November 2013 - Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School

A V ORUM
HONOR I
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School
SIR WILFRID
LAURIER
SECONDARY
SCHOOL
Home of the Lancers
AD SUMMA TENDEMUS
Principal’s Message
We Strive for the Highest
It is with sincere pleasure that I return
to Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary
School. I taught at this school from
1986 to 1998, was its vice-principal
from 2003 to 2007, and I feel very
fortunate to be serving as its principal
now.
Principal
B. Armstrong
Vice-Principals
K. Gagner
A. Penney
I wish to welcome staff returning to
the Sir Wil fold following leave of absence or secondment: Jennifer Angel, Donna Corning, Corinne Davison, and Cathy Stavrakos. We also
welcome several new staff members:
Norine McKee as our term office administrator; Linda Burgess, Jean
Huot, Wesley Scheer-Hennings and
Rebecca Walton as long term occasional teachers; Lynda Kadey as
teacher for the visually impaired; and
John Drummond as yearbook and
technology teacher.
School Council
Co-Chairs
E. Gratton
L. Kinnie
Superintendent
N. Yorke-Slader
Trustee
J. Shea
Telephone 613-875-7432
Inside this issue:
Principal’s Message
1
English and Library
1
Hands for Humanity
2
Global Studies
2
International Day of
the Girl
2
Link Crew
2
Football
3
Sir Wil Players
4
Dates to Remember
4
We’re on the web:
http://www.sirwil.com
In October 120 Link Crew and Leadership students participated in a
CREW Camp at Camp Smitty in
Eganville, Ontario operated by the
Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa. The
Education Foundation covered the
costs for several students so that
economic factors did not prevent anyone from attending. The students
developed closer relationships, and
worked on understanding the role of
Courage, Resilience, Empathy and
Wisdom (CREW) while finding their
own way to lead and support one another.
Our Remembrance Day ceremony
was a solemn and dignified memorial,
enhanced by the presence of guest
speaker, Major Rick Dunning of the
Royal Canadian Air Force, who was
accompanied by his son and daughter, Captains Nick and Heather Dunning, also serving in the RCAF.
We are thankful to have offered a full
slate of teams and clubs this fall and,
November 2013
with the support and commitment of our
coaches and club advisors, we look forward to doing so again in the winter
season. All of our sports teams have
had enjoyment and success, with special mention to our championship football team, and our varsity boys’ volleyball team currently in the midst of city
championship finals. Go Lancers!
English and Library News
Over the last month we have been
working towards new assessment and
evaluation implementation by shifting
many of our evaluation tools towards
curriculum expectations. Assessment
plans have been developed for nearly
all our courses with an emphasis on
enhancing the media strand.
Our grade ten teachers have developed
a plan to deliver a full literacy practice
test in both semesters to help prepare
students for the Ontario Secondary
School Literacy Test (OSSLT). The
focus will be on moderation and feedback. Curriculum Services will be providing release time for teachers to
evaluate the tests and meet with students to provide feedback. This is on
top of our other OSSLT preparation
plans that begin in semester two.
In addition, our teacher librarian, Ms.
Morton, has arranged a partnership
with the Ottawa Public Library. The librarian from the OPL has delivered
presentations to English students on the
amazing research resources available
from the OPL website including a vast
array of databases and periodicals with
easy-to-use search engines. This
should improve the inquiry skills of all
our students, who are particularly excited by the three free song downloads
they can make from the Sony catalogue
per week from the OPL website.
Page 2
We Strive for the Highest
Hands for Humanity
Global Studies
Sir Wil's Hand for Humanity Club
would like to thank all of the parents and staff members who purchased freshly baked apple pies
at the Parent Teacher interviews
in October. With more than 35
pies and other baked goods
sold, Hands for Humanity raised
over $450 to donate to the Ottawa Mission for the homeless!
It has been a busy fall in Sir
Wilfrid Laurier’s Global Studies
Department. Students from Ms.
Rab’s, Mr. Ngoga’s, and Ms.
Stewart’s classes attended the
Natural Resources Canada Science Week event. Mr. Fyfe and
his Civics students toured
Laurier House which served as a
residence for former prime ministers Sir Wilfrid Laurier and
Mackenzie King. A group of students representing our school,
along with Mme Leduc and Miss
Nizam, participated in the United
Nations International Day of the
Girl event at Ottawa City Hall.
Mme Muise’s Civics students
have been working on a mental
health awareness campaign
within the school with support
from the DILA organization.
DILA, which stands for A Day of
Information for a Lifetime of Action, also hosted students from
Sir Wilfrid Laurier at their annual
civic engagement conference at
the University of Ottawa campus
in October. Congratulations to
Grade 9 student Brandon Smith
– our Global Studies Student of
the Month. In upcoming news,
Mr. Winegarden’s Law students
will attend the Atlantic Council
Conference in November at Foreign Affairs Canada where John
Baird will be the keynote
speaker.
Mrs. Gillis, Mme Parent and
Mme Leduc were very impressed with how this group of
20 and more students baked 35
pies within a 2 hour time frame and the pies were delicious! Every second Thursday
the Hands for Humanity club
members meet in the foods room
to bake fresh goods which are
then donated to the Ottawa Mission.
Some of the homeless men who
have received baked treats from
the club have said that they have
not had fresh baked goods in
years and that they are so
touched to know that youth in
our city are baking specifically
for them. Students are always
welcome to come out and bake
with the Hands for Humanity
Club - simply bring your recipe
and your ingredients and we will
see you in the Foods Room after
school!
Link Crew
We are very excited to have Nathanael Larochette, a thoughtful and
inspiring spoken word poet, working with our Link Crew class the first
week of December. He and several students will perform at Sir Wilfrid
Laurier’s Fight for Freedom: Dignity in the Face of Adversity on
December 6th. This event will deal with issues such as the power of
stigma, women's human rights, human dust blown away by conflict,
and bullying globally and locally. Our keynote speaker is Lucas "Lazy
Legz" Patuelli, ILL-able break dancer and speaker.
International Day of
the Girl
On October 11th the United Nations Association of Canada held
the 1st Annual event for the International Day of the Girl. Mme.
Leduc and Miss Nizam accompanied a delegation of about a
dozen Sir Wilfrid Laurier students
to the event held at Ottawa City
Hall. The students worked in
teams to do research on various
topics relating to girl child problems in various regions of the
world and were prepared to
share their findings with other
high school students from different schools across the city. Once
the students shared their research, they broke into smaller
working groups to discuss what
kinds of solutions were possible
to improve these complex problems.
After having been addressed by
various young adults working for
NGOs, the delegates were
greeted by the Mayor, a City
Councillor, and a Member of Parliament. As representatives of
the youth of Ottawa, the students
drafted and presented a resolution as a commitment to strive
towards reducing and eliminating
problems for girls around the
world.
Staff members at Sir Wil are very
proud of the student team which
represented our school and the
community in a very dignified
and professional manner while
debating the issues of child
brides, poverty, sexual abuse
and lack of access to education.
Sir Wil looks forward to participating in this annual event every
October 11th.
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We Strive for the Highest
Page 3
Congratulations to all members of the Varsity Boys
football team who captured the first Tier 1 football
title in school history. The Lancers defeated St. Peter High School 24-14 in the snow on Saturday, November 9th. After a slow start to the game, the team
trailed 14-7 at half time. The boys showed great character and rallied to dominate the second half, out
scoring the Knights 17-0. With the victory the team is now the 39th ranked High School team in the
country. The team will now travel to Etobicoke, Ontario to participate in the Ontario championship OFSAA Bowl Series. They will face the Crestwood Mustangs from Peterborough on Tuesday, November
26th at 2:30 p.m. at the Etobicoke Centennial Stadium. The Coaching Staff would like to say a huge
thanks all parents, family members and staff for their support and commitment to the program this fall.
City
“The first Tier 1 City Football
Championship in Sir Wilfrid
Laurier history!”
We Strive for the Highest
PAGE 4
SIR WILFRID LAURIER
SECONDARY SCHOOL
1515 Tenth Line Road
Orleans, Ontario K1E 3E8
Telephone
613-834-4500
Fax
613-834-4511
Student Services Telephone
613-834-4508
Website
http://www.sirwil.com
Sir Wil Players—Scotland Yard Sale
Come out and help the Sir Wil Players make it to the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in August 2014.
We’re having a Scotland Yard Sale on Saturday, November 30th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’ll be a great opportunity to pick up a few Christmas gifts and crafts,
and buy some baking, as well as help find a home for
gently used children’s toys, clothing and household
articles.
We have many great fundraisers taking place with
Pampered Chef, Epicure, and Arbonne.
There will be several draws for baskets and great
prizes. Hope to see you there.
Recruitment of the 2014-2015 House of
Commons Pages
Information about the House of Commons
Pages program is available on the Parliament of
Canada website. Applications are submitted
online at www.parl.gc.ca/hocpage. This year’s
deadline for application is Monday, December
9th.
Canadian Blood
Services
Blood Donor Clinic
at Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Secondary School
Wednesday,
November 27, 2013
3:30-8:30 p.m.
Upcoming Events:
Events
Grad Photos: Dec. 3-5
Band Concert: Dec. 5 @ 7 p.m.
Arts Night: Dec. 12 @ 7 p.m.
Dates to Remember 2013-2014
Friday, December 20
Monday, December 23, 2013 to Friday, January 3, 2014
Secondary Professional Activity Day
Christmas Break
Wednesday & Thursday, January 21 & 22, 2014
EQAO Grade 9 Math Assessment
Monday, January 27 to Friday, January 31, 2014
Final Examinations
Monday, February 3, 2014
Semester 2 Begins
Monday, February 17, 2014
Family Day
Friday, March 7, 2014
Monday, March 10 to Friday, March 14, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Secondary Professional Activity Day
March Break
EQAO Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Parent-Teacher Interviews
Tuesday, April 11, 2014
Term 3 Ends
Friday & Monday, April 18 & April 21, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Tuesday & Wednesday, June 10 & 11, 2014
Thursday, June 19 to Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Thursday & Friday, June 26, 27, 2014
Easter Holiday
Victoria Day Holiday
EQAO Grade 9 Math Assessment
Final Examinations
Secondary Professional Activity Days
Friday, June 27, 2014
Commencement—1:00 p.m.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Last Day of School Year