march 2016 march newsletter issue 5 - viu · upcoming dates march 12-28 spring reak march 29 lasses...
TRANSCRIPT
March Newsletter
Inside this issue
Nanaimo Dry Grad ...................... 2
This Month in Physics 11 ............. 2
Future VIU Student Night…………..2
Graduation 2016 ......................... 3
Upcoming Dates.......................... 3
Tofino Fishing Trip ...................... 4
International Student Trips ......... 4
Tech Trek at UBC ......................... 4
Provincial Exam Results……………..5
THS is 20 Years Old!......................5
Grad Photos……………………………...6
Message from the Principal—
Catherine Brazier
On Being a Responsive School
“No one seeks to create a new setting that is a replication of
the old.” These words were written by a well known educa-
tionalist, Seymour Sarason in his book The Skeptical Visionary.
Sarason is providing a cautionary comment to schools who
choose to begin the daunting task of school reform. His
writing reflects a common pitfall for reform educators when
they, with enthusiasm, purpose and justifiable reason, begin
to change (or newly create) an education system in order to
better meet the needs of the student population with which
they work. The pitfall has to do with wanting to create some-
thing new but, often unconsciously, defaulting to developing something that continues to
remain within the realm of the safe and familiar.
At The High School at VIU the staff are exploring a possible change to how we do school
that is in response to the common needs we are seeing within our student population. I
started with the paragraph above because we are aware that the current model of high
school “the safe and familiar” is not working well for the vast majority of our stu-
dents...even if they don’t realize it themselves. Sarason’s caution is also important for us
to keep in mind so that we remain focused on the recognized needs of our students ra-
ther than what we, as educators, find comfortable and familiar. We are excited, curious
and a little nervous. The excitement and curiosity are absolutely required for any change
effort. The nervousness will ensure the accountability and checks and balances needed
as well.
As the BC Ministry of Education continues to roll out the new K-12 curriculum we plan to
work to be at the front of the change curve with our plans to explore a Self-Directed
Learning Model for THS. This type of model fits well with the new curriculum’s direction
that focusses on inquiry based and personalized learning.
For any of you that may have heard the term ‘self-directed learning’ it might conjure up
visions of students being set loose to figure things out for themselves. This is absolutely
not what we are envisioning. In fact, we are looking at a model of schooling that will
provide students with more guidance and support in a way that is individualized for
them. This will be accomplished through a variety of systems of instruction, coaching,
advising, accountability and ongoing assessment.
What we are excited about (among many other elements) is that a Self-Directed Learning
Model has the potential to be responsive to those learners who are ready to “charge
ahead” as well as for those learners who need more time to solidify new skills and
knowledge. Within a flexible framework, both types of learners, can work and learn at
the pace that works best for them.
We are hoping to begin implementation in September 2016. However, no changes will
be made before their time. We will keep our school community updated as to our pro-
gress. In the meantime you may find the following link of interest:
A Unique Learning Model: Thomas Haney Secondary, Maple Ridge, BC (video link)
March 2016 Issue 5
This Month in...Physics 11 In Physics 11, students are exploring kinematics: the sci-ence of motion! Students have been working their way through inquiry-based labs as teams. They designed their own experiments to prove their hypothesis about velocity and acceleration. So don't be surprised if you see the class out dropping eggs from high places or playing with bouncy balls, tennis balls, marbles, stopwatches and toy cars. It turns out, toy cars can teach us
Future Student Night— Wednesday, March 16th
6:30-8:30pm in the Royal Arbutus Room (above the Cafeteria)
Whether you’re a future VIU student ready to start in the fall or just want to learn
more...join us!
Spend an evening with VIU community members who can answer your questions and
get you connected to the university. Get to know representatives from Student Advis-
ing, our lovely Recruitment Officers, some amazing current students (Student Ambas-
sadors) who are there just for you.
Future Student? Potential Student? Parent? Guardian? Grandparent? We want to
meet you!
RSVP (appreciated but not required); [email protected] or
Spring Break Days— March 14-18 and March 21-24
Join us for Spring Break Days on the Nanaimo Campus! Campus and Residence tours.
Speak with Student Ambassadors and Drop-in Advising in Building 200.
Registration is required: https://www2.viu.ca/newstudents/SpringBreakatVIU.asp
Class Shadows
Interested in sitting in on a class? When you register for Spring Break Days, let us
know the program area you have applied for (plus your area of interest for BA, BBA,
and BSc) and we will see if there is a class that you can join while you’re on campus.
Questions? Contact [email protected]
“Everywhere we’ve been, we have been leaving traces…” ‘We Were Here’ music and lyrics by Boy
Nanaimo Dry Grad— June 24, 2016
Future Student Night and Spring Break Days at VIU
Dry Grad provides graduating
student with the opportunity
to celebrate their success at
an alcohol and drug-free
event.
The event is hosted at the Beban Park
Complex in Nanaimo. Graduates will be
entertained with many fun filled activi-
ties. Events include karaoke, scuba div-
ing, kayak races, movies prize give-a-
ways and much more will round out the
all night affair. The event also includes a
colossal amount of food, drink, friends,
music - and a lot of fun!
850 students attended Dry Grad
2015. We hope with further support and
awareness about Dry Grad, this number
will grow yearly! Approximately 300
volunteers participate during the night.
Tickets are $55 and can be purchased at
the school office.
Please visit the website for more infor-mation: www.nanaimodrygrad.com/student-information.html
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Upcoming Dates
March 12-28 Spring Break
March 29 Classes resume
March 31 Assembly, 8:45
April 5 Grad Photos
April 18 Assembly, 8:45
April 29 Report Cards
May 23 Victoria Day
June 14 Grad Events
June 15 Pro-D Day
June 21 Last day of classes June 23 English 10 Provincial exam June 24 English 12 & Science 10 Provincial exams June 27 Math 10 Provincial exam
Graduation 2016
The year is flying by and Graduation is almost
around the corner!
Each June, at The High School at VIU, we all
celebrate our graduates. Graduation at THS is
a whole school affair, from the ceremony to
the dinner/dance celebration.
We encourage all students to join in the even-
ing celebration. Homestay families are warm-
ly welcomed to both the ceremony and the
dinner/dance as well!
A common question we get from the families
of graduates is “How many tickets are we
allowed to get?” Here is yet another advantage of a small school...there is no limit!
We have had graduates bring a dozen or more family members to the ceremony and
the evening celebration. The more the merrier we say!
This year’s event:
June 14, 2016
Ceremony: 1pm in the Malaspina Theatre (Building 310)
Dinner/Dance: 6pm at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre
Tickets: $45 each and can be purchased at the school office or online at Eventbrite (http://www.eventbrite.com/e/graduation-dinner-dance-tickets-22802119754)
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Some of our 2016 Graduates
Tofino Fishing/Surfing Trip in June
On June 3 THS will take stu-dents on our annual fishing and surfing trip to Ucluelet. Mr. Butler will drive a VIU 24 passenger bus to transport all students to Ucluelet on Friday June 3 right after school. We have rented a house in town that is an easy walk to local shops and the waterfront. It also has a hot tub, full kitchen and barbeque, all of which we will make use of. On Saturday morning, early, the fishing group will leave. They will return about 1:00pm. The surfing group will have a little more time to sleep as the lessons will not start until about 10:00am. They will finish at about 1:00pm then travel back to Ucluelet. Saturday evening we will barbeque fresh salmon and crabs, if we are lucky and the traps are full. The itinerary will repeat on Sunday with the second fishing group leaving at 5:30am and the surfers leaving at 9:00am once again. We will all meet at the Ucluelet dock for final loading and return home. The cost of this weekend is $500 per student. This includes transportation, fishing licences, surfing lessons, food and ac-commodation. Any questions? Contact David Butler at [email protected]
International Student Trips Outside of Nanaimo
UBC’s Department of Computer Science is offering a series of workshops for high
school students who are interested in exploring the world of computer science.
Saturday, April 2, 2016 (10:00 AM - 1:00 PM)
Industry speaker: Google
Faculty speaker: George Tsiknis
The TechTrek Saturday workshop program brings high-school students and parents to
campus for a half-day of computer-science activities, including programming, learning
to design programs and games, and listening to real industry professionals and univer-
sity experts talk about the cutting edge of technology-- all in a fun, friendly environ-
ment, complete with snacks! Registered students can enter to win cool prizes!
Students who are interested in attending need to register at:
https://apps.cs.ubc.ca/TechTrek/
Recently I have been receiving many
requests from underage students (under
19) who want to go to Vancouver (and
other locations) and stay overnight with-
out adult supervision. These overnights
would sometimes be at a friend’s place
and sometimes, in spite of age re-
strictions, would end up in hotels.
I have sometimes agreed to the trip, if I
got explicit permission from their par-
ents. Even with this permission I have
always felt uneasy about this practice.
After consultation with other principals
who are custodians for international
students I have decided to stop this prac-
tice immediately.
Going forward, international students
who are under my custodial care, will
not be permitted to stay overnight out-
side of Nanaimo without an adult of at
least 25 years of age who is approved by
me.
International students will continue to
be permitted to travel outside of Nanai-
mo with their homestay families.
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Tech Trek at UBC: Computer Science for Girls Saturday Workshop
“Good luck on the final exams you're complaining about on Facebook instead of studying for.” -Anonymous-
Provincial Exam results from the January sitting can be accessed by students at the
Student Secure Website (https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/tsw/tsw/student/ ).
Students who do not have an account will need to create one using their PEN
(Personal Education Num-
ber). This number is on all
report cards and on the
student card received
from THS when they ar-
rived.
Twenty years ago, then VIU President,
Richard Johnson, envisioned a university
campus that welcomed the world. As
part of his vision, The High School at VIU
was born. The school has gone through
many name changes over the years but
has remained a high school that wel-
comes students from countries around
the world to come to VIU and study for
their BC graduation diploma alongside
Canadian students.
Later this year we will be cele-
brating the school’s 20 year
history with an alumni reun-
ion , Open House and a varie-
ty of other activities.
Please save your calendar
dates for our exciting celebra-
tion:
Thursday June 9th
2-4pm Open house at school in-cluding a “Butler” BBQ
Friday June 10th Dinner at Royal Arbutus Room Doors open at 5:30pm, dinner at 6pm Link for Reunion tickets https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-high-school-at-viu-20-year-reunion-alumni-dinner-tickets-20895038623?aff=efbevent Photo: Alumni reunion dinner De-cember 2014
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Provincial Exam Results
The High School at VIU is 20 Years Old!!!!
Grad Photos will be taking place on April 5th starting at 8:30am. It is important that
all graduates are at school that day for these photos.
Students who would like retakes from
the regular school photos taken earlier
in the year may also get pictures taken
on April 5th.
Grad Photos and Retakes The High School at Vancouver Island University
900 Fifth Street, Building 350
Nanaimo, BC
Phone: 250-40-6317
www.viu.ca/highschool