Happy Holidays!

Today our ALP class hosted an "open house" where staff and students dropped by for hot chocolate and cookies.  There were crafts to do, songs to sing and stories to read but most of all there was friendship to share.  Yesterday, our ACCESS class presented a wonderful adaptation of a Christmas Carol to an appreciative audience of staff and parents.  A big hit this week was the gingerbread house decorating contest where home rooms competed for TA points.  It has been a fun Christmas season at MidSun.  Of special note is the work our students did to adopt 3 families for Christmas.  Our team of elves delivered our food and gifts to  this week and knowing we helped to make their Christmas a little brighter made us all feel good.

Whatever you will be doing this holiday, we at MidSun want to wish you the very best for the holiday season.  We hope you have a good rest and we look forward to working and learning together in the New Year.

Grade 7 Egg Drop

Students in Grade 7 Science Class were having fun all week dropping eggs in the Atrium! 

The students designed and created a container that would house a raw egg and protect it from any impacts.

Students applied what they had learned about various structure and design concepts such as load bearing forces, tensile strength, compression and tension to create their apparatus. They then tested it by dropping it from the second floor to the atrium and see if it would protect the egg from the impact!

Tutoring Program

Our tutoring program is now on hiatus. The Centennial High school students need to get ready for their Diploma Exam.
The Tutoring program will start again on Feb 22nd 2012.

Do you have lovely calendars you will recycle in the new year?

Do you have lovely calendars you will recycle in the new year?  If so, PLEASE DON’T! 

Instead Donate your beautiful old calendars to the Art Room! Miss Kaminski will use the calendars for inspiration in  drawings and paintings in her art class.  If you have last year’s calendars with pictures of cars, animals, landscapes, cartoons etc.  please consider sending them with your child in January to Miss Kaminski (in the Art Room). If you have any questions, please contact Miss Kaminski at DMKaminski@cbe.ab.ca.

Thank you!

MidSun School Parent Council, Fundraising Update

While the temperature outside may be falling, the fundraising thermometer is on the rise at MidSun School. The MidSun School Education Enhancement Society (MSEES), the fund-raising arm of Parent Council, has made great strides in its first year -- so far pushing our bank account balance to almost $6,000 since September. Thanks to everyone who has supported our school through the many initiatives undertaken to date, including direct donations through the CBE Foundation, the recent Purdy’s chocolate sale, the Epicure sale and fall book fair. We know there are many other organizations seeking your dollars and we greatly appreciate your generosity.

We’re just getting started with our fundraising and plan to launch our grocery gift card program next month. Information on this will be coming home with students on dazzling pink sheets (you can’t miss them) in early January. This program could raise as much as $6,000 a month for our school, so it has the potential to be a significant source of funds. We all buy groceries, so why not get the stores we shop at to give a little back to us!

Just as a reminder, the money we raise will help to enhance our children’s learning experience at MidSun. We are investigating a number of possible matching-grant programs to leverage our dollars even more. Our long-term goal is to purchase SMART Boards for classroom use, though we have a substantial list of other needed items for physed, language/social, math/science, and all of the excellent options available at MidSun. We are also hoping to support the creation of an “outdoor classroom ” on the school grounds.

Please come and join us at our next Parent Council and MSEES meeting on January 12, 2012, in the school library at 7 p.m. We’d love to see you.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.

Staffing update

Ms. Wong has decided to resign from the CBE.  She had many personal reasons for making the decision. While Ms. Wong has only been here for a short time, she has made an impact on our school and her work with the other members of her professional learning community and grade teams appreciated her support.  She also ran the chess club which attracted higher numbers than they have seen for a few years.  We will miss her.

We are fortunate to have a talented and experienced teacher as her replacement.  Please welcome Robert Billing to gold pod. He brings seventeen years of secondary teaching experience to this position.  He received his education in Montreal where he taught for five years.  He moved west in 1997 and became part of the Alberta education system through the Rockyview School Division.  He taught grades nine through twelve at Chestermere High School for eleven years.  He has also worked at West View School in the Calgary Young Offenders Centre for four months under a temporary contract with the CBE. He has worked together with Ms. Wong to make the transition a smooth one for our students.     

Tis the season day on Friday Dec 16

Leadership students are running lots of TA challenges this week for a bit of Seasonal fun over the lunch hour.  This Friday is Tis the season day and students and staff are encouraged to dress festive!

The Cup at MidSun

On Friday and Saturday, MidSun was host to 50 debate teams from across Canada

In the semi finals, debaters from MidSun, Vivian and Brad defeated a team from Regina
and in the Grand Final, in front of a crowd of 250, Vivian and Brad won an epic debate and brought the cup home!

Mark updates & Ends Reporting

Teachers have been busy working with students to target certain areas of the Calgary Board of Education Ends Statements and to create personal goals.  Recently, students have been working with teachers to evaluate their progress in the pursuit of their goals and to modify their goals if necessary.  Today a report card will come home with students that gives you an update on their progress.  English Language Learners will also receive their report cards that will indicate their progress on Alberta Education’s new English Language Learner Benchmarks.

You should also receive an email today from each student’s teacher that will show their marks in every assignment to date.  Please let the office know on Monday if you do not receive mark updates.  We will track down what the problem might be.  We will be holding parent teacher interviews by appointment only on December 22^nd from 1:45-3:30PM.  Please contact the teacher directly if you have any concerns.

Discovery Education is Now Here!

Midsun School has subscribed to Discoveyy Education Streaming. Discovery Education Streaming is a comprehensive K-12 library of digital resources that enables seamless integration of standards-based videos into classroom lessons.

Discovery Education streaming offers videos and resources from award-winning producers such as Discovery Education, Discovery School, Standard Deviants, Weston Woods and more!  This is a great resource to supplement learning in class. 

The login credentials will be sent via an email Synervoice.

Purdy's Pick Up!

Thank you to everyone who supported our Purdy's Christmas Sweets for Smartboards fundraiser.  Our school raised  $1869.29 towards our smartboard goal!  You may pick up your sweets today and tomorrow at the end of the school day. A BIG thank you to Pam and all of her volunteers who made this fundraiser a great success!

Band Concert tonight at 7PM

Everyone is invited to attend our band concert tonight, December 6th, 2011 at 7PM. Our students have been working hard and sounding great!  Everyone is welcome.

Basketball tryouts are here!

	Mon. Dec 5th	Tues. Dec. 6th	Wed. Dec. 7th	Thurs. Dec. 8th	Fri. Dec. 9th
7:45-            bb8:45am	Organizational Day No School	Grade 8 Boys	Grade 8 Girls	Grade 8 Girls	Grade 9 Girls (7:15am)
3:45-      bb5:00pm		Christmas Concert 7-9	Grade 9 Girls	Grade 9 Boys	Grade 8 Boys (1:35-3:00)
5:00-     bb6:00pm			Grade 9 Boys

	Mon. Dec. 12th	Tues. Dec. 13th	Wed. Dec. 14th	Thurs. Dec. 15th	Fri. Dec. 16th
7:45-      bb8:45am	Grade 8 Boys	Grade 9 Girls (7:15 am)	Grade 8 Girls
3:45-5:00pm	Grade 8 Girls	Grade 9 Boys	Grade 8 Boys	Grade 9 Girls
5:00-6:00pm				Grade 9 Boys

	Mon. Dec. 19th	Tues. Dec. 20th	Wed. Dec. 21st	Thurs. Dec. 22nd	Fri. Dec. 23rd
7:45- bb8:45am	Grade 8 Boys	Grade 9 Girls (7:15 am)	Grade 8 Girls		No School Christmas Break Begins!!

Thank You!

Today the students at MidSun Junior High School participated in the Junior Achievement Dollars with Sense (DWS) and the Economics for Success (EFS) programs. These programs were presented by parents from our school and other community volunteers.

DWS (Grades 7-8) encouraged students to develop the financial literacy necessary to make informed decisions in their financial futures using budgeting, planning and investments. EFS (Grade 9) assisted students in developing a positive attitude towards education, and career planning while recognizing the financial costs of living on their own. 

Both volunteers and students had great fun with the program and students appreciated the efforts that the volunteers took to make this program a success.

These programs were delivered by Junior Achievement - a non-profit organization that provides business and finance programs free of charge to schools.  

Thank you again to all of our volunteers for their great work in making this programs a memorable event for our students!

News from the Wrestling Team

The MidSun Wrestling Team had 5 entries to the big Constrictor Classic Open tournament at Tom Baines last Saturday.  There was some very high level wrestling going on, and the team did us proud!  In the end, we congratulate Connor V in grade 8 for winning a Bronze medal, and Josh W in grade 8 for winning a Gold medal!  The team is pumped and ready for our Divisional meet Today!  Finally, we are thrilled to be participating in the U of C Jr. Olympic tournament this coming Saturday December 3^rd!  Stay tuned for more results and wrestling information!  Go Lakers!

Dance on Thursday!

Get ready to kick up your heels at the Dance on December 1st from 6-8PM.  VIP tickets are on sale at lunch for $3 but are $5 at the door.  Don't miss out.  Be sure to have your ride home ready to pick up at 8PM at the school.

Lost & Found items will be sent to good will on Thursday afterschool so be sure to check it for any missing items!

Give your input!

Thomas Lukaszuk, Minister of Education, has set up a teleconference to talk directly with Alberta parents and school councils on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7:45 p.m. This is a unique opportunity for

CBE parents to have a voice in government priorities.

 The teleconference details here: http://www.cbe.ab.ca/new/spotlights11-12/112311-teleconference.asp

An Opportunity for ALL Parents, Students and Community Members
Alberta Education is offerring an opportunity for parents, students and community to provide input to the changes to the Education Act.  Consultations will be held in seven Alberta communities.  For additional information please access the following link - http://bit.ly/sRP9xV

Report Cards and Email Update!

The next Mark report updates will be e-mailed on Dec 9.
In addition, on Dec 9, Ends and ELL Report Cards will be sent home

A full calendar of reporting dates can be found on the website!
Just go to:

Under parents

Under for parents

“Reporting Calendar”

Attention Grade 9 Parents

The Career and Technology Centre will be hosting an open house on Thursday November 24, 6:00-9:00 PM, at 2336 53 Ave SW.  This will be an evening dedicated to "Finding your Future". You will be able to see their four new learning suites (Pre-engineering, Autobody, Welding and Cosmetology) and learn how students can explore, specialize and /or credential in journey person trades and/or post secondary pursuits.

News from the Debate Union

Last night was the Calgary Science School Tournament
Student debated the right to strike for Emregency worker.
Our best Open Team was Emily S and Brad H.
Brad H. was our best Open Speaker.
Our best Beginner team was Nathan F. & Louai E.
Sara L won Silver for Speaker in beginner

Nathan won Gold for Speaker in Beginner

News from School Council

Thank you to those who participated in the Epicure Fundraising project!

Thanks to your support, the school earned a total of $510.00!

The MSEE Society would also like to remind everyone that the Purdy’s Chocolates

school fundraiser is underway now, with orders being accepted online up until November 22^nd.

If you are still interested in making a donation directly to the school that is eligible for a

Tax Receipt for 2011, and you have not had an opportunity to do so yet, cheques will be

accepted at the MidSun school office up until December 9^th. (Cheques need to be payable to the

Calgary Board of Education.)

Thank you for everyone’s continued support!

Sweets for smartboards

Information about our Purdy's fundraiser is available at: http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b691/pdfs/sc_fundraiser.pdf
Help our School Council put a Smartboard in every classroom and spread the cheer at Christmas!

Sr. Boys Volleyball

Congratulations to our Sr. Boys volleyball team who finished their season in 3rd place!
They fought hard in the semi final against Nickle.  Thanks to Coaches

Mr. M. Harris and Mr. M. McGhan and to the boys for representing our school so well all season!

Jesse A., Aaron B., James B., Ellis D., Benson E., Sean H., Reeve H., Jim, K., Justin L., Jacob R.  John T., Kyle T.

Thank you MidSun!

We had a wonderful Remembrance day assembly on Thursday.  Our band played and Mr. Blevis, Chairman for the Veteran's Food bank and the Poppy Fund was here to speak to us about the importance of remembering our veterans all year.  Our students donated over $1100.00 and many food bank items to help support needy veterans.  I am proud that our school continues to live up to our motto of "Building a better world, one student at a time.

News from School Council

• Don't forget to ask your child about our Purdy's fundraiser!  You can pay and order online with this one so it is so convenient.
• LINKages representative, Graham Harder presented at last night's council meeting.  He works for the non profit organization who helps link MidSun students with seniors at the McKenzie Town Centre. Our students visit the seniors twice a month and engage in intergenerational programing that is beneficial to both the student and the senior. MidSun has been working with the program for over 4 years now. Unfortunately,  there are no sponsors for the program this year, contact him if you would like to make a donation to help out: 403-249-0853
• We are looking for volunteers who are willing to help with writing grant proposals.  Please contact School council at midsunparentcouncil@gmail.com if you can help!
• Remembrance Day Assembly will be held on Thursday November 10 at 9AM. Parents are welcome.

Well done to our Senior Girls Volleyball team who placed first tonight in a great match against the Storm!  Proud coaches are Ms. N. Amirault and Ms. D. Ochoa.  Thanks to these girls for a great season:

Megan A., Bianca B., Tatiana C., Érica F., Nicole J., Tasia K., Ala L., Jena M., Toro P.

Heather S., Emma T., Marvel Y.

 

The Junior Boys volleyball team finished the regular season with a 16-12 record, which put them in 3^rd place out of 5 teams in their division. In Playoff action last night, the boys fought hard and came in third!  Congratulations to Coach Mr. Pratt and players:

Jeremy D., Tommy D., Jacob F., Colby F., Cordell H., Jason I., Ben J., Malik J., Chris K., Asher L., Matt T., Josh W.

Junior girls Volleyball place 4th!

Well done to our Junior Girls Volleyball team who improved steadily throughout the season and have placed forth overall in an exciting playoff game tonight!  Congratulations to Coach Miss Miles and players: 

Mia A., Mary A., Danni C., Lauren C., Emily C., Meagan G., Hailey H., Meaghan K., Nicole L., Hannah M., Tami O., Gabi S.

Attention Grade 9 Parents

Centennial High School is hosting their Grade 9 Open House on Thursday, November 24th at 7:00 p.m.  Their program includes presentations by their Guidance Counsellors, Advanced Placement Coordinators, Career Practitioner and RAP/Work Experience Coordinator.  Throughout the evening, parents and students are encouraged to walk through the school and embrace the culture.

More information about the Grade 9 Open House can be found here:

http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b691/pdfs/Grade9OpenHouseInvitationNov24_11.pdf

Bus passes needed by Monday November 7

On Monday bus students need their bus pass to get on the bus. All bus students need to ride their assigned bus to and from school. Non bussed students will no longer be able to ride the bus.  If a student wants to go to a friend's afterschool, alternate travel arrangements for them need to be made.  We need to be sure there are enough seats on the bus for those who have paid for them.  Thanks!

Reminder School opens at 8:30 AM

With the cold weather approaching we, at MidSun School,  are becoming concerned for the students who are dropped off before the school opens at 8:30 AM.  Parents are asked to make arrangements so that their child does not arrive at school prior to 8:30 AM unless they are participating in a supervised activity.  Thank you for your help with this!

News from the MidSun Debate Union

Brad H & Vivian S won the silver medal at the John Ware tournament
Brad H also won the silver as speaker

Our next tournament is taking place at Calgary Science School on Wed Nov 16.
It is still time to join the Debate Union. Meeting every Monday in room 33 & 25 at lunch

Welcome Ryan Sherin

We have been working hard to create the new IG for our grade 8 students and reduce class sizes to 30 or 31 students.  The new class is slated to start on Monday. Today we are able to confirm that we will be able to hire Ryan Sherin as a new teacher at MidSun.  He will work with Mr. Deighton to teach the newly formed grade 8 class.  Many students already know Mr. Sherin as he was substitute teaching for Mr. McGhan last week.  In addition to language arts and social studies, Mr. Sherin will teach physical education and living skills.  Welcome to MidSun Mr. Sherin!

MORE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Thank you to the 18 parent volunteers who have already registered to help deliver Junior Achievement Budgeting and Life Skills workshops on Nov. 29th!

However, we still need 28 more parent volunteers to meet the number required to deliver the material throughout the school.

Training will be provided in advance (likely on Nov. 23rd).

Please contact Debra Hidson at 403-781-2584, as soon as possible, if you are able to help out.

Smartboards in action

Today grade seven students in Ms. McIver's science class were working on their food webs at the smartboard.  The files were captured and saved for Ms. McIver to mark.  Our School Council is working to get a smartboard in every classroom so that this interactive and versatile tool can be used by all teachers.
Thank you to everyone who is participating in the Epicure Fundraiser.  Look out for news about our Christmas Purdy's chocolate Fundraiser in the coming weeks.

Welcome Josh Woods and Lisette Lively

We are happy to introduce two new faces to MidSun, Josh Woods and Lisette Lively.

Mr. Woods will be taking over for Mr. McGhan as he goes on leave for the rest of the year.  Josh is a Kinesiology major who is more than comfortable in the gym.  He will also be heading up the grade 7 and 8 ENVO program.  Welcome Mr. Woods!

Miss Lively was the learning leader of language arts at Clarence Samson and has spent the last two years teaching in Kuwait.  She is glad to be back in Canada and teaching for the CBE.  She will be working with Ms. Smith's classes while she is away on leave.  Welcome Miss Lively!

Book Fair a BIG success

A great big thank you to our Michelle D. and her fabulous volunteers who worked hard to make our book fair a big success!  Thank you to everyone who purchased some wonderful reads. Our learning commons will be able to purchase $450 worth of books and the MidSun School Educational Enhancement Society is $498.25 dollars closer to putting a smartboard in every classroom!

Help us put a Smartboard in every MidSun classroom!

Our School Council has begun a large fundraising effort to provide our school with a smartboard in every classroom! The thermometer to the right of this page shows our fundraising target and progress. Thanks to all the parents who sent in donations at the start of the year.  Donations are still being accepted by the school council if you want to contribute directly.  The first fundraising event is in progress with Epicure spice fundraiser.  These spices make great hostess gifts or Christmas presents.  Your child should have brought home a form already but if it got lost in their backpack, another form is available at the link above.  Just drop off your order forms in the box in the office!  Thank you for helping our School Council make Smartboards a part of each MidSun School classroom.

Parent Meeting Re: Grade 8 New Homeroom distribution

Below is some information about the new funding that MidSun School will be given shortly.  This is an exciting opportunity for us to reduce class size. The priority for MidSun will be to reduce class sizes in our grade 8 population from 35 students to 30 or 31 students.  We will be holding a meeting on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 1 PM in our library to discuss the process we will follow to redistribute the students in our grade 8 homerooms.  All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Extra funding directed to schools from province

Principals are deciding how additional funding from the provincial government will benefit their schools.

During her campaign for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party, Alison Redford promised to put $107 million back into education in Alberta. Within two weeks of winning the leadership, Premier Redford and new Minister of Education, Thomas Lukaszuk, announced that the money was secured.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) portion of the additional funding is $19.2 million.

During a public meeting on Oct. 18, the CBE’s Board of Trustees directed the one-time funding to schools so principals, who know their school communities better than anyone, can decide how to spend the money.

The CBE money comes from Alberta Education in two buckets. Part of the money is earmarked for Alberta Initiative for School Improvement or “AISI” projects. These projects are designed to improve our teaching across the system. The additional $4.2 million of AISI funding equals $43.50 per student. This money will be directed to schools for their personalized learning initiatives.

The rest of the additional funding for the CBE totals $15 million or $155.30 per student. Principals can use this money to make a difference in classrooms.

In general, Alberta Education has clear expectations for how the money is used. Minister Lukaszak has stated that the additional funding be “felt by” students and teachers. In other words, the funding is to be spent on people. This expectation is consistent with the feedback the CBE received to an online survey.

The CBE asked people to rate priorities for additional funding. Between Oct. 4 and 11, more than 6,100 responded to the survey. Teachers and support for teachers topped the list.

School principals have been asked to submit their spending plans for the additional funding by Nov. 1. The short deadline means the one-time money will get to students and classrooms quickly.

Principals will connect with their school council chairs to explain the exact funding for their schools and the spending plans. Given the quick turnaround, it is hard for principals to consult with the community again. That is part of the reason why the decision-making was delegated to principals. They know their schools. The spending plans will be a response to ongoing conversations about what is important in each school.

Sidebar: More than 6,100 people help set priorities

More than 6,100 completed an online survey to rank CBE priorities for additional funding from the provincial government. Here are the results in order of importance.

1 |    Teachers in schools

2 |    Support for teachers 

3 |    Support for students with special needs

4 |    School maintenance and repair

5 |    Technology for students

6 |    Support for English-language learners

7 |    Professional development for teachers

8 |    Reducing student fees  

9 |    Replenish CBE reserves

10 |  New schools

In addition to these choices, people could write in a response they thought was missing. Many of the 900 written responses emphasized the choices above. The most common write-in response was smaller class sizes, with 138 mentions.

Almost half of the people who answered the survey described themselves as parents with school-age children. About 40 per cent described themselves as CBE employees. For the most part, parents and CBE employees agreed on the priorities.