October 2015 Au Courant October Events: 1- Awards Night 2- Run For Christ 2- Mission Trip Departure 6- School Council Meeting 8- Thanksgiving mass, Holy Family Parish, 9 am 9- ATA Institute Day, No School for students 12- Thanksgiving Day, No School 16- Ste. Marguerite d Youville Feast Day 16- Photo Retakes 16- School Dance #1 23- Early Dismissal/Staff Meeting, 11:18 am 27- WE Day 29- Band Concert, 7pm November Events: 1- Catholic Education Sunday, Holy Family Parish, ESSMY & EMP, 11 am 3- School Council Meeting 4- Take your kids to work day- Gr. 9 6- PD Day, NO SCHOOL 10- Remembrance Day Ceremony, 10:30 am 11- Remembrance Day, NO SCHOOL 20- PowerSchool updated 24/25- P/T Interviews, 5-8:30 pm 27- Day in Lieu, NO SCHOOL 29- First Sunday of Advent 30- Advent Mas, Holy Family Parish, 9am Please see the calendar on our website or click here: www.essmy.gsacrd.ab.ca/about/c alendar École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite D'Youville 51 Boudreau Road St. Albert, AB T8N 6B7 (780) 459-5702 www.essmy.gsacrd.ab.ca Message from Admin Faith in our Families: Supporting the Domestic Church The domestic church is a term that the Church uses in describing the Christian family. This year, our school district is taking a closer look and investigating further how we can support one another in our faith formation and knowledge. We strive to work with the home, school and church to ensure our families faith is nurtured. The following excerpt from the Gospel of Luke, where Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to be presented to God and to the community, reminds us that the Holy Family serves as a model of what the family should be. On the eighth day, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what was said in the Law of the Lord. When the parents brought in the child Jesus, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God saying: Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace, my eyes have seen your salvation which is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. The child s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon said to Mary This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken. When they finished everything required by the Law, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom and favour of God was upon him. As part of our year opening celebration and morning prayers, we have prayed these intentions, and so we invite to pray them as well: Response: Lord, bless and protect the family. Let us pray for all families in our ESSMY and GSACRD communities that we have a year filled with opportunities where we serve one another. For this we pray Lord, let us pray for our students and staff that we may continue to demonstrate an open heart and compassion for one another. For this we pray Lord, let us pray for the Catholic community and Pope Francis, that they continue to take care and respect all of God s creation. For this we pray Lord, let us pray for our mission team who go to Costa Rica in the new future, that they continue to demonstrate how God s favor is upon them through their words and actions. For this we pray In our monthly newsletters, we will offer intentions based on the family, and if you have particular intentions you would like to share in our newsletter, please email them to us.
School Council Our next school council meeting dates are: Oct. 6, Nov. 3, Dec. 1, Jan. 5, Feb. 2, Mar.1, Apr. 5, May 3 and June 7. The meetings are from 7:00-8:00 pm. As well, for the October and December meetings, we will have students at school who can take care of your younger children., aged 4 and older. If you can attend the October and December meetings, but need a babysitter, bring along the younger children. In order for us to make sure we have enough older students (grades 9 and older) to be with the younger children, you must call and let us know you are bringing your child before October 1. The children may play organized games in the gym. (please bring clean indoor shoes) Holy Family Youth Groups Verve is for students in grades 7-9 and they meet every Thursdays from 7-8:30pm. Unite is for students in grades 10-12 and they meet every Friday for Mass at 7 pm, and then fellowship from 7:30-9:30 pm. Please check the parish website for more information www.holyfamilyparish.ca All are welcome; it s a great way to live your faith with your friends! Criss-Cross Ministries Criss-cross Ministries is a youth ministry team whose role is to help shape our faith and relationships with God, self and others. This team will be hosting our grade 7 retreats, attending liturgies and masses and helping in a variety of other capacities as deemed fit and necessary by them and the school staff. Members of the team are Doug Kramer, Brendan Merkowsky, and Mary Kieftenbeld who were a part of the Oblate Youth Ministry Team; as well, new member, Stephanie Renaud make up the remainder of the team. Because they will be delivering our grade 7 Retreats, the dates will be changed from what is currently on our calendar, and grade 7 parents will be notified when the dates are firm.
St. Albert Catholic Mass Times St. Albert is very fortunate to have three Catholic Churches within its city limits. Please see below for weekend mass times and locations: Holy Family Parish St. Albert Parish 75 Poirier Avenue 7 St. Vital Avenue Saturday evenings 5 pm Sunday mornings 9 am and 11 am Sunday evenings 5 pm Saturday evenings 5 pm Sunday mornings 9 am and 11am Sunday evenings 6:30 pm Communauté catholique francophone St. Albert 9 Muir Drive (Chapelle Connelly McKinley) Chaque dimanche à 9h Digital Citizenship Digital Citizenship is a concept that is meant to help us understand what all technology users should know, and how to use technology appropriately. The lessons that our ESSMY students will follow are directed at teaching them how to use and access technology appropriately. They focus on digital etiquette, security, access, literacy, law, responsibility etc. In addition, Constable Avoine is scheduled to speak to all grade 7s and 8s in regards to digital citizenship. She will also address bullying, its effects, and its consequences. Awards Night Our annual awards Night is on Thursday, October 1 from 7-8:15 pm at St. Albert Parish. Invitations have been emailed. All ESSMY families are invited to attend this celebration. CAT4 Tests Modeled to fit Canadian curricula, the CAT4 Test is a testing system that assesses the essential learning outcomes of the following basic skill areas: reading, language, spelling, and mathematics. Essentially, as well as being a tracker of learning abilities, the CAT also evaluates how well students perform in comparison to other students across the district, region, or in Canada as a whole. The results are one of many diagnostic tools that teachers use in planning for student learning. These tests will be written on September 28, 29, and 30 at ESSMY.
Phys Ed Department Our 2015 Volleyball season is under way. We had many students try out for all four volleyball teams. ESSMY is proudly fielding both a Boys and Girls Junior A Team, (Competitive, grades 7, 8, 9) as well as a Boys and Girls Junior B Team. (Developmental, grades 7 and 8). Congratulations to all our students selected to those teams! All four teams have been working hard, and have already participated in a few tournaments! League play begins next week. Be sure to catch a game or two, and show your ESSMY ESPRIT! All practices and game times can be found on our school website. Our Terry Fox run was held on September 18, and was a huge success! Based on the results from this run, 60 students were selected to participate in the Districts Cross Country meet on September 24. Of the 60 students that participated, half of those have qualified, and will be attending Zones this Thursday, October 1. Good Luck Leopards! Sam Ewanishan Phys Ed Department Head Art Department News The junior and senior high students are working on a collaborative art project with the St. Albert Amplify Festival. We are creating 50 zentangle coffee cups that will be part of a large sculpture with five other schools. The Festival is for youth, ages 12 to 21and takes place at the Enjoy Centre on October 16th and 17th. There are many workshops in art, drama, dance, film, writing and make-up, plus nightly concerts. http://stalbert.ca/experience/amplify-festival/ The students have created portfolios using the elements and princples of design. Art 7 are learning about contemporary art by creating artist trading cards in scratchboard and mixed media. Art 8 are creating self portraits in mixed media and are learning how to make a tape transfer as a source of imagery. Art 9 are working on word portraits by learning about typography and design. Thank you for supporting art education and the St. Albert Amplify Festival. Pam Wilman Art Department Head
Mission Trip ESSMY mission team is preparing to head to Costa Rica from October 2 to 9. The team has met every 2 weeks since February for faith formation. We have made rosaries and written a prayer to help us grow in our faith. Our fundraising efforts have been going well. We ve had a silent auction, a bottle drive, sold gift cards, participated in the Roy s Financial Mayor s Walk and sold pizza and popcorn during lunch hours. The team went on a retreat in June and demonstrated what it means to think of others before themselves. They worked together on an obstacle course and engaged in group discussions. While in Costa Rica we will be working in an orphanage with children as well as doing construction work. Please keep us in your prayers while we are away. Rock Thibodeau Nicole Schoenberger Music Department Thank you all for such a warm welcome to the music department at ESSMY! I am so excited about this year. Recently, the grade 7 band students attended the JumpStart program at the Alberta College Campus of MacEwan University. The students learned so much from each of the professional players! In keeping with tradition, the band will put on a Halloween concert on Wednesday, October 28, at 7 pm, in the gym. We will all be dressing up. Be prepared to be "Thrilled" by our senior band, Entranced by our 8s, and Spooked by the 7s. I am excited to get out some of my old costumes and encourage you to join us in the dress up fun! Gillian Brinston-Kurschat Music Department Head Focus on the Family The link below takes you to an on-line magazine which links to our faith theme, Supporting the Domestic Church. Ideas on supporting faith development within the family are giventhere are also opportunities to sign up for the free Marriage and Parenting newsletter and 'Thriving Family Magazine'. http://www.focusonthefamily.ca
How We Remember The following is a link to the How We Remember student art contest. This contest challenges students to create a piece around the theme of Remembrance, either for the First or Second World War. Remembrance and commemoration are challenging endeavours- complex questions may arise when considering these conflicts. Some possible questions may be What should we remember?, Whose experiences should be commemorated and how? What are the ethical dimensions of remembrance? Should heroism, sacrifice and injustice all be commemorated in the same way? These questions may be helpful to artists and authors should they consider entering the contest. http://canada1914-1945.ca/ ESSMY Dance Rules and Expectations ESSMY s first dance of the year is fast approaching- October 16, to be exact. For those of you who will be experiencing your first dance here at ESSMY, please review the policies and procedures below. For our returning students, it is a good idea to review these rules again, as you gain additional privileges depending on your grade. The rules must be adhered to during all of our school dances. Failure to follow these rules and expectations will result in a denial of entry to the dance, and/or in the student being sent home. All students are to comply with all school expectations. As well, guests and their behaviours become the responsibility of the ESSMY student, therefore students are to ensure their guests know and follow our rules and expectations. 1. Your guest and you must arrive at the same time; please be courteous by not leaving your guest outside waiting for you; due to limited space, there is no waiting in the porch. If you leave the dance, so must your guest. 2. Each guest must provide current photo id and a parent contact name and phone number where he/she can be reached during the dance. 3. All guests must be registered by the Wednesday before the dance, other wise they will be denied entry. No exceptions. 4. All bags will be checked and coats must be put in the coat check area. 5. Only clothing that is acceptable to wear at school is allowed at the dances. 6. Parents will be notified and must pick up their child if there is any suspicion of alcohol or other forbidden substances. No refunds will be provided if you and/or your guest are sent home. 7. Doors open at 7:00 (no admittance prior to door opening) and close at 8:30. If you are going to be late, you must sign in by the Wednesday prior to the dance. 8. No refund on tickets. 9. No moshing. 10. Respect for yourself, others and chaperones is mandatory. 11. The dance ends at 11:00 PM please make sure your parents arrive no later than 11:00 PM. 12. Grade 7, 8 and 9 students are allowed 1 guest; grades 10 12 students are allowed 3 guests.