BLENHEIM DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL

June 2005

Principal’s Message The 2004-2005 school year has concluded in Bobcat Country. Report cards have been issued, lockers have been cleared out, classrooms are being prepared for their summer clean-ups, text books have been returned and stored away until the fall, the perennial lost and found “stuff” has been distributed to local charities and staff and students are off for the summer.

We say “goodbye” to Mr. Wilson, who is retiring; Ms. McDougall, who is joining the CKSS staff; and Ms. Siegrist, who is becoming a mother and moving to London. We thank all these teachers and wish them the best as they leave Bobcat Country and head off into their new adventures!

Back from Mexico is the Cameron family, with all of them bursting with stories of their volunteer commitment in this part of the world. Joining our staff will be Ms. Hearn, Ms. Kominek, Ms. Parry, Mr. Pockele and Mrs. O’Brien.

Many physical changes will be occurring over the summer:

· The bus barn will be painted

· The tech garage will be completely renovated

· Room 63 will be re-designed to accommodate the Differently Abled Program

· Relocation of our Drama Program to room 114

· Relocation of student council offices to room 121

· Relocation of the health room to room 101.

· The tile replacement in some business rooms

· The replacement of 100’s of ceiling tiles, and

· The beautification process of our front campus.

Please, have a safe, accident-free holiday and we will be back in the fallfor the start of the 2005-2006 school year.

S. Blackshaw

Principal

Summer Hours

All Students are asked to please register at the school on

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Timetables will be available at the times noted above. Students who do not register will not be guaranteed places in the classes. If unable to register on this date, please phone 676-5485.

Registration

Guidance Office If your son or daughter does not plan to return this fall, please telephone

Not Returning us immediately so that we may update our records (676-5485).

Commencement We will be continuing to hold Commencement on the Thursday evening prior to Thanksgiving. The date for our 79^th Commencement Ceremony will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2005 at 7:30 pm in Gilchrist Hall.

Valedictorian Our 2004/2005 Valedictorian as selected by her peers is Jaime Nead. Congratulations Jaime.

Summer School Summer School will be held at Indian Creek Public School in Chatham this year. It is an opportunity for students to both improve their skills and upgrade their academic achievement, in Math and English courses in vhich they were not successful in during the school year. Students who have achieved a mark of 40% or more may be eligible for an upgrading opportunity. Eligibility is determined by the administration. The upgrading program begins Wednesday, July 6^th and runs until Wednesday, July 26^th from 8:30 – 12:30.

All 4U credits will be offered under a New Credit Program that runs from Monday, July 4 to Friday, July 29 from 8:00 – 2:00.

Students should pick up an application in Guidance, obtain the Principal’s signature and take it to Indian Creek Road Public School.

Legion Award Any grad applying for a Legion Award is strongly encouraged to have all paperwork to the Legion by the end of August. This will permit earlier decisions to be made regarding award winners and allow sufficient time to incorporate these names in the Commencement Program.

Likewise, any graduates who receive entrance scholarships or other awards should advise the Guidance Department as soon as possible so that the information can be included in the Commencement Program.

Learning Centre The Learning Centre continues to be a busy place. Educational assistants, Susan Brock and Carolyn Costello, support our students individually and group wide. This continued support is appreciated by staff and students. Quinn Cumming and Valerie Britten helped out in May and June. Thank you.

Students who have borrowed materials from the LC are asked to return these items so other students may benefit from them. 300 exams were written through the LC., approximately 40 a time period. The support of the entire staff has been given so that our students have the best opportunity to show what they have learned. The LC over the semester has been supporting an average of 17 students per period. The support program includes quiet study, reading of questions and explanation, group work, computer use, individual support, reading, scribing, research support, editing, discussing and listening.

This support is available because of staffing, volunteers and administration committing time, dollars and effort to the program. Any usable pencil cases, binders, pencils, pens, rulers, calculators, CD players etc. that you do not sell at the garage sale would be greatly appreciated.

Have a great summer break.

Ontario Scholars These 16 students have an aggregate mark of 480 earning them an overall 80% average for their best 6 courses.

Mike Bokor Kristine Coleman Joel Luis

Brian Boundy Julie Guy Lee McGuigan

Ashley Bowden Drew Hoy Ashley Muckle

Karyn Brown Andrea Johnson Jaime Nead

Emily Campbell Kyle Kellam Kris Quagliotto

Marie Lambert

Athletic Banquet The annual Athletic Banquet was held on Tuesday, June 14^th. Several athletes were honoured. Thank you to the coaches for all their hard work throughout the year. Special thanks goes to Emily Jenner for running the event, Mr. Kistulinec for all his support and all the SAA members who helped out.

The evening began with a wonderful meal catered by Deborah Dale’s Catering, followed by the awards ceremony. Congratulations to all the athletes and best of luck to all the graduating athletes.

Athlete of the year – Girls – Sara Dodman

- Boys – Rob LeClair

Roboticats We had a small but powerful FIRST robotics team composed mainly of grade 12 and grade 10 students this year. After doing well at the Waterloo Regional we were accepted to go to our first Championships in Atlanta. This was a great experience for our team. The competition involving an incredible three hundred and forty teams was held in the Georgia Dome. Four separate playing surfaces, each with their own PA system, were set up in the dome. Part of the huge convention centre complex was used as the pit crew area. The size of the competition was enormous. It took the team more than ten minutes to get the robot from the pit area to the competition area in the dome for matches.

We had five long days for the competition. Two days involved driving there and back and three exciting days at the competition. Our students were always busy working on the robot or preparing for a match. Our team was in a pool with eighty-five teams. At the end of the round robin we tied for twenty-eighth place: a tremendous showing for our first trip to the Championships. The team this year was led by the graduating veterans Drew Hoy and Brian Boundy. Back for next year with lots of experience are Clint Dorssers, Wade McEachran and Eric Drouillard.

The Roboticats get great assistance from Blenheim and the surrounding areas. We would like to thank our main sponsors ArvinMeritor and Meritor Suspensions and all the other supporters of our team. Thanks also to our special supporters, the parents; especially, the Hoys who designed and made the most prized buttons at the competition and Mr. Dorssers who made a great cart to transport the robot in Atlanta.

The team will have a new look for next year. We will no longer be the Roboticats but will form a multi-school team involving Blenheim and other high schools in South Kent. This change will allow more students in our area to be part of the FIRST experience.

My Co-op Experience If you have the chance to take co-op, do it! It’s a great opportunity and you get tons of

By Andrea Kominek hands-on experience. For the first two weeks of co-op, you are in the classroom. This is when you learn the important stuff that you will need to know when you are in an actual workplace. Some of the things you learn are: resume writing, interview skills, workplace health and safety, etc. After the two weeks, you have your interview with a potential “employer”.

I spent my days at St. Anne’s School. Instead of being in just one classroom, I went to many. My day centered around the St. Anne’s Resource room. This is where students who are struggling in their own classrooms go for extra help. In the Resource room, there are about 3-5 students per teacher. This provides students with the individual attention they need to enhance their learning. My day started at 11:30. When I arrived, I worked with a group of Grade 7 students who needed help with reading. We did a novel study on the book, “The Best School Year Ever”. After working with the Grade 7’s it was time for lunch. I helped supervise three classrooms of Grade 5’s and 6’s. That was a lot of fun. It gave me the opportunity to get to know the students better. I also assisted with yard duty at the noon hour recess, which was also a lot of fun. After lunch, I would go to the Grade 5 class or the Grade 8 class.

Other duties I didn’t do on a regular basis, but had the opportunity to participate in included: helping with track and field, marking and developing tests, helping with the school play, decorating the gym for assemblies and making cotton candy and popcorn at the carnival. There were always exciting things going on at St. Anne’s and they were always happy to have the extra help.

When I leave high school, my goal is to become a teacher. Taking co-op has confirmed my feelings about this. Co-op gives you the experience you need to decide if you are right for a specific job. You learn the ups and downs of the career that you are interested in, so you can make an informed decision when high school is over. If you have the chance, take co-op. You will have the experience of a lifetime.

Mathematics Contests This past year close to 100 000 students from over 1400 schools across Canada

Results 2004/2005 participated in these mathematics contests. Students with an aptitude and enjoyment of mathematics are encouraged to compete. Twenty-six B. D. H. S. students accepted the challenge of writing these contests. Here are the top competitors in each contest:

Grade 9: Pascal - Jesse Onland Grade 10: Cayley - Emma Campbell

Stephanie Authier Chris Maris

Ben Campbell Alex Koehler

Grade 11: Fermat - Charles Stover Grade 12: Euclid - Drew Hoy

Danielle Mulder Marie Lambert

Brian Boundy

Hypatia - Charles Stover

Any student who achieved a score in the top 25% of the contestants of their respective contest is awarded a certificate of distinction. A medal goes to the top student in each contest in the school provided a standard is met. This year we only had one student earn a certificate of distinction. Charles Stover was in the top 10% of all students who wrote the Fermat Contest. The mathematics department wishes to congratulate these students and all other students who wrote these contests. We believe that in this time of the new technologies, mathematics is becoming increasingly important. Students who are interested in careers in science, mathematics and engineering should consider writing these challenging but rewarding competitions.

Physical Education Congratulations to Sara Dodman and Mitch Wammes who represented B.D.H.S. at this year’s Dr. Jack Parry gala. They are both exceptional student athletes and we are proud they are Bobcats.

The Bobcat football team is looking for sponsors to help purchase several new

concussion football helmets. These newly designed helmets are specially made to decrease the chance of a player suffering a concussion. Any person or business that would like to make a donation to this fund should call Brian Pugh or Kent Willmore at the school. All sponsors will be recognized on a special sponsor board to be located in the Bobcat Fitness Room. Each helmet is $250.00, but is a small price to pay to ensure the safety of our players.

The junior football team had an incredible season, making it to the finalsfor the fourth straight year. The Bobcats had a record of 3-3-1 and defeated CKSS 23-9 in the semi finals before losing to a tough Pines team in the championship. Several outstanding players will be up to bolster the senior ranks and a strong nucleus of young talent remains for another run at the cup next spring. Congratulations Cats.

Science Several grade 12 students joined the science teachers at BDHS to judge at the Kent Regional Science Fair in April. This was a great experience. The projects from the elementary students were outstanding.

Charles Stover was the top student in the school in both the grade 11 chemistry and grade 11 physics contests. Charles placed in the top 5% of all the students writing the Canada wide chemistry contest. Congratulations, Charles.

Several students (Nick Authier, Jaime Nead, Ahmed Al-Jaishi, Mike Bokor) who are

interested in careers in the health sciences attended the Canadian Medical Youth Symposium in May. This excellent opportunity, for students to learn about a wide variety of topics, is hosted by the London Hospitals.

Opportunities Many workshops, seminars and exchanges are available for BDHS students. Guidance staff provides information sessions to students who indicate interest in these opportunities.

Some of the “opportunities” have a cost involved and local group or organizations underwrite some.

The following is a partial list of functions, which students attended:

· Rotary Exchanges

· Royal Canadian Navel Association - New Canadian War Museum – Kingston,ON

· RYLA – Rotary Youth Leadership Awards

· HOBY – Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Conference

· P.A.I.R.S. Conference

Rob LeClair and Aaron Armstrong – Junior OBEA – Mr. DeNure congratulating Matt

Achievement multi-award winners Nichol on his second place Provincial finish in Accounting

Baby Think it Over Program Youth Prevention Educators Canadian Red

Cross Training – Bullying & Harassment

Jackie Therrien and Pete VanHal Awareness

Brandon Bourgeois, Adrian Casier,

Danielle Bourgeois, Nicole Vanhintum

P.A.I.R.S. group RYLA group

Brandon Bourgeois, Ashley DeBrouwer, Craig Hanna Bara Andresdottir, Christine Purdy,

Lindsay, Lindsay McGuigan, Brian Muckle, Jessika Harding, Charles Pollock

Erie Snobelen, Bev Brush, Amber Lindsay,

Taylor Lindsay, Ashley Lucier, Ashley Payne,

Erica Payne, Steve Howe, Nicole Vanhintum,

Ashley Ward

Dates to

Remember

Outgoing Student Council

Semester 2 Perfect *Heather Allison David Knight Chad Segeren

Attendance Justin Babkirk *Chantell Louwerce Victoria Sinanan

Christina Caporale *Lindsay McGuigan Mike Steward

*Denotes full year Tim Caron Dan O’Brien Charles Stover

*Matthew Crozier David Pepper Jake Trudell

*Sarah Schofield Mitch Wammes

Honour Roll

Grade 9 Stephanie Authier Ben Campbell Laura Montgomery

Brian Bondy Heather Capeling Victoria Sinanan

Thomas Bondy Ryan Dunlop Erie Snobelen

Kaitlyn Boundy Tyler Haskell Brooke Thompson

Sean Brophey Angela Jack Katie Wammes

Katie Jenner Brianne Webster

Grade 10 Sarah Cook Andrew Lanz-O’Brien Matt Rammeloo

Stewart Doan Chris Maris Jami Reeks

Eric Drouillard Jolene McKillop Jessica Rumble

Addison Ebert Tom Mifflin Kelsey Swance

Alex Koehler Rachel Neudorf Stephanie Townsend

Dan Nichol Ethan Wells

Grade 11 Kelley Anderson Kaitlyn Jessome Kelly Snobelen

Danielle Bourgeois Chantell Louwerse Charles Stover

Vanessa Burke Scott McNeil Heather Terris

Emily Carey Brittany Moor Lydia Thompson

Tiffany Gagne Danielle Mulder Nicole Vanhintum

Matt Randle Ashley Ward

Grade 12 Nick Authier Brett Frankfurth Rdohla Monk

Karla Bliss Alyssa Gielen Ashley Muckle

Mike Bokor Julie Guy Jaime Nead

Brian Boundy David Hamm Matt Nichol

Ashley Bowden Drew Hoy Kris Quagliotto

Emily Campbell Andrea Johnson Melissa Segeren

Sara Dodman Kyle Kellam Ashley Tomek

Drew Dorssers Erica Kitchen Ryan Travene

Aaron Downey Nicole Knights Brett Vegso

Ashley Fader Joel Luis Mitch Wammes