Welcome to Week 8!  It is hard to believe we are already into the last week of October but we will not bid farewell without welcoming some guests from Australia and participating in some SAC Halloween activities. 

 

We welcome back our travellers from out west.  Mike Kennedy, Susanna Mak, Rosalinda, and Violet had a busy few days at the CCSDL Conference in Vancouver.  Thank you for representing our school; we are all anxious to hear your stories.

 

A big congratulations to Santo Visconti on his promotion to principal of St. Matthew’s Elementary School beginning October 28.  Our best wishes and good luck vibes will be with Santo in his new position of responsibility.  We are confident he will do a great job and be welcomed by the staff, students, and parents at St. Matthew.

 

Congratulations are also given to Silvia Fortura who was selected as lead writer for the AWD Applied Design writing team.  Good luck with this added responsibility, Silvia.  We know you will do well. 

 

Thanks to Christa Hall, Karen Heisz, Kathy Saran, and their GreenQuest team for a successful Waste Reduction Week.  We hope the litterless lunches theme that we experienced last week will continue to be a practice throughout the year.

 

Our Academic Awards Night was a big success thanks to key organizers Yvette and Eileen.  The hard work they put in to prepare for this night began last June and kept Yvette busy throughout the summer.  Her hard work was very much appreciated by all students, parents, and staff.  Thanks also to all staff who gave of their time to distribute awards to our top academic students. 

 

Christa Hall has agreed to be our ShareLife representative.  Please take note of the posters in the staff room inviting you to contribute to this organization that does much to satisfy the needs of our Catholic community.  Thank you, Christa, for assuming this role on behalf of our school.

 

The first round of Gr. 12 Retreats were a big success.  Thanks to Mary Louise and Peter Petrasek for providing this reflective time for our Gr. 12 students.  Thanks also to Maureen McAndrew and Ryan Wong for giving of their time to assist with supervision. 

 

Thanks to all staff who took our students on trips last week: Pierre’s 4U Physics trip to Waterloo’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics; Silvia for leading her Gr. 12 AWD students to the Ontario College of Art and Design and Toronto Galleries; Matt and Angela Zabana for taking the Gr. 11 Religion students to the ROM; Kara, Cathy Schwan, Michael Waud, and Eileen for escorting our second Gr. 9 Geography trip to Niagara Falls; and John Notten for leading our Gr. 10 Art students on their foot travels through downtown Toronto.

 

Thanks, also, to the staff that remained behind and covered areas to allow these excursions to happen.

 

Coach Dave Frair was omitted as a key component of the Gr. 9 Boys and Girls Flag Football teams’ successful season in last week’s Varia.  My apologies, Dave, on this error. Thank you for sharing your skills with our Gr. 9 students and giving them the opportunity to get involved in Ward’s extracurricular life.

 

Our first two days this week are scheduled days.  These dates were strategically positioned by the Calendar Committee last June to provide teachers the opportunity to be proactive in helping students get on track for November 3’s Unit 4 Target Date.  Please use as many tools and strategies as you can to give students the opportunity to avoid having a Conditional Zero input on November 3. 

 

Monday, October 26 is a Schedule A day.  There will be a mandatory photocopy in-service for all Instructional Assistants at 10:30 a.m. in the photocopy room on the 3^rd floor.  The plan is for all IAs to participate in this in-service and to train the members of each respective department in hopes of decreasing the number of shut-downs we have experienced due to personal error.  John Notten travels to the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre with his AVI4M and IDC 4U classes for the International Art Expo.  They will depart Ward at 1:30 p.m.  End off your day with some high calibre volleyball as the Senior Boys host Neil McNeil’s undefeated team in the Den.  The Ward players, as well as Coaches Emer, Harrison, and Wong, would appreciate your support.

 

Tuesday, October 27 is a Schedule B day.  There will be a New Staff Lunch and Learn in the Office Conference Room.  The topic will be Conditional Zeroes, Academic Alerts, and Reporting.  Please bring your lunch and your questions.  Our after-school languages club continues after school with Valentini’s Italian in Rm. 306 and Colleymore and Valiulis’ Spanish in Rm. 305.  Don’t leave for the day without stopping by the gym to cheer on our Junior and Senior Girls’ basketball teams as they host McLuhan in a double-header.

 

Wednesday, October 28 is a Day 4.  We will host 27 visitors from Australia from 10 – 3 p.m.  If you are leading a seminar and would not mind some visitors, please advise Patricia.  Some staff have graciously agreed to conduct a TA interview for the visitors but we are short on seminars.  Your assistance would be appreciated.  Karen Erle will host Joint Team Meetings in the morning in the Office Conference Room.  SAC will launch their Halloween activities in the cafetorium at lunch.  The Social Committee will also treat staff to an Octoberfest lunch.  Please refer to the memo for instructions on payment for the lunch and this year’s social fee.  The Schulich School of Business will present at 9 a.m. and Laurentian will present at 1:50 p.m.  The Languages Club continues with Darlene instructing Latin in the Family Studies Room.  An Information Night for all potential graduates and their parents will be held in the cafetorium beginning at 7 p.m.

 

Thursday, October 29 is a Day 5.  We welcome Clare and Mitch Grogan from Australia to our school for the day.  Please be prepared to address their questions as OASIS leaders guide them through a tour of the school.  Our second group of Gr. 12 students depart to Cedar Glen for their overnight retreat.  Derek and Violet will also be participating in a 2-day retreat for vice principals at St. Augustine’s Seminary.  Marie Ventura and Joanna Morra will take our DECA students to Seneca College to participate in the Toronto Regional Competition.  The Ontario Comprehension Assessment (OCA) will take place in the cafetorium and library for all Gr. 9 students.  Please ensure your Gr. 9 students realize this is a mandatory activity.  Thanks to the Literacy Team (Maureen Collie, Karen Erle, Susanna Mak, and Violet) for co-ordinating this event.  The Toronto College of Dental Hygiene will present at 11 a.m. and there will be an Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program presentation at 1:50 for all Gr. 10 and 11 students.  SAC will continue with Halloween activities during lunch in the cafetorium.

 

Friday, October 30 is a Day 6.  SAC will coordinate a Halloween Costumes/Civvies day.  Those who choose to wear civvies rather than costumes will pay $2 for Free the Children.  We send our best wishes to the Cross Country team and coaches Dalgarno, Hayes, and Poole as they travel to Etobicoke Stadium for the TDCAA finals.  Maria Scarano and Marie Ventura travel with their BBI classes to downtown Toronto for their Marketplace research excursion.  Students enrolled in credit recovery for Gr. 9 Geography or Gr. 10 History will travel with Kara to the Toronto Island.  Ryerson’s Engineering program will present at 9 a.m.

 

That’s all folks – have a great week, and remember that we “fall behind” October 31 when we set our clocks back 1 hour giving us an extra hour sleep.  Yippee!!