St. Marys DCVI - Weblog 07-08

OMLTA Fall Conference - Logo Competition

We’re looking for some creativity in designing a logo for our Ontario Modern LanguageTeachers Fall Conference which will be co-sponsored by the Avon Maitland District School Board and the Huron Perth Catholic District School Board and hosted at Stratford Northwestern Secondary School and St Michael Catholic Secondary School on October 17 and 18, 2008.

The theme is:

       Languages at Centre Stage                     Les langues en vedette

Please have any entry graphics sent to Heather Henke, Stratford Central SS or Lynnette McLeod, St Michael CSS.  The graphic should be done in black and white and saved as a jpg.  Be sure to include the name, grade, and school of the student who developed it. 

All entries should be submitted by March 25

The winning student’s name will be published in our program which will be seen throughout the province.  The student will also be presented with an honorarium of $100.   We thank you in advance for your participation.

*Acceptance of the $100 honorarium grants the conference, organizers, and host Boards exclusive use of the design for all purposes associated with the event before, during and after the event.

Guest Speaker - Grade 11 Law

On Wednesday, the grade 11 law class welcomed three guests to the class.  Gary Schellenberger (MP for Perth Wellington), Gary Long (executive assistant) and Jasmine Pickel (DCVI graduate.)  Jasmine is currently taking political science at Ottawa University and volunteering at Gary Schallenberger's Ottawa office.  She is enthusiastically pursuing a career related to politics.

Mr. Schellenberger talked about the importance of people being involved in their community.  He stressed that if you set goals, and are persistent, surprising things can happen for you.  He commented on such current topics as:  the legal age of consent being raised to 16, his thoughts on whether or not he thinks there will be a federal election in the near future and the role that Canada is likely to play in Afghanistan in the future. 

Mrs. Milne

Grade 8 Information Night

Welcome future Salukis (and their parents / guardians)!

Wednesday, February 6 starting at 6:30, all Grade 8 students and their parents/guardians are invited to DCVI.  The evening will start with a presentation in the large gym followed by an opportunity for our guests to tour the school and visit each subject area for additional information.

Balloon Car Rally

On Thursday, January 17th, Mr. Chateauvert's grade 10 science class held the annual Balloon Car Rally.  After the first run down the 3 metre track, only 6 of the 13 teams were able to complete the race. However, after a few modifications, only three teams fell short of completing the race.  The top three finishers were:

First Place:    Rachel Bober and Cassandra Anderton
Second Place:   Abbey Parkinson and Stacey Frayne
Third Place:    Nathan Schmidt and Shelby Snelgrove

[ Photo Gallery ]

Mr. Chateauvert

E.Q.A.O. Math Testing for Grade 9s

The E.Q.A.O. math test for Grade 9 students currently taking math this semester will be on Friday January 18^th and Wednesday January 23^rd during your math class. This will count towards part of your 30% final assessment. Please download and read the following letter (in .pdf format) for more information.

To prepare, you may go to the website www.eqao.com for samples of questions and to view the formula sheets and list of key words and phrases.

Waterloo Math Contests

Any Grade 9, 10, or 11 student wishing to write the Pascal, Cayley, or Fermat math contest this year should speak directly to their math teacher or to Mrs. Logan to register. The contest consists of 25 multiple choice questions. The cost for registration is $3.00 and you must register by Monday January 21, 2008. You will write the contest during first period on the morning of Tuesday February 19, 2008.

You may find more information and preparation materials at http://cemc.math.uwaterloo.ca/english/contests/index.shtml

Christmas Assembly - Team Building Activities

This year's Christmas Assembly was yet another masterpiece and demonstration of the school spirit at DCVI.  Everyone was welcomed to the gym with festive music courtesy of the Mr. Sumstad and the DCVI Band.  Mr. Macou's classes presented two "interesting" musical numbers.  A number of talented individuals performed.   The winner of the mustache growing contest was crowned (congratulations Kyle).  And the highlight was, as always, the teachers' skit!

Ms McNaughton's Leadership Class divided everyone into groups and the remainder of the morning was spent in a variety of team building activities.

[ Photo Gallery - Christmas Assembly ]  Photos by Mrs. Milne
[ Photo Gallery - Team Building ]  Photos by Mr. McAsh and Mrs. Chateauvert
[ Photo Gallery - Team Building ]  Photos by Mr. Smith

PSE4U - Acupuncture

The Exercise Science class welcomed Paula Wilcox, an acupuncturist (and Mrs. Wrigley's sister) to the class as a guest speaker.  After describing how the procedure works and why it is effective, Paula proceeded to "needle" Mrs. Wrigley releasing endorphins to put her in her "happy place"!!

[ Photo Gallery ]

Mrs. Wrigley

PSE4U visit to UWO Kinesiology

The grade 12 Exercise Science class travelled to the University of Western Ontario's Kinesiology Faculty to experience their post-secondary programs. Our students were videotaped at 200 frames per second performing several activities. ie. a soccer kick, a basketball foul shot.  which would be used to analyze frame-to-frame technique of the skill.  We then examined heart rate changes between different sports in the new Exercise Psychology Lab.  In the "Anatorium", the class wore 3D googles to watch diagrams of the hand and internal organs used for 2nd and 3rd year Kinesiology students. The Kennedy Fowler clinic demonstrated a tracking device to monitor limb movement in walking gaits for pre and post surgical applications. The Exercise Nutrition lab was the last stop in our day.  Tristan Dundas performed an MVO2 task demonstrating that he should have joined the Nordic Ski Team as his oxygen carrying capacity is very high, conducive to endurance-related sports.  Two other students, Eline Haanstra and Amy Switzer stepped into the "bod pod", a machine that calibrates the %body fat and Basal Metabolic Index of the individual, to determine their risk of obesity-related diseases (they were both in the healthy range).  Trevor Renkema and Tyler Dust tested their Anaerobic Lactic capacity on a 5 minute bike race against a computer generated subject.  Both students were successful in accumulating a lot of lactic acid in their system.  Finally, Lindsay Near improved her hip flexibility by 2 cm by just standing on a vibrating platform. This machine is still being tested to determine why flexibility and strength is improved using this device!  We look forward to our next guest speaker, an acupuncturist.

[ Photo Gallery ]  Photos by Mrs. Wrigley

Mrs. Wrigley

COOP in-class rescheduled

Due to the snowday, the December in-class has been rescheduled.  Mrs. Chateauvert & Ms. Lawrence's coop student's inclass is rescheduled for Monday December 10.  Mrs. Donnelly's coop student's class is rescheduled for Tuesday December 11.

Mrs. Chateauvert, Mrs. Donnelly, Ms. Lawrence, Mrs. Wrigley