October School Council Minutes

Last updated January 14th, 2011

18 October 2010

In Attendance:

Lise Adelson, Chris Burns, Katy Bhimji, John Chaffey, David Cummings, Julia Deacon, Muhammad Dhodhi, David Gladwin, Sue-Ellen McCarron, Monty Montgomery, Scott Pemberton, Susanne Storm, Mary Anne Trenker.

Regrets:

Eric Volstad

Approval of the Agenda

1. Two changes to the agenda were proposed so as not to unnecessarily delay speakers. First, guest speaker Amanda Neilson moved from item 5 to item 4. Second, Darryl Woods, Dept Head World and Social Sciences moved from item 9 to item 5. The revised agenda was approved as proposed.

Approval of Previous Minutes

2. The minutes of the 21 September meeting were approved. The Chairman provided thanks to Heather Graham for coming to the school to receive here school website training and for quickly posting the previous minutes to the school website.

Chairman’s Report

3. The Chairman provided the following report:

  1. Agenda. The Chairman would endeavour to promulgate the agenda earlier to provide for information to and feedback from parents.
  2. Parents Reaching Out Grant. Last year the School Council applied to Parents Reaching Out for a grant of $1000 to be used for the provision of four Teen Mental Health information evenings. The grant was approved and the first evening was September 27 on the topic of adolescent mental health issues. The main speaker was Jessica Ripley from CHEO’s YouthNet program, and we had two engaging young ladies who had direct experience with mental health problems. Fiona Cooligan who described her world of depression and Alyse Schacter, who is still adjusting to life extremely affected by OCD. I(t was fascinating to hear their stories, and it brought home the reality of what thy faced. The evening was well attended with 57 persons in attendance. The next presentation is in the latter part of November and will feature Amanda Neilson from Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services.
  3. New Food and Beverage Policy. The Chairman and Principal attended the second training morning on the new food and beverage policy that will be mandatory for all Ottawa schools commencing 1 September 2011. A briefing will be provided in a future School Council meeting.
  4. Remembrance Day. EOM will be hosting Remembrance Day ceremonies and parents are welcome to attend. There will be two one-hour services, one for Juniors and one for Seniors. They will feature veterans, and appropriately themed student performances and should be both thoughtful and poignant.
  5. Thanks. Thanks for Paulette Roberge and Erma Caissie-Richard for agreeing to be our Representatives at the Secondary School Committee of the Ottawa Carleton Assembly of School Councils (OCASC) on behalf of Earl of March Secondary School.
  6. Notices.
    1. A Town Hall meeting is scheduled at Nepean High School on 19 October, intended to give parents and concerned members of the community some insight on the usage and impact of social media on teens during their high school years and beyond.
    2. Building Relationships,” a symposium for parents and educators on interrelationships in education, particularly between parents and school systems, will be held 9 am to 1 pm at the Travelodge on Carling Avenue.
    3. We are pleased to announce that the Policy Analyst position has been staffed on a permanent basis. Paula Hall has joined us in that position and we are excited to have her as a part of our team. Effective today all School Council related inquiries can be directed to her at or at .

Guest Speaker – Amanda Neilson from Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services

4. Amanda Neilson is an addictions counsellor with Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services; her speciality is drug and alcohol addiction. She has been working with youth for 12 years and has three and a half years at Rideauwood. Additionally she is a counsellor at Castor Valley Elementary School and recently started working at EOM, Monday mornings and all day Wednesday. Amanda provided the School Council with a brief overview of the program at Rideauwood, the EOM school program and the nature of drug and alcohol addiction. Secretarial note: brief notes follow but are intended to highlight key points rather than be an exhaustive record of discussion.

  1. Rideauwood has been in business for 30 years, and involved with local schools for 25 years. They have a variety of programs including family, school and societal programs. To be effective, the key is to engage children and to accomplish this goal, counsellors need to come to the children. This is the genesis of the Rideauwood school program.
  2. At EOM, Amanda provides a confidential, non-judgemental, stigma-free program that is open to parents and families of those EOM students that require counselling. Amanda has also done training for EOM staff and sees her job as providing real information on the spectrum of drugs.
  3. Amanda discussed the dichotomy between how society has a negative view of drugs, yet many people are themselves addicted to legal substances such as caffeine, cigarettes or alcohol.
  4. Students come to Amanda, primarily through referrals. These referrals are from a variety of sources: suspension, students, parents, teachers, Vice Principals, or the Principal. She sees an increasing number of referrals coming from the educational team, an excellent indicator of how well the teachers know their students.
  5. Amanda talked about the nature of addiction and the fact that addiction is simply a coping mechanism to deal with an underlying issue. For most students, it is not the addiction that is the problem; it is the underlying cause of their stress that forces them to consistently turn to alcohol or drugs as a means of coping. To help students it is important to recognize the cause and teach them an alternate means of coping. Amanda also made the point that alcohol and drug abuse is not about being a “bad kid,” and her job is to help kids with their struggles.
  6. Amanda answered several questions following her presentation, and left several brochures on services provided at Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services.

Special Speaker – Darryl Woods on the Canadian Contribution to Conflict

5. Darryl Woods is the EOM Department Head for World and Social Sciences and Technology. Darryl discussed the EOM approach to personalize history for the students, and to encourage families to look into their own histories. An example is the manner in which the Grade 10 Canadian Contribution to Conflict is taught at EOM.

  1. The Lest We Forget Project. Darryl discussed the use of the Lest We Forget Project, a project by Canadian Schools in cooperation with Library and Archives Canada and the Canadian War Museum.
    1. The combines historical research with community outreach. It provides the opportunity for students to conduct primary research, encouraging their skills in writing essays, complete with footnotes and bibliographies, and in using the computer to access archival sources and databases. Students are tasked with researching and writing about individuals who served in the First World War whose names are listed on the local cenotaphs in communities across Canada. Essentially, students become experts on the service persons they investigate and contribute to the wartime histories of their communities. In this project, students attend Library & Archives to study files of World War I and World War II soldiers. This helps students understand the contributions made for them, by the military. The Library and Archives of Canada have recently added 200 digitized military personnel records to the website. These records represent 100 men and women who served our country in the First World War, and 100 in the Second World War.
    2. The Lest We Forget Project was restructured by budgetary cutbacks and summer 2010, Canada’s Library and Archives transferred Learning Centre staff who conduct the program. School Council members interested in reading more about the cutbacks can do so in this Globe and Mail article from 24 February 2010.

  2. Darryl Woods also showed displays of memorabilia from his own grandfather, a soldier in World War I and explained how this material is used to try to personalize history for the students. In this regard, he encourages families to look into their histories.

Student Representative’s Report : Julia Deacon

6. Julia reported that the Grade 9 elections went very well and provided a list of upcoming student activities including: the upcoming Halloween Dance, intra-mural sports every day at lunch. She also reported on some of the charity work being done by the student body such as the November Rock-a-thon (Nov 12), with proceeds going to “Right to Play,” a charity that sends sports equipment to third world countries. November 17 will see the “Inside Ride,” a 60 minute event that will see teams rais money for Cancer Research. Julia also mentioned the Student Council Annual Canned Food Drive. Julia closed by talking about the upcoming Black and White Auction and Spirit Week which featured such fun themes as Pajama Day, Inside-Out Day, Purple Day and Toga Day.

Teacher Representative’s Report: Scott Pemberton

7. The following report was made by Scott:

a. Richard Trudel, Dept Head Arts, Business and French. The French Immersion trip to Paris was a huge success. 15 students from Earl of March and 14 from SRB., spent last week in Paris and experienced some amazing moments visiting the sites (the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Versailles and much more). Their ability to communicate in French was very impressive and I think they were surprised at how good their language skills are!! The entire tour was in French! They all enjoyed the trip and I think valued the language skills. Their behaviour and manners made us proud.

b. Darryl Woods Dept Head World and Social Sciences and Technology.

i. HHS4M – Grade 12 Social Studies course is hosting some guest speakers this month:

(a) The “On Track” program of the Ottawa Hospital – this presentation explains the topic of mental health between the ages of 18-25. A nurse, counselor and young people who are living with mental illness share their perspectives.

(b) Community members from both Chrysalis House (local women’s shelter) and the “Brothers” league will address the issue of dating violence with the class.

(c) Field Trip to the In Love and In Danger Conference on November 4th – workshops and guest speakers on the topic of healthy vs. unhealthy relationships.

ii. M.A.D.D. “Shattered” presentation taking place on Tuesday, October 26th.

iii. Remembrance Day Ceremonies to take place on November 11th.

iv. On Fri. Oct. 8   33 grade 11 and 12 students from several History/Social Science classes participated in a field trip to Carleton University to work on their Independent Study essays. Before traveling to Carleton, the students were involved in several prep activities to familiarize themselves with researching at a university library. This has been the 12th year that we have run this field trip and the students have found it very valuable. We also run the trip in February.

v. On Sat. Oct. 19th I met with Prof. Alek Bennett who is a member of the History Dept. at Carleton U. She has also held the position of Faculty Advisor to First Year Students for the past several years. The purpose of the meeting was two-fold. First, the History Dept at Carleton holds a book sale every Fall at the end of Oct. Each year, Earl of March gets an exclusive viewing of the books for sale. I was able to pick up 30 books for a $40 donation to the university (the street value of the books is approximately $1000). These books will go into the Dept library where students and staff will have full access for research. The second purpose of the meeting with Prof. Bennett was to keep open the special dialogue that both the Earl of March and Carleton History Depts have developed over the past several years. We discussed several issues affecting both Depts.  Prof. Bennett made it quite clear that the student who will succeed and excel at university today in this discipline is the one who develops sound research and critical thinking skills.

vi. The first EOM grade nine science and geography field trip to Sudbury-Science North and Dynamic Earth was a success. At one of the events at science north the presenter told the tour leader that we were the most engaged and fun group of students in years. The tour leader commented on the good behaviour of the EOM students. The hotel personnel also commented on the good behaviour of the students.

  1. Steve Jackson, Dept Head Computer Science and Digital Media. Frances D’Alessandro has got yearbook off to a great start and is considering running a full-colour edition this year in order to celebrate Earl’s 40th anniversary.
  2. Sherry Lee, Dept Head Science.

i. For your School Council news piece 39 grade 9 Science and Geography students returned Oct 8 from a two day extra-curricular field trip to Science North near North Bay.  The itinerary included various workshops in the Planetarium and Tech Lab, Imax film Hubble 3D, visit to Dynamic Earth to study rocks and minerals, and an underground tour of a nickel mine.

ii. From Student Council (which Julia Deacon may be covering):  Oct 18 to 22 is Spirit Week.  Oct 22 is the Halloween Dance.  Also, four student council members attended the Ottawa Youth Commission’s “Your City. Your Voice” conference on Oct 14 where they learned creative ways to make change in their communities and city.

e. Dee Barnabe, Dept Head Health and Physical Education

i. Physical Education: The 9 and 10 Fitness classes just ran the MADD 5 km at Earl of March on Sunday. The kids had a great day and the support from the community was amazing. The grade 11 fitness class is getting ready to run the 10 Km Rattle Me Bones race for the Ottawa General Hospital at the end of the month. The physical education classes are getting ready to start self defense and doing all their pre-summative fitness testing.

ii. Athletics:

  1. Fall sports are half way through the season with 11 teams representing EoM in the NCSSAA – girls hockey, boys hockey, senior and junior tennis, Varsity Field Hockey, junior and senior boys soccer, senior boys volleyball, junior and senior girls basketball, cross country running and golf. EoM won the Female cities in golf and went to OFSAA to represent the NCSSAA division (congratulations golf). Senior girls basketball and senior boys volleyball are currently undefeated, and the rest of the teams are still in contention for the playoffs!
  2. Winter sports will be starting soon Senior and Junior boys Basketball, Curling, Nordic Skiing, Senior girl volleyball just have the students listen to the announcements for try-out dates. A new Athletic wiki will arrive soon to post announcements and scores!!

f. Shannon Hendrycks, Dept Head Student Services and Coop. There will be a Grad Assembly to prepare Grade 12’s for the post secondary application cycle Tuesday October 19th and “Take Your Kids to Work Day” for the Grade 9’s is Wednesday November 3rd.

g. Mary Saunders, Dept Head Special Education

i. IEPs are being mailed out on October 19.  There are approximately 200 students in our regular program with individual education plans.

ii. Resource room is hopping with students using their accommodations (extra time, scribing etc) for tests…great to see!

iii. Make the Cut will be held in November for grade 12 students.  It is hosted by Carleton University to help students with learning needs determine the support and resources available for them at college and university.  Alex Massett is the learning support teacher organizing this trip.

iv. In community living, Jen Carter will be leaving on maternity leave and we are please to welcome Bobby Howe to our teaching staff to fill her spot.  Last week, community living hosted a thanksgiving dinner (beef stew and apple crisp) prepared by students and this week they hosted a group of students from Glebe for a pasta lunch.

h. Kristin Riddell, Dept Head English and Library

i. The Stratford Trip was a huge success!  The students saw Kiss Me Kate, Evita and As You Like It.  We also went on a tour of the warehouse.  The students represented the Earl of March very well!  Pictures will soon be posted on the EOM English web page.

ii. Big Ideas- course coordinators and course teams continue to discuss the ‘big ideas’ in the courses.  Each year the dept. makes changes to the courses to ensure a smooth transition in English classes from grade to grade .  Big ideas will soon be posted on the EOM English web page.

iii. Students in grade 10 English classes wrote an OSSLT test from 2008 last week.  Teachers assessed students on a Writing component and a Reading component.  The assessment is a good indicator for students who need additional support preparing for the OSSLT.  Extra help sessions will be announced soon.

iv. All grade 9 English classes have visited the library for a research orientation lesson.  The orientation will help students to become familiar with the library and research skills in all classes.

v. Grade 10 students will be going to the NAC on October 25th to see a production of Romeo and Juliet.  It’s going to be a great trip!

vi. The Living Literacy committee will be meeting this Thursday to discuss best practices for helping students to acquire and use literacy skills.  We will also discuss preparation for the OSSLT.

Principal’s Report: Steve Massey

8. Principal Massey covered the following four areas:

a. School Trip to Paris. Steve described the trip to Paris with additional detail and commented on how proud he was of the students for the manner in which they conducted themselves. A Council member raised the question of how the students make up for the ten days lost on the trip. Steve answered that the students work with teachers to prepare ahead of time and plan to recover the lost hours in their spare time.

b. Changes to EOM Website. Steve introduced the Council to some of the changes made to the school website, including changes to the upcoming events section, a new Media and News Release section and Google Calendar integration. He stated the changes were all made by students and was very pleased with their initiative in improving the website.

c. School Emergency Procedures were discussed in general terms. Fire drills are done three times per semester for a total of six times per year. The school does practice lockdown procedures in the event of an emergency. When this is done, students and staff are notified in advance along with the Ottawa Police Department who comes to the school to assist with the drill. Normally lockdown procedure takes 25 minutes to complete. Given the relative rarity of earthquakes, the associated emergency procedures are not conducted.

d. Networking with Other Secondary Schools. Steve mentioned that EOM Is working with three other large feeder secondary schools to open a dialogue share ideas and best practices on such subjects as literacy.

Next Meeting

9. The next meeting will be held on Monday, 15 November in the EOM library.

Adjournment

10. The time being 9:05 p.m., the Chairman called for adjournment.

Minutes prepared by David Cummings