Options, Orientation, and Musical

2010 Options

On April 27, 2010, St. Joseph’s High School students attended the annual Options event in Pembroke. Options is a convention that holds activities hosted by the Skills and Trades Show, and demonstrates the different employment opportunities for students. It shows areas in aesthetics, hairstyling, the culinary arts, and tech. Chosen students competed in different competitions and the other students visited stations to learn about what each job has to offer.

Grade 7 & 8 Orientation

On April 29 and 30 , 2010, SJHS students and staff welcomed the many grade 7 and 8 students from schools all around Renfrew County into our school. The visiting students gathered in the cafeteria to listen to students discuss the many things they enjoy about St. Joe s, including our music programs, athletics, pastoral, environmental committee, student council, and the different trips students can sign up for. Afterwards, they were split into groups for The Jaguar Hunt . This was a game that we usually do as a school in the fall where students are paired into groups of two and they have to clip each other with a clothes pin without the other seeing. Instead of doing that, we changed the hunt into a scavenger hunt around the school. This was to get the students become more familiar with the premises and people. Some of the things the students had to do were visit the different classrooms life the science, foods, tech, and drama classes. They also had to find different staff members and wish them a good morning or give them a treat. As proof that these students did the different tasks, the group leader took the groups picture completing them. The visit ended with a pizza lunch during which time the students had a chance to take part in games, mingle and ask questions about our school. This orientation was to help students feel more welcomed into our school and to be more informed of the different things we have to offer. The photos can be on the school website at sjchs.blogspot.com.

Musical

With our Musical Turn the Page Goldilocks! just a few days away, we are ready and excited to perform. The set is done, the costumes are picked, and the songs and lyrics are all memorized. The only thing missing is you! So come on down and enjoy the show from May 11 to May 16 at 7:00pm, only $10 a ticket.

Earth Day, Spirit Week, and Relay For Life

On April 22^nd, 2010, Students and staff of St. Joseph’s High school joined in many activities to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of Earth Day in Canada. In the morning the students and staff helped to clean up the school ground. In the afternoon, we had Taylor Popkie, a former student, and Professors from Algonquin College came to our school and talked about renewable resources and the forestry industry. Following the presentations, we had an eco-friendly fashion show. The students showcased their clothing made out of recycled materials and an iPod touch was awarded to the best outfit. At the end of the day, each student was given a tree to plant at their homes courtesy of Mr. Kenny.

Spirit Week

From May 3^rd, to May 7^th, St. Joseph’s High School will hold their spring spirit week. On Monday, we will have character day, where students and staff dress up as their favourite character from a book, show or movie. Tuesday will be retro day, when the students are encouraged to dress from a different decade. On the Wednesday, it will be formal day and we will also attend Mass in Arnprior. Thursday will be duct tape day, where we will be able to show our creativity by constructing an outfit out of duct tape. Friday will be our final spirit day, where students and staff will be assigned a colour (black, white, blue, red, yellow, and green) and have to compete through a series of games to get the most points. At lunch there will be a barbeque. In the afternoon there will be a talent show where students are able to perform a variety of things such as singing, telling jokes, and dancing. On Friday night, we will have a spring semi-formal for all students from 8:00pm – 12:00am.

Relay For Life

SJCHS have been given the opportunity to participate in the Petawawa Relay for Life on June 4^th and 5^th. The participation level this year has been excellent with over 80 people joining. For the next few weeks, the teams will be fundraising on their own and during lunch periods. Our goal as a school is to raise over $8,000.

This And That

Jazz Band Gigs

On April 7, the St. Joseph’s High School Jazz Band, Blues Guys, and quartet The Four Strong Winds, went on the road for two performances in Arnprior. In the morning they played for the St. Joseph’s Elementary School students and staff. They played an hour long show and then packed up again and moved to John 23^rd Elementary School to do the same show. The audiences loved the performances and some were even dancing and clapping along with the music! The performers also love getting the experience to perform in front of such an energetic audience. On Thursday April 15^th, the same group was on the road again to St. Thomas the Apostle Elementary School and Our Lady of Fatima School for the same performance! Overall, these performances went well and, it was also a great opportunity for the students watching at these schools to see the kinds of things we have to offer at St. Joseph’s High School.

Literacy Test Update

On Thursday April 8^th, we had the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test for grade 10 students. In the morning, Mr. Russell Connors, Mr. Pat Watters, and Kelly Slight all made breakfast for the students writing the literacy test. All student must pass the literacy test in order to graduate and we are proud of our students hard work.

Musical Update

With only a few weeks left until St. Joseph’s musical “Turn the Page Goldilocks!”, the students and staff participants have been working very hard to get ready. We have most of the costumes for the various characters picked out and are just touching up the last few songs and choreography. We would like to thank the many volunteers who have been helping to put this show together, it is very much appreciated! “Turn the Page Goldilocks!” show dates are May 11^th until May 15^th at 7:00pm at St. Joseph’s High School. Tickets are $10.00 each and are available at the door.

Turn The Page Goldilocks

Mark your calendars for entertainment in mid-May as St. Joseph’s Catholic High School will be presenting our annual musical theatre production. This year we will be presenting “Turn the Page Goldilocks!” an original fairy-tale musical written and choreographed by our very own Mrs. Mary Ellen Vice. It has 18 original songs written by a team of talented composers led by our very own Mr. Kevin McSheffrey.

This musical has lots of show-stopping numbers with amazing acting, singing and dancing! Students have been working hard for the past few months to get things ready for the show and are anxious to be a part of this premier production.

We would like to thank Mrs. Mary Ellen Vice and Mr. McSheffrey for sharing all their time and amazing talent to creating this one-of-a-kind musical. Without these two, the show really couldn’t go on.

We are all so excited about this musical and hope to see you all there at the performances! “Turn the Page Goldilocks!” show dates are May 11^th until May 15^th at 7:00pm at St. Joseph’s High School. Tickets are $10.00 each and are available at the door.

Reach For The Top

Reach for the Top is a Canadian trivia game in which high school students compete against one another at local, provincial, and national levels. Teams are asked a variety of time-limited questions testing general knowledge in areas including history, geography, biology, sports and many more areas. The provincial and national championship rounds are recorded for television. Reach for the Top first aired on CBC television in 1961 in Vancouver and was a regular weekly show on TV until 1985.

St. Joseph’s has a very rich history in Reach for the Top, and in the 1992 – 93 seasons, with the St Joseph’s High School team of John Colterman, Julie McHale, BJ McMahon (SJCHS teacher Mr. Mike McMahon’s brother), David Timm and Jaimie Vanderberg, won the national championship. The current team is made up of Sun Lee, Thomas Prince, Michael Hagerman, Myles Rowat, Ian Connors, Hayley Wall, Dylan Cull, and Stephen Lorbetski, and the coach of the team is Mr. Dave Rowat. The team meets during their lunch hour and other times to practice, and after winning the County Championship, they are on their way to another excellent season of Reach for the Top.

For more information and pictures of the SJCHS Reach for the Top team go to the SJCHS website at: www.sjchs.blogspot.com in the news section.

School Council, Parent teacher Interviews & Ontario Secondary School Literacy Testing

With the March Break over and only about 13 weeks of school left before summer holidays, there are still many things happening at St. Joseph’s High School.

On Tuesday March 30^th the SJHS School Council will meet at 7:00PM in the Sr. Claire Gallagher Library at the school. The SJHS School Council meet once each month to discuss different ways to enhance the learning environment provided at SJHS. The current priorities for this Council are: a strengthened faith life within the school, creating a safe, healthy and environmentally friendly school and, providing an environment that ensures success for all students. New members are always welcome!

April 8^th, 2010 will be a busy day this year! Firstly, this is the date that has been set by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) for the administration of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). This test is taken by all grade 10 students across Ontario and is a requirement in order to graduate with an Ontario Secondary School Graduation Diploma. The test consists of reading and writing exercises where the students will read several reading passages and then answer multiple-choice, short and long answer questions based on what they have read. Good luck to all SJHS grade 10 students.

On April 8^th there will also be parent teacher interviews from 3:30 – 7:30 PM. These meetings give parents an opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher to learn about what they are doing in class. All the teachers will be seated throughout the gymnasium and parents can move from one teacher to the next to discuss such things as course expectations and how their son or daughter is performing.

Europe Trip 2010

From the 14th to the 23^rd of March, twenty four students and four staff members from St. Joseph's High School will be spending their March Break on a ten-day trip to Europe.

The group will take an overnight flight from Ottawa to Zurich, Switzerland, where they will stay two days exploring the country’s beautiful scenery, taking a guided tour of the old town of Lucerne. They will then travel through the Alps, to the Italian lakes region bordering Switzerland, for a lake cruise, and the following day, travel to Venice to take a guided tour and a chance to see St. Mark’s Square and the Grand Canal.

At the Doge's Palace they will be able to see a leather-making demonstration. On the sixth and seventh day, they will be in Florence for a guided tour with stops at the Ponte Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, where they will see the famous statue of David, by Michelangelo.

From Florence they will make their way to Assisi, to visit the Basilica of St. Francis, and then continue onto Rome. On their last full day, the group will pay a visit to Vatican City.

These students and staff members are very excited about this trip and the whole school community of St. Joe's wishes them all the best on their journey, hoping for fun, learning, and, above all else, a safe return!