Earl Marriott Secondary School

Class of the month for May 2010
Social Responsibility has been one of the Goals at EMS for the past three years. This year, the staff has decided to adopt the definition of Social responsibility as it is described in the Ministry’s Quick Scale. The scale defines four aspects to social responsibility. Mrs English decided to ask her Grade 11 English class to develop a series of posters that would focus on each of the 4 aspects. The following students have done a great job and the poster they have created will be used next year in the school to help foster social responsibility at EMS. Congratulations for your creativity and effort.

Daniel, Ping, Melia, Emma, Amira, Ranvir, Jeremy, Stephanie, Andrew, Nai-Wei, Gregory, Sun, John, Wan Jae, Jae Kim, Greme, Daniel, Anne, Mai Qi, Maggie, Hilary, Monica, Julis, Carley Jeanne

Most Improved Students Semester II
Each semester, teachers are asked to submit the names of students who may have been in danger of failing or were not performing but in the end were able to turn around and improve before the end of the semester. The following students have all been nomitated for Most Improved Students at EMS for Semester II. Congratulations to all of you for your efforts, determination and hard work.

Courtney, Samatha, Corey, Taylor, Ryan, Ross, Matt, Chris, Jack, Jessica

Getting people to change their way of thinking and acting is not an easy task but this is just what the students in the GSA (Gay,straight Alliance) club were aiming for when they organized the anti-bullying day at EMS. Anti bullying day took place on April 14th. EMS tudents were asked to were pink to mark the event and show their support. Other activities included: creating a banner and doing some co-operative games in the gym with grade 8 and 9 students. Congratulations to the students involved for their contribution and effort.

A letter to the Students of Earl Marriott High School:

Saturday morning I took my dog up to the park behind Earl Marriott. I was horrified to see the huge amount of plastic garbage in the smallest pond. We have new baby ducks and I watched the 3 day old ducks climb on the plastic garbage as they tried to swim in the pond.

The garbage was all lunch packaging material. There was a sandwich on white bread still in it’s ziplock bag, quite a few plastic bags of different sizes, a chocolate milk container and lots more. I got down and hauled out enough plastic to fill a grocery bag. I didn’t get it all.

I continued on my walk. We heard a very strange call. My dog was agitated and led me to see who was in distress. It was a mating couple of Canada Geese. The female had eaten some foreign material that was lodged in her throat. She was trying to expel it and crying. She couldn’t get it out.

I called the SPCA. The worker from the SPCA came quickly and took the goose to Monika’s Wildlife Refuge. Yes she has something foreign, plastic, they think, lodged so far down she will need surgery. If she lives, she will be kept for 10 days. They will then return her to the pond to find her mate.

Geese mate for life. For the rest of Saturday I listened to her mate calling and circling the pond as he searched for his missing mate. I could not explain to him that she was gone and could die because of students who picnicked on a lovely Friday but could not be bothered using the garbage can provided.

Sincerely yours,
a neighbour

As you may know, social responsibility is one of the 2 goals for our school. Helping others is part of being a socially responsible person. The following students have demonstrated their good citizenship in participating in two very different endevors. Following the earthquake in Haiti, these students decided to raise money to help Haitian people. Secondly, they also saw an opportunity to help locally when they hear that an enjured cat had been abandoned and needed an operation. The girls decided to give some money to help the person who had adopted the cat but could not afford the operation.

Because of these initiatives, the students were nominated for Class of the Month. On Tuesday, they all received an award. Congratulations to all of them. Continue the good work.

The students are: Amy V, Caroline M, Emma D, Jaime R, Kaitlyn C, Leigh A, Madison D, Mallory B, Morgan S, Natalie P, Sydney M, Taylor N, Susan H and Tess M.

• Class of the Month

Every month, the Social Responsibility Committee receives nomination for Class of the Month. The nominees must have done some work related to the School Social Responsibility goal. The Class of the Month award for April was given to Mrs Pylypiuk’s humanities Co-op Class. These students have worked hard to clean-up the community on Earth day. Congratulations to all the students.

Mrs Schellenberg’s senior Leadership class has been awarded the Class of the Month Award for March. The leadership class worked very hard to organize the Thai and Japanese visit to EMS. The class was responsible for the organization of many activities involving both groups of visitors. Their hard work and contributions to the project translated into a warm welcome and a visit the Thai and Japanese students will remember for the rest of their lives. The visit also made staff and students at EMS more informed about other cultures. Congratulations to all of you.

Tickets for Fringe Festival at EMS are now available for $8 each. Come join us on May 7th, from 4:30-8:30, for an evening of great food from around the world, an interactive craft and art fair, and amazing entertainment that includes performances by the Yasmina School of Dance, Sam and Luke, Kaityln Goldsmith, and many more! $3 from each ticket sale will be going towards the Darfur-Sudan Humanitarian Relief Effort of War Child Canada.

This event is open to the public, so feel free to invite friends and family. Please purchase tickets at the office.

Each month, the Social Responsibility Committee receives nominations from teachers for class of the month and student of the Month. The committee wants to recognize groups or individuals who do exceptional work in the area of social responsibility. The aim is to award students who go beyond the regular class work.

The winner for February’s Class of the month is Mr Michael MacKay-Dunn’s Marketing class, Block C. These students worked very hard to clean and maintain Alderwood Park. Later on this month, they will organize the cleaning of the pond. The students have also cleaned the fields and tennis court around the school. Congratulations to all the students and their teacher Mr. Mackay-Dunn. Your contribution has made a difference for the school and its neighbours.