To update our classes: In History/ELA, we are studying WWII. In Work Place Math 20, we are studying trigonometry applications. In Pre-Calculus 20, we are examining quadratic functions and radicals. In PAA 20, we researching and cooking foods around the world. In Construction 20, we are building sheds. In Environmental Science 20, we are “Getting the Dirt on Dirt”. In Robotics 20, we are building robots. Welcome to a beautiful spring!

We have reached the halfway point of semester 2! With graduation day quickly approaching, the grade 12s are reaching the pinnacle of their high school education journey. The students remain busy with their course work in their various classes. The ELA 30 class has begun a study of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. As the students read and watch the play, they are studying the universal themes that the play addresses. We will be applying these themes to our modern world as soon as we have finished the play. The Psychology 30 class has finished a study of childhood developmental psychology and will be studying the psychology of teenagers. Should be interesting! In Physics 30, Mrs. Prakash has the students learning about work in action. They have just completed their unit on dynamics. In Chemistry 30, the students have finished studying equilibrium and will begin their next unit on solubility. Mr. Herman and the Calculus class are studying derivatives. We are looking forward to another great month of learning, and another step toward graduation

I know as Saskatchewan people it would be strange not to talk about the weather – therefore, pretty strange weather for February, eh? I’ve heard rumours about plus six temperatures at the end of this week – you know what I’m going to say, right? Splash pants and rubber boots for elementary students need to be unpacked for those recess breaks.

We’re at the end of February and well into the second semester and as normal, there is lots going on in the school and our various programs. Check out the classroom submissions that follow for what’s happening in each of the grades. Our Grade 12s are taking part in their second week of Work Experience this week. We intentionally set it here again so as not to break up the learning when they’re back in class this semester. Good luck at work, Grade 12, we hope you learn a lot about the career area you’re experiencing.

I’d like to give you a heads up on another couple items for your calendars as well. The grade 9-12 ski trip is scheduled for March 11 to Table Mountain. The Grade 7 and 8 ski trip is scheduled for March 23. It’s always a fun day for those students and we look forward to having all the students attend.

March 16th and 17th is scheduled to be our second TriConferences days for parents and students to book time to meet with the teachers. Tri-Conferences will be from 5:00-7:30pm those evenings and I’d like to remind you it’s a great time to celebrate the accomplishments of your student and recognize them with their parent in the conversation as well. I’ll look forward to seeing many of you here in the school those evenings and I invite you to drop by the office if I don’t see you in the halls.

The work on the balcony continues and we’re looking forward to the new flooring surface being installed next week. There have been some facelifts to a few areas near the servery to accommodate some air exchanging units, and we’ve worked to create a permanent area dedicated to the fooseball tables. We expect it to be completed within a month or so.

Junior basketball season has ended. Curling season is wrapping up soon with junior districts at the end of this week. Badminton season will be ramping up soon and our annual Knight to Remember will take place on March 17th , the same night as the second evening for TriConferences. More info about the Knight to Remember can be found towards the end of the newsletter.

I’m going to give a final plug for the SCC Community Calendars that are available at the office for ten dollars. There are still a few that families ordered and haven’t picked up – we’ll assume next year that you’re not interested in ordering one.

That’s all for now. As always, Mr. Anderson and I would love to talk to you if you have time to drop by the office or give us a call. Take care and I’ll talk to you soon.

Chris Tucker

Principal

What a wonderful February we have had so far. The Kindergarten’s have been working hard and having fun too! Valentine’s Day was a success – we enjoyed “painting” the snow hill, exchanging our Valentine’s, and having milk and cookies! This week we are skating at the Hanley rink in the afternoons. The last month we have been investigating sound and music. The kindergartens are quite the orchestra! Our room is filled with sound and rhythm during play and explore time. One of our next investigations will be looking into magnetic and physical forces. In math, our next unit will be number applications. This is the foundational unit for operations (+,-). Vocabulary and punctuation have also been a focus. The Kindergartens have been especially interested in finding exclamation points and question marks! February has been a good month! Miss. Buchinski & the Kindergarten class

Welcome back after the winter break! I hope everyone had a wonderful family day. We have started a new math unit on measurement. Please continue to practice mental math skills at home, as we will soon learn to add and subtract with larger numbers and knowing the basic facts will be of great assistance. For ELA, we have been dabbling in a few different things. The kids have been really pumped about writing lately, as we have been working on our creative writing stories. We even wrote a class book called “Fantastic Fiction” that you will have to check out at parent-teacher interviews next month! We have started our letters to our grade two pen pals in Martinsville as well. We have also been learning about the difference between fiction and nonfiction, as well as a variety of text features. We are working on a Robert Munsch author study, are doing well with our spelling program, and are learning about vowel digraphs and diphthongs in phonics. For health, Mrs. Leier has been coming in to talk to us about ways to stay on task, handle situations in an appropriate way, and to manage our emotions more effectively. Our first lesson with her included some role playing on my part where I had to be distracting to the kids throughout the lesson – I’m not sure who had more fun, them or me (haha)! In science, we are learning about solids, liquids and gases. For social studies, we have been learning about life in the past, particularly about the origin of Hanley. We have also learned about First Nations that connect to Hanley as well. I look forward to seeing everyone at parent-teacher interviews next month!

Wow, February is flying by! The 1/3 class has been busy! We have created a lot of fun winter and Valentine’s art! The students were very excited to create their mailboxes. Thanks for sending the materials! The class is looking forward to their potluck on the 12th. Thanks to Group A for sending the food! In ELA we have been focusing on paying attention to the questions we ask while reading a story. By seeking out answers to our questions, we are paying closer attention to the text. The grade 1s are starting to write good copies of some of their stories. They are pushing themselves to write five sentences and are doing a great job! They are also working on using uppercase and lowercase letters properly and spacing out their words. The 3s are focusing on paragraph writing and writing mechanics. In science, the 3s continue to study plants and the 1s are studying materials. We will be transplanting our garden and planting our beans and lettuce! Exciting! In social studies, the 3s continue to work on their Byron Through the Seasons project and the 1s did their own version by exploring how they spend time outdoors during the four seasons. The Grade 3 math test will be this Friday. A review was sent home this week. The 1s are studying numbers to 100.

The grade 4,5,6 class is busy solving mysteries in ELA. We continue with our weekly spelling tests. We are going to be starting a unit about electricity in Science. In Social Studies the students have been preparing for presentations about immigrants settling in Saskatchewan. The grade 5’s and 6’s are still working on decimals and fractions in math.

Ms. Bishop Moisan and the grade 4,5,6 class.

This month has been a busy one! Report cards came out at the beginning of next month; if you would like to see me to discuss your child’s progress, please feel free to contact me at the school. The class has been wrapping up their study of fractions and number theory in math, and have moved on to begin exploring measurement. In social studies, we have been discussing some current events and hot news items. We are starting to look at political cartoons and how we can interpret them. We are going to move on to a novel study soon. Science has the class looking into and studying temperature and heat. On Feb 12, we were finally able to get outside and have some fun as a class. We went to Brightwater for a sledding morning, then had a potluck, and wrapped up the day at the rink, skating. Thanks to Mrs. Barbara Farnsworth and Mr. Don Archibald, who came out to the hill and spent the morning with us. Also, I would just like to say how overwhelmed I was with the contributions to our potluck! The generosity and quality of all the items was humbling! Thank you to all the students and families. In closing, as always, please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. I can be reached at the school (544-2511) or by email (Nicole.Bain@spiritsd.ca).

In Physical Education the students are going to start working on individual Badminton skills and rules, then some Badminton games, while still occasionally including some basketball and floor hockey games. In Art, the students are working though a Drama unit where the students are developing characters and will soon be doing some script writing! In Home Ec the students are reviewing Kitchen Basics and will be learning about the different types of flour mixtures and the function of ingredients. In Social Studies, the students are finishing up Land Use and History of Canada. The students are working on Optics and vision in Science. In Health class the students are working on an understanding of the impact of violence on the well -being of oneself, family, and community. In Grade 8 I.A., they are working on drafting Isometric projections. In ELA the class has just finished looking at Solomon Cleaver’s retelling of Les Mis, Jean Val Jean. Mrs. Bain was surprised by how much many of the students enjoyed it! The responses and connections made were outstanding. The students will be looking at a DVD of the musical Les Mis. Meanwhile, in Math, the students are quickly wrapping up their unit on Measurement.

The Grade 9 class has been extremely busy. They have continued to learn about Ancient Civilizations in Social Studies and Mythology in English. They just finished writing their own myths and are excited to share them with each other. In Science, they are learning about Electricity and how circuits work. They are becoming aware of the negative effects of drugs and alcohol in Health 9, which they recently started. They are working hard to learn about and solve equations with variables in Math and are playing a variety of games in gym. They have also recently switched PAA courses and the students are enthusiastic about their new courses.