Markville School Council Minutes
January 9th 2006
STUDENT COUNCIL REPORT - Amalia
December - Winter Wonderland Week was held before the holidays and
was enjoyed by all who participated – activities included: Monday - scarf/mitt/hat day; Tuesday - pictures with Santa; 1 hour of skating another day;
door decorating contest another; a bake sale
January - Student Council has little planned for January to keep emphasis on Exam Week - they are contemplating a coffee night and are approaching Tim Horton's for
coffee and/or donuts
DECEMBER MINUTES - Elaine Wilkes
-asked if there were any changes required to the minutes before
accepted
-
given homework over November break (she's not sure if it was Careers or another course) - Anne Belanger
asked her to check into it and let her know
ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
1. Wellness Day - will be morning of Friday, February 10th - are planning
guest speakers from holistic medicines,
motivational speakers, MADD, etc. - the
grade 9's and 10's will hear the MADD and Youthspeak
presentations, while the grade 11's and 12's
will hear either MADD or Youthspeak and another
guest speaker
2. Curtis Memorial Fund - have raised $1200 to $1300 to date - half has
been spent to purchase a steady cam for the school - it has been so well
received in classes that they may purchase another one
3. Police Visits - police chief is sending officers to visit all schools to
talk about replica handguns - they want to go to speak directly in the classrooms to
dissuade them from purchasing these items - the chief wants all the schools done by the end of January
4. Transition Visits - these visits with the elementary schools will
continue this year - all feeder school principals will come to Markville to visit the grade 9 classes this month - teachers from Markville will go to the feeder schools to teach sample lessons on Jan 17th -this is a costly endeavor to get Supply Teachers for all 6 teachers that participate (Parent Council to help maybe?) – teacher will teach 2 of 3 subjects from Math/Science/English at both the academic and applied levels
Feb. 9th - grade 8's and parents will be invited to a casual
open house; teachers will be in classrooms and displays will be set up
5. www.artmatters.ca - Markville students are featured at this website
with their picture and comments
6. All Candidates Meeting - to be held 5th period next Monday (Jan 16) for
any teacher willing to bring the students to the cafeteria - so far
only Bob Callow (Conservative) has confirmed
7. Immunization/Suspension - letters have been sent home with students that
have not gotten their immunizations up-to-date; they will be
suspended starting in February if they are not current
- you can call Penny Allen (in the office), extension 300, to find out if your child is on the list
8. Meningitis C Vaccine - Susie Nunes
-will be having a clinic for this shot at the school on Feb 10th,
targeting grade 10 students, who will be called down alphabetically if they wish to have the shot - must be 15 yrs or older to get the shot
9. Popcorn Sales - Anne said that some grade 12 students who have a project
to do offered to take over the sales for the council
10. Exam Week - Rashmi Swarup
- exams are Jan 27 to Feb 2 (Feb 3 is a PA day) - tests
will be written on Friday, Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday -Thursday is for performance assessment - there will be 3 blocks
of written testing per day
running from 8:30-10:30 a.m., 11 a.m.-1 p.m., and
1:30-3:30 p.m. -timetables should be out by Wed or
Thurs this week
11. Start of 2nd Semester - Rashmi Swarup
-Feb 6 is start of 2nd semester -day will begin with 20 min
periods for each class for exam feedback followed
by 4 45 minute classes for the new 2nd semester courses.
-Tues Feb 7th will begin the regular time schedules
GRADE REPS' REPORTS:
Grade 9 - Joyce --not much to report since just finished Christmas
break; heard stories about grade 9 geography
being hard; started preparing for exams; there was some problems with
children in the wrong level class
(applied vs academic) and causing a 'slowdown' in
the learning
Grade 10 - Judy/Nancy -- not much to report since just finished
Christmas break, but have written 2 practice EQAO
language tests and 3rd is coming up Jan 17th
Grade 11 - Julia -- not present
Grade 12 - Valerie -- Wed is the last day for university
applications!; grade 12's had a lot of homework over
Christmas
SCHOOL COUNCIL ROLE - Elain Wilkes
-last meeting developed 9 points (see your list) to help fulfill the
council's role at the school -Elaine asked
the group for their opinions on which points should be the
Council's focus for the remainder of the year
-points 2 (incorporating points from 3 and 9 as well) and 4 were
deemed most important
-Elaine is working on guest speakers for the meeting; it was
suggested that any speaker be kept to 1 hour and the
meeting work be kept to as little as possible so the meeting
wouldn't keep people out too long
-Patty is going to help Elaine with point 9, preparing a survey
BARBARA COLOROSSO (?sp?) - Getting Kids to Think Ethically - Elaine Wilkes
-is speaking Monday, January 30th at the Markham Theatre - tickets
available at Chapters, Rainbow and ????? For $20
- call 1-877-403-2733 for tickets or information
GOODBYE TO ANNE BELANGER
- Elaine presented Anne with a gift from council (2 books - one
technical one on skiing and snowboarding, other on
Canadian landscapes for her coffee table)
NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH 2006