CLARKSON SECONDARY SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 2019
Message from the Principal
Dear Clarkson Families
We are excited to share highlights of the 2018-2019 school year so far. There is a huge variety of learning opportunities that take place in and out of the classroom. Throughout this newsletter you will read about the many successes and experiences of our Chargers. I am so proud of our staff and students and the spirit of inclusivity that is at the heart of our school.
For a small school, there are an extraordinary amount of clubs, teams and activities to get involved in. The dedication, innovation and grit of our Charger in academic, athletics and extra-curriculars is impressive and inspiring.
We are looking forward to the second half of the school year and of course our annual Cancer Drive which will take place in April. This is a special year for Clarkson S.S. as we will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary on Saturday May 25. Please visit www.clarkson50th.ca for more information.
Thank you to our staff and students for their hard work. Best wishes for a successful second semester.
Mrs. Zammit
Staff Goodbyes and Welcome
Thank you and best wishes to the following staff members who have/will retired this year:
Annette Kurjanczyk- Department Head of Creative Arts & Drama Teacher
George Fotopoulos- Co-operative Education Teacher
Donald Mclaughlin- Co-operative Education Teacher
Valerie Strickler- Teacher Librarian
Thank you and best wishes to Vice Principal Kontos who will be moving to West Credit Secondary School effective February 19 as Acting Principal. This is a wonderful opportunity for Mr. Kontos. Mr. Kontos has made a valuable contribution to the Clarkson S.S. community and will be missed.
Welcome to Ms. Bruce who will join us effective March 4 as Acting Vice Principal from Brampton Centennial Secondary School. Ms. Bruce is currently a student success and math teacher. We look forward to having her join our staff.
Welcome to the following new members of the Clarkson S.S. teaching staff for Semester Two
Fiona Schembri- Business Teacher
Sapna Chhitta- Business Teacher
Paul Filaber- French Teacher
Rachelle Kerr- English Teacher
Meghan Connolly- Drama Teacher
Ramandeep Singh- Global Studies Teacher
Thank you to the following teachers who were with us in Semester 1 and have moved on to new teaching assignments at other schools:
Leena Abu-Jazar- Math and Credit Recovery Teacher
Deepak Grover- Special Education and English Teacher
Our Thoughts and Prayers
As you know our school community felt the impact of the loss of a Clarkson S.S. teacher and student this school year. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Mr. Kirollos (teacher) and Riley Driver- Martin (Grade 9 student) and their friends and family members. Thank you to the Clarkson community for their support in challenging times. Your care and concern is appreciated and heartfelt.
Clarksons 50th Anniversary
On Saturday May 25, 2019 Clarkson S.S. will celebrate its 50th anniversary. For more information and to register to attend the event please visit http://www.clarkson50th.ca. We expect many alumni to attend this special anniversary event. Please share to date with past alumni you may know.
On Friday May 24 a special assembly and celebration will take place in the school for current students.
S. A. C
What has S.A.C Been doing?
What our student activity council did this semester!
It feels as though the first semester just started yesterday; as you all can imagine our Student Activity Council was so ever excited to start all the fun activities they had planned.
In September, Student Council hosted their first SAC Ambassador Meeting of the year, with many students volunteering their time to help run events for the school. They later hosted their first event, Fall Fun Fair. Several feeder schools came to visit our school, students enjoyed many carnival games and carnival food.
Our Council organized our annual Terry Fox Walk, an event in which students participate in a walk and raise money for Cancer Research, and think of those who have battled with Cancer.
This year, SAC was lucky enough to meet other Student councils throughout the peel district school board. They were able to engage with students who shared the same position as them, gain new ideas to improve the council, and they thoroughly enjoyed being able to share their passion of being leaders with like-minded people.
Our school definitely got spooky this during our Halloween celebrations! Classes were able to participate in pumpkin carving contests, haunted houses, and our council set up a photo booth.
To start our holiday activities, SAC hosted an annual event, Kids Fest. Kindergarteners came from a local elementary school to decorate cookies, read stories, see Santa Claus, and open presents. Our SAC Ambassadors partnered up with a student and guided them through the festivities.
During December, our council ran a winter spirit week, leading into the holiday break. Every day, activities were held to engage students, for example, students enjoyed pajama day and karaoke during the lunch hour.
This semester has gone by so fast, yet it had been so fun. Our council cannot wait to share many more events with everyone!
ENGLISH & ESL
ESL E Students go from Text to Screen
At the end of November, Ms. Fryer and Ms. Gonzales-Fadel’s ESL E classes hosted their first film festival in the school theatre as part of their novel study of Deborah Ellis’ No Safe Place. Students from both classes prepared original film extensions – complete with blooper reel – about what they believed would have happened to the characters after the original ending of the novel. We invited Ms. Grant, Ms. Leavitt, Ms. Hildred, Mr. Takhar, and his ESL D class to help judge the films in several categories such as “Best Dramatic Performance”, “Best Musical Score”, “Best Teamwork”, and of course, “Best Film” – just like the Oscars! We even had popcorn and mini-trophies to celebrate the students’ accomplishments.
Grade 11 Students Create A Documentary In A Day at TIFF
Right before the Winter Break, Ms. Twizere and Ms. Gonzales-Fadel’s ENG 3U0 classes spent a day Downtown Toronto at to create original student documentaries with directors and staff from TIFF. Students had the opportunity to choose documentary topics and interview each other and work with professional filming equipment to produce a final film. One group focused on “Cancel Culture” for their documentary while another group revolved their documentary around “Millennial Culture”. Documentaries will be edited by TIFF staff and will be released in late January.
ESL E NSP Film Festival
Students watching a screening of films produced by students
TIFF Field Trip
Counting on You
Counting on You- Literacy and Numeracy
Counting on You will start again at the beginning of semester 2. Students who would like additional support in either mathematics (numeracy) or English (literacy) are welcome to sign up to attend. Classes run twice a week (usually Tuesday and Thursday) during the first half of lunch. Sign up forms are available from your child's English or math teacher, as well as in the guidance office.
MATH & COMPUTER SCIENCE
Clarkson Computer Science Hosts Hillside for Hackathon and STEM Extravaganza
On December 12, students enrolled in grade 10 and 11 computer science courses were involved in hosting the grade 6, 7, and 8 Hillside students for a day of learning about STEM. In the Library, Clarkson teamed up with HackerGal to be part of a Canadian-wide Girls Only Hackathon. This event allowed grade 6, 7, and 8 girls to work together in teams to create an animated story about sustainability and the environment. The girls were asked to represent Ontario during the nationwide livestream as Clarkson hosted the largest site in the country.
The boys were engaged in more local activities. The grade 6 boys took over the Clarkson Woodshop and created windmills, the grade 7 boys worked with Fair Chance learning to continue their development of engineering and science fundamentals, and the grade 8 boys worked with InkSmith to build and program robots to complete a variety of tasks.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
HOSA
Clarkson will be competing in HOSA for the first time this year! HOSA is often called the DECA of health sciences, being a multidisciplinary competition geared for students testing their skills and knowledge in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary, first aid and health research areas. Our chapter president, Katrina Shrum, advocated for starting a team last year, and now it is a team that has 35 students getting ready to compete. The competition will take place on March 25-26 at downtown Toronto. Thanks to Mr. Wang and Mr. Chan for supporting the group! For more information about the competition, check out https://hosacanada.org/home/.
Crystal Growing Competition
Clarkson students participated in the National Crystal Growing Competition this year. This event is hosted annually by the Chemical Institute of Canada. Students had to figure out how to grow a crystal of copper (II) sulphate pentahydrate to be as large and clear as possible! A national award is given to the best overall crystal, largest crystal, and highest quality crystal. About a dozen students started the event, but in the end, we submitted the crystal by Louise Anselmo and Suha Saleem that should have a good chance of ranking well. Results should be posted in a few weeks! Thanks to Sadia Sarker for being the student leader on this competition and coordinating communication with the group. Thanks to Mr. Camarena, Mr. Wang, and Mr. Chan for helping the students with their experiments! Check out https://www.cheminst.ca/outreach/crystal-growing-competition for more information.
Mr. Miller has been incorporating some exciting tweaks to the learning experience in our physics courses. Our labs have been incorporating greater use of our department Chromebooks, probes, and sensors! The department has also purchased the use of Interactive Physics, a physics simulating program, to help students test and measure concepts learned in physics. Plans are in place to continue acquiring more wireless sensors and motion carts to continue updating the program and learning delivery.
EcoSchools
Mr. Uttamsingh is leading our students and school to being an EcoSchool once again! Students in our environmental science course have been supporting the gathering of data in terms of the school's energy usage and waste diversion. Other initiatives are on the way, including the Big Gulp, which encourages the use of refillable water bottles to prevent plastic waste.
Engineering Idol
Clarkson will be fielding two teams this year as the defending champions for Engineering Idol! This year's challenge is on Autonomous Transportation. Students will be tasked to design, create, test, and report on a prototype for autonomous cars. Beyond the engineering challenge, students will also need to research and critique on ethics, laws, and legislation that is related to autonomous cars to decide what is potentially the most reasonable amount of automation for future transportation. This challenge will put our school's robotics and coding skills to the test, all on a $150 budget! The competition will take place in early March at the Bahen Centre at the University of Toronto St. George campus. Thanks in advance to Mr. Wang for taking the lead, and to Mr. Arduini and Mr. Chanf or their support.
Adventures in Science
Grade 11 and 12 science students have been invited and signed up for Adventures in Science again! In collaboration with the University of Toronto's Medical School program, students will be attending leadership training workshops on Saturdays for the next few months. Medical school students will be guiding our students on how to run science learning workshops with our elementary school students. Workshops in the past have included how to make slime, creating a hologram, colour changing experiments, and playing with lasers. Thanks to Ms. Haddad and Mr. Chan for supporting this initiative!
Schulich Leadership Scholarship
We are in the process of choosing our school's next Schulich nominee! Students are eligible if they are graduating this year and are entering university for a STEM program not related to health sciences. Each school in Canada is only allowed to nominate one student per school each year. As universities become aware of which Schulich nominees are in their first year programs, they have a certain number of scholarships to award their pool of nominees. This scholarship can range from $80,000 to $100,000! Nominees will be considered based on their program choices, academic achievement, school and community leadership, and financial need.
Technology Department
Manufacturing SHSM Program
Mr. Petsinis has been leading the way for our school's Manufacturing SHSM program! Students in the program have recently gone to Niagara College to visit a state of the art manufacturing training facility. Students on the trip also participated on a workshop related to numeracy, coding, and business related scenarios. The college is one of many colleges that are starting to provide incentives, such as scholarships, for graduating from high school with a SHSM certification. Other certifications for our SHSM students are coming soon, including first aid, CPR, enclosed spaces, and more. Our next field trip will be to the Canadian Auto Show to explore automobile manufacturing. Thanks to Mr. Kinney, Mr. Kontos, Ms. Murray and Mr. Chan for their ongoing support of the program as well.
Adobe CC for Clarkson
Many thanks to Ms. Slavinski for guiding the school through a huge software update process! Students are now all able to learn and use the Adobe CC suite of software in our technology design and technology communication courses. This software is more in line with current industry standards, and will keep students up to date with tools used in postsecondary programs. You may see some of our student work from this at our upcoming 50th anniversary celebration!
Here’s some of the photoshop work from our TDJ3M0 students! Everyone did a great job exploring the new software. The student work featured was created by Effie Ferguson, Jasreen Mander, Cahn Pham, Jolly Xu, Era Fang and Elaine Zhao.
Computer Lab Move
Thanks in advance for the consultation from Mr. Drake, Mr. Petsinis, and Ms. Slavinski for supporting the move of our technology department's computer lab move from Room 143 to 149. The move will give students more space to to work at their computer stations, have instructional space to better watch teacher demonstrations, and work space to construct physical projects. Room 149 will be geared for our technology design and technology communication courses. It is also situated next to our school's cross curricular lab that has a green screen. Room 143 will also be converted into additional classroom space for our department, to improve our instruction and briefing of students.
LANGUAGES & LIBRARY
Library
From the Library Learning Commons (LLC)
It has been a busy and enjoyable semester in Clarkson’s Library Learning Commons (LLC)! In the fall, we provided all grade 9 students with an introduction to the LLC and its resources as well as a workshop on MLA citation. Additionally, in December and January, ELL classes were introduced to a hands-on three-part workshop series focused on understanding and avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing and notetaking, and creating MLA citations. We also ran informative workshops for other classes on a variety of topics such as MLA and APA citations, plagiarism, inquiry and research skills, and more. We partnered with the Clarkson Branch of the Mississauga Library yet again this year, which provided all students with the opportunity to register for a free public library card and obtain information about volunteer opportunities within the Mississauga Public Library system. LLC staff also liaised with key vendors at the bi-annual vendor display which enabled us to add more great new books to our rich and diverse collection – come on down and let us help you find the ‘perfect’ book for you!
In addition to providing valuable programming and print resources, the LLC has continued to work to provide an open-concept learning environment that offers students an inviting and comfortable “go-to” place for interaction, collaboration and study. One of our goals is to provide a dynamic space that is adaptable to students’ varied learning needs. To assist in achieving this goal this semester, we increased the mobility and flexibility of our furniture configurations by acquiring 60 additional chairs with castors, making virtually all of the furniture in the LLC mobile. This flexible seating allows students to work more productively in a variety of learning situations, and also enables the LLC to support even larger groups of students for collaborative learning activities. For example, in January, we were able to accommodate all of the Grade 10 Career and Grade 12 Business Leadership classes as they underwent their mock interviews. Also, in December, we provided space for the Hour of Code event for all Clarkson students, as well as the “Hackergal” event which provided female students in grades 6, 7 and 8 from Hillside Public School an opportunity to experience coding.
Clarkson’s LLC also continues to remain committed to providing technological resources to support the diverse needs of our student population and empower our learning community. This semester we added 21 Chromebooks to supplement our current collection, bringing the grand total of available Chromebooks to 85! We also have iPads and headphones for students to sign out to use during the day, as well as collaboration tables and a laptop bar that can be used on site.
It’s been a great first semester in the LLC, and we’re looking forward to continuing to support Clarkson’s students and staff by providing ample and equitable access to relevant physical and virtual resources. Stay tuned in the spring for more updates as we continue to transform both the physical and virtual LLC to meet the evolving needs of our modern learners. Follow us on Twitter @CLKlibrary to stay in the know with Clarkson’s LLC happenings!
TEAMS AND CLUBS
Breakfast Club Buyout
On Tuesday November 27, 2018, an exciting fundraising event was held to support Clarkson's amazing Breakfast Club program. Students bought out of class to see members of staff go head to head with a determined, gritty group of student athletes in a staff versus students ball hockey game. Ms Zammit and Ms Grant served as guest referees for this spirited event. It was a closely fought contest as the staff managed to edge the relentless student team. It was a very entertaining time all around and a great event for our school community while supporting this very worthwhile initiative. More than $700 was raised!
Project Milk Bag
Project Milk Bag members meet during lunch on Thursdays. Muchas gracias to all students, parents, staff, and community members who faithfully send their clean bags to room 204.
It takes about 300 bags to make one mat. These milk bags are cut in to strips of plastic that can be crocheted by community members in to sleeping mats for children in Haiti whose homes have mud floors. It's a school, community, and international project, and it's a great example of how each one's small contribution can make a big difference in our world!
WE Charity
Please follow @clarksoncharger to keep updated about our groups activities.
WE Charity
WE Scare Hunger
WE Bake for Change
GLOBAL STUDIES - SOCIAL SCIENCES, BUSINESS, CIVICS & CAREERS
Once again Clarkson’s biennial European Battlefield Tour is readying for departure! This will be our fifth battlefield tour and this year 45 students will be participating. They will depart on the 21st of March, land in England, tour London, take the channel tunnel train to France and visit Vimy Ridge, Juno Beach, Versailles Palace and many other important historical sites. Students will also have a chance to participate in the Menin Gate ceremony, which has been held every evening no matter the weather for the last 100 years. This has become something of a tradition at Clarkson these last 10 years and hopefully for many more to come. One of the many important tour activities is the production of a Tour Quilt featuring the names of Canadians who sacrificed their lives for others. Each student researches and decorates a quilt piece that is then sewn together and used for group photos at important sites!
Un grand merci and a round of applause for Mme Twizere’s Grade 12 French Immersion class for their amazing rendition of “L’affaire Laferre”. Over 180 students from our French Immersion feeder schools were able to attend the play and also participate in the many interactive activities organized by Mme Murray and her Grade 11 French Immersion students. Bravo!
In Señora’s Spanish classes the fiesta is on! Grade 10 students made piñatas while the grade 11 students created maracas. Students also sharpened their culinary skills and made savoury Spanish and Latin American cuisine
Next semester all students studying Spanish will be invited to participate in a Spanish fieldtrip to El Rancho.
Students in Mme Héneault’s French Science class visited the Credit Valley Conservation and planted over 120 trees on a very cold day while learning about local invasive species. Also, Mme Héneault’s French Immersion Careers and Civics class had the opportunity to attend the Legislative Assembly and had a tour of the University of Toronto campus.
Next semester students studying French will be invited to a variety of fieldtrips along with grade 12 students who will be invited to participate in the French University Contest. Stayed tuned !
Students who are interested in participating in the CPF Concours d’Art Oratoire for 2019 please speak to your French teacher or Mme Urbano as soon as possible.
Rules for this contest have changed and will focus on unrehearsed communication skills.
Opportunities for student travel exchanges await you! Please visit the Languages Department for more information.
French Senior Scholars will resume again second semester, every Tuesday and Thursday in room 221. Senior students will be available to help proofread, tutor and aide with pronunciation for oral presentations.
Welcome back to Mme Mazur who will continue to teach in our Department second semester.
Bonne Chance! ¡Buena suerte!
CREATIVE ARTS - VISUAL ARTS, DRAMA, MUSIC & FAMILY STUDIES
Visual Arts
Grade 11 Photography
Grade 11 Photography
Grade 12 Photography / Yearbook and extra
Grade 12 Photography / Yearbook and extra
Grade 12 Photography / Yearbook and extra
Grade 12 Photography / Yearbook and extra
Drama
Drama students have been busy this semester improving their communication and collaboration skills, developing characters, writing scripts and of course, performing! Grade 9 and 10 drama students have been working hard to create original pieces of theatre for their final performance and students in the Grade 11 Presenting and Speaking course have been writing and presenting formal speeches. You can check out one of the great abstract movement performances created by grade 10 drama students below. Congratulations to all CLK drama students for exploring your creativity and sharing your talents with your classmates!
Family Studies
Grade 11 Indigenous Studies – NDA3M0
Clarkson students are making history! For the first time at Clarkson, this year, the Family Studies department is offering a Grade 11 Indigenous Studies course - NDA3MO, Contemporary Aboriginal Issues in Canada. A large class of 28 students answered the call. The course has been up and running since September, and is off to a great start!
In this course, students are exploring Canada’s colonialist history and present day era, including governmental policies and laws that have had (and continue to have) devastating impacts on Indigenous families and communities, leading to a (re)claiming of Indigenous cultures and languages, today. Early on in the semester, we were honoured to have a visit from Kim Wheatley, an Anishinaabe Cultural Consultant, who took us through a workshop where she taught us about her Anishinaabe cultural beliefs, practices and ways of knowing – in other words, Kim told us about her life! She started with a smudging circle, and then followed with many other cultural teachings that have been here on Turtle Island (North America) for thousands of years, long before Europeans arrived. Kim encouraged us to consider what we could do, as a class, to take action in supporting Indigenous Peoples in Canada and making change for the better.
As part of understanding this collective history between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, students from Ms. Nadeau’s NDA3MO and Ms. Soczek’s HHG4MO class took a field trip to the Woodlands Cultural Centre and Mohawk Institute, located in Brantford, ON. The Mohawk Institute ran as a residential school from 1834 – 1970, and we were fortunate enough to hear from a Survivor, Darlene, who told us about her experience as a student at the school. In terms of how we can all “reconcile” this colonialist history where Indigenous children were forced to go to schools designed to erase their culture and language, Darlene’s message to us was clear - “take care of mother earth”.
To explore stereotypes and prejudice toward Indigenous Peoples in Canada, our classes went to the TIFF Bell Lightbox to view Cree filmmaker, Neil Diamond’s, “Reel Injun”. In this documentary, Diamond explores the portrayal of North American Indigenous people throughout a century of Hollywood cinema – from the beginning of black and white films where Indigenous peoples had little control over how they were represented, until today, when Indigenous filmmakers and documentarians are telling their own stories, in their own way. We were fortunate enough to have a post-screening discussion with Jesse Wente who has worked with the CBC as a film and pop culture critic, and Indigenous advocate, for the past 20 years. His moderation of a discussion after the film helped us consider that in an age of “reconciliation”, it is important to understand how representation shapes our point of view and our actions, so that we can avoid problems caused by misrepresentations, breaking down barriers and encouraging diversity and inclusion at all levels.
There is so much more to explore in this course, as we peel back the layers of Canada’s collective history, but we can at least say in the famous words of Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better”.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION & CO-OP EDUCATION
The ROPSSAA winter season is in full swing. The Chargers boys hockey team competed in the ROPSSAA tier 2 league this year. They had an impressive 4-2 record good enough for 3rd place in the South Division, narrowly missing the play-offs.
Both our junior and senior boys’ basketball teams have been competing in ROPSSAA league play since early December. Both teams have competed hard and are looking to improve their league records in early February when the season resumes.
Our senior girls volleyball team has also been competing in ROPSSAA league play since early December. The senior girls have 2-4 record with two games remaining in early February. The girls are working hard at practice and are continuing to develop their skills. Clarkson also has a junior tournament team that has been competing in tournaments since early December.
February is a busy month for ROPSSAA Championships. Clarkson students will be competing in swimming, Nordic skiing and table tennis championships during February. Our swim team is hoping to send a large representation of swimmers to OFSAA, which is being held in Toronto in early March.
Spring is just around the corner and Clarkson will be participating in the following sports: boys’ baseball, girls’ slo-pitch, boys and girls’ soccer and track and field and ultimate Frisbee.
The Clarkson Athletic Council is a group of students who organize and promote athletics at Clarkson Secondary School. This year they have been involved in running the weekly intramural program, organizing buyouts, and selling Clarkson sweats. Sweats sales will commence again in early February. Students can purchase hoodies, long sleeve t-shirts, toques, lanyards and other clothing items. Listen to the announcements for more details. In Semester 2, the Athletic Council will be organizing the Athletic Banquet that will be held in June.
GUIDANCE, SPECIAL ED., CREDIT RECOVERY, ILC, STUDENT SERVICES
Student Services
The Student Services department is a dynamic team that includes Guidance Counselors, Special Education, and Student Success. We hit the ground running this semester and haven’t stopped since! Two of our department members, Ms Garlock and Ms Haddad, coordinate Link Crew - the passionate group that welcomes our new grade 9s to our school and mentors them throughout the year - while our team in Guidance busily registered new students and built timetables. And this is all before the school year really started! Early fall is often spent getting into the swing of things: identifying the students that may need timetable changes or extra support - and working together to do the best we can for kids.
This past semester our Student Success teacher, Ms Lampropolous, organized two “Charger Catch Up” days to support students who needed just a bit of extra time and support to get to the finish line in their courses. As always, students are appreciative of this opportunity to demonstrate what they can do. Student Success works closely with the Special Education team who spends the entirety of the semester identifying the kids they can support, figuring out the best ways to do so, and developing relationships with our students so they always know who to come to for help. Our Student Success teacher has also worked to provide additional supports to Clarkson students this semester through “Wellness Wednesdays” and a girls-only group that focuses on strategies to support social, educational, and personal wellness. All the while our teaching assistant Mr. Sembay continues to offer wellness activities for male students to learn how to build and fix a motorcycle in “The Club” and for any students who wish to get in shape in our weight room. Talk about a lot of opportunities for kids!
More recently, Guidance counselors met individually with each of our graduating grade 12 students to have “Exit Interviews”, where they discuss their post secondary plans and pathways. They also held their annual Post Secondary Pathways Fair on November 14 and once again it was a tremendous success with more post secondary institutions participating than ever before! All grade 11 and 12 students had the opportunity to attend four short workshops by the various visiting institutions and then there was a wonderful marketplace with all the institutions in the cafeteria at lunch. Sometimes it’s the things like this that can make all the difference to a student’s postsecondary planning.
December and January have continued to be busy months as Guidance Counsellors worked with all students to finalize course selections for the 2019-2020 school year. Spending time with each grade 9, 10 and 11 student to ensure they chose the very best courses for their post secondary pathways was time well spent and everyone benefited from it. It takes a village after all!
On April 1st our Guidance team has invited college panels to come in to discuss all the degree programs available at various colleges. This will undoubtedly be a worthwhile presentation to attend. Remind your child to stay tuned for upcoming events at Clarkson through morning announcements and Instagram.
Link Crew
Link Crew is a mentorship program where we select senior students to become mentors for our incoming grade 9s. We being training students to become mentors in August so they are ready to welcome our grade 9s on the first day of school with enthusiasm and positivity. Since that grade 9 orientation day, Link Crew has organized a breakfast for the grade 9s, a movie day before winter holidays, and an exam preparation workshop. On Feb. 15 we will have an exciting event for grade 9s where we invite the Groove Experience into our school to teach our grade 9s about the importance of movement through dance.
Link Crew can make all the difference in a grade 9s experience with high school. Research shows that this transition, from elementary to secondary is one of the most challenging transitions in a student’s life. One of the many ways that we can support students with this transition is by welcoming them into our school with a support system, warmth, and with positivity. We will continue to strive to offer this to our grade 9s.
Welcoming our new Grade 9s
The Link Crew
Link Crew Movie & Kahoot with Santa for Grade 9s
CROSS-CURRICULAR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM
The International Program has been bustling with activity this fall season, beginning with the World of Welcome Day (WOW) where 50 new students were introduced to Clarkson. The purpose of the day was to orient new students to school life, but many connections and new friendships were made.
Please take a moment to watch this amazing video and read the attached article. This is a beautiful Clarkson story about learning and friendship. A special thanks to Ms. Leavitt for her work leading this program.
WOW Day: Leaders with Newcomer Students
WOW Day II in October, took students on a field trip to the Jack Smythe Field Centre located on the top of the Niagara Escarpment. Cooperative games, a hike through a beautiful forest, and a warm campfire were highlights of a fun filled day.
Jack Smythe Centre Filed Trip: Enjoying the outdoors on the Niagara Escarpment
The WOW program continued throughout the semester with the celebration of various holidays: Moon Festival, Halloween, and Christmas. Likewise, the last Wednesday of every month allows students to be part of continued orientation sessions with important topics such as health care, immunizations and volunteer hours. A fair in the cafeteria allowed students to connect with various organizations in the community that had many volunteer opportunities available.
In preparation for post-secondary pathways, November brought field trips to the University of Toronto, Mississauga (UTM) and Sheridan College campuses. In addition, an IELTS presentation by UTM took place in Clarkson’s theatre where students gained valuable tips for writing this English proficiency test.
University of Toronto Tour
Sheridan College Visit
The International Club continues to bring together international and local students at Clarkson with events such as Dumplings in December, where International Students taught Chargers to make dumplings, but of course, eating took place as well. In addition, every Friday at lunch, Language Partners meet where teaching and learning new languages takes place.
Dumplings in December: Making and Eating Dumplings together
Finally, parents and guardians gathered together for a workshop after the first reporting cycle. It was a great time to learn about the Canadian assessment and reporting system and to discuss together we can support and encourage success in our students.
The International Program quieted down for final exams. Second semester will quickly bring us Lunar New Year Celebrations on February 7th. Stay tuned for details and better yet, have your kids invite you to join the Google Classroom for the International Program that always has announcements of upcoming events.
FOOTBALL NORTH AT CLARKSON
2018 Football North Season Wrap-up
Since 2016, Football North is a program dedicated to success but driven by the pursuit of excellence. This program is committed to creating leaders of all its athletes not only on the field but in the community and classroom as well. The values of this organization (excellence, competitiveness, leadership, teamwork) creates the framework to a successful future for football as a sport not only in the city of Mississauga but in the country of Canada. Football North not only has the top athletic talent in Canada but also has a tremendous coaching staff to help ensure the kids improve on their honed skills. Lead by head coach Larry Jusdanis, the coaching staff which includes CFL legend Adam Rita at this program pushes kids to their limit maximizing their potential as Student-Athletes for NCAA and U-Sports recruitment.
For Football North Clarkson the 2018 schedule was packed with powerhouse teams such as Archbishop Moeller, St. Ignatius, Bishop Sullivan, St. Frances, and many more. This schedule was recognized for it’s difficulty by highschoolfootballamerica.com as one of the toughest in all of the USA.
While being slated as underdog in almost every contest this season, Clarkson was able to come out of the season with an even 6W and 6L. The 6 wins came in victories over COF Academy, Erie High, Lorain, Cheshire Academy, a North Bowl win over our brother school, Football North program St. Joseph’s and finally a well fought victory over State Champions Cathedral Prep out of Erie, PA. Who hadn’t lost at home in the last 7 years, and also repeated as State Champs!
Football North Vs Archbishop Moeller
New to the program this year is a Junior Varsity(JV) Football North team lead by Head Coach Carlo Onorati, which includes the best of the best of grade 9’s and 10’s. The purpose of this team is to develop the skills of the younger generation and future of Football North. They were led on Offense by QB Callum Wither/WR Tyler Lutz/RB Raheem Lindsay and helped by strong line play by OT Dave Thompson/OG Alex Cuhna/C Cole Provan/G Chike Onyemenam. The team was led on defense by LB Enrico Bonanno/ LB Jayden Griffith and on DL by Bryce Butler/Robbie Keyes Wilson/Karson Jimbere/Taqdir Basra. They worked hard to make up for the lack of time together vs strong competition and finished the season (2-2) with two wins over Erie Prep and a heartbreaking close loss to Cathedral Prep in their season finale.
(JV Players - LB Enrico Bonanno and OT Dave Thompson - ICS20 Sumo Robotics Competition winners - Source: Mr. Arduini )
Football North Clarkson is sad but very proud to say goodbye to the following graduating seniors, some of these players have been with us since the very first year!!
OT Liam Dick - University of Pittsburgh
DT Kail Dava - Tennessee Tech University
WR - Clark Barnes - Maine
OL - Mateo Kucinic - Laurier
LB - Ife Onyemenam - Laurier
LB - Jethro Oleko - Waterloo
(Note: some grads still currently making decisions at this time and have been omitted)
There is no doubt Football North Clarkson will go into the 2019 season stronger than ever before. With veteran leaders like RB Brendan Barrow, OT/DT Tyrell Lawerence and young stars like freshman phenom Omarion Martin and some great up and comers, combined with hard work in the currently on going off-season program and a great training camp the Football North program will be a force to reckon with.
WE ARE FOOTBALL NORTH!