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PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Hello MCHS Parents!

We are into the thick of it now. Unit exams are happening, projects are being completed, teams have been set and some sports are even over now, clubs are meeting regularly, and our performing arts students have had auditions and are hard at work for this season’s performances. There have been a number of school wide activities already this year with the CHANGE Health Food Fair, Shikaoi Exchange, Hope Mission Fund Raising, and Awards Night that have kept us busy. It doesn’t take long at all for our school to get into the swing of things.

With so much going on, be sure to check into your son or daughter’s PowerSchool record to see how things are going with attendance, assignment completion and marks. Parent Teacher Student interviews are this Thursday evening from 5:00 to 8:00. We are still early in the semester so there is time to amend any unproductive habits and of course congratulate your kids who are doing well.

This week will see a change in Canadian law with the legalization of cannabis. We have advised the students during the opening assemblies that for MCHS, we will be approaching cannabis use the same way we approach underage alcohol use. It is not allowed on our campus and those who choose engage in this activity will face suspension. We are concerned about students who choose this activity for themselves and may also involve Constable Gord and our counselling staff to educate and support.

It has been a smooth start to this school year! You can be confident that there is a strong team of educators here to support MCHS students. And we are so fortunate that MCHS students are committed to their education. Looking forward to a continued great school year!

Mrs. Jensen

PowerSchool

This is our parent’s primary way to check in on their child’s marks/assignments, update contact information, and to pay fees too. Contact the school for your username and access ID at mchs@psd70.ab.ca

Activate and sign into your account on the MCHS website in the Parents tab. Please contact Mrs. Harper or Mrs. Campbell at the office if you need assistance setting up your account.

School Fees Are Due

Please logon to your Parent PowerSchool account or come into the school to pay your t high school school fees. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Miller at the office.

Reporting an Absence?

Please email (780) 963-2255 anytime to leave a message. Please leave your son/daughter’s full name, grade, and details of the absence.

The Memorial Memo October 15, 2018

The emorial illion

On October 6, Dr. Doug’s CHANGE Adventure Camp program held it’s Million Stair challenge. MCHS made a significant contribution completing 439 935 stairs in the week leading up to the event, including over 11 000 by the staff on PD day. Check out this Global News clip to learn more about the event.

SCHEDULE CHANGE THIS WEEK There will be no collaboration time on October 18

Students will be dismissed at 3:25 on Thursday.

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Memorial Moments

September Key Dates 04 - Gr 10 Registration & BBQ 05 - Gr 12 Registration - am & Gr 11 Registration - pm 06 - First Day of Classes for All 06 - Student Welcome - MCHS Bracelet Distribution 07 - Harry Potter Club Welcoming Feast 07 - Early Ed Open House & First Ride 07 & 10 - Cross Country Running Start Up 10 - Gr 11(Block 3) & 12 (Block 1) Start Up Assemblies 10 - Green & Gold Executive Meeting 11 & 12 - Auditions - The Bullying Collection 12 - Green & Gold Annual General Meeting 14 & 15 - Indigenous Wellness 10 Chickakoo Trip 15-16 - MCHS Jr. Volleyball Tournament 17 - School Council 18 - School Reach Startup Meeting 19 - AAC After School Exam Make Up Sessions Begin 19 - Music Parents Association Annual General Meeting 19 - Quebec Trip Parent Meeting 20 - Collaboration Time Begins for 2018-19 20 - Grade 10 Assembly (during Collaboration Time) 24 - Parkland Post-Secondary Night - Tri-Leisure Center 24- 26 - PE 30 Camping Trip 27 - Rotary Interact Garbage Pick Up 28 - Orange Shirt Day - Residential Schools Impact 28 - Shikaoi Students Arrive in Stony Plain

October Happenings 01- 05 - Memorial Million - CHANGE Health Promotion 01- 04 - Rotary Interact Change for Change for Hope Mission 01 - Indigenous Student Welcome - HUB Room Rebranding 01 - Green & Gold Executive Meeting 02 - Shikaoi Exchange Students Visitation 04 - Rotary Interact Pizza for Hope Mission 05 - Staff Planning & Development Day 08 - Thanksgiving Day 09 - Gr. 10-12 Awards Night - 2017-18 10 - Cross Country Zone Championships 10 – PowerSchool Update – Marks &/or Comments Available 11 - Picture Retakes 12 - CALM NAIT & U of A Field Trip 12-13 - NAIT Open House 12-13 - Sr. Women VB to Lester B Pearson in Calgary 18 - Parent Teacher Interviews – (5:00-8:00) 19 - Biology 20 & Science 20 Devonian Gardens Field Trip 19 - K & E 10 Team Building Field Trip - Camp YoWoChAs 19 - Anime Movie Night 19-20 - Business Case Competition - U of C 20 - U of A Open House 22 - Route Change Deadline 22 - School Council Meeting 26-27 - MCHS Sr Volleyball Tournament 31 - Happy Halloween

Keep MCHS High School Memories Forever! 2018-19 Yearbook orders due by

Fri, April 26. $42 each.

Some previous years still have copies available for sale. Contact Miss Oshiki

Green & Gold Executive Meeting Date Change

The meeting scheduled for Monday, November 5

has been rescheduled to

Monday, October 29

Please make note on your calendars!

Next School Council Meeting

Monday, October 22

7:00 pm Conference Room

Meet

Cst. Gord Marshall, School Resource Officer

MCHS parents always welcome!

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Inclusive Education

Diverse Learning Needs What’s Happening?

Student Meetings/ IPPs being sent home

Mrs. Moisan has started to have one on one meetings with students supported by an IPP (Individualized Program Plan). This process will take place during the month of October. Teachers have already reviewed student IPPs to ensure supports are in place.

As I meet with students, I will be emailing the IPP to you, as well as sending home a green memo for you to look over. Again, this will continue into the end of October. The memo highlights various supports that can be accessed at the school, as well as our process for IPPs throughout the year.

How can you partake as a parent/ guardian?

When the IPP is emailed home, I would encourage you to provide me with your input, this can be done via e-mail or in person by making an appointment with me. To do this, contact the school, 780.963.2255, and ask for Student Services.

Here are some ways that you can participate in the IPP process as it is a working document:

- Provide information about your child’s past experience and his or her goals, interests, and area of need.

- Get in contact with your child’s teachers. - Use the PowerSchool parent app to monitor your child’s

progress. - Learn about services and resources that are available to

your child. - Schedule a meeting with Mrs. Moisan to discuss any

specific concerns you may have, ask questions about programming, share information that may impact your child’s performance or behaviour at school.

Mrs. Janine Moisan

MCHS Inclusive Education Lead

COMPETITION CLUB

The Memorial Business Competition club runs every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch in room 1068. They are currently preparing for their first case competition. It is the Haskayne School of Business Case Competition at the University of Calgary that will be held on Saturday, October 20. Students who have taken at least one business class are welcome to join and participate. The team hopes to build on last year's success where they finished in the top three at every competition. Mr. Stuckey is also hosting a Junior Achievement Business Camp for grade 8 and 9 students on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:00 pm at MCHS. Students are learning about financial literacy, investing, and the stock market. They will also be participating against other students in Canada using an online stock market simulation for prizes.

MEMORIAL COMPOSITE HIGH

SCHOOL

18 19 PLEASE CARRY YOUR ID CARD WITH YOU.

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MCHS AWARDS NIGHT - 2017-18

On the evening of October 9, Memorial was proud to celebrate the accomplishments of so many of our students for their amazing work last school year. Over 50% of the population, 565 students, at MCHS last year earned an Honourable Mention or Honors Standing. This is astounding commitment from our students and their teachers to lead to such amazing results! Congratulations to all of our winners!

Leah Stachniak

Top Grade 10 Academic Student

Bianca Fuchs

Top Grade 11 Academic Student

Victoria Tapankov

Premier’s Citizenship Award

Caitlin Schmiemann

Parker Tobin Memorial Award

Ben Thompson

Top Grade 12 Academic Student

Governor General’s Academic Medal

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Food Is Fuel with CHANGE Health On Friday, September 21, CHANGE Health and MCHS hosted a community nutrition event to help students learn about healthy nutritional practices. There were ten booths that had students making protein balls, planning better lunches, riding stationery bikes, learning to sprout greens, and more. Several teachers brought their classes down and the booths were open at lunch and breaks for students to drop in and learn. Congratulations to Ellis Frieser winner of the FitBit draw!

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Applications for several Alberta post-secondary schools begins as early as

October 1 Go to the website to check out dates for your schools,

admission requirements, etc. You’ll need a myPass account to forward your transcripts.

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MCHS ROTARY INTERACT CLUB HONORED Last June the MCHS Interact Club welcomed a couple of special guests to their final meeting of the year. Tamara Larson, Youth Chair for the Rotary District and Alison Stewart, Youth Liaison for the Stony Plain Rotary Club joined the meeting to share some awards with our amazing MCHS students. Out of 42 youth clubs in the District, MCHS was bestowed several notable awards. We are so proud of these amazing kids for the difference they make in our school and community!

Best Partnership with a Sponsor Club

Rotary Club of Stony Plain

Outstanding Service Project Bike-a-thon for Shelterbox Canada

Outstanding Community Service Project

Local Foodbank and Hope Mission

Unsung Hero Award - Student

Keenan Lewis

Unsung Hero Award - Leader

Mrs. Thomas

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Because I Love You

The Because I Love You (BILY) Parent & Youth Support Society meets every Thursday

from 7:00-9:30 at the Hope Christian Reformed Church. The group is non-faith based and meetings are free of charge.

Check their website for more info.

Reaching Your Child during the School Day

Cell phones can be a distraction and a disruption to classroom learning. Our teachers and your kids have worked hard together to come up with routines so that cellphones are not disrupting class. Here are some things for parents to know about communicating with their kids while they are at school. • During class time, your child has most likely turned off the

phone and put it in a pouch on the classroom wall. He/she may not be able to respond immediately.

• If you call the main office, secretaries will not interrupt class to pass along non-emergency messages.

• Students will be called to the office to receive messages at lunchtime or the end of the school day.

• On Mon, Tues, Wed, and Fri, contact your child as follows:

o Breaks – 9:59-10:06 or 1:54-2:01 o Lunch – 11:30-12:30

• On Thursdays, contact your child as follows: o Breaks – 9:49 – 9:55 or 1:24-1:30 o Lunch – 11:10 – 12:10

We appreciate your support in reaching your child directly to minimize disruption to classroom instruction. Of course, we are happy to assist in an emergency.

The Twelve Classics Club The staff at MCHS have taken an interest in the literacy needs of our students, both those who are in need of support and those who are excellent readers. We are challenging our voracious readers to join the 12 by 12 Club. The goal is to read twelve classic books by the end of your grade 12 year. Below is a list of the classics our teachers are recommending. Just approach a teacher for the book and when finished return it to that teacher to have a book chat. Your name will be recorded and students completing 12 classic novels by their grade 12 year will receive a certificate.

Title Author Date Teacher Title Author Date Teacher The Inferno Dante 1300 Mr. Breckenridge The Old Man and the Sea Ernest

Hemingway 1952 Mr. Hymanyk

Emma Jane Austen 1815 Mrs. Porter Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe 1958 Mrs. McPherson Frankenstein Mary Shelley 1823 Ms. Mohammed Catch 22 Joseph Heller 1961 Mr. Tollestrup 20000 Leagues Under the Sea

Jules Verne 1870 Mr. McGann One Hundred Years of Solitude

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

1967 Mr. Bridgeman

Metamorphosis Franz Kafka 1915 Mrs. McAllister The Alchemist Paulo Coelho 1988 Mrs. Wendel Brave New World Aldous

Huxley 1932 Ms. Guillaume The Book of Negroes Lawrence Hill 2007 Mrs. Harrison

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23rd Annual Shikaoi Exchange

Each fall as part of the Town of Stony Plain twinning with Shikaoi , Japan, MCHS is so pleased to welcome the grade 10

class from the Shikaoi High School. The Japanese students join our classes for a day to experience Canadian High School.

As well, they put on a cultural performance of legends, dances and this year street performances for both MCHS and visiting

elementary school students. Our Foods 30 class completes their Fine Dining module by preparing an amazing lunch for the

honoured guests, PSD School Trustees, Superintendents and Administrators from Canada and Japan. Bestowing gifts is a

strong feature of Japanese culture and you will see in the photos how proud Shikaoi High School is of the gifts MCHS has

shared over the years as Miss Oshiki visited while chaperoning an exchange this summer and the beautiful pottery and painting

they gifted to MCHS on this visit. For those involved it really is a day of seeing the world open up to young people from both

sides of the ocean!

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Golf – Short and Sweet Both the girls’ and boys’ teams showed well at zones early in September with the girls earning a second place finish. Only the top team goes to Provincials.

Cross Country Congrats! MCHS runners were at zones this weekend. Kaleb Schulz in grade 10 qualified for Provincials next weekend

Volleyball Season Is Strong for MCHS The Junior Women won the Spruce Grove tournament and finished second at the WP Wagner tournament. They are undefeated this season in Division 2 and have earned a bye to the playoffs.

The Junior Boys have had a very strong season. They won the MCHS Junior tournament. Amazingly, they won all the sets they played until October 13 when they did lose a set but won the match 3-2 against Austin O’Brien. This was an important victory as this means the boys earned a bye in crossovers and move directly to the quarter finals.

The Senior Girls are fighting for a playoff spot in Division 1.

The Senior Boys won the Kings University Tournament and have placed second in league play.

Come to the gym and watch our playoff home games!

Football Season is On the Edge The Panthers team currently has a 3-3 record beating Jasper Place in the last home game of the season. They are battling hard for a playoff spot.

A procedural change will be implemented this year for students turning 18 and becoming adults while attending MCHS. Once a student turns 18, they become “independent students” according to the School Act. As such, adult students become responsible for their attendance, performance, fees and graduation activities.

We will now be seeking written permission from adult students for parents to continue to be involved in their child’s education and have access to information. In the month to prior the student’s birthday, a letter will be sent to parents via email to encourage a family conversation about who will be able to access information. A form will be attached for the student and parent/guardian to sign indicating that parent/guardian involvement will continue. This form must be returned to the office prior to the student’s 18th birthday. If the form is not returned, all parental contact information will be removed from the student’s record on their 18th birthday.

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Parenting High School Kids

When this article, How to Help Kids Manage Sleep, Schoolwork and Screens, came across my feed last week, I couldn’t resist. As a mom of three boys, all of these are issues at my house. What I like about this article is that there are strategies to invite your kids to be part of the family and decision making process. My ten-year-old gets a different level of involvement than my 17-year-old but both can be empowered and responsible using some of the ideas shared here. I know shifting my thinking (on many occasions) has led to a more positive outcome for my boys and for me.

We hope you enjoyed

this month’s newsletter. If there are any topics that would like to see in future newsletters to assist you as a parent in your family conversations about education and helping your high school child(ren) navigate the world growing up, please drop Mrs. Jensen an email at cjensen@psd70.ab.ca. Our target is to have the newsletter go out on the 1st Friday of each month, so please send your email by the third week of the month to give us time to prepare. See you next month!

The Green Book Click this link for the 2017-2019 FCSS Directory of Stony Plain,

Spruce Grove and Parkland County Community Support

Services

MCHS Grade Administrators

Grade 10 – Mr. Shaw Grade 11 – Mrs. Wendel

Grade 12 – Mr. Strangway

myPass is the self-service website for the education documentation of Alberta students. Click here for a set of instructions to set up an account. Remember your MCHS student ID number is also your Alberta Student Number. Also, use a personal email address as your PSD account will be deactivated when you graduate.

Have you set up your account yet?

MCHS Contact Info

(780) 963-2255 mchs@psd70.ab.ca

www.mchs.psd70.ab.ca

@MemorialComp

Memorial Composite High School

@MemorialComposite

#MemorialComp

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September 2018

Memorial Memories

Cross Country Team MCHS Jr. Volleyball Tournament – Men’s Champions

Jr. Girls Volleyball Team

Shikaoi Visit

Food Is Fuel Food Fair

Dungeons & Dragons

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Please contact the Education Team with questions or if you need to cancel your registration. CYFCaregiverEducation@ahs.ca

780-415-0074

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