Hillcrest Middle School Newsletter April 2015
Inside this Issue Restaurant Day
Inspire Success Together Education Week 2015 End of Year Awards Social Media Safety Peel Technological Skills Challenges School Council
Important Dates
April 1 Caribou contest
April 2-8 Pink Week
April 4th—6th Easter Weekend
April 8th Pink Day
April 9th, 15th, 16th Hillcrest Roadshows
April 14th Count Me In
April 15th Future Building Trip
April 16th Champs Math Contest Grade 6 Speech Contest
April 20-24th Education Week
April 20th Social Media assemblies
April 21st School Council
April 22nd Open House 8:30—10 am
April 24th Volunteer Recognition and Award of Distinction Assemblies 10 and 11 am Inspire Success Together
Many exciting things are happening at Hillcrest! Last week Grade 6, 7 and 8 students, under the guidance of M Nassif, Mlle Foulds, Mme Chan, Mme Peron and Mme Orth-Demczyszyn took part in the Peel Technological Skills Challenges. Students prepared for many weeks and were outstanding representatives at this Board wide competition.
Last week, guest yoga instructors from Clay Canada worked with all our students during their gym classes. Thank you, Ms Lori Smith and Mrs. Patrick for organizing these workshops! The Clay Lady, Marion Bartlett, also returned to Hillcrest in March to explore the work of Tim Burton through clay sculpturing with all our Visual Arts classes. Thank you Mrs. Massey and Mr. Woloszanski for organizing these exciting workshops!
Next week, the Hillcrest Cross Country Team will begin training for the South Region competition which takes place on May 22nd and our Junior, Senior and Jazz Bands will be practicing for our May concert!
Education Week April 20th—24th
Each spring, schools from across the Peel District School Board celebrate the Teaching and Learning that is taking place in classrooms during Education Week. We hope that you are able to join us at some of the events that are planned that week:
Monday, April 20th Social Media presentations to all students presented by Mr. Jerry and Mrs. Shaver. 9:15, 10:10 and 11 am.
Wednesday, April 22nd Meet with our staff over a cup of coffee at 8:30 am and visit some of our classrooms.
Friday, April 24th Say thank you to the many teachers and community members who Inspire Success Together at our Volunteer Recognition and Award of Distinction assemblies. 10 and 11 am followed by lunch.
Please join us! It promises to be an exciting week at Hillcrest!
End of Year Awards
Hillcrest students are recognized for excellence throughout the school year at our monthly CARE Assemblies. At the end of each school year, those students who have excelled both academically and in their learning skills are also recognized at an end of year assembly.
The awards, and accompanying criteria, are as follows:
The CARE Award is awarded to students who have shown that they Care, Achieve, Respect and Encourage others at all times. This award is often determined by a student vote.
The Excellence Award is awarded to students who achieve E’s on all the Learning Skills.
The Platinum Award is awarded to students who achieve level 4’s and a maximum of 2 level 3’s on their June report card.
The Gold Award is awarded to students who achieve all level 3’s and 4’s on their June report card.
We look forward to recognizing many of our Hillcrest students for their outstanding accomplishments in June. Peel Technological Skills Challenge Grade 6, 7 and 8
Grade 6 PTSC: By Ashley H and Ginger P
On March 25th, 4 teams competed in the grade 6 Peel Technological Skills Challenge at Morning Star Middle School with Mme. Chan. The theme was transportation and the Lego Robotics and Technology teams learned to use different tools and pieces to build transportation vehicles. The Character Animation and Lego Robotics teams used software to complete challenges. By the end of the day, we all learned a bit more about building, programming and problem-solving. We all had fun and the Technology team achieved 2nd place overall in their category. While the others celebrated their success, overall it was a fun and educational experience.
Lego Robotics: Rheanna B, Ayra D, Cameron L, Cassel R
Technology Challenge: Kailash K, Renee B, Ginger P, Evan S
Lego mechanics: Brock J, Jacob B, Bo B, Byron J
Character Animation: Ashley H, Nathan G, Danielle B, Jaffer L
Grade 7 and 8 PTSC: By Katherine B and Monika N
The Peel Technological Skills Challenge was an opportunity to grow as learners in science. We participated in many challenges such as: Lego mechanics, Construction, Lego Robotics, Animation, Green energy and Design and Technology. We collaborated with each other and made some new friends.
All teams did very well. A special mention goes out to the Construction Team, Jasmine, Kate, Omid and Howie, who took home the BRONZE! Honourable mention goes to the Lego Mechanics team consisting of Monika, Colin, Philip and Tian Yue who placed fourth. Philip was also an award recipient for demonstrating awesome character traits during the challenges.
Lego Mechanics: Colin C, Philip J, Tuian Yue D, Monika N
Lego Robotics: Cam S, Carson H, Emily H, George K, David J
Animation: Owen S, Aidan S, Kenya M, Arma S
Green Energy: Callum D, Gavin P, Janice R, Kyla M
Design and Tech: Emily W, Diego M, Claudia M, Ethan
Construction: Omid I, Howie N, Kate B, Jasmine S
Using Social Media Safely
On social media, sites, it is important to remember that the world is watching. Here are some tips to keep your children safe and help them make smart choices when using social media:
Have a conversation about what is appropriate online behaviour and what actions could damage their reputation and be harmful to others. Remind your children to think before they post. It is a lot more public than it seems. Think twice before posting photos online. Users have little control over where the photos are sent. Things posted online may stay there for years. Even if something doesn't seem embarrassing, it may damage a student’s reputation years later when they are looking for jobs or applying to college and/or university . Users should only accept people they know in order to protect themselves from spammers, strangers and others who may be using social networking sites to commit crimes. Ensure your children set their privacy settings appropriately. Privacy settings aren't foolproof, but they're important. Take the time to learn how privacy settings work on your children’s favourite sites, and teach them how to control their privacy. Tell your children never to share personal and private information with anyone online. Limit the amount of time that your children spend on social media platforms.
On Monday, April 20th, Mr. Jerry and Mrs. Shaver will make presentations to all students on this topic.
Hillcrest School Council
Education Week April 20th – 24th
Monday, April 20th
9:15, 10:10 and 11 am
Social Media presentations to all students by Mrs. Shaver and Mr. Jerry
Wednesday, April 22nd
Open House for parents/guardians
8:30am ~ coffee
9:00—10 am ~ Critical thinking in our classrooms
Friday, April 24th
10 and 11 am
Volunteer Appreciation and Award of Distinction Assemblies
11:45 am
Luncheon to thank everyone for their many contributions to our school THANK YOU PIZZA VOLUNTEERS!
These volunteers have made it possible to provide Pizza lunches to our students! Trish A, Joyce B, Alba C, Christine C, Anne C, Julie D, Angela D, Janet G, Lori-Ann M, Susan O, Nirvana R, Julie B, Susan S, Suzanne J, and Lynn S
The Clay Lady returns
Thanks to your fundraising, Marion Bartlett returned to Hillcrest to work with our students from March 23rd -30th.
Every student made a clay sculpture after studying the work of Tim Burton with Mrs. Massey and Mr. Woloszanski.
YOGA
Thank you to Ms. Lori Smith and her volunteer instructors from Clay Canada.
Students had the opportunity to participate in a yoga class from March 26th -30th.
Everyone loved it and it was very kind of Lori to arrange this for our school.
QSP DRIVE IN OCTOBER!
Did you know any of your QSP subscriptions or renewals will still help raise funds for our school?
If you can save your subscriptions or renewals for our campaign, it would greatly benefit our school! Thank you in advance!
NEXT COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, April 21st at 7:00 pm in the school library Submit your comments or questions anytime to [email protected]