April 30, 2007

I want to take this opportunity to thank all volunteer students and staff for their outstanding work on making our 50th Anniversary Reunion a memorable occasion.  Special thanks go to our Office Administrator, Jackie Couch, for her tremendous dedication in making this extraordinary event flawless.

This has been quite an impressive week, beginning news that two YMCI students are amongst 10 across Canada as recipients of the Western National Scholarship President’s Excellence Award.  All applicants wrote a 1250 word essay on a social issue.  Staff congratulate:

                   Safir Jamal         and        Leah Resnick

Also, the recipient of the Spire Award for this year is:

                                          Nicole Rose

 who will be whisked away by limousine on Thursday to attend a special gala where she will receive her award.

The Spring 2007 edition of SkateBoard Magazine features a story where —  

                                   Keaton Evans

is acknowledged for his filming expertise in the highly competitive field of skateboard filming.  We’re all very proud of Keaton’s success.

And, yet more good news.   The Bloorview Kids Rehab Centre has appointed: 

                                      Salma Hassouna

as Volunteer Ambassador.  We congratulate Salma on this very prestigious appointment.

Today, students eagerly stood in line as they found out their blood types prior to donating at the Blood Donor Clinic on May 9th in the single gym.  All are welcomed.

York University is accepting nominations for the Excellence in Teaching Award.  To find out more about nominating a teacher, please go to http://www.edu.yorku.ca/alumni for more information.

Upcoming Events:

Note:  Monday, May 7th, Staff Meeting, dismissal at 2:20 pm

May 7 – Gwynne Dyer presentation to staff and selected senior students.  Topic:  Climate Wars.  The invitation has been extended to parents.  Please let Jackie Couch know if you plan to attend. Time: 2:30 p.m. in Titan Hall.

May 7–  7:15 p.m. – Ward Forum Meeting at Sunny View PS, 450 Blythwood (Bayview & Lawrence).  Guest speaker:  Eric Roher, Author of  “An Educator’s Guide to Violence in Schools,” and Lawyer and Chair of the Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Education Law Group.May 9— Blood Donor Clinic at YMCI

May 15 – Student Council Election Speeches

May 18 – Student Council Elections

May 23 – York Mills Student Leadership Conference @ Forest Valley

May 25 – Athletic Banquet at The Latvian Centre

May 28 – Staff Meeting Schedule

May 3l – Yearbook Distribution and Fun Fair

June 1 – Formal

April 25, 2007

Please note: Staff meeting has been moved to Monday, May 7th, with Gwynne Dyer presenting at 2:30 p.m. Monday, April 30th will be a regular day schedule.

Students have been addressed on several previous occasions regarding school policy, and most recently, on Friday, of the Board decision to ban the use of all electronic communications and media devises in schools. In Friday’s announcement, I reiterated that the use of these electronics is in opposition to school policy and Board policy. Students are to turn off all devices prior to entering the school. Students who oppose this policy will be asked to have parents pick up the devices at their earliest convenience.

As previously mentioned, an excellent tutorial for note-taking and study skills can be found on the school’s web page under the heading of Peer Tutor. Also, don’t forget to visit the Guidance site for weekly announcements.

Please join us in congratulating Nicole Rose, the 2007 SPIRE Scholarship recipient for York Mills Collegiate Institute! Teachers are delighted for Nicole, and we look forward to her awards Recognition Reception next week.

There will be a table set up on Parent/Teacher Interview day for a fundraiser for a Grand Piano for YMCI. Our financial goal is $20,000. As well, the alumni agreed to make the fundraising campaign available at the 50th reunion for those wishing to make a contribution. While our goal is a grand piano, we would also gratefully receive information or donations of any kind of piano to augment our practice facilities for the growing number of talented pianists.

I look forward to meet with parents and guardians on April 25 during Parent/Teacher Interviews.

April 26 — Dr. Adam Cox Presentation, Leaside C.I., 7:00 pm. – tickets available at YMCI during the day or at the event.

April 27, 28, 29 — YMCI 50th Anniversary Reunion — call Jackie Couch at the school for more details

April 30 – Regular day schedule. Gwynne Dyer presentation moved to May 7th.

May 7th – Gwynne Dyer presentation to staff and selected senior students. Topic: Climate Wars. The invitation has been extended to parents. Please let Jackie Couch know if you plan to attend. Time: 2:30 p.m. in Titan Hall.

May 9 — Blood Donor Clinic at YMCIMay 15 – Student Council Election Speeches

May 18 – Student Council Elections

May 23 – York Mills Student Leadership Conference @ Forest Valley

May 25 – Athletic Banquet at The Latvian Centre

May 28 – Staff Meeting ScheduleMay 3l – Yearbook Distribution and Fun Fair

June 1 – Formal

April 24, 2007

Please note:  Staff meeting has been moved to Monday, May 7^th, with Gwynne Dyer presenting at 2:30 p.m.  Monday, April 30^th will be a regular day schedule. Students have been addressed on several previous occasions regarding school policy, and most recently, on Friday, of the Board decision to ban the use of all electronic communications and media devises in schools.  In Friday’s announcement, I reiterated that the use of these electronics is in opposition to school policy and Board policy.  Students are to turn off all devices prior to entering the school.  Students who oppose this policy will be asked to have parents pick up the devices at their earliest convenience. 

As previously mentioned, an excellent tutorial for note-taking and study skills can be found on the school’s web page under the heading of Peer Tutor.  Also, don’t forget to visit the Guidance site for weekly announcements. Please join us in congratulating Nicole Rose, the 2007 SPIRE Scholarship recipient for York Mills Collegiate Institute!   Teachers are delighted for Nicole, and we look forward to her awards Recognition Reception next week. 

There will be a table set up on Parent/Teacher Interview day for a fundraiser for a Grand Piano for YMCI.  Our financial goal is $20,000.  As well, the alumni agreed to make the fundraising campaign available at the 50^th reunion for those wishing to make a contribution.  While our goal is a grand piano, we would also gratefully receive information or donations of any kind of piano to augment our practice facilities for the growing number of talented pianists.I look forward to meet with parents and guardians on April 25 during Parent/Teacher Interviews.April 26 — Dr. Adam Cox Presentation, Leaside C.I., 7:00 pm. – tickets available at YMCI during the day or at the event.April 27, 28, 29 — YMCI 50th Anniversary Reunion — call Jackie Couch at the school for more detailsApril 30 – Regular day schedule.  Gwynne Dyer presentation moved to May 7^th. May 7^th – Gwynne Dyer presentation to staff and selected senior students.  Topic:  Climate Wars.  The invitation has been extended to parents.  Please let Jackie Couch know if you plan to attend.  Time:  2:30 p.m. in Titan Hall.May 9 — Blood Donor Clinic at YMCIMay 15 – Student Council Election SpeechesMay 18 – Student Council ElectionsMay 23 – York Mills Student Leadership Conference @ Forest ValleyMay 25 – Athletic Banquet at The Latvian CentreMay 28 – Staff Meeting ScheduleMay 3l – Yearbook Distribution and Fun FairJune 1 – Formal  

April 10, 2007

Hoping everyone had a restful long weekend.  Staff and students will be quite busy this week with preparations for numerous events.  Students are gearing up for their role in York Mills C.I.’s  50th Reunion ceremonies.  Music and dance are in the air as we count down to the Multicultural Assembly (morning) and Evening Show (7:00 p.m.) on Thursday, April 12th.  

Last week our stage crew, under the direction of Cherill Hiebert, won the “Most Distinguished Stage Crew Award” for YMCI.  Jeffery Price won the Tyler R.R. Johnson, Founding President’s Award, and J.T. Pickering is honoured with the position of District Coordinator for Toronto’s Stage Crew Council.  Many thanks to Jaime McGowen, past stage manager,  for her assistance and support.

I have included below a list of valuable sites for students who are looking for more efficient strategies for taking notes and for studying.  More information will be available on the York Mills website under the heading of Peer Tutoring.

Note Taking Guides: 

Note taking from lectures – from YORK U   (includes Cornell style & mind maps): http://www.yorku.ca/cdc/lsp/notesonline/note1.htm

Note taking from Research Reading – from U Toronto:

 http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/notes.html 

Note making & organization exercises – from U Victoria:

http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/notemake.html

Plagiarism – from Dalhousie:

http://infolit.library.dal.ca/tutorials/Plagiarism/definition_dal_define.html 

Fast facts: Learning & Studying Skills – from U.
Guelph:

http://www.learningcommons.uoguelph.ca/ByFormat/OnlineResources/Fastfacts/index.html

General Writing and Research Guides: 

TDSB Research Guide (for secondary school students)

http://www.tdsb.on.ca/wwwdocuments/programs/cyberlinks/docs/StudentResearchGuide2005.pdf 

Online Writing Lab at Purdue (for university students):

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/index2.html

Important dates:

April 12 – Multicultural Show — 7:00 p.m.April 18 — School Council Meeting — 7:30 p.m.  Our special guest this evening is our Education Minister, Kathleen Wynne.

April 19 – Report card distribution 

April 25 — Parent/Teacher Interviews

April 26 — Dr. Adam Cox Presentation, Leaside C.I., 7:00 pm. — tickets available at YMCI during the day or at the event.

April 27, 28, 29 — YMCI 50th Anniversary Reunion — call Jackie Couch at the school for more details

April 30 – I have arranged for Gwynne Dyer to address staff at our next staff meeting at 2:30 p.m.  He will be talking about his 4-part documentary on Climate Wars.   I am extending this invitation to parents and to a number of senior science and social science students.  Please let Jackie Couch know if you plan to attend.

May 9 — Blood Donor Clinic at YMCI

 

April 2, 2007

Note:  School Council Meeting moved to April 18.  The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Education, will be presenting to parents.

Thursday, April 12, FRENCH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE EVENT, Featuring Graham Fraser, Commissioner of Official Languages:  7:00-9:00 pm — North Toronto C.I. — 70 Roehampton Ave. (1 block north of Eglinton east of Yonge).

Thank you to parents and students for your support for last  Thursday’s Gr. 10 Literacy test.  Your support enabled us to accommodate students who required extra time for writing.  Wishing success to all Gr. 10 students.  

Tryouts for spring athletics continue.  Again, students are to listen to announcements and check the announcement board in the office for more information.

Ms. Kawasaki is creating a unit on Note-taking.  This will be available to students in the near future via our website under Tutoring.  All Grade 10 students receive a unit on note-taking through their History course.  The on-line unit will help students to better extrapolate what’s important in an assigned reading.

Mid-semester is fast approaching – a time to take stock of how you’re doing in your subjects.  See your teachers for extra help on assignments and study tips.  Exam time is also fast approaching.  Check your student planner for exam dates.  There are no exemptions, excepting a doctor’s note clearing stating that you are not able to participate in the final evaluation, for missing final evaluations.

Dates to remember:

April 12 – Multicultural Show — 7:00 p.m.

April 18 — School Council Meeting — 7:30 p.m.  Our special guest this evening is our Education Minister, Kathleen Wynne.

April 19 – Report card Distribution 

April 25 — Parent/Teacher Interviews

April 26 — Dr. Adam Cox Presentation, Leaside C.I., 7:00 pm. 

April 27, 28, 29 — YMCI 50th Anniversary Reunion — call Jackie Couch at the school for more details

April 30 – I have arranged for Gwynne Dyer to address staff at our next staff meeting at 2:30 p.m.  He will be talking about his 4-part documentary on Climate Wars.   I am extending this invitation to parents and to a number of senior science and social science students.  Please let Jackie Couch know if you plan to attend.

May 9 — Blood Donor Clinic at YMCI

 

March 26, 2007

Reminder:  Gr. 10 Literacy Test (OSSLT) on Thursday, March 29.  Regular classes are cancelled for all students not writing the test.  Appointments for tutorials, labs, etc. may be made with subject teachers, beginning at 1:00 pm.

For extra practice, see sites below:

Grammar Practice for Gr. 10 students Guide to Grammar and Writing  
  http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/  

Quizzes are submitted and corrected online.  Very clear explanations and examples provided.  Link on peer tutoring page of school website.EQAO’s Official OSSLT Practice Site for Students
  http://www.eqao.com/Students/Secondary/10/10.aspx?Lang=E&gr=10&Aud=Students&App=Students

There is a link to this site on the “News & Events” page of the York Mills School Website. http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/yorkmillsci/

 Tryouts for spring althletics are underway.  Please listen to announcements and check announcement board outside the main office for sport and times for tryouts.

Ms. Zohouri and students from the Iranian Club organized a festive New Year celebration last Friday during lunch.  Students and staff enjoyed listening to Persian singing, participated in dance, watched a cultural powerpoint, and enjoyed treats prepared by parents.  Thanks go to Ms. Zohouri and students for the wonderful presentation.

Mid-semester is fast approaching–a time to take stock at how you’re doing in your subjects.  See your teachers for extra help on assignments and study tips.  Exam time is also fast approaching.  Check your student planner for exam dates.  There are no exemptions, excepting a doctor’s note clearing stating that you are not able to participate in the final evaluation, for missing final evaluations.

Dates to remember:

April 16 — School Council Meeting — 7:30 p.m.

April 25 — Parent/Teacher Interviews

April 26 — Dr. Adam Cox Presentation, Leaside C.I., 7:00 pm

April 27, 28, 29 — YMCI 50th Anniversary Reunion — call Jackie Couch at the school for more details

May 9 — Blood Donor Clinic at YMCI

March 9, 2007

Update on Swim Team Results at OFSAA

Gold Medals:  Lauren Daly — 2 Medals — 50 Free/50 Back (SWAD Division)

Gold Medal:  Marius Hattingh — 100 Fly (Open)

Bronze:  Nicholas Poon, David Hatch, Caleb Chung, Marius Hattingh — 4 x 100 Free Relay (Open)

4th — Marius Hattingh, 100 Free

5th — David Hatch, 100 IM

7th — David Hatch, 200 Free

7th — Nicholas Poon, 100 IM

8th — Nicholas Poon, 50 Free

10th — Daphne Cheung, 100 IM

11th — Ali Najapour, 50 Free

19th — Daphne Cheung, 100 Back

20th — Shauna Tedder, 100 Breast

21st — Medley Relay — Hui Ling Puah, Shauna Tedder Patricia Goodman, Amie Forbes

31st — Hui Ling Puah, 200 Free

Open boys and girls combined — 3rd place

Overall combined — 11th out of 265 schools

Heba Adullah has been chosen as a Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces Citizenship Award and Scholarship Recipient.  Applications were received from 83 school boards across the country.  CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Dates to Remember:

March 29 — Gr. 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, altered day schedule to be distributed to students following March Break.

April 16 — School Council Meeting — 7:30 p.m.

April 25 — Parent/Teacher Interviews

April 26 — Dr. Adam Cox Presentation, Leaside C.I., 7:00 pm

April 27, 28, 29 — YMCI 50th Anniversary Reunion — call Jackie Couch at the school for more details

May 9 — Blood Donor Clinic at YMCI

March 5, 2007

A reminder to students and parents that March 6th is Course Selection day. 

For students who will be applying to U of T for the fall of 2008, please pay particular attention to the important information re  math requirements.  This was received in the Guidance office today, and sent out to parents today. 

The Guidance department met with all classes last week to explain Tuesday’s Course selection process with students.  Students and parents are invited to contact the Guidance department for clarification of this process.

Dates to Remember: 

March Break:  March 12-March 16

Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test: Thursday, March 29.  Grade 10 students will be writing morning and afternoon.  Grade 11 & 12 students may attend tutorials by appointment in the afternoon only.  Students will receive a letter after March break, outlining the schedule for March 29th.  

Please mark Wednesday, April 25th for Parent/Teacher interviews. 

Congratulations to our wrestling team who placed 16th overall in Friday’s competitions.  Excellent effort made by all on our team.  We look forward to next year’s competitions. 

Wishing you a safe and enjoyable March break.

February 23

 It’s been a terrific month for athletics.  Our swim team continues to win, and will be going to the OFSAA competitions next week.  Cheers also go out to our boys’ and girls’ wrestling team for their wins that will take them to OFSAA as well.   Students participated in Mathematics competitions, and we await their accomplishments. 

Tonight at 7:30, students and staff will enjoy a Cosmic Bowling experience at Newtonbrook Bowl. 

Reminder to parents and students:  staff meeting on Monday, February 26th — school dismisses at 2:20 pm.  Friday, March 2nd is a PD day for staff — no classes will be held. 

Anecdotal interim reports will be mailed out within the next two weeks.   Early intervention is key to a successful semester, and I urge parents to contact the teacher should your child receive this report for any one of his/her subjects.  Parents’ Night is scheduled for April 25th.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

February 20, 2007

Excitement abounded last week at YMCI. Our swim team was successful in winning most categories at the regional competitions. We wish them luck at the city finals. Another win was enjoyed by the Jr. Girls’ Volleyball team, who won the semi-finals yesterday. Lot’s of luck to our girls at the city finals!!

February marks Black History Month. Today, our students attended an assembly where they were presented with a reading of a historical play, “The Real McCoy,” by Andrew Moody. This was presented by two actors, one playing the young inventor, Elijah McCoy, and the other playing his wife. Students listened attentively as the actors portrayed some of the major events that led McCoy to his many patented inventions.

Ninety of our students will be enjoying a ski trip today at Moonstone, and the Cosmic Bowling is on for Friday after school.

Plans are underway for the Gr. 10 Science classes to include Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” video as part of their unit on weather.

March 2 is scheduled for the second additional PD day for staff. Teachers from York Mills, St. Andrew’s and Windfields will be participating in a joint initiative where we will be addressing transitions from Grade 9 to Grade 10. This will include sharing best practice from junior high to high school, assessment and evaluation, and curriculum.

Until next week…