St. Mark Newsletter - St. Mark Junior High School

11625 135 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
T5M 1L1
Phone: 780-455 1684
Fax: 780-454 9883
www.stmark.ecsd.net
https://powerschool.ecsd.net
St. Mark Newsletter
What an exciting start to our 2013-2014 school year! Our student enrollment saw an increase from last year and currently sits
at 139 students! Furthermore, we are undergoing a few subtle changes around the halls of St. Mark; be sure to ask your child
about them or drop in, check things out, and say hello!
We want to thank the many parents who attended our Meet the Staff Barbecue. We were very pleased to have the opportunity to meet so many parents and share our gifts and talents with the community! Thank you to all who attended. Your participation is essential in building positive relationships and shows your children that we all take an active role in their education.
We began our year with a Welcome Celebration liturgy on Thursday, September 10. What a wonderful way it was to commence
our school year together! It was a pleasure to find out first hand what a superb and joyous community we work in! Many thanks
to all of us who made our annual Terry Fox Day run such a success. Together we raised over $300! Our students met the challenge and as a result everyone enjoyed the event and through all the fun, were able to remember Terry Fox and his tremendous efforts to raise a greater awareness of Cancer. We also had quite the line-up for Read-In week! A sampling included:
Edmonton Center MP Honourable Laurie Hawn, DJ Derek Allen from Fresh 92.5 FM , John Dunham Marketing Exec from
Universal Music , Kim Krushell Ward 2 City Councillor , ECSD Ward 71 Trustee/Board Chair Becky Kallal , CTV Anchor Bill
Fortier, Minister of Culture/ MLA for Edmonton-Glenora- Heather Klimchuk. Thanks to all our readers who volunteered
their time and supported the St. Mark community. Please be sure to read on inside as we
have more student activity information including our Grade 7 Retreat, athletics updates,
and exciting band activities and opportunities.
Staff at St. Mark are committed to academic excellence and professional development.
This year staff will continue developing the following educational initiatives including:

21st Century Fluencies
*Universal Design

Personalized Learning Environments
*Project Based Inquiry
As we begin to “Transform” learning for our students, there will be greater emphasis on
the learner than on the system; on competencies than on content; on inquiry, and discovery, on application of knowledge than on dissemination of information; and on technology to
support the creation and sharing of knowledge rather than on technology to support
teaching.
We ask God to bless us all as we continue to forge ahead and embark on exciting new
learning discoveries!
Joe Gulli
Principal
OFFICE HOURS
Please note that our school office is open form 8:00 am—3:30 pm. After
hours, the telephone answering machine is available to record student absences or to leave messages for the staff. Please remember that we are
happy to give your child a message at lunch or at the end of the day. We
thank you for understanding for not wanting to interrupt your child during
class time. All visitors to the school are kindly asked to report to the Office.
STUDENT ABSENCES
Parents, please be sure to call the school if your child will be away from
school or if they will be arriving late. It is very important for us to know that
the children who are absent from school are safely home or with their parents.
The school number is 780-455-1684. ALL students must report to the office to receive a
late slip before going to class.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!!!
School Advisory Council Meeting/ Parent Advisory Council
Our first meeting was Wednesday, October 2, 2013. Thanks to all who
attended! The minutes will be posted on the St. Mark website after
they are approved at the next meeting. The date for the next Parent
Advisory Council will be Wednesday, November 20th @ 6:30 pm.
Please consider volunteering for our school casino which is on November 7 & 8th. A volunteer form is attached to this newsletter.
Please fill it out and send it back with your child no later than October
23! Please contact Mrs. Butti our Casino Coordinator at [email protected], or call the office
should you have any questions! Your support is critical!
SCHOOL WEBSITE
St. Mark posts all information on the website such as newsletters, calendars, special events, and Parent Council minutes/agendas. Any feedback on our new look is greatly appreciated.
Check us out: www.stmark.ecsd.net
MEDICAL ALERTS
Upon occasion, parents request that staff members administer medication to students who are not sufficiently mature or reliable to care for
their own needs. In order to administer medication to a student, we require a “Request for Administration of Medication/Medical Treatment
Form” be completed and on file in the office. A copy of this form may be
obtained from the school office. It is the parents’ responsibility to keep
us informed of medical conditions and correct information regarding
treatment and emergency contact information.
ACCIDENTS AND FIRST AID
First aid will be given to any student who is injured on the premises or
on the school grounds. If the parent cannot be reached, we will contact
the person who is listed as an emergency contact on our Student
Information Records. It is extremely important that we have accurate
contact information from parents. If a phone number changes, please
let us know right away.
ENROLLMENT AT ST. MARK
St. Mark’s September 30th enrollment numbers have been finalized. Our enrollment has increased since last year and we are very excited to be housing 139 students for the
2013/2014 school year.
7A
21
Mrs. Saul
7B
21
Mr. Clericuzio
8A
19
Ms. O’Connor
8B
20
Mrs. Zimmer
9A
20
Ms. Filiplic
9B
23
Ms. Hawryliw
EE1
7
Ms. Yustak
EE 2/3
8
Ms. Kulig/ Mrs. MacLeod
Total 139
HELP PREVENT THE SPREAD OF ILLNESS
• Avoid sharing water bottles and other items that can transfer germs from
one person to another.
• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before you touch your
eyes, nose or mouth, and especially before eating.
• Cough or sneeze into your sleeve or elbow. If you use a tissue, discard it
immediately and wash your hands with soap & warm water.
• Clean the surfaces of gym equipment before and after using it.
• Clean common household surfaces regularly, especially when someone in
the household is ill.
SCHOOL EMERGENCIES
The safety of our students is always our first priority and students are well supervised when
they are on school property. When situations occur that warrant emergency procedures to ensure the
safety of all students, we will provide parents with accurate and up to date information. Parents will be
informed about an emergency and the safety procedures that have been put in place is by posting information on the school website...www.stmark.ecsd.net, and through our telephone call out method (School
Connects). Information will be posted and updated as required when a school is
experiencing an emergency. If there is an emergency situation at the school
where your child (ren) attend, check the school website to stay informed and receive timely information. We also need to keep phone lines available at the
school during an emergency, so we ask that you do not call the school. This will
enable the staff at the school to keep in touch with emergency providers and
district personnel. Thank you for your support and help in ensuring our students remain safe.
PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Students may bring their own devices to school for educational purposes during class time
and under direct teacher supervision. Please note that no school pictures or videos of any
kind may be posted on any social media or personal sites. Teachers and Administrators are able to retain any personal electronic device if deemed necessary. We have WIFI at St. Mark and students
will work from the CLOUD and follow the same internet safety precautions and sites as if they were wired in a lab. Please understand
students have signed a responsible digital citizenship agreement with
our school district. Failure to adhere to this policy can result in a r
moval of privileges. We ask students to refrain from texting, listening to music, watching videos, gaming, or social networking of any kind unless it is directed by the teacher as part of the educational program. St. Mark school is not responsible for lost or damaged items. No technical support is available for personal devices. Let us
practice good Digital Citizenship!!!!
PROTOCOL FOR PARENT CONCERNS—FIRST CONTACT
Edmonton Catholic Schools recognizes the freedom of all members
of the school community (students, staff, parents and neighbours)
to voice their concerns in an appropriate manner to the appropriate
school personnel. The principle of “first contact” needs to be
followed. This means that the person(s) who have the concern,
have the responsibility to begin addressing the concern directly
with those persons with whom they have the concern before taking the concern elsewhere.
If resolution is not found please then involve school administration and School Operations
Services (SOS) as needed. All parties will deal with concerns in a manner that is consistent
with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
PROVINCIAL ACHIEVEMENT TEST RESULTS
Acceptable
Acceptable
Excellence
Excellence
School
Province
School
Province
Language Arts
85.7
87.2
14.3
16.8
Math
88.5
74.6
15.4
20.5
Math K and E
100
65.8
50
16.7
Social
67.9
73.6
14.3
21.7
Science
88.9
81.5
18.5
22.4
Science K and E
100
78.8
0
16.7
The results for the 2012-2013 Provincial Achievement Tests are in. Once again, our students
performed well on these exams.
PROPERTY TAXES
All property owners are encouraged to examine their Tax Notice to ensure that your support is assigned to Edmonton Catholic Schools.. Please
ensure that your taxes are being allocated to our district. If there is a
mistake, please call City Hall at 780-496-5090.
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Edmonton Catholic Schools invites all our parents to participate in our COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS:
PLANNING
FOR THE
FUTURE consultation process. The purpose of these Community
Conversations is to elicit comments and solutions to the question:
How can Edmonton Catholic School District’s utilization be improved?
Here are some key messages that are addressed on the Community Conversations: Planning
for the Future website:

Edmonton Catholic Schools has over 10,000 empty student spaces.

The cost of operating these empty spaces far exceeds the funding we receive from Alberta Education for school building operations and maintenance.

In the District’s 2013-2014 budget, 2.9 million instructional dollars (funds intended for
teaching and learning) will be used to heat, light, clean and maintain schools that are under
-utilized.
Edmonton Catholic Schools will ask all stakeholders, including staff, parents, secondary students, parishes and community leagues, to participate in planning for the future as we deal
with our District’s utilization issue. We are asking all interested parties to go to the COMMUNITY
CONVERSATIONS: PLANNING FOR
THE
FUTURE website, become familiar with the infor-
mation it contains, and post their comments in the Forum section. We encourage to participate in the discussion through the online Forum which will be open until January 7th
2014. The website address is: http://community-conversations-planning-for-the-future.ca/
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A WORD FROM OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM…


 Our first Spirit Day – Twin Day was a great success! Congratulations
to our winners who received a Starbucks gift
card to share a beverage and Christian fellowship with their “twin” :)
 Our annual Read-In Week celebration has
brought in many wonderful and exciting guests
into St. Mark including the Honorable Laurie Hawn, City
Councilor Kim Krushell, Minister of Culture/ MLA Heather
Klimchuk and many, many more! The leadership team and
Mrs. Filiplic would like to extend a huge thank you to Melanie, a parent in our
school community, who has helped secure some wonderful
speakers! Our students have been busy reading for 15 minutes each day and entering our Read-In week ballot box! We will
draw for a $50.00 ITunes card at the end of the day on Friday.
Our annual food bank drive began on Tuesday, October 8th and will continue until Wednesday, October 16th.
Our wonderful school community will be collecting non-perishable items for the Edmonton Food Bank. All
are welcome to drop off much needed items in the Edmonton Food Bank boxes located in our front foyer.
Thank you for your generosity St. Mark!!
Halloween is quickly approaching and your Student Leadership team is busy making plans to create a funfilled morning! Our fist dance of the year will be our Halloween Howler on Thursday, October 31st beginning
at 930am! We will be having a costume contest for some of the most creative costumes!
We thank you for your continued support!
Edmonton Catholic Schools - Online Financial Budget Survey
YOUR CHILD!
YOUR VOICE!
Edmonton Catholic Schools believes it is essential to involve parents in providing input into
the budget process. In preparation for the upcoming 2014-2015 budget it is important that
the district gather as much information as possible. Therefore, as a parent of Edmonton
Catholic Schools, your feedback will provide a valuable contribution in the decision making
process. We would like to gather your input through an online survey. The survey can be accessed through the District Website, School Website, Powerschool or by using the URL address provided.
URL Address: Click on the following link or enter the address in the web browser
http://financialservicessurvey.ecsd.net/
District Website: Go to http://ecsd.net then go to the slider indicating the Online Financial Budget Survey and
follow the directions.
Powerschool: Parents log on to Powerschool as you normally would to check your child’s progress. Once in Powerschool, click on the tab “Financial Budget Survey”. This tab will take you directly to the online survey.
The survey is open from November 1 to November 30. We encourage all families to fill out the survey. The survey will only take a few minutes to complete.
Survey results will be shared with the Edmonton Catholic School District Budget Committee in January for
consideration during the 2014-2015 budget process
Concert Band is now underway. Congratulations to the new grade seven, eight
and nine band members who joined the St. Mark Junior Concert Band Performing Group and who will be committing to all rehearsals throughout the year especially those on Tuesday and Thursdays before school begins.
Rehearsals begin at 7: 45 AM sharp.
Acebedo, Sergei
Fedoruk, John
Fedoruk, Robert
Gonzales, Allisa
Hettiarachchige, Ishara
Kaluhendige, Suhiry
Lagman, Nicole
Lascano, Nico
Limbo, Shania
Lucas, Nicole
Mendoza, Maeryll
Mirasol, Patricia
Mulugeta, Tamerate
Norotti, Christina
Poole, Chloe
Pryer, Cassandra
Schooley, Rachel
Shewchuk, Kalyna
Yacyshyn, Alexa
Acebedo, Joanna
Bull, Anik
Clark, Conner
Garnica, Andrew
Guenette, Owen
Hamilton, Sadey
Lagman, Baltazar
Lim, Loida
Lipovcevic, Lana
Mendoza, Romel
Mercado, Jazmine
Mirasol, Ellinor
Mirasol, Patricia
Nguyen-Reyes, Alex
Parrillas, Matthew
Tesfay, Danait
Thivierge, Pierre
Velasquez, Rian
Villagonzalo, Alicia
Villanueva, Clyde
Waldner, Dallas
Yacyshyn, Maxwell
The St. Mark Concert Band has a Spring Tour planned for Calgary/Banff/Drumheller
th
on Wednesday, April 30th
, 2014 through to Friday, May 2nd, 2014. There will be more
information available for this trip at a later date.
There were over 20 grade 7 students who participated in the “Jump Start” or “Pro Days”
program which was held at St. Joseph’s High
School on Saturday, September 21st. Mr. Greg
Dewing, the music director at St. Joseph High
School, once again did an outstanding job coordinating this special event for all Grade 7 band
students in the entire district. The students
had the opportunity to work with clinicians
learning basic instrument knowledge, tone production and assembly of their instrument.
Some students were also given semi private
music instruction.
Camp Nakumun is booked for Thursday, December 5th, to Friday, December 6th,
2013. This mandatory meeting will discuss the overnight trip and at this time parents
will sign permission forms and make a payment to St. Mark Junior High. We look forward to seeing all band parents join us for this information session.
St. Mark Athletics
A big thank you goes out to the Senior Boys Soccer team that finished
their season at the end of September. Miss O'Connor would like to
thank all the boys for their dedication and hard work they put in this
season. Well done!
The Senior Girls Volleyball team will kick off their season with a
HOME game against St. Alphonsus on Tuesday, October 22nd,
2013. All spectators are welcome! Miss O'Connor would like to
thank all girls that came out for try outs this year and encourage
those to try out again next year.
Senior Boys Soccer Team 2013
Jodi Cantos
Michael Assefa
Jannell Cantos
Akok Aken
Senior Girls Volleyball Team 2013
Morgan Savage
Sady Giroux-Lafleur
Shaylene Scheu
Rachael Schooley
Senior Boys Volleyball 2013
The St. Mark's senior boys volleyball team is
looking forward to a wonderful season filled
with excitement, competition and comradery. The following students will be representing our school.
Nicole Morozewich
Isaac Tanner
Precious Ayolade
Dylan Nerling
Karla Hendry
Manvir Jutla
Lucas Osmond
Loida Lim
Pablo Quinones
Rylie Stewart
Amanda Black
Akok Aken
Skylar Shaw
Justin Quinones
Lana Lipovcevic
Jasper Tumbocon
Lorenzo BruniBossio
Justin Quinones
Jayden Ward
Tamerate Mulugeta
Curtis Deboer
Andrew Wood
Zechariah Doiron
Lucas Osmond
Lorenzo Bruni-Bossio
Josh Leis
Matthew Parillas
Nathaniel Efuwape
Sergei Acebedo.
Ben Skelhorn-Mcinneis
The proud head coach of the boys team is
Mr. Clericuzio.
Filipe Da Silva Vidal
Manson Campbell
Adan Rothermal
CROSS COUNTRY
The Cross Country season was very successful for St. Mark's this year. A total of 59 students from St. Mark Junior High School participated in the 2km run down at Gold Bar
park earlier this month. All junior high schools from the Edmonton Catholic District are
enrolled in this event annually and we were very fortunate to have a large particiaption
rate in comparison to years in the past, well done Lions! The students represented St.
Mark Junior High school in a respectful manner and we hope to continue this trend next
year! Miss O'Connor would like to thank all students and staff that assisted with this
event.
Participants of the Cross Country Team 2013:
Grade
Grade 77
Grade
Grade 88
Grade
Grade 99
Akok
Akok Aken
Aken
Janellie
Janellie Espino
Espino
Sady
Sady Giroux-Lafleur
Giroux-Lafleur
Naomi
Naomi Willette-Costa
Willette-Costa
Faith
Faith Pariseau
Pariseau
Loida
Loida Lim
Lim
Morgan
Morgan Savage
Savage
Christina
Christina Norotti
Norotti
Owen
Owen Guenette
Guenette
John
John Fedoruk
Fedoruk
Tamerat
Tamerat Mulugeta
Mulugeta
Manvir
Manvir Jutla
Jutla
Ellinor
Ellinor Mirasol
Mirasol
Jazmine
Jazmine Mercado
Mercado
Antonio
Antonio Laboucane
Laboucane
Cassandra
Cassandra Pryer
Pryer
Andrew
Andrew Wood
Wood
Jasper
Tumbocon
Jasper Tumbocon
Lorenzo
Lorenzo Bruni-Bossio
Bruni-Bossio
Ethan
Stirling
Ethan Stirling
Jacob
Jacob Zoker
Zoker
Gerald
Gerald Vargas
Vargas
Rachael
Rachael Schooley
Schooley
Amanda
Amanda Black
Black
Jodi
Jodi Cantos
Cantos
Lucas
Lucas Osmond
Osmond
Jannell
Jannell Cantos
Cantos
Shaylene
Shaylene Scheu
Scheu
Anik
Anik Bull
Bull
Lana
Lana Lipovcevic
Lipovcevic
Tianna
Tianna Twan
Twan
Andrew
Andrew Garnica
Garnica
Matthias
Matthias Skooskol
Skooskol
Manson
Campbell
Manson Campbell
Nicole
Nicole Lagman
Lagman
Nicole
Morozewich
Nicole Morozewich
Alex
Alex Ngyuen-Reyes
Ngyuen-Reyes
Kingsley
Kingsley Amponsah
Amponsah
Mariane
Mariane Manio
Manio
Haleigh
Haleigh Grammer
Grammer
Zoe
Zoe Roch
Roch
Patricia
Patricia Mirasol
Mirasol
Miranda
Miranda Harrigan
Harrigan
Jayden
Ward
Jayden Ward
Anthony
Anthony Nadalo
Nadalo
Danait
Tesfay
Danait Tesfay
Maeryll
Maeryll Mendoza
Mendoza
Sergei
Acebedo
Sergei Acebedo
Justin
Justin Quinones
Quinones
Curtis
Curtis Deboer
Deboer
Sadey
Sadey Hamilton
Hamilton
Dreyton
Dreyton Cardinal
Cardinal
Karla
Karla Hendry
Hendry
Jordanya
Jordanya Decoine
Decoine
Alicia
Villagonzalo
Alicia Villagonzalo
Pablo
Pablo Quinones
Quinones
Anastasia
Anastasia Jacobson
Jacobson
Baltazar
Baltazar Lagman
Lagman
Octavian
Octavian Badea
Badea
Recreation Academy News
For the month of October, the Recreation Academy continues to explore physicalactivity based recreational activities such as rock climbing. They are also branching in to
the spiritual and mental side of wellness with an upcoming drum circle, yoga lesson, meditation and fitness lesson and an intro to Tai Chi. They also exercised school spirit by participating in the Edmonton Catholic Schools cross country running event! This month, the
photogallery has also been updated on the website so you can check out some pictures of
everything we've been doing.
Parents and students for the Recreation Academy are both reminded to sign up for Remind 101 notifications for Rec Academy events. Instructions are on the website which is
linked to the St. Mark school page.
Thanksgiving, a Celebration of the Family
October 2013
Thanksgiving Day, celebrated in Canada in the month of October, has its historical roots in religious
and cultural traditions, giving thanks to God for the blessing of the harvest and graces received during the year.
While not a liturgical feast listed among the holydays of the Church, the spirit of thanksgiving underlies
everything we do as Christians. Jesus said, “Give to others, and God will give to you... The measure you use
for others is the one that God will use for you” (Luke 6: 38). In other words, generosity is giving from the heart;
and thanksgiving is gratitude for that generosity.
Thanksgiving is a celebration of the family. Whatever your family Thanksgiving traditions are, Thanksgiving is an opportunity for family to gather together, to feast and to enjoy each other’s company. And it is an
occasion to show gratitude to God and to each other.
When I was younger, I found a special card for Father’s Day. Well, not exactly a Thanksgiving Card,
but it expressed my sentiments of thanksgiving for my dad’s love, guidance, and nurturing throughout my
childhood. It went something like this: On the cover of the card, “Dad, when I think of all the food you put on
the table, the clothes on my back, and the roof over my head....”, and in the inside of the card, “Why did I ever
leave home?!!” The card was my way of thanking my dad for giving me life and helping me to grow in his
love and in the love of God into the person I’ve become.
As you gather this Thanksgiving, carry on your family traditions, or start some new ones. For example,
in the time leading up to Thanksgiving, volunteer time as a family at a soup kitchen, visit a sick child or an elderly person, or invite a stranger or forgotten relative over for dinner. At the Thanksgiving table, give everyone
a chance to say one thing for which they are grateful. Include a prayer to God of thanksgiving.
And attend Church as a family to show your gratefulness to God. After all, the word “thanksgiving”
comes from the Greek word eucharistia, which literally means thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Eucharist. Thanksgiving. Imagine that, God gives thanks for us through the Eucharist by sharing the gift of his son, Jesus Christ,
and we give thanks to God by receiving God’s love in the Eucharist, which is Jesus’ body and blood. Cool!
A Thanksgiving Prayer
Father in Heaven, Creator of all and source of all goodness and love, please look kindly upon us and receive
our heartfelt gratitude in this time of giving thanks.
Thank you for all the graces and blessings. You have bestowed upon us, spiritual and worldly: our faith and
religious heritage. Our food and shelter, our health, the loves we have for one another, our family and friends.
Dear Father, in Your infinite generosity, please grant us continued graces and blessing throughout the coming
year.
This we ask in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Bishop David Motiuk
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton
Parent Volunteer Contact Information For Casino Coordinator Use
Name: ___________________________
Phone:___________________________
Email:___________________________