QUEEN ELIZABETH HIGH SCHOOL 512-18TH Street N.W., Calgary, Alberta T2N 2G5 Telephone: 777-6380 Fax: 777-6749 web site: http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b806

Principal: Mr. S. Young Assistant Principals: Ms P. Kaiserseder (A-L)

Ms J. Chapman-Brown (M-Z)

NEWSLETTER (November 2009)

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Welcome to Queen Elizabeth High School!

Welcome all and welcome home!

For some, welcome to your new home; for others, welcome back! Queen Elizabeth High School has been providing exemplary teaching and learning opportunities to the Calgary community for the past one hundred years. As a public school, we welcome everyone. Regardless of who you are or where you come from, you are welcome. How great is that! We have been up and going full speed since the end of August. In that time the number of school events, spirit days, athletic events, clubs, school-wide happenings and regular day-to-day school opportunities has been incredible. Read the following pages to find out all of the remarkable things that make us so unique and special. The school vibrates with positive energy and enthusiasm all of the time. Our students, your children, have been going strong from the moment they have arrived. QEHS: it’s who were are! With our dedicated and caring professionals we offer programs second to none. If you drive by you will see staff vehicles here days, nights, weekends, and holidays. Our students are able to access some of the finest programs on the planet, and that is not hyperbole, and is not by accident: our annual results show that clearly. Our thoughtful approach to teaching and learning is constantly in review and moving forward. Our teaching, support, and facilities staff ensure that we provide our very best. All give their dedicated commitment to ensure our learning environment is second to none, especially in these challenging times. It is my honour and privilege to be your new principal as we set sail in uncharted waters in the 21st century. You have our commitment that regardless of whether the waters are rough or glassy, known or uncertain, deep and foreboding or shallow and inviting, our compass always stays true: “Each student, in keeping with his or her individual abilities and gifts, will complete high school with a foundation of learning to function effectively in life, work and continued learning.” That, forever, is our true North.

So remember: A ship in harbour is safe — but that is not what ships are built for. John A. Shedd”

To all you new and returning Knights: welcome home and prepare to join in the adventure and the journey! Steve

GENERAL SCHOOL INFORMATION

SCHOOL CALENDAR (www.cbe.ab.ca/b806) please visit our website for school calendar updates) NOV 16 REPORT CARDS GO HOME NOV 17 TEA COZY 6:30-8:30 NOV 18 & 19 OUTDOOR EDUCATION GR 8 12:30PM-3:30PM NOV 23-27 DANCE CLASS PERFORMS @LUNCHTIME DEC 01 & 2 GRAD RINGS PRESENTATION @LUNCHTIME DEC 02 BAND CONCERT IN SR GYM 6:00PM-12PM DEC 04 BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BOTH GYMS 6:00PM-10:00PM DEC 09 & 10 MUSICAL THEATRE 6:00PM-9:00PM DEC 09 OUTDOOR EDUCATION GR 8 (9:00AM-3:30PM) DEC 09 GR 7 STUDENTS @ THEATRE CALGARY DEC 09 OUTDOOR EDUCATION GR 9 STUDENTS (9:00AM-4:30PM) DEC 09 SWIM/DIVE TEAM MEETS DEC 15 TEA COZY 6:30PM-8:30PM DEC 18 LAST DAY OF CLASSES JAN 05 CLASSES RESUME JAN 08 VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT BOTH GYMS 6:00PM-10:00PM JAN 09 VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT BOTH GYMS 7:30AM-5:00PM JAN 14 HIGH SCHOOL EXAMS BEGIN (GR 10-12) JAN 14 DIPLOMA EXAMS BEGIN JAN 14 OUTDOOR EDUCATION GR 8 STUDENTS (9:00AM-4:00PM) JAN 20 OUTDOOR EDUCATION GR 9 STUDENTS (9:00AM\-5:00PM) JAN 29 SYSTEM PD DAY – NO CLASSES FOR ALL GRADES FEB 01 SEMESTER 2 BEGINS (FIRST TERM) PERSONAL INFORMATION UPDATES Please advise the main office of any changes of address/contact telephone numbers.

STUDENT SERVICES The Student Services Department assists students through Guidance & Counselling, Learning Strategies, the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Program & the Career Center. This year the department includes the following individuals: Guidance:

• Linda Berg: Learning Leader/Counsellor Surname: M to Z (Ext. 2412) • Alana Orchard: Counsellor Surname: A to L, ESL & International (Ext.2410)

Learning Resources:

• Billie Hogan: Learning Leader/Learning Resource Teacher (Ext. 2424) Deaf & Hard of Hearing Program:

• Sharon Jones: Learning Leader/Deaf & Hard of Hearing Teacher (Ext. 2409) Support Staff:

Career Practitioner: • Terrill Schumaker (Ext. 2111)

Guidance Secretary: • Lori Fiolka (Ext. 2413)

Guidance News: Counsellors assist students, teachers & staff with educational, career, personal/social counseling and information & referrals. Students are assigned to counsellors according to their surname as noted above. To date the counsellors have:

worked to resolve time table issues for students. registered new students. attended up-dates at Post-Secondary institutions. provided Scholarship Information to Gr 12 students. coordinated School Learning Team Meetings to discuss student support & referrals. provided an orientation to Student Services for all Grade 7 students. coordinated system referrals for students & parents.

In the next while counsellors will:

visit Gr 10 classes to discuss High School Diploma & Scholarship Information. meet with Gr 12 students individually to review their transcripts, High School Diploma

requirements for graduation & to discuss Post-Secondary Plans. visit Gr 9 classes to begin providing information for the transition to high school.

Course Drop Deadline for Semester 1: Nov 19/09 Any student who is considering dropping a course MUST first see their counsellor & do so before Nov 19/09 or a permanent mark will be entered on their transcript. Get Ready for Diploma Exams – Chinook Learning Services With January diploma exams fast approaching, Chinook Learning Services is offering Diploma Exam Preparation courses. This year, students have many options to help them prepare. Power Week & Power Weekend each offer 15 hours of instruction. Power² Weekends offer 20 hours of instruction over two weekends. New ELA 30-1 Reboot course offers 40 hours of instruction.

Students succeed because of awesome teachers, small class sizes, excellent review materials & test-writing practice. Visit www.chinooklearningservices.com.

CBe-learn Update

In order to facilitate system needs around the personalization of learning & to increase student choice & flexibility as it relates to their programming. Four general programs are designed to allow “year round” registration & course access. For more information visit: www.cbelearn.ca. Students interested in taking courses on-line should sign up in the binder at the Student Services Desk.

CAREER CENTER Terrill Schumaker, Career Practitioner Career Centre is open from 8:30 till 4:00 Monday to Thursday and from 9:00 till 3:00 on Friday. The Career Centre is open at lunch time for students to drop by (except for Wednesday One of the roles of the Career Centre is to provide Students with an opportunity to enhance their educational learning by providing a variety of different speaker who will bring the most up to date information available. Over the month of October the Career Centre has held two major events. These events have provided the students at QE with this opportunity. We hosted the ELLA -Alberta Post-Secondary- Institutions Event and the Out of Province University Event. ELLA -Alberta Post-Secondary- Institutions Event was here at QE on October 15, 2009, to provide students the opportunity to find out about post secondary Intuitions that are here in Alberta.

Out of Province University Event was held on October 27, 2009. We had 45 different Universities in the senior gym for students to talk too. If you or your child needs any further information regarding this please feel free to contact me at the Career Centre. 403 777 6380 ext 2111 Watch the bulletin and the web site for other important events. LEARNING COMMONS MS. MCGOWAN, TEACHER- LIBRARIAN Building the best library in the system takes effort! In September 357 new titles and 68 DVDs were processed and added to our 16,000 resources. We subscribe to 4 daily newspapers, and approximately 60 magazines can be checked out overnight. Over $2,000,000. worth of online resources are at your fingertips, and all you need to use them are QE’s Secret Codes & Passwords! Pick up a blue sheet in the Library! These resources are legal for all CBE families to use at home; we are just not allowed to post the passwords on the web.

One resource you might make special note of is www.nettrekker.com This is a filtered search engine restricted to educational sites only. Students surfing the web for information are sure to be safe, and the information is known to be of high quality. Login Username is QueenE; Password is knights. Students can set up their own personal login if they wish.

Please bring us your Old Magazines with lots of pictures – appropriate of course! Students cut them to make collages and projects, and analyze advertising. Drop off your old magazines to the Library. HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION 2010 (please check our school webpage for updates) Graduation Ceremony, May 25th , 1:00pm start time, Jubilee Auditorium Graduation Banquet, May 25th, 6:00 pm, BMO Centre, Stampede Grounds BUSINESS OFFICE Please note that your son/daughter are returning their bus passes to you (parents) after showing them in the Business Office for rebate. This is a result of the tax credit for bus passes on your federal income tax. For further information we suggest the following link to Canada Revenue Agency: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whatsnew/items/transit-e.html Please also note the new “Children’s Fitness Tax Credit” for school athletic teams (age 16 and under only). For further information on this new federal tax credit we suggest the following link to Canada Revenue Agency: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/fitness/ ESL/INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS Ms Joanne Pritchard jmpritchard@cbe.a.b.ca Ms Daryl Wilson djwilson@cbe.ab.ca . LEARNING CENTRE Ms B. Hogan, Learning Strategist, Learning Leader In class, we’ve investigated a variety of strategies to manage time, track homework, study effectively, and complete various types of test questions to reduce test anxiety. We are now beginning our exploration of graphic organizers that students can use when researching, writing, reading and listening in class. Also, the Learning Strategies D2L shell is up and running. Students have contributed to some discussion board items. The content area continues to be updated as a resource for students.

Thank you to all the parents that came to conferences. It was a delight to meet you for the first time or reconnect in person about your child’s learning needs. It was great to use feedback from other teachers for follow-up and support through the Learning Strategies option. Homework help is available during lunch hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays of each week in the Learning Resource Centre (A321). All students are welcome to attend, ask teachers for help and make use of the computers.

EVENTS DRAMA - Q.E. Presents… Willy Wonka Jr. Promotional Crew : Morgan S., & Anastasia McV . The classic novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl has been adapted for theatre, and our high school Musical Theatre class is working to bring it to life. This timeless tale begins with a young boy named Charlie Bucket, whose family is so poor that they cannot even afford the newspaper. However, he somehow finds himself being one of five lucky children in the whole world who is given the privilege of touring the famous Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Along with him are four other children who are all from very different places, but all have one tiny thing in common: they are all a parents’ worst nightmare. Charlie gets some surprises along the way, and gets to experience things that he never thought possible. The Musical Theatre class, which spans all 3 high school grades of 10, 11 and 12, is working to create the entire production themselves. Not only are we performing, we’re choreographing, teaching songs, handling the tech requirements, and promoting the show ourselves. The story is one that parents and children of all ages can enjoy. Come join us on a magical, zany, and extraordinary adventure through the Golden Age of Chocolate history that is Willy Wonka Jr. Evening shows will be on December 9th and 10th, as well as several matinees to be held for our local elementary schools. We are very excited to show you what we have been working hard on this term to produce. DANCE Ms. M. Woeckener Dance at Lunch! (11:55-12:30) Come see what the Queen Elizabeth Dance classes have been up to this semester. Bring your lunch and enjoy some fun and upbeat performances for FREE! Spread the news, all students and parents welcome. Tuesday, Nov. 24, Dance 9 Wednesday, Nov. 25, Dance 7 and 8 Thursday Nov. 26, Dance 15 QUEEN ELIZABETH ART CLUB Ms. D Love Club Meets- Tuesday at lunch in the art room

- art room is open everyday at lunch so art club members can work on projects -

The art students in Art 10 and Advanced Drawing have been busy creating murals for the Remembrance Day ceremony. Decisions will be made after the 11th as to where they will be hung permanently. Any ideas for a permanent home please contact Ms. Love or Mr. Budd. The Art 30's and Art 10's will be attending a fieldtrip to the Glenbow Museum on Wed. Nov. 25th. Parents will need to sign the forms and complete the medical information sheet and return it to the

school by Nov. 20th. It will be a full day with students viewing new exhibits and creating some interesting art work of their own. Advanced Drawing students have been working on submissions to Cardel Home Art-A-Thon. There will be an exhibition and judging event at Cardel Place and the top 6 will remain on display and 3 lucky students will receive a scholarship. Good luck to all the students who entered! The Art department is looking for parents who are artists or involved in art related careers to come and talk with our students. We always welcome community involvement in our program and would love to host you. As always we are looking for "give-aways", if you think you may have some items the art room could use please give us a call, we are always appreciative of art, design or photo magazines. YOUTH VOLUNTEER CORPS Mr. S. Ditchburn & Ms T. Schumaker The Youth Volunteer Corps is a wonderful group of amazing students who donate time both inside and outside of the school in an effort to make a difference in the world. Last year we raised over $1300 through bake sales, popcorn sales, raffles and other fundraising efforts. This money went towards sponsoring Queen E’s child in Africa, buying food and making sandwiches for the homeless and purchasing chairs and plants to help beautify the school. As fundraisers for this year, we will be running in-school lunch hour food sales during the school year on the second Monday of the month. We are also hoping to have a raffle for a gift basket in December. Apart from fundraising, students have the opportunity to do volunteer work outside of school. This is coordinated by Child and Youth Friendly Calgary (http://www.cyfc.ca). Students keep track of their volunteer hours (both in and out of school) and at the end of the year receive a certificate of recognition for the hours. We have had a very busy start to the year. Students have already volunteered at the Bethany Health Care Centre, made Peace Post Cards for volunteers at the Military Museum and some had fun painting yellow fish by the storm sewers in the community as part of an awareness campaign warning residents of the dangers of putting chemicals and poisons into our water supply. You can follow our progress on our Queen E website page: http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b806/clubs/vol-corps.htm It’s a pleasure to work with such a fantastic group of students! STUDENT ACTIVITIES Mr. B. Scherban – Student Activities Learning Leader I would like to thank all our students and staff for a great start up to the new school year. Student Activities within Queen Elizabeth High School has created a sense of spirit, citizenship, and accomplishment. The entire school community has been involved in three very successful fundraising campaigns. In September, TEAM Leadership class campaigned to raise awareness and funds for The Terry Fox Foundation to further the cause of cancer research. On Friday September 25, we hosted the school’s inaugural Terry Fox Run/Walk during Period 2. Over 1000 students and staff participated. Several fundraising events were held over lunch in the Student Gathering Area that encouraged student fun and staff embarrassment. We surpassed our goal of $5000, reaching $7000 over three weeks. We appreciate the involvement of the School Council and the parent community for their contributions to the overall success of the day and the events. Also in September, we were honored to host the Canadian National Women’s Ice Hockey team as they launched the Right To Play initiative. The team played floor hockey against members of the Sr Varsity volleyball team. Right To Play is an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that

partners with athletes from around the world to bring sport and play to the lives of children affected by war, poverty, disease and illness. The Women’s National Hockey Team serves as role models to children and youth, and help to raise awareness and funds for the Right To Play. Our school is enrolled in the Athlete Ambassador School Mentorship Program to raise funds for the Right To Play. This campaign will be ongoing as the athletes will visit Queen Elizabeth two more times leading up to the Olympics. In October, our school took part in the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign. For the last week leading up to October 31, National UNICEF Day, our school participated in educational and fundraising events to support the campaign. Through the effort’s of the student community, we raised $600 which will provide needed resources for schools in Rwanda and Malawi through the Schools for Africa program. We can contribute to building a better future for children in Africa. We are very proud to be associated with The Terry Fox Foundation, Right To Play and Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. We believe that our involvement has launched a successful, positive and meaningful school year. STUDENT COUNCIL Mr. G. Mills From November 5 to 11, Canadians will join together to celebrate Veterans' Week. During this week, Canadians across the country will honour our Veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Queen Elizabeth will be having our Remembrance Day Ceremony on November 10th. Grade 7, 9 and 11 students will assemble at 9:00AM and Grade 8, 10 and 12’s will meet at 10:30AM in the main gym. We are lucky enough to have Captain Ryan Palmer of the Calgary Highlanders as our Keynote Speaker. Captain Palmer has recently served two tours of duty in Canada’s operations in Afghanistan and is currently working out of Calgary in the Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre. Thank you Captain Palmer for agreeing to share some of your experiences with the students and staff at Queen Elizabeth High School. We will remember them. GATE STUDENTS GET IT WRITE Ms P. Paterson, Learning Leader, GATE and Advanced Placement ‘Writers in the Schools Program’ in Second Year Students and teachers at Queen Elizabeth High School in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program look forward to the 2009-2010 school year as Diane Guichon, published author and MA student at University of Calgary, returns as our successful Writer in Residence. Our main goal is to keep up the momentum of the WIR initiative in its second year. As Diane interacts and workshops directly with Humanities classes and teachers on a weekly basis, we see a community of writers evolve. Taking this to the next level, students experience growth in their efforts and anticipate creative results in the upcoming year. The idea of interacting with contemporary writers and guest speakers opens a new world of possibilities for personal expression. Students engage and produce poetry, scripts, lyrics, stories, novellas and other creative formats. With the rise of social networking, texting and instant communication on the world wide web, it is exciting to see teenagers eagerly take the time to create, reflect, edit and share a piece of writing in class and beyond. They may use a variety of new technologies or not, but publishing and performing their work definitely increases the value, quality and enjoyment of their ideas. Each stage of growth is part of their metamorphosis as writers and artists. Who knows, these students may be the future authors of a winning dramatic script or the 'great Canadian novel'. This partnership between U of C and Queen Elizabeth High School allows students to build their literacy skills, venture into publishing and present their ideas in a broader community. Our thanks

go to the funding provided by the Faculty of Humanities at University of Calgary and the GATE Parents Association which makes this valuable learning experience possible. Watch for this year’s Chapbook in the spring, a publishing opportunity for budding QE writers!

GATE INFORMATION Parent Association Hello We are in the process of moving our email list to our server. In order to do this we need anyone interested in being on the email list to subscribe to it. If you were on our email list prior to October 1, 2009, you need to re-subscribe to the new list. By making this request, you are consenting to the use and disclosure of this information by members of the GATE Parent Association for the purpose of providing you with information of interest to the Association. The Policy of the GATE Parent Association regarding the Personal Information Protection Act can be obtained from the President of the Association. To subscribe to the new Gate Parent Association mailing list please send an email to: gate_parents@gatecalgary.ca with "Subscribe" in the subject line of your email message. The "S" on Subscribe needs to be a capital. Note there is an _ (underscore) between "gate" and "parents”. You should receive a message acknowledging that you have successfully subscribed. You may unsubscribe at any point by sending an email to the same address with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line of the email message. Kathy Stone,GATE Parent Association info@gatecalgary.ca SPEECH & DEBATE Coaches: Ms Marsden, Ms Goegan, Ms Mann, Ms Swan QE’s Speech and Debate Team has grown over the years to be strong and vibrant. This year we have over 50 members that meet each Wednesday after school. We are very lucky to again have QE grad, Carla J., class of ’09 and lover of debate, volunteering as mentor and leader along with Karen L., former QE student, and super-confident veteran debater. Clearly, QE alumni just can’t leave QE debate! We’re glad to have their help. At our meetings Wednesday after school, club members play a variety of games to build skills, do research on tournament topics, and, yes, engage in actual debates. Members practice being debaters, judges, time-keepers and listeners while having lots of laughs and fantastic fun! Most don’t come just for the cookies. We are encouraging all our members to sign up for at least two debate tournaments and one speech tournament throughout the season in order to qualify for the two regional competitions. Winners of regional competitions could participate in the provincials and hopefully, the nationals. QE has seen our members attend the nationals for three years running. We are, consistently, the most argumentative school in Alberta. So far, our team members have participated in both the Stampede Speech Tournament at Diefenbaker and the impromptu junior debate tournament at CFIS. Medal winners so far include students from grade 7 to grade 12: Liam W., Jerome P., Nicole, E., Zoey S., Julia Q., Nee Joo N., David S., Yinka O., and Laura B. No other school can boast such hardware weight this early in the season! Stay tuned for our results in upcoming events: the junior debate at Tom Baines Nov 5, the junior/senior speech tourney at Western Nov 13, and the senior debate at U of C Nov 14. Parents, please remind your offspring-debaters to return the necessary forms on time along with payment for speech and debate tournaments. This will help keep the coaches from premature-aging. Also, remember that judges are required to stay for the entire event: debate could not happen without

the support of parents and friends who can be cajoled into giving up weeknights and Saturdays to listen to intriguing arguments and weird twists of logic. Awesome arguing, debaters! QED

JOURNALISM CLASS Ms Swan Releases This Year’s First Issue of Newspaper! Read all about it! QE’s newspaper has a new name this year…TINGLE! We hope it arouses your interest! If you didn’t get a copy through delivery to classrooms, please pick one up at the office or the library. We appreciate feedback and suggestions. Drop them off in Ms. Swan’s mailbox. DIVE TEAM Coach: Ms Simms The Queen Elizabeth Swim and Dive team has now started its season. Changes were made this year to accommodate the renovations at the Talisman center, so the season was switched to the fall from the spring. We are currently training at Foothills Pool every Tuesday and Thursday morning starting at 6:30am until 8am. Our team has bloomed from 4 to 8 members and we are looking forward to a great season. Our only competition will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at the Talisman Center from 3 until 8pm. Come and show your school spirit by cheering on our Knights. The swimmers and divers will be competing with all high schools in Calgary (CBE and Catholic board). Way to go Knights!

SCHOOL COUNCIL Kitty Jones and Nancy Boa Co-chairpersons, QEHS School Council The School Council places a strong emphasis on supporting communication between the school community and the parent community. School Council meetings are held on the first Monday of each month from 7-9 p.m. in the library. The first hour of each meeting is a presentation of a specific topic. This is followed by a business meeting with opportunities for the principal and parents to share important information and ask questions. The agenda and the minutes of each meeting are emailed to interested parents every month. If you would like to receive this information please contact Nancy Boa beamishr@telus.net Future meetings include: Monday December 7 High School Information Night: Meet our Curriculum Leaders and find out what their role is in our school. They will cover the possible sequences and give specific information for High School Course Selection – what are your choices and how does it work? They will describe the differences (course content and delivery) between the various courses in their area. E.g.- Math 10 Pure, Math 10 Applied, Math 14 etc. Monday January 11 High School Course Selection: Student Services (a.k.a. guidance counselors) will present this ‘How To” session. How to plan for high school? What do you need to graduate? Use this power point presentation to begin planning your high school program or to check up on your current status. Monday February 1 QEHS Career Centre: Terrill Schumaker, QE’s Career Practitioner, will present an overview of this resource centre that offers one-to-one appointments to assist with job search techniques, volunteer opportunities, and post secondary information. Monday March 8 Topic to be announced* Monday April 12 Topic to be announced* Monday May 3 Principal’s report Monday June 14 Planning for 2010-2011 *Possible topics Shirley McGowan, Teacher Librarian-On-line resources for students Parent Support Association Calgary-Peer Support

CBE’s Innovative Learning Services and Curriculum Learning Technologies George Lane-CBE Trustee Send other suggestions to Kitty Jones kittyjones@shaw.ca or Nancy Boa beamishr@telus.net

Queen Elizabeth Parents Educational Booster Association Its coming! bi-annual fund-raising Casino is on Feb 28 and Mar 1, 2010

We need to sign up volunteers now!

To all parents of Queen Elizabeth Jr/Sr High School children Our only major fund raising project for the next two years is our bi-annual Casino scheduled for Stampede Casino on Sunday Feb 28 and Monday Mar 1, 2010. The money raised is used for everything from new computers, shop tools, drama stage curtains, to new team uniforms. We will need 40 volunteers to handle the four shifts over the two days. It can be a very interesting and fun time. No experience is necessary. There are paid casino and security staff who will supervise us. The day shift runs from 10:30 am to 7:00 pm. The evening shift runs from 6:30 pm to 2:30 am. Count room volunteers shift goes from 10:00 pm until 2:30 am. Please contact Dave Hammer to volunteer – hammerdc@telus.net or phone 283-7500.

QUEEN ELIZABETH BAND PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION (QEBPA) CHECK US OUT!!

Please check us out online http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b806/band/index.htm

ATHLETICS Mr. M. Oster, Learning Leader, Athletics It has been a great start to the 2009-2010 athletics season for the Queen Elizabeth Knights. The Sr High Girls Soccer team competed in the City Finals, Rachel Y finished 7th in City’s for cross-country running and all 4 varsity volleyball teams are near the top of the standings. Queen Elizabeth High School is very proud of our athletics program, athletes and coaches. We are looking forward to another year of exciting competition. Congratulations to all of the athletes who have participated on or who are currently competing on one of the Fall sports teams including Jr & Sr High Cross-Country, Jr & Sr High Volleyball and Sr Girls Soccer. All teams have been very competitive in both league and tournament play. We wish everyone the best of luck as you finish the regular season and prepare for play-offs. GO KNIGHTS GO! On behalf of Queen Elizabeth High School Athletics, we would like to thank all of our coaches for their commitment, time, and effort. Coaches, we truly appreciate your leadership and support in helping us provide a positive experience for our young athletes. Please see individual team highlights from their coaches below. SENIOR GIRL’S SOCCER SEASON, 2009 Coach: Mr. G. Perfect Take nineteen incredibly determined soccer players, throw them into a cauldron bubbling with seven other schools all very much bigger than theirs, add a dash of 35 degree weather and four blizzards and what do you get? Another outstanding soccer season here at the school. In the regular season the team won four, tied two and lost only one. The highlights of the campaign included coming back from a deficit to tie a very strong team from Lester B Pearson and a gritty two – nil victory over Crescent Heights. Getting lost in Cochrane was also fun. The game against Lacombe featured almost as many blizzards as it did goals, with the best laid plans about tactics being rendered useless by the fact that

for large parts of the game no- one could see much beyond their very cold noses. The one bad day was a 10-2 loss against Bishop McNally, a star studded team that was beating all the other schools by similar margins. And so to the playoffs. In the quarter finals the now confident Knights anticipated a visit from St Timothy’s but ended by getting a bye courtesy of the flu bug. On to the semis, and we faced that tough Pearson team once again. As in the first game against them we went one nothing down, but this time, not content with a tie, we came back to beat them 2-1. Our skills of determination, team spirit and the occasional flash of soccer genius won the day. Now the final. Bishop McNally was the opposition and we were worried. Losing 10-2 in the regular season is bad enough, but in a city final? Calgary served up some snow, some rain and some sunshine, so the only way to stay alive was to run hard. The Knights played a fantastic game, going down 3-1 to a very strong team. It is worth dwelling on the strengths of this team rather than the fact that they lost in the final – to come so far for such a small school speaks to the spirit and the tenacity of these players. Senior Girls Team: Melanie T, Taryn G , Emily B , Megan C , Kristin G , Celia W, Cydney H, Melissa B, Kienan M, Nicola M, Ashley W, Jessica L, Ateefa J, Sofia L, Bethan S, Julia W, Laura S, Danielle D, Naomi C. JR. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM Co-coaches: Mr. R. Button and Ms S. Gervais “Congratulation to the Junior Girls Volleyball team for an excellent showing so far this season! This fun, energetic and downright fabulous team consists of Regan W(1), Erin McI(2), Kali G(3), Hannah B(4) , Hayley T (5), Sophia P (6), Laura P (7),Kate K (8), Zoë K (9), Emily D-B (10), Kathleen B (11), Yeganeh Y (12) and. JR. BOYS VOLLEYBALL (JUNIOR VARSITY) Coach: Mr. B. Scherban JV boys volleyball - 3rd at Mount Royal University tournament; 4th at Rally Pointe tournament; top 8 out of 20 teams at Oilfields Driller Classic. The hard work that the team exhibits in practice has provided success in skill and character all season long. Because of their ongoing dedication, the boys look forward to competing for the City Championship on November 20. SR. BOYS VOLLEYBALL TEAM (SENIOR VARSITY) Coach: Mr. K. Doland Asst. Coach Mr. D. Else The Senior Varsity Boys Volleyball team is having a tremendous season thus far, having chalked up 6 match wins and 1 loss in regular season play as of Nov 2nd. Their best finish in tournament play has been a bronze medal and their overall game record is 41 wins and 31 losses. We look forward to post season competition in Mid-November! Go Knights Go!!!! VARSITY BOYS VOLLEYBAL TEAM Austin W Sam H Devin S Matthew H Scott S Dylan C Jess B Chip G Eric B Luke M Eric Buckley Marshall T

UPCOMING SPORTS As winter quickly approaches QE Athletics is excited and looking forward to the start up of Senior High Swim/Dive and Basketball at both the Junior and Senior High level. Junior High Basketball: We will have 4 basketball teams again this year including Jr & Sr boys and Jr & Sr Girls. Try-outs will begin on December 1st, 2009. Season of play is from December 1st – February 28th. For accurate information regarding Junior High School Sports please visit the CSHSAA website at www.calgaryhighschoolsports.com. Under the ‘Menu’ bar, click on the ‘Calgary Middle Level Schools Athletic Association’ tab. Senior High Basketball: Try-outs will begin on November 23rd, 2009. For accurate information regarding High School Sports team schedules and standings please visit the CSHSAA website at www.calgaryhighschoolsports.com. For up to date information on QE sports teams please refer to the ‘Athletics’ Website, Athletics Bulletin across from the Physical Education office or come into the Physical Education office and talk with a teacher/coach

PHYS ED NEWS Mr. M. Scott - Physical Education Learning Leader The Physical Education staff would like to thank all our students for a great start up to the new school year. We would also like to introduce and welcome 3 new members to our department and team; Mr. Scherban, our new Student Activities Learning Leader, and Mr. Korol and Ms. Pattison, our U of C student teachers. To date this fall, our High School Phys. Ed. program has offered our students a wide range of activities including beach volleyball, tennis, canoeing, sailing, hiking, rollerblading, golfing, curling, slow-pitch, ultimate, rugby, squash, climbing, and archery. We also had over 80 PE 20 & 30 students participate on a 14km day hike in Kananaskis Country. Our Junior High program has offered our students a diverse array of activities including indoor climbing, slow pitch, badminton, soccer, field hockey, track & field, ultimate, rugby, lacrosse, combatives, and volleyball. In addition to our standard Physical Education courses, our Sports Medicine students are busy getting certified in CPR and First Aid and our Sport Performance classes are learning advanced sport specific training methods and principals. Upcoming Modules for our High School students include squash, racquetball, climbing, horseshoes, swimming, volleyball, bowling 5 pin and 10pin, social dance, muay thai, badminton, survivor, roller-skating, billiards, indoor soccer, and Knights weeks. In the next month our Junior High students will have the opportunity to participate in archery, table tennis, social dance, floor hockey, yoga, basketball, indoor soccer, and much more… Daily intramural opportunities exist for both our Junior and Senior High Students. Students are encouraged to participate in our intramural programs offered daily over the noon hour. Students interested in joining our fitness club are encouraged to stop by the PE office and pick up a fitness club form. Once they have completed an orientation, interested students are able to work out before and after school as well as during the noon hour. Finally, to all students interested in climbing, look for the bouldering club to open in late November. Your Phys. Ed. department would like to thank everyone who donated golf clubs to the program over the past few months. The donated golf clubs were put to good use in our recent golf modules. We would also like

to thank you for your continued support in our program; we look forward to providing our students another year full of engaging fun physical activities.

A ‘WORD’ FROM AISI  (ALBERTA INITIATIVE FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT) 

  

Welcome back, everyone! Hope the start-up was a great one and you are now into the swing of the year. There are exciting things happening in the world of AISI. You will remember that in Cycle 3 (2006-2009), the QEHS project focus was Assessment of and for Learning. Our vehicle was Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and we experienced success in many areas positively impacting student learning. We will continue to build on this excellent work as we move into the next cycle. In Cycle 4 of AISI (2009- 2012), the Calgary Board of Education is moving forward with one large project focused on “personalization of learning.” Chief Superintendent of Schools, Naomi Johnson, defines personalization of learning as “a highly responsive and intentional teaching and learning experience that intensely attends to each student’s learning so that all students can participate, progress, and achieve” (Senior Leadership presentation, Oct 7, 2009). Based on this, our QEHS essential question for the year is:  

“How do we personalize learning and what are the opportunities that each of us will create to advance student learning?”

Concepts we will consider in our work together include: Collaborative and nested professional work

Student data driven Appreciative Inquiry frame (Cooperrider) Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Adjustment Cycle Knowledge Work Age (Covey) Instructional Core (Elmore) Personalization of Learning  Our professional development (PD) time will continue to be focused on the work of PLCs whose mandate is to positively impact student learning through personalization of learning. Our first PD day was spent in reviewing a variety of data sources, looking at what we are doing well on which we can build and re-setting PLCs around the areas of need indicated by the data. Next steps include creation of common strategies to address these needs. Please stay tuned for upcoming AISI updates. For more information, check out the AISI page on our website. We are excited about the year ahead!

REMINDER ABOUT TAX CREDIT

As of January 1, 2007 any money paid out to Queen Elizabeth High School for an athletics program for a child under the age of sixteen can be used as a tax credit when filing your income tax return. You need to have your child ask his/her coach or the Athletic Director (M. Oster) for an official receipt. The receipt can

then be used for tax refund purposes.

Influenza is different from “the common cold” and “the stomach flu” Symptoms Influenza Common Cold Stomach Flu

Fever Usually high Sometimes Rare Chills, aches, pain Frequent Slight Common Loss of appetite Sometimes Sometimes Common Cough Usual Sometimes Rare Sore throat Sometimes Sometimes Rare Sniffles or sneezes Sometimes Common Rare Involves whole body Often Never Stomach/ bowel

only Symptoms appear quickly Always More gradual Fairly quickly Extreme tiredness Common Rare Sometimes Complications Pneumonia; can be

life threatening Sinus infection Ear infection

Dehydration

  

 Provincial Assessments – One Measure of Achievement 

  Each spring, students in Grades 3, 6, 9 and 12 write standardized Provincial Achievement Tests or Diploma Exams in a number of core subject areas. The exam results provide valuable information to school jurisdictions and our provincial Education Ministry as they monitor student achievement in relation to local and provincial goals. While the results of these tests assist us in improving programs and establishing and maintaining standards for improving student achievement, it is important to remember that

these tests are just one piece of the entire assessment puzzle. Assessment is Key to Improving Student Learning Gathering information about students is a key step in guiding their learning. An accurate assessment includes a thorough examination of skills and knowledge, but must also take into consideration a student’s learning style, abilities and aptitudes; all of which need to be shared and understood by the

student. Information gathering takes place using data sources within the school setting itself as well as sources outside the school walls. One of our external sources for information is Alberta Education through their administration of the standardized testing program for all Alberta students. Celebrating our latest Provincial Achievement Test and Diploma Exam Results The Calgary Board of Education has reason to celebrate our latest provincial test program results. Once again, our students have demonstrated high overall achievement on these tests, exceeding provincial results in almost every acceptable standard and standard of excellence. These outstanding results can be attributed to the hard work of our dedicated staff, the support of parents and the community, the quality of our program of studies in Alberta and, of course, the efforts of the students themselves. Highlights

• CBE Provincial Achievement Test results met or exceeded the provincial results in all categories for English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science at Grades 3, 6 and 9.

• Results for students with exceptional programming needs, including English as a Second Language (ESL) learners and students with special needs have again exceeded the provincial results across almost all subject areas and grade levels.

• One hundred percent of CBE Diploma exam results for the standard of excellence exceeded provincial results.

• Students from the Calgary Board of Education continue to demonstrate strong results on Diploma exams with over 80% of students achieving the acceptable standard in each subject area.

Over the course of the past two years, staff from the Calgary Board of Education have placed considerable emphasis on strategies to improve student learning in the areas of literacy and numeracy. Our excellent results reflect the increased focus on teaching and learning in these areas. Positive results do not allow us to become complacent. Our successes and challenges are consistently reviewed and the system will continue to focus attention on improving student learning outcomes. Our Three-Year Education Plan (2009-2012) has been built with student learning at the centre. The CBE is proud to be a leader in public education -- intentionally addressing the learning needs of each student. Naomi Johnson Chief Superintendent

October 2009 newsletter insert