This year marks the 60th anniversary of STMC! |
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Message from the Principal |
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Like most, I have attended a gazillion Google Meets and Zoom conference calls since the start of the pandemic. It would appear to be the new way things are and is likely something that will continue even when we get to the other side of our current reality. Over the course of the last two months, numerous individuals hosting the various meetings I‘ve attend have started or ended the meeting with a prayer from Saint Francis de Sales. Remarkably, these groups and individuals are not directly connected in any way. But I imagine that everyone who has chosen to recite it, has done so because it can provide comfort.
“We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right,
our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God.
If at times we are somewhat stunned by the tempest, never fear.
Let us take breath, and go on afresh.”
Each time I hear this prayer it too helps ground me. It gives me renewed strength. It also gives me hope. Most importantly, it serves to remind me that I am not alone in this – none of us are. To stop, take stock, and draw breath before we move forward – but above all – to place our faith in God and in each other will never fail us in our quests. And it will not fail us in our current battle with the Coronavirus!
With gratitude…
Every opportunity I get, I thank our students and our staff for their commitment to our community, as well as their efforts to keep our school safe. Every action we collectively take enables us to continue to meet our important mandate as a faith and learning community. I want to use this particular opportunity to also thank you, our parents. This year marks my 31st in this craft. To say that the last seven months have been a challenge is a massive understatement. We are all working harder than we ever have before to ensure that the pastoral and educational care of our students remains top-notch. The overwhelmingly positive, unwavering support we have received from parents since March has provided the wind that all of our wings have required. We may stumble… We may even get it wrong at times. But to know that our families have our backs is incredibly heartening. On behalf on my entire staff… Mille grazie!
Yours in Christ,
Stephen J. Garland
Proud Principal of STMC
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Message from the President |
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Welcome to STMCs 2020-2021 School Year!
For those I have not yet met, let me introduce myself.
Since August 2019, I have had the privilege to serve as the President of STMC. In this role I have accountability to the STMC Board of Directors for the vision, leadership, advancement, development, financial stewardship, planning and external affairs of STMC. The Principal, Mr. Stephen Garland is responsible for leading the educational aspects of the schools operation and communicating directly with families, students and staff.
Having our students return to school, even in our COVID-19 modified approach, has energized and excited me. STMC is blessed with an exceptional staff, engaged parents and alumni, generous donors and of course an amazing group of students who inspire and amaze me every day.
HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY TO STMC!
2020-2021 is a special year for STMC as it marks our 60th Birthday. The first class entered the doors of STMC September 1960 with 3 Christian Brothers and 110 Knights enrolled in Grades 7, 8 and 9. The school has evolved to a leading Catholic Coeducational High School, which consistently ranks in the top 10% academically for BC High Schools. Our Knights achieve a graduation rate of 99% and over 85% go on to pursue Post-Secondary education.
Our 60th birthday celebrations will be integrated throughout the school year with banners, trivia contests, and a celebration of the decades. October will take us back to the 1960s with music, memorabilia and memories offered by staff and alumni.
I invite everyone to participate in any way with making the celebration fun and informative. In particular we hope you will submit video clips (60 to 90 seconds) sharing memories and telling us how STMC has impacted your life. Submit your videos, memories or other ideas to Alice Roder, the 60th Anniversary point person at alice.roder@stmc.bc.ca and Jason Wong, communications manager at jason.wong@stmc.bc.ca.
Our celebration will culminate with a VIRTUAL 60th GALA event Saturday, May 15, 2021 .Having a virtual event gives us the exciting opportunity to bring together Knights from around the world to share their stories, and reconnect with staff and former students. We will also have a chance to hear from and celebrate the success of our Alumni Knights who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This will be both a fun raiser and a fund-raiser! We are requesting donations of major items for an online auction as well as seeking sponsors for the Gala. More information will be provided as plans progress. Please contact coordinators Alice Roder alice.roder@stmc.bc.ca and Chris Rickaby at chris.rickaby@stmc.bc.ca to share ideas and offer contributions.
WILL YOU HELP CREATE STMC’S FUTURE?
A special project for 2020 has been revising our STMC Strategic Plan for 2021-2025. The plan outlines:
- Our MISSION (why we exist)
- Our VISION (what we aspire to be)
- Our Values (what beliefs guide us)
- Our Aspirations (what are our big, bold, imaginative goals)
Thank you to everyone who participated in Phase 1 surveys and discussions. I have heard from over 200 members of the STMC family including Brothers, students, parents, staff, alumni, and donors. Your feedback has been invaluable in drafting the current version of the plan. I now am seeking your final feedback to complete the plan which I will present to the STMC Board for review and approval.
A SURVEY WILL BE MAILED OUT THIS WEEK TO STMC BOARD, STAFF, STUDENTS, PARENTS, and ALUMNI.
Please take 15 minutes to fill in the survey. The survey includes a summary of the responses received in Phase 1 .My apologies if the feedback you provided is not evident in the draft as the responses provided did not always result in a consensus.
I thank you in advance for expressing your ideas as we position STMC for its continued evolution as a place of excellence for academics, arts, athletics and advocacy.
Let me know if there is anything I can do to make your participation at STMC even better!
Live Jesus in our hearts forever
Dianne Doyle
President, STMC
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October
5-6: Knight Club new uniform sale
12: Thanksgiving - NO SCHOOL
19: Parents Association meeting
23: Provincial Pro-D Day - NO CLASSES
29-30: Halloween dress up day
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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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Dear STMC Community,
Happy 60th!
We hope you all had a great summer. The Development Team spent much of the Summer on relationship building, launching the Remembering Marian High Bursary Fund, and setting our targets and priorities for the STMC Strategic Plan. We feel very confident with our targets and look forward to engaging with the STMC community to achieve our goals.
Thank you all very much for your contributions to the Knights Annual Fund 19/20. We reviewed our priorities from the drive and will be purchasing Grab & Go Emergency Bags for every classroom and teaching area for the safety of our staff and students, 50 Synchronized Wireless Clocks as we’ve moved away from a bell system, Portable Staging System, an Audio System for the MPR, and more.
The Knights Annual Fund for 20/21 will be focused on Academic Excellence. Mr. Garland and his exceptional team identified priorities and goals for this year which will guide our fundraising initiatives. A Major focus will be to raise funds for a new Applied Design and Engineering Program and enhancements for the Human Kinetics Program.
A special thank you goes out to the Bowering Family for an extremely generous contribution to launch our 20/21 Knights Annual Fund. The Bowering contribution and funds from the Nancy Yeadon Estate earmarked for Visual Arts has gone towards supporting our new Digital Media and Design Course. Many departments in the school will benefit from this new equipment and we’re very grateful.
I’ll never forget the words Brother Cassidy said to me when I started in this role in April. He said:
“We will achieve great success if we receive many, many small contributions. It will add up and get us to where we need to be.”
Following Bro’s advice, that is exactly what we plan to do. Look forward to communication from us regarding setting up a monthly contribution plan. We’ll be reaching out to talk about our priorities and how you can help us achieve our goals, one small... or large… contribution at a time.
Sincerely
Brent Christensen
Director of Development and Community Relations
604-720-2517 | #stmc60
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The start of the 20-21 School Year has been a very busy time in the IT Department, as we work to fully support students, families, and staff during these difficult times. A number of important objectives have been achieved, however, including implementation of an updated core server system, and the provisioning of brand new ChromeBooks for our incoming Class of 2025.
With the support of our hard-working Development Office, we have been able to provision state-of-the-art video editing systems, cameras, and all required accessories for our new Digital Media Design course. In the interest of school safety, a Daily Health Reporting System has also been rolled out from the IT Department, with an RFID-based system still in the works.
Ken Olson,
Director of IT
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MATHEMATICS
We'd like to recognize the following students who placed in the TOP 25% of all contestants who competed in the following University of Waterloo Math contests in the winter of 2020:
Pascal (Grade 9): William Jee, and Nathan Liou
Cayley (Grade 10): Howard Cheng, Daryl Chung, Jovian Kuntjoro, and Cynthia Wong
Fermat (Grade 11): Cameron Dewith and Eric Zhang
Congrats!
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Extra-Curricular Science Opportunities
Extra-curricular science opportunities are being posted on Google Classroom. Students interested in finding out about opportunities should join the class using the code: xtyotzj. Students with any questions should contact Mr. Muise.
Modern Physics
The Modern Physics club will soon be starting up for the school year with announcements posted on Google Classroom (code: wmtyxkg)
BC Children's Hospital Research Institute's Mini Med-School
Many of the organizations providing science opportunities for students are developing ways to run their events virtually. The first major one of the year is the BC Children's Hospital's Mini Med School, which will deliver interactive lectures via Zoom. This program provides students opportunities to interact with doctors to discuss ongoing developments in the medical field. This year, three of our students have been selected for the program, with only 200 students across the Lower Mainland attending. Congratulations to Adarsh Bajaj, Mathushaa Chanchayan and Zachary Olarte on their selection.
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STMC Athletics Update #1
School athletics is a big part of our community and identity at STMC, and there is an abundance of research that supports that participation in school sport aids in the development of critical life skills, improves students’ mental well-being, enhances academic achievement, and leads to healthier habits in adulthood.
While athletics will not have a normal look this year we think it’s vitally important to provide creative opportunities for our students to take part in extracurricular activities. From an athletics end we will be enhancing our intramural program to provide weekly opportunities for the students to compete in different activities within our new house system. We will be starting with soccer on October 7th.
Currently BC School Sports is in Stage 2 of its Return to School Sport Plan (Intra-School activities within educational cohorts). This means that co-curricular activities such as school sport may take place but under the conditions specified by the Ministry in the plan. Specifically, that reduced physical contact training and friendly competition may take place within the educational cohorts students are placed in by their school for the delivery of the curriculum. Recently the plan was updated to allow shared equipment and participation between educational cohorts as long as strict physical distancing measures are in place. Click on the link to see the full version of the recently updated BCSS Return to School Sport Plan. In particular, see pages 10-11 of the BC School Sports Return to School Sport Plan (link above) for more stage 2 specifics, and pages 12-13 for common questions and answers. It is important to note this is different from club/community sport as published by Via Sport in August as they are in phase 3. As we continue to get updates from BC School Sports, we will send out subsequent updates so that everyone is fully aware of what’s happening with STMC athletics.
Our Fall sport programs include football, girls volleyball, cross country, and swimming. While our teams cannot practice or compete as normal, we are striving to find creative ways for the teams to train.
Sincerely,
Mr. Borthistle
Athletic Director
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Movie Club
This year, there will be a new club at STMC, the Movie Club! Mr. Ruzycki will be the sponsor and students Nathan Rivers and Adam Ponis will be in charge. The student body needs stay tuned for further details!
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Textile Club
The Learning Commons is excited to begin a new Textile/Sewing Club this year. With the help of funds raised last year, STMC was able to purchase three sewing machines and one serger. Students are eager to learn these skills and many have signed up for our initial meeting on Oct. 1. Throughout the year, we hope to sew a variety of projects including masks and drawstring bags to fill with toiletries for the Breakfast Club Ministry. We are looking for cotton fabric donations and good quality thread to help keep our costs down. Please spread the word!
Thank you!
Mrs. DeWith
Teacher-Librarian
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Happy 60th Birthday, STMC!
This year is a big milestone for the school. Since the school's inception in 1960, the spirit of St. Thomas More and Blessed Edmund Rice have continued to drive the school forward, overcoming challenges and helping us grow as a school and as individuals.
A couple weeks ago we had cupcakes. As the year progresses, keep your eyes and ears peeled for more 60th celebrations to come. In the meanwhile, we will be using the hashtag #STMC60 for any social media posting related to this special year. We also encourage everyone to feel free and use this hashtag if such an opportune moment arises.
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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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