Message from the Principal
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By now the serenity of the Christmas Holidays has likely given way to the return to routine for most associated with our school family. It is my sincere hope that the memories and experiences you created and shared with good friends and family during the break will sustain you until such times as you are all able to be together again to enjoy each other's company.
Perhaps hard to believe, but we have almost passed the half-way point of the school year. It is also a time when we experience an acceleration in almost all areas of school life. For our Grade 12's, the looming pressures of completing post-secondary applications and maintaining the focus on their studies is often all consuming. The ‘wait’ to hear back from prospective schools and program is an anxious one. In the end, experience has shown us that it all works out. It’s the unknown, until their life beyond STMC is sorted out, that can be a difficult period of time.
For our Grades 8-11's, we are only six weeks away from the re-registration process and the submission of their decisions about course selections for next year. This next phase of the school year sees our students having to make some pretty important decisions about their own education. For our students in Grades 10 and 11 in particular, the decisions that they will be asked to make will invariably have an impact on the possible pathways and areas of study that will be open to them at the post-secondary level. Thankfully, we have a superb team of people here at the school to assist our students and our families in this process.
God Bless,
Mr. Steve Garland
STMC Principal
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Message from the President
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Happy new year!
Yes, another year has begun. There is such life in the school when we return from Christmas break. Students and staff alike are refreshed; there is great energy and enthusiasm for the opportunities which lie ahead. There is hope and promise.
Someone recently said the years and months fly by but some days are interminable. (We have all had those days!) On those difficult days, remember we have many opportunities for renewal. Each day we can chose to be saints. Each time we forgive another person’s transgression against us or do an act of kindness, we are becoming better versions of ourselves. Each time we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, through God’s grace, our sins are absolved and we receive sacramental forgiveness.
As worldly resolutions fall by the wayside, let’s pray that we are filled with the grace to answer God’s call this year to live our special charisms and to undertake with joy God’s chosen path for us.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts … forever.
Mrs. Neysa M. Finnie
STMC President
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Thank you very much to everyone who has made a donation to STMC in 2018. If you have made an online donation, you would have already received a tax receipt through Canada Helps. If you gave directly to STMC either by cheque, credit card, or electronic transfer, your tax receipt will be in the mail by the end of this week. Please contact our Advancement Team if you have any questions.
Our Knights Annual Fund 2018/19 giving campaign continues. Our heartfelt thanks to our board and staff members, and parents who have already made their gift to the Knights Annual Fund. We will have a
special update
about the funds raised later this month. Thank you, again, for your support!
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January
17-19:
Junior boys and girls basketball Chancellor Tournament
21:
Grade 8 Application Deadline
23:
Grade 8 Placement Test, Grade 11 Numeracy Assessment
Jan 31 - Feb 2: 22nd Annual Alumni Basketball Tournament
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Key Re-Registration and Course Selection Dates
2019-2020 Re-registration Process
The Re-registration
deadline
for 2019-2020 is
Monday, March 4, 2019
. Once again, everything will be digital this year. In February, families will be directed to log onto a secured site and complete the re-registration process. The move to a digital process that we initiated last year enables us to ensure that the information we have in PowerSchool (emails, phone numbers, emergency contacts, etc.) is 100% correct.
Course Selection 2019-2020
Course Selection and Re-registration go hand-in-hand. Students and families will be asked to submit 2019-2020 Course Selections online via PowerSchool by
Thursday, March 7, 2019
. Those students/families not returning for the 2019-2020 school year will have their submissions dropped if they choose not to return to STMC for the fall. This is done to ensure that we can offer placements to students on our admissions wait-lists.
We are currently in the midst of updating all print and electronic materials associated with the Course Selection process:
- 2019-2020 Course Selection Sheets
- Full Course Descriptions
- Website Materials
Course Programming - Parent Information Meetings
- Tuesday, February 19 - Grades 8 into 9, and 9 into 10 (6:30 pm - 7:15 pm)
- Thursday, February 21 - Grades 10 into 11 and 11 into 12 (6:30 pm - 7:15 pm)
Both of these parent information sessions will be held in our Cafeteria.
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SCIENCES
On December 4, 2018, nine of our grade 10-12 students had the opportunity to attend the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute's Discovery Days in Health Sciences, run by the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Students had hands-on opportunity to engage in research in a variety of medical fields and attend lectures from nationally-renowned physicians. They gained a better picture of what it would be like to be a health professional by interacting with researchers, clinicians and educators in their real-life work setting.
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Our synchrotron research group continues to prepare their samples and map out their experiment for a planned trip to the Canadian Light Source in February. We've been very fortunate to receive samples from a variety of BC forestry companies - Canfor, Interfor & Tolko.
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STUDENT HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH
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Dario Ciccone
Already a BC Lions High School Player of the Week, Dario Ciccone was nominated as a finalist for BC High School Athlete of the Year Award by Sport BC as both a football and basketball player. He has been instrumental in the success of the Senior Boys Football Team and for this, his efforts have been recognized.
The winner will be announced at the 53rd Annual Awards Ceremony and Gala dinner on Wednesday, March 13, 2019.
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We'd love to hear about all the wonderful and exciting things
in which our Knights are engaged
! If you have something you would like to share on our social media feeds or in the monthly newsletter send an email to
communications@stmc.bc.ca
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St. Thomas More Collegiate is hosting the Junior Chancellor Basketball Tournament from January 17-19. The following participating schools are as follows:
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- Pitt Meadows
- New Wesminster
- Centennial
- Byng
- STMC
- Magee
- Argyle
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- GW Graham
- Heritage Woods
- Burnaby Mountain
- Killarney
- Churchill
- David Thompson
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With a full schedule of action, there will be lots of great basketball to watch. There will also be candy bags selling for $2 a bag in the foyer.
Go Knights Go!
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STMC is hosting a 3 day volleyball camp March 26-28 for Grades 7-9. Participants will focus on the basic and enhanced fundamentals of the game, learn and understand team fundamentals and strategy, and of course have a great time! Fill out the
sign up form
and drop off at the front office or mail to the school.
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Upcoming PA Volunteer Opportunities
Happy New Year, Happy New volunteering opportunities!
Please check your calendars, then send us an email to receive more information or to sign-up and volunteer for these January school events:
pavolunteers@stmc.bc.ca.
- Chancellor Junior Boys & Girls Basketball Tournament - January 17-19
The PA is also looking for new members to help us organize and coordinate our team of volunteers for Parent-Teacher Interviews starting next November. Our current leaders will be available until the end of June to share their knowledge and practical experience. Please let us know if you are interested or would like to learn more about this volunteer leadership opportunity.
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A Special Message from the Grad Committee
Donations Request:
Prizes/Donations for the Fundraising Grad Pub Knight Silent Auction are greatly appreciated! Please contact
kgrindlay@shaw.ca or
rnd.moran@shaw.ca
to arrange
pickup or these can be dropped at the front office (attention Grad Fundraiser).
Grade 12 Families:
Grade 12 parents, alumni, and friends are invited to the Grade 12 Parents Pub Knight which is on March 1
st
at Wings on North Road. Please watch upcoming Newsletters for further information about tickets.
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Happy New Year from the Knight Club
SALE DATES:
February 7
March 7
(all sales take place after school until 4pm)
Come to the next sale or feel free to pre-order your purchase. Just fill out an order form and drop it off (with payment or credit card information) in the Knight Club mailbox (on the uniform store door). We will fill your order and have you paged at the end of the day to pick it up!!!! (Order forms are available in the front office, in the tray just below our mailbox, or by clicking
Knight
Club Order Form
.)
If you have any uniform-related questions or concerns, please email:
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Bell "Let's Talk" Mental Health
The STMC community is thrilled to be able to host a Bell “Let’s Talk” presentation on mental health at our school for all of our students from Grade 8 to Grade 12 on Thursday, January 31st during their Academic Assembly block. Often, adolescents struggling with mental health issues do so in silence, and these talks may encourage those individuals to speak up.
If your son or daughter approaches you regarding struggles with mental health, please do not hesitate to contact the school counsellors for help, support or references. For a list of online resources, please visit the school website or click
here.
604-521-1801, ext. 118
604-521-1801, ext. 114
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Open House
On January 15, STMC held its annual Open House to showcase what being a Knight is truly about to prospective students and their parents. Many of the children who attended are either in Grade 6 or Grade 7 and looking for what they would call home for the next 5 years of their adolescence before reaching adulthood.
The event itself was an overwhelming success with hundreds of families showing up, so much in fact, that there wasn't enough seats in the gym and many had to stand along the sides. There has already been close to 200 applications after the Open House and still counting. A big thank you to all the families that came out!
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Hyatt Regency Gingerbread Lane (New Update)
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Congratulations to the Mary Rice group for a successful year with the Gingerbread lane competition at the Hyatt Regency (as previously mentioned in the December newsletter). In addition to winning 2nd place and a $300.00 prize in the secondary category, the group also won The People’s Choice Award and a $500.00 cash prize.
Well done!!
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