2008/06/19 - English Montreal School Board

The monthly news bulletin of the EMSB
Vol.10. No. 11
EDITOR: MICHAEL J. COHEN
PRINTING SERVICES: L. SHAW, D. D’ORNELLAS
June 19, 2008
PROOFREADING/TRANSLATION: ALINE ZEROUNIAN
∆ Impact Night
∆ Math Winners
∆ Bike Tour
∆ Writing Competition
∆ Nesbitt Radio
∆ Breakdance with Brott
∆ Merton Circus
∆ Cookie Makers
∆ Diving Champs
∆ Special Student
Royal Vale Elementary School Physical Education teacher Norman
Katz was congratulated at the June 18 Council of Commissioners
meeting for being chosen as the winner of the Canadian Association for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) /
Wintergreen PHYS-ED Physical Education Teaching Excellence
(PETE) Award for the province of Quebec. Left to right: Chair Angela
Mancini, Commissioner Albert Perez, Mr. Katz, Regional Director
Paola Miniaci and Principal John Roumeliotis.
EMSB Adopts Budget
The EMSB has adopted its 2008-2009 budget.
For the 2008-09 year, operating revenues stand at $214.7
million, an increase of $4.4 million (or 2.1 percent) from the
previous year. The increase derives mainly from the
collective agreements and funding for adult and special
needs students.
Budgeted expenses equal $216.1 million – an increase of
$5.3 million (or 2.5 percent) from the previous year. This
results in a projected deficit of $1.4 million or 0.6 percent
of projected revenues. Spending initiatives have been
planned in 2008-09 in such areas as career exploration,
special needs students, science lab technicians, adult sector
clientele, and pedagogical consultants
Classes End June 23
ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENTS:
Several administrative appointments have
been made for the 2008-2009 academic year.
New principals are:
teaching at Roslyn); Steven Rebello, Lester
B. Pearson (from teaching at the same school);
and Marylène Perron, Michelangelo
(presently a special education consultant at the
EMSB). Retiring as principals are Terrence
Quinn (Lester B. Pearson) and Ivana
Colatriano (Willingdon). Retiring as a viceprincipal is Luciella Cianci-Teolis (St. Pius X
Adult and Vocational). Taking a leave of
absence next year as principal is André
Vamvakas (St. Monica).
Rosetta Ortona-Perri
Alice Buchanan, Dante (from St. Dorothy);
Rosetta Ortona-Perri, St. Dorothy (from
vice-principal at Pierre de Coubertin); Sonia
Marotta (from teaching at St. Dorothy to
vice-principal at Pierre de Coubertin);
Richard Mason, St. Monica (from
Marymount); Luigi Santamaria, Marymount
(from James Lyng), Serge Furlanetto, Lester
B. Pearson (promoted from vice-principal);
Connie Forese, Willingdon (from Pierre
Elliott Trudeau); Joan MacMillan, Carlyle
(from vice-principal of Michelangelo);
Jacques Monfette, Outreach/Alternative
School Network (from Mackay/Phillip E.
Layton); Patricia Ciccarelli, Mackay/Phillip
E. Layton (promoted from vice-principal);
Craig Olenik, James Lyng (promoted from
vice-principal); Itrat Ahmed, Parkdale (from
Carlyle); Michelle Stein, Pierre Elliott
Trudeau (from Holy Cross); Eleni Zervas,
Holy Cross (from vice-principal of
Gardenview). New vice-principals are: James
Fequet, Rosemount (from teaching at
Marymount); Roberto DiMarco, St. Pius
Adult and Vocational (from teaching at
Outreach/Venture); Joe Anne
Desir,
Mackay/Philip E. Layton (from teaching at
Coronation); Ranis Delis, Gardenview (from
The Region 3 Parents’ Committee held its final
meeting of the year recently, at which time they
congratulated outgoing parent commissioner and
committee member Viky Keller and Janice Lacroix
on her retirement.
STAFF CHANGES: Janice Lacroix is
retiring as the communications consultant
responsible for the Central Parents
Committee, liaison to governing boards and
coordinator of special events. She will be
replaced, effective July 1, by Brigit Sellato
who has served as the executive secretary for
the Communucations and Marketing Division
for the past five years….Yibing Shen has
been confirmed as the full-time EMSB
webmaster and graphic artist, effective July 1.
Ms. Shen came to Canada from China and
enrolled at the EMSB’s Shadd Business
Centre. She did an internship with the
Communications and Marketing Division
three years ago and was then hired part-time
to work on the relaunch of the EMSB website.
She served as the webmaster for the City of
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Côte Saint-Luc for two years, returning to the
EMSB last fall as a part-time webmaster. She
can be reached at 514-483-7200, ext.
7512…Assistant Director of Pedagogical
Services Irene Konecny, Director of
Information Technology Services Julia
Sarhan
and
Secondary
Mathematics
Consultant Tom Booth are also retiring.
Angela Mancini, Joey Saputo and mascot TakTik
hand out scholarships to Ryan Gugliotti and
Samantha Cappuccino.
IMPACT NIGHT: The EMSB had a very
strong and exciting presence at the June 4
Montreal Impact game at the new Saputo
Stadium. A record total of 4,800 tickets
were sold to EMSB students and staff for
the Impact game against
Miami FC,
surpassing the total of 3,500 seats sold in
each of the previous two EMSB Impact
nights.
The EMSB enjoys an excellent partnership
with the Impact. For three years now the
EMSB has teamed up with the professional
soccer team for the Impact Stay In School
Program, in which players visit the schools.
Technical Director Nick DeSantis and a
number of players graduated from EMSB
schools. Impact President Joey Saputo is
the honourary chair of the EMSB
Scholarship Golf Tournament June 27 at
Golf Saint-Raphaël.
Before the game, the EMSB’s presence was
recognized and two students who have shown
a love for soccer were presented with $500
Tony Licursi Bursaries. Mr. Licursi was the
team’s statistician and a devoted member of
the James Lyng High School Alumni
Association. He passed away two years ago.
This year’s recipients were
Samantha
Cappuccino of Dante Elementary School in
St. Léonard and Ryan Gugliotti of John F.
Kennedy High School in St. Michel.
Samantha is a 11 year old Grade 6 student.
Since she was little, she has had a passion for
the game of soccer and has played on various
teams since the age of seven. She currently
plays for the AA Lions of St. Léonard, where
she has been a stand-out on her volleyball,
basketball and running teams, and is the
captain of her intramural hockey club. Ryan
is a 16 year old Secondary IV student who is
also an honour roll student. He plays for
Ahuntsic AA soccer and for the school's
soccer team. Ryan is a very active intramural
sport player of both soccer and basketball. He
also was on the JFK track team. EMSB
Chairman Angela Mancini took part in the
opening ceremonies and was interviewed live
on the TEAM 990 by Noel Butler.
FOCUS SCHOOL HEARINGS: EMSB
Focus School hearings took place at Laurier
Macdonald High School in St. Léonard,
Hampstead School and Dunrae Gardens
Elementary School in TMR. Present-day and
future parents, representatives from the
community-at-large and local municipalities
and boroughs were among those who
participated. Five school commissioners are
serving on the Commission: Syd Wise
(chairman), Marvin Helfenbaum, Joseph
Lalla, Bernard Praw and Anne Williams.
They will now begin deliberating upon all of
the presentations in order to make
recommendations to the full Council of
Commissioners.
TENTH ANNIVERSARY: The EMSB 10th
anniversary committee, co-chaired by Marzia
Michielli and Connie Primiano, has
introduced a special logo for the occasion. It
was produced by Rosemount Technology
Centre student Ying Yi Li. See the EMSB
website for details. A special 10th anniversary
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edition of the EMSB Express will be
published in September.
CHANGE OF FACE: Approval has been
given for F.A.C.E. Elementary School to
change from a core English program in
Kindergarten and Cycle I to the partial
immersion (bilingual) program which will
take effect in September.
St. Gabe’s students at their India booth.
MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL: Grades 4
and 5 students from St-Gabriel Elementary
School, along with Spiritual Community
Animator Veronica D’Agata, organized a
wonderful multicultural festival displaying the
following countries: Australia, China, Egypt,
India, and Italy. The students were responsible
for presenting information such as customs,
traditions, clothing, religion, languages, and
so on. The goal of this project was to explore
and appreciate how various countries and
cultures differ from each other. In turn,
promoting an understanding of the cultures,
thereby absolving prejudice, thus practicing
the virtues of respect and tolerance of
diversity. Overall, the children had a genuine
interest in learning about these differences.
The entire school as well as invited parents
truly enjoyed this multicultural day!
MATH WINNERS: This year nine EMSB
elementary schools participated in the 38th
annual Elementary School Mathematics
Competition
organized by the Quebec
Association of Mathematics Teachers
(QAMT). Li Shi Wang and Ann Yin from
Gardenview each won a cash award of $25 for
their first prize win. EMSB schools dominated
the top five places, with Carlyle, Gardenview,
Parkdale and Sinclair Laird all receiving an
honourable mention from QAMT.
CULTURAL
EXCHANGE:
Nesbitt
Elementary School and École de la Fraternite
from the Pointe-de-l’ile School Board
embarked on a cultural exchange. The
students in the sixth grade of both schools
corresponded with each other for a period of
nearly two months prior to their meeting. The
Nesbitt students arrived at École De la
Fraternité on May 16 to meet their pen pals.
The Intercultural Project “Des amitiés de toute
une vie” aimed to promote acceptance and a
better understanding of diverse cultures. The
students from both schools worked
collaboratively on the following activities: a
computer quest designed to discover the
Seven Wonders of the World; a transition to
high- school workshop where students
discussed their anxieties and coping strategies;
pulp and paper activity where students made
paper using recyclable materials; and a soccer
game. The students from both schools enjoyed
their day together immensely and took away
lasting memories. One of Nesbitt’s students,
Riccardo Rigon, summed it up by saying:
“Everyone here is kind and respectful.”
Teacher Luisa Mercadante added: “All the
5
students came to an understanding that
kindness and respect are the key elements that
will open the door to a better understanding
and acceptance of the multitude of cultures in
our society.”
CANADA DAY CONTEST: Monica
Slaney, a student at Dante Elementary School
in St. Léonard, is the first place Québec
Regional winner of the Canada Day Poster
Contest. She was honoured in a ceremony
held in the school gymnasium. The
Communications Department of the federal
government sponsored the ceremony.
Honoured dignitaries included: Conservative
MP Luc Harvey from the Quebec City
Louis-Hébert riding and EMSB Regional
Director Marzia Michielli. They presented
awards to Monica and the other three runnersup from across the province. Franca Mambro,
the art teacher at Dante, inspired Monica to
successfully take on this challenge. During the
ceremony the Dante Choir and Music Club
provided entertainment. Following the
presentations, there was a small reception for
the winners, their families, the dignitaries and
the staff of Dante School. Monica's poster
now will compete against other provincial
winners for the national title. We wish to
congratulate Monica on her first place win in
the region of Quebec and wish her continued
success with her artistic talent.
BIKE TOUR: The EMSB welcomed Tyler
Duncan to the Quebec portion of his crossCanada bike tour on June 4 at Leonardo da
Vinci Elementary School in Rivière-desPrairies while on June 5 he stopped at St. John
Bosco Elementary School in Ville Émard.
Duncan, a University of Victoria student, is
taking his Get Active message 6,800
kilometers across the country. Inspired by his
experience with the Canadian Association for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation and
Dance (CAHPERD) Student Leadership Camp
last year, Duncan decided to bike across
Canada to promote physical education and
health. He spent many months this winter
preparing and training for this coast-to-coast
trip and left Victoria on March 31 with a
special sendoff from former Canadian
Olympian Silken Laumann. She kicked off his
tour with a $1,000 donation from her
foundation that promotes physical activity in
youth. Duncan plans to end his journey on
June 29 in St. John’s, Newfoundland, after 91
days.
One of the goals of the Get Smart Get Active
Bike Tour is to raise funds to support physical
education programs in Canada. Any funds
Duncan raises will go to the CAHPERD Trust
Fund in his name and will be targeted for
physical education specific initiatives.
Duncan receives funds from many of the
schools he visits on his way through their
cities. His initial goal was $100,000.
Duncan spoke to the staff and students of
Leonardo Da Vinci School about some of the
main areas affecting the health and well-being
of our youth. He also presented the school
with a Platinum Recognition Award from the
CAHPERD Recognition Award Program
(RAP). LdV qualified for this award by
providing 150 minutes of quality physical
education and health minutes per week. As
well as the award banner, LdV received a free
one-year membership to CAHPERD. St. John
Bosco
received their Gold Recognition
Award for providing a minimum of 100
minutes a week. As well as the award banner,
both schools
received a free one-year
membership to CAHPERD. The EMSB
wishes to congratulate physical education and
health teachers Guylaine Thivierge, Danny
Pietroniro and Daniel Gaudette from LdV
and at St. John Bosco, Shelly Sharpe.
EMSB has a number of schools who qualify
for this award program that acknowledges
schools for the number of physical education
class minutes students receive. For more
information
see:
http://www.cahperd.ca/eng/rap/about_rap.cfm.
You
can
also
log
on
to
www.getsmartgetactive.com to view Duncan’s
daily blog.
6
Cherry. “And the quilts are beautiful! The
students did a great job!”
A proud display of the quilts at St. John Bosco.
ST. JOHN BOSCO QUILTS: The
presentation of 10 quilts for children with
cancer at the Montreal Children’s Hospital
took place at St. John Bosco Elementary
School in Ville Émard June 9. Anne
Macaulay, the Chaplain in Pastoral Ministries
for the Oncology Department, was present to
accept the quilts.
“These quilts have not only spiritual,
community, cross-curricular, skill-building
and confidence-building dimensions, they also
represent our gift to the community on this,
the 10th year of the EMSB,” says Spiritual
Community Animator Catherine Cherry,
noting that material and supplies came from
donations from the families at St. John Bosco
as well as from an EMSB Multicultural grant.
Ms. Cherry says that the teachers were all
involved during the classes, knotting, sewing,
and ironing. “I could not have done this
without the guidance and behind the scenes
work of Roma Ali Bocas, a quilter, and
lunch-time supervisor, and after school
teacher,” Ms. Cherry insists”.
“My long-time friend Carrie Marchand,
who recently retired as head of the Computer
Science Department at Dawson College, has
added hours and hours of sewing and loving
presence with the children.”
Principal Chantal Martin was integrally
involved in the project. “This was a major
school and community project,” says Ms.
Oliver Jones chats with a student.
CORONATION’S MUSICAL VISITS:
Coronation Elementary School in Côte Des
Neiges ended the year on a high note thanks to
a memorable visit on June 13 from world
renowned jazz pianist and Montreal native,
Oliver Jones. A child prodigy who at age
three could play from memory songs he had
heard once on the radio, Jones made his piano
debut at age five at Union United Church in
Montreal. Although trained as a classical
pianist, Jones was inspired by his Saint-Henri
Neighbor, the late and legendary jazz
musician Oscar Peterson to learn jazz. It was
love at first sight. “I didn’t choose jazz music,
it chose me,” said Jones to cycle III students at
Coronation.
Jones’ afternoon at Coronation began with a
visit to the music room, where members of the
Steel Pan Band dazzled him with their talents.
He then took questions from a group of
excited senior students whom he later wowed
with a jaw dropping piano performance of his
own. The biggest surprise came when Jones
announced that he would be donating a brand
new piano to the school, which he hopes will
be formally presented at the start of the next
school year. The news was welcomed by a
wave of applause and nearly brought Principal
Teresa Germano-Saucier to tears.
Earlier that week Coronation played host to
cellist Denis Brott, yet another acclaimed
7
Canadian musician. Mr. Brott is a professor of
Cello and Chamber Music at the
Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and
founder and artistic director of the prizewinning Montreal Chamber Music Festival.
His career has taken him to four continents, as
soloist, chamber musician and as a member of
Canada’s renowned Orford String Quartet.
For complete details see communications
intern Valeria Nekhim’s report in the press
release section of the EMSB website.
SUPER FANTASTICO: Plans are already
underway for the next Super Fantastico
(Italian Idol) competition. All of the details
can be found at www.cfmb.ca and click on the
Super Fantastico link. Participants must be 12
years of age by March 19, 2009. Email
[email protected] with their full name, birth
date and telephone numbers.
Ms. Wade is manager and information
specialist at the Centre for the Study of
Learning and Performance
at Concordia
University She currently spearheads the
collaborative Information Skills for the
Information Society in the Twenty-First
Century project to design and develop
interactive multimedia to support teachers of
information literacy skills. Ms. Wade is also
an Information Retrieval Specialist for the
Education Coordinating Group of the
Campbell Collaboration, an international
network of social scientists who produce
systematic reviews of research evidence on
the effectiveness of social interventions. Ms.
Wade is a sessional lecturer in the Department
of Education at Concordia for students in both
undergraduate and graduate courses. She has
co-authored numerous articles and writes a
column for Education Libraries.
For more information,
PsycINFO
Customer
[email protected].
Anne Wade
WADE IS A WINNER: The American
Psychological Association has announced that
EMSB parent commissioner Anne Wade has
been selected to receive its Excellence in
Librarianship Award, which was created to
recognize significant contributions or research
within psychology and social sciences
librarianship. She is also chair of the Elizabeth
Ballantyne Elementary School Governing
Board in Montreal West. The award, which
consists of $2,500 cash and a commemorative
plaque, will be presented at the EBSS
Research Forum at American Library
Association Annual Conference in Anaheim,
CA on Saturday, June 27..
please contact
Relations
at
WRITING
COMPETITION:
Peter
McEntyre was the mayor of the city of
Westmount from 1969 to 1971. He set up the
annual McEntyre Writing Competition to
encourage young people to think about the
idea of community, and to learn more about
their own communities. This year’s McEntyre
Writing Competition featured the theme
“Food for thought.” Westmount High students
rose to this challenge, winning more prizes
than any other secondary schools. The
competition was fierce as numerous entries
were from surrounding private schools in the
city of Westmount, but students
at
Westmount High won eight out of the 18
awards. A special triumph was accomplished
by the Secondary V students for winning all
the prizes in their category. Congratulations to
Erik Richard, Phoenix Parisella, Victoria
Quaglia, Leila Sayegh, Shayna Spivak and
Jacques Asselin, with honourable mentions to
Monica Doan and Giancarlo Jones. Winners
received prizes ranging from $10 to $75 and
inscribed books donated to the Westmount
8
Public Library in their honour. The Awards
Ceremony took place at Victoria Hall on June
2 with the mayor of Westmount, Karin Marks,
presenting the honours. Mayor Marks is a
Westmount High grad herself.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: After attending a
conference on the horrors of human
trafficking, a group of Westmount High
School students were determined to make a
difference and bringer greater awareness about
this to the general public. They proceeded to
form a group called A.C.T.A.W.A.R.E
(Abolish
Child
Trafficking
Against
Worldwide Abuse Restore Empowerment),
which in a short time mobilized the teen
student body to sign a petition to encourage
government to put labels on products which
could have been produced by the efforts of
child labour and exploitation. They have had
bake sales, created stickers and planned car
washes for this summer – all in an effort to
raise funds to help children locally and
internationally. “We are extremely proud of
our students, who under the leadership of
Dina Vourdousis, have raised awareness in
our school community and inspired the federal
government to draft new legislation,” said
Guidance Counsellor Karen Allen. The
school received a letter from Joy Smith,
Federal Member of Parliament for
the
Winnipeg riding of Kildonan-St. Paul. She
spoke at the human trafficking conference and
expressed her appreciation with the passion
shown by Westmount High students and the
suggestions they made for new federal
legislation. “It is so important that they
continue to raise much needed awareness of
this horrific injustice by writing to elected
representatives and signing petitions,” she
said.
ROSLYN
CENTENNIAL:
Roslyn
Elementary School in Westmount celebrated
its Centennial with a successful two days of
activities on the final weekend of May.
Alumni, former staff and friends took the
opportunity to re-discover the school, meet up
with old friends and re-connect with former
teachers.
Roslyn alumni circulate through the school.
BOOKBINDER’S APPRENTICE: Students
in kindergarten to Grade 3 have been hard at
work over the past few months writing books
at Hampstead Elementary School, which has a
Success for All language arts program
focusing on the development of early literacy.
This project gave students the opportunity to
showcase their competency in both reading
and writing. Each class worked on different
topics for their books. For example, the
kindergarten students researched, wrote and
illustrated books on dinosaurs. Another class
wrote about the adventures of their papier
mache pigs. The students wrote and illustrated
the books, designed the end pages and covers,
wrote a table of contents with their teachers,
childcare workers and classmates. During the
first two weeks of June, the bookbinder’s
apprentice, Kate Battle, came to the school
and worked with each class in turn to bind the
material into a hard back book for each
student to take home.
9
broadcast, the students spoke eloquently about
subjects such as wealth, poverty, social
injustice, budgets and credit. The students not
only had fun but took part in a great learning
experience and all at Nesbitt are very proud of
them. Many thanks go out to radio station
Centre Ville, the teachers involved and the
support received through Supporting Montreal
School (SMS).
Students work on their project.
This involved saplings and gluing the pages
together, gluing and pressing cardboard to the
covers, attaching the books to the covers and
finally gluing and pressing the end pages to
the books. The books were then weighted
down for a week to ten days to dry. Pictures of
the bookbinder’s visit and samples of the
finished books can be seen on line at the
kindergarten section of the Hampstead School
website at www.emsb.qc.ca/hampstead.
TOP CONTRIBUTOR: Enrico Uva, a
science teacher at LaurenHill Academy in St.
Laurent, will soon be featured as a Top 40
Contributor to Chem 13 News (a science
magazine). In the fall, Chem 13 News will be
celebrating its 40th anniversary. Mr. Uva
made the list based on the quality and interest
of his articles. The magazine will not be
ranking these "Top 40.” Rather, they will be
presented in no particular order between
September and April. "Enrico continues to go
above and beyond his teaching duties in order
to enrich the student experience at LHA,: says
EMSB Secondary Science and Technology
consultant Imma Ienaro.
YOUNG AUTHORS: FACE Elementary
School held a Young Authors Day June 17,
featuring students from Grades 1 to 3. For this
occasion the students write their own stories
and use illustrations to produce a story like
book to announce their work. The publications
are displayed for all to see and write
comments.
Nesbitt students are on the air.
NESBITT RADIO: On May the Grade 5
students in Julie Hervieux’s French class
were heard live on the air on radio station
Centre Ville (102.5 FM) discussing the topic
of money. The students prepared for this live
broadcast for five weeks, which involved
researching their topic, writing the script,
editing and rehearsing. During the two hour
BUILD A PLAYGROUND: Edinburgh
Elementary School (500 Hudson) in Montreal
West is the recipient of this year’s “Build a
Playground” grant offered by the non-profit
organization KaBOOM! and Home Depot. On
Thursday, June 19, Home Depot personnel
will be at Edinburgh to help build a new
playground to replace the existing one. They
will be coming with volunteers and all the
required materials. Edinburgh will provide the
rest (the tools, the food, and volunteers for
Build Day).
Volunteers will start registering at 7:30 am in
the morning, with work getting underway at
10
8 a.m.
While activities will carry on
throughout the day, an official ceremony is
being scheduled for 2 p.m.
are extremely motivated they always want to
come,” said Molo.
“There is a lot of planning that needs to be
done and, the bigger the team, the more
successful the Build Day will be,” says
Heather Ogden, co-president of the Home
and School Association. “We need everyone
to be involved – you, your neighbours, your
family, alumni, community members and
businesses.”
Adds Principal Leah Auclair: “Many local
merchants have been generous with funding,
food and supplies for this day.”
MERTON CIRCUS: Merton Elementary
School in Côte Saint-Luc transformed itself
recently into an elaborate circus, as family,
faculty and students flocked to the gymnasium
to watch two performances of
Molo’s
Magnificent Merton Circus. Molo is the
physical education teacher at Merton, a post
he has occupied for the past five years. The
former Olympic trampoliner and gymnastics
instructor was drawn to Merton because of its
gymnasium and intimate environment. Unlike
most gym teachers who focus on teaching
conventional sports, Molo decided to add
circus activities like juggling and acrobatics to
the regular curriculum. It was then that the
school’s principal,
Raizel Candib,
encouraged Molo to put together an end of the
year circus show for students who wished to
volunteer their time outside of class. The rest
is history. “The first show was magical and
from then on it became a tradition,” said
Molo.
Over 40 students from Grades 2 to 6 took part
in this year’s performance, which left the
audience awe struck. There were jugglers,
unicyclists, gymnasts and even a girl who
played the violin while standing on a moving
circus ball! The participants along with Molo
volunteered their recess periods and lunch
hours for the duration of the school year in
order to make the show a reality. “The kids
Students performed spectacular acts at the Merton
Circus.
For Molo, the amazing thing about the circus
is that everyone can participate because
there’s something for each person. “Each
student has a knack for something, I just direct
them in the right direction” said Molo. Staying
true to his words, the show was in fact made
up of students of different shapes, sizes,
ethnicities and levels of experience. Molo
hopes to teach his students that you don’t have
to look a certain way to be an athlete; all you
need is drive and determination.
Although he is rather modest, Principal
Candib believes that Molo’s impact on the
students reaches far beyond the classroom and
the stage. “The circus program gives them the
kind of strength and confidence that they need
to deal with the issues in their lives. It lets
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them know that they can reach for the stars,”
said Ms. Candib.
Although for the past couple of years Merton
has been synonymous with its circus program,
which has attracted many students and parents
to the school, Ms. Candib stresses the fact that
Merton excels in all other departments as well.
“We are blessed to have an incredible staff in
general at Merton, who are very dedicated to
the students,” she said.
GLOBAL CELEBRATION:
Global
Television will wrap up its successful My
Planet series on Friday, June 20 (6 p.m.) live
from Edgewater
Elementary School in
Pincourt (220 Cardinal-Leger). Principals,
teachers and student reporters from the three
participating EMSB schools will be there:
Willingdon, Leonardo Da Vinci and HonoréMercier. Each month this academic year a
different school filed a report related to the
envioronment. It was done to mark Global’s
10th anniversary in Quebec and as such 10
year old students (Grade 5) were chosen to
carry out the reports. Senior anchor Jamie
Orchard visited each school personally.
Cryer-Frank and Julia Waks Bennett, the
students had an interesting learning
experience, where the activities involved the
domains of fine arts, literature, script writing
and group dynamics.
The Toy Theatre lessons were based on the
class novel, The Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil
E. Frankweiler. Toy Theater began in England
in the latter half of the 18th century. It
quickly became the entertainment rage
collected by adults and children, but was
mostly used by children. Also known as
"Juvenile Drama," children would purchase
what was called "penny plain and two pence
coloured" sheets that had characters and sets
printed by a host of publishers, including the
most famous, Pollack's. The publishing
houses based the sets on both classical and
contemporary plays, sending artists to
professional productions to sketch the scenes
and turn them into toy theaters.
A cutout from the Toy Theatre project.
Students work on the Toy Theatre project.
ROYAL VALE TOY THEATRE: The
Grade 5 classes at Royal Vale Elementary
School in N.D.G. learned about Toy Theatre
within the Language Arts curriculum for
the year (2007-2008). The process started last
November and concluded during the first
week of May. According to teachers Wendy
The figures and scenery would be snipped off
the sheets and then mounted onto small
wooden blocks and horizontal wires for
manipulation. Sometimes the puppets were
operated with vertical wires through tracks cut
in the stage floor. The main characters came
in a number of different poses suitable for the
action of the show, and elaborate scenery and
wings were included. There was an abridged
script enclosed so the whole family could set
up and play the show in the living room. The
show would be performed in a miniature
version of a stage's proscenium, as Pollack's,
12
and others made copies of renowned theaters
and opera houses of the period. Once the
prosceniums were built and the props were
complete, the students were able to practice
their shows. The productions then followed,
where each group performed in front of the
two Grade 5 classes. They were proud of their
accomplishments, and learned much from this
experience.
LaurenHill students at Benedict Labre.
COOKIE MAKERS: Three enthusiastic
groups of Secondary III and IV students from
LaurenHill Academy are becoming expert
cookie makers! You name them – they make
them! Take your pick: oatmeal, fudge,
brownies, chocolate chip and plain sugar.
Yes the cookie monsters are created with the
help of home economics teacher Melissa
Bertrand and family members! Three groups
plan to visit Benedict Labre and offer their
creations to the guests at this facility, as well
as help sort clothes and serve the cooked
meals. Also, nine young, exuberant Secondary
III male students have visited and help
distribute food to over 500 needy people at
Welcome Hall Mission.
Robert Scalia, Anthony Mellilo, Joseph De
Stephano and Massimo Motillo accompanied
by Spiritual Community Animator Mike
Shaw went to Benedict Labre House on May
27 with their own cookies packaged and ready
to serve.One guest told our students, “I would
prefer just to eat your cookies –they’re great!”
Next year plans are already percolating to
extend our service on a rotating basis by
cooking and serving meals with three active
groups of students.
CERAMIC MOSAIC: Students from John
Paul I Junior High School in St. Léonard
completed their ceramic mosaic dedicated to
immigration to Canada during the first half of
the 20th century. Over 50 students were
involved in the eight month long project. The
14 by three foot colourful mosaic contains
over 1650 one by one inch ceramic pieces cut
by students. This mosaic was originally
sketched on paper by a graphic designer from
Italy who visited the school last May. Spiritual
Community Animator Rocco Speranza and
art teacher Saverio Biunno assisted students
with the project. The transferring of the
original sketch onto the wall, cutting, laying
and grouting of the mosaic was no easy task,
because the mosaic is six feet above the floor.
However, the students’ motivation, dedication
and enthusiasm allowed for the project to be
successfully completed.
As part of the project students earned the
history of their families and how they
immigrated to Canada, acquiring how these
cultural groups have established themselves in
the communities and have played valuable
roles in our schools and the school boards.
The ship in the mosaic is entitled S.S. Mondial
after the ceramic company (Ceramique &
Marbre Mondial) which helped sponsor the
project.
MUSIC FESTIVAL: Westmount Park
Elementary School hosted the final installment
of the
English Montreal School Board
(EMSB) Music Festival recently.
Lorraine Arsenault, a retired music
specialist, has diligently supported the arts in
schools throughout her career and for the past
12 years has expertly coordinated the Fine
Arts Festival of the former Protestant School
Board (PSBGM) and now the EMSB. The
festival, which highlights students from both
elementary and high schools, featured
13
inspiring performances from choirs, dance
troupes, instrumental ensembles, bands and
orchestras.
This year the festival began on April 18 with
eight elementary schools represented. These
included Cedarcrest, General Vanier, Honoré
Mercier, Michelangelo, Nesbitt, Our Lady of
Pompei, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and St.
Dorothy schools. The venue was St. Pius X
Adult Centre which hosted the event at which
Diane Duguay adjudicated. On April 25
Rosemount High School welcomed musical
groups from F.A.C.E., Royal West Academy,
and Rosemount High School as well.
Adjudicators at this event included Michel
Fortin, Richard Charron, and Jennifer Bell.
The final stage of the festival at Westmount
Park in June included the participation of the
host school, Dante, Gardenview, Merton,
Parkdale, Sinclair Laird, St. John Bosco and
St. Raphael.
Christina Delaney, principal of Westmount
Park opened the festival with some words of
welcome and thanked Ms. Arsenault for
organizing this year’s
event. Region 3
Director Paola Miniaci said that she is often
envious of young people with musical talents,
noting that after retirement she hopes to
discover some musical talents.
In addition to the singing and musical
instruments, students from Westmount Park,
Sinclair Laird, and Gardenview performed
various dances such as an African step dance
choreographed by Steve Blackette and Latin
dances choreographed by Paul Bertrand.
After the performances, Claire Rousseau was
introduced as the adjudicator. A distinguished
musician, president of the Quebec Chapter of
the Orff Association, music professor and
composer
offered
some
words
of
encouragement. Ms. Rousseau commended all
of the students who participated in the festival,
and emphasized how impressed she was with
the different talents. She also mentioned how
important music can be and encouraged all of
the students to pursue their music gifts.
The ceremony concluded with Ms. Rousseau
presenting each participating school and their
choir directors and choreographers with
plaques and certificates.
CREATIVE KIDS: The works of seven
budding young artists from Elizabeth
Ballantyne Elementary School in Montreal
West were selected to be exhibited in the
Artist's Showcase exhibition entitled "Creative
Kids. A vernisage was held June 6 at the
Montreal West Town Hall. Congratulations to
Brandon Haimon-Leclair, Lizzy Smythe,
Chae Yeong Lee, Megan Wade-Darragh,
Evan Goulet, Ashley Artuso-Dimitriou and
John Jesse and Tanis Korzekwa, whose
works, along with other Montreal West artists
from Royal West and Edinburgh, will
continue to be exhibited at the Town Hall over
the summer.
ANTI-HOMOPHOBIA SESSION:
Last
year, support staff, administrators and some
teachers of the EMSB were given workshops
on the issue of “Homophobia” and how it
could be dealt with in a school setting.
Issues of name calling and signs of
“homophobia” were noticed in one school and
the spiritual community animator was
contacted by a member of the teaching staff to
raise the issue with some Secondary II
students at LaurenHill Junior Academy. After
speaking to the administration and the
guidance counsellor, it was decided to hold a
one class period session and present the theme
of “choices.” Two professors from McGill,
one being Bill Ryan, presented the workshop
last year at the EMSB. The excellent manual
issued by Santé Publique was used by the
presenters and activities from this manual
were animated with a mixed class of 30
students by the spiritual community animator.
Exercises to determine the difference between
a “choice” and “no choice” were presented to
the students. It was clear after several
exercises that a person did not choose to be
“gay” for just as being a heterosexual is not a
14
choice, neither is it for a gay person - the
decision is determined at birth.
“The sensitivity of the students to the position
of a gay person in our society was generally
one of compassionate acceptance, but anger
was expressed by them at attitudes which
perpetrated violence towards this section of
our society,” explained Father Shaw. “The
reaction of all involved suggests that it is an
issue that could be raised with more of our
students next year.
DIVING CHAMPS: Lester B. Pearson High
School students Nicholas Beaupré, Sabrina
Beaupré, Pamela Ware, and Carol Ann
Ware excelled at the Quebec Regional Diving
Championships in Pointe Claire in May.
Nicholas had two fifth place finishes while his
sister, Sabrina won three gold medals, one
silver and received the Senior Female Athlete
of the Competition award. Carol Ann won
two gold medals and one bronze and her
sister, Pamela, won two golds, two silvers and
received the Junior Female Athlete of the
Competition award.
Meanwhile, the Montreal Shakespeare Theatre
Company came to Lester B. Pearson High
School and performed Romeo & Juliet for
Secondary II students and The Merchant of
Venice to Secondary III students. All the
students were captivated by the performances
and offered positive feedback to the actors.
The students certainly left the performances
with a greater understanding and appreciation
for the work of William Shakespeare as well
as the actors in the theatre company. Students
are looking forward to more great
performances next year.
EUREKA FESTIVAL: The EMSB was well
represented by St. Monica Elementary School
in N.D.G.at the annual Eureka Festival, held at
the Montreal Science Centre in the Old Port.
Students presented with a mystery to be
solved using forensic clues. . The Eureka
Festival is a free weekend of science in the
outdoors. This year it was held June 1-15.
English and French schools from all over the
island of Montreal participated. Many
different organizations have a stand at this
festival and the object is to promote science.
The
planetarium/insectarium/botanical
gardens had a kiosk with information
regarding what they offer. St. Monica
presented an aspect of science (forensics) in a
very interesting and interactive way. “The
context and the way people were asked to
participate were very motivating since
participants were asked to solve a mystery by
analyzing clues found at a fictitious crime
scene,” explains primary Science Consultant
Lina Zielinski.
ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS: The 20082009 Entertainment Book will be available
beginning
in late
August at the
Administration Building. The cost is $30.
All proceeds will go to the EMSB Alric
Peters Humanitarian Fund, which is available
to Administration Building employees and
their immediate families at a time of need. The
Fund was established when Alric Peters,
whose father Calvin managed the printing
service, had leukemia and needed a bone
marrow transplant. Funds were required for
various medical expenses and sadly,
assistance with his burial. For more
information
on
the
books
contact
Carol Anne Maker at 514-483-7200 ext.
7479 or [email protected].
TIP CORNER
Editor’s
Note:
The
Communications
Department of the EMSB is contacted
regularly by organizers of different
conferences, facilitators of interesting
workshops and developers of innovative
fundraising opportunities. We screen these
requests and make the information available to
schools and centres. From this point on, we
will group these in our Tip Corner and give inschool administrators, teachers, other staff,
parent groups and even students of making
contact directly.
15
SUMMER VIDEO BOOT CAMP: From
July 28 to August 8, Concordia University
Television (CUTV), Canada’s oldest studentrun television station, will ask youths aged 15
to 20 to step up to the challenge of their
Summer Video Bootcamp. Over the course of
the program, students will be given access to
professional equipment and skilled media
mentors, allowing them to build directing,
filming and recording skills, and work as part
of team to produce a four scene final product.
Possible projects include documentaries, short
movies, or even music videos, suitable for
portfolio preparation or just to have fun with!
The camp, which seeks to attract enthusiastic,
eager teens from diverse backgrounds, offers
reduced rates and scholarships for youths from
fixed-income families. Although instruction
will mainly be given in English, many of the
mentors are bilingual. The full fee for the
camp is $200 for two weeks, 9am-5pm. Space
is limited to ensure an intimate learning
experience, so to take advantage of this unique
opportunity, interested youths need to apply
by June 27. For an application information
and rates, please contact Concordia University
Television at (514) 848-2424 ext. 7403 or
[email protected] or
[email protected].
STEPPING UP: The Stepping Up program,
which helps demystify the high school
entrance exam process, and answer some
common questions about high school
applications and programs, has launched a
new website at www.steppingup.net. The high
school application process has changed
considerably over the years. Private schools
have adopted the use of the Secondary School
Admission Test (SSAT) exam and a growing
number of public high schools have also
introduced their own exams. Interviews are
also a common part of the admission process.
“Having had children of our own go through
this process, we understand that it can be a
very stressful experience for your children, as
well as for yourselves as parents,” state Gary
and Ingrid Poupart, who run the program.
“Our goal is to help your child to better
understand the high school admissions
process, whether in the private or public
sector. We have discovered that most children
are unaware of what is expected of them
during this process, and this is a huge cause of
stress. We believe that we can help reduce this
stress by instilling the understanding and
confidence needed so that they will be able to
better perform when it comes to writing
admission exams and being interviewed. We
offer a wide range of options to help your
child build the skills needed to perform their
best on these demanding exams and
interviews.”
On the website, visitors can learn more about
Stepping Up and the many products that are
offered. The website will allow you to register
and pay for their popular fall workshops.
They have also introduced their first in a
series of practice exams booklets for parents
to practice with their children at home.
TUTORIAL SERVICES: Alumno is an
education center, which provides tutorial
services to all elementary and all high school
students in all subjects. Our purpose is to work
with students who want to maintain their
grades to remain a level ahead of their studies,
in addition to those who have fallen behind in
their classes.We start by evaluating each
student, to appraise their present acumen to
the fullest extent. We then prepare a
customized tutorial plan for each student that
concentrates on enhancing those aspects of
academia upon which it is considered that the
greatest attention is required. We have
designed and developed effective tutorial
programs
with
one-on-one
individual
attention, to assist and guide each student to
achieve success during the course of their
education. We continuously achieve an
advantage over industry competitors by
expanding our professional staff and investing
in
up-to-date
materials
and
allied
resources.Our
highly
qualified
tutors
understand the importance of an exceptional
16
education and how vital it is in influencing a
student’s future.We invite all students to visit
our website at www.alumnoservices.com to
participate in our annual "100 FREE
TUTORIAL SESSIONS GIVEAWAY" or for
more information at 514.364.0444 or email
[email protected] and ask for Nadine.
SCRATCHCARD BENEFITS: Looking for
a fundraiser?
An organization called
efundraising.com is proposing a scratchcard
option.
- Cards can be personalized for any group.
- You receive 10% free bonus cards.
- Discount with upfront payment (25% off
orders of 50-99 cards, 50% off orders of
100
cards
or
more)
30
day
credit
option
available
- Low donation amounts for your supporters
ranging
from
FREE
to
$2.50.
- Over 30 Scratchcard varieties to choose from
- As a thank you, each of your supporters
receives a coupon sheet of brand names
including Pizza Hut, KFC, Famous Players
and Cinéplex Odeon movie theatres, ice
cream and more.
For more details, contact Martin Gendron at
1-888-875-1245
ext.2365
[email protected]
ADULT AND VOCATIONAL SERVICES
TAKING C.A.R.E: Panagiota Boussis is an
adult student who attends Marymount Adult
Centre’s Centre d’Activités Récréatives et
Educatives (C.A.R.E.) continuing education
program, which focuses on enhancing the
lives of adults with severe physical
disabilities. Panagiota, who is in her 40s,
speaks with a non-verbal communication
system, and has recently started to use a
personal computer and head mouse, so that
she can communicate with a wider circle of
people.
These personal challenges haven’t stopped
Panagiota, and recently, she successfully faced
another challenge in her quest to continue her
education. She completed a Psychology
course at Dawson College, attending twice a
week with an attendant from Dawson’s Centre
for Students with Disabilities.
Panagiota admits that at first, she was a little
nervous about going to school at Dawson, and
in fact, her parents were quite surprised about
her decision, too. “They were surprised to hear
that I wanted to go back to school, but now
they’re very happy for me and very
supportive,” she said. “Returning to school
was something that I wanted to do. After
experiencing it, I want to go to more classes,
because it’s a different thing for me, and I felt
I needed a change in my life.”
She also admits that she enjoyed learning
psychology at Dawson, and already had some
familiarity with the subject as a result of what
she learned in classes she took at C.A.R.E.
Dawson allowed her extra time to do her
assignments, which she accomplished with the
help of Noelle, an aide who works with
wheelchair-bound students at Dawson and
whom Panagiota knew when she worked at
C.A.R.E.
Panagiota strongly encourages any of her
C.A.R.E. classmates who want to pursue
studies in psychology to take the class at
Dawson. “It gives you the chance to learn
different things,” she said.
DATES OF NOTE
June 19, 2008
Build a Playground Program
Edinburgh Elementary School
500 Hudson
Montreal West
June 27, 2008
EMSB Golf Scholarship Tournament
Saint Raphaël Golf Club in Île Bizard
Foursomes still available.
Info: 514-483-7200, ext. 7434
PLEINS FEUX SUR FIELDING
17
CHANGEMENTS DE PERSONNEL :
Janice
Lacroix,
conseillère
en
communications, responsable de la liaison
entre le Comité Central de parents et les
conseils d’établissement et coordonnatrice des
évènements spéciaux, prend sa retraite. Elle
sera remplacée, à compter du 1er juillet, par
Brigit Sellato qui a occupé le poste de
secrétaire de direction de la Division des
communications et du marketing pendant les
cinq dernières années…. Yibing Shen a été
confirmée au poste de webmestre à temps
plein de la CSEM à compter du 1er juillet.
Mlle Shen, originaire de la Chine, s’est
inscrite au Centre d’études commerciales
Shadd lors de son arrivée au Canada. Elle a
fait un stage à la Division des communications
et du marketing, il y a de cela trois ans, et a
ensuite été engagée à temps partiel pour
relancer le site web de la CSEM. Elle a
occupé le poste de webmestre pour la Ville de
Côte-Saint-Luc pendant deux ans et elle est
retournée à temps partiel à la CSEM à
l’automne dernier. Elle peut être rejointe au
(514) 483-7200, poste 7512… La directrice
adjointe des Services pédagogiques, Irene
Konecny, la directrice des Services de la
technologie de l’information, Julia Sarhan, et
le conseiller de mathématiques du secondaire,
Tom Booth, prennent aussi leur retraite.
AUDIENCES DES ÉCOLES À THÈME :
Les audiences des écoles à thème de la CSEM
ont eu lieu à l’école secondaire Laurier
Macdonald, à l’école Hampstead et à l’école
primaire Dunrae Gardens. Des parents
d’enfants inscrits et de futurs parents, ainsi
que des représentants de la communauté et des
municipalités et arrondissements locaux, ont
participé à ces audiences. Les cinq
commissaires suivants ont siégé à la
commission sur les écoles à thème : Syd Wise
(président), Marvin Helfenbaum, Joseph
Lalla, Bernard Praw et Anne Williams. Ils
délibéreront au sujet de toutes les
présentations
et
formuleront
leurs
recommandations
au
conseil
des
commissaires.
LAURÉATS DE MATHÉMATIQUES :
Cette année, neuf écoles primaires de la
CSEM ont participé au 38e Concours de
mathématiques du primaire, organisé par
l’Association québécoise des enseignants de
mathématiques. Li Shi Wang et Ann Yin de
l’école Gardenview ont remporté un prix de
25 $ chacune pour leur classement en
troisième place. Les écoles de la CSEM ont
dominé aux cinq premières places et Carlyle,
Gardenview, Parkdale et Sinclair ont reçu des
mentions honorables.
ÉCHANGE CULTUREL : L’école primaire
Nesbitt et l’école de la Fraternité de la
Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l’île ont
pris part à un échange culturel. Les élèves de
sixième année des deux écoles ont
correspondu pendant près de deux mois avant
leur réunion. Les élèves de Nesbitt se sont
présentés le 16 mai 2008 à l’école de la
Fraternité
pour
rencontrer
leurs
correspondants. Le projet interculturel intitulé
« Des amitiés de toute une vie » vise à
promouvoir l’acceptation et une meilleure
compréhension de diverses cultures. Les
élèves des deux écoles ont collaboré aux
activités suivantes : une recherche sur
ordinateur visant à découvrir les Sept
Merveilles du Monde; un atelier de transition
au secondaire au cours duquel les élèves ont
discuté de leurs anxiétés et de stratégies pour
les surmonter; une activité de pâte et papier où
les élèves ont fabriqué du papier à partir de
matériel recyclable; et une partie de soccer.
Les élèves des deux écoles ont fortement
apprécié la journée passée ensemble qui leur a
laissé des souvenirs durables. L’un des élèves
de Nesbitt, Riccardo Rigon, a résumé cette
activité comme suit : Tout le monde ici est
aimable et respectueux. » L’enseignante Luisa
Mercadante a ajouté : « Tous les élèves ont
réalisé que la gentillesse et le respect sont les
éléments clés qui ouvrent la porte à une
meilleure compréhension et acceptation de la
multitude de cultures de notre société. »
TOUR CYCLISTE : La CSEM a accueilli
Tyler Duncan pour la portion québécoise de
son périple cycliste à travers le Canada le 4
18
juin à l’école primaire Leonardo da Vinci et le
5 juin à l’école primaire St. John Bosco.
Duncan, étudiant à l’Université de Victoria,
transmet son message Get Active tout au long
de son parcours de 6 800 kilomètres. Inspiré
par son expérience l’an dernier au camp d’été
de leadership de l’Association canadienne
pour la santé, l’éducation physique, le loisir et
la danse (ACSEPLD), Duncan a décidé de
traverser le Canada en bicyclette pour
promouvoir l’éducation physique et la santé. Il
a consacré plusieurs mois en hiver à
l’entraînement et à la préparation de son
voyage et il a quitté Victoria le 31 mars avec
l’appui de l’ancienne championne olympique
canadienne Silken Laumann, qui lui a remis
un don de 1 000 $ provenant de sa fondation
qui encourage l’activité physique chez les
jeunes. Duncan compte terminer son voyage
de 91 jours le 29 juin à St. Jean, Terre-Neuve.
L’un des objectifs du Get Smart Get Active
Bike Tour est de lever des fonds pour appuyer
les programmes d’éducation physique au
Canada. Tous les fonds recueillis par Duncan
seront versés au fonds en fiducie de
l’ACSEPLD créé en son nom et seront
réservés à des projets spécifiques d’éduction
physique. Duncan reçoit des fonds d’un grand
nombre d’écoles qu’il visite dans diverses
villes et son objectif initial est de 100 000 $.
Duncan a parlé au personnel et aux élèves de
l’école Leonardo Da Vinci des divers
domaines qui affectent la santé et le mieuxêtre des jeunes. Il a aussi présenté à l’école un
prix platine de reconnaissance du programme
de Prix de reconnaissance à l’école (PRE) de
l’ACSEPLD. Leonardo Da Vinci s’est
qualifiée pour ce prix en offrant 150 minutes
par semaine d’éducation physique et de santé
de qualité. L’école a reçu une adhésion
gratuite d’un an à l’ACSEPLD. St. John
Bosco a reçu le prix or de reconnaissance pour
avoir offert un minimum de 100 minutes par
semaine. La CSEM tient à féliciter les
enseignants d’éducation physique Guylaine
Thivierge, Danny Pietroniro et Daniel
Gaudette de Leonardo Da Vinci et Shelly
Sharpe de St. John Bosco.
Plusieurs écoles de la CSEM se qualifient
pour ce programme qui reconnaît les écoles
pour le nombre de minutes d’éducation
physique dispensés aux élèves. Pour plus de
renseignements, consulter :
http://www.cahperd.ca/eng/rapabout_rap.cgm.
Vous pourrez aussi visiter www.getsmartgetactive.com pour consulter le
blogue journalier de Duncan.
CONCOURS DE RÉDACTION : Peter
McEntyre a été maire de Westmount de 1969
à 1971. Il a mis sur pied le concours annuel
McEntyre de rédaction dans le but
d’encourager les jeunes à réfléchir à l’idée de
la communauté et à en savoir plus au sujet de
leurs communautés .Le concours McEntyre de
cette année a pour thème « Food for
thought. » Les élèves de l’école secondaire
Westmount ont relevé le défi et ont remporté
plus de prix que n’importe quelle autre école
secondaire. Le concours a été chaudement
disputé car de nombreuses soumissions
provenaient d’écoles privées de Westmount
mais les élèves de l’école secondaire
Westmount ont remporté huit prix sur 18. Les
élèves du secondaire V ont accompli un
exploit en remportant tous les prix de leurs
catégories. Félicitations à Erik Richard,
Phoenix Parisella, Victoria Quaglia, Leila
Sayegh, Shayna Spivak et Jacques Asselin
et aux mentions honorables de Monica Doan
et Giancarlo Jones. Les gagnants ont reçu des
prix allant de 10 $ à 75 $ et des livres
dédicacés qui avaient été donnés à la
bibliothèque publique de Westmount en leur
honneur. La cérémonie des remises de prix,
présidée par Karin Marks, maire de
Westmount et diplômée de l’école secondaire
Westmount, a eu lieu 2 juin au Hall Victoria.
CORONATION : Le violoncelliste Denis
Brott, l’un des musiciens les plus renommés
du Canada, a présenté son nouveau
programme intitulé Breakdance with Brott à
l’école primaire Coronation de Côte-desNeiges. Le pianiste et compositeur légendaire
Oliver Jones a aussi visité l’école pour
s’entretenir avec les élèves du Cycle III.
19
M. Brott est professeur de violoncelle et de
musique de chambre au Conservatoire de
musique de Montréal et il est le fondateur et
directeur artistique du Festival de musique de
chambre de Montréal. Sa carrière l’a mené sur
quatre continents en tant que violoncelliste,
membre d’ensemble de musique de chambre
et membre du renommé quatuor à cordes
d’Orford. Jonathan Émile, JoDee Allen et
Helen Simard collaborent avec lui à ce projet.
M. Émile est le fondateur de la maison de
disques Mindpeacelove où se joignent l’esprit
(l’intellect), la paix (l’équilibre), et l’amour
(émotion). Mme Allen est une danseuse
accomplie, membre du groupe de breakdance
DysFunkShn. Elle apporte une perspective
contemporaine à ce projet et engage les élèves
à appliquer les mouvements de cette danse à la
musique classique, jouée par Denis au
violoncelle. Mme Simard est membre du Solid
State Breakdance.
L’objectif de Breakdance with Brott est de
donner aux élèves une connaissance plus
approfondie de la musique classique et de la
relation entre la musique classique et
contemporaine. Ce projet renouvelle une
appréciation des classiques tout en répondant
aux besoins des élèves de la société moderne.
Oliver Jones a grandi à Montréal à quelques
portes de feu l’ancien grand musicien de jazz
Oscar Peterson. Un enfant prodige qui, à l’âge
de trois ans, pouvait jouer par mémoire des
chansons qu’il avait entendu une fois à la
radio, Jones a fait ses débuts de pianiste à
l’âge de cinq ans à l’Union United Church de
Montréal. Il a ensuite étudié le piano classique
et a connu une formidable carrière à travers le
monde.
ANTI-HOMOPHOBIE : L’an dernier, le
personnel de soutien, les cadres et quelques
enseignant(e)s de la CSEM ont assisté à des
ateliers portant sur le problème de
l’homophobie et comment elle peut être traitée
dans un environnement scolaire.
Les problèmes d’injures et des signes
d’homophobie ont été relevés dans une école
et l’animateur de vie spirituelle a été contacté
par un membre du personnel enseignant pour
soulever cette question avec quelques élèves
du secondaire II de l’Académie du premier
cycle LaurenHill. Après avoir communiqué
avec l’administration et le conseiller
d’orientation, il a été décidé d’avoir une
session de classe qui présenterait le thème de
« choix ». Deux professeurs de McGilll, l’un
d’eux étant Bill Ryan, ont présenté l’atelier
l’an dernier à la CSEM. L’excellent manuel
publié par Santé Publique a été utilisé par les
présentateurs et les activités de ce manuel ont
été animées avec une classe mixte de 30
élèves par l’animateur de vie spirituelle. Des
exercices visant à déterminer la différence
entre le « choix » et « pas de choix » ont été
présentés aux élèves. Il a été clairement établi
après plusieurs exercices qu’une personne ne
choisissait pas d’être homosexuelle tout
comme elle ne choisissait pas d’être
hétérosexuelle – ce fait est déterminé à la
naissance.
« La sensibilité des élèves à la position d’une
personne homosexuelle au sein de notre
société a été généralement une acceptation
compassionnée, mais ils ont manifesté de la
colère envers des attitudes violentes envers
cette section de notre société » a expliqué le
père Shaw. » La réaction de tous les
participants suggère que c’est une question qui
devrait être soulevée avec un plus grand
nombre d’élèves l’an prochain. »
SERVICE DE L’ÉDUCATION DES
ADULTES ET DE LA FORMATION
PROFESSIONNELLE
Panagiota Boussis est une élève adulte qui
fréquente le Centre d’Activités Récréatives et
Éducatives (C.A.R.E) du Centre d’adultes de
l’Académie Marymount, dont le programme
est axé sur l’amélioration des vies des adultes
avec handicaps physiques graves. Panagiota,
âgée d’une quarantaine d’années, parle à
l’aide d’un système de communication non
20
verbal et elle a récemment commencé à
utiliser un ordinateur personnel et une souris,
afin qu’elle puisse communiquer avec un
cercle plus élargi de personnes.
Les défis personnels n’ont pas entravé
Panagiota et, récemment, elle a fait face avec
succès à un nouveau défi dans le cadre de la
poursuite de son éducation. Elle a complété un
cours de psychologie au Collège Dawson, en y
assistant deux fois par semaine avec l’aide
d’un préposé du Centre pour les élèves
handicapés de Dawson.
Panagiota admet que, au début, elle
appréhendait de s’inscrire à Dawson et qu’en
fait ses parents ont aussi été très surpris par sa
décision. « Ils ont été surpris d’apprendre que
je voulais retourner à l’école, mais maintenant
ils en sont très heureux et ils m’appuient
entièrement. Retourner à l’école est quelque
chose que je voulais faire. Après en avoir fait
l’expérience, je veux m’inscrire à plus de
classes parce que je fais quelque chose de
différent et je pense que j’ai besoin d’un
changement dans ma vie. »
Elle admet aussi qu’elle a beaucoup apprécié
apprendre la psychologie à Dawson et qu’elle
avait déjà une certaine connaissance du sujet,
suite aux cours suivis à C.A.R.E. Dawson lui a
accordé du temps supplémentaire pour ses
travaux qu’elle a pu terminer avec l’aide de
Nellie, une personne qui œuvre avec les élèves
en chaise roulante de Dawson et que
Panagiota avait connu lorsqu’elle travaillait à
C.A.R.E.
Panagiota encourage fortement ses camarades
de C.A.R.E. qui veulent poursuivre leurs
études en psychologie de s’inscrire à la classe
de Dawson car ils auront ainsi l’occasion
d’apprendre des choses différentes.
DATES À RETENIR
19 juin 2008
Programme « Aménager une aire de jeux »
École primaire Edinburgh
500 Hudson
Montréal-Ouest
27 juin 2008
Tournoi de golf des bourses d’études de la
CSEM
Club de golf Saint-Raphaël de l’île Bizard
Quatuors encore disponibles
Informations : (514) 483-7200, poste 7434
JOURNÉE
INTERNATIONALE
DU
DENIM : Le 13 mai est la journée
internationale du denim pour encourager la
recherche sur le cancer du sein. Dans le cadre
de cette journée bien spéciale, nous avons fait
un ruban rose humain. Le ruban rose est un
symbole international qui représente la
fondation du cancer du sein. Il est aussi un
symbole d’espoir et de courage pour
beaucoup de personnes. Les élèves ont donc
pris part dans cette activité de coopération qui
les a fait découvrir un peu mieux ce symbole
et ce qu’il signifie. Ils ont aussi découvert
qu’il est important de coopérer avec leurs
pairs. Ensemble nous pouvons faire une
différence. Nous avons ramassé 1 193 $ que
nous donnerons à la marche pour vaincre le
cancer du sein. Nous encourageons deux
personnes qui nous représenteront à cet
évènement ; Madame Evangelista et Madame
Lalli. Nous aimerions remercier tous ceux qui
ont participé à cette activité.
Submissions should be made to Michael J.
Cohen
preferably
by
e-mail
([email protected]) or fax (514-483-7213).
Deadline for next edition is August 25.