November 2012 Newsletter

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November ~ 2012

J R / S R Senior High Citizens, Economics competition page 2-3

H I G H Junior High Citizens, General Information Page 4

N E W S L E T T E R Student Services Pa ge 5

office hours

Christmas Gala 2012

Preparations are already under way for Rundle College’s Christmas Gala on Monday, December 3rd, at Stage West Dinner Theatre! This annual event brings the community together for a wonderful evening of fantastic food and student entertainment.

Be sure to make your dinner arrangements in advance as last year was a sold out show! Tickets are on sale from November

7th until the 26th for $45.00 each from the office. Once purchased, they can be picked up at the Stage West doors when you arrive at 6:00 pm, on December 3rd.

Dinner will be served until 7:45pm. From 8:00pm until 9:30pm, Senior High students will participate in the Christmas show they have created based on this year’s “Survivor” theme. Performers are also

F i n e A r t s Day, We Day, A t h l e t i c s. p a ge 6- 7

Fron t O ff ice Monday- F r iday 7:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

expected to purchase their seat in advance. Dress in your Christmas best and come out for a great night of food, fun, entertainment and Rundle Christmas spirit. What a great way to begin the season!

S en ior High O ffice Monday- T hur sday 7:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

F r iday 7:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

S tu den t Atten dance P lease contact the office with your child’s absence at 403-250-7180 or email to: Junior H igh S chool - M rs. Laidlaw ( laidlaw @ r undle.ab.ca.)

S enior H igh S chool - Ms. Moodie ( moodie@ r undle.ab.ca) Paren ts will be con tacted if any stu den t is absen t without parent/ gu ardian permis sion.

We D a y 2 0 1 2 J r. H i g h On October 24, we had the opportunity to be a part of the first We Day in Alberta at the Saddledome. We Day, a Free the Children event, is a day to celebrate and encourage youth to help create local and global change.

There were amazing musical performances

by Hedley, Lights, Shawn Desman, and Marianas Trench.

However, the speakers were just as wonderful as the performers.

Liz Murray, the author of

Breaking Night: My Journey from Homeless to Harvard, shared her heartbreaking story about being homeless as a teenager and the people who helped her overcome it. Molly Burke, a Me to We speaker, encouraged us to take part in the We Are Silent, campaign to give a voice to those who do not have one. Ashley Callingbull told her story about how she worked hard and became the first First Nations woman to

receive the Miss Canada title.

Spencer West told us about how he persevered through the elements to arrive at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and he announced his next plan to walk from Edmonton to Calgary to support Free the Children’s Water Initiative. Martin Sheen motivated us to find something that is worth fighting for in our lives. The speaker that many of us were most excited for was Larry King, who encouraged

us to persevere and never give up. The founders of Free the Children, Craig and Marc Kielburger, motivated us to take action with many campaigns, including We Create Change, a penny drive, and We Are Silent, a campaign to stand up for children who do not have a voice and are denied their basic rights. It was an incredible experience that has inspired us to take action and create change.

By Jennifer Chow See photos on page 6.

November ~ 2012

Haskayne Economics Case Competition On November 3, Megan Beitel, Isabella Gut, Jaclyn Hiebert, Erica Kemp, Justine Nowicki and Lisha Yu represented Rundle College at an economics case competition at the U of C. The event was put on by WIC and the Haskayne School of Business and was an opportunity for teams to research and try to resolve the current issue of the Canadian Government controlling foreign ownership of Canada’s natural resources. It was an intense, yet fun and rewarding competition

AISI Project

for the students.

Congratulations to all of the Rundle students for their presentations. A special acknowledgement goes out to Justine Nowicki’s team and Megan Beitel’s team for placing first and second respectively.

Traditional junior and senior high classrooms are morphing into information highways and with this comes a whole new scope of what it means to be ‘literate’ in this day and age. Rundle College is entering its fifth cycle of AISI (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) targeted funding for improved student learning. Our chosen theme for this cycle is “Critical Thinking and Literacy: The 21st Century Learner.” Over the course of a three year term, students and teachers will be exploring what it means to be considered literate in the 21st century. Our goal is to create engaged, creative

R u n d l e Fo o t b a l l The football team has continued their strong play into October. With a tough loss to Foothills Composite on October 4th, the football teams record went to 4 and 1. The Cobras came back after the Thanksgiving long weekend with a JV game against Cochrane and scrimmage against St. Francis High School. Both games were hard fought and great learning experiences.

The following week Rundle faced last year’s League Champions and Provincial Finalist Holy Trinity in the League Semi-Final. A 7-1 halftime score turned into and 30-1 final and a great second half performance by the team scoring three touchdowns and allowing none. The Cobras faced the Foothills Falcons in the

League Championship Game on October 26th. It was a game to remember and the Cobras emerged victorious in a shootout winning 49-30.

Congratulations to all football players on a great game, winning Rundle College’s first ever, Big Rock League Championship.

and critical thinkers who posses’s a plethora of literary competencies as they pursue their goals.

Using a research and best practices approach to teaching and learning, teachers will be working within their departments to develop some innovative and cutting edge instructional practices and tools to continually improve the learning of our students, especially in the area of digital literacy. If you have any questions about the AISI project, please contact Ms. Woods at the school.

November ~ 2012

S k i l l S O f S u r v i v a l

Senior High Citizens of the Month Madison

Kehler

As a new student to Rundle College, Madison has had an amazing start to Grade 10. Her boundless, positive energy and warm, friendly smile make her approachable and puts her peers quickly at ease. She encourages and celebrates the success of others while taking pride in her school and class work.

Madison is a very deserving Citizen of the month.

Naman Siddique New to Rundle College, Naman has quickly made a name for himself. He is an extremely responsible member of the Tech Team, completing every tech project with integrity and fine attention to detail.

His quiet leadership and diligence are also valuable assets to the the Speech Team and were appreciated on the Bamfield and We Day trips. Naman, welcome to Rundle! We are very happy to have you!

Jacob Ruissen is a most deserving citizen of the month. His personable, mature, responsible and polite manner is exceptional.

Jacob will always greet staff and students alike with an ever present smile, a generous hello, a genuine thank you and goodbye in all circumstances. He is a very conscientious and respectful student who completes work and participates in class and school activities with the highest degree of excellence.

As a team member, in class and in athletics he demonstrates dedication, perseverance and strong leadership. His character is one to be modeled and he is respected for the character he displays.

Céline Lemay is another

stellar addition to our Rundle College family. You might think that entering in her grade 11 year would have posed challenges, but Céline has settled in with grace and charm. An invaluable member of the Tech Crew, her diligence is second to none; often working well into the night to ensure projects are completed without delay.

Her technical expertise and dedication have been tremendous assets to Rundle College. Thank you, Céline!

Shelby Farmer Anyone that knows Shelby knows that she is a bright light in every room she walks into. She is always kind and caring, and treats everyone with respect and compassion. Shelby is a hard-working and admirable young lady. She performs very well academically and is a wonderful citizen of the Rundle community. Her attitude, warm personality and academic achievements make Shelby Farmer a very deserving citizen of the month.

Garrett Copp has started his senior year with a noticeable commitment to leadership in all aspects of school life. He is a key member of the league champion football team, but his contributions don’t stop there. He is a conscientious academic student and keen supporter of all school activities including Fine Arts Day and Christmas Gala preparations. Garrett is making a positive difference and is congratulated for being such a fine citizen.

SOS (Skills of Survival) sessions are for those students that are super smart but a little scattered. Many students want and have the potential to do what’s required, but lack certain habits of the mind called executive skills. If your child struggles with getting organized, initiating work, time management, task completion, test taking and study skills, SOS is for them!

Ms. Woods holds weekly SOS sessions in the library Wednesday’s at lunch.

Ju n i o r D eb a t e Junior Debate

Congratulations to two junior teams that competed at the John Ware Debate Tournament. Rohan Kumar and Matthew Yeung went undefeated winning both their rounds and narrowly missing the podium in their first debate. Arijit Lodha and Aaron Sanchez also performed very well with one loss to the team that won the gold.

Well done, debaters!

November ~ 2012

Ju n i o r H i g h C i t i z e n s o f t h e M o n t h

Taylor Dods has proven to be a caring, mature and organized Rundle citizen. He is focussed on academics, consistently engaged in class, and is also a positive contributor to class discussion. Taylor is a friend to all who surround him, and he demonstrates this daily by helping those around him while still completing his work in a quality manner. Athletically he has been a key contributor to the boys volleyball team showing excellent skills, but most of all a big heart and great sportsmanship.

Megan Van de Graaf has been described as an extremely soft spoken, kind and courteous

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Hannah Hayes (7)

Sara Stephens (8)

Sophie Thorton (9)

person. She is admired for the initiative she takes in helping others around the classroom, as well as on her volleyball team. She quietly notices when things need to be done and simply gets them done. Her optimism and positive energy keeps her team and classmates spirits up.

As a student, Megan is very conscientious and diligent. She is a focused and active participant, always engaged in class discussions.

Her willingness to help others is acknowledged by many staff and students, who appreciate her leadership, as well as her sense of humour and great attitude.

Ollie Munn (7)

Mickey McCoy (8)

Max Scarcello (9)

S p e e c h Te a m On October 19th, junior and senior high Speech competitors attended the Calgary Stampede Speech Tournament.

This tournament was the largest local one to date with 130 individual speakers competing in six different categories.

Congratulations to the following students for their efforts that evening:

Senior Sam Sirianni (Individual silver medal) Jaclyn Hiebert Naman Siddique Erica Kemp Alana Kerr Junior Tara Osler (Individual bronze medal) Arijit Lodha Andrew Sanchez Cindy Zhao Matthew Yeung

Maya Chambers is a fantastic example of a citizen of the month at Rundle College. She is a leader among her peers and impeccably well dressed, wearing her uniform with pride. She was involved in the Cross Country program and attains high academic standings in her core courses. She truly embodies the spirit of educating the whole child and excels in this process.

Tara Osler Focussed, driven, involved; Tara Osler epitomizes all of these positive characteristics.

Tara always has fantastic ideas, but, most importantly, goes out of her way to bring them to fruition.

She possesses a razor sharp mind, and is kind, considerate and empathetic. She embodies what it means to be a Rundle citizen.

Sahil Gaur has been making a positive difference in our school since first walking through the door this year. He immediately started to make friends thanks to his easy-going and positive nature. When the opportunity arose to take on a leadership role through LEADERS council, he enthusiastically volunteered and has been a driving force within the group. We know that Sahil will always do whatever he can to help out the school and his peers.

He is a “take charge� guy, and gets things done...always with a big smile.

Mathea Johansson is an exceptional individual and she is fully deserving of the Citizen of the Month Award. She is a hard-working, motivated and diligent student. Whatever she does, Mathea does it to the best of her ability. More importantly, she has an absolutely delightful personality. Mathea constantly has a smile on her face and she treats everyone with the utmost respect and dignity. She is a kind and sincere individual who has earned the respect of all her peers and teachers.

F l a g Fo o t b a l l C o b r a C u p W i n n e r s C r o w n e d

After the playoff round was completed, the flag football championship game featured the top two teams from regular season play, Victorious Secret vs. Domi-nation. Domination came out and represented with most of the team participating in the playoff and final game.

This definitely helped them to take the Cobra Cup against a spirited Victorious Secret team.

Thank you to all players

who came out to play on all teams and congratulations to the following players on Domi-nation.

Mr. Domstad, Josh FehrTwaddle, Jacob Ruissen, Aidan Kuruliak, Medardo Villataro-Perez, Gianfranco Sartor, Michael Brewer, Tim Roth, Tahyr Lalani, Tobi Odufeso, Tyler Bull.

Next activity is volleyball

G r a d e 9 B o y s Vo l l e y b a l l The month of October has been very busy for the grade 9 boys volleyball team as we have played most of our league games along with three tournaments. The boys attended a tournament at Hunting Hills High School in Red Deer and competed very well against some of the top

teams in the province, placing third. The boys also placed first at our home tournament proving themselves as one of the top teams in the South Central Zone. Our league playoffs are on November 6th at Glenmore Christian and if we qualify for South Central Zones, they will take place on

November 9th and 10th at St. Joseph’s Collegiate in Brooks.

We are very proud of the way the team has performed this last month and we hope to carry that strong play into playoffs. Good luck to the boys as we move into the final stage of our season.

J V Vo l l e y b a l l

Correction to JV girls roster: Dana Will was missed last month, but she has been an integral part of the team from the beginning of the season! The JV girls and boys both had awesome seasons, going undefeated, and both finishing in first place in league play!

They will both play for the ISAA banner the week of November 5.

In the boys semi-final, Rundle won their game and will play in the final

at Chinook Winds on November 7. Rundle will host the girls semi-final and final on November 7. The girls played in 2 tournaments in October, hosting our annual Cobra Cup with the boys’ team on Oct. 13, with both teams losing in the quarter finals. These girls also placed 3rd at Rally Pointe on Oct. 20. Good luck to both teams in playoffs!

Grade 7 girls take GOLD in the Calgary Academy tournament on October 13.

November ~ 2012

Fi n e A r t s D a y

Smiles and positive attitudes were our school uniform as Rundle College was transformed into an artistic playground on Fine Arts Day. Students (9 -12) and staff enjoyed workshops in music, dance, drama and the visual arts. Taking a risk was the theme of the day with new adventures had by all. The final setting was the Aux gym where participants shared some of what was learned during

the event’s workshops.

Special thanks to the efforts of the Fine Art’s Day team.

Photo’s from Fine Arts Day

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Photo’s from We Day

J r. H i g h P r o d u c t i o n o f A n n e F r a n k & M e

Auditions are underway for this year’s junior high production of Anne Frank & Me by Cherie Bennett. The story is a heart-wrenching tale set in both the present and 1940s Paris, and promises be memorable for both the audience and those involved in the production. Rehearsals begin November 13 and the performance dates are February 25th

& 26th, 2013. Keep watching the newsletter for more information!

On Wednesday, October 24, the grade 10 and 11 honors social classes, as well as a few select grade 9 students, had the chance to attend the first We Day ever hosted in Alberta. The event was amazing and the Calgary Saddledome was packed with eager students, teachers, and anyone else who was interested in making a difference in our world. Liz Murray, Spencer West, and Larry King were some of the exceptional people who shared their amazing stories about the issues they have faced or how they have become involved in groups who are dedicated to making the world a better place. Among the guest speakers, there were many musical acts like Hedley, Shawn Desman, and Lights that kept the crowd energized and excited throughout the day. We Day was such an amazing experience and very inspirational to the youth who went on behalf of the school.

We are thankful that we had the chance to experience We Day and are excited to share the ideas we learned that will make a difference in our school, community, and hopefully the world.

By: Ethan Strohbach

R.A.R.E - Random Acts of Reading Earnestly

A new reading initiative is being kicked-off at both the junior and senior high.

Students caught in the act of voluntarily reading for enjoyment outside of ELA class and SQUIRT will be secretly nominated by teachers all around the school. Every assembly, a name will be drawn for a prize. At the end of this year, all the nominees will have a chance to win an iPad Mini - one for both junior and senior. This campaign is meant to encourage and celebrate reading to make R.A.R.E. an everyday occurrence at Rundle.