Mar 05

Guitar Cafe


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In 2012 Christmas came early for the students at Ruth King Elementary when they were gifted 30 brand new guitars through community donors. Today, students in grade 4,5,6 music class put on a music show called Guitar Café with those 30 guitars.

Twice a month the music students gather to perform for their peers in a cafe like setting complete with tables covered in checkered linens and a student emcee. The musical ensemble consists of eight acts with a variety of song genres. Students play rock, the blues, and classical pieces on their guitars.

Vice-principal and music teacher, Jeannie Deboice created Guitar Café so her students could perform for others, as compared to only the teacher.

“The students are so keen to perform,” says Deboice. “ It gives them a chance to see where they are going next with their music. They feel like they are playing a grown up instrument.”

The students have a lot of respect for their musical instruments and the guitars are in excellent condition, says Deboice. She also points out that students in younger grades are keen to play the guitar once they entre grade 4.

 

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Mar 04

Cabaret Success!

Changing Times: If These Walls Could Talk

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1999 marked the 50th anniversary of Belmont Secondary school and students celebrated the milestone with a cabaret. It is a tradition that has carried forward every few years. Belmont’s cabaret Changing Times: If These Walls Could Talk celebrated another milestone –60 years of school history!

To make this possible, students and staff browsed through old yearbooks and read old newspaper articles about the school. The cabaret was an ode to the new and the old, with the first scene showing teachers packing up for their move to the new Belmont. Over 200 music, art, and theatre students took the audience back through the decades to the beginning of the school’s history.

Funds raised through the cabaret support students who want to take music or art lessons and enter into post-secondary education.

Hats off to the cast, crew and staff that made it all happen!!!

 

Feb 28

SD62 Celebrates Pink Shirt Day

 

There was a sea of pink across the schools in SD62 on Pink Shirt Day!

 

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Each school in the district had their unique way of celebrating Pink Shirt Day. There were assemblies, concerts, t-shirt making, anti-bullying pledge taking and pink, pink, pink.

Savory Elementary received a special performance from singer and song writer Keisja Cox! She talked to our students about her personal experience with bullies and how she used her W.I.T.S and singing/song writing talent to stand up to bullying.

The Board of Education shares their values around Pink Shirt Day

Our Belief Statement…..

Vibrant learning environments are created together in a changing world.

Values to govern by…..

 

                         Trust                            Empathy                            Respect                        Ethical Behaviour

 

                                       Honesty                                Courage                     Integrity

 

Feb 27

Aboriginal Student Success Night at EMCS

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Last night I had the honour of attending Aboriginal Student Success Night at EMCS. It is incredible to see the work our students are accomplishing in our district. We were treated to traditional oral story telling from members of the WSANEC Nation, student performances, and song and dance by Yellow Wolf Singers who blessed our students and gave their thanks to the ancestors before them. Students’ work throughout the district was also on display in the gymnasium. It is an honour to have an event like this held on the traditional Coast Salish territory of the T’Sou-Ke First Nation.

Hych’ka

Kleco Kleco

Gilakas’la

Marsee

 

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Feb 26

Celebrate Aboriginal Student Success Night

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Feb 25

Completion & Renewal

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Every couple of months I write an article that highlights district news for What’s Up Magazine. For the Feb/March edition please click here and refer to page 8.

 

 

Feb 20

Coast Capital Gifts Grants to SD62

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Left to Right: Stephanie Carter – Insurance Manager Tillicum branch, Lucie Frappier presenting on behalf of Lori Mikkers (Insurance Manager of the Colwood branch), SD62 Board Chair Wendy Hobbs, Windy Beadall, Kathleen King-Hunt, Ray Miller

On Thursday morning, representatives from Coast Capital Insurance Services Ltd. presented two grants of $5,000 each to SD62. Board Chair, Wendy Hobbs received the two cheques along side Windy Beadall (Principal of Royal Bay Secondary), Kathleen King-Hunt (District Principal Aboriginal Education) and Ray Miller (Principal of Belmont Secondary).

The first grant will help Belmont Secondary capture the historical data of the school before the school is replaced with the new Belmont. The second grant is a contribution towards the aboriginal symbolism at the new Royal Bay Secondary school.

Thank you to Coast Capital Insurance Services Ltd. for helping us move towards our goals.

 

Feb 18

The Rainbow Mural Project

The Pledge

“The rainbow started in 2013 by the Belmont Gay Straight Alliance, shows that this school is accepting of all people and will not stand for harassment in any form. All of the handprints come from students and staff who have vowed to not play a role in supporting bullying. It is to be added to yearly, so long as there are people who have the courage to do what is right. “

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The Rainbow Mural project at Belmont Secondary is gathering handprints in support of anti-bullying. Belmont staff and students are taking the pledge against bullying and harassment by placing a handprint on the mural. The mural project is running Monday’s and Tuesday’s at lunch until Spring Break. Students who have taken the pledge are given a rainbow bracelet for their support.

The completed mural will be unveiled on April 9, the Day of Pink, on the exterior north wall of the building. The entire school community will come together to celebrate this project.

Pink Shirt Day t-shirts have also been designed by Belmont’s Gay Straight Alliance and can be purchased during the lunch hour outside of the main office for $5. Make sure to wear pink on Feb 26!

Feb 17

EMCS Open House

Open House Poster - February 2014

Feb 13

$2.1 Million Seismic Upgrade Complete at Sangster Elementary

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On Thursday morning we celebrated the completion of Sangster Elementary school’s seismic upgrade! Education Minister Peter Fassbender, SD62 school trustees, students and staff joined us in the updated four-classroom annex for the celebration. The Honourable Peter Fassbender also played a game of basketball with our grade 2/3 students!

Sangster’s upgrade project is a part of the B.C. government’s continued commitment to student safety through the Seismic Mitigation Program. The upgrades include a new roof, added structural integrity to all walls, new flooring and windows, and a fresh coat of paint. During construction, we had four classrooms move into the main building, taking up both the library and the computer lab for four months. And the grade 6 class also moved to a portable at Dunsmuir Middle School and walked back and forth, daily, for lunch, PE, Music and Library times. Thank you to our students and staff for their patience and positivity during the upgrade process.

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