January 2017

SHSS Newsletter Principal’s Note

Welcome to Semester 2!

We have wrapped up our first semester and we are now moving into the second half of students' time-tables. This means that students will be starting new academic and elective courses and meeting some new teachers. It is a great time for students to make a fresh start and find renewed energy and interest in their school work. It is also an important time for students to make sure that their timetables are complete and reflect the courses they want and need for the year. Our counselors will be available to help students make changes if needed. There is a two week course change period so students will need to make an appointment with our counselors soon if there are any issues with their timetable.

We are continuing to deepen our understanding of the renewed curriculum and teachers are working on bringing the Core Competencies to the forefront of their teaching. This semester will provide new opportunities for teachers and students to explore the learning outcomes and skills that will best prepare them for their interactions with the world. If you have not had a look at the Core Competencies yet and want to find out more, have a look at this PDF from the SD20 website.

https://www.sd20.bc.ca/670.html?file=tl_files/Curriculum%20Implementation/Core%20Competencies/Core%20Competencies%20with%20Profiles.pdf

Looking forward to a great semester!

Dates for your Calendar:

Monday, January 30th—Collab Monday

Monday, February 6th—Report Cards

Monday, February 13th—Family Day– No classes

Monday, February 20th—Collab Monday

Visit our website to join our Calendar!

Midas Lab:

Our grade 9 students along with the grade 8 metal/woodwork shop explorers spent some time at the Midas FabLab in Trail. This amazing facility offers $400,000 of the best “FAB”rication equipment for public, academic & commercial use. The building is a newly renovated accessible space with state of the art, en-terprise-level equipment and training on that equipment in-cluding: 3D Printers, 3D scanners, CNC milling equipment, woodworking, an electronics lab, teaching and co-working space. Students toured the center and got to experiment with some of the offered products.

If you want to find out more about the MidasLab and its availa-bility for public use, check out their website at:

https://www.midaslab.ca/

English by Choice

Our grade 10 students had the opportunity to guide their learning by choosing which area of study they wanted to focus on for the last two weeks of classes. They self-selected their placement and got to work on projects related to Creative Writing, Debate, Journalism or Literacy. The experience allowed students to move more deeply into areas of the English curriculum that they were most interested in. The projects, assignments and conversations in each group showed us again the importance of student choice in learning. Well done teachers and students!

Physics in the Park!

34 of our grade 11 and 12 students got to see the laws of Physics in action in

Disneyland this month. The park guides worked with students to give them a

better understanding of how gravity, Newton's Laws, kinematics, waves

and electromagnets work together with imagination to create the Disney

experience. Students had a great time and enjoyed their learning in the magical

sunny setting. Thanks to Mr. McKay for making this experience happen!

Stacking up Social Studies...

Our grade 10 students worked through a new model for teaching and learning

Social Studies last semester. Rather than having one teacher address all of the

learning outcomes, students moved through four different modules presented by

teachers who developed their expertise in each field. We surveyed our learners to

find out what they thought of the "stacked" classes. Results showed that 72% of

our surveyed students enjoyed moving through various classes and experiencing

different teaching styles. The vast majority felt that the change did not limit their

understanding of the material or their relationship with their teacher. It was

interesting to see the work that was done in each focus area and to have students

engage with the curriculum in a variety of settings.

Basketball season at Stanley Humphries is in full swing. Senior Boys and

Junior boys both had games against Creston last Wednesday night. Both games

came to close victories for our teams. Meanwhile, Grade 8 teams travelled to

Grand Forks that same night. Grade 8 boys tied their game but couldn't hold

them down in overtime. Grade 8 girls came up with an easy victory, beating

Grand Forks by 20 points plus!!! Next week's action will see the Senior and

Junior boys away in Grand Forks, while the Senior Girls will host a strong

Grand Forks girls team on Tuesday at 4pm. Come out and support our school.

Grad Banquet

On Thursday, January 26th, the grad banquet was held at the Fireside Inn. This celebration is one of the traditions of grad year that our students most enjoy!

Everyone dressed up, dined, danced and had a great time. Thank you to the grad parents who volunteered, decorated, organized and helped out.

Find Your Fit is coming to SHSS!

Wondering what skills we will need for tomorrow’s in-demand

occupations?

SHSS will have the opportunity to participate in this interactive, hands-on experience when

the WorkBC’s Find Your Fit tour stops at our school on February 16th.

Students can ask questions and find out about careers in demand throughout the province,

learn about online resources to help them find work and even try some of the skills they

will need for different careers. We look forward to hosting this interactive event at SHSS!