Fall Greetings!

Hello everyone! Yes...we are back to school at "The Ridge" and heading into our 3rd week! We are off to a fantastic start in 2011/12 and really happy to be gearing up for an amazing Semester 1. In our first week, we held our "Absolute Think Day" which allowed us to gather as an entire school to listen to a motivational assembly which focused on the theme of "Live Different". Through a series of musical performances, including Canadian Idol, Brian Melo and his bandmates, multimedia and personal story-telling, the "Absolute Youth Team" challenged our students and staff to make changes personally.... to get involved in our community (both locally & globally) and make a real and meaningful difference in the lives of others. In the afternoon, workshops were held for 9 student groups and many individuals from various classes, where the learning and sharing went deeper. The students were given time with their "Think Team" facilitator to brainstorm ideas on how they could "make a difference" in 2011/12.This was a great way to kick off our school year, and as active as we are,  in the school community and the world...we look forward to greater things to come in the next several months as our students get mobilized and put their ideas into action as they "Live Different!" We also welcomed our Grade 9 students and parents on the first day back, with our Link Crew engaging our 9's and our Parent Engagement Group and Public Health Nurse engaging our Grade 9 parents in a session providing tips on "How to Ensure A Successful Transition  for your Teens!" Ensuring a welcoming and  inclusive environment for our Grade 9 students and parents, the morning's activities got us off to a terrific start as we began the building of  new relationships with our newcomers and Class of 2015! This past Friday, we held a "New Student Luncheon" hosted by our Personal Career Counselling Team which was very well attended and much appreciated. We also welcome many new staff for 2011/12. Kate Rehm (VP),Kris Reeve (Student Success), Rachel Stecca (PCC), Michael Fraser (Vocal Music), Caitlin Grieve (French), Jeff Yuill (French), James Caldwell (Canada & the World) Lisa Weir (Special Edcuation) and Susan Hammond (Science). We welcome back Karl Mustoe (Art), Nancy Zigrovic (French), Shalini Singal (Math), Gordana Panoska (English) and Anjay MacKenzie (English/French). All of these folks add so much strength to an already strong teaching staff and we look forward to working with them this year!  So...it's off and running into Week 3, with many of our co-curriculars, teams, clubs and activities ready to formally spring into action. We hope for great success in 2011/12 and invite all of you out to support our students, coaches and teacher/mentors as they engage in athleticcompetition, the "arts", student leadership and additional special events and activities. "Go Ridge!"

Summer Reflections and "Think Day!"

Hello everyone! I hope all of you are enjoying a wonderful summer with family, friends and those you love. Over the summer months all of us are engaged in relaxation, recreation and activities that we are interested in and passionate about. This is the time when we actually do reflect on many things, whether they be professional or personal. For me, I can take a look back at a full first year as Principal of Iroquois Ridge High School and truly be proud of a great year had by our staff, students and parent community. I am very thankful for the support that has been provided thoughout this first year and look forward to even greater things in 2011/12. One of the events, that we are finalizing for early September, is an opportunity for all of our students to participate in...is a "Think Day", which is planned for September 8th. Our entire student body will participate in an energizing and motivational assembly that will set the tone for the first semester. As a follow-up to this event, many of our students will be involved in smaller workshops where they will work with our "Think Team" presenters to consider ways in which they can continue to support and engage in the local and global community. Through the strength and participation of our students we know that great things happen and will continue to happen in 2011/12. Our students are highly involved in service to others whether it be through their leadership in the community or through charitable activities that are sponsored by the many clubs and groups at our school. Whether the focus be a local one or global one our students shine in this area, which bodes well for all of our futures. Our school and students will continue to be highly involved in "service" and leadership on behalf of others and we look to our "Think Day" event to kick-start off our year in a very positive manner. Special thanks to the team of Monique Gazan, Erin Leahy, Marie Guest, Tiffany Olmstead, Tara Connor, Kathryn Patterson and Jacquie Schettler for supporting this event on everyone's behalf. It will be great!

"Your Best You!"

This morning we had two great assemblies...one for our girls and one for our boys on the theme of self-esteem, body image and being "Your Best You!" Teacher Virginia Gingras presented her story to girls in Grades 9-12, while World Guinness Book of Record Holder, Rapper Duane Gibson presented to our boys Geades 9-12. Duane's message focused on "Staying Driven" for success by practising hard, sacrificing and persevering to reach your goals. Virginia's message included a challenge to our girls to be the best they can be despite what others may think or say. She challenged our girls to be strong and look out for each other
and to love themselves for who they are. Both assemblies were well received by our students and the promotion of self-esteem and wellbeing resonated well with the respective student audiences. Special thanks to Kathryn Patterson who organized the assemblies with Virginia. Thanks also to COMMCO for supporting our assemblies with the usual excellence and precision. It was a great morning!

ASCD Virtual Conference

Some of you may not know that Iroquois Ridge is an Affiliate/Mentor Site for the Association for Supervision and Curriclum Development, based out of Alexandria, Virginia. The ASCD represents more than 160,000 educators from 148 countries and 60 affiliates. The organization includes superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and school board members. As a mentor site for ASCD we were asked to present at a "Virtual Conference" last Friday. The presentation focused on the origin, evolution and successes of our Parent Engagement Program. We were fortunate enough to get a first hand experience with Adobe Connect Pro in the delivery of our powerpoint and video presentation to educators from around the world. As a mentor site, all participants of the conference had access to our presentation, had an opportunity to ask questions and access resouces, as a follow-up. This opportunity to participate with Adobe was a great learning for our team who got a chance to hone their 21st Century Learning Skills. Congratulations to Sara Severin (Parent Engagement Co-ordinator), Nancy Anstett (Program Leader of Personal Career Counselling) and Mary Tabak (Public Health Nurse) for preparing and presenting our program for ASCD. Special thanks to Al Samsa for his technical support on the day of the conference. Thanks also to student-Alex Theodore for filming our parents and caregivers, who offered exellent testimonials on behalf of our program. We had a very positive response from our ASCD partners, of which we are very proud. We hope to continue to work on projects with ASCD such as this as an affiliate/mentor to share our learning with others in the world-wide professional learning community.Well done Ridge Team! We are very proud of you for your leadership and ambassadorship on behalf of our parents, students, staff and school!

Relay for Life

What do over 600 students, staff and members of our parent community and extended community do for a great cause on a Friday Night? They participate together in the "Relay for Life" to raise funds for cancer. Not only is this a Friday night event but the "Relay" extends all night into Saturday morning! Teams of students have put their energy, heart, souls and emotions into walking all night on behalf of those they love and others they know who have been afflicted by and perhaps succumbed to cancer. The evening began with a "Survivors' Reception" followed by speeches by our students who have lost someone to cancer. Although, the rain started to fall and the skies got stormy this did not dampen our young people's spirits as they moved inside and carried on the event with great enthusiasm. Students were inspired by their team mates as well as some all night entertainment by numerous rock bands and other fun filled activities in our theatre and "street." Tonight they are all camping out in our school while continuing to walk well into the wee hours. Many parents, caregivers and members of our community came out to assist as did our staff, for which we are truly thankful. The goal is to try and reach the $50,000 mark...which would be an outstanding achievement by our young people. It is moments like these where we can feel so proud of our kids and know that the future will be bright in their capable hands. We are proud of all of you for your committment and caring...you are all outstanding!

Spring Mid-Term Update

We are at the mid-term of Semester 2 and much is happening on the academic & co-curricular front! Congratulations to our Halton Skills participants who represented our school so well.  Gold Medals to: Daniel Allen & Vicky Mendonca (GIS) and Sarah Steeves (Apparel Design); Silver  for Gabby Frank (Digital Photography) and two Bronze Medals to: Molly Schoo (Apparel Design) and Nasser Manasreh (Graphic Design). Daniel, Vicky, Sarah and Nasser will represent our school at the  Provincial Skills Event in Waterloo and we wish them the very best as they move on to this next level of competition. Recently, Iroquois students' Mack Darragh and Marni Oldershaw competed in the Candian World Trials for Swimming. Mack qualified for the Junior Worlds for four events. He claimed the Bronze Medal in the Senior Men's 200m Butterfly, which will qualify him for the World University Games and he finished 4th in the 400m IM, while also qualifying in the 100m Fly and 200m I.M.. Marni qualified for the Junior Worlds in both the 400m and 200m I.M and was the only Junior participating in the Senior A finals coming 6th & 7th in her races. Both student/athletes will represent Canada at the Junior Worlds' in Lima, Peru this upcoming August. We are very proud of these fantastic results! Best of luck, Mack & Marni!Many other special events have taken place over the past week.Nadja Halilgebovich brought her message of Peace & Hope in speaking with our Canada & the World, English and Drama Students. We hosted the "Relay of Life" Assembly promoting this school &  community event which will take place on May 13th. We also hosted "R-U Ready for High School" for students transitioning to our school in the Fall of 2011. Special thanks to our Link Crew, PCC & Special Ed. folks, who welcomed our Grads of 2015, with such enthusiasm and encouragement. You provided a very warm and inclusive morning for our incoming Grade 9's. Thanks so much for that! 20/31 of our students finished in the Top 25% of the Waterloo Math Contest, as our "Mathletes" continue to represent our school very well. Way to go! This week we are getting  ready for our Student Coucil Election Assemblies on Wednesday and immersing our students in the "Your Best You" presentations this upcoming Thursday. The theme for our "boys' and girls' specific" assemblies will focus on Body Image/Wellness & Self Esteem. We really look forward to a great morning! 12 Ridge Students will soon participate in a Ministry "Speak-Up" event at the Mainway Arena. This will be a great way to have our Ridge Student Voice heard at the provincial level and an excellent networking opportunity for our students. On the academic side, our midterm reports will be distributed during Period 1 on Thursday April 21st, followed by our Parent Interview Evening on the 28th to be held from 6:30 - 9pm. We encourage our parents and caregivers to attend this evening and look forward to your participation and continued partnership with us! As you can see, the Spring brings with it a flurry of activity and as we head into the home stretch, the intensity will continue to build for all of us.We look forward to an excellent second half of the semester as we continue to support and encourage student success for all of our students. We also look forward to the continued celebration of student achievements both academically and in our co-curricular programs.

"Mathletes" Breakfast of Champions

This morning we honoured many of our math students who have recently competed in math competitions through McMaster University and Sun Life Financial.

Thanks to Laura Barsan, Allison Etherington and the math team for encouraging our students to take on these challenges. We are very proud of those who represented our school and would like to recognize the following students for their outstanding achievements:

Math@Mac On-Line Competition:

Grade 9 - First Place Winners
Keith Hustad & Mitchell Gour

Honourable Mentions - Kathleen Chung & William Choi
                                    Nathan Conrad & Mitchell Gour

Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (Top 25%)
Raphael Koh (Grade 10)
Christine (Yunjeong) Kim (Grade 10)
William Choi (Grade 12)

It was a wonderful celebration this morning with members of our parent community joining us as we recognized the fine efforts of our Ridge "Mathletes!"Congratulations to our students and best of luck in future competitions.