TEMPO TIMES Tempo School Newsletter December 2016 Headmaster’s Message Parent Advisory Council Mr. Ray Battochio, Headmaster presents... While it has been a busy fall at Tempo, it seems there is no time to rest before the holidays. We are diligently working on two January events that we would like to bring to Town Hall your attention. Meeting On January 11, 2017 we will be hosting an evening at the University of Faculty (Childcare Provided) Club for Grade 9 students and their parents. We have dubbed the evening: ‘Why You Should Choose Tempo for High School’. We will be providing students, parents, and Tempo staff with a buffet dinner that will include soft drinks, coffee, and tea. Following Thursday, dinner a variety of speakers will present compelling reasons why grade 9 students should choose Tempo for their high school. Speakers will include Tempo staff, former January 19, 2017 students, and other guests. Parents and students have already been invited to the event. 6:00 p.m. Tempo will require an RSVP from parents by December 21, 2016 in order to make final meal arrangements with the Faculty Club. Parents may RSVP Ms. Mykytiuk at Dinner and Movie [email protected] to confirm attendance. ‘Screenagers’ On January 19, 2017 our Parent Advisory Council (PAC) will be hosting a Town Hall http://www.screenagersmovie.com/ Meeting for parents to meet with school administration. If you have issues that you would like to have discussed in the forum, please email them to PAC members. The RSVP email address is [email protected]. The principal focus of the meeting will be to consider how the digital world is affecting Tempo students. Whether it is increasing screen [email protected]. time, cyber bullying, or the impact of social media, there is little doubt that students today are very connected to digital devices. We will begin at 6:00 p.m. with a light dinner and a 7:00 p.m. viewing of the documentary movie ‘Screenagers’ to help us focus on the topic. At 7:00 p.m. we will convene the Town Hall Meeting. We will discuss the main theme indicated Main Theme: above as well as other issues Tempo parents have passed along to members of our Challenges of Growing school’s Parent Advisory Council. Up in the Screen Time Era Christmas Charity Drive End time 8:30 p.m. December 1– 8 In This Issue

Please donate:  Headmaster Message

 Christmas Charity Drive  Non-perishable food items  Spelling Bee of

 Gently used winter clothing  Volunteers Needed

 Parking at Tempo  Unwrapped toys Alberta Regional Tournament at Tempo School Saturday, April 8, 2017

Spelling Bee of Canada Coming to Tempo Tempo School has been invited to host the Spelling Bee of Canada Regional Spelling Bee Competition on April 8, 2017. Since all age eligible students are invited to participate in the tournament, Tempo will be starting spelling bee clubs for students ages 6 to 8, 9 to 11, and 12 to 14 at the beginning of February. Students may choose to compete in either French or English.

There will be no charge for students interested in participating in the spelling bee clubs or in the Spelling Bee of Canada Regional Competition on April 8, 2017.

As you well know, spelling is an important English language skill and one on which Tempo places a high degree of emphasis. Whether your son or daughter is an excellent speller, participation in the Spelling Bee program could prove to be both engaging and supportive in your child’s learning.

If your child is interested in registering for a Spelling Bee of Canada after-school club, please complete a registration form as soon as possible. Registration forms are available from Ms. Mykytiuk at the office. Since registration for the Spelling Bee of Canada Regional Competition must be completed by December 31, 2016, we ask that students complete their registration with Tempo by December 16, 2016.

Lunch and Learn Career Exploration Volunteers Needed

Lunch and Learn is a parent volunteer program that supports students with career exploration and development.

Here is how Lunch and Learn works. You volunteer your time to talk about your career for 20 minutes between 11:50 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. on any day of the week between mid January and the end of May. Your conversation with students can be ‘live’ in our library, or virtually through Skype. We provide you with these questions to guide your conversation: Could you tell us a little about professional life? Why did you choose your field of study/career pathway and how is this connected to your passion or purpose in life? Could you describe your typical work day? What are the best parts of your work? What challenges have you found in your work that you weren’t sure of, or necessarily prepared for, when you started?

Our Parent Advisory Council (PAC) sponsors the event by providing students with a pizza and a drink for lunch, so it makes it very easy for students to attend. All we need is you.

If you would like to volunteer please contact Mr. Battochio via email at [email protected]. Tempo Fall Dances had some ‘spooktacular’ costumes.

Princesses and super heroes enjoyed the dance and game rooms. Middle School Mysee Masche Masqquerading.

Are these really students in Lower School? These students were all dressed up for the Family Dance.

These Tempo students and friends got caught in the volunteer web. Upper School students looked great at their Halloween dance. Upper School News We are very pleased to report that Tempo School has hosted several universities this fall including the , University of British Columbia, and McGill University. We are very proud to announce that 100% of our grade 12 students have applied to one or more institutions for post-secondary education.

The examination schedule for our Upper School students has been prepared and is available to our students. Tempo grade 2 students learned about the Lord Strathcona Mounted Troop. We would like to remind parents that regular classes will be held when stu- dents are not writing exams this January.

Our Student Council has been busy this fall organizing bi-weekly events including a very successful Halloween Dance. They also volunteered on Friday, December 2 to decorate the school for the holiday season. This event included decorating the school and enjoying a pizza dinner. The event ended with a mug of hot chocolate and a movie.

Tempo School will be hosting grade nine students and their parents to an even- ing at the University of Alberta Faculty Tempo students, parents and staff enjoy a spectacular performance of the Strathcona Club. We shall outline ten reasons why Mounted Troop Musical Ride. Tempo is their best choice for continuing their high school education. All grade nine students and their parents are encour- aged to attend. We ask that you RSVP before Christmas break to Ms. Mykytiuk. She can be reached at [email protected].

Finally, Tempo School will once again purchase, prepare, and serve a meal for the Mustard Seed located in 's city center. The cost to the school is $1000 and it is our intention to have a TOONIE TUESDAY in the New Year to fund this meal. We will also be looking for 12 volunteers from our upper school to Students were thrilled to meet members of the Strathcona Mounted Troop and their prepare and serve the meal. An update horses following the musical ride. will be provided in the New Year. Student Drop off and Pick up Routines at Tempo On most days when you drive your child to Tempo, you probably notice a parent volunteer and Mr. Battochio out in the parking lot. We are very fortunate to have wonderful parking patrol volunteers who are able to help out for about 20 minutes between 8:00 a.m. and 8:20 a.m. These people do an amazing job keeping our students safe and facilitating the flow of traffic through the passenger drop-off lanes. Since we need volunteers for each day of the school year, it is quite helpful to be able to draw from a large pool of people. Greg Berghuys is our parking Drivers should pull forward all the way in the passenger drop- patrol volunteer coordinator, and he is looking for people to volunteer a off lanes. Please do not stop your vehicle until you have reached the STOP sign. As you can see in this picture, ideally, few days per week or even a week sometime during the year. As with we would like to fit three vehicles in each drop-off lane to any volunteer activity, many hands make light work. We ask that you ensure the flow of traffic. e-mail Greg at [email protected], if you are able to help out.

Our drop-off area has painted arrows, stop lines, a safety zone, and signs to remind drivers to pull forward and to stop where required. While the focus of these features is student safety, we are trying to help facilitate the flow of traffic by having vehicles move all the way forward to the front of the passenger drop-off zone. Each drop-lane is designed to hold three vehicles. We would like to encourage people to move forward in order to make the drop-off and pick-up more efficient.

Stopping at the large yellow line creates enough room so that Being out in the parking lot allows us to observe the morning traffic three vehicles can stop in the drop-off lane. As you can see, patterns. It is no surprise that the line of vehicles outside becomes there is likely a long line of cars behind you. If your children longer as we get closer to the time that school starts. Another need parental assistance to get out of the vehicle, you should park in the parking lot instead of spending a couple of minutes observation is that the line-up is longer and occurs later when there in the drop-off lanes. has been snowy, cloudy, or foggy weather. Parking Patrol Homeroom attendance begins at 8:10 a.m. and ends at 8:20 a.m. You should plan to arrive so that your children are not late. As a school, we Volunteers Needed believe that punctuality and attendance are essential life skills for stu- Please Contact dents. Students who are late three times in a two- week period are considered to be persistently late. May we suggest that when weather Greg Berghuys and driving conditions change, you leave a little earlier so that your [email protected] children are not late for school. Thank you for your support.

Grade 9 Students and Parents ‘Why You Should Choose Tempo for High School’ University of Alberta Faculty Club Cocktails (ho-host bar) at 5:00 p.m. January 11, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Program to Follow RSVP to [email protected] by December 21, 2016 Parent Advisory Council Speech and Debate News Tempo students are off to a great start in Speech and (PAC) Debate this season. Under the coaching of Sirisha The Tempo School Parent Advisory Council would like to wel- Valupadas, our students have done extremely well in two come you to another school year. PAC is a liaison among the early season tournaments. parents, the school administration and the Board of Governors, and it provides support to parents who need information about our school. PAC always welcomes your thoughts, ideas and During the last weekend of October more than 60 teams questions. competed at the Westminster Junior High School Tourna- ment. Tempo School students achieved these results in the Special thanks to people who have already signed up to volunteer for parking patrol and photo day. Open category:

Below is a list of the events PAC supports and coordinates: Adnan Black and Saima Sami First Place Parking Patrol every school morning (8:00a.m. - 8:20a.m.) Irshad Sayed and Hannah Dean Second Place Adnan Black First Place Individual Christmas Charity Drive – December 1– December 8 Speaker January Town Hall Hannah Dean Second Place

Ski Club - select Fridays in December, January, February, and Individual Speaker March During the last weekend of November teams competed at the Doughnut Day – 4 times throughout the year Sir Winston Churchill High School Debate and Speech Lower School (Grades K-6) Sports Day – May 19 Competition. Upper School (Grades 7-12) Sports Day – June 9 Tempo achieved these results: In order for these events to run, volunteers are needed. We en- courage you to become involved and to participate. Please Garrett Hildebrandt earned First Place in the Speech catego- contact us for more information. ry and advanced to the final round at McKay Avenue School where he took Second Place on December 2. Garrett Parent Advisory Council (P.A.C.) received a $200 cash prize from the Churchill Society of Edmonton for his performance in the finals. Harveen Brar Email: [email protected] received the overall award for the Best Novice Speaker in the Speech category. Simran Grewal and Gurbir Sandha Radhika Bhargava (President) received the award for Best Tempo Team in the Debate Csilla Fee category. Lise Warmington

Finally, on Wednesday, November 30 at the Speech Tournament at Old Scona, Tempo achieved these results: Important Ski Club Simranjit Grewal First Place in the Original Oratory category Reminder to Parents Rafay Osmani Third Place in the Prose category You, or your approved guardian over the age of 18, must sign out and pick up your child at Snow Contact Tempo Valley following your child’s We would appreciate hearing from you! release from the ski club lesson at 4:30 p.m. Tempo School 5603 148 St. Edmonton, AB T6H 4T7 A Tempo Ski Club Official will be in (780) 434-1190 the chalet for this purpose. [email protected]