I had the fortunate oppor-

tunity to participate in the

National Principal Leader-

ship Institute in New York

during 8 days in July. Lead-

ers and educators from Man-

itoba and Ontario joined

their colleagues from south

of the border to re-evaluate

the purpose of school and to

create a school, as a team,

that manifested that purpose.

In my case, I was teamed

with administrators from

Connecticut, Washington

DC, California, New York

State and US Virgin Islands.

Of course, the perspective

was heavily weighted by the

trends in American educa-

tion that are politically im-

posed or financially driven.

But, regardless of climate, it

was an incredibly rewarding

experience.

So … what is the purpose of

school? A simple question

with a complex answer. As

we sat through many a pre-

senter and round table dis-

cussion, as we interviewed

the men and women on the

street and as we discussed

the issue in our team, it be-

came evident that each re-

sponse seemed to have a

similar focus. However,

each was coloured by the

system in which one was

educated, the educational

climate and the personal

philosophy of education.

Dr. Lew Smith, Director of

NPLI, imposed a twelve-

word limit in his request that

the presenters respond to the

question. The following

paragraphs resume some of

those responses.

Pedro Noguera, who spoke

about “re-imaging schools

and placing teaching and

learning at the center of

reform, defined the purpose

as two-fold: preparing the

next generation and solving

the problems of the 21st

century. He stated that the

focus should of course be on

the former given the uncer-

tainty surrounding the latter.

He stipulated as well that the

keys to successfully re-

sponding to this purpose

revolved around a balanced

commitment to excellence

and equity. And what does

that look like? It involves

staff members who under-

stand the external pressures

students face and who work

to develop partnerships and

strategies with students to

meet their needs. It also

requires the support of the

community as a resource for

educators and for students.

In short, it is the ability to

help students envision their

future and plan for that suc-

cess. It also means teaching

what Noguero referred to as

the code of power – being

able to communicate effec-

tively through language,

dress and behaviour.

Douglas Reeves, founder of

The Leadership and Learn-

ing Center, contributed his

perspective. According to

him, the purpose of school is

to build citizens of tomor-

Message from the Administration The purpose of school

SPECIAL POINTS OF

INTEREST:

December 1: Winter

Concert

December 5-9: 10,000

Villages Sale

December 5-16: Student

Council Christmas Ham-

pers

December 9: UNESCO

Human Rights Assembly

December 13: Blood

Drive

December 22: Nohoho

December 22: last Day of

classes prior to Winter

Break

Please join us in welcoming our new staff members! The CPET family welcomes back M. Ron Jubinville as our day-time custodian.

DECEMBER 2011 Collège Pierre-Elliott -Trudeau

Student Council 2

Blood Drive 2

Social Action 3

Phys-Ed 4

Math Contests 5

Music Department 6

Calendar 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

River East Transcona School Division

Winter Concert and Bake Sale

Thursday Dec. 1st 7PM

Cont’ p.5

DECEMBER 2011 P AGE 2

The leadership students at Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau are starting their annual blood drive. Actual donations will be

taking place at the school, December 13th from 12:30-6:30. Students can sign up in front of the office November 30th

and December 7th during lunch. If you are unable to sign up at the office during these times, feel free to email M. Bam-

forth at bbamforth@retsd.mb.ca with a preferred appointment time. Remember, it’s in you to give.

This year’s Boohaha was another huge success. For the first time ever, the student council started Boohaha

with the introduction of CPET’s hockey and volleyball teams. Then the student council organized some fun activities

that included a nerd-off, a sasquatch competition and our traditional pumpkin carving competition. The student partici-

pation this year was the biggest group we have ever seen at Boohaha and the student council would like to thank eve-

ryone who was involved. Further, the student council would like to thank all who participated in the Lamontage fund-

raiser. CPET collected over 4,000 dollars.

Christmas is right around the corner and the student council encourages everyone to think of the less fortu-

nate. We will be organizing the Christmas Hampers again. From December 5 – 16 each classroom will have a box to

fill with non-perishable food items. In addition, money will be collected to buy turkeys and gifts for children.

We are also busy planning Nohoho which will be held on December 22. The UNESCO committee has chal-

lenged CPET to collect new or gently used articles of winter clothing such as, mittens, scarves, toques, jackets, boots

etc. The student council urges everyone to bring in donations to Nohoho so all can stay warm this holiday season.

Katie Cook

Student Council President

If you have an aptitude for argument or a passion for public speaking, or would like to hone or develop skills in debate,

then join us for “dine and debate”. This lunch hour club meets every other Friday in Mme Konczak’s class (room 109).

By playing games, practicing skills, and participating in activities, students will have the opportunity to explore debate

and speaking for an audience. Eventually we will examine formal debate procedures and strategies. A schedule of this

semester’s meeting times is posted on Mme Konczak’s door.

Blood Drive

Student Council Report

Dine and Debate

Giants Ridge 2011-2012

The snow is coming and so is the Giants Ridge Ski and Snowboard trip. Once again the grade 10 students will

be heading off for three amazing days at Giants Ridge, Minnesota. All grade 10 students have received a letter containing

information about the upcoming trip. The scheduled dates for the trip are February 29th-March 2nd, 2012. We would like to

see all students participate, as this is a wonderful opportunity for them to practice their French in an informal setting and

be physically active. The $75.00 non-refundable deposit is due by November 25th, 2011 and should be submitted to M.

Gusberti. All other pertinent dates are in the letter that was sent home with the students.

M. Gusberti and Mme Kjernisted

COLLÈGE P IERRE-E LLIOTT -TRUDEAU P AGE 3

Aujourd’WE DAY

Eighty-four CPET students and six teachers attended Winnipeg’s first We Day, hosted by Free the Children at the

MTS Centre. The goal of We Day is to inspire and empower young people to make a difference in their local and

global communities. Inspiration came in the form of speakers such as: Al Gore, Mia Farrow and former Prime Minis-

ter Paul Martin. Entertainment was provided by Hedley, Down with Webster and Shawn Desman. The message was

clear: young people, especially when they come together as a committed group, have the knowledge, the desire, the

strength and the ability to change the world.

Former Vice-president Al Gore spoke about climate change and recommended that youth need to speak out to encour-

age citizens and policy makers to stop “treating the atmosphere like an open sewer.”

Sharon Conway inspired participants with the message that “Young people can do things that others never dreamed

of.”

The Right Honourable Paul Martin directed out attention to the idea that although building school in other countries

is noble, we have a marginalized aboriginal population in Canada without working schools.

Hannah Taylor, the founder of Lady Bug Foundation, told a story about a friend who had once been homeless and

advised her “Don’t be afraid of the homeless; be afraid of a society that doesn’t care about the homeless.”

Rick Hansen, a Canadian hero, asked youth “What do you care about?” and reminded the crowd that “If we come

together, we can make a difference. Chase your dreams.”

Spencer West, who lost his legs at age five, showed us that we can redefine possible. He has plans to climb Kilimanja-

ro.

Our first action is to raise money for drought relief in East Africa. Right now, families in East Africa are suffering the

worst drought in 60 years. Millions are in need of emergency aid.

We will be taking orders for Rafiki bracelets, which are made by mommas in Kenya as part of an alternative income

project. The women employed by Me to We Artisans who beaded the chains in Kenya receive a fair wage year-round,

ensuring they are able to purchase food and other necessities for their families, even in this time of crisis. The colours

in this limited-edition chain symbolize the abundance of earth: water and life. Each purchase of a Rafiki Friend of East

Africa Chain supports Free The Children’s drought relief efforts. With your purchase, you will feed one child for an

entire month. By purchasing a Rafiki Friend of East Africa Chain, you are bringing hope and sustainable change to

those in East Africa. It’s simple: the cost to save a child is $10. No taxes. Orders for Rafiki bracelets will be taken

over the lunch hour during the last week of November.

World Issues Class

CPET is happy to announce that once again we will be holding a booth dedicated to some of the fair trade

products of Ten Thousand Villages. These products will be for sale during the lunch hour (12:10-1:15pm) of Monday,

December 5th through to Friday, December 9th. Some of the products that will be sold during this event are Christmas

decorations, a variety of coffee and chocolate, accessories, home goods, and much more.

Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit, fair trade organization. The products found in this store are bought off

of artisans from various developing countries around the world for a fair price under good working conditions. There

are two Ten Thousand Villages locations in the city; one at 963 Henderson Hwy and another at 134 Plaza Drive. For

more information about Ten Thousand Villages, feel free to visit their website at http://www.tenthousandvillages.ca

We encourage you to drop by and discover a new way to shop that will benefit everyone.

Social Action at CPET

DECEMBER 2011 P AGE 4

This next month CPET will be hosting Rosmery Morales from the Stansberry Children’s Home and Daycare in Santa

Cruz, Bolivia. We are very excited about her visit, because Rosmery has been our go to person on our Bolivia trips time

and time again. One year she even accompanied us on part of our tour through the altiplano. Rosmery arrives on the 8 th

of December and will be our guest speaker at our annual human rights assembly on the 9 th of December. She is a trained

pharmacist and is responsible for the clinic at the Stansberry Home. This is our second visit from Bolivia since 2005 and

we feel that these reciprocal visits help to strengthen the ties between us and our project in Santa Cruz. If you are free on

the 9th you are welcome to join us at our assembly.

Our Junior Varsity and Varsity volleyball teams finished their respective seasons in Zone 2 and proved competitive in

league play. The JV Boys lost in the fifth set of the semi-finals by five points against the Collège St. Norbert Colle-

giate. Congratulations to all our athletes for their perseverance on the court! As this article is being written, our Grade

9 Girls’ and Boys’ teams are playing in the “B” side playoffs in the RETSD Grade 9 League. Good luck and continued

success as the Girls play Chief Peguis and the Boys play Calvin Christian. Once again thank you to all our CPET

coaches; JV Girls – Alexa Gavaga and Allison Peacock, JV Boys - Blake Ilchyna, Varsity Girls – Cassie Claydon and

Chris Marshall, Varsity Boys – Cassie Claydon and Pamela Portillo, Grade 9 Girls – Mme Kelina Parent and the

Grade 9 Boys – M. McLeod. We appreciate all of your time, effort and devotion.

“Les Canadiens” hockey team continues to improve and is currently in 5th place in the “C” division with a 4 wins 5

losses record. The team is near the mid-point of the season and will finish the last 3 weeks before the Christmas Break

with 6 games, one against are archrivals Murdoch Mackay on DEC 12th and on DEC 20th against 2nd place Fort Rich-

mond (to whom we lost a close 3-2 in the season opener). We look forward to more close matches as the season pro-

gresses. Come on out and cheer your favourite Canadiens to victory!

Phys-Ed and Extra-curricular Athletics

Exam week: January 26 – February 2 Grade 12 Provincial exams: English Language Arts – January 10 - 13 Français 40S – January 16, 17 and 18 Pre-Calculus Math – January 23 Consumer Math – January 24

Visit from Bolivia

Professional Development Day: February 3rd (no classes) Second semester begins February 6, 2012 (day 1)

DECEMBER 2011 P AGE 5

-row: critical thinkers, literate, fair, just and engaged. He underlined the importance of a staff’s professional learning,

the efficiency of a school to transmit its belief that teaching and leadership matters, the ability of a school’s staff to

prioritize and focus on what is essential to the school and the importance of monitoring more than just the test scores to

define success.

And so, where did this leave my team – team 10. After much deliberation and sharing of the information that each of

us had gleaned from the sessions, we identified the foundation on which we wanted to build our school: The purpose of

school is to continually ignite curiosity and facilitate habits of mind which create globally contributing citizens. This

purpose was born out of the understanding that while schools must obviously tend to academics, it must also embrace

real world learning and social consciousness. There is a need for students to comprehend and articulate the

complexities of global living and to be able to employ critical thinking and effective problem-solving strategies. And,

it is important to thrive and prosper in the world with an understanding that its citizens are accountable for others and

for the earth’s resources.

These experiences through the Institute provided a greater appreciation for the innovations that are occurring in our

own system. And, as for CPET, you will read and hear many stories from students involved in CPET’s many UNESCO

driven initiatives. For example, you will certainly cross paths with one of our 84 students who participated in “We

day” at the MTS Centre. CPET is after all an active school with staff and students striving to achieve its purpose as a

UNESCO-associated school:

learning to know (acquiring knowledge and understanding, and thinking critically about our complex and

changing world*)

learning to do (learning to participate effectively in local, national, and global communities*)

learning to be (building self-knowledge and being conscience of connections to nature and society*) and

learning to live together (learning to live peacefully with others and to care for our common homeland*).

When Milton Chen, senior fellow and executive director emeritus of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, was

asked how to define a great school, he said it filters down to one question: Do the kids run in at the same rate they run

out? While my opinion may be biased, I would not hesitate to say that CPET’s purpose and the initiatives derived from

its purpose are instrumental in ensuring that the rate in does in fact equal the rate out.

R.Campbell

(*as identified in Manitoba Grade 12 Global Issues: Citizenship and Sustainability)

Cont’ from p.1

Mathematics Department

Students at CPET have the opportunity to write a Nation wide math contest.

This year the grade 9, grade 10 and grade 11 students will write at the end of

February. This gives the students the opportunity to explore and engage in dif-

ferent types of math questions that they would not receive on a daily basis. All

students are encouraged to participate.

Grade 9 – Concours de Newton

Grade 10 – Concours Cayley

Grade 11 – Concours Fermat

COLLÈGE P IERRE-E LLIOTT -TRUDEAU P AGE 6

WSO Concert

Another huge success. The CPET choir along with 120 other choir students from the River East Transcona School Di-

vision performed with the Winnipeg Symphony to a sold out crowd at the Centennial Concert Hall. The evening was a

celebration of the outstanding music programs in the school division and was dedicated to outgoing superintendent

Dennis Pottage. Congratulations to all our students who participated.

Winter Concert

Please join us for our annual Winter Band and Choir concert, Thursday December 1st, 7:00 PM. CPET gymnasium.

The winter concert will feature all CPET bands and the concert choir. The annual bake sale will begin at 6:00 PM in

the cafeteria with small ensembles of grade 9 students performing some holiday favourites. Following the concert, stu-

dents are invited to Boston Pizza (Regent and Lagimodiere). The cost is $12/person, includes all you can eat pizza and

unlimited pop.

Senior Honour Band

Congratulations to Caralie H, who performed with the Manitoba Senior Provincial Honour Band. Senior Honour Band

is held each fall and is selected by audition. Students rehearse for 3 days and perform a concert in Winnipeg with a

guest conductor. This years concert was directed by Colin Clarke of Toronto. It should be noted that 5 other CPET

students were selected to the band as alternates. With a record number of auditions this is quite an accomplishment.

Congratulations to those students as well. Sabrina H, Adam H, Breanna H,Hannah E, and Lauren H.

Montreal

There are 50 places available for music students to participate in a spring, musical excursion to Montreal Quebec. A

great opportunity to put years of French language instruction to use while working with some of Canada’s most re-

spected educators and performers. Students will stay in university residence in downtown Montreal and participate in

clinics at McGill university. In addition, we will perform several public concerts and share our music with local high

school students. Please submit a $100 deposit by December 8, 2011 to secure your seat on the plane. Families will re-

ceive correspondence regarding the trip by email. Please send an email to Mr. Gill with the subject “Montreal” if you

would like to be added to the list.

Optimist Festival

Our Grade 9 and Senior Band will participate in the 2012 Winnipeg International Optimist Festival, at the Winnipeg

Convention Center. The festival runs from February 21-24. Specific performance dates and times will be available be-

fore Winter Break. The grade 9 band will perform during school hours and the senior band typically performs in the

evening.

Brandon Jazz Festival

CPET jazz band students will make their annual trek to Brandon on March 15-16, 2012. Information regarding the

Brandon Jazz Festival will be available before Winter Break.

Intermediate Honour Band

Applications and audition music are now available for the Manitoba Intermediate Provincial Honour Band. The audi-

tion deadline is Monday February 27, 2012. Please see M. Gill for more information or check out the Manitoba Band

Association website. www.mbband.org The rehearsals and performance take place in Winnipeg, May 10-12, 2012.

Music News

December 2011

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

CPET Winter

Concert

7:00PM

2 3

4 5

10,000 Villages

Sale

All week

6 7 8 9

UNESCO

Human Rights

Assembly

10

11 12 13

Blood Drive

14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22

Last Day of

classes prior to

Winter Break

Early dismissal

2:30

23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Research for Real Life

Read. Change. Enjoy.

www. e a t r i g h t m o n t a n a . o r g

Weight and Bullying

Bullying is increasingly a major concern of parents, teachers, and school administrators. Kids may be bullied for a variety of reasons - or for no real reason at all. Weight-related bullying is not a new phenomenon. With all the current media attention to childhood obesity, this type of bullying seems to be increasing among students of all ages.

What we know Being overweight can increase the chances of a child being bullied: Several recent studies have confirmed that obese children were twice as likely to be bullied than other kids.

Bullying can take a toll on a child’s physical and mental health: Medical experts say that being bullied can have serious effects on both physical and emotional well-being.

A student’s academic performance may also be affected by bullying: A 2011 study found that bullying victims often show a long-lasting decrease in grade point averages.

What can parents do 1: Talk to your children about all types of bullying.

• Children are often afraid to talk about being bullying by their peers. They may be especially embarrassed if they already feel shamed or blamed about their weight.

• Watch for signs that your child may be dealing with bullies, like problems at school or with previous friends. Keep asking and talking whenever you are concerned.

2: Take a zero-tolerance policy on weight-related teasing at home.

• Teasing - or any negative comments - about a child’s weight can have long-lasting effects on self-esteem. They may even be the first step toward an eating disorder.

• If you have concerns about a child’s health status, discuss them privately with your health care provider first. Make appropri-ate lifestyle changes for the whole family.

3: Help your school understand weight-related bullying.

• If a child is bullied at school, find out who has responsibility for bullying issues in the district. Meet with them as soon as possi-ble and keep a record of your meetings.

• Request that weight issues be included in your district’s anti-bullying education. The Yale Rudd Center has useful materials at www.yaleruddcenter.org/what_we_do.aspx?id=197.

4: Help all children enjoy Health at Every Size®.

• Children of all shapes, sizes, and weights benefit from delicious nutrition and fun fitness. At home and school, encourage eve-ryone to eat smarter and move more.

• For more about Health at Every Size® for children, download Everybody in Schools Curriculum Unit Resource Kit

Board of Trustees 2011-12

Name Ward Email address Phone

Colleen Carswell 1 ccarswell@retsd.mb.ca 222-1486

George Marshall (Vice-chair) 1 gmarshall@retsd.mb.ca 221-8464

John Toews 2 jtoews@retsd.mb.ca 663-0475

Robert Fraser 3 rfraser@retsd.mb.ca 667-9348

Eva Prysizney 4 eprysizney@retsd.mb.ca 668-3501

Wayne Ritcher 4 writcher@retsd.mb.ca 663-6669

Peter Kotyk (Chair) 5 pkotyk@retsd.mb.ca 668-4181

Shirley Timm-Rudolph 5 stimmrudolph@retsd.mb.ca 414-8239

Greg Proch 6 gproch@retsd.mb.ca 663-1925