March 2016 - Collège Lorette Collegiate

Collège Lorette Collegiate
March 2016
Principal’s Message
As you receive this newsletter, Spring Break is beginning
(March 24 to April 1). The first day back to school after the
break is Monday, April 4.
Please note registration for courses for the upcoming
school year will occur the week of April 11 to 15. Students
will receive their registration packages during the week, and we
require them returned by the end of that week.
Formal report cards for the end of the first term of Semester
2 will be sent home at the end of April, first week of May.
Please note the Provincial Election is occurring on April
19, and CLC is a designated polling station.
Have a restful spring break, and enjoy the emergence of nicer
weather!!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
ELA .......................................... 2
Guidance Corner .................... 3
Essential Math ......................... 4
Band and Choir ....................... 5
Career Education..................... 7
“Educating the
mind without educating the heart is
no education at all.”
Aristotle
English Language Arts
I Love to Read
At CLC, we are a community of readers. We are extremely proud of this fact. With I Love to Read month and the
start of a new semester, there was no better way to get to
know each other than to share our reading interests. That
is exactly what we did in Comprehensive English 30.
We started by having some Book Share presentations
done by Ms. Thiessen, not only did this help us create
personal reading lists, but it also inspired us to share our
personal favourites as well. Everyone in the class would
get a chance to introduce their book of choice to the group and possibly encourage somebody
else to pick up their book. These presentations were entertaining and visual. The class had
three main topics to choose from:

My favourite book as a child …

The best book I have ever read…

Right now I am reading …
As we settled in to watch and learn from each other, we sipped
chocolate milk and enjoyed some cookies. As you can guess, the
array of books we were presented with was as diverse as our class.
We saw many dystopian universes, we travelled with creatures of
the past and we dealt with the problems of teenagers. We even
read from textbooks used for training purposes. Some students
took us back to their childhood and relived some very fond and
formative memories of reading as
small children. Although, a few books
appeared more than once, the way they were presented and the
person’s perception of the story were vastly different, which was a
very interesting by-product of our presentations. Students were
articulate in which aspects of the story appealed to them, and were
reflective about what kind of reader they considered themselves to
be. These books gave us insight into their personalities, their childhoods and sometimes, their futures. The quotes and passages that
they presented to the group were examples of great writing and
spoke volumes about what words are really saying to the readers.
At the conclusion of our presentations we started to create a reading list for our class. We
joined groups based on genres of novels, to act as experts on selecting books from different categories. We hope to create a shopping list for our in-class library that is based on the needs,
goals and interests of our class.
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GUIDANCE CORNER
POST-SECONDARY APPLICATIONS- If you missed the early application
deadline for University or College, you can STILL APPLY. There is plenty of
time. Colleges like Red River and the Universities of Winnipeg, Manitoba and StBoniface accept applications throughout the year. Get your application in as early
as you can, especially if there is a wait list for your chosen field of study. Grade 12 students are encouraged to see me to go over the admission requirements and I can also help with the application process.
ROTARY CAREER SYMPOSIUM is May 2-4, students and parents can visit the symposium in the
evening of Monday, May 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the RBC Convention Center. CLC students
will also be visiting the symposium, more information to come.
Course registration-The grades 9 to 11 students will be choosing their courses the week of April 11 to
15. Please discuss course choices with your child. If your child is uncertain of what courses they need for
post-secondary schools, please have them see me and I will be happy to go over this with them.
Partner Schools- We will be doing grade 8 partner school visits on April 5 and 6. Please be aware that
your grade 8 child will have a registration form to fill out for course choices and information. You will be
asked to return these forms to their teacher. If you have any questions, please contact us at school.
Tell Them From Me- Grades 9 to 12 students will be asked to fill out the Tell Them From Me Survey from April 21 to 29. This survey provides the school with important information about our school
such as what we are doing well and areas that may need improvement.
Stars of the Future Spring 2016
3
ESSENTIAL MATHEMATICS 40S
The Grade 12 Essential Mathematics class has just completed
a unit on Home Finance. Throughout this unit they learned
about mortgage payments, interest, property taxes, home insurance and other additional costs associated with purchasing a home. In addition, they learned how to determine the
maximum affordable home for an individual based on their
income.
The end of this unit became a perfect opportunity to transition into the Career Life Project. This project requires students to create a plan for their future, including researching
possible career choices and exploring the impacts of these
decisions on their future. The students began this project by doing a variety of self-assessment quizzes to
help them learn more about their skills and interests in order to determine a suitable career path.
Once students had reflected on the self-assessment
quizzes they were ready to pick a career choice to
explore. This exploration involved the educational
requirements and costs associated with becoming
established in their chosen career, employment
opportunities and opportunities for advancements,
and salary wages and increases.
Once the students in the class felt confident with
their chosen careers they were ready to make connections to the outcomes in the Home Finance Unit. Students were required to use the average salary of
their chosen career to fill out the Maximum Home Affordability Chart to determine a budget for their future house.
This was based on their understanding of how the Gross
Debt Service Ratio determines
the amount of our income that
should be allocated to household
expenses.
At this point, the class was ready
to go shopping! They accessed
online realtor websites such as
mls.ca and comfree.ca to get an
idea of the current housing market. They explored different areas of the city, and some even choose to search in
different provinces based on their plans for the future. Their main goal was to
find a home that fit with their budget and the expected lifestyle they hoped to
lead. The students were excited to explore the housing market and start planning for their future.
4
BAND AND CHOIR
NOTES
One of the busiest months of the school year for high school music programs is usually
March. Most music festivals either happen early April or mid-march. For the CLC music program March included our performance at the Brandon Jazz Festival on the
19th. This was a fantastic time for both our Senior Band and Choir to get out of the
community and perform for musicians and clinicians from all over the country! This
year’s trip was an absolute success filled with laughter, learning and triumph! The highlight for the students was the “feature” evening concert which this year included acapella
group “m-pact” and the drummer for the band
“Santana,” Jose Jimenez.
One week before we departed for the Brandon Jazz
festival our Senior Band was featured at the SRSD
Honour Band Day. This day was designed for the
best Grade 8 band students in the division who got
together over a span of two days and prepared three
songs that wowed the audience. As part of that concert all the high schools in the division performed in
front a full house
at College St. Norbert Collegiate. The CLC Senior
Band did a fantastic job sharing two songs with an
audience from all across the division.
This busy time of year keeps getting busier. Right
after spring break ALL CLC music students (including our grade 9 band) will be
featured at an Arts Lorette Coffee House
on April 7 at 7:00pm in the CLC library. The annual CLC Spring Music
Concert will be on May 17 at 7:00pm
in the CLC gym.
CLC music students get ample opportunity
to share their music in the upcoming
months, hope to see you there.
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CAREER EDUCATION UPDATE
Along with the weather, Career Ed activities are heating up! During the afternoon
blocks, grade 9’s have been receiving important information about ethics and the world
of work, as well as the 9 Essential Work Skills everyone needs in order to be a great employee, regardless of the career they’re in.
Students were given various ethical challenges to see what their responses were. Try
this one out for yourselves:
Your best friend is going through a really hard time, and needs your support. There is
a strict no cell phones policy at your job, and if you’re caught using your phone while
you’re working, you’ll get fired. Your friend is constantly texting you, even though
they know you’re on your way to work. What do you do?
The variety of student responses shows that our students are respectful of workplace
policies and are adept at coming up with unique solutions to ethical issues that may
come up at work.
The 9 Essential Work Skills were also eye openers for some students. For example:
with one class, we discussed what skills a plumber should have. The students came up
with great answers all related to plumbing tasks. I asked if they would hire a plumber
who couldn’t read. Most students didn’t see an issue with that: after all, plumbers fix
and install plumbing, so why would they need to read? After showing them the reading
a plumber has to do almost every day (safety rules, product information sheets, etc.),
they quickly realized that all of the essential skills are involved in every workplace.
It was an important lesson to learn, as not everyone realizes what the 9 Essential Work
Skills are, and how to develop that skillset. The 9 Essential Work Skills are:

Reading

Document Use

Numeracy

Writing

Oral Communication

Working With Others

Thinking

Digital Technology
In the coming weeks, we will be discussing the 9 Essential Work Skills more, as well as
preparing for our Career Symposium visit in May. After Spring Break, all grade 9’s will
be bringing home a permission form to attend the symposium. This field trip is a mandatory trip for all 9’s, and is at no cost to you. We will also have up to 40 spots available
for grade 11 students interested in going, so please listen for that announcement as
well.
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UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER
March 2016
4
Professional Learning Day - No school
23
Europe Trip leaves
23
Parent Teacher Interviews
24
Professional Learning Day - No
school
25-Apr 3
Spring Break
April 2016
4
Classes resume
11-15
Course Registration for 2016-17
18
Professional Learning Day - No school
May 2016
6
Professional Learning Day - No school
17
Spring Band and Choir Concert
22
Victoria Day - No school
30
Provincial ELA40 Exam begins
Collège Lorette Collegiate
1082 Dawson Road, Lorette, MB. ROA 0Y0
Phone: 204-878-2887
Fax: 204-878-3582
Website: clc.mb.gov.ca
E-mail: [email protected]