1

A Message from the Administrative Team

October 2011

Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School

PIROUETTE

Administrators’

Message 1,2

Dates at a Glance 1

Club News 2

Department News 3-5

Trudeau’s Birthday 6

Inside this Issue

Dates at a Glance

PA Day October 24

Ontario College Fair

October 28

Take our Kids to Work (Gr.9)

November 2

Mid-term report cards

November 18

Dance November 24

PA Day November 25

Cabaret December 1

Winter Melodies

December 8

Last day of classes before the

Winter Break

December 23

Classes Resume

January 9

Mosaic/ Sears Showcase

January 19

Grade 9 Math Exam

January 20

Grade 9 EQAO Math

January 24, 25

Grade 8 Open House

January 26

Exams January 27 –31

Welcome to the first edition of the 2011-2012 La Pirouette our

school’s newsletter that highlights the academic, community and ath-

letic achievements of our students. As the new principal I have en-

joyed meeting an enthusiastic school community. In the first six

weeks of school the Administrators have witnessed the commitment

and spirit of our students in numerous ways. In September and Octo-

ber, students: have enjoyed Trudeaumania a Grade 9 orientation

event; Room 104 has competed at and enjoyed the Markham Fair;

student leaders have honed their skills at the Trudeau Leadership

Camp; school athletic teams such as girls basketball, boys volleyball,

tennis, cricket and cross country running have practiced and com-

peted; and our music students have had a chance to share their talents

and refine their skills with post-secondary and industry music profes-

sionals. (Continued on page 2)

Students from Team Blue take part in a cooperation exercise during Tru-

deaumania. All of our grade nines and many student leaders took part in this

annual event designed to help new students feel connected to each other and

the school. Visible from left to right: Bernice Ho, Anndee Hoover, Julia

Hembruff, Dolly Guo, Jessica Hon.

Ms. Debbie Linkewich Ms. Virginia Bregg Mr. George Tsigaridis

Principal Vice-Principal Vice-Principal

2

Club News

(from page one)

Congratulations to our Grade 10

students for their achievement

on the Grade 9 assessment of

mathematics last year. 96 % of

students enrolled in Grade 9

A c a d e m i c M a t h e m a t i c s

achieved at or above the provin-

cial standard and 68% of stu-

dents enrolled in Grade 9 Ap-

plied Mathematics achieved at

or above the provincial standard,

which is an increase of 24%

from the previous year. Well

done, bravo et félicitations.

We also encourage students and

their families to work together

and learn about all of the oppor-

tunities and pathways available

beyond high school. This year

students have had opportunities

to explore a variety of post-

secondary pathways: at an eve-

ning college and university pres-

entation; by attending several

after-school college and univer-

sity presentations; or even by

speaking with one of our guid-

ance counsellors who can an-

swer questions and share a vari-

ety of resources with both stu-

dents and their families.

We would like to encourage our

families to be involved in their

child’s school life. Attend ath-

letic events, performances, our

School Council meetings or

contact teachers if you have

questions or concerns. Also,

please do not hesitate to contact

us by phone, e-mail or in person

to ask questions or share your

feedback with us.

The Octagon Club is the junior

branch of Optimists Interna-

tional. Each year, dozens of

students join the service club to

practise and hone their leader-

ship skills, to help the local and

global community, and to com-

plete their volunteer hours. This

year’s information meeting at-

tracted over a hundred new and

old student members.

So far, these enthusiastic young

adults have participated in a va-

riety of school and community

events. Students have painted

numerous banners to promote

school clubs and events. They

took part in a mental health

awareness workshop and created

a mural of words to promote

understanding and compassion

for the mentally ill. Students

also helped out at Markham Fair

over four days, giving direc-

tions, manning the Lost Chil-

dren’s Booth and guiding

“Dora” around the fairgrounds.

The Octagon Club’s current pro-

ject is a homeroom food drive

competition. All Trudeau stu-

dents are challenged to donate

as much non-perishable food as

possible for those in need. The

homeroom with the greatest

number of donated items per

person in the class will win a

delectable treat prepared by Oc-

tagon Club members. Good

luck to all homerooms!

Administrators’

Message

Grade 9 students, Arrchana Pradeepan, Christine Tan, Connie Li, Kimberly Wang

and Jenny Gui show their generous spirit by contributing to the food drive.

The Octagon Club Challenges Trudeau Students:

Participate and Make a Difference

3

Department News E. Marotta-Kulscar

Subject Head Business

The semester has begun and our

Department is off to an amazing

start! At the end of last year, an

Accounting Contest (COIN) was

conducted by the Canadian In-

stitute of Chartered Account-

ants. On October 12, 2011, our

Department was presented with

a plaque for placing within the

top two schools in the entire

province. Congratulations, once

again, to Rebecca Yao for her

Accounting Contest award!

Another Accounting Competi-

tion was held by the Ontario

Business Educators’ Association

(O.B.E.A.) in late May. Con-

gratulations to the following

winners in the Grade 12 Ac-

counting category: Jenny

Shang, who placed 9th; Ryan

Rego, who placed 16th; and Pra-

katheesh Navaneethan, who

placed 21,st out of 400 partici-

pants in the entire province!

In the O.B.E.A. Grade 11 Ac-

counting category, congratula-

tions to the following winners:

Mike Cai, who placed 8th;

Andy Mao, who placed 11th;

and Arthur Jiang, who placed

14th out of 652 participants in

the entire province!

Our Department was also highly

acknowledged at the O.B.E.A.

Desktop Publishing Junior Divi-

sion Competition. Our Grade 9

BTT students entered the com-

petition and successfully placed

1st and 2nd in the

entire province! Congratula-

tions to Beatrice Chen and

Samantha Yeung, who placed

2nd, and congratulations to

Daniel Chung, who placed 1st.

They were presented their

plaques at the O.B.E.A. Annual

Luncheon on October 1st.

Again, you have made the De-

partment and our school proud!

For the rest of this semester, the

Department will continue foster-

ing student success through ad-

ditional competitions and con-

tests. We will also apply to the

Ministry of Education for a Spe-

cialist High Skills Major desig-

nation in Business.

In short, the Business Studies

Department has had an eventful

start. One might say that we are

“open” for Business!

Diana Taylor

Subject Head English

What’s New in the English

Department?

Peer Tutoring

Looking for an English tutor to

help you proofread assignments

or generate ideas for writing?

Need a quiet place to do your

English homework? The English

Department’s Peer Tutoring

club invites Grade 9 and 10 stu-

dents to drop by for extra help

Mondays and Thursdays after-

school in Room 206. Grade 11

and 12 students can earn volun-

teer hours by tutoring on one or

both of these days. Volunteer

application forms are available

outside the English Department

office in Room 209, or from

your English teacher. Please

contact Ms. Misra in the English

Department if you have any

questions.

Kathryn Keystone

Subject Head

Geography

This year in Geography is a

busy one. Between the Royal

Winter Fair, film screening at

the ROM and a green tour of

Toronto’s downtown our Grade

9 classes are exploring how Ge-

ography goes beyond the class-

room. The Travel and Tourism

class is going to get a behind the

scenes look into the kitchen of

the CN tower’s 360 revolving

restaurant. We are excited to be

offering a four day trip to Banff

Alberta for all Grade 9 students.

The Grade 12 Global Outreach

class will be designing and de-

livering events to educate and

raise money in support of edu-

cation, clean water and human

rights in Africa.

4

Department News News from the Math

Department

Jennifer Black

The EQAO results are in for the

2010-2011 academic year. Once

again our students have excelled in

the grade 9 standardized mathemat-

ics assessment. Here are the results:

96% of the students achieved level

3 or above in the academic stream

68% of the students achieved level

3 or above in the applied stream

Last years math contests were a

huge success with over 160 stu-

dents participating in the University

of Waterloo contests. We will be

offering the following contests this

year:

Canadian Senior and Intermediate

Mathematics Contest (Tuesday

November 22, 2011)

Pascal, Cayley, Fermat Contests

(Thursday February 23, 2012)

Euclid Contest (Wednesday April

1, 2012)

Listen to the announcements about

the sign up dates for the contests

this year.

The after school math peer tutoring

program is up and running! This

program provides the opportunity

for students who need extra help in

math to work with their peers who

have strong math skills. This pro-

gram is extremely successful and

students are welcome to attend at

any time throughout the year. Peer

tutoring occurs every Thursday

from 3-4 pm in room 150.

News from the Science

Department

Daria Filip

Congratulations to all participants

of the McMaster Engineering

Olympics. This is an annual event

that challenges students to partici-

pate in hands-on projects exploring

the various types of engineering:

civil, chemical, computer, mechani-

cal and engineering physics. Tru-

deau traditionally performs well at

these Olympics and this year was

no different.

As usual, it was an early 6:30 am

start when we boarded the yellow

bus for Hamilton, but all the stu-

dents were wide awake and looking

forward to the events. Once at the

university, we were greeted and

cheered on by Trudeau grads now

in residence at McMaster. Between

events students had the opportunity

to see Engineering Labs, attend

lectures and

visit the

p l a n e t a r -

ium. Thank-

you to all

who came

out for the

t r y -

outs. We’re

looking for-

ward to an-

other great

year in 2012.

News from the Phys.

Ed. Department

Fiona Cusak and Meera

Rajah

In our busy schedules full of so

many commitments and obliga-

tions, it is very easy to overlook the

most important components of our

lives: Health and Fitness! Having

a healthy lifestyle shouldn't be

a “When I feel like it” or a “Just

before that big event” kind of thing.

Living a healthy life will not only

benefit our physical well being, it

will also give us a positive outlook

on all challenges we face on a daily

basis. That is why Pierre Elliott

Trudeau High School is proud to

present to you G-Fit; a girls’ only

fitness club specifically designed to

provide fun fitness opportunities.

From aerobic classes to free

weights and low-fat brownies to

dance routines, G-FIT will provide

girls with fun and fitness! Keep

listening for more information on

G-Fit! We want to see you girls out

there!

5

Department News Deilyn Berdichevskaya

Subject Head

Moderns

Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Ciao!

The Moderns Department is very

excited about all the opportunities

available to students this school

year. On November 4, Grade 11

and 12 Core French students with

Grade 10 and 9 French Immersion

Students will participate in a Slam

Poetry Workshop hosted by Oni, a

Haitian Artist. Students will learn

how to write poetry accompanied

by music. This is a great and a fun

way to enhance their writing and

oral communication skills. Our

Grade 9 Core French classes will

once again savour delicious crêpes

at Café Crêpe downtown Toronto,

while Grade 10 Core French stu-

dents will learn everything about

Quebecois folk music at Lula Arts

Centre. Grade 12 Immersion stu-

dents will embark on a theatrical

experience through the French play

Dieu du carnage at Théâtre Fran-

çais de Toronto. On November 16,

our Grade 11 Immersion students

will explore French Cinéma at ONF

(National Film Board of Canada);

they will watch the film Moi César

followed by a round table discus-

sion guided by a médiatique repre-

sentative. Last but not least, as part

of the food unit, Grade 10 Spanish

students will savour authentic

Mexican cuisine at La mexicana

restaurant.

There are more exciting opportuni-

ties for students passionate about

learning languages: the annual

International Educational Tour tak-

ing place May 18-27, 2012 and our

tradition carries on with the Ex-

change Program with La Croix

Rouge School, the largest private

school in France situated in Brest,

Brittany. The school has been our

partner for 6 exciting years! On

April 28, 2012, 15 students will be

arriving from France to stay with

their exchange partners. Our stu-

dents will be visiting their French

partners in October 2012. Students

will participate in educational tours

and will develop life long friend-

ships with our international part-

ners. Need more opportunities?

Check our board outside the Mod-

erns department. You can partici-

pate in language competitions, vol-

unteer as a language tutor after

school, engage in our community,

participate in the ISE (International

Student Exchange) program at the

board, work in Quebec while learn-

ing French through the iExplore

program and more.

Au revoir! Hasta la vista! Bye!

Arrivederci!

Margit Muller

Subject Head

ESL

During the last few weeks, students

from ISA (International Student

Association) have been very active

in organizing activities for new-

comers to our country and to our

school. One trip took them to the

IYC (Immigrant Youth Centre) for

an orientation meeting, during

which they were introduced to the

many exciting opportunities the

Centre has to offer - including a full

fledged Canadian Thanksgiving

Dinner!

Students new to the country and our school accompanied by members of the club,

the International Student Association visit the Immigrant Youth Centre in Markham

where they were fed a turkey dinner. From left to right: Janice Law, Nancy Li, Tif-

fany Li, Linki Lai, Louisa Lee, Vinzan Leung, Brian Hau, Harron Yan, Jason Chu

and Jeffrey Li

6

Events Pierre Elliott Trudeau

High School Begins its

Tenth Year

Nicholas Bolden

Subject Head

On October 18th, Pierre Elliott

Trudeau would have celebrated

his 92nd birthday. The school is

beginning its tenth year. To mark

the day the following was read to

all staff and students over the PA,

and cake was served to everyone

by Student Council .

Have you ever wondered why we

plant rosebushes each year in the

flowerbeds at the front of the

school? What about those charac-

ter paddles in the crossroads? Or

the canoe above the trophy cases?

Why do we call our teams

“Trailblazers”? Did you know our

school motto is “Strive Higher,

Soar Further”? Did you know that

our newsletter is called Pirouette?

Trudeau was an optimist. When he

left public life in 1984, he had

these words of encouragement for

the liberal party and the country:

“Our hopes are high. Our faith in

the people is great. Our courage is

strong. And our dreams for this

beautiful country will never die.”

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was Can-

ada’s most outgoing, vibrant, dig-

nified, bold, charismatic, aca-

demic, disciplined and passionate

Prime Minister. While his actions

may have been unconventional,

even rebellious, his achievements

of repatriating the Constitution,

fostering multiculturalism and

bilingualism, and promoting a

peaceful, egalitarian global vision

are acknowledged by both critics

and supporters. In all senses of

the word, Trudeau was a trail-

blazer.

Today Pierre Elliott Trudeau High

School is celebrating the begin-

ning of its ninth year as well as

what would have been our name-

sake’s 91st birthday. The school

was founded on the same ideas

that guided our former Prime Min-

ister: multiculturalism and bilin-

gualism, social consciousness and

global responsibility. The evi-

dence is all around us in our

physical symbols, but more im-

portantly in our social actions.

We continue to invest ourselves in

the spirit of community through

the Octagon Club, STRUT, the

International Student Association,

E- Action and the myriad of

events that celebrate our individu-

ality and our collectiveness.

The school was intended to be

named the “Berczy” school, and

for a long time it was the

“unnamed school in North Mark-

ham”; the founding administra-

tion, staff and community fought

to rename it. From its inception

and blessing from the Trudeau

Foundation to its current record of

academic excellence and determi-

nation to serve the larger commu-

nity, the staff and students of this

school – Pierre Elliott Trudeau

H i g h

School --

are com-

mitted to

fostering a

safe, sus-

t a i n a b l e

and im-

p r o v e d

world.

This is the

T r u d e a u

vision, the

T r u d e a u

c u l t u r e ,

the Tru-

deau ideology. You need to un-

derstand its heritage in order to be

able to live it. The students and

staff of Trudeau continue to blaze

trails academically, athletically,

extra-curricularly on local, provin-

cial, national and international

stages. “Just watch me” has be-

come our clarion call. So, when

you luxuriate in a piece of birth-

day cake today, or look at the new

rosebushes Student Council has

planted or participate in our recy-

cling program or put on your team

uniform or wonder about the por-

trait outside the main office, re-

member that you are part of the

Trudeau legacy. Today isn’t just a

celebration; it’s a reaffirmation of

our passion to live up to the ex-

pectations Pierre Elliott Trudeau

set.

Happy Birthday Trudeau!

Student Council President Vishnu Thillainathan plants the rose bush