making sessions which will bring

the abstract idea of Changemak-

ing into tangible action. Our

vision is that there will be groups

who sign up to go offsite to par-

ticipate in activities around the

city that could use volunteers to

support the idea that students

can indeed bring “Big Change

with Great Love.” Other stu-

dents, will have the opportunity

to remain onsite for those

changemaking opportuni-

ties….examples could include

but are not limited to…..sewing

stockings for babies in the NICU,

volunteering at

the foodbank,

going to volun-

teer at a commu-

nity care facility

etc. Please con-

sider supporting

this initiative by

helping create a

connection to an

agency or offering

opportunities for

our students.

One of the most

important gifts

that we will give

our students is

the understanding that they are

more powerful than they believe

and are so abundantly blessed.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiv-

ing weekend,

Heather Kaup

Principal

What happens when an entire

high school population is inspired

by the career stories of our

community? They become en-

gaged!! There is great power

when a student puts a goal on

the horizon that is bigger than

the moment they are in. They

begin to seek direction, they

work tirelessly toward success

and they rise above small distrac-

tions that can creep in. At

Mother Margaret Mary Catholic

High School, we couldn’t be

more grateful to the 41 commu-

nity members who came out to

our Career Dream Day to inspire

our students. Students were

able to choose three sessions

across different fields. From

engineers and doctors to a

sports team manager and ghost

writer… students were inspired

to hear that not every career

path is a straight line, how seizing

opportunity can lead you to

heights that are beyond one’s

wildest dreams.

It has been so neat to see how

many students are TALKING

about where they may want to

direct their next step in their

studies! It was a huge success.

This week, we will host our

school AWARDS night which

will take place at 7pm in our

school gym. We are celebrating

the large academic successes that

our students accomplished last

year.

We are seeing great success with

our student standups. Twice a

week, your son or daughter

touches base with their teacher

advisors. This has proven to be

a fantastic way for students to

get support in navigating the first

month of school. We spent our

Professional Development Day

designing key curricular lessons

that the students will participate

in over the course of the year.

We are very excited to see how

these lessons will support stu-

dent learning in the areas of

analysis and interpretation, visual

literacy, problem solving, creativ-

ity and self advocacy.

I have included a visual of our

school growth plan for those of

you who are interested in our

school theme, vision and goals

for the year.

We have begun planning for our

CHANGEMAKER DAY that will

take place on April 25th. In the

same way as I asked for support

for our Career Day, I ask you to

think if you may be able to help

with our Changemaker Day. All

our students will take part in

this day. The day will be kicked

off with a speaker, Spencer

Beach, who will challenge the

students to think about Change-

making as a response to tragedy.

Students will then have the op-

portunity to sign up in Change-

Gratitude and Celebration

STORM SOUND S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8

V O L U M E O N E

Dates To

Remember

Awards Night, Oc-

tober 3, 7pm

Thanksgiving Litur-

gy in Gym, October

4, 8:30AM

ELAA Post Second-

ary Event, October

12 in AM

MMM Activities

Week, MMM Day

October 17

Halloween Who

Dun It-October 31

in FLEX

Catholic Education

Week Sunday, No-

vember 4

POST SECONDARY

FLEXES:

Grant Mac Oct 1

U of A Oct 3

UBC OCT 10

P A G E 2

“To catch

the

reader's

attention,

place an

interesting

sentence

or quote

from the

story

here.”

Caption

describing

picture or

Cap

tion

de-

scri

bing

pic-

ture

or

grap

hic.

S T O R M S O U N D

2018 MMM CASINO FUNDRAISER

Dear Parents and Family Members of MMM Students:

Every two years, the Mother Margaret Mary Catholic School Fundraising Association is fortunate to participate in a Casino Fundraiser through the Alberta Government's Casino Fundraising program. Our last casino fundraiser held in 2016 raised $77,852 for the school. Our next Casino is scheduled for Saturday December 1, 2018 and Sunday December 2, 2018 at the Starlight Casino located in West Edmonton Mall. The precious funds from this year's casino will be used to fund much needed new computers for our com-puter labs.

We need and request your support!! To be able to participate in this upcoming Casino Fundraiser, we require a total of 44 volun-teers aged 18 years and older. Currently, we are short 15 volunteers!!! Volunteers can be parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, friends, neighbors, your work colleagues, etc .

Casino volunteer positions are easy to learn. You will be trained on the spot by our Casino Advisor and will meet really nice people who are volunteering! There are a group of positions open for various time slots during Saturday December 1 and Sunday Decem-ber 2 in the afternoon and evening. You can even choose to volunteer with a group of your friends or relatives!

For more information, contact:

Cynthia Pihowich, MMM Casino Chair, at 780-237-4855 or email at: bcpihowich@shaw.ca

P A G E 3

From The Couch of MR. Donald Looking for new

S T O R M S O U N D

Well, September has been ... interesting.

As a runner, I've been out in the snow, the sleet (whatever that is) the rain and the sun. It's been windy, calm, cool and sometimes (sort of) toasty. There have been days that have looked like spring, with the green grass poking through a blanket of white snow and puddles on the road. Days that are all winter, all day, and days where the sun, combined with the technicolour leaves and Big Alberta Blue, have been breathtakingly gorgeous. September has been an adventure.

Often, when people come to see me about feeling a "little off" we find ourselves searching for patterns. And, as I've not-ed about other months, sometimes the lightbulb goes off and we realize we are simply experiencing another round of "The Septembers".

Shorter, cooler days, increased demands on time, stress about the upcoming year and our goals for it... etc. Elevated stress is common when the pace of life moves from:

"Hmmm, should I enjoy another cup of coffee on the deck this morning?"

To:

"Get in the car, we're late!! .... Where are your shoes?!...Your brother forgot his bathing suit!... Can you grab one for him?! No, not that one... his competition one.... ugghhhhhhhhh... LET'S GO!!!!"

Which brings us to a flash of realization that, in a blaze of glory, the New Year has begun. Just becoming more aware of The Septembers can be liberating and , dare I say, calming.

Of course we're more stressed, we've traded flip flops for school shoes. We've traded late night, sun-drenched walks for cold, rainy rushing here and there. We've swapped leisurely walks on Whyte for stressful late afternoon commutes to soccer practice and our relaxed movie nights have been replaced by hours of study and stressful upcoming assign-ments.

So, what can we do about this?

Take a breath and choose to:

1. Become more mindful: Notice when you're elevated and when you're calm.

2. Balance planning and coordinating with "going with the flow".

3. Be kind to yourself and others ... EVERYONE is susceptible to The Septembers. We're all trying our best!

4. Ensure self care is practiced.

5. Put something on the horizon to look FORWARD to.

As always, my office door is open.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Psychologist,

Cory Donald

Chaplain Chatter

P A G E 4 V O L U M E O N E

Chaplains Chatter

Well the month of Sep-tember has sure flown by fast. Hopefully October brings some more pleas-ant weather for us all to be outside before winter a bit more.

Mr. Otto has had a great time this month having conversations and con-necting with students about all the things they have going on with their studies at MMM. We are so blessed with an awe-some student population of mixed and creative tal-ents. The power of the Holy Spirit is

truly present in our building every day.

With all the exams and assign-ments that are due and other things going on at school, student life can be stressful. Mr. Otto wel-comes anyone who needs a helping hand or to chat to stop by the Chapel for a visit.

Any students looking for service hours and do have some fun while doing some awesome work for oth-ers are welcomed to join “Chaplain’s Champs” a new club that Mr. Otto is starting at the school for all students. We will be

doing different social justice initiatives that help the community and people who have fallen on hard times. Visits to the Mustard Seed, clothing and food drives, and lots of fun events as well are some of the activities we be partici-pating in. Please join the google class-room “Chaplain’s Champs” to receive updated information closer to each

event. Classroom code is w1f1tm7.

Mr. Otto asks all students at MMM to start bringing in non-perishable food items to the chapel for our Thanksgiv-ing food drive next week.

God Bless

Mr. Otto

School

Growth

Plan

2018-

2019

“To catch the reader's attention, place an

interesting sentence or quote from the story

here.”

Caption describing

picture or graphic.

Thank you to our speakers for Career Day: You are all CHANGEMAKERS!

Dr. Billy Strean: Adventures in Joy, Kate Latis - Business Aviation Young Talent Initiative, Jay Ball- FC Edmonton, Dr. Dhiren Naidu-U of A

Health Pointe, Adrienne Lema- Personnel Support Programs, David Bouma-Edmonton Catholic Schools, Constable Rob Brown- Edmonton

Police, Tamara Lessard, Tamara Kanu Productions, Sheila Graham, University of Alberta, Michelle Devlin- Creating People, Jennifer Innes-

Concordia, Russ Belik – NAIT, Candy Khan- University of Alberta, Candace Mazur and Matt Pinard Active Physio Works, Heather Tjeerds-

ma, Loreen Wales – Revive Wellness, Ron Pettapiece- Bearspaw Engineering, Jessica Zapata-Infinite Fitness, Keith Fenrich- University of

Alberta, Alex Campbell-AHS Doug Boyer & Marco Marrelli-McLennan Ross, Dr. Glynis Price- Concordia, Dr. Garnet Cummings- BrainCare

Centre , Dr. Andrew Spak-Dominion Medical, Attila Solyom- Packers Plus, Cheryl Sneider -Auditor General of Alberta Sue Melik-Ledcor,

Stacey Torhjelm, Ian Stewart- Aurora Jet, Lisa Diederichs, Cory Donald- Forward Psychology

MMM Bus Pass Information 2018-19

Please be advised that monthly bus pass sales are cut off promptly on the dates stated below. We regret

that we are unable to extend the dates as we must comply with the schedule set out to us by Edmonton

Transit Services. Bus passes are sold at the Bookstore and can be purchased with cash, cheque, credit or

debit card. You may also choose to pre-purchase on your parent Powerschool account, and have your

child pick up their pass from the bookstore before the posted cut off date. Students are permitted one

bus pass only at the student rate of $54.00, If lost, the purchase price of a replacement pass is $75.00.

Bus Pass Sales Schedule 2018-19

Bookstore Hours

*Open daily during the lunch break

Month Bus Pass Sales Commence Bus Pass sales Close

September 2018 August 27 September 7

October September 27 October 5

November October 30 November 7

December November 29 December 7

January 2019 December 20 January 11

February January 30 February 7

March February 26 March 7

April March 22 April 5

May April 29 May 7

June May 30 June 7

Day Hours of operation a.m. Hours of Operation p.m.

Monday 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Thursday 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. 12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Friday 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

“To catch the reader's attention, place an

interesting sentence or quote from the story

here.”

Caption describing

picture or graphic.

Caption

describing

picture or

graphic.

S T O R M S O U N D

Gaudete et Exultate of the Holy Father Francis: A Call to Holiness in Today’s World

Chapter One - The Saints Who Encourage and Accompany Us

In March 2018, Pope Francis released an Apostolic Exhortation on the Call to Holiness in Today’s World. In that Exhortation, Pope Francis

commends "parents who raise their children with immense love, men and women who work hard to support their families, the sick, the

elderly religious who never lose their smile" (7), as people who are living out their holiness. The Pope guides us in the direction of the

Saints, who like us, were not perfect, but who never stopped trying to live out their call to holiness. When reflecting on these Saints’ lives

we need to focus on the big picture of what they accomplished rather than on their fragile, and at times imperfect, existence.

Here are a few highlights from the Exhortation that led way to some ‘Aha’ moments:

"Let us be spurred on by the signs of holiness that the Lord shows us through the humblest members who share a living witness by means

of faith and charity” (8).

"We should not grow discouraged before examples of holiness that appear unattainable” (11).

For us, God’s lay faithful, this means that we are to follow our own path and use the unique and special gifts He has given each of us. Pope

Francis stresses that we are not meant to copy others' acts of holiness, but to create our own. These acts can be subtle or grand, but both

have value, and both are essential in today’s world.

"A Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness"(19).

The saints lived their lives by following their various paths, and sometimes not everything they did was authentic or perfect; it is their lives

in totality that need to be contemplated.

Our lives too, need to be seen as a mission that we allow to be transformed by listening to God. Our lives may not always be perfect, but

their totality will demonstrate our call to holiness.

"Our lives do not have a mission; our lives are a mission” (27).

Friends, in our lives we are often called to many tasks; being a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, friend, daughter, son, boss, etc. As such,

we tend to live our lives in a hurried and busy manner! Pope Francis asks us to slow down and remember that rushing through our lives is

not living our lives as a mission, but that it is living our lives to the fullest that is our mission! It is how we carry out our day to day tasks,

how we do our jobs, and how we raise our children or how we care for our aging parents, just to name a few.

Sometimes it might feel as if we are living our lives as a mission impossible, but with faith and dedication to Christ, our lives can become a

mission possible – “Go and make disciples baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (MT 28:19).

God Bless,

Susanna Kaup

Secondary Religious Education Consultant

7 V O L U M E O N E

Where is God in my Life? A Reflection

by Fr. Glenn McDonald, CSB

“Where is God in my life?”

This is a question I get asked a lot as a priest. Theology can point towards an answer, but only an experience from someone’s every-

day life will satisfy as a response.

I am embarrassed to admit that even as a seminarian and later as a priest, I was having a lot of trouble seeing God in my own life.

How could I then point out the presence of God in someone else’s life? Thankfully, God began to teach me how to recognize His presence in

my own life, which enabled me to help other people see His presence in their lives, too. He used a special relationship to do this.

I am very fortunate to have my grandmother living in Edmonton. Her name is Lulu. And yes, she is as adorable as her name.

During the four years I spent studying at the University of Alberta, which was only a short bus ride away from my grandmother’s

house, I rarely visited her. I was always too busy. I had every excuse not to go: I had homework to do; the bus would take too long; I had plans

with my friends; I would go next week.

When I completed my degree and was departing from Edmonton, I had to say goodbye to my grandmother. Despite the fact that I had

visited her only once a semester, she was very sad to see me go. In that moment, my degree suddenly seemed empty. I could see how precious

my grandmother’s presence was in my life. I had been so blind, but it was too late. It was time for me to leave the city.

Fortunately, I was given a second chance many years later, when my religious community appointed me to Edmonton. I resolved to

visit my grandmother each Friday. And I did!

Our visits followed the same pattern. I would bring her flowers. She would make me a sandwich and a cup of tea. We would talk

about her week, how the family was doing, and if she had heard from relatives in Saskatchewan. I would share about my work. After an hour, I

would depart. Each visit was ordinary, but I always felt fulfilled when I left — like I had participated in something of great value.

In 1 John, we read, “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Over time, I realized that my weekly visits with my

grandma were an experience of love. An experience of genuine love is an experience of God. I became aware that these visits were one of the

ways that God was present and active in my life.

What are the situations in your life in which you experience sincere love? Who are the people in your life who love you the most,

with self-sacrificial, giving love? It is in these situations, and interacting with these people, that God’s presence and action in your life becomes

real.

Today, when a student asks me, “Where is God?” I respond with, “Let me give you an example from my own life. Her name is Lulu.”

“Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” - 1 John 4:8

October 2018

Praise to the Lord all of you, God’s servants. Blessed be the name of our God now and ever.

From the rising up of the sun, May the Lord be praised,

Praise to the name of the Lord! (Praise to the Lord, Klusmeier)

The lyrics of this beautiful song, which we often sing at church, offer us a lens to explore what it means to walk humbly with our God. If we act justly and love

tenderly, then our life’s journey, with Him always at our side, becomes an act of praise. This is the heart of what happens when we walk together in God’s love.

Edmonton Catholic Schools is growing! As I write this newsletter, our enrolment is at 43,200 students, an increase from last year, with a final count being done

on September 28. It is truly a cause for celebration that an ever-increasing number of families are entrusting us with the awesome and sacred responsibility of

nurturing their children and helping them to grow to their fullest potential as members of the Body of Christ.

We were delighted by the announcement from Alberta Education that the scheduled modernization for our Ben Calf Robe K-9 School will now be a replace-

ment school instead. Plans for this new facility will increase the capacity to 700 students and will include a cultural learning space.

Archbishop Smith and Bishop Motiuk joined us for a joyous celebration on September 19 for the site blessing and ceremonial ground breaking at our newest

addition to ECSD, Divine Mercy Catholic Elementary School in the Orchards. A beautiful, innovative learning space for that community will open in September

of 2020.

We are very fortunate to have the leadership of two District Chaplains in our District.

Father Julian Bilyj, who also serves as the pastor of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Parish, has served our students and staff as a teacher and Chaplain since

2014. Father Glenn McDonald is a new addition to our team this year. Father Glenn is a priest of the Congregation of St. Basil. He was raised in Airdrie, Alber-

ta; trained as a mechanical engineer at the University of Alberta, and was ordained at St. Basil's Church, Toronto in 2008. For the past five years, he has been

serving as Chaplain at St. Joseph's College at the University of Alberta. In addition to his work at ECSD,

Father Glenn will be assisting at St. Alphonsus Church / St. Clare Church.

The Archdiocese has just appointed Father Andrew Leung, CSB as the Archbishop’s Delegate for Catholic Education. We look forward to him joining us to cele-

brate and form our faith!

Edmonton Catholic Schools has partnered with Alberta Health Services to create a series of videos that will provide parents with information about a variety of

mental health topics and strategies to use at home to support their children. These videos are supported through the Regional Collaborative Service Delivery.

Each month a new video will be posted on www.ecsd.net on the Mental Health page. The first video, Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety, is now available.

Last spring, we announced that we would be implementing a dual credit Aviation Program in partnership with WestJet and Mount Royal University. The pro-

gram has now officially launched, and we have 16 students from across the District who are taking advantage of this excellent learning opportunity.

There are many ways for you to keep informed about the many wonderful things that are going on in our District. Visit www.ecsd.net, or follow us on Face-

book and Twitter.

I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving, enjoying time with your loved ones and celebrating the goodness of God in your lives!

Loving God,

Who created and sustains the universe, who loved us all into being, and who gives us every good thing,

We thank you for the blessings that you bring into our lives.

We thank you for the gift of life itself, and for the fresh start of each new day,

We thank you for our friends, our families, and our neighbors whose human love is an image of your divine care.

Help us to recognize all the good things, and magnify our desire to share what we have with others,

so that they too may be grateful to you.

Amen.

(adapted from A Thanksgiving Prayer, www.americanmagazine.org)

Sincerely, Joan Carr Superintendent