The G.F. Kells Junior and Senior Drama Clubs are both looking forward to competing at the Regional Festival in Oxbow on March 30 and 31. The Junior Drama Club performs Saturday, March 31 at 1:50 pm and the Senior Drama Club performs Friday, March 30 at 9:05 pm.
The 2012 Pink Day has been set for Wednesday, May 2nd. We are hoping that this year will be bigger and better. As a committee we would like to include the business community in our day's activities. Last year we created a "chain for change" linking the High School and Elementary School together; this year we would like to extend that chain into the community. We are hoping that the community will jump on board and decorate their store fronts in Pink to help promote the schools initiative in promoting a safe environment. We will also be offering shirts to any business or individual that believes in our cause. We will be selling the "One Colour, One Purpose, One Community" T-Shirts for a minimum donation of $10. Proceeds from the T-Shirt sales will be used to provide more activities and guest speakers to our students to promote a safe and fun learning environment. If you are interested in being a part of this year's Pink Day or would like to purchase a T-Shirt, please contact Mr. Birch at Gordon F. Kells. Thanks for your help in making Carlyle a safe community. (The committee members are Bryce Birch, Jeff Laforet, and Melissa Roy-Brown)
The staff at Gordon F. Kells would like to inform parents of the effect missing school has on student achievement. This year has seen an unprecedented number of student absences at our school. The increase is mainly due to students going on vacations during school time. This is occurring in many of the schools in our school division. Some schools will no longer give out work to students before they leave for a vacation. In short, what we would like to tell our parents is that missing significant amounts of time produces learning gaps that are hard for students to fill. Missing class time at the grade 11 / 12 levels is especially critical. Most teachers at this level have to teach curriculum designed for 100 hours of instruction in 75 - 85 hours. They employ teaching techniques that push students quickly. A one week vacation during class time combined with the usual number of absences due to illness, medical appointments, dental appointments, etc. will mean that some kids will get about 65 hours of instruction. Not being around when a teacher explains things means that the teacher will have to re-teach complex skills or re-explain complex ideas. The sheer volume of this is taxing teacher time at this point. We're not talking about a kid who was sick for a week, we're talking about kids who went on vacation and now want teacher time to help them catch up. Tests have to be re-administered to students who could not write them. The average student will suffer a loss of achievement by writing a test after being away. The general education rule is that the longer the gap between when a unit of work is completed and when the test is written, the lower the student mark. Testing becomes more critical in the credit system and the effects of missing class time are noticeable to teachers. Frequent absenteeism for any reason (missing is missing) promotes school disengagement. Next year, there will be one week in February for family holidays and one week in April as well. Combined with the Christmas break, there should be plenty of time for family vacations during these times. Please help us to make your son or daughter's achievement, the highest it can be.
Rookie and Junior practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. Playoffs are set for May 1st and May 5th. Senior Badminton is in full swing as well. Practices are usually Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Pre-district playoffs are April 20th in Arcola.
The Student Council continues to sell muffins and donuts ($1 each) during the first break of each day.
The Easter Break California Trip is coming up soon.
The Student Council is providing snacks for advisory groups once a week.
Local businesses can have a business-card size advertisement placed in the yearbook for $20 or they can sponsor a photo page for $30. Half-page and full-page advertisements are also available. If you are interested in placing an ad in the GFK yearbook please contact Melissa Sweet for details. The 2010-2011 yearbooks are still available. The cost is now $20. The 2011-2012 yearbooks are $25. If you are pre-ordering during the month of March, your name will be entered to win a gift certificate from Life Touch for school pictures. Halle Doty was the winner of the gift certificate for last month.
If anyone has taken pictures of GFK students which might be of interest to the Yearbook Committee, please email them to Melissa Sweet at:
melissa.sweet@cornerstonesd.ca
