Gr. 10-12's Art Class Maleficent Scarecrow that won 1st place in the Art Nursery Scarecrow contest
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Message from the President
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The month of November marks 3 months since I stepped into the role of President. What an exciting time it has been! The school has been buzzing since the first day when we welcomed the grade eight students and families into the STMC community and also welcomed back our returning students and families.
The days are filled with so many activities and student accomplishments in academics, athletics, arts, and sciences. True to our Mission, I have also been witness to, and participated with our students as they live out their service to others in need.
I am getting familiar with the rhythm of the school year and the many traditions such as orientation, homecoming, academic night, Halloween, and Remembrance Day service. I can hardly believe that Christmas is already just around the corner and I look forward to the much anticipated Knights Christmas Market.
I was blessed to have His Grace Archbishop Miller celebrate mass for my Installation as President and I am grateful to the students, staff, and parents who made it such a wonderful event.
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Thanks to all the parents, alumni and students who have dropped in to introduce yourselves to me. I am really enjoying getting to know you. I hope to meet even more of you at the Communication Forum November 19
th
! Please drop in anytime to have a chat or share your thoughts about how to continue our pursuit excellence and our commitment to being
bold, daring, and imaginative.
Live Jesus in our hearts…forever
Dianne Doyle - President, STMC
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Walkway of Angels plaque in recognition of the generous gift from the Kully Family, in memory of Coach Kully
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Did You Know?
Giving to St. Thomas More Collegiate has never been easier. In our
Support STMC’s Ways to Give
page you have the option to sign up as a monthly donor through Canada Helps - STMC’s secure online giving platform provider. Monthly gift donors are vital contributors to the sustainability of St. Thomas More Collegiate. As a monthly donor, you sign up once for pre-authorized payments through credit card or through PayPal and receive a consolidated tax receipt at the end of the calendar year. If you prefer to give monthly through pre-authorized electronic funds transfer (EFT), please contact our Advancement Office for assistance. To set up a monthly online gift:
STMC Online Monthly Giving Page
Our online donation page is also set up for
memorial or tribute giving
- a wonderful way to honour or remember someone and make a difference at STMC at the same time. Celebrate occasions such as birthdays and graduations, or express sympathy or a thank you by making a memorial or tribute gift to STMC. When you make a gift, you may request STMC Advancement to send an electronic or printed card to notify a person that a gift has been made in their honour or in their loved one’s memory. To make a memorial or tribute gift:
STMC Memorial/Tribute Giving
A friendly reminder that our
Knights Annual Fund
campaign for 2019/2020 school year is set to go out soon. Thank you to those that have given generously in the past years. We look forward to your continued generosity. Great things happen at STMC when the whole community joins together in support of our school and our Knights.
STMC Advancement Contacts:
Alice Roder
Thank you for supporting STMC!
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November
6:
Remembrance Day Mass
7:
Parent Teacher Interviews - No Classes
8:
Term Break - No Classes
11:
Remembrance Day - School Closed
14:
Knight Club Uniform Sale
15:
Jeans Day
22:
Last Day of Term 1 Electives
23-24:
Knights Christmas Market
25:
Post-Secondary Information Night
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PowerSchool Notifications
Parents and students of STMC are likely familiar with the PowerSchool SIS, or ‘Student Information System, that is used to manage attendance, grading, and other data essential to school operations. The Parent-Student Portal to this system is used by virtually all families to access Report Cards, attendance information, and detailed student achievement data.
Some users may not be aware that email notifications can also be controlled and configured through the Parent-Student Portal. Just click on the ‘Email Notification’ link in the left column of your Portal page, and a screen will open where you can set up the recipients who should receive notifications, the information to be included, and the frequency with which notifications should be sent.
Families experiencing any difficulty with accessing or using the STMC PowerSchool Parent-Student Portal should contact Mr. K. Olson, Director of IT, for assistance.
Ken Olson, Director of IT
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Mini-Med School Workshop
Several groups of students have taken part in science experiences over the past few weeks.
Grade 12s Noor Ali-Mohamad, Georgia Langdon, and Josh Onukwulu have been taking part in BCCHR's Mini-Med School workshops every Wednesday, listening to lectures by some of Vancouver's top medical researchers, and networking about future careers.
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Gairdner Symposium
Six of our students attended the Gairdner Symposium at BCCHR on October 21st. They had an opportunity to tour research facilities; attend seminars and get a close look at careers in the medical field. Grade 12 Georgia Langdon had the following to say about it:
This past week, I had the opportunity to attend the BC Children’s Hospital Gairdner Symposium along with five other STMC students. This was a chance for us to hear from Gairdner award-winning scientists and attend a behind-the-scenes tour of BC Children's Hospital's research facilities. Through this event, I was able to visit and interact with two different research teams around the hospital. One of these teams was researching the immune systems of premature babies and how they are affected by diseases which I found particularly interesting. I was able to tour their lab, learn about their experimentation process and even view a sample of live cancer cells under a microscope. This experience allowed to see where a future in post secondary sciences could lead me and overall was a great opportunity to broaden my overall knowledge and interest in biology and medicine.
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CERN & World Wide Data Day
Our Modern Physics Club has had a busy month. On October 16th, members of the club teleconferenced with students from Portugal and scientists at CERN in Geneva as part of World Wide Data Day. They had previously analyzed data from the CMS Experiment, creating a global data set with other schools from around the world to learn how particle physicists conduct research and spend the call discussing the results.
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Let's Talk Science - Fish Market Samples
The students also started the work on two longer term initiatives. They are working with scientists of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada on a project that will see them use a robotic telescope to search for exoplanets. They also processed samples to take part in Let's Talk Science's Fish Market Samples where they sent fish samples for DNA analysis to determine if they were actually the advertised species.
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For any questions or comments regarding Science clubs and programs, please feel free to contact me at Joe.Muise@stmc.bc.ca
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An outstanding performance by the 2019 cross country team - one of the best ever. A record for STMC, 16 athletes qualified for the BC championships out of a possible 39. The BC’s include close to 2000 schools and 1200 participants.
Kate Stewart-Barnett finished 3rd in the province while Milena Kalisch finished 15th in the Sr. Girls division (over 560 girls competed) Both Jr. Girls and Boys teams finished in the top 40. The future looks bright for runners at STMC!
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As we approach our quarter final playoff game, we can reflect back on what has been an outstanding regular season for the Varsity Knights. The Knights entered the season not ranked, and finished their final regular season game with a decisive victory over Lord Tweedsmuir by a score of 34 - 14. The Knights were undefeated in league play winning the Eastern Conference with a record of 7 - 0.
After the recent all-star meeting, the following players were named conference all stars. Nick Osho at running back, Evan March at offensive line, and Gabe Nacario at receiver. Luca Iallanardo at defensive line, Jack Wagner at linebacker, and Rickey Parsons at defensive back. Lastly, Kaishuan Carter was unanimously voted the most valuable defensive player in the conference.
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St Thomas More Collegiate is hosting a two day Basketball Camp designed to introduce players to the fundamentals of shooting in a fun and competitive atmosphere. It is open to boys and girls currently in grades 3-7. Dates are January 2nd and 3rd, 2020 from 9am-noon. For more info see
Brochure and Registration details
.
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Arts
STMC's advanced art class (grade 10-12) won first place for the Art's Nursery Scarecrow contest from a total of 50 contestants. The class won a cheque for $250 and a certificate. They required recycle materials and we only had two weeks to finish. The STMC class created three scarecrows, of which the Maleficent one took first place.
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Parent Discussion Group #2
Have questions about how to support your adolescent Knight? You are not alone! Please join us for a parent discussion group. Get to meet other STMC parents and discuss current parenting topics. The topic of our next meeting is
Stress and Anxiety
. Please refer to the attached articles and videos.
We look forward to seeing you on
Friday December 6
at
1:30 pm
in the
Library-Learning Commons
on the 2
nd
floor.
You can also reach her by phoning 604-521-1801 (Ext. 114)
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Climate Strike
38 Knights from STMC & over 120,000 people attended the Climate Strike event according to the VPD. This was one of the biggest strikes to ever happen in Vancouver, and entirely run by youth. Striking can directly result in policy change and also inspires people to be more sustainable. Many of the students that came to the strike said they left feeling empowered and wanting to make change happen.
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Spring Break 2020 - A Week Without Walls - Spain, Portugal, and Morocco
Come join us this March as we tour Barcelona, Madrid, Andalusia, Morocco, and Portugal. Leaving Saturday, March 14th and returning Wednesday, March 25th, the tour is full of history and culture. Tour information can be found at
explorica.ca/Borthistle-4727
.
Here are just a few reasons why it's a great experience for students to travel during Spring Break:
1. Encourages their willingness to learn and explore
2. Increases their confidence and independence
3. Provides educational experiences out of the classroom in a hands-on environment
4. Helps them learn to adapt to new situations
5. Increases cultural awareness
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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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