ESJH GAZETTE DECEMBER EDITION It was great to see a full house (and then some!) in the gymnasium for our Winter Band Concert on Wednesday, Dec. 12th. Ecole Selkirk Jr. High has the largest band program in Lord Selkirk School Division at a whopping 181 musicians! With a school population of 360 students we have 50 percent involved in learning and performing music. We also hosted an additional 50 musicians who composed the Jr. Symphonic Band from five different schools. The health of the band program is directly attributable to the passion and dedication of our director, Garren Werbicki. His tireless work and skill in teaching and coordinating numerous events has our band program in excellent shape. The robust band program is ably supported by the Band Parents Association through a variety of fundraising measures to offset the considerable costs incurred. The BPA applied for a grant this fall from the Selkirk and District Foundation and was granted $3000 to purchase instruments. A big thanks goes out to the Selkirk and District Foundation for their generous support. Also, in the spirit of giving was the Selkirk Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary who both donated $500 to the band program. Many thanks. Folks who arrive at school between the hours of 9:00 am and 3:30 pm will need to press a button at the Stanley St. doors to request entry. The system has a video and audio feed so we can see who is at the front door. Please clearly state your name and your connection to the school and you will be buzzed in. Tomorrow afternoon (Dec. 21), we will be hosting the Royals Varsity Girls and Junior Varsity Basketball teams from the Comp. They will be playing an inter-squad game. An exhibition game of this caliber will be a great kick off to our own basketball season which gets started after the holidays. It also gives some of our alumni a chance to show off in front of a home crowd. BREAKFAST PROGRAM Students who haven t had a chance to have breakfast at home are welcome to check out the Breakfast Program offered everyday at 8:30 in The Learning Centre. Healthy breakfast foods such as pancakes, egg sandwichs & yogurt parfaits are served. This program is offered to students free of charge. LUNCH PROGRAM ESJH offers a meal option for our students every day for lunch with no choice being more than $2.00. Pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pasta bake, fajita bowls, bbq burgers, perogies are some of the options offered on a rotating basis through the school cycle. Options are displayed on our hallway monitors as well as relayed during announcements. Our first day back in January will be Monday, January 7. I hope the holidays are safe and enjoyable! Mr. Loeppky, Principal
Interesting Goings on and Facts Come and check out the Ping Pong Talent Development that is offered every Day 2 and Day 4 in the small gym. All students are welcome!! On Friday, December 14 th the 7-4 class had a fantastic field trip to the Human Rights Museum followed by a Sleigh Ride and Outdoor Games at Birds Hill Park. Very Interesting and fun day!!
SPORTS Basketball season is now upon us!!! All the teams have started practicing in anticipation of the kick off of the round robin. Please see the list below for this season s coaches and contact information. GO SUNS!!! Gr. 7 Girls Kinley Graves(kgraves@lssd.ca) CJ Loane (cloane@lssd.ca), Lindsay Mclaren (lmclaren@lssd.ca), Jason Vandenbrink (jvandenbrink@lssd.ca) Gr. 7 Boys Bryton Balzer (bbalzer@lssd.ca) Gr. 8 Girls Joh n Bukich (jbukich@lssd.ca), Jodi Harrison (jharrison@lssd.ca) Gr. 8 Boys Gord Dehn (gdehn@lssd.ca), Karla Grobb (kgrobb@lssd.ca) Gr. 9 Girls Tess Skarban, Joan Cooney (jcooney@lssd.ca), Tom Cooney Gr. 9 Boys Jon Wiebe (jwiebe@lssd.ca), Sean Stevens (sstevens@lssd.ca)
Our Multi-Sport team made its way to the University of Winnipeg, November 8 th to compete in a multi-school soccer tournament. There were many teams from schools around Winnipeg competing. ESJH had a very successful day with 3 wins and 1 loss. They even beat the High School!!!! M U L T I S Eric was described as a wall while playing net and Essence was running circles around the other teams scoring 5 goals and assisting one more!!!! WAY TO GO SUNS!!!!! P O R T
Winter Break 2018-2019 AT THE MANITOBA MUSEUM LIMITED TIME ONLY TOUR THE NONSUCH CARGO HOLD Dec 22 Jan 6* 10:30 AM 4 PM Your favourite holiday season tradition is back! Join us for a rare look at the Nonsuch cargo hold while experiencing the sights, sounds, and stories of the renewed Nonsuch Gallery. Hold Tours are included with admission to the Museum Galleries (FREE for Museum Members), and booking is not required.
A Message from the Library! Thank you to all of the families that were able to visit the Scholastic Book Fair that took place in the library during Parent/Teacher Conferences! It was very encouraging to see so many kids buying books!! It s also very rewarding when students can t wait to sign out the new books from the book fair that we were able to acquire for our library! I am hoping that those books will be ready for some holiday reading. Parents usually have more than one teacher to visit with more than one child so they can be pressed for time. Therefore, making the time to come to the book fair, even if it was just to browse, makes a huge difference! Thank you to the families that donated books for their teacher s classrooms! Our staff members get so excited when they find out they have received some brand new books for students to have access to. They are like little kids at Christmas! Thank you to all of the staff members that took students to preview the book fair during class time! It really helps the students get an idea of what is available and it helps them choose ahead of time what they would like to buy. Parents usually have more than one teacher to visit with more than one child so they can be pressed for time. Therefore, making the time to come to the book fair, even if it was just to browse, makes a huge difference! McKnight Thank you as well to my awesome student volunteers that attended meetings prior to the book fair, made promotional posters and bookmarks, decorated the Christmas tree, helped set up the book fair items, and helped during the book fair by keeping everything in order and walking the halls to encourage families to visit! I would not have been able to get everything done without their help! All in all the Scholastic Book Fair was a success but most of all, our students that enjoy reading, had an exciting event to attend and benefit from. I m hoping that our students that don t put reading at the top of their favorite things list will eventually find the right book that will keep them interested enough to enjoy it! Enjoy your holiday, stay safe, and I ll see you in the new year! Mrs. Shymko ESJH Library
ESJH BAND PROGRAM Getting ready to hit the stage!!! The students were very excited to perform on December 12 th to a packed house of family and friends. The Junior Symphonic class, which is a collaboration of students from multiple schools in the Division, joined the performance as well. Congratulations to all the students on a job well done and to Mr. Werbicki for his outstanding leadership. We look forward to the next performance in June!
The Grade 8 band had their annual music retreat at Camp Arnes on November 27 th and 28 th. Students worked with professional musicians from all over Manitoba to improve their performance skills and prepare for the winter band concert. A great time was had by all!! The Grade 8 s will now be preparing for their first festival performance in April. Mr. Werbicki
PAC DATES Please see below the PAC dates for the year. Note that all meetings start at 6:30 and are held in the School Library. January 8 th February 12 th March 12 th April 9 th May 14th Thanks, Teresa Visser Monday January 7 th - Tuesday - Thursday - UP COMING EVENTS IN JANUARY School re-opens January 15 th Indoor Track Meet at U of M, Max Bell January 31 st Indoor Track Meet at U of M, Max Bell Thank you so much to Sky and Tahliah for their wonderful Christmas artwork!! With the office all decorated for the Holiday season these brightly colored cupboards are a welcome addition to the festive feeling! We, in the office, wish everyone a fantastic Christmas break and we look forward to seeing everyone in the New Year!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Ms. O Hara