Foothills Academy Weekly Update

Feburary 14, 2017

Important School Dates

Feb. 14 - FAPA Meeting

Feb. 16 & 17 - PD Days - No School

Feb. 20 - Family Day - No School

Feb. 24 - Accountability Pillar Surveys due to Alberta Education

Feb. 24 - Report Cards go home

To help you plan for the year, a complete copy of the school calendar is available online and through this link.

Maplewood ConnectEd

Unavailable until Feb. 24th

Please be aware that parents will be unable to access their child's marks through Maplewood ConnectEd while staff are entering in marks and comments for upcoming report cards. During this time, if you have specific questions regarding marks, please contact your child's subject teacher.

WE Bake for Change

Feb. 14 & 15 Bake Sale

The grade tens will be hosting bake sales on Tuesday and Wednesday ( Feb. 14th and 15th) to raise awareness about the necessity of buying fair trade chocolate to improve the quality of life of those working in the cocoa fields and to prevent child labour. The proceeds from the bake sale will be going towards WE Villages as part of We Day's Bake for Change campaign.

" Everybody has a recipe for making the world a sweeter place. That's why Free The Children's WE Villages model focuses on helping developing communities lead their own solutions to the challenges holding them back. Through WE Bake for Change, you'll be giving families the ingredients they need to make a better life for their children."

Baked goods will be sold for $0.50- $2.00 in the upper student lounge by the white boards at lunch.

YoYo and Pokemon Clubs at Foothills Academy

Foothills Academy prides itself on the number of clubs available to students at lunch time. Clubs reflect our students' interests. Two new clubs this year are the YoYo Club and the Pokemon Club. YoYo Club meets Wednesday's at lunch 12:25 in the Wellness Centre led by Kirk.The Pokemon Club meets on Thursdays ( 12:15 ) in Ms. Kelly's room. All students are welcome.

What's It Like to Grow Up with an Undiagnosed Learning Disability?

Searching for Words

We're very proud of Colleen Smereka, one of the Foothills Academy's Board of Directors. Check out this recent TELUS Optik Local profile that tells her story of what it's like be be a person growing up with an undiagnosed Learning Disability.

Alberta Ed's 2017 Accountability Pillar Survey

Responses Due by Feb. 24th

All parents of students in grades 4 - 12 should have received the Accountability Pillar Survey from Alberta Education.

We thank you in advance for taking the time to fill out the survey. All surveys are due to Alberta Education by Feb. 24th.

Foothills Academy posts a copy of our Annual Education Results Report and 3-Year Plan on our website. If you are interested in seeing last year's results, you can read it through this link.

Parent Workshop

How Mindfulness Can Help Children with Learning Disabilities and ADHD

Tuesday, March. 7th

Mindful Schools states that mindfulness means 'maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment'. Ayra will share specific techniques to help children with Learning Disorders and/or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) manage stress and develop mindful ways of thinking in order to help them regulate their emotions both at home and at school. Parents will leave with simple and easy ways to integrate these methods into their home.

Presenters: Ayra Kelly/Darrin Bullivant, Foothills Academy teachers

Up Next: Tuesday, April 18th - Can We All Calm Down?? Emotional Regulation in the Face of LD &/or ADHD

Senior High Guidance News

There's a great opportunity for students to learn about applying for scholarships at the Scholarship Application Toolkit webinar February 17th , 7 - 8 PM.

As a reminder, upcoming PD ( Feb. 16 & 17) and Conference ( March 3 & 4) dates are excellent opportunities for high school students (grade 10s are welcome!) to arrange Student for a Day or campus visits/ tours. Visit institution websites to arrange

Be aware of the application deadlines for Fall 2017 admission. Grade 12 students, be aware of the deadline dates as they vary by institution. March 1st is the University of Calgary's deadline for admission and the final date to make changes to your application

Please contact Laurel Braun for further information.

Exposure Photography Festival

Exhibit Continues until Feb. 24th

From Feb. 2 - 24th, the walls in Community Services will showcase our Photography students' photographs as part of the Exposure Photography Festival. This year's exhibit, Don't Lose Focus, showcases three photographs from each student taken while out on school excursions as well as some taken on their own time. All photographs demonstrate a mastery of the techniques learned with a high standard of excellence. Nothing is out of bounds, everything from black and white to the bold and beautiful, common visuals to the abstract, motion to still life. The Foothills Academy students approach photography with creativity in mind.

FAPA Update
Next FAPA Meeting Feb. 14th

Our next FAPA Meeting will be on Tuesday February 14th at 7pm in the Staff Lounge. Here is a link to the proposed agenda for the meeting. All parents are welcome, and we would love to have you join us.

As always if you have any questions or ideas you would like to share with us drop us a note at FAPA@foothillsacademy.org .

Kathy Laycock

FAPA President

News from the Gym

Basketball, Curling

Basketball Extravaganza:

Foothills Senior High Tournament - Sat Feb 11th.

On Saturday, February 11th we saw a fantastic collaborative event in our school Gymnasium. Foothills hosted 3 teams for a round robin tournament which saw some well balanced games and intense play by all involved!

Thanks to our FABULOUS basketball families who cooked chilli, soup and baked muffins for the event! Your culinary delights were much appreciated.

Special thanks also to our students who officiated as score and time keepers - well done Adrianna, Brycen, Doug, Emily, Riley and Rinaldo - you did an amazing job...THANK YOU!

Results:

Falcons vs Mountain View: 57 - 44 Falcon's Win

Beiseker vs Holy Trinity: 55 - 58 Holy Trinity Win

Beiseker vs Mountain View: 75 - 36 Beiseker Win

Mountain View vs Holy Trinity: 44 - 63 Holy Trinity Win

Falcons vs Holy Trinity: 48 - 55 Holy Trinity Win

Falcons vs Beiseker: 64 - 52 Falcon's Win

CONGRATULATIONS to Holy Trinity in first place and Foothills Falcons in a FANTASTIC second place

Well done to our Falcons: Jacob, Gavin, Matt, Gabe, Evan, Chris, Will, Ryan, Tyson and Logan...you made us very proud both on and off the court

Thanks from your proud tournament organizers and coaches,

Bonnie Fasoli and Viv Toffolo Go Falcons goooooooo!!!!

Basketball League Games:

Great win by our Senior High Falcons last Thursday against Mountain View Academy - a great show of skill and tenacity.

Thanks to Echo, our mascot, for making a special appearance.

Games this week.

SH Game: Monday 13th Feb - SH away at Masters Academy. 4pm start

JH Game: Tuesday 14th Feb - JH home game 4pm start.

Thanks to coaches Williams, Weible and Ellard!

Curling:

Curling practice Tuesday Feb 14th at Calgary Winter Club 4:00pm - 5:30pm

CISAA tournament bonspeil at Calgary Winter Club.

Friday 24th Feb Noon start.

Sat 25th Feb 1:30 start.

Coaches: Ms. Thompson and Mrs. Toffolo.

Ski Trip PE20/30

Huge thanks to Ms. Fasoli for organizing and leading the PE20/30 ski trip to Mount Norquay last Wednesday! A great day's skiing was had by all and it could not have gone ahead without the teacher support of Mrs. Braun and Mrs. Charney. Well done skiers!

The sporting opportunities for our students continue to grow thanks to our committed staff and student involvement!

Thanks and very well done from a proud Athletic Director!

Viv Toffolo

Community Services E-News Sign Up to Keep Informed

Do you want to find out about all the programs and services offered by Community Services at Foothills? We send out a separate E-News specifically for Community Services with information about programs, services and other resources in the community. If you're an educator, we have a version specifically for you too.

If you'd like to receive it and are not already getting it, you can sign up through this link.