December 2008 ~ Boissevain School Newsletter

PARENT ADVISORY COUNCIL

The Parent Advisory Council will not meet in December. The next meeting will be on Monday, January 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Home Ec. Room. The topic will be discussion of the Division budget and priorities with Trustees and Division Senior Administration.

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

The last day of classes before Christmas break is December 19. Classes will resume on January 5, 2009.

CONCERTS

The holiday season kicks off at Boissevain School with the annual Christmas Band Concert on Sunday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m.. The Primary Christmas Concert follows this on December 10 at 7:00 p.m.. Be sure to mark your calendars!

MAGAZINE SALES

This year’s magazine sales have come to a close and Boissevain School achieved its goal. We would like to thank all the people who bought magazines and the students for their hard work.

USER FEE REIMBURSEMENT

As in past years, an expectation of Bronco Athletes is to sell two magazine subscriptions for each sport in which they participate. Magazine sales concluded in November and therefore sales data is not available for Volleyball & Hockey players. Volleyball & Hockey athletes pay an additional $20.00 for their user fees and in the event they sell 2 magazine subscriptions, students sign for a $20.00 cash reimbursement. Some parents are not aware of this reimbursement and we ask them to check with their children in this matter.

Student user fees in all other sports will be increased by $20 if the required number of magazines have not been sold.

PARKING

We need everyone to remember the parking procedures at Boissevain School.

East Parking Lot (by the Gymnasium)

It is important that no parking occur in the East Parking Lot from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. Parents of Kindergarten students are allowed to park in the East Parking lot from 11:30 to 12:00 noon in order to pick up their children. After 3:30, parking is allowed for after school and evening activities.

South Parking Lot

Staff, Students and Visitors are to park in the designated areas. We have tried to have all other vehicles follow these procedures for the area closest to the school.

√ The lane next to the cement dividers is reserved for parents to stop and enter the school. (5 minute limit). If you know you are going to be in the school longer, please park elsewhere.

√ The middle lane is for parents to stop and wait in their vehicles when picking up their children.

√ The third lane (closest to school) should be kept open to allow for vehicles to exit the parking lot.

One other note to consider is that students are not to be picked up along Highway 10 as this is a traffic violation.

The safety of everyone requires drivers to cooperate with parking procedures. Thank you for your patience at the end of the day as this is the busiest time for the South Parking Lot, but following the procedures a little more carefully will help during these 10 minutes.

CTS NEWS

CAREER & TECHNOLOGY STUDIES

Patty White ~ Co-ordinator

On October 7, Grade 11 and Internship students participated in a “Safe Workers Of Tomorrow” Practicum. The classroom component was presented in the morning and in the afternoon students performed an audit of a specific area at the worksite. Students came back from their work site with comments such as:

• Learned about WHIMIS and that it is very important to be careful around large machinery.
• Learned that all injuries no matter how small should be reported to your employer.

· Ergonomics is important in an office environment and incorrect posture causes injury.

· Learned about a unique industry in Boissevain. We saw what machines are used for embroidering our Sports and Grad jackets and the safety procedures followed. It was a very interesting experience

Thanks to the following businesses for giving our students the opportunity to participate in a meaningful and valuable experience:

Du-Rite Motors, Goodon Industries, Veva’a Diner, Co-op Grocery,

Co-op Home Center, Western Archrib, Glover’s Equine, Miller’s

We enjoyed an Appreciation Luncheon at Boissevain School for our Sponsors on November 20. It was wonderful to have everyone together to share information and reflections on this Practicum experience. Our student representative, Branden Crowe had this to say on behalf of his classmates:

On behalf of my peers I would like to thank you all for letting us come into your businesses. It was a valuable learning experience and it definitely should be continued in the future. Talking with students I have determined the consensus is that the bulk of the day could be better spent at the business and not as much time in the classroom. Although the day was jam-packed it was a great way to put the emphasis on safety and safe practices. Once again thank you for your time.

JUNIOR CURLING

by Mrs. C. Krowchuck & Mrs. L. Scott

Junior Curling is starting November 26 at 3:30 p.m. for Grades 5 and 6 and at 4:30 p.m. for Grades 7 - 12. New curlers of any age are encouraged to come to the early time to start and for instruction. The only equipment needed are clean runners. If you have curling equipment, your children can bring that if they wish. Cost is $10 for the year, which includes at least one pizza party. Our Junior Bonspiel is usually held in late February or early March. For more information, contact Connie Krowchuk or Lori Scott, at the school.

GUIDANCE and COUNSELLING

by Mr. B. Birch

Celebration of Learning occurred for students in K to 8, and parent teacher interviews took place through the entire school. Do you have any concerns that your child is struggling? If so, the Student Assistance Program can help. For more information, or if you have any other concerns, please contact Mr. Birch at 534-2494 or bbirch@tmsd.mb.ca.

TIPS for SCHOOL SUCCESS

Success in school doesn’t happen without parental support. Whether your child happily skips off to kindergarten, or trudges down the hall to high school math class, your child needs your help to succeed in school. Here are a few tips.

· provide the basic needs (proper diet, plenty of sleep, clothing, school supplies)

· provide a study/homework environment favorable to learning

· contact your child’s teacher(s) and visit his/her classroom

· notice when your child completes homework and provide encouragement

· recognize progress

· help your children stay calm and confident on test days, and send them to school well rested and having had breakfast

· encourage your child to talk to teachers if he/she does not understand an assignment

· read and talk about information sent home from school

· talk about school everyday (they will take school more importantly if they know you feel school is important)

· discuss with your child how learning in school helps in everyday life

· encourage your child to set goals

· have a dictionary available for your child to look up new or unfamiliar words

POST SECONDARY EDUCATION and SCHOLARSHIPS

Parents and students, many Grade 12’s have already applied to Post-Secondary institutions for next year. Check out the bulletin board outside Mrs. Aikenhead’s classroom or the Links section of the school website (boissevainschool.ca) to find more information about career options and scholarships. Another site that is particularly useful for career preparation is: www.careercruising.com (username: manitoba362 password: careers). New information is continually coming to the school, so please take the time to see what’s relevant. If you haven’t applied yet, or are uncertain of what needs to be done, call or come by my office, and I will provide the necessary information.

Note: To be eligible for Honour Roll at graduation, an overall average of 80% is required on courses at the student’s grade level and he/she must be taking at least 5 credits in grade 12.

PEER HELPERS

The Peer Helpers continue to meet, with the purpose of addressing the needs and concerns of high school students. It is the belief of Peer Helping that peers are more understanding, accessible, and easier to approach than adults. Therefore, any students having problems, or needing to talk, can connect with a Peer Helper for assistance. So if you are looking for help, the Peer Helpers are available.

Middle School Gym Blast

After a year’s hiatus, the Peer Helpers will be once again hosting the Christmas gym blast on the morning of December 19. In previous years, all middle school students, staff, and Peer Helpers were divided into four teams, where they competed in various activities like The Human Chain Relay and Fear Factor. In addition to some new and fun activities this year, we will also see the Grades 5-8 students from Minto join us for the excitement.

Get to Know the Peer Helpers

How long have you been a Peer Helper and what is your favorite moment in Peer Helping?

Alanna Inverarity – 4 years & when Chelsea hit the chair at the retreat

Dorian Rourke – 2 years & the retreat

Brittany Wiebe – 1 year & playing midnight poker at the retreat

Colin Reimer – 1 year & the retreat

Mrs. McMillan – 3 years & the retreat

LIBRARY NOTES

by Mrs. C. Kentner, Librarian

For those of you who have been trying to access the Library pages on the School Site, technical difficulties have arisen and the site has been blocked.  On the Administration Days  November 27 and November 28, we are going to try to get the site up and running again.  When it is up, the icon on the right side on the Boissevain School Home page will be blue rather than black.  Hopefully, the problems will be solved.

More books are being added every month to the collection.  There will be reviews on the website of books I have enjoyed when the site is available.  

There are two themes this year for bulletin boards in the Library.  For the Middle School and High School areas, the theme is ‘Rights and Responsibilities’.  An example is ‘you have the right to be heard and the responsibility to listen to others.’  The theme for the Primary area is ‘Be _____Smart’.   So far we have had rules and hints on bus safety, Halloween safety, and snow safety. Next month, of course, will be Christmas safety.  Thanks to Jennifer Hildebrandt, Willow Dyck,  Kelsey Saban, Ashley Harper and Jewel Stouffer for their help.

With Christmas coming up, I would like to extend special Season’s Greetings to each of the members of the Boissevain School community and to you, the readers of this column.  My reminder to you is a good book is always an exciting and appropriate gift!

WORLD VISION

by Mrs. C. Krowchuk

This year, instead of giving a classmate gift, gifts to the teacher or instructional assistants, or receiving a gift from me, the students in my Grade 5/6 class decided they would rather contribute that money toward providing for a needy family. World Vision offers several options from purchasing livestock to stocking a medical clinic. The students have set their sites on purchasing a "stable" for a community which includes a cow, goats, chickens, etc. However, the cost for a stable is $1200. In order to raise more money, the students brainstormed various fund raisers we could have. We started with a bake sale which brought in just under $300! We have a couple more fund raisers planned - hosting the Middle Years Soc Hop, African Water Carry and possibly one other. The African Water Carry will require the students to get sponsors who will pledge them money and in return the students must carry a 4 litre jug of water around with them all day at school. This is to show the student how difficult getting clean water for drinking and cooking is for people around the world. The students are very excited about raising money and they willingly offer to do the planning and organizing for all the events we have planned. Thank you to all the parents of the students in my class because they have been very supportive of this project.

WEB PAGES

Boissevain School Teachers are committed to communicating with Parents and Students. In doing so, School staff are using “Wikis” to update assignment and test dates or sending out mass emails to keep parents informed. http://boissevain school.ca

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to ALL from the staff

and students of Boissevain School!

DATES TO REMEMBER

(for important dates throughout the year, see the school calendar on the web site!)

December 1 - 8 ~ Consumer Math 40S Standards Exam Project

December 7 ~ Christmas Band Concert @ 7:30 p.m.

December 10 ~ Primary Christmas Concert @ 7:00 p.m.

December 19 ~ Interim Reports (9–12)

December 19 ~ Last Day of classes for 2008

January 5, 2009 ~ Classes resume.

January 6 – 9 ~ English 40S Standards Exam

January 14 ~ Student Led Conferences for Grades 9-12 (6:00-8:00 p.m.)

January 19 ~ Pre-Calculus 40S Standards Exam

January 22 ~ Consumer Math 40S Standards Exam

January 22 ~ Consumer Math 40S Standards Exam Portfolio is due

January 23 ~ 29, Semester 1 final exams & full year mid-terms

January 30 ~ Administration Day – No Classes

Bronco High School Hockey Schedule

December 5 vs. Crocus Plains @ 8:00 p.m.

December 19 ~ vs. Deloraine – 1:00 p.m. @ Boissevain Arena

Varsity Girls Basketball Schedule

January 9 & 10 ~ Broncos Varsity Girls Basketball Tournament