St. Marys DCVI - Weblog 07-08

Report Cards

Report cards were mailed to all students today, Monday, July 7.

Last Day of Classes

Finally!  The last day of classes for the 07-08 school year.  Classes were shortened.  The final assembly of the year was held in the morning.  Students and staff said farewell to Mrs. Jewson who is retiring at the end of the school year.  A BBQ lunch was provided for everyone with Chefs Mills and Hutton at the BBQ.  Students and staff wandered through the numerous tractors in the parking lot.  The teachers and the Grade 12 students enjoyed a very competitive game of baseball with Officer Bill assuming the roll of umpire.  Good luck to everyone on their exams and final assessments.

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mr. McAsh

Entrepreneurial Studies

The grade 11 entrepreneurial studies class had the opportunity to launch their businesses at the end of this semester.  In addition to having lots of fun and gaining the experience of running a business, all groups recovered their expenses and made some money too.  As a class, the students decided to donated 20% of their profits to breast cancer and in particular the campaign that has been established in memory of Shanna Larsen.  This has resulted in $103 being donated to Team Shan.  The Entrepreneurial Studies class would like to thank the students and staff of DCVI for their support!

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mrs. Milne

Mrs. Milne

A.J. Baker visits DCVI

On Thursday June 12 St. Marys DCVI hosted 47 kindergarten and grade 1 students from A. J. Baker Elementary School.  As their year end trip, the elementary students were divided into three groups and rotated through stations of Drama, Music and Phys. Ed.   Each station was run by DCVI's own grade 9 students and included a play, learning about different musical instruments and games.

Great job to all students helping out with this event and thanks to the A.J. Baker students, staff and parent volunteers for a great morning.

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by shutter-bug Moore

Mr. Moore

June Exam Schedule

Click on the link at the end of this posting to view a copy of the exam schedule.

View june08.pdf

Carnival '08

Student Council arranged to have classes shortened today in order to have Carnival '08.  A variety of "blow-up" items were brought in for all to enjoy.  The water-related activities proved to be very popular.  Enjoy the pictures; and the video!

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mr. McAsh

[ QuickTime video ]  unedited video taken by Mr. McAsh

Athletic Banquet

On Thursday June 5 St. Marys DCVI held its annual Athletic Banquet. This is an opportunity to say thanks to the athletes on each team and to recognize those athletes for outstanding achievement for their individual teams and for overall achievement throughout the year.

Team awards include Most Sportsmanlike and MVP honours.  Major awards are given to Male and Female athletes in grade 9, Junior and Senior Divisions. 

The highest honour goes to the graduating athlete that has made major contributions to DCVI not only for their graduating year, but for their time at DCVI.  This years winner was Lauren Stacey. 

Congratulations to all athletes on a fanastic year and a big thank you to coaches for their time and energy.

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by shutter-bug Moore, Mr. McAsh, and Matt Brine

WOSSAA Senior Girls Soccer

The senior girls soccer team capped off a successful 2008 season Tuesday in Tillsonburg.  The team entered WOSSAA as the #2 Huron-Perth seed behind Goderich. In the semi-final match, the team outplayed the top ranked London Christian from Thames Valley.  Katie Curtis scored for DCVI in a game that ended in a tie, and the girls lost a heartbreaker in overtime. 
In the bronze medal match, the girls came out strong against West Elgin.  They found themselves down 2-0 early, but rallied back with three unanswered goals.  After determining how to beat the strong offside trap, the forwards created numerous scoring chances.  Candra Staffen scored on two breakaways, and Katie Curtis added one on a direct kick.  A late goal by the Wildcats forced the girls into their second overtime of the day, and they ran out of steam. 
The team is commended for their strong play throughout the season. 
Coach Chateauvert would like to thank Darryl Thompson for sharing his expertise with the team, and Kristin DeBrabandere for working with goalie Sarah Kennedy. 

Grade 9 YMCA Ropes Trip

This semesters grade 9 phys. ed. classes went on the annual field trip to the London YMCA Outdoor Centre to participate in the high and low ropes course.  Students did a variety of activities which included an "Amazing Race" scavenger hunt, climbing wall, high ropes obstacle course and group initiative tasks.

[ Photo Gallery ]  photos by shutter-bug Mr. Moore (there's a lot!)

Mr. Moore

OFSAA Regional Track & Field

The Track and Field Season came to an end for the final three DCVI athletes this past weekend. Millar Coles, Seth Coddington and Tyler Rae all competed at the OFSAA West Regional Championships last Friday and Saturday, May 29th and 30th.

The meet was held once again at the TD Waterhouse Stadium at UWO and featured participants from three different regions - WOSSAA, CWOSSAA and SWOSSAA. With 16 of the very best competitors in this part of the province in every event, the competition promised to be intense.

Tyler started things off for St. Marys on Friday night when he ran in the Senior Boys 1500m. Tyler was ranked 12th coming into the competition, even though he was a silver medalist last week at WOSSAA. In a very, very fast race, Tyler sprinted out with the top runners to begin the race and then settled comfortably into a pace that put him in the middle of the pack. Tyler was challenged to go faster than he had ever before and he responded by taking almost two seconds off each of his laps. Tyler finished 9th overall, moving up an impressive three positions and shaving six seconds off his personal best time (4:12.02).

Seth was the first Salukis to see action on day two. He was competing in the Junior Boys Shot Put event and had trained hard all week on a completely new style, hoping to improve his chances. Unfortunately, due to a leg injury, he was not at the top of his game. For his first two throws, he used his normal glide, but for his final throw, he used the new spin-style delivery. It wasn’t enough however and finished 14th overall..

The 3000m for the Senior Boys was next up and this was Tyler’s second event. Tyler had run a personal best last week, to capture gold at WOSSAA and advance to this week’s competition. Tyler entered the race in 11th position, and had to compete against runners that had posted some incredible times. The race got off to a sprint start and it continued that way for the first full two laps. Tyler couldn’t allow the leaders to get too far out of reach and thus was forced to pick-up his pace to stay with them. This early push took its toll on him and he didn’t have his usual energy and kick to close off the race. He did sprint the final 100m, catching and passing one runner, right at the line, to move up one position in the rankings.

Millar Coles was the final athlete from DCVI to compete at the regionals. Prior to the Midget Boys Discus competition, Millar set his sights on throwing a personal best of 35m or more. Just before it was to begin however, a severe storm, with lightning and hail, forced a two hour delay. Once things got back on track, Millar was one of the first to throw. The delay had had no effect on him and he got in a great throw - smooth, effortless and technically flawless. In fact, another coach even commented on how good a throw it was. With that one throw, Millar surpassed his personal best, and moved from 14th up to 9th place. His next two throws were also good, but couldn’t match his 35.34m opener, nor could he move up any more and the competition, for him and DCVI was over.

Congratulations to Tyler, Seth and Millar on their outstanding achievements, and to the entire team on a great and successful season!

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mr. Ellison

Mr. Ellison