Friday, April 25, 2014
Issue 8
Toronto District School Board
Willowdale Middle School
Administrators’ Message It’s almost May and over the next couple of months everything seems to speed up at all schools. Over the past week we hosted student tours for three of our four feeder schools (Cameron, Churchill and Yorkview). For many Grade 5 students this was their first visit to our school and a very important step in the transition process. Our School Organizational Model has now been approved based on a projected student enrolment of just under 400 students. This means that next year we will have 4 Grade 6 classes, 5 Grade 7 classes and 5 Grade 8 classes. As always, it is important that
parents/guardians notify us if they have purchased or leased a property outside of the school catchment area as we are closed to Optional Attendance for September. Over the next couple of weeks, schools across the Toronto District School Board will open their doors to the parent community in recognition of Education Week. Education Week is about celebrating and showcasing the accomplishments and many talents of the students. This year we will be celebrating Education Week with two special events at our school. The first one, Music Monday, is a daytime band festi-
val being hosted at Willowdale for band students from several TDSB schools. The other special event is our Arts Night Concert being held on Thursday, May 8th at 7:00 p.m. This evening will feature creative Visual Arts displays and superb musical performances in the gym. In lieu of tickets, the Arts Department is suggesting a donation of $5.00 person or $10.00 per family. All monies raised will help offset some of the costs in the Arts. As always, we are extremely appreciative of the endless support for the Arts that we receive from our parent community!
Willowdale M.S. 225 Senlac Road North York, Ontario M2R 1P6 (416) 395-2970
Kathy Gaziuk Principal Marcello Bozin Vice-Principal Lynn Britton Office Administrator Rachel YekAbellera Office Clerical Linda Curtis Superintendent Mari Rutka Trustee Linda Nolan School Council Chair
Earth Week Across the Toronto District School Board many schools host various events and activities during the month of April to raise awareness and engage students in environmental issues related to our planet.
At Willowdale, our Eco-Team organized a full week of collaborative, school-wide awareness activities. The following was the list:
As so profoundly stated by world renown environmentalist David Suzuki:
Wednesday, April 23—Reusable Water Bottle Day
“We have to recall the image of the planet from outer space: a single entity in which air, water, and continents are interconnected. That is our home.”
Thursday, April 24—Floral Clothing Day
Tuesday, April 22—Blue & Green Day
Friday, April 25—20 Minute Make-Over Day
U Got Dance! This past week, students at Willow-
(especially not a talented
dale were able to participate in a
one) but with this expe-
high energy dance program during
rience in school I felt proud
their regularly scheduled gym
of my dancing abilities.
classes. The U Got Dance instructor
This program had easy
came to Willowdale and taught us
steps to follow and dance
several different types of dances
moves that the whole class
including Bollywood and Zumba.
could do. I really enjoyed
I found the U Got Dance program to be fun and educational. I really enjoyed being able to dance with my
this workshop and would recommend it again for
For more information about
next year!
classmates. I personally never
Hannah G. (8B)
thought of myself as a dancer
WMS Student Writer
this program, refer to: www.ugotactivekids.com
Congratulations Basketball Team! Congratulations goes to the Boys’ Grade 7/8 Basketball team for squeaking out a victory over the teachers on Thursday, April 17th.
Thank you to the staff and student athletes for providing a very entertaining school event just before the Easter Weekend.
It was a really close contest that resulted in a tie after regulation play. The boys pulled off a narrow overtime victory thanks to a solid team effort!
A special thank you goes to the following staff who played and/or refereed the game: Ms. Bardi, Mr. Bozin,
Mr. Gagne, Mr. Giannone, Mr. Isaacs and Mr. Meles. Way to go boys! Mr. Dunning Coach & PHE Teacher
Concours Oratoire Congratulations to the following five students from the French Immersion and Extended French Programs who represented Willowdale Middle School at the annual Festival Concours D’Art Oratoire on Friday, March 28 at Peckham Centre, Assembly Hall:
Etienne B.—6A (FI) Madison C.—6A (FI) Nicole A.-B.—8A (FI) Corinne M.—8A (FI) Golshan S.— 8B (Ext. F.) A huge thank you to Mme Slavik who took care of the administrative details for this special event!
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Choir Invitational On Tuesday, April 1st, Mrs. Pritchard took over 50 grade 6 choir students to the Toronto Children’s Chorus 15th School Choir Invitational Festival. This special event was held at Yorkminister Park Baptist Church at Yonge and St. Clair with schools from across the TDSB participating. At the Festival, choirs were invited to perform two pieces of their own choosing and, at the end of the concert, all participants joined together to perform the beautiful work, Birds Are Singing (Alliance Music Publications). Thank you to those students who performed so beautiful-
ly and represented our school so well. Thank you also to Ms. Denov who assisted Mrs. Pritchard with the supervision of the students on this special excursion. Finally, a HUGE THANK YOU goes to Mrs. Pritchard for organizing this truly memorable event for the Willowdale students!
Eco-Update For several years now, Willowdale Middle School has always maintained an eco-friendly school environment. The EcoClub has a variety of strategies it uses to encourage every student at our school to be eco-friendly. Throughout the year, we have a Mascot Point system running at the school. Students earn Mascot Points by having litterless lunches, properly disposing of their waste, and walking, carpooling or taking the TTC to school. These simple gestures helps keep the eco-spirit flowing at Willowdale. The Eco-Club is constantly creat-
ing new and exciting events for students. Recently, the entire school participated in a challenging and fun Scavenger Hunt. Also, in each classroom, eco-lessons are being collected on a daily basis in a binder so that we have a fullschool record of the many ecoactivities that are happening each day in the different classes at our school. In addition, to raising awareness and knowledge of environmental issues, each Friday there is a trivia fact told during the morning announcements. Furthermore, throughout the school, especially near the caf-
eteria, there are many student made posters about different issues such as turning off lights off and recycling. Since September, our Eco-Club has grown because more and more students have become interested in being involved in our eco-community. We have worked hard this year on this initiative and we truly believe that our school deserves to be awarded with the Platinum Eco -Award again this year! Mandy W. WMS Student Writer Page 3
Willowdale’s Wall of Awesome April Updates Starting the beginning of March, Willowdale now has a “Wall of Awesome”. Inspired by The Book of Awesome by author Neil Pasricha, this dedicated bulletin board is in the school cafeteria for Willowdale students and staff to post daily notes about positive things that have touched them. The following are just some of the comments written by Willowdale students about what was AWESOME during April … Life is awesome with friends around. (Ghazal H. 7B) I won the Percy Nightingale Memorial Award for the Kiwanis Festival (Abtin S. 7B)
I love art class. (Garrett V. G4) I played piano for 2.5 hours to get ready for my piano exam. (Jasmin S. 8B) I got chocolates from the Netherlands! (Brienne Q. 7C) I’m so happy I got to hug Duke. (Empresse H. 6A) History is awesome! (Rayne H. 7E) I did U Got Dance and enjoyed it. (Kouta H. 6D) Duke is the funniest, most awesome dog ever. (Wida S. 6A) I learned so much from U Got Dance! (Erin G. 7D) U Got Dance was so much fun, especially the Salsa! (Rony G. 8B) Duke is the most energetic, lovable dog ever! (Kamaelah H.-C. 6A)
If I’m awesome—than you are too! (Renee 6A) Page 4
Toronto District School Board
Summer School Willowdale Middle School Across the TDSB summer school programs are tailed to increase engagement and build self-confidence in students by helping to reinforce and build upon skills.
Willowdale is offering Literacy/ Numeracy, French and ESL. Wednesday, July 2—Friday, July 25 9:00 a.m.— 12:00 noon
Upcoming Community Events
Ward Meetings Trustee Rutka extends a warm welcome to all Willowdale parents and/or guardians to attend her upcoming Ward Meetings (7:00-9:00 PM): May 15, 2014 (Finch PS)
EQAO (Grade 6) Please remember that May is the EQAO month of testing. The Ontario Government mandated testing and timelines must be strictly adhered to each year by all schools across the province. Please ensure that appointments be worked around the testing schedule so that your child is not absent on our tests dates: Wednesday, May 28 Friday, May 30 Monday, June 2 Tuesday, June 3
Wondering what to do with that little bike in your garage? Why not donate it to the Yorkview/Churchill Fun Fair Bike Swap! Bikes must be donated by an adult and be in good working order. Please bring bikes to Churchill PS on Sunday, May 25th at 11:00 and it will find a good home.
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