Windermere R RESPECT E EXCELLENCE Secondary School ATTITUDE 3155 East 27th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5R 1P3 A Telephone: 604-713-8180 Fax: 604-713-8179 C COURAGE Website: http://go.vsb.bc.ca/schools/windermere/Pages/default.aspx H HONESTY

Friday, July 7th, 2017

Principal: Mr. R. Mesich (Grade 12) Vice-Principal: Ms. A. Ogden (Grade 8 & 11) Mr. R. Mirani (Grade 9 & 10) PAC Chairperson: Mr. Mark Fenster Director of Instruction: Mrs. Ellen Roberts (604-713-4594;[email protected])

School Goals: To increase classroom and community engagement to improve student success and learning.

To increase knowledge, acceptance, empathy, awareness and appreciation of Aboriginal histories, traditions, cultures and contributions among all students.

Acknowledging that we live, work, and play on the traditional and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish people.

Dear students, parents and staff,

Congratulations to everyone for a fantastic school year where we took on many challenges and in Windermere’s tradition of excellence, demonstrated success in a variety of curricular and extra-curricular initiatives. We should be proud of our students for their accomplishments throughout the school year within our school community and in the broader community.

As many of you know, I will be leaving Windermere Secondary at the end of this school year. I have been honoured to be the Principal at such a fine school. I have learned a great deal from our students, parents and staff and will miss the positive energy that our community generates in so many areas. I am most proud of how our students selflessly help those in the community who are less fortunate and continue to make our community a better place for everyone. I would like to acknowledge our community partners who have provided many opportunities for our students to continue their learning outside of the school. Our relationship has been incredible and I hope the partnership will continue for many years to come. I am truly proud to have been your Principal for the last 4 years. Thank you to everyone for your support of our students over this time.

In the weeks leading to the end of the school year, our students were engaged in completing final projects, catching up on missed assignments and preparing for final and provincial exams. Our staff spent countless hours with our students to help them complete their tasks in preparation for the summer break. I recognize and applaud the effort, commitment and perseverance that our students demonstrated in completing the school year.

At the end of each school year, we have a graduating class that will be moving to the next chapter of their lives to continue their education at a post-secondary institution, to enter the work force or to experience life by travelling. I thank our graduating students for their legacy of academic excellence, work ethic, innovation and service for future Windermere graduates to emulate. I am honoured to have had the opportunity to get to know all of them as students and as individuals. I also want to thank the parents and guardians of the graduating students for supporting their children and the school. A school community consists of more than the people within the building and the parents play a vital role in the success of our students.

As we move into the summer break, some students will take courses at Summer School to continue their learning. I hope your Summer School experience is positive and you are able to successfully complete the course work. I applaud those students for their commitment to learning in an extension of the regular school year. Information for Summer School was sent to families in early May and can be found on the Windermere website.

I want to acknowledge the contributions of our staff members who will be leaving our community.

Mr. Castilho, Ms. Coblenz, Mr. Gore, Mr. Kam, Ms. Kwong, Mr. Mahoney, Mr Mathias (retiring), Ms. Macdonald, Ms. Payne, Mr. Price, Ms. Wang, Mr. Wheeler, Ms. Lowe (retiring), Mr. Breden

Thank you for your support of our students in their pursuit of excellence. Your contributions will be missed and good luck in your future endeavours.

I would like to formally welcome Windermere’s new Principal, Ms. Benita Kwon and Vice Principal, Ms. Phoebe MacMillan. I am sure they will be amazing in their roles and continue Windermere’s proud traditions of helping to create enriching experiences for our students. I hope that all of our students and families have an opportunity to spend time together and have a well-deserved break. Information for the upcoming school year will be posted on the Windermere website and a newsletter will be sent to families electronically in August. The first day back to school will be September 5th and the schedule for the first week will be outlined in the August Newsletter.

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer break.

Sincerely, R. Mesich Mr. Rick Mesich Principal Windermere Secondary School

Summer School 2017

The Vancouver Summer School Program starts on July 5th for students registering for completion classes and July 6th for all other classes. Please visit https://summer.vsb.bc.ca/Pages/default.aspx for more information or obtain a Summer School newspaper in the Main Office.

Summer Office Hours

The school office will be open Monday to Friday during the summer from 7:30am to 2:00pm.

PAC Year-End Message

Thank you to all the parents, teachers and staff at Windermere for yet another spectacular school year! While teachers and staff are of course so very important, the participation from parents with their input, requests and suggestions have been invaluable in helping to create and grow the wonderful community we have here at Windermere.

PAC IS A NO FUNDRAISING ZONE!

We want to know your wishes and we are most interested in how we can help guide our school to best support our kids, our families, and our community!

Thank you to all the parents who came to our monthly meetings, sent in comments, and helped us grow better and stronger in so many ways. We’ve already begun discussing ideas for the new 2017/18 school year and I am personally very excited with what we have in the works.

I also want to say a VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU to our PAC Executive, Mark Fenster, Sonya Lill and Evalyn Matte, who worked tirelessly to provide timely guest speakers for our parent community and to continually support students and staff. Thank you to Mr. Mark Fenster, who will be stepping down as PAC Chair, who has been remarkable in his role this past year. You will be missed.

The PAC Chair for the 2017-18 school year will be Heather Tayler. Thank you for taking on the role and we are sure you will be great as PAC Chair.

Wishing everyone a great summer, and please do send us comments, questions, requests any time at our Windermere PAC email: [email protected]

Windermere Student Wins Social Justice Scholarship

Congratulations to Robin Horner for winning the Danielle Horowitz Social Justice Scholarship worth $12, 000 for her post-secondary pursuits. This is the second year a grade 12 Windermere student has won this award. The scholarship is given to one Vancouver student annually and over the past 2 years, a Windermere student has won. Last year, Triana Segovia won the award and is currently attending the Youth Initiative Program in Sweden.

Robin and her family attended a celebration at Vancouver City Hall on June 20th where Mayor Gregor Robertson presented Robin with the award (see the Windermere website for photos).

Thank you to Mr. Castilho and Ms. Lee for attending the ceremony to support Robin.

Congratulations Robin and good luck at Langara College.

For more information on this scholarship, please go to http://daniellehorwitzaward.org/

Thank You Windermere Community

Ms Payne would like to thank the families and students of Windermere for a wonderful 14 years. The support for the initiatives that have taken root, from the Academy of Math, to the building of Windermere into a school that models inclusive practices has been amazing. She would also like to thank the years of girls soccer players who came out every spring to play a game they loved and represented the school in the highest standards. She will miss the community of Windermere, and will take many memories with her.

Aboriginal Art Celebration

On Wednesday, June 14th, Windermere hosted an Aboriginal Celebration unveiling 3 Aboriginal art pieces and installations that were created by students and staff. The celebration unveiled the Sacred Room that is a space where the entire Windermere community are welcome to visit to learn about Aboriginal cultures and use the space for meetings and projects. The room has been transformed to depict a traditional West Coast Longhouse. The walls have several original Aboriginal paintings, mostly images created by Windermere’s Aboriginal Enhancement Worker, Ernie LaRochelle and Pat Forrest. The room is a labor of love for both Ernie and Pat who have provided fantastic opportunities for our students to learn.

The celebration honoured the creation of a cedar Totem Pole. Davita Marsden, Aboriginal Enhancement Teacher, obtained a grant through the Canada 150 initiative to acquire the services of Aboriginal Carver Gerry Sheena who completed the carving with the help of students. The Totem Pole will be displayed in Windermere’s Art Gallery across the hallway from the Main Office.

The third art piece is the exterior Aboriginal mural at the southeast corner of the school. The mural covers 3 large exterior walls on 27th Avenue. Alyssa Reid, Art Teacher, obtained a grant through the Betty Wellburn Legacy Fund to support the project. The murals were painted with the help of several students and Aboriginal artists from the community.

The celebration featured honoured guests from the district that included Don Fiddler, Principal of Aboriginal Education, Chas Desjarlais, Vice Principal of Aboriginal Education and Shane Point, District Aboriginal Knowledge Keeper. Thank you all for taking the time to participate in our celebration.

Thank you to Ernie, Pat and Davita for all their effort in helping to organize this celebration. Our community is truly grateful for all of your work.

Home Economics

Thank you to our parents group for supporting students in our foods and cafeteria classes who took the Foodsafe Level 1 certification program this year. More than 100 of our students were successful in passing. Students were required to get at least 70% in order to receive their certificate. Foodsafe certification enables our students to continue in post-secondary foods programs and makes them more employable. At least one Foodsafe certified person must be on site at establishments that serve food to the public.

A big thank you for the Casino funds that made this program possible.

Fresh Voices Award Nominee

Batoul Mohammed, a grade eight student here at Windermere was one of eight individuals for a Fresh Voices Award for all of Vancouver. The Fresh Voices Initiative at Vancouver Foundation, in partnership with Vancity Credit Union and the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, is hosting the third year of the Fresh Voices Awards to recognize the inspiration and leadership of immigrant and refugee youth in British Columbia and across Canada working to advance social and systemic change. Batoul, arrived with her family last February to Canada and since last May has worked tirelessly to build her independence and overcome many obstacles associated with being a youth in a wheelchair to become a full member of the Windermere Community. She is to be congratulated on this achievement.

Fine Arts Department

Band Program

The Band program finished the year on a high note, with 40 students participating in the Graduation ceremonies at the UBC Chan Centre. It was a highly satisfying cap to the year, to be able to play in such an acoustically beautiful space, and to allow the students to demonstrate their musical skills. At least half of this ensemble had only started on their instruments in September, so it has been a year of great accomplishment. The Intermediate Band enjoyed a wonderful trip to Victoria on the May long weekend, and both bands (and a school audience) were treated to a fantastic concert by the Penticton Secondary bands, both concert and jazz.

Guitar Program

The Guitar program participated in both the May 4 Band Fundraising concert, and the year-end concerts. It was great to see and hear how much the students have developed their technique over the year, and how many of them have a passion that will continue well beyond this course. Drama Program

The One-Act Play festival in April staged by the Senior Drama class was a success, despite several challenges. These challenges involved last-minute changes in casting, play selection, and rehearsals! It was great to involve students outside of the class as well, to bring together a show of student-written and directed works. The Grade 8 and 9 classes continued to be places of fun and work, with students performing lip sync battles, improvised skits, and staging stories from their lives. As in any performing arts classes, there is a depth and breadth of talent in all classes, at all levels.

Grade 7 Barbeque

The Grade 7 Barbeque took place on Wednesday, May 17th where the families of grade 7 students planning to attend Windermere in September were provided with answers to common questions students and parents have about high school life. The families met with current Windermere staff and our new PAC Chairs, Ms. Heather Tayler. The evening ended with a barbeque that was financial supported by the Windermere PAC. The attendance for this event has improved from year-to-year where the attendance was approximately 140 people. Thank you to Mr. Breden, Vice Principal, and his volunteers for organizing the event and inviting our new families to the Windermere community.

Bike Free Carnival

The Bike Free Carnival took place on Thursday, May 19th where staff and students were encouraged to leave their cars at home and use their bikes to travel to school. The cul-de-sac in front of the school was closed for the carnival that included a bike train, Frankenbikes, a food truck and several performances including the Teachers band. Classes were encouraged to participate throughout the day. Thank you to Ms. Ogden and Mr. Castilho who spearheaded the event.

September 2017 School Start

The first day back from summer holidays is Tuesday, September 5th. Please check the Windermere website in late August for information on the first day procedures.

Have a wonderful Summer Everyone!