Knightly January 2018 Week Newsletter of August 25-29, 2014 Mr. Gary Rehman Principal Mrs. Julie Francois Assistant Principal Mrs. Jackie Gannon Secretary Mrs. Dorothy Buwalda Clerk Mrs. Jackie Kamrowski Counselor Mrs. Sophia Valle Learning Coach In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." Mark 2 1
Administrative Team Message Dear Parents and Guardians of St. Nicholas: Happy New Year! We all need to make a difference with creative thinking and uniquely looking at the ordinary; together we will show people all over our community how easy it is to make a difference. Spreading JOY is about seeing things differently, stepping up, and making choices to lead the way in finding beauty in the ordinary. Through JOY we can impact those around us who we know, and those who we do not yet know. It is an opportunity for each of us to make a positive difference in the lives of others. St. Nicholas Junior High School staff looks forward to working with each student and parent to emphasize their personal ownership of their learning and behaviour. If you know of something happening at STN that excites your child, please give that staff member a sunshine call. On behalf of all staff at St. Nicholas, we wish you all blessings during this Advent season. Gary Rehman Principal Julie Francois Assistant Principal St. Nicholas is now on Facebook- Find us at St. Nicholas Catholic School Edmonton And on @StNicholasECSD. Follow us as we celebrate the students at STN! Did you know That St. Nick s has arguably the most successful Soccer Academy in Edmonton? STN has had 8 student-athletes earn roster spots with the Vancouver Whitecaps and 21 STN students have been part of FC Edmonton Academy. Other STN alumni have been named to national team rosters and others play with university and colleges in both Canada and the United States. Our focus upon academics, athletics and leadership plays a big part in supporting our student-athletes and the efforts of their families. 2
January 2018 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 First day of classes Anime Club at 14 15 Anime Club at 9 10 11 Epiphany Mass at the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church 12 Safe Space at 16 17 18 19 Safe Space at 13 20 21 22 Anime Club at 28 29 Anime Club at 23 24 25 No School for STN Students PD Day for STN Staff 30 31 February 1 Start of semester 2 option courses and CTF 26 Report Cards available on PowerSchool Safe Space at 2 Safe Space at 27 3 4 5 Anime Club at 6 No School for ECSD Students 7 8 9 Elementary Soccer Safe Space at Tournament at STN 10 Faith Development Day for all ECSD staff *Wizard of Oz rehearsal every day after school until 4:30, except Thursdays* 3
Epiphany During the Christmas season we celebrate with our families and friends with the giving and receiving of various gifts. Perhaps the greatest gift we receive, as Christians, takes place during Epiphany, when our Lord makes his first public appearance. Throughout the ages, Christians have celebrated Christmas, including the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany, which falls on January 6. The season begins with the Nativity of our Lord, and ends with the celebration of His baptism, and His manifestation ("Epiphany") as Messiah of Israel and Son of God. This extraordinary gift calls for us to open our hearts and minds to God through His son, Jesus, who came to us as man, to live and suffer in the same way His lay people would. Another one of the extraordinary gifts we receive is our ability to praise and worship the Father through the Holy Spirit, as a result of the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Knowing Jesus is the Body of Christ, we, through our Baptism, enter the Body of Christ as members of our faith community. Through this union, we are able to share in the cleansing of sins, and essentially, our re-birth. The gifts of the eastern Magi, allow us to remember that they offered what little they had (Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh), and in return, Christ gave them Himself. This exchange of gifts takes place for us whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, by the glorious power of the Holy Spirit! Throughout the holy Christmas season, God fills us with joy and hope! By celebrating Epiphany and these wondrous gifts bestowed upon us by the Christ-child, may we, in-turn, use them to take a step closer to the Kingdom of God, in unity with His one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. The New Principal Gary Rehman I am very excited to be joining the St. Nicholas family. I look forward to meeting everyone as the new year progresses. I am especially excited to begin work with this amazing staff and our talented students. I will be thrilled to see the Academies in action at St. Nicholas as I know the power of how athletics, fine arts, and science can set the students up for further academic success beyond Junior High school. My journey with Edmonton Catholic Schools spans over 30 years. Much of my teaching time was at St. Joseph where I taught Drama and English and coached football. I have also been a Junior High/Senior High Counsellor and Chaplain. I was lucky to have taught internationally in Macau, China for two years where I taught Drama (Grade 7 to Grade 12) and English (Gr. 12), as well as serving as the High School Vice Principal. My admin experience with Edmonton Catholic has been at the Elementary level, so I have a good understanding of education from Pre- K right up to Grade 12. I look forward to serving as your Principal. God Bless you all and Go Knights! Gary Rehman 4
Social Justice Projects The students of St. Nicholas had two big events in the month of December, both looking to help as many people as possible. Christmas Hamper: Students helped collect food items and put together hampers for a number of our families. These hampers were delivered on December 21 by our staff and a few volunteers. Giving Tree; We were able to collect a large number of items that were then donated to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The Silent Auction of Art projects at the Fine Arts Gala raised $240.00 for this project as well. Fine Arts Gala For December the 12th Fine Arts Knight. We will be featuring improv., music, and art. Darrell is On December 12, our Band, Art and Improv students presented an excellent evening in which about 160 parents and guests were in attendance. Thank you to Mr. Alstad, Mr. Marko and Miss Molloy for their efforts working with our students to put this event together. Mr. Alstad - Thank you for attending and supporting your child in their Fine Arts endeavors. The dedication from parents who listen to students practicing and show their support by attending concerts has a huge impact in the success of our music and fine arts program. We are looking forward to our next concert in the Spring. School Advisory Council (SAC) Volunteers The next meeting will be Monday, January 15 @ 5:45 pm in the WIN classroom. All are welcome to attend! 5
Faith Development Day for ECSD Staff Please note that on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, all staff members will be involved in a districtwide Faith Development Day at the Shaw Conference Centre. There will be no instruction of students at school on that day. Our theme this year is: Rooted in Jesus... Hearts to Love, Hands to Serve. We are pleased to welcome Fr. Richard Leonard as our keynote speaker. We also welcome Bishop Gregory Bittman who will celebrate the Eucharistic Liturgy with us. Catholic education is an awesome vocation and responsibility. By being involved in the education mission of the church, Catholic schools provide a hopeful response to the great mysteries of life in an increasingly complex world. Faith Development Day provides us, as a community of faith, with the opportunity to become more deeply aware of the faith foundation of our lives and to find inspiration to enter into our life s work with deeper conviction. I am confident you will agree that such a day is so important to realizing our mission: to provide a Catholic education that inspires students to learn and that prepares them to live fully to serve God in one another. (ECS Mission Statement). For more information, please feel free to call our school office at 780-474-3713. Peace and blessings, Gary Rehman Principal Athletics Volleyball: Boys Volleyball had a successful season leading them to the division four semi-final match. The girls had an awesome season finishing after the quarter final game in division three. Thank you to Mr. Martire, Mr. Alstad and Mr. Filiatreault for their time and effort coaching both teams over the course of the season. Basketball: Senior Basketball has begun with Miss. Koester and Mr. Marco coaching. 6
The Bully, The Bullied and the Bystander The information below was taken directly from this book that was authored by Barbara Coloroso, an international bestselling author and for the past 40 years an internationally recognized speaker and consultant on parenting, teaching, school discipline, positive school climate, bullying, grieving, nonviolent conflict resolution and restorative justice. TAUNTING vs. TEASING Teasing: Allows the teaser and the teased person to swap roles. Is innocent in motive. Is not intended to hurt the other person. Maintains the basic dignity of everyone involved. Is discontinued when the teased person becomes upset or objects. Taunting: Is based on an imbalance of power. Is intended to harm. Involves humiliating, degrading and bigoted comments thinly disguised as jokes. Includes laughter at, not laughter with. Is meant to diminish the targets sense of self worth. Continues especially when the target objects or becomes distressed. becomes distressed. Science Academy The Science Academy is finishing the semester with a trip to St. Jerome Elementary School. The students are presenting 9 different workshops to students in grade 4,5,6. The Academy students created some very interesting and engaging ways to increase the excitement for science in our younger students. It's great to see the St. Nick students being leaders in our community! We were awarded a Championship grant to build our school garden. Students in the Science Academy expressed interest in creating the garden and helping to maintain it. We will start building in April, as soon as the ground is ready to start digging! 7
Soccer Academy The soccer academy sent all 96 athletes to the annual St. Thomas Moore Tournament December 7th and 8th. All 5 teams represented our school very well. January brings the busiest month for the academy as we travel a total of 22 times in 24 days. All 22 trips will be to Commonwealth Field House. All athletes are encouraged to make sure they have their academy gear washed and ready to go after the Christmas break! Fine Arts Academy Junior Cappies Theatre Appreciation Program: In November, the Cappies Team went to see Millwoods Christian School's production of "It's a Wonderful Life." Students noted in their reviews the "superb acting" (Daria A., 9), the "perfect three-dimensional snowscape" (Adam H., 8), and the "charming and cozy set" (Jocelyne S., 7). Reviews are in the process of publication and you can look forward to seeing the top critic review published in next month's issue of the Knightly Knews. The Travelling Puppet Show: Students will be heading to the following schools on Tuesday, January 16th, to perform their hand-written and created scripts: Anne Fitzgerald, St. Gerard, St. Bernadette, and St. Jerome. Their shows are tailored to K-3 and 4-6 and involve storylines about Teacher Daydreams, Golden Turkeys, and the Day the Elves Took Over St. Patrick's Day. Call Miss Molloy for more details on showtimes if you'd like to come see your kids perform! Anime Club: Another exciting month of Anime Club begins this month with a St. Nick's favorite. Written in North America and based on the original Japanese Anime, Voltron is a hilarious Mecha-based show with a ton of strong character work. Students will also be encouraged to come to Edmonton's longest running anime convention from January 19-20 called A Taste of Animethon. An event pass is $35 but it would be well worth the money (and a great Christmas gift). Ask Molloy Sensei for more details. Improv Club: We've wrapped up the month of December with our first big performance on stage at the Christmas Gala! Congrats to Bailey, Jamie, Adam, Brady, Veronica, Jennifer, Skye, Loralei, and Brooklyn for their outstanding work on stage. The next month won't be until our tournament in January due to the work that's about to begin on the Wizard of Oz! Wizard of Oz: We have costume, set, and lighting design ready for construction and rehearsals start this month! There will be a poster sized copy of the schedule outside the stage and room 104. Actors will be provided with a hard copy of the schedule, a digital copy will be sent out on Remind and on Google classroom. Any students who have not yet signed up for cast reminders can do so at 587-801-0352, the code is @ozcast2018. The show goes up in April. 8
Student Leadership The Christmas Dance was during the afternoon of Dec. 21. Our resident DJ, Mr. Martire, spun the tunes to put everyone in a festive mood. The candygram fundraiser was a success, and the candygrams were delivered to the students on Dec. 21. All proceeds from the dance and candygrams will be going to the Stollery Childrens Hospital. Last month, we sent off cheques to the Food Bank for $120.00, ECSD Foundation for $200.00 and Adopt-a-Teen for $40.00. The Mitten Tree was loaded with toques, mittens and socks that were donated to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. We tried out two time fundraisers, hoping to raise funds for charity: Name that Tune- Christmas edition and Christmas TV show. The Leadership Team meets every Tuesday and time, and the students volunteer for all of the various jobs to make these events happen! Counselor s Corner New Years Resolutions With New Years around the corner it s time to develop your New Year resolutions. Having an obtainable goal will give your year focus and purpose. An important part of an obtainable goal is that it s focused on you, not on others, as we can t control what others do. Try creating a SMART goal to keep it realistic and achievable. A SMART goal is: Specific (simple, sensible, significant) What do you want to accomplish? Why is this goal important to you? What are the details involved with this goal? Measurable (meaningful, motivating) How will I know when it s accomplished? How much/how many? Achievable (agreed, attainable) Is this goal realistic? Do I have the resources to accomplish it? Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based) Is this the right time? What is the objective behind this goal? Will this goal help me meet my objective? Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive) When will I accomplish this? What can I do today? In a month? In 6 months? For support please visit your Provisional Psychologist/School Counsellor, Mrs. Jackie Kamrowski (Jackie.kamrowski@ecsd.net). Parents may contact our Counsellor at 780-474- 3713. 9
Safe Space Safe Space: A student leader encouraged all those in Safe Space to write a letter to their past self from their present self this month. Students felt comfortable enough to share their stories, have hard conversations, and are beginning to build a camaraderie. Facilitators of the group are so proud of the maturity and understanding our Safe Space students have for each other and encourage them to keep making a difference in their own lives and those of their peers. Superintendent s Message To celebrate Mary as Mother of God and our mother at the beginning of the new year means recalling a certainty that will accompany our days: we are a people with a Mother; we are not orphans. (Pope Francis, Homily, January 1, 2017) Each year, January 1 marks the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. As Pope Francis shared, turning our gazes to Mary as the new year begins fills our vision of the horizon in front of us with a model of perfect love. We see the example of faithful love for God when we think of her yes in response to His call. We see the example of parental love in the mother who tenderly nurtured her Son, walking alongside Him through His life and to His death. We see the example of selfless, humble love in her willingness to be the instrument of bearing Salvation into the world. As we contemplate our plans and aspirations for the new year, let us take inspiration from Mary! We are always so excited to spread the great news of the amazing things that take place daily in our schools. We want everyone to know that Catholic education offers rich and vibrant opportunities for students to learn and grow in a Christ centred environment. We have launched a new hashtag, #ECSDfaithinspires, which beautifully portrays how our Catholic faith guides every aspect of our schools as we live out our District vision to learn together, work together and pray together in answering the call to a faith-filled life of service. We encourage all our staff, students, and ECSD families to use this new hashtag and help us share the good news of how faith inspires our daily lives at Edmonton Catholic Schools! We are so pleased with the participation in our Hour of Code Week last month. This week, which saw 25,804 of our students engage in a variety of coding based activities, brought so much excitement and creativity into our classrooms. Special thanks to our EmTech team for their drive and passion in ensuring that our students have the skills that they need to navigate our digital world. The month of January brings the end of the semester for our high schools. One of the enhanced services that we are pleased to offer our students who will be writing Diploma Examinations is Diploma Prep courses. These courses provide an excellent structure for students to review the content of their exam courses so that they can approach them with greater confidence. Visit www.ecsd.net and click on the Diploma Prep banner for more information. 10
The new year brings much new information and opportunity for our students and families. This is always reflected on our District website. Watch for our new Guide to Schools as well as information on registration for 2018-2019, Open Houses, and our upcoming session on Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety from our Mental Health Caregiver series. The newest information is always highlighted in the rotating banner at www.ecsd.net for your convenience. The Government of Alberta is seeking the input of Albertans as they begin to shape their upcoming provincial budget. You can complete a brief online survey at https://www.alberta.ca/budget-consultations.aspx. This is an excellent opportunity for your voice to be heard! The week of January 18-25 is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. I will leave you with a thought from Pope Francis: unity is achieved by journeying, to recall that when we journey together, that is, when we encounter each other when we pray together and collaborate together in proclaiming the Gospel and in the service of others, we are already united. (Papal Audience, 10/11/2016) Many blessings as you begin the journey of a new year! Sincerely, Joan Carr Superintendent 11