Well, final exams for Term 1 are out of the way, and before the textbooks are totally settled in the cupboards, the start of Term 2 has blown by us! Already the 10’s are being challenged in new ways. In English, they’re starting to debate equality and ethics. Math has seen the resurrection of unit conversion, surface area and volume (ohhhh, that dreaded Imperial System!). Social is right in step in English as they examine rights and government. In Wildlife, they’ve just finished watching March of the Penguins. The teachers in the Middle Years hallway are thankful that Commercial Cooking is under way again, especially because this was “test cookie” week. Yum! In IA, the young’uns have started working on their house plans. And finally, the school’s birdie’s have been getting some severe punishment in Wellness as Badminton players take to the courts to serve, swing and smash them at their opponents with great vigor. Have a great February, everybody! (Special thanks to Nicola for her contributions.)

As the second semester starts, we are examining our own identities in ELA B30. In Calculus, we are starting to look at limits and continuity. In Biology, we’re finishing up our first unit with biochemistry; and in Physics, we just finished the first unit and are on to learning about vectors. As Foundations 30 kicks off, we are starting on set theories, and in Gym we are working hard in the weight room. – Hailey

First week of semester 2 – done! In Work Placement Math, we are working on calculating slopes and in Pre-Calculus we are doing sequences and series. In PAA, we are learning about pastries and soon to be cake decorating. In IA, we are looking at the theory of building houses. In Chemistry, we are examining the functions of the Lab, including lab equipment and safety in the lab. In Biology, we are designing an art project to define biology. In Visual Arts, we are defining art without words. In Media Studies, we are learning to be an active audience. Have a great Feb break!

In grade 11, we finished our last unit in math and are using the remaining week to study for finals. Gym class is spent playing badminton and basketball. In English/History we finished reading “The Book Thief” and are currently working on our grandparent timeline assignment. In physics, we recently finished our unit on heat and are preparing for finals; the biology the class dissected crayfish and wrote an invertebrate exam. Finals are coming soon, and we’re all excited for next semester.

Well, the new year has been busy for our grade 10’s as they hurtle towards their first ever set of final exams. Before that happens though, there’s a bit of last minute learning to do! In ELA they’ve been studying near-future, post-apocalyptic short stories. In Math, they’ve just finished up trigonometry. In science, they ended off the year studying the periodic table of the elements. Wellness has done the final test of their fitness for Semester One. River Systems are the focus in Wildlife Management. Finally, in IA the burgeoning young carpenters are finishing up their projects with sanding and staining, whilst their companions in Home Ec produce puffed pastry and pies.

In this season as we approach the season of love and Valentines, we thought it would be fitting if we told you, the dear readers, about some of the things we love. We love school and learning. We love it when Ms. Prakash starts a new unit in Science class, especially a unit on the Solar System. We love working with acrylics while messing with colour and shape in Art Class. We loved the Polynomials unit in math and we are very sorry to see it go. We love healthy minds and healthy bodies, so of course we love Mr. Tucker’s Health class. We love where we are, but we also love thinking about where we are going, as in the future. In ELA we read Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron. The first line of the story is “It’s the year 2081, and everyone is finally equal.” Intrigued? I’ll bet you are. This theme of equality has seeped into our Social studies class as we look at equality, or the lack thereof, in the societies and cultures of our past.

In Social Studies, the students are delving into treaty negotiations and how it is still pertinent today, as seen in recent current events. In Physical Education we are finishing up Term 2 Fitness Testing and playing several games including some floor hockey. While in in ELA we are working on a new short story unit about taking a second look at things and sometimes being surprised at what you see. In Math, we have started a new unit on surface area and volumes of geometric shapes. In Science the students are just finishing constructing light mazes. Several students recently competed at Cameco Spectrum. In Industrial Arts, we are rushing to finish our woods projects. Most students are staining and getting ready to mount the mirrors into frames. In Home Ec we are completing a unit on Fruits. Students have tasted exotic and uncommon fruits. They researched a fruit and had a lab with fruit. We are looking forward to our final celebration meal.

The Grade 7’s are getting settled with their school work in this New Year. In ELA, the girls began a new unit called Learning from the Past and they get to learn about mummies and other interesting ancient topics! In Math, they are continuing their work with decimals from before Christmas. The boys are continuing to work on fractions in Math and in ELA they are working on a novel study on the book Megiddo’s Shadow by Arthur Slade. In Science, the class started a new unit on Heat and Temperature. In Careers, we have started working on an online career game which we really like! The Grade 7’s are wrapping up a unit in Social Studies on Interactions and Interdependence by writing to some imaginary Pen Pals from around the world. In Phys. Ed we are finishing fitness testing and games like floor hockey and in Art we are working on Line Art. We hope that everyone is staying warm in this cold weather!!

The grade 6 class is teaming up with the grade 6’s from Dundurn to attend a field trip in Saskatoon on Friday January 25. We are all very excited about it. We are learning a lot about some Canadian and world history through independent novel studies. In math we are learning about geometry. In Science we are studying flight and in Social Studies we are looking around the world and in Canada with map skills and how our environment influences our lives.