely
organized throughout the day in order to
ensure our guests received their food in
a timely manner. In the end we cleaned
up everything and devoured the delicious
extra food. Serving our guests with the
goal of raising money for our trip to
Newfoundland was just awesome.
I
A
Congratulations to
Mme
Suzanne Cormier
By Simon Laplante, Assistant Superintendent
Madame Suzanne Cormier, Vice-Principal of Collège St-Norbert Collegiate, received the Irene Mahé
Award on May 10 2013 at the Festival Théatre Jeunesse
Gala. This award is given to an educator who has engaged his or her students in French drama productions.
For over 15 years Mme Cormier
has helped her students compose
plays, put them together and then
present them at the Festival Théatre Jeunesse. We are very proud
of Mme Cormier for her dedication and creativity.
Congratulation to Our
Educational
Assistants
By Elaine Lochhead,
Assistant Superintendent
Educational Assistants are an
important part of the staff in our
schools. In May we recognized
three assistants who had completed
the 300 hour EA program. This
program includes five courses
offered over two years. While
school students often have to put
in extra hours of homework for their courses, we have adults
learning in the evenings and on weekends to improve their skills!
We recognize the hard work of Tammi Funk, Melody Belot
and Claire Rivard who have completed the Seine River School
Division’s Educational Assistant Development Course in May
2013.
25
Yvan St. Vincent Outstanding School Leader Award
YVAN ST. VINCENT, of Ste. Anne
Collegiate and Ste. Anne Elementary School in the Seine River School
Division, is the recipient of the Outstanding
School
Leader Award.
Mr. St. Vincent became Principal at a time when the adjoined
schools were facing many challenges with student performance
and behavior, staff morale, and the school’s reputation in the
community. Mr. St. Vincent demonstrated excellence in leadership through his clarity of vision, his progressive ideas and
his collaborative approach. Teachers from both schools were
brought together into an effective and cohesive group that felt
empowered and respected. Students were engaged in ways that
improved the school climate while focusing on developing the
academic, social and emotional skills that would allow them to
succeed and thrive as learners. Parents and community leaders
were invited to work collectively with educators to foster
school pride and to strengthen
the positive role of the school
within the community. In the
words of Superintendent Michael Borgfjord “Thanks to
Yvan, in the past three years
we have witnessed a tremendous transformation of the
academic, social and community life for staff and students.”
DELF – B2 exam
By Simon Laplante, Assistant Superintendent
Congratulation to these CSNC and CLC Immersion students who
completed successfully the DELF-B2 exam. The DELF is an international assessment for oral and written proficiency in a second
language. By completing this exam, these students have access to
French universities worldwide. The DELF-B2 indicates that an individual understands and can use his or her second language at a level required to undertake post-secondary education. SRSD is proud to present our first cohort
of immersion students graduating with the DELF Certificate.
Office of the Fire
Commissioner
Honours Grade 7 Student at DTS
By Pamela Rudy, Principal
J
eanette Pavily, a grade 7 student at DTS,
was honored at an assembly on May 30th.
Jeanette created the winning poster in a contest to raise awareness for fire safety. The
poster was deemed number one in the province of all grade 7 entries.
n May 30th, representatives from the
Office of the Fire Commissioner, Fire
Fighters Burn Fund
and our local Fire
Department
presented Jeanette with
a Certificate of Recognition, a framed
photo of her poster
and an IPOD Touch.
Jeanette’s classroom
was also awarded a
cheque for $500.00.
O
26
The SRSD Citizenship Award was established by our school board in 2004
to recognize students who have made important contributions to their
school community. The SRSD trustees believe that in every school we have
exceptional students who volunteer countless hours for the
betterment of our communities. 2013 recipients are:
Early Years:
Middle Years:
High School:
Avery and Ethan Cochrane - ELI
Tyra Turbovsky - RCH
Kaira Lavallee - SAC
Teams:
McKenna Burbank, Samantha Vien and
Emerald Sebastian - EIDC
CLC Sharing Circle - CLC
2014 MSBA Student Citizenship Award Nominee:
Individual:
Tyra Turbovsky - RCH
Team:
CLC Sharing Circle - CLC
Teacher Candidate
Experience
By Miss Jack
My time spent at La Barriere Crossings
School as a student teacher was nothing short of wonderful. Mrs. Pirie and
her grade six class, the staff and the
entire student body made it such great
experience for a soon-to-be educator!
My classroom involvement included
teaching a unit on World War II in Social Studies. The students showed great
interest in this and were especially engaged when we covered the Holocaust.
They were eager to learn more and had
so many questions and offered great input. As well, I taught a unit on poetry.
The children wrote their own poems,
which included poems for Lights Out
(Earth Day). The topics included what
Earth Day and being “green” meant
to them. I will be forever grateful for
Mrs. Pirie’s encouragement, as well as
the relationship I was able to build with
the students.
I was able to participate and be included in such school activities as Pink
Day, which was in support of the Anti-
Bullying initiative, as well as the We
Are Silent project that was in support
of Free the Children. This included the
students getting pledges and being silent for the whole day. At Christmas, I
had the opportunity to enjoy a very entertaining concert put on by the band,
which was then followed by everyone
singing carols over a bonfire and sipping hot chocolate.
During my time at the school I helped
coach the grade 7/8 girls’ volleyball
team and we were able to acquire new
team jerseys with the help of a generous donation from Walmart Canada.
The team looked great in their new
uniforms.
La Barriere Crossings School’s welcoming environment was every student
teacher’s dream. It was an experience I
will never forget. Thank you so much
for the great memories and for helping me achieve success in my life-long
passion of becoming a teacher.
Creative Young Minds Award
Middle Years Divisional Award Recipients
Ward 1
Ward 2
Ward 3
Katrina Purcha
LAS
Josephine Nabulizi ESAS
Cordelia St. Laurent ESAI
High School Divisional Award Recipients
Ward 1
Ward 2
Ward 3
David Wolkowski
CSNC
Courtney Wray
CLC
Alexandra Broesky SAC
27
Seine River School Division
475A Senez St., Lorette, MB R0A 0Y0
Ph: 204-878-4713 Fax: 204-878-4717
Email [email protected] Website: www.srsd.mb.ca
K-8 E
La Salle School
43 Beaudry St., La Salle, MB R0G 1B0
K-4 E Parc La Salle School
190 Houde Dr., St. Norbert, MB R3V 1C5
5-8 E La Barrière Crossings School
245 LeMaire St., St. Norbert, MB R3V 1M2
9-12 I Collège St. Norbert Collegiate
9-12 E 870 Ste. Thérèse Ave., St. Norbert, MB R3V 1H8
K-8 I École St. Norbert Immersion
900 Ste. Thérèse Ave., St. Norbert, MB R3V 1H8
K-8 I École St. Adolphe School
K-8 E 444 La Seine St., St. Adolphe, MB R5A 1C2
K-8 I École Ile des Chênes School
K-8 E Box 250, 455 d’Auteuil, Ile des Chênes, MB R0A 0T0
9-12 I Collège Lorette Collegiate
9-12 E 1082 Dawson Road, Lorette, MB R0A 0Y0
K-8 E Dawson Trail School
Box 70, 425 Senez St., Lorette, MB R0A 0Y0
K-8 I École Lorette Immersion
475 Senez St., Lorette, MB R0A 0Y0
9-12 E Ste. Anne Collegiate
197 St. Alphonse Ave., Ste. Anne, MB R5H 1G3
K-8 E Ste. Anne Elementary School
177 St. Alphonse Ave., Ste. Anne, MB R5H 1G3
K-8 I École Ste. Anne Immersion
167 St. Alphonse Ave., Ste. Anne, MB R5H1G3
K-8 E Richer School
Box 9, Dawson Rd., Richer, MB R0E 1S0
K-8 E Arborgate School
Box 40, 139 Principale St., La Broquerie, MB R0A 0W0
Ste. Anne Adult Learning Centre
34 Centrale Ave., Box 1113, Ste. Anne, MB R5H 1C1
Ph: 204-736-4366 Fax: 204-736-2709
Email: [email protected] www.lss.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-269-1503 Fax: 204-261-4626
Email: [email protected] www.pls.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-275-5048 Fax: 204-275-6299
Email: [email protected] www.lbc.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-269-4920 Fax: 204-269-9969
Email: [email protected] www.snc.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-261-4430 Fax: 204-269-0925
Email: [email protected] www.sni.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-883-2182 Fax: 204-883-2612
Email: [email protected] www.sas.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-878-2898 Fax: 204-878-3491
Email: [email protected] www.idc.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-878-2887 Fax: 204-878-3582
Email: [email protected] www.clc.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-878-2929 Fax: 204-878-3576
Email: [email protected] www.dts.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-878-4233 Fax: 204-878-4237
Email: [email protected] www.eli.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-422-5417 Fax: 204-422-5614
Email: [email protected] www.sac.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-422-8776 Fax: 204-422-8262
Email: [email protected] www.sae.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-422-8762 Fax: 204-422-8498
Email: [email protected] www.sai.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-422-5490 Fax: 204-422-8625
Email: [email protected] www.rch.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-424-5607 Fax: 204-424-5206
Email: [email protected] www.arb.srsd.mb.ca
Ph: 204-422-5627 Fax: 204-422-5633
Email: [email protected] www.alc.srsd.ca