NEW Water refill station

Most of us are aware of the importance of drinking an adequate amount of water to maintain our health and for our body to function correctly.  Without going into the science of why water is important, the fact that our body is made up of close to 60% water (approx. 40L in an average adult) demonstrates the need to stay adequately hydrated.

On November 25th, the district installed a new water bottle refill station near our gym.  This system distributes refrigerated tap water both through a regular water fountain and also through a bottle refill spout. It is an automated system that detects when a water bottle is placed in position and fills the bottle until it is removed.  

This new system is a district sustainability pilot project initiative to address the benefits of drinking tap water over bottled water.  The bottle refill station displays a digital counter to indicate the number of disposable water bottles saved as a result of filling a reusable bottle rather than purchasing a disposable plastic water bottle.  We have now had this system for 1 week, and we have already used the equivalent of 843 water bottles without adding any waste to our landfill.  I will continue to keep you updated on our usage to see if the high-use pattern continues.

Here are some interesting facts about bottled water:

• Bottled water is between 240 and 10,000 times more expensive than tap water
• In Canada, more than 25% of bottled water originates from municipal tap water
• In the US, every year it takes more than17 million barrels of oil to produce and ship the 31.2 billion litres of bottled water consumed, which is enough oil to fuel 1 million cars for a whole year 
• The government of Canada spent $8.5 million on bottled water between 2004 and 2008
• It takes 3 litres of water to produce 1 litre of bottled water
• Recycling rates vary by location, but it is estimated that only 1 in 5 water bottles ever gets recycled. Instead, 4 go to the trash dump to create about 3 billion pounds of waste just from all of the discarded plastic.

I googled bottle water vs. tap water and was led to the Health Canada website.  Here is their answer to this debated question:

16. Is bottled water safer than tap water?

Quality standards for bottled water and tap water are similar. Both bottled water and municipally distributed tap water that meet or exceed their required health and safety standards, are considered to be safe.

If you are interested in finding out more information about the story of bottled water, check out this video.  It is taken from the website "The Story of Stuff Project" and provides some interesting information about bottled water.

POWER Door Decorating Contest

Each Advisory class has recently been challenged to create the most POWERful Door Display.  The crieteria for the doors will be judged on the following aspects:

• Represents all aspects of POWER - sends a strong visual message of POWER
• Visually appealing, eyecatching, colourful
• Inclusive - incorporates all aspects of POWER in a meaningful, creative way and includes the letters of POWER.

Check out the creations...

BC's Education Plan

The BC Minsitry of Education has recently released its plan on how it believes education needs to change to keep up with the changing world.

"BC's Education Plan is based on a simple principle: every learner will realize their full potential and contribute to the well-being of our province." (BC's Education Plan website)

This plan to move the education system from good to great has five key elements (items below are linked to ministry website):

1. Peronsalized Learning for every student
2. Quality teaching and Learning
3. Flexibility and choice
4. High standards
5. Learning empowered by technology

 

 

It acknowledges that BC currently has a strong education system and that there are great things that are being done in classrooms.   This plan is designed to build on our currenty strengths in order to prepare students for the changing world.

 

There may be a mixed response to some of the ideas presented in the BC Education Plan Video, and there may be many more questions that arise about "how" some of these concepts will take shape, but regardless of how you feel, the ideas will surely promote some interesting conversations.  The video is three minutes in length, and it worth finding the time to watch.

 

 

The Ministry of Education is seeking our thoughts and feedback and they are encouraging all stakeholder groups to join the conversation on the future of education in BC.  They have created a series of questions that are posted online and anyone can respond with their comments to share ideas and solutions. 

1. What new competencies will students need to prepare them for graduation and the future?
2. What type of information do parents need on their child's learning?
3. What do you think is important for our education system in the fuiture?

To join in these conversations, go to http://engage.bcedplan.ca/ to comment and share your thoughts.

 

Additional Resources:

BC Ministry of Education: Personalized Learning in BC - Interactive Discussion Guide

BC Ministry of Education: Personalized Learning in BC - Parents' Guide

Halloween @ MacNeill

Halloween is always a fun time to celebrate in schools because there are many events that occur. 

Our student council organized a very successful Halloween Dance on Oct. 20th from 6:30-9:30pm.  This was our first dance of the year and over 270 tickets were sold. Students filled the small gym, many dressed in costumes, and danced all night long.  In typically MacNeill fashion, all the students that attended were exceptionally well behaved.

The student council also worked hard to host the "Haunted House."  They transformed
part of the school theatre and guided students through their haunted maze. 








The entire haunted house was a student led event.  The students planned all the details, built and designed the sets and costumes, and coordinated the visitors.  As you can see from the pictures, they did a great job!



Many of our elementary feeder schools brought their classes through the haunted house, and we could tell that the kids were scared by the frequent screams that came from the theatre and could be heard inside the office.





Entrance into the haunted house was by a 50 cent donation or 2 cans of non-perishable food which was all donated to the food bank.
They were all smiling in these pictures, but they could quickly resume their scary characters to spook the next group of visitors.

Collaboration Time

MacNeill Secondary was founded on the guiding principles of effective practice, flexibility, and choice.  When MacNeill originally opened in 2003, it was a small school with only 277 students (Gr. 7 & 8 plus Incentive program).  As a small school, the staff worked hard to find time to work, learn and plan together.  MacNeill has grown over the years and now has around 940 students and 83 staff members.  However, the staff remain committed to maintaining the founding principles of the school, and continue to reflect on systemic structures that will allow us to best support the diverse learners in our school.

This is our first year participating in structured collaboration time.  Collaboration Time is when two or more staff members come together over time with the goal to increase student engagement, achievement and learning.  Eight days have been set throughout the year for collaboration time, where staff members come together for 75 minutes to discuss effective practice, instructional strategies, curriculum, cross-curricular learning or assessment.

Collaboration Time Dates (Tuesdays):

• September 27
• October 25
• November 29
• January 24
• February 21
• March 27
• April 17
• May 22

Collaboration Day Schedule:
8:30-9:40am        Staff Collaboration - Students are not expected to be at school

9:45-10:48am      Period 1

10:48-11:06am     Nutrition Break

11:06-12:09pm     Period 2

12:12-1:16pm        Period 3

1:16-1:56pm          Lunch

1:56-2:59pm         Period 4

**  To ensure collaboration time does not take away from student learning in their academic classes, we have eliminated our advisory class on collaboration day as well as the following day to allow for increased time in the academic classes.

On Collaboration Time Days, students may choose to catch-up on their sleep as the first period start time is not until 9:45am, or they may choose to study at home.  The school will remain open for students who choose to come to school early for the purpose of quiet self-directed study, and they will be supervised by the administration.



Ms. Watson & Ms. Walh-Hoy co-planning
and sharing resources for Humanities 9





Staff developing new dance unit for PE



English Teachers planning for senior
graphic novel studies





Students studying quietly in the lounge during CT Day



Looking for a job? Consider a trade program.

On October 20, 2011, Global TV News did a feature report on "Generation How" on their 6pm news about Apprenticeship Programs and how students are graduating from college programs and walking directly into jobs.  Global announced that a recent labour report predicts that within the next decade, 1,000,000 jobs will become available in BC, and the largest portion, 42% of these jobs, will require a college or trade certificate.  I found this to be a shocking stat, and it has inspired me to share this article.  (sorry about the 30 second advertising clip at the start of the article - I can't get rid of it.)

If you would like to find out more information about post-secondary career programs, please see your Counsellor or our Career Information Advisory (Ms. M. Mayer) for more information, or view the post-secondary institutions website.

MacNeill students participate in 'We Day'

12 MacNeill students from our Senior Leadership Class, along with their teacher, Mr. T. Irani, had the privilege of attending the 2011 We Day on Oct. 13th.  They joined over 18,000 other youth and educators inside Rogers Arena to celebrate the positive impact young people are making on global change.



MacNeill Leadership Students in Rogers Arena for We Day



This year's conference had an impressive list of speakers who delivered stories to inspire, motivate and celebrate the amazing potential that today's youth have to lead local and global change.

• Mikhail Gorbachev
• Mia Farrow
• Shaquille O'Neil
• Hedley
• Shawn Desman
• Down with Webster

We Day has developed from a movement that has energized youth from across the globe to make a difference for others.  The following excerpt has come out of the book "Me to We", written by Craig and Marc Kielburger.

"Me to We is a life philosophy, a way of living that feeds the positive in the world - one action, one act of faith, one small step at a time.  Living Me to We has the potential to revolutionize kindness, redefine happiness and success, and rekindle community bonds powerful enough to change your life and the lives of everyone around you."

Craig Kielburger, when just 12 years old,  became intrigued by a newspaper article about child labour in Islamabad, Pakistan.  Impacted by this article, he shared the story with this class and asked other students to volunteer to help fight for children's rights.  Eleven other students in his class put up their hands to volunteer, and this was the start of what is now a world wide organization called "Free the Children".  Free the Children is now the world's largest network of children helping children through education, and millions of young people have been involved in innovative programs in more than forty-five countries.


Today's youth have the ability, energy and passion to be change-makers for a better tomorrow.  The MacNeill students who attended the We Day celebration left inspired and have been challenged to find ways to make a positive difference in the lives of others.  I look forward to seeing how our students will build upon this day as the year progresses.


MacNeill coined the term "We not Me" as part of our POWER matrix (the W in POWER is for We not Me) to remind our students that we must be considerate of others within the school setting in order to build a positive school community.  We have over 1000 students and staff in our school on a daily basis, and we all need to work together so that our school is a safe place to learn and where all students and staff feel a sense of belonging.  It is evident that our students understand this concept and it is great to see them looking out for each other and supporting each other on a daily basis.

Here is a short video clip about We Day:



Here are some reflections from a grade 12 student, Denzil Muncherji, who attended WE Day:

WE day by Free the Children - Can you picture 18,000 people doing the wave in an arena? Well, a few lucky grade 12s from our school got to be a part of the wave! WE day consisted of the few most inspirational hours of our lives. Within these hours, some of the speakers we had are as follows: Spencer West, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mia Farrow, Liz Murray, Waneek Horn-Miller, Michel Chikwanine, Robin Wiszowaty and Noah Kaplan. The main message every single speaker was trying to get across to us in their own way along with their own story was that there is such a thing as ‘the Power of One’ – one person really can change the world.


Other performers included Shaquille O’Neal, Shawn Desman (who did the WE day dance with us), Hedley, Down with Webster and Classified. These performers have taken their time in their own way to help with Free the Children. They inspire us to help others who deserve to have what we do, to live in good weather conditions under a roof with clothes and a strong immunity system. They show us that even the simple things we do like donate or raise a few dollars help people in need.

The highlight of my day was when Marc and Craig Kielburger spoke. Craig being the very reason Free the Children started – when a 12 year old boy stood up in front of his class and said “I want to do something about it, who’s with me?” The passion those two have till this day for this organization is tremendous and very inspiring. They speak with heart and you just know they will do anything to help someone, go the distance to see a smile on a child’s face and that is motivation - motivation to help us reach our potential. WE day has touched a lot of hearts and one day, I know a lot of people that were there will “be the change [they] want to see.”
- Denzil Muncherji - Grade 12