Markville School Council Meeting Minutes

March 7 2005

 

Attended: Sofia Alim & Angela Hill Co Chair, Anne Belanger ( Principal), Sandy Moriaty ( Treasurer), Rashmi Swarup (Vice Principal), Deb Rhodes (Secretary), Nancy Elliot, Patty LuubertJ Valerie Milligan, Barb Munro, Heela Omarkhail ( Student Rep) & Yasmin Rajan

 

 

  1. Introduction and Welcome – Angela and Sofia welcomed all parents and Lynne and Donna from the Markville co-op program.

The minutes from the February meeting were approved.

  

  1. Co-op Program – Community based education.  There are several programs which fall under the co-op program.  There is a one day job-shadowing program.  There is Work Experience which can be arranged through any department and lasts one to four weeks.  The International Co-op program has several York Region students going to Ecuador this spring.  The students will work in Ecuador for several weeks and this is through either the Spanish department or the geography department.

Co-op  - The co-op course is usually for grade 11 or 12 students although it can be arranged for grade 10 students as well.  Co-op courses can be 2 credits or 4 credits.  The co-op course can be attached to any college or university level course.  The students’ marks are generated through projects at school, a journal, assignments, and an evaluation by the employer.

O.Y.A.P. – Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program –OYAP allows high school students to be officially registered as apprentices and begin their post secondary apprenticeship training program while earning high school credits.  There are four main trades – Construction Trades;  Motor Power Trades; Industrial Trades; and Service Trades.  The certified post secondary program lasts 2 to 5 years and students earn money while they learn.  It is a good choice for experiential, hands on learners. 

Prerequisites for OYAP – 16 years of age; 16 high school credits; full time student; competencies in math, English, science; interest in applied technology.  For further information, go to www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/oyap. 

 

  1. Student Council Representative – Heela Omarkhail

The week of February 14 was Love Week.  Students could purchase candygrams and eyeflirts.  There was a wedding day, snob days (girls couldn’t talk to boys one day, boys couldn’t talk to girls one day).  They played the dating game in the cafeteria.  The week ended with a semi-formal.

March 30 – April 4 will be AIDS Awareness week with an assembly March 30.  There will be guest speakers, the students will be selling red AIDS Awareness ribbons and the student council will be looking for donations of school supplies.

The York Region Presidents’ Council Conference will be April 14 – 17.  It is an overnight conference open to all secondary school students in York Region.  Six delegate positions from Markville are available, students must submit an application.  The focus on the conference is leadership and motivation and will be held at Camp Trillium in Hamilton.

On March 30, 5 student council members will be going to a conference called Party in the Right Spirit.  The focus is to prepare and plan for successful proms.

 

  1. Treasurer’s Report – Sandy Moriarty – We have received $135 more from the parent initiative fundraiser.

 

5.  Vice Principal’s Report – Rashmi Swarup

            Grade 10 Literacy Test Results:

           358 students wrote the grade 10 EQAO test in the fall and 304 were successful.

            Overall 85 %

            First time eligible success rate was 89.5 %

            Previously eligible success rate 68 %

            ESL 65 %

            Special Education 77 %

            After school literacy group 70 %

            Female 85.3 %

            Male 84.4 %

            Grade 10 pass rate 92 %

            Grade 10 AC 94 %

            Grade 10 AP 72 %

            Grade 11  72 %

            Grade 12 58 %

There is a literacy course in grade 12 for those students who have failed the test more than once.

Next year the Grade 10 Literacy Test will be in March, 2 hours, on one day.

 

Three Markville students came in the top ten in Canada in a nationwide Com Tech contest.  They produced a film on discrimination which they are hoping to get aired on local tv stations as well as the CBC.  The three Markville students will be going to Ottawa in the March break to get their prize.

 

  1. Principal’s Report – Anne Belanger

Parents’ Night will be March 10 from 6:30 to 8:30, parents are to request interviews from the teachers.  There will be a Bollywood movie night at the school the same night.

The Chinese Cultural Club had a karaoke night at the school recently.  There was an evening celebration at the school for Black History Month as well.

Markville will receive a Swiss exchange teacher for a month in the fall.  This teacher will teach a science and a math course.

Markville currently has 12 student teachers from different faculties in Ontario and New York. 

Anne asked the parents for their opinion about de-semestering the grade nine math and phys. ed. courses.  Parents were in full approval.  In the fall, the grade nine students will have math from September to June, every other day, with phys. ed. on alternate days.   The goal is to make our students more physically fit and to maintain their math skills throughout the entire year. All other courses will remain semestered.  The school will need 150 new math textbooks at $100 each.

 

The next school council meeting will be April 4, 2005 at 7:15 pm in the library.