Volume 10 , Issue 5

ME S S A G E FRO M THE PR I N C I PA L

R O C K I E S R U M B L I N G S

RUNDLE ACADEMY 4330 16 Street SW

Calgary, AB T2T 4H9 Ph: 250-2965 / Fax: 250-2914 www.rundleacademy.ab.ca

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Message from the Principal 1

Society News Rundle College VIPERS Entrepreneurial Spirit Project

2

Counsellor’s Notes World Record

3

Academic Fair 4

Speaker Series 5

Monthly Parent Survey In Their Own Words

6

TELUS Spark Science Centre 7

Intramurals Wrestling

8

Junior Girls and Boys Basketball 9

Junior Boys Basketball 10

Senior Girls Basketball 11

Senior Boys Basketball 12

Activities for the Month 13

Post-Secondary Education 14

LDAA - Parent / Educator Workshop 15

School Nurse - Kids’ Health 16

Picture This...Film Festival 17

February 1 , 2013

“WE MOVE MOUNTAINS”

By the time this newsletter is published, we will be starting term 2. It’s really hard to believe we are already half way done the school year. Before we reload and get ready for all that comes in the home stretch, this is a good time to reflect on the days that have gone by. Perseverance and Respect From the beginning of the year, we have seen our students continue to develop their ability to persevere and to respect each other, themselves and the school. The evidence of perseverance and re-spect is everywhere. One excellent ex-ample of perseverance and respect is the dedication many of our students have shown towards their test preparations. It is not uncommon to walk the hallways before or after school and see class-rooms that look like they are in session. Some classrooms have even been so full that not all the students were able to sit in desks. Weekends have also been busy times in the school with many teachers offering weekend test preparation for stu-dents. The activities are voluntary for teachers and students, but because they are respecting their need for preparation, they have taken the initiative and have consistently shown up to get ready for their midterms and finals. The persever-ance the students have shown to their studies not only will benefit them during the ‘exam week’ but in life. Students who are able to persevere in a task are far more likely to be successful in the long run. Term 2 What We Are Looking Forward To Moving forward, we will continue to focus on our goals and get ready to celebrate the many accomplishments of our stu-dents. Whether it is a Grade 4 student

increasing their reading level by 1.5 years or a Grade 8 student creating something innovative or a Grade 12 student graduat-ing and moving on to post secondary, we can hardly wait to share in the pride the students will feel. Upcoming Events: Monday, February 4, 2012 Grade 6-9 Midterm Mark Statements and Senior High Final Reports will be emailed home. Friday, February 22, 2013 Academic Fair – Grade 4-9 Monday, March 18, 2013 Term 2 Report Cards Thursday, March 21, 2013 Parent Teacher Interviews

Page 2

SO C I E T Y NE W S

Volume 10 , Issue 5

RU N D L E CO L L E G E VIPERS

Uniform Store Hours All Year

Monday to Thursday - 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Friday - 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.

12:00 P.M. to 1:00 P.M. (store closed daily)

Building on Success _____________________________________ Extraordinary opportunities to give, build and inspire

Dear Rundle College Society Member: I am pleased to report that the Building on Success capital campaign is off to an excellent start, with ap-proximately $1.5 million of donations and sales of voluntary interest-paying education receipts (VIPERS). Thanks for supporting Rundle’s effort to finance the construction of a new primary/elementary school. During this RRSP season, I invite you to consider purchasing Rundle College VIPERS. These ten-year mortgage bonds provide a 3% rate of return. As of this writing, ten-year Government of Canada bonds yield 2.0%; and five-year Guaranteed Investment Certificates yield 1.6%. Please consider supporting Rundle College during this 2013 RRSP season.

For more information please contact Leslie Tecklenburg, Director, Alumni Relations and Development at 403.250.7180 or tecklenburg@rundle.ab.ca

EN T R E P R E N E U R I A L SP I R I T PRO J E C T February marks the start of the Entrepreneurial Spirit Project, or ESP, in the Junior High. Creativity, one of Rundle Academy’s central CORE val-ues, will take over the school in a project that will challenge the students to develop a waste item into a product that is environmentally sound and eco-nomically viable. What is the waste item students will be developing you

ask? The answer is used Pringles Cans. In preparation, students should begin collecting this item and bringing them into their TAs. The culmination of the ESP, on March 18th, will have students participating in a Dragon’s Den style competition. Rumours are abuzz with who these Judges will be, perhaps an original cast member of Dragon’s Den will make an appearance...

Page 3

CO U N S E L L O R’S NOT E S

Volume 10 , Issue 5

Mid-term exam time for elementary and junior high school students is over, and senior high students are finished with final exams in semester one courses. Now is the time for all of us (staff, students, and parents) to look back on the last semester and ask ourselves three questions:

What worked last semester? That is, “What were we doing last semester that we should continue to do?” What problems did we encounter last semester that we did not foresee? That is, “What is that we were not doing last semester that we should start doing this semester?” What things were we doing that did not work? That is, “What is it we were doing that we need to stop doing?”

These three simple questions can help us direct both our intentions and actions in a more useful and effective man-ner. Let us resolve, collectively, to keep doing the things

that work, stop doing the things that don’t work, and start doings things that will work better than the things we are doing now. Let’s start 2013 off with good intentions and even better actions. In the first week back after the winter break, every student in the high school received a copy of their second semes-ter timetable, and was asked to see Student Services if they wanted to make changes to their timetables. Stu-dent timetable changes were thus accomplished before the beginning of the second semester. Thanks to all the parents and students for their cooperation and under-standing. Grade nine students will begin the process of course se-lection for grade ten immediately after the spring break. This process will involve parents, teachers and Student Services.

Dr. Miller, School Counsellor miller@rundle.ab.ca

WO RL D RE C O RD Rundle Academy Part of World Record…. Confirmed!

Back in October, the Grade 7 and 8 students participated in a Guinness World Record attempt to be part of the largest practical science lesson done in multiple locations. The students learned about Bernoulli’s Principle of fluid movement and performed experiments dealing with spraying water and balloons.

This past week, we received confirmation that Guinness had in fact authorized the record attempt and now it is all official!

Well done 7’s and 8’s – you are now World Record Holders!

Thanks again to Mr. Palmer, Mr. Mellor, Ms. Scott and Mr. Maitland for their help on this event.

A link to our picture on the site: http://blogs.science.gc.ca/blog/2012/11/16/rundle-academy/?lang=en

Rundle Academy proudly presents our 2013

ACADEMIC FAIR

Friday, February 22, 2013

9:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. - Viewing Student Projects (Judging) Main Gymnasium

12:15 P.M. – Awards Ceremony

Elementary Gymnasium

We would like to invite you to join us in observing and celebrating the elementary and junior high students’ projects.

Academic Fair projects will be set up on Friday morning

in the main gymnasium.

Please remember that your child cannot bring their projects on the school bus.

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Page 5

Information Evenings For Parents and Students

Rundle Academy’s Speaker Series

March 19, 2013

Discussions on ADHD and Learning Disabilities Implications for School & Home

* Speakers TBA

April 18, 2013

What to expect at Post Secondary Institutions Transition Planning

* Dr. Brent Macdonald, St. Mary’s University College and Alumni Student Panel

Volume 10 , Issue 5

Our Speaker Series are truly becoming a hot ticket item as of late. Last month saw many parents come to see Dr. Miller and Mr. Sylven speak about test preparation and even more came for the Junior and Senior High orientation talks. For the next month or so, we turn our focus to ADHD. Our March 19th, Speaker Series will be a talk on school and homework strategies for students and parents. Along with that there are a couple of other speaking events happening in our community around ADHD. The Learning Disabilities Association of Alberta will be hosting a parent night titled Beyond Just Medication: Assessment and Treatment for ADHD and LD. The talk happens in our own Assembly Hall and will be hosted by the LDAA and Marlis Krueger, Kristin Hansen and Karin Coles.

Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Location: Rundle Academy, 4330 16 Street SW

Cost: Free for LDAA-CC Members; $10/person for non-members

Your attendance and participation in these events has been greatly appreciated and any requests, ideas or RSVPs can go to Mr. James Burla burla@rundle.ab.ca

After I graduated from Rundle Academy, I married the love of my life, Janelle. She gave birth to our beautiful little girl named Lille. We built a house in Cal-gary and I worked at Volker Stevin doing heavy construction. I was later moved to help as an assistant project manager at the Runway Development Program at the Calgary International Airport. Volker is installing all the un-derground storm drainage for the new airport’s runway. I am currently en-rolled in the Bachelor of Commerce Degree at Athabasca University.

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MO N T H LY PA R E N T SU RV E Y

Volume 10 , Issue 5

IN TH E I R OW N WO R D S How Our Alumni Continue to Move Mountains

Trevor Locking ’10

Our January Parent Survey on technology once again saw nearly one-half of parents respond. Thank you for the great feedback on the survey questions, especially to so many of you that took the time to write your views, opinions and ideas on a variety of topics. Some highlights from those who responded to the survey include:

72% go to the Moodle calendar once in a while.

44% go to the ‘division portal’ once in a while.

32% regularly read the newsletter on Moodle, while 26% read it from the website.

37% read the daily announcements once in a while on Moodle.

30% have never accessed their child’s grades on PowerSchool, and 19% didn’t know what that is or where to find it.

Twitter is not mainstream quite yet! Only 25% have seen @rundleacademy

84% regularly or religiously read the email summaries sent by teachers.

And about the chocolates on Valentine’s Day, the most frequent response is that they all deserve them! We’ll be sure that each staff member gets their share of chocolate on the big day.

The written feedback was prodigious and varied. We have space to respond to a few of those items:

Thank you for the heaps of praised poured on our teachers and our program! It is so rewarding to know we are having such a positive impact on the lives and education of our students.

Students wishing a quiet study space can always go to the Learning Commons. It has numerous carrels set up for an ideal working space.

To the comments about the website, look for a brand new site that we are working to launch in September.

For parents looking for guidance, we will host a Speaker Series session early in September for parents learn-ing to navigate PowerSchool, Moodle, Gmail apps, the website and more.

The topic of February’s Parent Survey is exams! Please talk to your kids and click on this link to take the survey. BONUS! Can you guess which teacher sailed across the Atlantic Ocean as a crew member on a sailing yacht? To find out, complete the survey to see the answer! February Survey

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG44WTNTUWZmNURrR2x5RHUzRG9jcnc6MQ

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 7

TELUS SPA R K SC I E N C E CE N T R E On January 14, the grade 4 and 5 students went on a

field trip to the new TELUS Spark Science Centre. In

the morning students participated in a chemistry pro-

gram called “Mix-it” where they looked at the different

factors that can be used to identify chemical changes.

In the afternoon, students explored the new galleries:

Being Human, Open Studio, Earth and Sky, and Energy

and Innovation. We also watched Tornado Alley in the

new movie dome. Overall, it was a very exciting day

with plenty to see and do!

WR E S T L I N G

Intramurals finished on a high note with the Mountain Lions clinching yet another title as the Junior High 3-on-3 basketball champions, the Flint Michigan Tropics, went undefeated and se-cured their place at the top in a thriller over the rival Silver Turtles, a faction of the Grizzly squad. In addition to the sporting activities

at lunch, house teams in all divisions have been earning points through their participa-tion in monthly pep rallies and theme days at the Academy. Currently, the point standings have the Mountain Lions in the lead with 500 points; the Grizzlies and Rams are close be-hind with 560 and 550 points respectively. It continues to be a dog fight as house teams vie for a place at the top in pursuit of the Rockies Intramural Cup.

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 8

IN T R A M U R A L S

January has been a very busy month of training for both our junior high and senior high wrestling teams. The team continues to grow stronger as we look toward the Junior Olympics and senior high City Championships.

Junior High wrestlers have done an amazing job, with Rundle Academy finishing second only to Rundle College in the CISAA championships! The Gold Medal winners consisted of Dylan Graham, Sadie Matus, Sierra Adamow-Boudreau, Anthoney Stan, Payton Budd, Sam Adams, and Luke Empey. On behalf of the coaching staff, we would look to thank all the parents and athletes for your support this year, and we look forward to bettering our results next season. Great job, Rockies!

Senior high wrestlers have been in training the last month in preparation for the second half of their season. Brock duBerger won gold at the University of Calgary Classic in December, and is a front runner for Cities and Provincials this year. Our other athletes are training hard to prepare for the U of A tournament, the Bulldog Classic, and City Championships, all happening in February. We look for-ward to seeing the team develop further in the months to come.

Edmonton Wrestling Tournament - February 1 and 2, 2013

Rundle Academy is once again teaming up with the Col-lege and attending the Paperweight/U of A Invitational held on February 2nd. We are very excited about the pros-pect of wrestling in the most elite competition in Western Canada, and fun will be had by all at West Edmonton Mall the day before. Go Rockies!

Coaches: Mr. Barry, Mrs. Hoehn, Mr. James, Mr. Mellor, Mr. Sylven

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 9

JU N I O R GI R L S A N D BOY S BA S K E T BA L L

On December 15th, both the junior boys

and girls teams travelled to Drumheller

to compete in the inaugural St. Anthony

Invitational Basketball Tournament.

Both squads played all their tournament

games on Saturday and both teams

came away with 3-0 records at the end

of the day. This meant that both teams

won the gold medal and the tournament

championship!! It was an excellent day

of basketball for Rundle Academy and

we look forward to returning next year to

defend our titles!

Coaches: Mr. Paz, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Thomson

Double Gold for Rockies Basketball

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 10

JU N I O R BOY S BA S K E T BA L L The 5-8 boys have been a David and Goliath story all year. With a team of half elementary students, the boys have been fighting hard and holding their own against much older and bigger teams. With three tournaments and five regular season games already under their belt, the team has been steadily growing and improving. Coaches Locking and Rogers have witnessed great strides taken in fundamental shooting, lay-ups, and re-bounding, as well as offensive and defensive understand-ing of the game. As Coach Rogers has put it all season, “We may not have won many games on the score clock, but we are unde-feated when it comes to playing with heart.” The Rockies have shown sportsmanship, competitive spirit, and teamwork all year, competing until the final whistle and focusing on personal and team development over the scoreboard. Older teammates have been great

leaders during practices and games, and look to be great additions to the 8/9 team next year. Younger players in Grade 5 and 6 have shown great potential for 2+ future years playing together. Point Guard Gannon Willson was asked to reflect on the season, “We haven’t been winning games, but it’s been fun. A learning experience, so that when you get to older grades you’ll be slamming dunks!” Point Guard Tal Pre-ston added, “We weren’t the best at the beginning, but now we’re doing way better.” With four games left before hosting the final tournament at Rundle Academy on February 22nd and 23rd, we are excited to see how much better this young and enthusias-tic team can get. Who knows, maybe by the spring we will see a slamming dunk competition. Good luck, boys!

Coaches: Mr. Rogers and Mr. Locking

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 11

SE N I O R GI R L S BA S K E T BA L L

Rundle Academy’s Shooting Stars

Morning practice, after school practice, game, after

school practice, morning practice and we will finish off

the week with a tournament in Castor, Alberta. This is a

typical week in the life of a Senior Girls Basketball

player. As a team, we have dedicated ourselves to be-

coming faster, more skilled and smarter players out there

on the court. And for many of the athletes, the hard work

has been rewarding.

Although we had a timid start to our season with four

tough losses, our tournament in Castor pulled the team

together as they had to fight through adversity, injury and

emotions in all three of those games. The girls sup-

ported one another throughout the tournament, playing

with sportsmanship, laughter and dignity that was ac-

knowledged by the players and coaches of the other

teams.

Following the Castor tournament, the girls worked to-

gether and chalked up two decisive victories against

league rivals Calgary Academy and Westmount Charter.

The girls played a tight game against Master’s College

as well, a school who defeated them soundly earlier on

in the season.

Led by Ally Duckworth, who has proven to be a leader

with her tenacity, scoring ability and dribbling skill, the

players have learned from one another and are begin-

ning to work as one. We hope to see this unity and dedi-

cation continue for the rest of the season.

The girls would love to have fans out to cheer them on,

as five of their last six games will take place right here at

Rundle Academy. Their final tournament of the season

is this weekend in Claresholm, Alberta. Good luck, girls!

Coach: Mrs. Vesey

“A committed squad who play their hearts out,” is what you can expect to see if you come out to watch a Senior Boys basketball game this season. Coach Vesey contin-ues to be impressed by the team of young men who have found a way to win. With four victories and three defeats in the regular season, their winning percentage may not be overly impressive, but a closer look at those games reveals a deep rooted competitive instinct. Their passion propels every member of the Senior Rockies to give eve-rything they’ve got every time they hit the floor. After winning two close games to start the regular season, the boys lost a close one to Clear Water, got shut down against Chinook and were beat up by Westmount. The wind was taken out of their sails. Then they turned the ship around. A decisive win against the Islamic school, followed by an impressive showing at the Bentley Tourna-

ment set the stage for a great battle against Master’s Academy. The game was close with points nearly evenly ex-changed. As the fourth quarter neared the midway point, Master’s held a six point advantage. Then the character, the grit and the choice to take what they had earned was made. Solid defensive efforts, critical battles and offen-sive finish prevailed through the actions of each and every member of the senior team. The 58-55 victory was testament to a complete team of gentlemen who shoul-dered the effort universally. If you want to witness the excitement for yourself, make your way to the Rundle Academy gym as we play the re-mainder of our regular season with Home Court advan-tage.

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 12

SE N I O R BOY S BA S K E T BA L L Senior Boys Leave It All on the Floor

Home game schedule:

February 4 - 5:30 p.m. - versus Chinook Winds

February 6 - 4:00 p.m. - versus Westmount Charter

February 11 - 5:30 p.m. - versus Calgary Islamic

February 20 - 4:00 p.m. - versus Clear Water Academy

February 27 - 5:30 p.m.- versus International School of Excellence

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 13

AC T I V I T I E S F O R FE B RUA RY

REMINDER TO ALL PARENTS

Our Classroom Moodle Pages and our Division Portals sites are accessible from our home-page (www.rundleacademy.ab.ca). Look for morning announcements posted on our Moodle Pages. Follow us on Twitter @rundleacademy for more information and upcoming events.

February 8 School Rally (12:00 P.M.)

February 14-15 Teachers Convention (No Classes)

February 18 Family Day (No Classes)

February 19 & 20 Elementary Winter Days

February 22 Academic Fair

March 1 Dress Down Day Newsletter Sent Home

March 15 Talent Show Rally

March 18 Report Cards Go Home

March 19 Speaker Series (7:00 P.M.)

March 21 Parent/Teacher Interviews (1:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.) All Students - 12:00 P.M. Dismissal

Elementary teachers will contact parents to schedule an Interview time.

Parents of Junior and Senior High students please call 403-250-2965 to schedule an interview time.

March 22 Dress Down Day

March 23-April 7 Spring Break

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 14

Volume 10 , Issue 5 Page 15

LDAA-CC Parent & Educator Workshop Beyond Just Medication: Assessment &Treatment for ADHD and LD Presented By: Marlis Krueger, Krista Hansen & Karin Coles

Marlis Krueger has been a Registered Psychologist for 20+ years and specializes in the assessment, treatment and long-term management of ADHD and learning dis-abilities. She will talk about assessment and treatment, including evidence-based treatment guidelines, the im-portance of accurate and thorough diagnosis, and long-term treatment/management of ADHD/LD.

Krista Hansen is an Occupational Therapist and helps children and their parents develop strategies to self-regulate their emotions, behaviours, attention and im-pulses. She will talk about the complexities of self-regulation and what makes it so difficult for some chil-dren to effectively complete daily activities.

Karin Coles has worked for many years with teens and adults with ADHD and learning problems, with a focus on helping them develop coping strategies to manage difficulties. She will be talking about executive function-ing skills needed to plan and follow through with daily activities and the role of behavioural coaching/counseling in developing and maintaining these skills to support academic and life success.

Time: 7:00 to 8:30 pm

Location: Rundle Academy, 4330 16 Street SW

Cost: Free for LDAA-CC Members; $10/person for non-members

Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Kids’ Health

For more invormation about the above, or any other health-related topic, please visit www.albertahealthservices.ca

kidshealthnewsletter@albertahealthservices.ca

Making mealtimes more pleasant

One simple way to have healthier children is to ban the TV from their bedroom.

Children with bedroom TV’s are more likely to get less sleep. Children whom do not get enough sleep tend to score lower on tests, have more mood disor-

ders and are more likely to be over-weight.

Many children also have other elec-tronic devices in their bedroom like video games, computers, and mobile phones which can make it very difficult to get the recommended 10-11 hours

of sleep for a child between the ages of 7 to 12.

Take the TV and other electronic de-vices out of their room, have them read a book or tell them a story before bed to help them unwind, relax and get ready for a good night’s sleep.

It is normal for chil-dren to be choosy eat-ers, but picky eating can make mealtimes tough.

Remember that as a parent, you decide which foods to serve, and when and where to serve them.

Allow your child to choose how much food they eat and whether they eat a certain food offered.

This can help make mealtimes more pleasant.

See the tips below to help with mealtime struggles: Do not be a short order cook! The whole family should eat the same foods. Your child will learn to like more foods by being exposed to them. Over time they will learn to eat and enjoy what you eat.

Get rid of distrac-tions. Turn off the TV, sit down as a family and enjoy each other’s company.

Offer familiar foods with new foods. Even if your child won’t eat a new food the first time, keep

offering it. It can take a child many tries be-fore they accept a new food. As a child gets older, try foods

again that they may not have liked before. Tastes can change over time. Avoid using food as a reward or pun-ishment or bribing your child to finish his or her meal. This teaches your child that certain foods are bet-ter or worse than oth-ers. You want your child to enjoy all foods. Eating should be pleasant, not a duty or a chore. Involve your child in shopping for food and making meals. Children who help choose and prepare their food are more likely to eat it. Be a positive role model. Eat a variety of healthy foods. Do not expect your child to eat a food if you’re not willing to try it first.

For more information... For help with mealtime struggles, visit www.ellynsatter.com/

Alberta Health Services school nutrition website: www.albertahealthservices.ca/2925.asp

A good way to avoid your children from becoming a bit picky at mealtimes is getting them involved in meal preparation.

Cut down the screen time in your children’s bedrooms

Page 16 Volume 10 , Issue 5

Picture this…film festival

FREE PARKING!!! LOADS OF FREE POPCORN!!! TICKETS *$10 per day *$7.50 for seniors, students and low income *$20 for 3 day festival pass Prearranged group rates Call: 403.717.5610 Call out for Volunteers! E-mail direc-tor@ptff.org or call 403.717.5610

Check us out on line www.ptff.org or on our face-book page

When: February 11, 12 & 13th, 2013

Three great days of film

10:00 a.m. – Noon

1:00 p.m. – 3:30pm.

6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Location: West Island College

7410 Blackfoot Trail S.E., Calgary

12TH ANNUAL PICTURE THIS...FILM FESTIVAL