Yorkton Regional High School Newsletter “Raiders In Pursuit of Excellence”

Be sure to visit us online at yrhs.gssd.ca

Mr. M. Haczkewicz

Principal g

Mrs. J. McBride Vice-Principal

g Mr. D. Nesseth Vice Principal

ISSUE #2 NOVEMBER 2016

150 Gladstone Ave. N Yorkton, SK

S3N 2A8

PH# (306) 786-5560 FAX# (306) 786-5599

December 1-3 Shrek The Muscial

December 5 YRHS Staff Family Christmas Party

December 7 PARTY Program/U of R Kinesiology and Business Trip

December 8 Regional SCC Meeting

December 12 Staff Meeting/RCR/Magazine Campaign Wrap up

December 13 Nurse Practitioner in Student Services

December 20 Last Day of Classes

January 10 Nurse Practitioner in Student Services

January 17 SCC Meeting

January 31 Nurse Practitioner in Student Services

March 16 Grad Assembly #1

School Counsellors

Humanities Department

Sports Excellence

Practical & Applied

Math/Science Department

Humanities Department

RCR

Debate Team

Social Activism

School Announcements

Play “Shrek The Musical”

Extra curricular clubs

Twitter

Yearbook

Facebook

SADD

Outcomes/Learning Targets

The teachers at the YRHS are embarking on a new process

this fall in each classroom. Staff are now posting their

outcomes/learning targets we derived from their curriculum

guides. The thought behind the practice is simply that,

“Kids can hit any target as long as they know what it is and

it isn’t moving.” Simply stated, if teachers share with stu-

dents what they are supposed to learn in class each day,

students can focus on learning it. The process holds stu-

dents accountable for their learning and allows teachers to

better check for understanding.

Our November newsletter marks the mid-semester point of our school year. Report cards should have

arrived at your house by now with all of the semester one mid-term marks included in them.

As we approach the winter months our winter sports are gearing up. Boys and girls basketball teams are

winding up their try-outs. Curling is getting started along with indoor track and wrestling.

An added bonus this year is our high school musical. Shrek The Musical will take the stage in the Anne

Portnuff Theatre December 1-3.

From the Principal’s Desk Mr. Mike Haczkewicz

Cafeteria Your son or daughter may have come home recently exclaiming that the cafeteria prices have gone up. They would be correct. In order to keep up with the rising cost of groceries, we had to implement some modest price increases in the cafeteria.

Parking Lot We continue to experience some problems with students not adhering to the traffic laws within our parking lot. At present, students have been given warnings, followed up with the removal of parking privileges, for a period of one week to one month. We are steadfast in our thinking that we need to have all students adhere to the posted speed limit and safely abide by the rules of the road.

Submission of Assignments - Practice and Policy It is the expectation of the Yorkton Regional High School that when a teacher assigns a core assignment, students will meet the deadline established by the teacher. Teachers utilize appropriate strategies (RTI, study hall, chunking of the assignment with scheduled check-ins, monitoring student work periods, calling home, formative assessments, etc.) Should the student fail to comply with the final deadline, the student will be withdrawn from the class or an incomplete will be recorded. Classroom teachers continue to be very diligent in ensuring that students have every opportunity to meet deadlines. When a student fails to meet a deadline, their name is turned into the appropriate vice-principal and action shall be taken which may include an in-school suspension leading to the completion of the school work.

DECEMBER 21—JANUARY 3

In This Edition...

~ P A G E 2 ~

Respect: - Responds positively to the ideas, opinions, values and traditions of others.

- Builds healthy relationships with peers and staff members.

Belonging:

- Shares information, resources, expertise and promotes critical thinking to solve problems and make decisions.

- Actively participates in classroom discussions, group work, conferencing, and daily classroom responsibilities.

Citizenship: - Assesses and reflects critically on own strengths, needs and interests.

- Demonstrates consideration, thoughtfulness and encouragement toward others.

Behaviour reporting is new to the high school report card this year in all Good Spirit School Division schools. The

GSSD will be seeking feedback on this part of the report card from families and teachers in the near future so that any

necessary improvements can be made to it for next semester.

es I can achieve a productive, successful and worthwhile life by showing...

espect

for myself, for others, the community, our school and the environment while taking...

onest in everything I do. But this can only come about by...

acrifice

of personal time and energy, while maintaining moral strength and obligation.

Learning Behaviour Reporting – New Addition to Report Cards

This year, teachers have the opportunity to provide feedback on student learning behav-

iours separately from percentage grades based on learning outcomes. This information

will be made available to students and parents at Student-Led Conferences and are based

on the following categories:

Responsibility: - Fulfills responsibilities and commitments by completing and submitting classwork,

homework, and assignments according to agreed-upon timelines.

- Regular attendance and punctuality are demonstrated.

Learning: - Class time is used appropriately to complete tasks and meet goals.

- Multiple attempts are not required to successfully demonstrate proficiency within an

outcome.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK (CONTINUED) Mr . M . Haczkewicz

~ P A G E 3 ~

COUNSELLOR CORNER MRS. M. GOULDEN/MRS. S. WESTBERG

Greetings and welcome to the new school year! One of the many services that the YRHS pro-

vides our students and families with are School Counsellors. The YRHS offers two school

counsellors: Shelly Westerberg is here full time and Michelle Goulden is here half-time. The

school counsellor offices are located in Student Services and they support, promote, & counsel students and families to

grow and reach their potential! This can include skill development, community referrals, and individual counselling. If

you would like more information on the support services please call! “It takes a community to raise a child”, school

counsellors are one of those community/school persons that can contribute!. All services offered by student counsellors

are confidential.

To access the school counsellors, students can come to Student Services and ask to talk to a counsellor and par-

ents can contact Shelly Westberg at 306-786-5567 or email her at shelly.westberg@gssd.ca or Michelle Goulden at 306-

786-5592 or email her at michelle.goulden@gssd.ca.

YRHS has been doing some work and education around Mental Health and Well-Being of our students. A commit-

tee of staff have been working on a Comprehensive Schools Community Health Project (CSCH) to review data on

our own students and plan for the future. Staff members involved with this project are; Mr. Spelay, Mr. Bjornerud,

Ms. Pelletier, Ms. Goulden, Mrs. Westberg, Mrs. McBride and myself, Mr. Haczkewicz.

Last spring, a survey was given to our Grade 9 students. The results of that survey were displayed at Student Led

Conferencing evenings. In summary, our female population is experiencing higher than normal feelings of anxiety

and depression and have lower ratings of self-esteem. Annually, our entire student body reply to a “Tell Them From

Me” survey, in which similar results would be seen regarding the mental well-being of our students.

This fall, we hosted the OSAC Theatre group who presented the play “Still Falling”. This play was chosen for pur-

poses to help educate our youth and staff on Mental Health and Mental Illnesses, and to help with the elimination of

the social stigma attached to these health issues on the rise. The main character was trying to come to terms with the

daily struggles of dealing with anxiety and depression, and was looking to rise above it with as much strength and as

few scars as possible.

Mrs. McBride has been going into all AP classes as well as all Grade 10 ELA classes delivering some initial lessons

on mental health and anxiety. She also gives the students some healthy ways of coping with anxiety and highly

stressful situations. She will continue to visit these classrooms with the target audience being our AP Students and

our present Grade 10 students.

At the end of this school year, the Grade 10 students (Cohort survey group) will once again be asked to do a survey,

in regards to the additional education they received throughout the year regarding mental health and well-being.

As parents, the main thing to remember is: Anxiety is normal, however when your son or daughter is experiencing

feelings of anxiety too frequently or too intensely, it is probably time to ask for some help. It is important that our

youth are equipped with healthy coping strategies to work through their anxiety rather than turning to strategies that

have a negative impact on their physical health and well-being. If you feel your son or daughter is struggling in this

area, please do not hesitate to contact our counselling department and ask for some assistance; Ms. Pelletier, Ms.

Goulden, Mrs. Westberg.

On behalf of the Practical and Applied Arts Department, I would like to welcome everyone to the 2016-17 school year!

Our department is looking forward to all the excitement and success that will happen in PAA this year.

Firstly, we would like to welcome our new Commercial Cooking teacher Mr. Keith Ratke to the YRHS PAA Department.

Mr. Ratke has expanded his role from being the YRHS Cafeteria Manager to also teaching. We would also like to

welcome Ms. Kristine Kreklewich and Ms. Jessica Kyle to the YRHS PAA Department as Entrepreneurship teachers.

Both of these teachers have been doing wonderful things at the YRHS for several years and we are excited to see them

carry on the tradition of dynamic and realistic entrepreneurship class at the YRHS.

As always, YRHS PAA will continue with extensive and diverse programming in accounting, auto body, automotive,

construction, commercial cooking, communications media, electrical, entrepreneurship, drafting, welding, machining,

photography, sewing, computer science, robotics, commerce, computer fundamentals, cosmetology, and life transitions.

PRACTICAL & APPLIED ARTS Mr. C. McDowell

~ P A G E 4 ~

The start of the 2016-2017 school year brought a flurry of activity from our sports teams. Fall is our busiest season at

the YRHS with 11 teams in play. It was also one of our most successful falls in some time with several firsts. Our

golfers kicked it off with a silver medal in the boys competition at the SHSAA provincials held at Madge Lake Golf

Resort. This was our first medal ever in team golf on the boys side. Our soccer programs also had a great year. Our

girls qualified for provincials for the second straight year and have really started to flourish under the guidance of Mr.

Chapman. Our boys team went on a great trip to the Kootenay Mountains, British Columbia playing against some of

the top competitors in BC. The boys then entered provincial play were they earned the first medal in our schools

history. The boys advanced to the provincial final against Campbell Collegiate from Regina. Unfortunately they fell

3-0 to the Tartans. This is still a huge accomplishment for Coach Delong and his team. The 3A soccer category has

been traditionally dominated by the big city schools. Volleyball seasons ended at the regionals for both our senior

teams but Mr. Pfeifer's junior boys team captured the district title. Our football teams had a successful season with the

Senior Gridders losing out to Swift Current in the league semi-finals and the Junior Raiders falling to the Regina

Lakers in the semi-finals of the Regina Minor Football League. Our cross country runners also continued to dominate

at the local level as they won most of the races at the district level. At provincials, raider runners did a great job and

saw several runners finish with career bests. Kelsey Haczkewicz finished her raider cross country career with a silver

medal and qualified for nationals in Kingston, ON, where she finished 35th in Canada. Thanks to all the coaches for

volunteering their time and for our athletes for representing our school well.

SPORTS EXCELLENCE Mr. J.Payne

MATH/SCIENCE DEPARTMENT Mrs. T. Haugen

~ P A G E 5 ~

The Math/Science department is looking forward to spending another year working with all of

you in helping our students pursue excellence in all of their endeavours.

Our senior science teachers started off their year reviewing, along with division colleagues, lab methods and safety

guidelines. This professional development will continue throughout the year as we continue our work with new curricula

at the 30-level. At the school, we are beginning our second year with these new curricula, and as such, our veteran

teachers will be acting as support for the rest of the division.

The tradition of excellence has continued in 2016 for YRHS Advanced Placement Calculus students. Four years of

enriched experiences in Pre-AP then AP; studying math in depth and at a higher level, has again given our students a high

international standing. It was not only in the result, but also the pursuit, that excellence has been achieved! Well Done!

Welcome Back to ALL students and staff of the Land of Or-

The Humanities Department is pleased to welcome everyone to the 2016-17 school year, especially our incoming

Grade Nines and any students new to the YRHS. We wish all of our students a fantastic year filled with successful

learning experiences!

Congratulations to our fifth cohort of English Language Arts Advanced Placement students who wrote the College

Board examination last May and received their results over the summer. There is great benefit to this enriched

program, even if students choose not to write the College Board exam. The advanced skill acquired through AP

ELA classes is invaluable for educational pursuits beyond high school.

We extend a warm welcome to Ms. Kelsey Kuz who is new to our school and department. She is fresh out of the

University of Regina and she joins us to teach ELA 9 classes in addition to accepting the challenge of leading the

school’s Band program. Ms. Kuz brings enthusiasm and energy to all of her endeavours. We wish her a very

successful first year of teaching!

Ms. Greensides has been busy organizing a Debate Academy. This is a departure from the Debate Club from

previous years in that the Debate Academy is open to any Yorkton student in grades five to twelve. Debate is a way

for individuals to discuss controversial issues in a positive environment. The benefits of participating in formal

debate are many, but foremost among them is the skill of creating reasoned arguments and learning to tolerate

different points of view. After attending a Provincial debate skills conference in early October, Debate Academy

members will attend four tournaments throughout the school year.

On September 12, Ms. Onda’s Law 30 class was very fortunate to host Staff Sergeant Major Bethany McAndie from

Surrey, BC, who is one of only five women in the RCMP to hold that prestigious rank in Canada. She spoke about

the RCMP career and its many intriguing opportunities. Law 30 was also fortunate to have two other Guest Speakers

in September: RCMP Cst. Carlson speaking on Impaired Driving, and Ms. Jody Antosh from the Ministry of Justice

speaking on the career of Probation officer.

Again, we wish everyone a successful first semester !

HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT Mr. D. Miller

~ P A G E 6 ~

RCR COMMITTEE MEMBERS REPRESENTING THE UNITED NATIONS

There were many exciting opportunities that the RCR committee planned this year. First we welcomed the

grade 9s with an Olympic themed day. All 42 RCR groups participated in a variety of Olympic style events.

This introduced the theme for the year where RCR groups were assigned to represent a country. Second we

invited the grade 9 RCR group representing India to present information about their country. We learned that

there is a need for sanitary water, so all RCR groups were challenged to raise money for a water well in India.

We have successfully purchased a well for $850 which will help 35 families! A third highlight of our

activities this year included the opportunity to have Fred Fox (brother of Terry Fox) to lead us in our annual

Terry Fox walk. He also delivered a motivational message as well as assisted with the ceremonial Friday

Night Lights Kickoff. We are looking forward to many more exciting RCR activities that will include the

second annual YRHS Hunger Games coming soon! May the odds be ever in your favour!

RCR (Raiders Connecting Raiders)

~ P A G E 7 ~

YRHS Yearbooks from the 2015-16 school year Are Here!

ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE!! Visit yrhs.gssd.ca and click on ANNOUNCEMENTS!