CHSS Chronicle

Commencement

com·mence  (kə mens'), v.i., v.t.  -to begin; start. (Webster's College Dictionary)

Commencement marks a beginning for students—a journey down a new path—whether it's work, apprenticeship, college, or university. But commencement also marks an ending, the culmination of the efforts of an entire school community. For parents, it is a celebration of all their efforts: the nagging about homework; the driving to early morning practices; their involvement with their child's school and teachers, and their dedication in obtaining the best for their children.

For teachers, it is also a celebration; we are witness to the results of our work also: it helps remind us of our purpose and role in preparing the next generation, and it keeps us motivated for our daily song and dance routine in our classes.

Commencement is also a celebration for the community, and its support is shown by the over $40,000 that is distributed in awards and bursaries to our graduates. However, Commencement is primarily a celebration for the students. They can look back at their years of hard work and look forward to their future, wherever their paths may lead them.

If you are a graduate, you should take this opportunity to visit the CHSS Alumni page and register so that you can keep in touch with your classmates and the school.

Photo Galleries:

Preparation

Diploma Presentations

Awards and Valedictorian

Celebrating Academic Excellence

On Friday morning, CHSS held its annual Awards Assembly to recognize the academic achievements of many students. One hundred and thirty five students achieved honours standing with an average of 80% or higher! Many subject awards for grades 9 to 11 were also presented.

Additionally, Aaron Gross, the Travel Fellowship Award Recipient, delivered a presentation sharing his experiences in Nicaragua. Congratulations to all those who have demonstrated the dedication to achieve.

{Photo Gallery}

Recent Events in ENG 2D

On Thursday, September 24, 2009, Miss Hohner's ENG 2D class read children's stories to the day care children. The English students are currently reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and wrote children's stories based on Mercutio's famous Queen Mab speech. Queen Mab had many adventures in the different stories and the children enjoyed the creative tales. The grade 10 students also had a great afternoon spending time with the young children. Thank you to the day care for letting us come and visit!

Continuing with their study of Romeo and Juliet, this week students acted out various scenes from Acts 3 and 4. They  did an excellent job with their dramatic presentations. We all love the costumes and swords! 

Next week, October 14th, all ENG 2D students will be traveling to the Stratford Festival to see West Side Story, which is a modern version of the Shakespeare classic.

{Photo Gallery}

(Photos and story courtesy of Miss Hohner)

Unity In Diversity

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is pleased to announce the official launch of the
2009–2010 Mathieu Da Costa Challenge National Creative Writing and Artwork Contest.

The Mathieu Da Costa Challenge is an annual creative writing and artwork contest that celebrates the importance of multiculturalism and diversity in Canada.

The Challenge is open to youth aged 9 to 18, and provides them the opportunity to use their creative talents to discover how people from different backgrounds have helped make Canada what it is today.

Three winning entries will be selected from each age group (9–12, 13–15 and 16–18) in each of the following categories:

    ·    Original piece of writing in English
    ·    Original piece of writing in French
    ·    Original piece of artwork
 
Additional honours include the Mathieu Da Costa Parks Canada Award—given to the three best submissions featuring the contributions of a National Historic Person of Aboriginal, African or other background to the building of Canada—and the Public Choice Award, which is voted by Canadians.

The winners, accompanied by a parent/guardian, receive an all–expenses paid trip to Ottawa where they take part in an Awards Ceremony hosted by the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 19, 2010.

You can visit our website or contact us by phone or email for detailed information about the Challenge:

www.mathieudacosta.gc.ca
1-888-77-MULTI (1-888-776-8584)
mathieudacosta@cic.gc.ca

Wawanosh In The Rain

Rubber boots, bugs, a flooded creek, red-backed salamanders, a swallowtail caterpillar, and a bit of rain makes for a great afternoon adventure at Wawanosh Nature Centre. Grade 10s, and especially Mrs. Durnin, enjoyed a Belgrave Creek Study on Thursday, May 28th. Even though we couldn't enter the creek safely due to its speed and volume, we were still able to perform chemical tests and some physical tests on its water. It was a very enjoyable afternoon back on Mrs. Durnin's home turf.

(Story and photos courtesy Mrs. Durnin)
{Photo Gallery}

Summer School Information

Dates for Summer School are from July 6 to July 23rd. It is being held at CHSS and at Stratford Northwestern SS. Students can attend to make up a credit they were not successful in or attend to upgrade a credit. English, Math, and Science as well as Careers/Civics are offered and any other subject there is enough demand for. Co-op is also being offered this summer for those students who are one or two credits short of graduating. Busing will be provided. Students can  obtain application forms in Student Services.

Because Nature Matters—Envirothon 2009

On Tuesday, March 31st, students and teachers from nine Huron and Perth high schools gathered at CHSS to participate in a day of workshops in preparation for this year's Envirothon competition. The day began with a lecture by guest speaker Graham Buck, a biologist from the Guelph area who specializes in restoring and preserving fragile ecosystems. The lecture focused on preserving biodiversity in our natural world. This topic is the theme of the 2009 Envirothon Competition. Students then worked in their teams to prepare an eight minute presentation on a given ecological problem. After lunch, each team presented their mock presentation to the other teams and teachers, and they were given constructive feedback in preparation for the actual competition.

The Envirothon teams will travel to Wawanosh Nature Centre on April 9th and take part in workshops on aquatic, soil, wildlife, and forestry ecology. On April 28th, the CHSS Envirothon teams will compete at the Pinery Provincial Park in an effort to take home first place among the Huron-Perth schools. If they can accomplish this feat, they will move on to the Provincial Envirothon in May. This might just be our year...

This year's Envirothon teams consist of Stephanie Seebach, Jeff Gibson, Gary Paquette, Courtney Karounos, and Paul Hearn on Team A, and Katie Crocker, Stephanie Brandon, Tyler Black, Jack Weiler, Fraser King, and T'Miika McMichael on Team B.

(Story courtesy of Mrs. Ross-Holton)
{Photo Gallery}

We Celebrate the Talented and Creative Minds at CHSS!

The Communication Technology Program at Central Huron Secondary School is proud to announce that they have submitted three amateur movie entries to the Imagyn Film Festival, and all three have been selected to be shown at the screening. The Festival is open to high school students across Canada, and Festival coordinators informed us that students in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Alberta, and British Columbia have submitted pieces. What an honour for us to be part of such an event. The focus of the Festival this year is to end gender based violence in educational institutions. Students were invited to make submissions on a variety of topics. All of our students chose to create movies about bullying. Their submissions are not only informative, but emotionally moving.

All three groups of students will be attending the Imagyn Film Festival in Waterloo to see their submissions screened at the Princess Cinema and to be recognized for their efforts. The talented groups are as follows:
Gwen Walker and Melissa Lee
Robert Tarnawski and Josh Behnish
Dave Corrie, Jasmine DeBoer, T'Miika McMichael, and Ali Snell

In Communication Technology, the only limitation is your imagination!

Visit the Comm Tech page to view a collection of student work from the various communication technology programs offered at Central Huron Secondary School. Currently, CHSS offers a Grade 10 Communication Technology program (TGJ2O), Grade 11 (TGJ3M), and Grade 12 (TGJ4M). These courses expose students to the art and technical aspects of photography, movie making, video editing, design, desktop publishing and animation. We attempt to cover a diverse range of hands on activities and expose students to industry standard software and equipment. These courses are largely project based and the focus is on skill development and fun!

During the 2008/2009 school year, we have had a number of students enter a variety of contests in both animation and video. We will keep you posted regarding the results. If you have any questions regarding the Communication Technology program, please feel free to email Mrs. Jacqui Vercruyssen at jvercruyssen@fc.amdsb.ca.

Thank you for your interest. Please enjoy the samples of student work; they are a fantastic group of students!

You can also use the Comm Tech link on the left panel under "Teacher & Club Websites" to visit the page.

Exam Schedule

Exams are fast approaching. As part of your preparations, make sure you are familiar with the exam schedule.

(Click image to view)