The Grade 7’s are continuing to stay busy during this Holiday Season! In ELA, the girls are wrapping up their Science Fiction Unit and are currently working on a final project for the novel Dust and in Math, they are continuing to work with fractions and decimals and will be having a quiz ear- ly this week. In Science, the class is reviewing their Active Earth Unit and will be having a quiz on Wednesday and Thursday this week. In Careers, the class has wrapped up their Resumes and are ready to do some job hunting! In Phys. Ed. the class is finished up a unit on basketball and will soon be starting floor hockey. The Grade 7’s are getting very excited for their field trip of bowling and swimming fun in Saskatoon on Wednesday this week! They are also excited for the Christmas Dinner on Friday and for the Christmas break!

We’ve managed to make it through another month of excitement and learning opportunities at Hanley Composite School. This year our school is concentrating on three School Goals: Reading Intervention, Numeracy and Student Engagement. Each of the teachers are part of developing plans to meet those goals, so if you have some questions, or are interested in more information, stop by and ask one of them about the school goals.

Some more staffing changes are happening at our school this year. Mrs. Bain left this month on her maternity leave for the remainder of the year. Congratulations to Mrs. Bain and her family on the birth of their son, Liam. Ms. Adelman will be replacing her in all of her classes. Mrs. Koroll will be away on her leave by the end of the month. We’ll be moving Miss Martineau to the K/1 room at that time and Ms. Stefanson will be in to work with the grade 2/3 students until Mrs. Romanchuk’s return in the second semester.

Ah..Grade 12, what a hard year it’s been thus far from being constantly worked without pay. Our fingers worked to the bone, some of us suf- fer from sleep deprivation due to our nightmares of essays and tests. We start the day off with English/Social Studies, trying to master the pen and expand our social perspective on Canadian issues. Then there is third class, which is chemistry: just when you think Mrs. Prakash’s voice will give out from the constant prodding and encouraging directed at unwilling teenagers, she finds someone else to do it for her: Mr. Howie teaches us about equilibriums while watching over us with a stern gaze, a trick believed to be taught to him by his mentor, by Mrs. Prakash. After a short lunch break, we are then herded in to Mr. Herman’s room to be lectured on the finer points of pre-calculus 30 by Mr. Bartsch. As we are tested mentally, physically and emotionally during this hour, it is a wonder no one manages to lose their composure, although outbursts of crying aren’t uncommon, due to release of stress caused by the constant barrage of radians and identities. Finally to end the day, we are thrust into Mr. Tyndall’s domain. Through the haze of sawdust and screams, we are pressed to complete a master piece, of which none of us can even begin to comprehend. Although we are sometimes lost for days in the vastness of the shop, with nothing to survive on but small chunks of 2×4, amazingly we all still survive…for now.

Winter is here and Christmas is right around the corner. Classes are busier than ever. In Foundations 20, we are learning about statistics. We have just begun the Diversity of Life Unit in Biology. In Physics, we are learning the laws of reflection in plane and curved mirrors. We are having a blast playing sports, and doing yoga, in Gym. In English and Social Studies, we are presenting projects on the history of something we are interested in. We also worked together to plan the schools Remembrance Day ceremony.