St. Paul’s Junior High

340 Newfoundland Drive

St. John’s, NL A1A 3R9

Ph. (709) 753-6630

http://stpaulsjh.net

F O L L O W S T . P A U L ’ S O N

T W I T T E R @ S T P A U L S J H

Viper News Volume 8: April 2017

IMPORTANT DATES

• April 7-8

Eastern Regional Science & Technology Fair

• April 7-13

French & Friendship Ontario exchange trip

• Thursday, April 13

Last day before Easter Break

• Friday, April 14 - Sunday, April 23

School is closed for the spring break. It will

reopen on Monday, April 24. Day 1

• Monday, April 24

School reopens

• Monday, April 24

Let’s Talk Science Challenge-MUN

• Wednesday, April 26

Talk to Your Kids About Money Day

• Wednesday, April 26

Rotary

• May 5 & 6

Heritage Fair at Waterford Valley High

• Saturday, May 6

Chess Championship at MQP

• Thursday, May 11

School Dance

• Thursday, May 18

Grade 9 School Leaving Celebration

• Friday, May 19

Staff PD

• Monday, May 22

May 24 weekend holiday. School closed.

School Scene There are so many great things happening in our school! Recently we held a celebration to highlight the many accomplishments of our students. We are very proud of our Vipers who continue to do amazing things in and out of school. If you have student news to share, please let us know. You can e-mail details and pictures to lisabudgell@nlesd.ca

Congratulations to Sarah Pace on being a finalist for the St. John’s Youth Athlete of the

Year, and to Zaira Freda and Mahiba Khan for being nominated for St. John’s Youth of the

Year. We wish good luck to these outstanding young ladies!

Congratulations to our Jr. High Provincial winners of

WorkPlaceNL’s, "Who Wants To Save a Life." They

were recently presented with a plaque and a $5000

cheque for our school. WAY TO GO VIPERS!

As part of the consultation process for their

Strategic Plan, members from the Newfound-

land and Labrador English School District re-

cently engaged in discussions with a group of

our students to get their input on various issues.

Students are pictured with Mr. Darrin Pike, Mr.

Darryl Feener and Ms. Heather May.

Science Fair

On Tuesday, March 21st, St. Paul's held its annual school science fair. We had more than 85 projects in the fair from

Grade 7 to Grade 9. Thanks to all the students for putting so much great work into their projects. Thanks as well to par-

ents and science teachers who supported the students, and to all our wonderful judges.

A number of projects were chosen to move on to the regional science fair - projects that were just a little bit different/

original, or projects that were particularly well done. Although some of the students may not be able to attend the region-

al fair due to previous commitments, we would like to recognize their accomplishment:

Abby Pace, Charlotte Muise & Brynn Furlong, Mahiba Khan & Hailey Robichaud, Annika Healey, Kathleen Curran, Mat-

thew Woodrow & KC Hayes, Lia Dumaresque-Correa & Sophia Eastman, Felicity Forward, Emma Howell, Sophie Bar-

ron & Reagan Gibbons, Eric Duffett & Jacob Scott, Brianna Dunphy & Claire Bradley. Adam Bishop, Thomas Byrne,

Kate Bishop & Avery Gamble, Joshua Bonnell, Jayne Hynes.

This year's Regional Science Fair will be held on Friday, April 7th and Saturday, April 8th. Public viewing will be on Sat-

urday the 8th from 10:00 - 12:00 - please come by and support our students, and have a look at some of the fantastic

projects on display.

Heritage Fair

We are very proud of the winners of our Heritage Fair who

will be moving on to the regional fair at Waterford Valley

High on May 5th and 6th. Congratulations to Sara Moores,

Michael Kelly, John Haire, Ella Banfield, Emma Coady, John

Hiscock, and Olivia Jones.

Gr. 8 Girls Volleyball

Congratulations to Mr. Norman and our Grade 8 Girls Volleyball team on hosting a successful invitational tournament on March 10-11. Our girls played very well and represented their school with pride. Good luck to them in the U-!4 this weekend at the Powerplex in St. John’s. Goooo Vipers!

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Our St. Paul’s teams had a stellar performance in the Math league. One of our teams received 1st place. Ranjeevan Illango, Chunhao Hann, Tristan Paranavitana and Safwaan Shams. Our other team with Brynn Furlong, Mahiba Khan, Avani Adluri and Kathleen Curran also did an amazing job. They scored 3 out of 4 in the final relay round, a feat which few teams accomplished. AWESOME!

On Saturday March 18, Clare Noseworthy won the Grade 7 girls provincial Knights of Columbus Free Throw championships in Grand Falls by making a total of 25 out of 35 free throw shots! GOOD JOB! Clare!

Congratulations to Jake Billard on his recent accomplishments at a diving meet in Halifax. Jake won gold in all three of his age group events and gold in all three of the open age group events as well. WAY TO GO Jake!!!

Congratulations to Emily Ricketts on a tremendous performance a recent provincial swim meet in St. John’s. Emily won 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and broke 3 provincial records. FANTASTIC WORK Emily!!!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION As part of their Physical Education program, the grade 8 students enjoyed a great day of skiing at Pippy Park ‘

CHESS CLUB Our Chess Club is up and running! Students should see Ms. Janes if they are interested in joining. We are hoping to have a strong showing at the NL School Chess Association’s School Team Chess Championships on Saturday, May 6th

OUTDOORS CLUB The outdoor recreation program with Mr. Drover will continue after the Easter break. Students meet on Thursdays from 3:00 to 4:00. All students who have an interest in hiking, camping, outdoor survival, etc. are asked to see Mr. Drover to to sign up. It is open to all students. Some activities will include: Setting up camp and spending a night in the woods, Cooking on an open fire, Wilderness first aid, Map and Com-pass use, GPS, Building an outdoor surviv-al structure, and Lean to shelter.

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The Rooms

This term the grade 8 Social Studies classes were working on a unit about World War One. To further this learning experience we had the opportunity to attend a fieldtrip to The Rooms. While there students were taken through a guided tour that retold the Battle of Beaumont Ha-mel, completed research on soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment, and enjoyed time to view, ask questions and even dress in war attire! A great learning experience!

ArtSmart

St Paul's is very happy to have received an ArtSmarts grant for $4900.00 which allows our grade nine French Immersion students to learn about life in the 1920's and 30's. Using our grade nine curriculum, visiting artists Ruth Lawrence, Beni Malone, Greg Bruce and Melanie Ozon are rotating students through various topics of this era including music, fashion, advertising and circus performance. We will finish the project with a performance after the Easter break.

Grade 8 students proudly display their latest “monster” creation in Home Economics class.

Parliament of Canada - Youth Connection- Speakers’ Speech Writing Contest

In honour of the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the Speakers of the Senate

and the House of Commons are hosting a speech writing competition (500 - 750 words) for Canadians aged 12 to 17. The topic is "What Parliament Means to Me". Finalists will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Ottawa in June 2017. While in Ottawa, the finalists will meet with the Speakers of the Senate and the House of Commons and be recognized at a reception at Parliament. Further details about the contest and a video can be found on the Parliament of Cana-da's Youth Connection page, https://www.facebook.com/PARLyouth/app/941345315938094. The contest closes April 21, 2017.

Horizon Scholarships

Applications for the Johnson HORIZONS program are now open. A single student can be nominated by each Grade 9 school in the province. 50 candidates will be se-lected from these nominations. The HORIZONS winners will receive a total of $1,200 and are welcomed into a leadership development program that will engage them throughout high school and prepare them for success as a student at Memorial University.

Nominations are due by May 1, 2017. Candidates must be nominated by their school: If you are a student or parent interested in the Johnson HORIZONS program, please talk to your school's guidance counsellor about the nomination process. Details can be found here: https://www.mun.ca/student/leadership/horizons/

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Notes from Music Department Congratulations to all band and choir students on an absolutely fabulous Spring Fling! Thank you to everyone who generously donated desserts, raffle items, and their time. We would es-pecially like to thank Ms Lindsay Janes (raffle organizer), Ms Jill Rowe (caterer extraordinaire) and Mme Jessica Webb (emcee) for their time and talent. We couldn’t have done it without you. Most of all, we would like to thank everyone for coming to the show and supporting our students. We are happy to report that over $8000 was raised for our breakfast and music pro-grams! Coming up next:

• Rotary Music Festival featuring our Junior High Choir, 7/8/9 Symphonic Band, Jazz Com-bo, and Jazz Band. The evening concert for all groups is Sunday, April 30

th at Holy Heart The-

atre, 7:00pm

• June performance at feeder schools by the Jazz Band and Show Choir our annual Jazz Band and Show Choir *Excursion ‘Round the Bay, June 19-20 *Pending approval of a Cultural Connections Travel Grant from the Government of Newfound-land and Labrador.

Student Leadership Our student leadership team continues to be very active in our school and communi-ty. Thanks to the student leaders who held a bake sale and donated $250 to help refugees locally. Thanks to Zaira Freda who hosted a bake sale as part of her “make 150 count” , thanks as well to students , staff , and parents who helped her raise 455.90 All proceeds will be going to Habitat for Humani-ty and the Gathering Place, along with the rest of the money going to the school breakfast program, and stu-dent council so they can help more students have a won-

derful opportunity at WE day . GREAT CITIZENSHIP Zaira :-) Good luck to our leadership team who are focussed on raising awareness and funds for sev-eral causes this month. Savannah Stamp and Mahiba Khan had a fundraiser on Wednes-day in support of Savannah’s cousin, Morgan Pardy who was in a terrible car accident re-cently and is paralysed from the waist down. Students are also collecting items for the SPCA. Items like soft blankets, cat litter, food, toys or hot water bottles are gratefully accepted. Last but not least, the leadership team are collecting donations for our bus driver, Gary, who suffered a heart attack last week . We hope to help ease the strain meal preparation by giv-ing him some pre-made meals from a local grocery store.

Yearbook Pictures Wanted

The yearbook committee is looking for team/club photos for this year's book. Please send pictures (please include a simple descriptor with the picture) to annehatcher@nlesd.ca. For clarity purposes, please choose “actual size” when sending pictures taken with a cell-phone .

Directors Blog Our director of Education, Mr. Darrin Pike discusses World Autism Day in his latest Blog. Read his comments on this and past topics, right here: https://www.nlesd.ca/about/directorsblog/index.jsp

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Spring Fishcake Order

We hope you're ready for more fishcakes! Just in time for the break, we are once again having a fishcake fundraiser.

Important Dates:

Wednesday 29 March - Fishcake letter and order forms were distributed

Wednesday 5 April - Deadline for orders and money to be returned to the school

Wednesday 12 April - Fishcake pickup at school

*If the order form doesn't make its way home to you, you can get a copy of the letter and the form on our website

Important Notes on Reporting Absences and Using PowerSchool Information

REPORTING ABSENCES: Just a reminder to parents to please let us know if your child will be absent from school. You can notify us through our app, which can be found in the app store, or by e-mailing your child’s homeroom teacher and our school secretary, victoriaelliott@nlesd.ca UPDATING STUDENT INFORMATION: If you have made changes in any of your contact information please e-mail our secretary, victoriaelliott@nlesd.ca so that she can update the information in our Powerschool database. This may include changes in e-mail, phone numbers, address, or emergency contacts. POWERSCHOOL DATA: All families should have their username and password for PowerSchool. This will provide you with all the assessment data collected from your child. PowerSchool will also give you information regarding your child’s attendance.

Student & Parent Resources from NLESD The NLESD has partnered with Eastern Health to provide students and parents/guardians with resources and infor-mation about a variety of Health and Wellness topics: Child Health, Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, Injury Prevention, Tobacco-Free Living, Puberty, Mental Wellness, Parenting, and Talking to your Teen about Sexuality and Sexual Health. As well, the NLESD website has resources about Internet and Social Media Safety for students and parents/guardians. To access these resources, go to www.nlesd.ca, click on ‘Students and Families’ and then ‘Resources’

Parent Programs for Mental Health The Janeway’s Mental Health & Addictions Program is offering parent information sessions on the following topics: Anxiety in Teenagers- What It Looks Like & What You Can Do to Help (May 1 from 6-8pm) Challenging Behaviour—Identifying, Understanding & Responding to the Problem (May 29 from 6-8pm) These sessions will be held at the District Conference Centre (40 Strawberry Marsh Road, St. John's) Please call 777-4020 to register for seats at Conference Centre.

Talk To Your Kids About Money Talk with our kids about Money initiative is Wednesday, April 26. Any day can be “Talk With Our Kids About Money Day”, but on this day we will draw attention to the importance of talking with youth about mon-ey and money matters. The “Talk With Our Kids About Money Day” website is: http://talkwithourkidsaboutmoney.com/

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Updated Mobile Devices Policy—Please Take Note!

As we mentioned in our February newsletter, the acceptable use of cell phones and other mobile devices has been a hot topic over the past few months, both in the media and in our own school. As an educational institution our priorities are:

• To ensure the safety of our students

• To provide the best learning environment for all students

• To educate our students about acceptable behaviour, including while using tech-nology

• To use technology appropriately in our learning environment We started by reviewing our current practice and spoke with other intermediate and high schools about their expecta-tions. We asked teachers for their feedback, heard from a number of parents, and met with the student leadership group as well as the school council to get their input. As of Monday, March 6th, here are the expectations about the use of mobile devices at St. Paul’s Junior High:

• Students are permitted to bring cell phones/electronic devices to school, understanding that they are doing so at their own risk. The school is not responsible for loss or damage of these devices.

• Students are not permitted to use cell phones/electronics during class time unless they are specifically directed to do so by a teacher.

• Class time begins at 8:50 with the homeroom bell.

• During class time, cell phones must be turned off or put on ‘Do Not Disturb’ and must be put away—in a locker, in the teach-er’s cell phone basket, or in a pocket—we should not see them, and we should not hear them. Ear buds must be put away as well.

• Teachers may require that cell phones be placed in the basket or left in the lockers during particular activities (i.e. tests).

• Students may not use their phones in the hallways between classes, or if they have left class for any reason.

• If a teacher allows students to use their devices during class time for a particular instructional purpose (such as accessing their GAFE account information or using the stopwatch function), they are to be used for that purpose only.

• Students are permitted to use their devices during recess and lunch time.

• Students are not permitted to record audio/video or take pictures in school unless it is under teacher direction, for exam-ple for a class project. This includes non-class time such as before/after school, recess, lunch, gym nights and dances.

• If students need to contact parents during class time, they must use the office phone. If parents need to contact students during class time, please contact the office at 753-6630.

If students do not adhere to these expectations, there will be a range of consequences depending on the nature and severity of the infraction. Generally speaking, for the first infraction, students will result in the student having to or pass in their phone at the office in the morning and collect it at 3:00 (or leave their phone at home) for a week. A second infraction means that the conse-quence will be in place for a month’s duration If there is a third infraction, the student will have to leave the phone at home or at the office for the remainder of the year. Just as a reminder, homeroom starts at 8:50, recess is from 10:54—11:09, lunch is from 12:07—12:57 and our school day ends at 3:00. If you need to reach your child during class time, please call the office at 753-6630. If your child needs to reach you during class time, they must use the office phone rather than their device. We encourage you to discuss these expectations with your child, and we appreciate your support as we continue our efforts to provide the best learning environment possible at St. Paul’s. If you have any comments or feedback about our updated cell phone/mobile device policy, please let us know by contacting Mr. Drover or Ms. Budgell.

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