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Immaculata High School Newsletter          June 2008
In This Issue
Rugby Champions
Summer School
Library Updates
New Registrations
Mac Athletics
Literacy Test Results
Chaplain's Corner
Cafeteria Service
Students of the Month
Immaculata has Soles
White Pine Students
Cappies Nominations
Community Cleaning
Drug Prevention
Grade 12 PROM
Guest Speakers
Report Cards and Lockers
Part-time Employment
International Food Fair and Festival
Quick Links
Quick Links
 
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Greetings!
 
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Tom D'Amico, Principal
Immaculata High School
June Calendar
 
The June calendar of events is available on the school website. 
 
 
 
  • June 4 - 9-12 Academic awards12:00 - 1:00
  • June 6 - Prom 6:00 p.m. reception
  • June 9  - ARC review at JVC
  • June 10/11 - Gr. 9 math EQAO CPT
  • June 12 - grad breakfast / mass
  • June 13 - non-uniform day / OC Photos
  • June 17 - 7&8 mass
  • June 17 - Save-a-credit day
  • June 18 - Exams
  • June 18 - Gr. 8 trip to Toronto
  • June 18 - Gr. 7 trip to Mont. Cascades
  • June 20 - last day for cafeteria service
  • June 23 - 7&8 report cards issued
  • June 25 - Graduation 10:00 a.m.

 
Please check your child's agenda for a list of yearly activities.
 

Varsity Girls' Rugby: 2008 N.C.S.A.A. Champs!
 
Congratulations to our girls who defended their National Capital title! In a nail biter of a game on Wednesday, May 28th at Twin Elm Rugby Park, the girls narrowly defeated St. Paul High School by a score of 15 to 10.
 
Tries were scored by Orelie Di Mavindi, Megan Flinter and Philippa Ogbemudia.
 
Our team has whittled down to 26 determined, conscientious and enthusiastic members who train at 7:00 a.m. three times a week: Tamica Adolph, Madison Barr, Emily Beauchamp, Vicky Bernard, Jaya Bordeleau-Cass, Nadia Chareuf-Afghoul, Orelie Di Mavindi, Sarah Dodsworth, Megan Flinter, Breena Gormley, Alisha Grandinetti, Cassandra Hargrave, Chelsea Jean, Pauline Jean-Gilles, Emily Keyes, Sabrina Legar�, Ashley Lima, Anitta Martignago, Melissa Merkley, Alx Morrison-Butler, Katherine Murray, Philippa Ogbemudia, Emmy Paul, Selina Spessot, Jordan Stojanovic, and Carla van den Berg.
 
The team would not have achieved this level of competition without the capable coaching of  Mrs. Shannon Renaud and her daughter Danika McDermott who are outside coaches from the Bytown Blues Rugby Club.
 
The main teacher-supervisor this year is Madame D. Charron.
 
The team would like to thank all of the parents and staff members who have been so supportive in attending their games. The girls are very excited about representing the National Capital area as Tier 1 A/AA champions again! The provincial tournament (OFSAA) is being held at Twin Elm Rugby Field from Wednesday, June 4th to Friday, June 6th. More details can be found at: http://www.ofsaa.on.ca/girlsrugby

Summer School ... for many reasons
 
Students who have failed a course in any grade level should consider using summer school as an opportunity to get back on track.
 
Students in grade 8 who will be entering grade 9 should consider the prepatory numeracy and literacy course if they experienced any difficulty with grade 8 math or English.
 
Students who are actively involved in extracurricular activities and who would benefit from a study period during the year should consider summer school reach-ahead courses to be "ahead" when they start school next year.
 
Please note that summer school courses are filled on a first-come first-served basis.  Once the program begins there is no further registration.
 
Students can pre-register for summer school up until June 20th by visiting the student services office and completing the required application. 
 
For more information please visit the summer school website:
 
Library Updates
 

Red Maple Students Attend Celebration at Sacred Heart High School

 

On Thursday, May 29th, sixteen of our students in grades 7 and 8 attended the Ottawa Catholic School Board's  Red Maple celebration held at Sacred Heart High School. Over 110 students from seven other Catholic schools participated in this yearly event. The day consisted of a variety of  literacy activities including an icebreaker game involving the titles of previous and current nominated books, a Red Maple trivia competition, book discussions, and a costume judging contest (students had to dress up as a favourite 2008 Red Maple character or in a Red Maple themed costume). Students were also treated to a pizza lunch with cake and each student won a door prize. In the afternoon, the students had the pleasure of meeting internationally recognized poet Oni, the "Haitian Sensation" who wrote Ghettostocracy. She spoke about the importance of believing in oneself. The students enjoyed themselves immensely by participating in slam poetry activities. 

 

Congratulations go out to our Immaculata trivia team of Ashley Kennedy, Nelly Letourneau, Stephanie Siu and Ben Lewis who defended our school title! The team had to answer numerous questions on the 2008 nominated books. Ben Lewis was the last person left standing after 27 other school teams' members were stumped by trivia questions. Bravo, Ben, the rest of the team and our other book club members who quizzed the members in the last 2 weeks!

 

In the costume judging contest, Maggie Armstrong (grade 7) and Ben Lewis (grade 8), won 1st and 3rd place for their creative outfits of favourite book characters.

 

The provincial book winner for Red Maple this year was: Safe as Houses by Eric Walters (who visited our school in April). Honourable mentions went to: Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel, Gemini Summer by Iain Lawrence and Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton. Interesting to note that all of our schools' votes mirrored the province's results (not the case with White Pine).

 

For more information on all the books in the Red Maple Club Program (which started in 1998) and other reading programs sponsored by the Ontario Library Association, please go to: www.accessola.com, then click on "Reading Programs".

New Registrations

 

Do you have a relative, friend, or neighbour interested in attending Immaculata next year?  If so, please encourage them to contact the school prior to the end of June.   Registrations are on-going.  Based on open-access students of all faith are welcome to register for grades 9 to 12.  In order to attend Immaculata students must live within the geographic boundary of Immaculata (centretown / Vanier areas).
 
Please call 613-237-2001 to arrange for a registration. 
Mac Athletics
 
Our 2007-2008 student-athletes celebrated their many successes throughout the year with our annual Athletic Banquet.  Our guest speaker, Paralympian Jason Dunkerley, opened the night with a motivating speech about opportunities and optimism. 
 
This was followed by our MVP and Coaches awards for each of our 27 teams .  Finally, we recognized our Junior and Senior Athletes of the Year. 
 
Jr. Female Athlete of the Year - Chelsey Blackman
Jr. Male Athlete of the Year - Ben Gunn-Doerge
Sr. Female Athlete of the Year - Christina Donnelly
Sr. Male Athlete of the Year - Patrick Kerr
 
The successes of our athletes weren't finished at this event, however, as we send off many athletes to OFSAA in early June.  The Varsity Girls Rugby team, Sr. Tennis team and Kathleen Jean in Track & Field will represent Immaculata HS at OFSAA.  Good luck to all!
 
 
Immaculata was recognized for the 6th consecutive year with a CIRA - Ontario's Outstanding Intramural Achievement Award.  Well done Mr. Seaman and Mr. Purves!
 
A special thank you to all of our coaches and community volunteers who helped instill the gospel value of excellence in each of our athletes.  Thank you also to Mr. Purves who did an excellent job this year as acting department head of physical education while covering for Mrs. Godmaire while she was on maternity leave. 

Congratulations to Jonathan Ferreira who been selected to be part of team Canada for 13-17 year olds in Karate for next year.

Literacy Test Results

The school literacy test results are still embargoed at this time; however the school has seen advance results and we are very pleased with the efforts of this year's literacy team.  Literacy will continue to be a key component of the school improvement plan (SIP).

Chaplain's Corner
 

We are quickly coming to the end of another school year. For the past two years our Board's spiritual theme has been: Who Is My Neighbour. We have tried to live this theme on all levels: home, school, community, city, province, country and globally. It does not end, rather, hopefully, it deepens.

 

Our theme for next year will be: "We Care For God's Creation" and it grows out of and deepens Who Is My Neighbour. The new theme is based on justice and the integrity of creation. Justice is rooted in the dignity of each person so we must ask: What do we do to the dignity of others, of creation? As we enter the summer months that, for Canadians, speak of rest, relaxation, warm and sunny weather, the beauty of all that is around us, we can begin to ask ourselves how we can live to ensure that, by our very actions, we bless creation. Have a wonderful summer!
 
Shelley Lawrence
, rscj

Chaplaincy Leader

Cafeteria Service
 
Note to parents and students:  The last day for cafeteria service this year will be Friday June 20th.
Students of the Month 
 
Each month we recognize the special contributions of several students.  Each student receives an Eat Smart Lunch, a school pen/pencil, and their name is entered on a plaque on the Wall of Honour.  This month we recognize:
 
James Yates - for his strength of character, positive spirit and an excellent work ethic;
 
Catherine Sanon - for her cheerful disposition, for always giving her best effort and for her participation in school events and fundraising;
 

Wudassie Semaneh Tamrat - for her overall committment and participation in all aspects of school life.

Immaculata Has Soles 2008 Running/Walking  Team
 
This year, thirty-one students, staff, retired staff and staff members' families  registered for our school team in support of the Ottawa Hospital Foundation (National Capital Race Weekend) . Participants ran (or walked) 5 km, 10 km, or the half- marathon on Saturday, May 24th and Sunday May 25th.
They joined over 33,000 people who participated in various distance races that weekend.

Top team finishers in the 5 km race were: grade 7 students Michael Feil (22:11), Nicholas van den Berg (24:09) and Nelly Letourneau (24:14). From grade 9, Joshua Letourneau finished in an impressive time of 21:12. All these students placed among the top 500 out of 6367 participants in the race!
 
In the 10 km race, Nicholas Glennon, a  grade 9 student, finished in an excellent time of 48:57. He came in around the time of the following teachers: Mr. Ian van den Berg (48:17) and  Mr. Neil Purves (48:52). Our top female team member in this race was Mrs. Daria Borland in 58:14.
 
In the half-marathon race, speedster Mr. Michael Wadel finished in an amazing time of 1 hour 24 minutes to place 11th in his age group and 54th out of 8368 runners/walkers! Equally as impressive were the results of our students: Ben Pearson, a grade 12 student, finished in 1 hour 40 minutes to place 22nd in his age group and grade 10 student, Adam Ashe, finished in 1 hour 54 minutes.
 
Other staff members who participated ,but who had not registered with our team included the following 10 km racers: Mr. Matt Di Cresce (39:34), 12th in his age group and 157th overall (7307 runners/walkers), Mr. Jean-Benoit Lanca (43:41), Mr. Doug Blain (47:36) and Mrs. Laura Chadwick (52:10).
 
The team thanks all staff, students, parents and other members of our Immaculata community who came out to cheer us on. Race results and photos can be found online by logging on to:
http://www.ncm.ca.
 
SOLE RESPONSIBILITY: Congratulations to grade 7 student Nelly Letourneau who initiated this social justice endeavour! Sixty-one pairs of running shoes and $122.00 were collected. The twonies our shoe donors brought in will help offset  the shipping costs of the running shoes to Rwanda. For more information on this wonderful initiative run by a non-profit organization of runners in Ottawa,  please log on to
http://www.soleresponsibility.org
White Pine Students Attend Forest of Reading Conference
 
On Tuesday, May 20th, ten of our White Pine reading club members travelled to Toronto for the Forest of Reading celebration at Harbourfront Centre on May 21st.  
 
Our school "ambassadors" were: Rim Abou-Jawde, Andrea Eyre-Carter, Daniel Feil, Krystoffer Fetzko, Victoria Frost, Tamara-Lynn Gagnon, Deana Kruseman, Sarah Loutrec, Araine Manaois and Marloes Nienhuis.
 
While in Toronto, the group took in the play Misery on the Tuesday night and had a chance to participate in a question and answer session with the two outstanding actors.
 
On Wednesday morning, our students enjoyed a variety of literacy-related workshops with various authors. In the afternoon, at the White Pine awards ceremony, two of our students, Deana Kruseman and Marloes Nienhuis, each had the honour of presenting a response to a novel of their choosing and introducing the authors of these books. Excellent job, girls!
 
The winning 2008 White Pine author was Martine Leavitt for her book Keturah and Lord Death. Honourable mentions were also announced:  #1. Carrie Mac for The Droughtlanders, #2. Heather Waldorf for Grist, and #3. Guy Gavriel Kay for Ysabel.
 
We are grateful to the following people and programs who helped subsidize this fantastic literacy trip:  Mr. Tom Conklin, Educational Consultant for English, Library and Literacy from the Educational Program Department of the Ottawa Catholic School Board, Mrs. Hazel Lambert, Principal of Pathways for Success, Mrs. Susan Eldridge, Immaculata's Student Success teacher and Sister Shelley Lawrence. We also wish to thank all of the staff members, students and parents who purchased AVON products throughout the year.
 
The complete list of nominated, award winning, and honoured books are on OLA's web site at: http://www.accessola.com.

Cappies Nominations

Immaculata's Flowers for Algernon received 3 nominations for this year's Cappies Awards.
 
Lead Actor: Cory Mes
 
Ensemble Acting: James Smith and Jordan Cyr
 
Props and Special Effects: Claire Brascoup�, Brandon Copp, Ted Fadden and Eric Prochazka
 
The awards gala is on June 24th.  Good luck to all of our school nominees and congratulations to Mrs. Hache for her work with this year's school play.

Community Project

 

Congratulations to Mr. Letts and Mrs. Bryce along with their religion classes for their service project. The classes have been busy each week cleaning the sidewalk areas around Immaculata to keep the properties in our immediate neighbourhood clean.

Health Canada's Drug Prevention Media Campaign 
 
The National Drug Prevention Advisory Committee has created resources for parents to discuss drugs use with their children.  Please visit http://www.drugprevention.gc.ca
 
From the website you can order a copy of the latest prevention booklet for free or view the booklet on line in either HTML format or as a PDF:
 
http://www.nationalantidrugstrategy.gc.ca/pdf/parents/talking-aborder.pdf
 
For more information, you can call 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232).
Grade 12 PROM
 

Our prom this year is themed "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and will be held on Friday, June 6th at Sala San Marco,  215 Preston St.

 

If your child is attending the prom, you are invited to join us at the reception from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.  It's a great opportunity to take some photos of your son

or daughter during their special evening and enjoy some refreshments.
 
A reminder to parents that the school is not involved in any post-prom parties/activities and does not provide supervision once your child has left the PROM.  Please discuss safety and alcohol awareness with your child prior to the PROM. We want everyone to enjoy the Prom and return to school safely the following Monday.

 

Career Class Guest Speakers
 
The grade 10 Career class and Mme. Fowler would like to thank the following parents whom have presented their careers.  The students are privileged to have received such a broad variety of presentations.
 
Ms. Joyce Rassi
Ms. Wendy Sewell
Dr. Douglas Mirsky
Ms. Jill Vardy
Ms. Diane Stevenson
Mr. Mark Conley
Ms. Jane Kelly
Gr. 9-12 Report Cards and Lockers
 
Report cards should be picked up at the school on or after July 10th between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.  
 
Report cards are not mailed out.  Students or parents who are picking up another child's report card must produce a written note from the guardian granting them permission to pick up someone elses report card.
 
Please note that students must settle all missing textbooks, fines, equipment, etc.  prior to picking up their final report card.
 
Lockers
All students must vacate their lockers by the last day of school.  As of July 2nd locks will be removed/cut in order to allow for repairs and cleaning to take place.  The contents of lockers left at the school after July 2nd will be donated to charity or disposed of.
Part-time employment for parents
 
Chartwells School Dining Services, your children's school food service provider, would like to offer employment opportunities to parents in the community. Employment would be available in the high school cafeterias throughout Ottawa.   
 
Positions range from general cafeteria help to supervisory.  Experience is not necessary as we are happy to train.  Monday to Friday with holidays and summers off could be ideal for parents with young children.  If interested please fax resume attention Nicole to 613-737-9971.  Or please send your resume by e-mail to [email protected] 

International Food Fair and Festival
 
Congratulations to this year's winners at our International Food Fair and Festival:
 
Grade 7&8
1. Ethiopia - Michelle Cisneros and Meseret Semaneh-Tamrat
2. Mexico - Susan Jimenez-Perez and Sarah McArdle
3. Germany - Beatrice Hanley and Bridget Labadie
 
Grade 9-12
1. Ukraine - Cassandra Hargrave and Shelley Rudyk
2. Mexico - Catherine Hocking, Jennifer Nguy, and Hahley Ross
3. Netherlands - Jordan Cyr, Ted Fadden, and Cory Mes
 
Thank you to Mme. Audrey Pitre for organizing this event.