the newsletter - Lawrence Grassi Middle School
Transcription
the newsletter - Lawrence Grassi Middle School
École Intermédiaire Lawrence Grassi Middle School 610 7th Street Canmore, Alberta T1W 2H5 Principal: Nadine Trottier Email: Nadine.trottier@crps,ca Attendance Line: 403-678-6006 – Press 1 Office Staff: 403-678-6006 - Press 2 APRIL/MAY GRASSI TRAILS “Reach for the Peaks—Atteindre le sommet” 2016 MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL Dear LGMS Families, Happy Spring everyone! You will see how LGMS has been a very busy place in the last 7 weeks. Congratulations to Quinn Blyth, Matthias Gasser and Finn Manktelow for winning first place at the Science Fair. They will now be going to Montreal for the National competition! We are extremely proud of them and their efforts. Thirty-eight students from LGMS will also participate in the annual CRPS Word Smash event on May 17th at the Banff Centre . Students will have the opportunity to work with authors to perfect their writing skills. Bravo! Congratulations also goes out to Ms. Seto and Ms. Fearing for being nominated for the Mayor’s Excellence in Volunteer Awards. These two accomplished women make a significant contribution volunteering their teaching time to students here at LGMS. We would also like to recognize all of our students who bike daily to come to school. Our grade 8 students, along with Exshaw students, Ms. Kelly, Ms. Soler and a well known artist, Ajay Louden, have created a very impressive school mural. The theme of this mural is reconciliation. According to the artist, the goal of this theme is as follows: “ To me, identity is a central theme within reconciliation - being empowered by pride in your own identity and having the ability to recognize and respect that in others. For this mural, each group had their own colours and came up with their own phrase, symbol, and writing style. They approached the wall and collaborated to paint their section. Periodically, one member from each group moved to another group, where they learned the 'culture’ in their new group. Between the two hands reaching out in giving/receiving position, there is a black rock of coal with a small flame. This represents the shared history of the Indigenous and Settler populations in Canmore: the Stoney people sharing the knowledge of the 'burning black rock' with the settlers, a major part of Canmore's mining history. This symbol of exchange, along with the relevant backstory, is a great way to tie the mural all together.” Keep looking at our Week at a Glance to find out more about all the sports events happening at Grassi. Our badminton team should be very proud of their accomplishments during the recent Zone Tournament hosted over 300 students from across the province right here at LGMS. Take a look at the new fish additions on our school fence. These were painted by our Grade 8 students as part of Streams of Dreams Project. Special thanks go out to all volunteers who helped and to Parent Council for making a donation in order to make this project happen. Students have been very proud of helping out residents of Fort McMurray. Ms. Seto initiated a candygram fundraiser. Students were encouraged to write encouraging messages. These messages were attached to candy and then the “candygrams” were delivered to fellow students. The money raised will be donated to the Red Cross. Ms. Seto has generously matched the amount students raised to support this important cause. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest happenings at Lawrence Grassi Middle School Principal’s message continued: Quick Professional Development Update: we have three teachers that have signed up for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education or STEM initiative. We look forward to seeing how this program will transpire into projects happening in our Learning Commons. Thank you Mme Desautels, Mme Grondin and Mr. McQueen for signing up! We also have a Tech Committee that has been created to address digital citizenship issues, sharing monthly tips with us. Merci, Mme Desautels and Mme Provencher! We have a group of committed teachers doing a book study after school to further develop common reading comprehension strategies and instilling a love of reading in our students. Lastly, our Lead Learner Teacher joined the School Board during the Instructional Excellence Symposium in order to plan our District Wide focus for next year. Our mandate is to continue to strive in delivering high quality education to our students. Our LGMS theme this year has been about Taking Risks. I will conclude with this story on risk taking, written by Victoria Green, from M. Vallee’s class in Grade 8 French Immersion. Here she shares a perfect example on how she ventured into the unknown and took a big risk, as part of a Mentorship Personal Project. Please read her story: “ Just after spring break my teacher, Mr. Vallée, announced that we would be doing the personal project mentorship program. None of us had ever heard of this program, and let me tell you we were confused. After more explanation, we learned that it was simply a project where we would pick our own topic, find a mentor to help us with the research, and make it entirely our own. At first I had no idea what to do, but after some thought, I realized medicine was the way to go. Lucky for me, my next door neighbor, someone I've know since I was little, just happened to be the orthopedic surgeon in Banff, Dr. Mark Heard. I asked him if he would be my mentor. The very first day of the project, he asked if I would like to join him in the OR. I was ecstatic. Later on, we decided the focus for my project would be ACL reconstruction surgery. The Monday morning of May 2nd, I joined Dr. Heard in the intake clinic. Here he assessed the patients to determine whether they would need surgery or other methods of recovery. The next morning, I joined him in the OR. It was an early up to go into surgery for a trauma case that had come in the middle of the night. After this, I then watched two ACL reconstruction surgeries and some screws being removed from a leg. This was not like other school projects where you research something you're not interested in, and can't wait to be done. No not this one. I loved this project! I got to research and learn about things I already loved. I would find myself, a little off topic, but still doing the research in the medical field hours later. This experience and the information could be relevant for my future education, you never know. But one thing is certain, I will never forget this really special day and not to mention, very interesting experience. So thank you to everyone who helped make it happen!” Nadine Trottier Principal Lawrence Grassi Middle School Important Dates May 11 May 12 May 17 May 18 May 20 May 23 May 25 May 25 May 31 June 2 June 2 June 3 June 6 June 6 June 6-11 June 7 June 8 June 9 June 9 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 15 June 16 June 16 June 17 June 17 June 17 June 20 June 21 June 22 June 22 June 23 June 23 June 24 June 27 June 28 June 29 June 30 June 30 Pizza Day Grade 6 English—PAT Part A Word Smash—May 17th at The Banff Centre Grade 6 English—PAT Part B Full Day PLC—No school for students Victoria Day Holiday—No school for students Pizza Day Regional Track and Field Meet Zone Track and Field in Calgary ERS Grade 3 visit at 1 pm LGMS Open House for ERS Gr. 3 Parents and new students in the community 6:30 pm PLC—Students dismissed at 12:01 pm Bee Keeper presentation 6A Booth—Swim Lessons at Elevation Place 1:30 pm Grade 7 & 8 Quebec Trip 4C Field Trip to Kananaskis 4A and 4B Field Trip to Kananaskis Parent Council AGM St. John’s Instrument Rental Night—6 pm (for Band Students) MADD presentation Grade 6 FLA—PAT Part B Grade 6 English Part B Year End Concert & Drama Performance in the Gym Band and Drama performance artsPlace Grade 6 Mathematics PAT Grade 6 Science PAT Last Day for Grade 7 & 8 Options PLC—Students dismissed at 12:01 pm Grade 6 Social Studies PAT Writers’ Workshop Wrap Up Party Grade 6 Field Trip to Calaway Park Lady Pirates of the Caribbean presented by Gr. 7 Drama. time and location to be announced. Grade 8 Farewell 2016 1:30—2:30 Grade 8 Farewell 2016 Reception & Dance 7-10 pm Grade 4 Cave and Basin Sports Award Ceremony-Gym time TBA Grade 5 Year End Swim School BBQ at 12:01 pm Academic Awards Ceremony LAST day of school—students dismissed at 12:01 pm Report Cards go home - Grade 8 Final Walk at 11:45 am Please check the LGMS Week-at-a-Glance or the front page of our website (lgms.crps.ca) for more updates. Grade 8 students fired their marshmallow catapults in the gathering area in April. A lot of work and fine tuning went into the building of the catapults. They were successful in firing the marshmallows and some the length of the gathering area. The top 3 teams from the 7 and 8 classes competed in the gym for the final. Congratulations to the winners! Mr. Vallee and his students said good-bye to student teacher Erin MacKinnon. Erin completed her practicum under the guidance of Mr. Vallee. She did an “Excellent Job” . LGMS wishes her well as she continues on with her teaching career. We will miss you Erin! Canada Wide Science Fair Good Luck to Quinn Blyth, Finn Manktelow and Matthais Gasser, who placed first in their categories at the CRPS Science Fair back in March and have earned a spot at the Canada Wide Science Fair. The travelled to Montreal to compete in the Canada Wide Science Fair the week of May 16th. Quinn will be presenting his project “What kids know about Global Warming” . Matthais and Finn will present their project Alga Tricity. Way to Go Boys!! Grassi Garden News The wonderful work is happening in the garden! Students have been busy planting, watering and preparing the greenhouse, garden beds and pathways. We are also working with a videographer to showcase our student learning in the garden. As soon as our videos are complete and ready for viewing, we will let parents know where to access them. Parents are always welcome to come and see the garden and check out the active learning! If you are interested in helping out with our garden activities, please contact kelly Smith [email protected] Getting the spring clean-up started at the LGMS garden. Gym Shorts Congrats to the LGMS grade 7 and 8 badminton team. The participation and competition was top notch this past week at our Zones competition. Special shout out to Luke Fricker and Krissy Scurfield who stepped up and played against the grade 9’s for some tough competition in Banff. Our top school finishes included performances by Silver Medalists; Khara Morgan Smith, Jaiden Webster, Rhys Jobbit and Logan Moldenhauer. Bronze Medal went to Kaleb Stannard and Jackson Ostman Running Club Mondays are running fun days. All kids are welcome to participate in this fun and active after school program. Wednesdays are MARATHON CLUB. This is not a drop in club but a team of students who are logging the miles to run the equivalent of a marathon distance by June. Drop in Badminton Thanks so much to our parent supervisor Kat Wiebe for her volunteer efforts running this club. This program ran for an extended period of time and provided our students with a safe environment to practice their skills. This is a free extracurricular activity that is made possible with the help of volunteers. It is now over and will start again next year. Track and Field Practices have commenced. This year we are practicing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after school. Our local junior high meet will take place May 25 at LGMS and our South Central Zone meet will be May 31 at Foothills Athletic Park. We will need volunteers to help run the local meet. If you are interested in helping out with the running , throwing or jumping components please give let us know. Iride bike programs will start for the grade 4 classes in June. This program is paid for by the RBC and brings mountain bike instruction to our grade 4 students. I’ve included an interesting read for every parent who is bringing up active kids in the Bow Valley and beyond. If your child is being coached professionally outside of school it’s a great idea to ask their coach and more importantly, the sports governing board how they are following the LTAD to ensure your child does not drop out of sport. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/sports-participation-canada-kids-1.3573955 Running Club and Marathon Club Running club will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays in the student gathering area at 3:30. Please remind your child to be prepared with the necessary equipment to run outside. Running club is hosted by incredible volunteers Dan and Fonda Sparks. Reminder that Monday’s Club is geared towards fun and games runners , and are best suited for kids who are interested in getting outside, spending time with their friends in a fun active environment. Mondays will be called RUNNING CLUB which is very different from Wednesdays club. Marathon Club on Wednesday is geared toward the more serious runners who will by the end of the program have run a marathon distance. These kids will be running longer progressively longer distances each week and will finish with a race in Calgary. Distances are predetermined and will be tracked and recorded each week. MUSIC NOTES- JUNE 2016 Welcome to June everyone! Thanks for a great year and I look forward to seeing everyone at our annual Spring Concert! Congratulations to our LGMS Concert Band and to Lawrence Grassi Jazz for their amazing performances and awesome participation in Edmonton’s annual Cantando Music Festival in Edmonton. They represented Lawrence Grassi Middle School with pride and great manners! We also had a blast playing laser tag and going to West Edmonton Mall. A special thank you to Vivian Ceilan, Kat Wiebe and Marcy Casselman for their parenting, supervison , wisdom and sense of fun on the trip! We appreciate you taking time off to make this trip happen. Thank you to Olds High School for their guest performance at LGMS and to the grade7,8 band students for their amazing performances of Terminal Velocity and Best Day! Some Important dates to keep in mind: Instrument Rental Night-Wednesday June 9TH at 6:30 p.m. in the music room. All grade six band parents are encouraged to attend. This is an information meeting for all grade six parents who will have their children participating in grade six band next year. Parents will also be able to rent and reserve an instrument for their child for next year as well as buy books and supplies for the 2016-17 school year. SPRING INTO SUMMER CONCERT-Tuesday, June 15th at 7:00 p.m. in the LGMS School Gym. Our final music performance for the year. All students who are performing in the concert need to be at school by 6:30 p.m. This includes grade 6, 7 and 8 band students. All grade 7 and 8 concert band students need to wear their white shirt, black pants, band pin and blue tie. All jazz band students need to wear their black shirt, black pants, band pin, blue tie and black shoes. All grade 6 students are encouraged to wear a white shirt and black pants or skirt if they have it. If not, they can wear something dressier than what they wear to school. THE LADY PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN- Wednesday, June 22nd, at 7:30 p.m. Location:TBA Tickets: $5.00 each, children get in free- $2.50 goes towards Fort MacMurray A Comedic Play Presented by the grade seven drama class and supported by the student voice option. This is an exciting new project this year. The students and myself are working very hard on this project. We look forward to presenting this fun adaptation from the film Pirates of the Caribbean, Thank you for your continued support of the music program! It has been a great year of learning and playing music with your children! So much fun and friendship and joy in music making! Good luck to all the grade eights going on to the high school and I look forward to seeing the grade sevens in the fall. Have a fantastic summer! Activities and Learning at Lawrence Grassi Middle School Benches of Canmore As part of a school project, we are photographing all of the benches in Canmore. We want to capture the words of remembrance and the view from the bench. Our aim is to create a book to highlight a small but significant part of Canmore's history: the families who chose to live in our beautiful town and keep a part forever in their hearts and minds. As we collect and identify the network of benches, the book might become a guide to our trails and at the same time document the lives and stories of those commemorated. We are hoping that we might find family members and friends who would like to share stories about their departed loved ones. We are also interested in any stories you have about how you use the benches: what part do they play in your life? Do you have a favourite? Any links or information you can provide to us would be most appreciated. Shaun McQueen Grade 7 Teacher Description of Mural Project: by Aja Louden, artist The subject of our mural is reconciliation. To me, identity is a central theme within reconciliation - being empowered by pride in your own identity and having the ability to recognize and respect that in others. For the mural, we'll split the youth into 6 groups - 4 based on the directions of the medicine wheel and 2 groups of 'settlers'. Each group will have their own colours and will come up with their own phrase, symbol, and writing style. We will then approach the wall, with each group collaborating to paint their section. Each section of the wall will start to fill up with that groups visual 'culture' - their phrases, symbols, and styles all in the same colour. Periodically, one member from each group will be moved to another group, where they learn the 'culture' - the symbols, styles, phrase, and use of colour in their new group. No matter what, they'll be bringing some of the things they learned in the last group along with them. This is the beauty of cultural exchange. Once we've filled most of the space, I'll be coming back in and painting an image of two hands reaching out in giving/ receiving position. Between them will be a black rock of coal with a small flame. This represents the shared history of the Indigenous and Settler populations in Canmore - Virgil, an Elder here, had shared a story with Dawn at Public Arts who relayed it to me about the Stoney people sharing the knowledge of the 'burning black rock' with the settlers, a major part of Canmore's mining history. This symbol of exchange, along with the relevant backstory, would be a great way to tie the mural all together. Early Concept development on the whiteboard The process begins Getting it Done! News from Grade 6 Grade 6 students from Ms. West and Mr. Booth classes had the opportunity to meet the mayor recently as part of their Social Studies unit on Local Government. Students were given a tour of the Civic Centre and insights into what it is like to work as a town councillor. Some students even participated in a mock council meeting. Thank you to Mayor John Borrowman for taking the time to work with our classes. Students enjoying time at the Canmore Illusions Gym Gardening with Ms. Amirault’s Class LGMS Parent Council news Our amazing volunteers continue to rock. Rona Griffin and her volunteer team brought Stream of Dreams to Grade 8 students. Our pizza volunteers, led by Kendra Dominico, served their millionth slice of pizza. Up next we are planning a staff thank-you lunch the year-end student BBQ and the Parent Council AGM. Parent Council meetings are a great place to get to know staff and to learn about opportunities for your child. It is amazing what we accomplish in one hour a month. Please join us at 6:30 p.m. on May ?? For our usual meeting and a special presentation on addition at 7:30. Grade 8 parents requested this presentation, but it will touch on topics for all grades Biosphere Institute LGMS is participating in the sustainable Small Steps Challenge! Take a photo of your son or daughter, your family or your business taking their Small Steps. Inspire others and enter for a chance to win an IPad Air! Submit up to 10 entries ie. home/work/school/play To enter or see others’ Small Steps visit www.biosphereinstitute.org/small steps Biosphere Institute’s Facebook page or share your Small Step via Twitter or Instagram using #smallstepsbio Challenge/tag friends to take their Small Steps!! Let’s show how LGMS helps make the Bow Valley more sustaintable! Below Melanie Watt from the Biosphere Institute teaching the students about cougars with one of their Edukits.