March 2009 ~ Boissevain School Newsletter

PARENT ADVISORY COUNCIL

High School Information Night

On March 9, at 7 p.m., in the Lecture Theatre (Band Room), the school administration and guidance counselor will present information about the high school programs. This session is very important for parents and students entering grade 9 next school year. The evening may also provide useful information for parents of students currently in grades 9-11 as well. All are welcome! Come and learn about the credit system, courses offered at Boissevain and much more.

REPORTS & PARENT-TEACHER INTERVIEWS (K-8)

Reports for K-8 students will go home on March 16. Parent/Teacher Interviews for selected students in K-8 will be from 6-8 pm on March 18. Please call the school (534-2494) if you wish an interview.

LUNCHROOM TIPS

The lunchroom is located in the small gym and is set up at 11:35 each day. Lunch hour begins at 11:50 and all students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 are required to stay in the lunchroom until 12:05, when at that time, they are dismissed by the teacher on duty.

In order for our cafeteria workers and custodians to prepare the gymnasium for 12:30 classes, students are required to be done their lunch and out of the gym by 12:15. Students are expected to go outside for their noon hour break.

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES

Student Led Conferences were held on Thursday, Feb. 19, for Grades 9 to 12. Thank you to all parents who came to the school and viewed their children’s portfolios. The purpose of the SLC is to spend time on school specific material and connect with the school and staff. One of the conversations taking place that evening involved parents discussing course marks with students by viewing their tracking sheets. Other topics discussed during the evenings were course credits and course options for the upcoming year. If you have not had the opportunity to go over the portfolio with your child, please do as soon as you can.

ATTENDANCE

At Boissevain School we use the “call back system” for Kindergarten to Grade 8. If the school is not notified of a student’s absence, we will phone home to ensure that individual’s whereabouts. For all students (K to 12), parents are asked to call the school before 9:00 a.m. if students are absent for any reason. For your convenience, you may leave a message at any time on our answering machine. Your child’s safety is our utmost concern.

MARCH PRESENTATIONS

There are two presentations taking place at Boissevain School in March.

Grades 5 to 12 will participate in a workshop called Absolute Leadership. This is a not-for-profit organization that exists to empower emerging generations to live with purpose and change their world. The program involves 3 parts. Think Fast is a one hour high energy presentation, Think Global is a workshop designed to discuss Humanitarian issues with our Student Government and Think It Through involves self worth and will be presented to the School’s Peer Helper Team. Check out the following internet site. http://absolute.org/

Kindergarten to Grade 4 will be the audience for the Prairie Theatre Exchange – Munsch on the Prairie Tour. The Dark, 50 Below Zero and Pigs – and some new stories – Show and Tell and I'm so Embarrassed – will be performed with fun and energy. Some information can be found on the internet at the following site: http://www.pte.mb.ca/tour/upcoming.htm

SCHOOL LOOSELEAF ………………

· Two students from Grades 5 & 6 are participating in CAREER TREK in Brandon. University and College students are providing workshops on various careers and are doing so over four Saturdays starting February 28^th and ending March 21^st.

· Boissevain School Student Government participated in a “Tip the Student” event on Feb. 27^th. All proceeds are going to the Firefighters.

· Lake Adam day was on Wednesday, Feb. 25, with K to 4 students enjoying a day of winter activities. Thank you to all teachers and volunteers for your efforts throughout the day. Parents, please remember to make sure that your child has the proper clothing and helmets that fit and work so that your child can enjoy those kinds of days.

· Grad 12 students writing the provincial standards exams (English & Math) in January performed well with top results in the high 90’s. Well Done!

· Kindergarten registration is now complete and 34 new students will be attending Boissevain School in September of 2009.

· Weather has prevented the Ski Club to travel to Bottineau on their regularly scheduled trips but twelve skiers were able to ski again at the end of February. This is a great opportunity for those interested in skiing or snowboarding.

BOISSEVAIN STUDENT GOVERNMENT REPORT

by Ms. C. Dyck

February closed out with a bang! We saw two new events take place at the end of the month. In school, the event organized by Branden C. was Chix vs. Stix. This was a fun salute to our high school hockey and girl's basketball teams. It was three days of "friendly" competition. There was a free throw competition, a shoot out, and 5 on 5 basketball. I believe the teams were quite evenly matched, so there wasn’t a clear winner, or was there?? There was even a guest appearance from a couple of Tweety Bird and Sylvester the cat wannabes. Finally, on Feb 27, most of the Student Government "walked the walk", and spent part of the day at a couple of local restaurants on "Tip a Bronco" day. The students volunteered their time at Choy's, and Veva's to raise money for our local fire fighters. Thank you to everyone who tipped so generously, and to the businesses who allowed us into their establishments. A big thank you to the employees who gave up their tips for the day to help us, help the fire fighters. Over $350 was raised for this worthy cause. Thank you, Alanna I. for all your hard work in putting this event together, and to the students who gave up part of their day off to help out. I'm not sure what we can do in March to top February's events, but I know we are going to try. Spirit Week takes off on March 9, so stay tuned!

LIBRARY NEWS

by Mrs. C. Kentner, Librarian

New book reviews will be posted this week on the Library site that is found as a quick link on the School site. With the new format, the Library site is found on the left hand side. Just click on it and you will be taken to the new information. For the first few people who come into the Library and ask for a book that has been reviewed on the site, there will be a prize. I hope that people will get into the habit of reading the reviews.

More new books are coming onto the shelves. Keep looking for them.

I LOVE TO READ

by Mrs. H. Deacon & Mrs. E. Casselman

February was I Love to Read month and the primary staff and students celebrated it in style! Special events included James Grant’s Magic of Reading Show and our Co-op sponsored a pizza luncheon including their staff guest readers. Throughout the month we also enjoyed listening to readings from Mr. White, Mr. Usick, Mme Dyck, Mr. Eisenbrenner, Mr. Innes, Mr. Rainnie and Ms. Judith Doell. Thank you to all who shared a special book or story with us! Pajama day and the “oldest published book challenge” wound up the month. Colleen Hallett, grade 4 with her 1895 copy of Black Beauty was the student recipient of our award. The staff winner was Mrs. Carole Kentner with the 1883 Home Book!

CTS NEWS

CAREER & TECHNOLOGY STUDIES ~ Learning that builds bridges

Patty White ~ Co-ordinator

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM ~ “because education & training is part of good business practice”

Work Site ~ Brandon Fire Department

Co-operating Employer ~ Braden Coates

Intern ~ Danton Hintz

What process did you take to determine this particular career pathway?

Through working with the program Career Cruising, Fire Fighter was second on my list and I thought an Internship in this area would be a way to see if I wanted to pursue this career.

What have you learned at your worksite that you previously did not know?

I learned a lot on my Internship, but I was surprised to find out that Fire Fighters continue to take courses as a requirement of this job. As well, I didn’t know that driving and operating equipment was based on seniority; I always thought you had to take a specific course for each vehicle.

CTS NEWS

CAREER & TECHNOLOGY STUDIES ~ Learning that builds bridges

Patty White ~ Co-ordinator

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM ~ “because education & training is part of good business practice”

Work Site ~ Du-Rite Motors

Co-operating Employer ~ George Dyck

Intern ~ Mitchell Oliver

What motivated you to pursue this particular career pathway?

Living on a farm there are many opportunities to get involved with repairing equipment and I like this kind of hands-on work. I took the opportunity to create a Dune Buggy from a Mercury Topaz for Connections last year and really enjoyed working on that project. An Internship seemed to be the next step for me to see if Mechanics is where I want to complete my post-secondary education.

DATES TO REMEMBER

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

March 6 – Prairie Theater Exchange – Munsch Tour (Primary Classes)

March 9 – PAC – Informational Night (Gr. 8 & Gr. 9) @ 7:00 p.m. – Band Room

March 16 – K to 8 Reports

March 17 – Presentation by ABSOLUTE – Gr. 5 - 12

March 18 – Parent / Teacher Interviews – K to 8

March 20 – Administration Day – No Classes

March 24 – Spring Band Concert @ 7:30 pm

March 30 - April 3 – Spring Break – No Classes

April 10 – Good Friday – No Classes

April 22 – Preschool Wellness Days 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. @ Boissevain

Mennonite Brethren Church