Welcome to Fall, Everyone!

The first full month of school has been mastered by our new grade 10s with the guidance of staff and mentorship of our 11s and 12s. Everyone is making the adjustment to the new bell schedule along with the rigor of advancement in grade levels. Our dedicated staff has spent the month of September helping students develop strategies to aid them in adjusting to the demands of the social and physical environment at school while balancing their ex-tracurricular commitments. Some valuable key components were covered during our scheduled seminar sessions on how to improve study habits, manage stress and access available supports for students. We encourage all parents to check in with your teens weekly during this time of the year to provide the necessary guidance, support and advo-cacy if needed.

A new school year will often present opportunities for students to reinvent themselves and their success at SGCHS is represented in many forms. Student engagement is key to this and supports the growth of our school culture. As students find their way, the months of September and October offer many opportunities to get involved in extracurricular activi-ties at school. Our Volleyball, Football, Golf, X-Country and Swim teams have been se-lected and are now having fun training and competing in league play and tournaments. The upcoming Drama production of Lion King have progressed from auditions to rehears-als with much excitement. We are encouraging your child to get involved in supporting our many athletic teams, clubs, and after school music and drama productions to help build interest, strengths and new relationships. Regardless if you are a participant or spec-tator, involvement in Extracurricular activities can help with building connection, self-esteem, confidence, and social adjustment during these stressful high school years.

Thank you to all who attended our Grade 12 Parent Information Night on September 12th and Meet the Teacher Evening on September 19th. Our staff always appreciates every opportunity to engage parents in connecting to the work we are doing with students here at SGCHS. The next engagement evening will occur at Parent Teacher Interview Night, Wednesday, November 6th.

New parents are encouraged to use the online PowerSchool portal to track their students’ progress but should also mark the PTI date on their calendar for the important face to face check in with teachers about the progress of their students.

The month of September concluded with observation of Orange Shirt Day on September 30th. SGCHS students and staff supported the theme that Every Child Matters - Commem-orating, in the spirit of reconciliation, the Survivors of Residential Schools and Remem-bering the Children Who Did Not Survive.

The evening of September 30th was the first of a series of Post-Secondary events that will be hosted for high school students. Tri- Leisure in Spruce Grove hosted the event from 6-8 PM to help guide students and parents towards planning for studies after high school. Our Student Services Department has posted all the scheduled Lunch and Learn sessions on the school calendar for our students to reconnect in a quiet setting with each institution. This series of events are a great opportunity for Gr. 11 and 12 students to ask questions of the representatives from each institution and what they have to offer.

The month of October will offer a nice transition into school routine starting with the Fall Awards Ceremony on October 9th in celebration of last year’s academic successes and student achievements. October 11th is a scheduled staff PD day leading into Thanksgiving Monday October 14th and an extra-long weekend for students. This long weekend is the perfect excuse to come out to cheer on our Panther Volleyball Players as they host our Panther Invitational Volleyball Tournament throughout the city of Spruce Grove. The Jr. teams will be hosting their home tournament on October 18-19th.

Tuesday, October 15th is our next scheduled School Council Meeting at 7:00 pm in the school Library. Parents are encouraged to attend School Council meetings to connect with our parent community and to stay informed about the direction of our school.

Mark Rose Assistant Principal Grade 10 Coordinator

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Admin Message…………..1

Prepping for Life….…..….2

Panther Pawprints...............3

Grad Update……………...3

Athletic Awards………….4

Volleyball………...………4

Teaching Awards………...5

Division Info……………..5

School Council…..……….7

Jan. Final Exam Schedule..8

DATES to REMEMBER

October 1- PLT Day

October 7-Last Day of our

Goodwill Drive

October 9-Fall Awards

Ceremony

October 11-PD Day—No

School

October 11 & 12 - Pan-

ther Invitational Volleyball

Tournament

October 14 - Thanksgiving

October 15 - School Coun-

cil Meeting @ 7pm in the

Library

October 16 - U of A

presentation @ 2:25pm

October 17 - UBC Lunch

& Learn @ 11am

October 18 & 19 - Jr. Vol-

leyball Tournament

October 23 - Picture Re-

takes

October 29 - TCT

October 31 - Halloween

Student Union Activities

SGCHS

Volume 2 Issue 2

SPRUCE GROVE COMPOSITE HIGH SCHOOL

OCTOBER, 2019

Prepping for Life After High School

Important Dates:

~October 16 - U of A presentation @ 2:25 pm

~October 17 - UBC Lunch & Learn @ 11:00 am

Grad 2020 Our first Grad Committee meeting was held on October 3, 2019. Thank you to those students who attended. Mark your calendars now. Graduation takes place on Friday, June 12, 2020 at the Edmonton Expo Centre. Tickets are sold online in May.

Ticket prices for the Commencement Ceremony, Dinner and Dance are $90.00 each. This cost includes: the venue, meal, commencement ceremony, all audio visual (ie: large screens located throughout the venue), online video of the entire event you receive following graduation, the meal, decorations and DJ.

Tickets for the Commencement Ceremony and Dance are $35.00 each. This cost includes all of the above except the meal.

You are charged a service fee at the time of purchase.

There is no limit on the number of tickets you can purchase (tables of 10). Just a reminder to parents that the Grad Fee of $52.50 is included in your student’s fees. This fee includes:

• rental of the graduation gown, • graduation cap, tassel, cover and certificate that each student keeps, • one picture of the graduate crossing the stage and receiving their certificate from their grade coordinator.

If you have any questions regarding graduation, please contact Mrs. Nullmeyer at cnullmeyer@psd70.ab.ca or call 780-962-0800.

Anthropology Students making their observations before and after enrichments are add-

ed to their assignment during their fieldtrip to the Edmonton Valley Zoo Primate Centre.

Being bored is more productive than you might think!! Check out this link for more

interesting information: https://www.edutopia.org/article/why-boredom-often-beats-screen-time

WHY BOREDOM OFTEN BEATS SCREEN TIME!!

Jr. Girls: Shaylynn Linford Mikayla Rutherford Lienne Mah Hailey Breitkreuz Jalyn Goobie Isabelle Ardron Megan Bjarnason Megan Kawulok Cassia Ostby Sarah Fisher Kaylyn Preece Abby Pawlik Giovonna Carson

Jr. Boys: Andrew Meier Bennett Klein Mateo Zamudio Cantu Austin Dunlop William Ferguson Robert Young Matt Friesen Kyle Sampert Wyatt Clarke Ethan Samson Till Engel Remi Hagg Reese Van Elgort

Sr. Girls: Keana Romanovich

Aimee Scheidl

Sarah Higgins

Jill Bieraugle

Cali Kesslar

Jaylin Joss

Becca Wilson

Prab Sapra

Taylor Wilcott

Jasmine Gilmore

Ashley Playter

Taylor Espetveidt

Sr. Boys:

Jeremy Bedson

Tyler Sampert

Callin Harris

Connor Deschene

Tyler Clarke

Wyatt Stupar-

Roberge

Jordan Hamilton

Jaron Peet

Caelum Ross

Blake Schendel

Juan Torres

These monthly

athletic awards

are sponsored

by our local

Boston Pizza

located at 201

Calahoo Road,

Spruce Grove!

Parents, guardians, and adult community members looking to brush up on their computer skills

are invited to take part in Achieving Community Together (ACT) Social Lab's FREE Digital Litera-

cy Outreach sessions. Learn the basics of computers, internet browsers, Microsoft Office pro-

grams, digital photography and more! Classes will be held throughout the fall at Blueberry

School, Parkland Village School, Woodhaven Middle School, and the Family Connection Centre in

Stony Plain.

For more information or to register, please visit:

https://mysppl.ca/act-digital-literacy/act-social-lab-digital-literacy-outreach.

The sessions run all the way into December, depending on the topic.

Nominate an

Outstanding Teacher

from SGCHS!

2019

2020

SGCHS School Council welcomes everyone to the 2019 – 2020 school year. Our first meeting of the year was on September 17th and it was so wonderful to see so many new faces and return-ing parents. We had PSD Trustee Anne Montgomery join us, as well as we met our new Vice Principal Linnaea Nielsen. We will be electing a new school council at our October 15th meeting so please feel free to contact myself at the school council e-mail ad-dress sgchsscchair@psd70.ab.ca for more information regarding any of the positions available. See you at our next meeting on Tuesday October 15th, at 7:00 pm in the Union Café (Library).

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE

With the changes to Transportation Services that have resulted in a reduction of 27 buses, the requirement for 24

hr advance notice of students riding alternate buses with friends is more important than ever.

Transportation Services would appreciate if all schools could post on their webpages, blogs and in their newslet-

ters for parents/guardians the process for registered students requesting to ride a different school bus:

1. Contact Transportation Services, at transportation@psd70.ab.ca, a minimum of 24 hours in advance, if your

child wants to ride a different school bus (i.e. to go home with a friend) or wants to bring a friend home on the

bus.

2. Approval will be based on space and availability. Transportation Services will contact the requested bus and

determine if the needed space is available for the date requested.

3. Parents will be notified via email if the service is available.

NOTE: Students will not be permitted on the bus without prior permission.

We understand that emergency situations will arise and Transportation Services will assist whenever possible to

make the necessary arrangements for a student needing to ride a different bus, but this will be in coordination

with you, the respective school's administrators. Please notify Transportation Services' dispatch as soon as possi-

ble in these situations, so that we can notify the appropriate bus operators.

8