“Before children observe and study anything else, they observe and study their teacher.”  (Born of the Spirit Catechetical Program)

Welcome to Week 5 everyone!  This week begins in a special way as we take time to recognize and appreciate educators on World Teachers’ (Educators’) Day.

 

However, before we jump too far ahead into this week’s activities, let’s review the highlights from last week.

 

Thanks to Amy and Mark for facilitating Ward’s participation in Peace Day last Tuesday.  The group of grade 10 students enjoyed their day and voiced special comments about hearing keynote speaker, Justin Trudeau.

 

We welcomed back Fred, Tony, Meghan, Keith, Maureen McAndrew and the Gr. 11 PHE students that braved the elements at Sibbauld Point Provincial Park.  Despite the challenging conditions, all had many great stories to share.

 

We also were glad to see the return of Marion, Sylvia, Mike, Jen Hayes and the Gr. 10 ACES students who had an equally good time but managed to stay a bit dryer in their in-door quarters.

 

Thank you to both groups for giving of your time to enable our students to experience the Ontario North in Autumn.

 

Our TA Review Meetings got off to a good start.  Thank you to the Guidance Dept. for organizing these meetings and to all TAs for preparing for the discussion.  If you have not finalized your meeting time, please ensure you contact your SBAT Counsellor asap.  Derek, Violet and I enjoy learning more about our students and how we can help them be more successful.

 

Jen Hayes, Mary Louise, Dana, and John Notten met to plan future Gr. 9 OASIS assemblies.  We will follow an Extended TA on the dates indicated below and meet with the grade nines in the cafetorium.  Please make note of the following dates and topics:  Oct. 20 – Conditional Zeroes, Pacing, and Academic Alert Letters; Dec. 2 – Reading Report Cards; Jan. 15 – Sharpening the saw, School Involvement, and Course Selection; Mar. 24 – Character, Decision-Making, and Academic Integrity; May 20 – Now What and Leader Appreciation.

 

We appreciate your participation in last Thursday’s Meet the TA Night.  Parent turn-out was very satisfying and we heard many positive comments about the information you shared with them in your TA meeting groups.  Please extend our thanks to your advisee who represented your TA and ensure Violet has their name for Community Service credit.  Thanks also to Nicole Powell and her students for preparing the programme, Eileen Rayman for organizing the welcome crew, and John Notten for his PowerPoint presentation.

 

Thanks to the Social Committee for treating us to dessert last Friday.  Please remember to submit your yearly fee to Darlene Donovan as soon as possible.

 

The 7 Habits presentation was well-received by our students and I was very proud of their respectful behaviour.  Thanks to Jen Hayes for helping to facilitate this event.  Thanks also to Anthony Lu and Ross for café set-up and quick clean-up after lunch to facilitate the start of the senior presentation.  We also appreciate Liz’s supervision at both assemblies.

 

And now to this week’s events…

 

We will take time on Monday, October 5 to appreciate all the work you do to help our students each and every day.  We know how hard you work and how much you care.  Monday allows us to recognize what you do in a special way. 

 

Happy World Teachers’ (Educators’) Day!

 

Monday is also Me To We Day at the Air Canada Centre.  Me To We Day is Free The Children’s annual celebration of the power of young people to change the world.  Thanks to Maureen McAndrew and Cathy Schwan for facilitating this event for our students.  Featured speakers include:  Elie Wiesel, Robert Kennedy Jr., Mike “Pinball” Clemons, Craig and Marc Kielburger, and Hedley.  The event will be broadcast live at www.ctv.ca.

 

The Student Success Team will meet at lunch on Monday in the Library Conference Room to finalize plans for Friday’s Faculty Meeting.

  

Tuesday, October 6 will begin with an Extended TA to facilitate W.A.R.D.

Unit 4.  This session will be a follow-up session to Michael Consul’s 7 Habits presentation.  Jen Hayes will be distributing a one page handout with suggested guidelines, activities, and evaluation to all TAs.

 

York University is also scheduled for a presentation.

 

We will have two presentations in the Computer Lab on Tuesday to review the steps for completing the Teacher Performance Appraisal (TPA).  LTO teachers will meet at lunch and all NTIP and teachers in their evaluation year will meet after school.

  

All teachers are reminded to complete their Annual Learning Plan (ALP) by October 15.

 

We wish the Golf Team with Dave Emer and Mary Louise a good day and game at the TDCAA competition.

 

Come and cheer on the Jr. Boys Soccer Team (Davies and Hathway) as they host O’Connor.

 

Wednesday, October 7 will see members of the English Dept. and Gr. 11 English students travelling to Stratford to view Macbeth.  The University of Toronto will hold two presentations at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and Western University’s Ivey Business School will present at 2 p.m.

 

Department Heads are reminded of their 2 p.m. meeting on Wednesday in the Library Conference Room.

 

Please alert your graduating advisees that Jostens will be selling school rings Wednesday and Thursday.

 

Thursday, October 8 is a busy day with Carlton University presenting at 9 a.m., the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) presenting at 2 p.m. and two excursions.  Karen Heisz and Kathy Saran will take a group of GreenQuest students to the Environmental Youth Forum and Jen Wisniowski will escort the Senior Extended French Students to the Pathways to Bilingual Success Conference and Career Fair at Exhibition Place.  We were very fortunate to get selected for this fair and appreciative of the partial funding provided by the Canadian Parents for French.

 

We wish the Tennis team and Dave Simone a good day as they travel to the Markham Tennis Centre.

 

Friday, October 9 will be our first Faculty Meeting.  All staff is invited to the library beginning at 8 a.m. for coffee and timbits before our 8:30 meeting start.  Thanks to all IAs and EAs as well as Antonella, Liz, and Wendy for helping to keep resource areas open while this meeting is occurring.  The Student Success Team will lead the meeting but future Faculty Meeting topics will be the responsibility of the Faculty Committee.  If you are interested in being part of this committee, please advise me.  We are anxious to welcome a few more members!

 

Western’s Huron University College will present at 2 p.m.

 

Your school spirit is needed in the Wolverine Den after school as the Senior Girls Basketball Team (Dever and Rossi) open their home season against Blessed Mother Teresa.

 

October seems to be the month of visitors to Mary Ward.  Please take time now to ensure work areas are clean and presentable as we put our best foot forward.  If you have any facility concerns, please forward to me.  More details on visitors will follow in future Varias.

 

All teachers who took AQ courses over the summer and qualify for QECO category upgrading and/or addition of degree allowance are reminded to complete the appropriate forms in last week’s Director’s Bulletin.  The form must be received by Human Resources no later than November 30 in order to receive a retroactive adjustment to your salary to Sept. 1, 2009.  Hard copies of the Director’s Bulletins are kept in a binder in the main office.  Electronic copies are available on the TCDSB website.

 

Kudos to our Halyna Kopach and the Math Dept. for achieving the highest standing of any TCDSB in the 2009 Gr. 9 Assessment of Mathematics.  We are keen to maintain this standard by establishing a Numeracy Committee.  Further details will follow from Derek.

 

Congratulations also to Brian Millado (Christa’s TA) for placing 4^th amidst 12 competitors in last weekend’s Toronto Poetry Slam.  Brian was quite proud of his accomplishment since this was his first time competing in such an event.

 

Sele Akioyamen was selected as Ward’s recipient of the Catholic Student Award.  Sele will be recognized at our Award Night on October 19 and also honoured with other recipients at The Father Patrick Fogarty 26^th Annual Awards Dinner on October 24.  A good friend of Mary Ward and former TCDSB Superintendent, Mary Eileen Donovan will be recognized at the same event as the recipient of the Foundation’s 2009 Medal of Honour.  Our congratulations to Mary Eileen and Sele.

 

Congratulations are also extended to Annie Passmore (Mark Morra’s TA) for completing last week’s Scotiabank ½ marathon.  This was Annie’s first time competing at this distance and she was deservedly proud.

 

All fall sports coaches are reminded to give Derek your schedules to include on the school calendar.  We seem to be missing a few teams.

 

Please note that Derek is at an in-service Thursday morning and Patricia will be at an in-service Thursday afternoon.  We arranged it like that because Violet gets lonely if left on her own!

 

Before heading off for family time over the Thanksgiving weekend, please be sure to give a big hug to Natasha who will be starting her maternity leave.  We will keep you in our prayers and anxiously await the exciting news.

 

That’s all folks.  Have a great week!