February 2017 From Your PGSS Administration Team:

A huge well done, and thank you, to all of our students and staff for their hard

work throughout Semester one! Semester two is just underway with the first

day of new courses starting January 31st. We look forward to seeing the com-

mitment and dedication to success continuing throughout Semester two. We

also wish to remind all students to work hard towards achieving their academic

goals as they progress towards fulfilling their graduation requirements. Report

card distribution is on February 7th and, it is at this time that we wish to encourage students with their parents/

guardians to reflect upon their time at PGSS to date and set some goals for the remainder of this year and next.

Spring break is quickly approaching! The first day of the break being March 10th and students will return on March

27th. Upon returning from this break, students only have three months remaining in the school year! For Grade 12

students and parents/guardians, the Valedictory ceremony will be held on Friday June 2nd. Remember to watch the

PGSS website closely for updates on important deadlines and information on scholarships and bursaries.

Course Selection: The incoming grade 7 students from all 10 of our Elementary schools and our current

grade 8-11 students will be completing course selection for September 2017 in the upcoming weeks.

Grade 7 Transition Information: Welcoming our NEW PGSS Polars!

There is a NEW SECTION in the newsletter (page 3) dedicated to updating parents/guardians on all of the upcom-

ing grade 7 transition activities happening here at PGSS! This space will be updated monthly for every outgoing

newsletter. The first BIG event is a Parent Information evening on February 7th in Vanier Hall at 5:30pm. Par -

ents/guardians of the new PGSS Polars are encouraged to attend to learn more about our school and various transi-

tion activities.

PRINCE GEORGE SECONDARY SCHOOL 2901 GRIFFITHS AVENUE

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. V2M 2S7 PHONE: 250-562-6441

FAX: 250-564-4085 E-MAIL: pgssoffice@pgss.sd57.bc.ca

Web Page: www.pgss.sd57.bc.ca

Office Hours Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4 pm

FOR YOUR INFORMATION... PGSS is Scent Aware, NutAware, Latex Aware and Dairy Aware

MARK YOUR CALENDAR WITH THESE IMPORTANT DATES

Jan 31 (Tuesday) - First day of semester 2

Feb 8 (Wednesday) - Student online transfer begins

Feb 13 (Monday) - BC Family Day (School Closed)

Feb 16 (Thursday) - PAC Meeting @ 7pm

Mar 2 (Thursday) - Quarter 5 ends

Mar 3 (Friday) - Student Online Transfer ends

Mar 8 (Wednesday) - Early Dismissal @230

- 530 Parent Teacher Interviews

Mar 10 (Friday) - Last Day of school before break

Mar 27 (Monday) - First day back after Break

Apr 6 (Thursday) - Provincial exam English

Apr 14 (Friday) - Good Friday (No School)

Apr 17 (Monday) - Easter Monday

Apr 28 (Friday) - NID (No school)

Follow us on Twitter @ PGSS_Polars

See Page 3

Join Sufey Chen for a fun

yoga flow class for teens

every Wednesday during T

block starting Wednesday,

January 11. It will take place

in the yoga studio on the top

floor of the Library.

Everyone welcome!

UNBC will be hosting an information table on

February 8 at lunch time in the main foyer.

Hope to see you there!

Post Secondary Educa-tion in the USA? SAT exam scores are re-quired for USA Post Sec-ondary applications. SAT exams will be offered this academic year at PGSS on May 6 and June 3. Register online At www.collegeboard.org. Any questions please see Mr. Berra

The following is a link to the Ministry on their cur-riculum site called “Why change the system Now?” http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/support/curriculum-parent-guide.pdf

Open House Feb 16, 2017 7:00 pm UNBC Sport Centre – Wolf Den For students entering Grade 10-12 who are interested in infor-mation about or apply-ing to the Canadian Sport School for the 2017/2018 school

Grad 2017

Grad Tickets

Tickets for the Valedictory Ceremony are

now on sale for $90.00. This includes 6 tick-

ets to the ceremony, gown and stole rental,

memento cap and souvenir tassel, and a 5x7

picture and certificate. Extra grad ceremony

tickets are now available until April 1, 2017.

Each student is permitted to purchase up to

an additional 4 tickets each, at a price of

$10.00 each. You can pay fees at the office

Monday to Friday. We only accept cash or

cheque. Cheques made payable to Prince

George Secondary School.

Grad Transitions Program

All grade 12 students must complete the Grad-

uation Transitions program. GTP is four of the

required credits towards student's Dogwood

Certificate or School Leaving Certificate. The

assignments are available online from the

PGSS website—from the home page go to

“Grad Transitions.” The activities should be

completed by December 16, 2016. Students

can bring the completed packages to the inter-

view or submit them to the Counseling Centre.

Interviews should be completed by January 22,

2016. Students should contact their GTP con-

tact person (posted opposite the counseling

office on the Grad Bulletin Board) if they have

questions and to book the appointment.

The online Post Secondary Institution Choice Forms

(PSI) are now available for students graduating in

the 2016/17 school year. Students can access the

online form by logging into the Student Secure Web

(SSW), www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/tsw/tsw/

student/ and clicking the menu option “Post Second-

ary Institutions Selections.”

Parent Sponsored Dry Grad and Prom are

now underway. There is a suggestion box in

the library for graduating students to write

your ideas as far as themes, food, venues,

music, prizes etc. We would like to have as

many graduating students and parents involved in our meetings but under-

stand everyone cannot always make it. There is a Facebook group, you can

join (PGSS Dry Grad/ Prom 2017) to keep up with what’s going on, and

also an e-mail list. To be added to the e-mail, send your address to

charlee@telus.net. Any ideas or questions can be directed to the chair, An-

tonia Crossan at 250-649-6089 or the fundraising co-ordinator, Charlene

Dickson at 250-614-4874. There are also 3 awards to be granted to 3 de-

serving students for their involvement so get involved! Our first fundrais-

ers will be a ticket raffle to start ASAP and the Fashion Show on Feb 2nd.

January Grade 7 classes will all receive a visit

from a vice principal and a counsellor to

learn more about what life is like at PGSS.

February 7th Parent Information evening in

Vanier Hall at 5:30pm

February 27

to March 8 CAT Testing

April 11

to 21 All incoming Polars will visit PGSS for a tour of

the school with the Justice League (our student

council)!

June 7 Fourth Annual BBQ and

Gym Riot! 10:30am

to 2:30pm.

August 28

to 30 Grade 8 Summer Camp!

Be sure to register early!

Important Dates Grade 7 Transitions

PGSS Athletics

The BC School Sports Provincial High School Gymnastics Championships are being

hosted at PGSS February 23-25, 2017! This event will bring together over 200 of the

best High School Gymnasts in the province. Both male and

female athletes must qualify at their zone championships to

make it to this premier competition. We are excited to have

the opportunity to showcase our own athletes, our school and

the community of Prince George at this event. For more in-

formation, or if you would like to volunteer at this event

please contact Maizie Bernard at pghighschoolgymnas-

tics@gmail.com

Any Girls interested in playing pgss soccer this spring please contact Mr. Wood room 705.

Junior A Boys Basketball by Scott Walton

Hard work pays off!! Last season, under Coach Nick Novak, our Jr. A Boys basketball team made incredible strides. Made up mostly

of 9th grade players, the team seemed to all get along well, had some really athletic kids and was comprised of kids who worked hard in

the classroom. Not only that, the group seemed to have a hunger to get better that isn’t present in all groups. After having a down year

with my Sr. Team, it occurred to me that the current system wasn’t working the way I thought it should.

Two days after the Sr. season ended, I met with Coach Novak and we decided to join forces and work with the Jr. Team for the following

year. Not only that, we decided that we were going to move up with them through their 12 th grade year. Selfishly, I wanted a change and

wanted to see what we could do in working with these kids earlier, with a rigid training plan, and see what we could come up with. With

the way things are currently, our Gr. 8 system in the city puts our players at a significant disadvantage by holding the Gr. 8 league in the

spring. This has our players missing a year’s worth of instruction and competition that the rest of the province is getting.

Coach Novak and I decided we were going to offer our services throughout the spring and summer between their 9 th and 10th grade

years. We told the kids that we would be working in the gym, in the weight room and running the track and the stairs at the track each

week. The response we got was overwhelming as we had 14 – 17 kids out regularly. It was at that point, we knew we had something spe-

cial. This is my 17th year coaching basketball. The last time I

had a group like this was in ’06. Ask any coach and they will

tell you that you only get groups like this every so often.

When you do, you make it as special as possible, you push

them as much as possible and you make sure you are there for

them emotionally all the time.

The demands put on these kids are unlike anything else they

have experienced. They are to have academic progress re-

ports filled out once a month. If they are not caught up with

their work, they don’t play. They are held to a higher stand-

ard within the community of the school as they receive so

much from the school. The least we can do as a program is

be a positive, leading and influential group in giving back.

These kids are asked to practice at 6am twice a week and

after school twice a week; they play 4 games a week and only

get Sunday’s off.

The payoff? Well, the payoff is learning what a work ethic is, being held accountable for their actions in the classroom and on the court.

They have bonded into a family that rely on each other, support each other and learn to work through problems together. My wife and I

consider them a part of our family. They are building a support system that will be there for a lifetime.

Do you notice I haven’t even mentioned wins or losses? Wins and losses do matter. However, its how we win or lose that’s important.

Our kids are taught by us that losing is a strange thing. In this day and age, society wants you to believe that winning or losing isn’t im-

portant. They are often taught that having fun is the most important thing. In our program, we teach our kids that while having fun is im-

portant, they are a part of a competitive program. We teach them that if they work at getting better, pay attention to their responsibilities

in the classroom and on the court, be coachable, be a good teammate, set high standards for themselves, strive to meet the lofty standards

set out by the coaching staff, they will be competitive people and will put themselves in the best position to succeed. Succeeding IS fun.

If our kids do all that is asked of them, to the best of their abilities, and lose, we’re ok with that. If we slip in meeting expectations, do not

practice or compete at the level we demand from our kids and lose, then we are not OK with losing. Wins and losses will take care of

themselves if everything else is done with integrity and accountability.

As I write this, we currently sit as an Honourable Mention in the provincial rankings. We just came home from a tournament in the Fra-

ser Valley where 5 of the 8 teams playing were ranked in the top 10 in the province. We lost our first game by 11, lost big in our second

game and we won our third game by 15. Personally, I was ok with our first loss as we played very hard and played the right way. I was

not ok with our second loss as we did not compete at all. What I was most proud of, was the way we came out and played in our 3rd game.

As I sit at my desk each day at work, I can’t believe how lucky I am that I get to work with the kids I get to work with in the classroom

and on my team. I also can’t believe how lucky I am to be so new to the city and to be working in the best school in the city. We are a

part of a special place. As coaches, we remind our players of that each and every day.