by Alycia Ambroziak

Ten years of TOPS performanc-es mean many things to many people.

Stefanie Parnell vividly remem-bers performing in the first TOPS show ever to take place: “I was very, very nervous – but very, very happy and proud,” said Parnell, who was a grade 7 student at Macdonald High School at the time.

“I knew I wanted to sing even be-fore then, but the TOPS show solidi-fied everything,” added Parnell who is becoming well-known for her singing through-out the Montreal area. “For me, TOPS was the beginning….”

This year’s TOPS show is a first for Katelynn Daigle, a grade 7 student at Westwood Jr. High School in St. Lazare.

“I’ll be singing back-up in a few acts and I am a little nervous …,” said 13-year-old Katelynn. “But the rehearsals have been fun and I love performing.

“This is my first show and I hope it won’t be my last.”

Brandon Roy, a graduate of St. Thomas High School in Pointe Claire who is now a theatre stu-dent at John Abbott College, said performing at TOPS in 2010 and 2011 influenced his university and career choices.

“When I did the show in 2010,

it marked the first time I per-formed in a professional environ-ment – and I realized that this is what I need to do for the rest of my life,” said Roy who was re-cently accepted into the Music Theatre program at Sheridan Col-lege in Ontario.

“Without TOPS, that just would not have happened,” he said, add-ing that after leaving school, he produced one of the TOPS shows

and has been invited to this year’s show as an alumni performer.

Whether it was a decade ago, three years ago or a one-time event, many TOPS performers say it was one of their most un-forgettable experiences – and for audience members, this year’s

TOPS 10th anniversary show promises to be nothing short of memorable.

This year’s show, entitled TOPS: the 10th anniversary, will be an outstanding spectacle of live song, dance and music, all performed by more than 200 tal-ented students from the Lester B. Pearson School Board’s 12 high schools – and for the first time ever, an elementary school choir,

the Allion Elementary School.“Reaching our tenth anniver-

sary is a milestone that current and former organizers are tre-mendously proud of,” said TOPS director Robert Lynch who will graduate this year from Concor-dia’s Communications program,

specializing in vid-eo production.

Lynch, who hosted the show in 2006, said TOPS also influenced his life choices.

“The TOPS proj-ect has grown, both in terms of scale and educa-tional value, ex-ponentially in the past decade - and we can’t wait to showcase the un-believable poten-tial of our stu-dents.”

“It’s going to be a fabulous celebra-tion!”

Show dates for TOPS the 10th an-

niversary are April 26 and 27 at the Lakeside Academy Theatre, Louise Pelletier Auditorium, 5050 Sherbrooke St. in Lachine. Seat-ing is assigned. For more informa-tion, or to purchase tickets, which cost $15-$17, go to www.topss-how.com . Tickets may also be purchased any Saturday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the TOPS production office, also located at 5050 Sherbrooke St. in Lachine.

The Pearson NewsApril 2013 FREEVolume XV, No. 9

FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL & CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Director General’sReport to Council

by R. T. Mills

National School Board Associa-tion Annual Conference

Earlier this month, along with our Council Chair, Commission-er Linton Garner and Communi-cations Coordinator, Jim Hendry, I was fortunate to attend the an-nual conference of NSBA. This organization represents school districts from all of the American states as well as Canadian repre-sentative school boards. Once again this year, our Board pre-sented a workshop that attracted great interest. It was entitled “Digital Engagement and Trans-parency: 21st Century Commu-nity Outreach”, explaining our approach to webcasting and com-munication technology, allowing for greater transparency as well as community input.

The conference also enabled us to view a number of leading initiatives in the use of technol-ogy at the school and classroom level across many school districts. It is encouraging to see that our school board is also keeping up effectively with these develop-ments but the challenges that re-main ahead will certainly not be easy to overcome.

Projected Enrolment and Teacher Staffing

We continue to monitor pro-jected enrollment in our schools on a weekly basis with current figures indicating an overall de-crease of approximately 500 stu-dents for the 2013 – 14 school year. This reduction in student numbers also implies reduced funding. Combined with govern-ment cutbacks in school board funding, we are facing the dif-ficulty of reducing expenditures while maintaining the quality of service given to children in the classroom.

Teacher staffing is, of course, a direct function of enrollment in the schools. Assignments are now being developed in response to contractual deadlines but it is important to note that changes will be made the right up until we are aware of our September 30, 2013, official enrollment sta-tistics.

Administrative StaffingThis is also the time of year at

which changes in administrative staffing at the school and centre level take place, a process that sees the replacement of retiring administrators. To say the least, it is a complex task, matching the abilities of staff members with the needs of the schools and centres across the system. The process must also consider the input re-ceived from the Governing Boards as to the qualities they see in the principalship of their individual locales. I am convinced that the changes to be seen later in this evening’s meeting represent most

FINAL

Chairman’s Report

to Council

by Suanne Stein Day

The Music Man, The Little Mer-maid, Macbeth and, of course, TOPS. The arts are alive and kicking in Lester B. Pearson School Board. Thank to the many schools who have invited me to their productions. These are certainly not plays of my school days. The work that our students are putting on to bring classic plays to life is incredible. The sets, the costumes, the atten-tion to details, the creative liber-ties taken – they take your breath away.

And what can I say about TOPS? This year’s 10th anniversary production did not disappoint – even when one of the singers sang through the fire alarm! De-spite being thrown some curves, this production was non-stop excellence. Produced by TOPS alumni, coached by other TOPS alumni, accepting the generous advice from partners who have been with us throughout the years, this year’s cast and crew put together a fast-paced exhi-bition of extraordinary talent. I cannot offer enough praise – and gratitude – to Rob and Jess and the entire cast and crew of TOPS 2013.

Art Links Live celebrated its 3rd year bringing senior citizens from Jewish Eldercare and students from Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School together. Students spend time getting to know their senior “buddies” and learn about their lives. They then paint or draw the seniors’ memories. The programs culminate in a beauti-ful vernissage of the artwork and the faces on the seniors when they saw the creations were truly priceless.

And I would be remiss to not mention the amazing art work of the Beacon Hill and Sherwood Forest students, and their teach-ers. Thank you to their respec-tive Home & Schools for the wonderful vernissages and beau-tiful displays.

How do you get high school students to carefully read 9 novels in 3 months? Battle of the Books! What fun we had watching teams from many of our high schools in a Reach for the Top type compe-tition answering detailed ques-tions about the books they read. I think we’ll have to find a bigger venue for next year’s finals – we were busting at the seams in the boardroom! Congratulations to the team from PCHS – this year’s B-O-B champs.

And our parents were busy too! The 3rd Annual Parents’ Confer-ence was bigger and better than ever. The sessions were on-topic attracting over 300 parents to Lindsay Place. Many thanks to Laura Derry and the CPC, our

See STEIN DAY page A2See MILLS page A2

by Alycia Ambroziak

Robert T. Mills, director general of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, received an unexpected surprise Tues-day (April 2) when Lac St. Louis MP Fran-cis Scarpaleggia presented him with a copy of a House of Commons trib-ute recogniz-ing Mills for his outstanding achievements as an educa-tional leader.

“It’s a great honour to be recog-nized by your peers but such awards should be extended throughout the entire Lester B. Pearson School board and the people I work with every day,” Mills said fol-lowing the meeting of the board’s senior administration which was cheerfully interrupted by LBPSB chairperson Suanne Stein Day

House of Commons that Mills had been named the 2012 Su-perintendent of the Year by the Canadian Association of School Administrators (CASA) and had

tors named Mills the 2013 Cana-dian Superintendent of the Year at their national conference held in Los Angeles.

“The mark of a true leader,

who, along with Scarpaleggia, paid tribute to Mills with a framed copy of the House of Commons Hansard notes of a speech the MP had made in January.

Scarpaleggia informed the

also been awarded the Xerox Ex-cellence in Educational Leader-ship Award at the CASA national conference in July, 2012.

In February, the American As-sociation of School Administra-

Bob Mills has had the foresight to partner and plan for difficult challenges ahead so as to pre-serve the exceptional educational programs that have defined Les-ter B. Pearson School Board’s

reputation for e x c e l l e n c e , ” S c a r p a l e g g i a said before the House of Com-mons.

S c a r p a l e g -gia noted that Mills, who be-gan his career as a teacher, helped man-aged major changes in Quebec’s edu-cational system, one of which was the transi-tion from con-fessional to lin-guistic school boards.

“A nation that values educa-tion is one that will know so-cial progress and economic p r o s p e r i t y , ”

Scarpaleggia said. “On behalf of all members of the House, I thank Bob Mills for his recognized con-tribution to making Canada such a nation.”

Photo courtesy Lester B. Pearson schooL Board.

Left to right: Lester B. Pearson School Board Chairperson Suanne Stein Day, LBPSB Director General Robert T. Mills, Lac St. Louis Member of Parliament Francis Scarpaleggia

Photo courtesy of Jessica Brown

Left to right: Stephanie Parnell, Brandon Roy, Rob Lynch and Katelynn Daigle

Francis Scarpaleggia Presents Surprise House of Commons Tribute to R. T. Mills at Senior Administrators’ Meeting

TOPS is Tops for Tenth Time

Summer Program InfoAvailable Now at www.lbpsb.qc.ca – Click the sun logo

by Alycia Ambroziak

Three Lester B. Pearson School Board educators - Tanya Avrith, Ann Tellier and Rhiannon Szol-losy – are among eight Quebec teachers recently named to the Apple Distinguished Educator Class of 2013.

“If you give a mouse a cookie - or if you give a teacher an iPad - she is going to want more and bet-ter devices and Apps,” said Tellier, kindergarten teacher at Dorset Elementary in Baie d’Urfe. “Cre-ativity and innovation are magnets to most teachers and our col-leagues at Dor-set Elementary supported and joined the jour-ney.”

Szollosy, a grade 5 teacher of the Dorset iPad 1 to 1 pi-lot project, said it was that all-round support that allowed them to explore new ideas and seek new paths through Apple technology. Dor-set is the only elementary school at LBPSB that is running a 1 to 1 iPad program.

“If you are a teacher and you go to a colleague and say, ‘I have an idea for a new project’ and that fellow teacher says, ‘I’m in’ – and if you go to the principal of your school and say, ‘I have an idea for

A2Pearson News April 2013

professionals and consultants who presented and to the part-ners of the board who helped make this day a huge success.

Budget. Once again, we have received the expected budget compressions. For Lester B. Pear-son, this means just over $2 mil-lion dollars of new cutbacks. Our accumulated cuts will be $7 mil-lion. While we are permitted to use “up to 32% of our accumulat-ed surplus” this is very mislead-ing. Our accumulated surpluses include amounts representing the value of the land we own and the grants we are to receive to pay for social benefits. Our actual operating surplus available for use, after 15 years of careful bud-geting and financial planning, is about $5 - $6 million and even this is highly restricted. We may be able to use $2 million of this once the government rules are clarified. Still, we can be grateful that we have that as those boards without a surplus, the majority of boards, are worse off. Council and administration will meet for a budget workshop once all the budget rules are received from MELS.

Spring has, I think, finally sprung and our students will get the added benefit of more time outdoors. Please remember to keep all our kids safe by teaching them to be careful near the streets and to you adults, please be just a little more careful when driving near a school, park or neighbour-hood where children are playing.

Follow me on Twitter @suannesteinday

positive steps in the ongoing de-velopment of our learning com-munity. To those who are retir-ing, I extend the thanks of a very grateful organization and best wishes for health and happiness. To those assuming new responsi-bilities, I extend my congratula-tions and best wishes.

TOPSThis past weekend saw another

series of absolutely outstand-ing TOPS variety shows held at Lakeside Academy. All shows were presented to capacity audi-ences responded enthusiastically to the remarkable talents and gifts of our students. I extend most sincere congratulations to our Central Students Committee that assumed the responsibility for all aspects of the show. In ad-dition, a wide number of volun-teers were involved, enabling the production to take place so ef-fectively. The abilities of the stu-dents and the commitment of the adults with whom they worked are certainly key attributes to the effectiveness of our schools and centers.

End-of-Year EvaluationsThe months of May and June

are periods of relatively intensive evaluation of students at virtu-ally all levels in both elementary and secondary schools. This evaluation can take the form of in-school examinations or those established by the MELS. As weather improves, it becomes, in many ways, increasingly difficult to focus on these most important evaluations and examinations. Thus, I encourage all to study as intensely as possible with a view to achieving all that can be done.

Mills, from page A1 Stein Day, from page A1

Mount Pleasant “Fun” Raising Fair

Apple Distinguished Educators from LBPSB: Avrith, Szollosy, Tellier

by Alycia Ambroziak

A recent trip to the Boston area by 118 band members from Bea-consfield High School was memo-rable in more ways than one.

Not only did the Beaconsfield students come home with one gold medal and two silvers, they were also the object of a lot of Montreal-area media attention because the venue of the competi-tion happened to be near Boston

at the same time that the tragic bombings took place at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

The students, members of three bands, were in Danvers, Mass., far from the site of the bombings and not in the subsequent lock-down area while police searched for a suspect who was captured.

Beaconsfield High School Prin-cipal Rosemary Patterson noted that the decision to continue with the trip was made in consultation with the school board and the head office of the Heritage Music Festival.

Students and teachers had been

practicing every day before school for months in order to prepare for this competition, Patterson said, noting that parents were updat-ed continuously during the trip through the music department’s web site.

Daniel Gabrielli, Secondary 5 Concert and Stage Band mem-ber as well as Student Council President at the school, said that although aware of the events in Boston, he and his fellow band members were focused on one thing: “We were aware of what was going on in Boston but it didn’t really affect our concentra-

tion on trying to do our best in the competition.

Music teacher Phil Legault, one of seven adults who accompanied the students, said students were never in any danger. “Their focus was on the competition,” he said.

And that focus and hard work was well worth it - the Senior Concert Band won a gold medal and the Junior Concert Band and Senior Stage Band each won silver.

“We’re very proud of our music program and of the dedication of both our students and teachers,” Patterson said.

Successful Competition for Beaconsfield High Bands Near Boston During Bombing

purchasing and using iPods in this school’ and he says, ‘Go for it’ – and if you go to the school board administration and say: ‘We had this idea and this is what we are doing’ and someone says, ‘We support you and what can we do to help?’ - then you are on the road to innovative education,” she said.

Avrith, an Itinerant Digital Citi-zenship and Educational Technol-ogy teacher at the Lester B. Pearson School Board, was instrumental in setting up the board’s Digital Citi-zenship Program, which, among other things, provides information to parents, teachers and students about the do’s and don’ts in the

use of technology.Recently certified from the

Google Teacher Academy, Avrith is currently working with teachers and students at Beaconsfield High School on the Infinity Program dealing with Mac Book technol-ogy.

“ I have the rare opportunity to transform the learning landscape

of both teachers and students – the expression ‘love what you do and never work a day in your life’, perfectly sums up my job,” Avrith said noting that Apple technolo-gies as well as the portability of the devices easily allow teachers and students to focus on learning as opposed to figuring out how to use the technology.

All three said they were encour-aged by the recognition as Apple Educators and look forward to working with their fellow ADE’s.

According to the Apple website, more than 2,000 ADEs worldwide gather every year at ADE institutes and education events around the world as well as online to collab-

orate on solu-tions to global education chal-lenges.

Tellier said the three LB-PSB educators feel their being named to the Apple Distin-guished Educa-tor program is not only a re-flection of their work but of their students, school parents, colleagues, ad-

ministration and Apple.“We are part of a larger assem-

bly of worldwide educators, all sharing ideas and professional de-velopment – and in turn, we can share with colleagues wherever they are. It is beyond exciting,” she said. “Now, more than ever, we are able to innovate and en-gage our students.”

by Alycia Ambroziak

Students from three Lester B. Pearson high schools met For-mer Governor General Michaëlle Jean on Wednesday, April 24 at the Truth and Reconciliation commission hearings held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Mon-treal.

The TRC is a federal commis-sion set up to look into the human rights violations of First Nations children forced by the Canadian

Government to attend residential schools in Canada. Many chil-dren were physically, psychologi-cally and sexually abused - some even died.

Forty-five students from West-wood Senior, Lindsay Place and John Rennie High School along with spiritual animator Sue Sima-tos and two student teachers at-tended the event which included morning workshops and more. The students have been study-ing this issue over the past school year.

The students attended a Youth Forum which consisted of a series of testimonials by First Nations

children about the impact of resi-dential schools on their families. Afterwards the Lester B. Pearson students gave them friendship gifts - including hoodies from their respective schools - to ac-knowledge their participation in the Youth Forum.

LBPSB Students Attend Truth & Reconciliation Commission,

meet Michaëlle Jean

The Mount Pleasant Home and School Association will be hold-ing a “Fun” Raising Fair on Satur-day, June 1st from 10-4pm, with a rain date of June 2nd.

Proceeds from this fund rais-ing initiative will go to purchase playground equipment such as

soccer nets and basketball nets that can benefit the whole community.

Come out and participate in a fun-filled day! Some of the activi-ties are:

• Climbing wall, face painting,mini golf

• Carnivalgameswithprizessuchas penny toss, duck pond, dino-saur dig, etc.

• Bouncycastles

• Themedbasketraffle–greatgiftidea!

• Mom-to-mom sale – used chil-dren’s items, clothes and toys ages 0-12

• Localcommunitybusinesseswillbe on hand with their services or products

For more information please con-tact denise_obriain@yahoo.com

Students Engage in Battle of the Booksby Alycia Ambroziak

The final Battle of the Books – an education services event that celebrates literacy in a really fun, fast-paced high school team com-petition – takes place April 25 at the Lester B. Pearson School Board.

Under the guidance of Kathy Conroy, librarian at Westwood Jr. High,

LBPSB High School librarians put together the Battle of the Books - affectionately known as BoB - for grades 7 to 9 students who, as teams, are tested on their knowledge of 13 books they had read.

Some of the books in the ten categories included Schooled by Gordon Korman in the Reality category; Ender’s Game by Or-son Scott Card in the Science-Fiction category; Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock in the Histori-cal category; The Strange Case of

Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberg-er in the Fantasy category; Amu-let in the Graphic Novel category; Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld in the Steampunk category; Empty by Suzanne Weyn in the Dysto-pian category; Bad Boy by Wal-ter Dean Myers in the Biography category and the Maze Runner by James Dashner in the Adventure category to t World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky in the Non-Fiction category.

After local and semi-final bat-tles, seven teams remain stand-

ing: Beurling Academy, Lakeside

Academy, Pierrefonds Compre-hensive High School, St. Thom-as High School, Riverdale High School and Westwood Jr. and Westwood Sr. High Schools.

The will participate in the Final Battle, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on April 25 at the LBPSB, located at 1925 Brookdale in Dorval.

Friends, family and booklovers alike are welcome to attend the event and cheer on the BoB par-ticipants.

Photo courtesy of the Lester B. Pearson schooL Board

Left to right: Rhiannon Szollosy, Tanya Avrith, Ann Tellier

Pearson NewsA3April 2013

Below is a list of Commissioners along with their home telephone numbers and school board locals.

Home 422-3000 Ward Communities Commissioner Phone # Local 1 Verdun/Nuns’ Island Douglas Flook 514-293-2417 4001 2 LaSalle South Sergio Borja 514-366-1611 4002 3 LaSalle Northeast Ruben Fazio 514-365-1638 4003 4 LaSalle West/Ville St-Pierre Frank di Bello 514-951-5834 4004 5 Lachine Patrick Whitham 514-800-9240 4005 6 Dorval Barbara Freeston 514-636-9315 4006 7 Dollard-des-Ormeaux East Rosemary Murphy 514-620-8012 4007 8 Roxboro/Pierrefonds East Craig Berger 514-421-6570 4008 9 Pointe-Claire East Linton Garner 514-696-7892 4009 10 Pointe-Claire West Marc Lalonde 514-426-7124 4010 11 Dollard-des-Ormeaux Center Ruth Dangoor Gdalevitch 514-906-7320 4011 12 Pierrefonds/Île Bizard Susan Williams 514-620-4745 4012 13 Dollard-des-Ormeaux Center/West Martin Sherman 514-684-2742 4013 14 Dollard-des-Ormeaux W./Kirkland E. Joe Zemanovich 514-624-2376 4014 15 Beaconsfield North Don Rae 514-697-9878 4015 16 Kirkland West Suanne Stein Day 514-887-8876 2322 17 Pierrefonds West Luisa Bulgarelli-Vero 514-694-0475 4017 18 Ste-Anne/Baie d’Urfé/Beaconsfld S./Senneville Judy Kelley 514-697-7619 4018 19 Île Perrot Susan Bartlett-Lewis 514-453-6650 4019 20 Les Cèdres/Vaudreuil-Dorion Angela Nolet 514-453-5462 2299 21 Hudson/St-Lazare Daniel Olivenstein 450-458-1413 4021 CPC Secondary Representative Nan Beaton 514-713-3892 4026 CPC Elementary Representative Domenico Pavone 514-566-8869 4027

Executive Committee May 21, 2013 5:30 p.m. Board Room Council of Commissioners May 27, 2013 7:30 p.m. Board Room

Do you have an article to submit for

the Pearson News?Please send your articles and pictures to

your Principal who will forward them to us. Questions or comments? Email Dan Mullins at dmullins@lbpsb.qc.ca

by Alycia Ambroziak

The Lester B. Pearson’s eco-projects have not only paid off in energy and dollar savings, the school board recently placed first across North American kindergar-ten and high schools in reducing carbon pollution, according to the Johnson Controls company’s Top Earth Day Champions in Ed-ucation.

“Our eco-projects save us mon-ey in these budget-conscious times and they also ensure excellent air quality in our buildings – and that ensures the well-being of our stu-dents and staff,” Lester B. Pearson School Board Chairman Suanne Stein-Day said upon learning of the school board’s first-place rank-ing in the Johnson Controls 2013 Earth Day Champions list.

This latest environmental rec-ognition was not the first for the school board; in 2010, the LBPSB was honoured by l’Association québécoise pour la maîtrise de l’énergie (AQME) for an eco-proj-ect that was completed by John-son Controls. Called Concours Energia, the awards honour pub-lic and private institutions in Que-bec that have made significant ad-vances in energy efficiency.

At a cost of more than $10 mil-lion, the LBPSB project included upgrading heating systems, light-ing and boilers in five high schools and one adult education centre. Johnson Controls, a global tech-nology and industrial leader serv-ing customers in more than 150 countries, subsequently complet-ed a second similar project for the LBPSB.

The upgrades made the build-ings more energy efficient – and they also save the school board more than $1 million per year in energy costs.

The LBPSB currently has a $6 million eco-project out for public tender. That project, which calls for the upgrading of 16 more LB-PSB buildings, will mean that once completed by the end of summer, 2014, all of the board’s 56 schools and buildings will have had an eco-retrofit.

According to the Johnson Con-trols Earth Day Champions in Education rankings for K-12, the LBPSB led the way with a carbon reduction of 6,117 metric tons – the equivalent of 5,014 forest acres. The Central Bucks School district in Doylestown, Pennsyl-vania, placed second, followed by the Calgary Board of Education in Alberta, the Buffalo City Schools in New York state and the Half Hollow Hills School District in Syosset, New York.

The rankings were based on Johnson Controls performance contracts across North America. The company has more than 675 active performance contracts in the U.S. and 51 in Canada. Of the 51 projects in Canada, 30 deal with projects from K12 to higher education.

Johnson Controls said their energy performance contracting projects have saved nearly 19 mil-lion metric tons of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of 15.5 million acres of forests – and generated savings of $7 billion in North America since 2000.

LBPSB: Eco ChampsCommunity Cares Recognize Pearson Board Educators Adrien and Hogan

by Alycia Ambroziak

T w o members of the Les-

ter B. Pearson School Board family - Beurling Academy Vice-Principal Alix Adrien and Lindsay Place High School teacher Catherine Hogan – have been recognized as community leaders by the Mon-treal Community Cares Founda-tion.

They will be among 17 com-munity champions celebrated at a Gala Awards night on May 18 at the Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre.

“The 2013 Montreal Communi-ty Cares Awards will be a celebra-tion of ordinary people who are actively engaged in helping other s in our community,” according to the MCCF web site.

Both Hogan and Adrien said they were not expecting recogni-tion for the work they do.

“It was a real surprise - and I’m very honoured to be getting the award,” said Hogan who made a message video in an effort to reach out to students. In the vid-eo, Hogan writes about her life – her parent’s divorce, a break-up with a boyfriend and devastating

eating disorder and subsequent hospitalization – and even how, during her second year of teach-ing, one of her students commit-ted suicide.

“And I never want that to hap-pen again,” she writes in the vid-eo. “We’re listening.”

“YOU are why we became teachers.”

Hogan said she was surprised at how many hits her video received - at last count it was more than 32,000 – as well as how many

emails were sent to her . (To view the video, go to:

ht tp: / /www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoF9WXk7Bfw)

“Of the hundreds of emails, most were from well-wishers and teachers from our school board as well as other school boards…,” Hogan said adding that she also received emails from a few teens outside of her school reaching out to her.

“A lot of kids at my school also reached out,” she said, “and that

was the point of the video.”For his part, Adrien said he too

was surprised to be named an award recipient and added that he feels his biggest role has been his ability to communicate with young people.

“I remember working in day camps when I was a student and there were so many disenfra-chised kids I was dealing with,” he said. “Maybe that little bit of communication with them meant something, maybe it made a dif-ference.”

Beurling Principal David Abra-cen said that although Adrien has worked as a coach, teacher, school administrator, and direc-tor of a summer school, the only term that can really define him is that of an educator.

“As Vice-Principal for cycle 2 at Beurling Academy for the past 4 years, Alix Adrien has modelled what it means to be committed to student success,” said Abracen. “There is not a student, past or present, honour role or at-risk, who has not felt as if he (Adrien) was completely committed to lis-tening to them and helping them find their way.”

Beurling Academy Vice-Principal Alix Adrien (Left) and Lindsay Place High School teacher Catherine Hogan (Right) have been recognized by the Montreal Community Cares Foundation.

by Alycia Ambroziak

Leanne D u r o -cher will

be walking 105 kilometers from Hudson to Ville LaSalle and back on Mothers’ Day weekend to hon-our her mother Joan - known to thousands of students as Mrs. D. - and to help raise funds for the Pearson Educational Foundation (PEF).

“My goal is to raise $20,000 for the Foundation because my moth-er’s life had so much to do with kids,” Durocher said of her moth-er who died last year at age 69. “I want the money to help feed kids in need, from elementary to high school.”

PEF President Barbara Freeston said the foundation, which is an independent Canadian charity, has Hungry Kids programs at el-ementary and secondary levels, using the minimal Ministry of Education funding and a lot of ad-ditional school board money.

“Each year the needs grow and these budgets are always almost used up by May,” she said. “But hunger in June is the same as hun-ger in March, and nobody can learn on an empty stomach – with help from the Mum’s Walk, PEF will be able to top them up.”

Anne Tetro, the LBPSB’s Admin-istrative Officer for Food Services and Nutrition said being well fed is critical to student achievement.

“At the LBPSB, our goal as an educational institution is to ensure that every student is working to-wards academic success,” she said adding that “the food programs in our elementary and high schools work on the basis that if a student is hungry, we feed them.

In all, more than 3,000 students

at the elementary level benefit from nutritional supplements each school year and more than 6,000 meals and snacks are consumed yearly by hungry high school stu-dents.

“In some cases, students arrive at school without sufficient food to get through their school day, or in many cases, they do not have any food at all,” she said adding that each school manages their

food program to best suit their students’ needs and discreetly provides snacks, breakfasts and lunches to those in need. Mon-etary donations through the Pear-son Education Foundation ear-marked for the food programs go directly to students.

Durocher, owner of Centre Dé-cor in Hudson and president of the Hudson Player’s Club, said her mother worked for almost 30 years in Montreal-area schools, in-cluding St. Lawrence Academy in Ville LaSalle, Riverview Elemen-tary in Verdun and Children’s World in Ville LaSalle.

“Sometimes I would be at school with her and she would hug the

grubbiest bully, kids would run up to her and give her a hug,” Du-rocher said. “She wanted an army of kids and she had me and my sister – as well as all the kids at her school.”

Durocher said that it was at the urging of her sister, Jennifer, to choose to do the walk to raise funds for children in schools, where her mother helped so many children: “That’s why I decid-

ed that what would honour my mother the most would be raising money for a program that helps kids.”

For her part, Jennifer said sim-ply that she proposed that the walk reflect her mother’s love.

“My mom was so loving, so help-ful, so focused on giving – and so I approached Lea to suggest that the walk celebrate her wonder-ful life,” Jennifer said. “And seeing how she loved children so much, maybe we could find a way to benefit them in her name.”

Durocher said her mother, who was a computer teacher/techni-cian and one of the founders of the STAY program – an early lunch

program in the 1980’s - “was the giver of the most amazing hugs.

“Mum has always been an in-credible inspiration to my sister and I’ve always tried to emulate and copy her dedication to the community in everything I do,” she said.

“This adventure is no different.“Mother’s Day weekend – a time

Mum and I spent together every year planting flowers at my house – will now be the platform for my solo 105-kilometer walk,” she added.

Durocher will be walking from her Hudson store on Saturday, May 11 and returning on Mother’s Day, May 12.

For more information, go to http://mumswalk2013.wordpress.com or at the Facebook fan page https://facebook.com/MumsWalk or call Leanne at 514-802-8650.

To donate to the Mum’s walk, go to the Pearson Educational Foundation website: http://pef.lb-psb.qc.ca

Mum’s Walk a Labour of Love

Photo courtesy Leanne durocher

Left to right: Leanne Durocher, mother Joan Durocher and Jennifer Durocher

visit our website at: http://www.pearsonskills.com

This could be your opportunity to:

• Master a vocational program

• Complete a high school diploma

• Obtain pre-requisite courses for CEGEP or vocational education

• Improve your language skills

• Upgrade your employability skills to become more competitive

in today’s workforce

• Receive free counseling, support, and referral services

Excellence in Vocational Training and Adult Education

A4Pearson News April 2013

by Safak Eran-Tasker

In 2007, Gwenette Anthony, an almost 40-year-old mother of two, surveyed the classroom she had just walked into and decided on a seat near the door.

Even though she was sure of her reasons for returning to school, she felt scared, and won-dered how she could compete with much younger people; after all, her deskmate was not only just a teenager, she was also her own daughter, Abeola.

But it didn’t take Anthony long to see that there were many other adult students close to her age, each one looking every bit as hes-itant as herself.

“Soon I realized that there was nothing to be scared of; all I had to do was focus on why I was there,” Anthony said of her first foray into adult education. “I was back at school because I needed a new direction, and the opportu-nity was there - I had the chance of an affordable education at a good school.

“All I needed to do was set my-self a deadline and stick to it.”

And that’s precisely what An-thony did for the next four months; evening after evening, she attended classes until she suc-cessfully completed the Second-ary V English course at the Place Cartier Adult Education Centre in Beaconsfield.

However, as often happens, life got in the way and Anthony re-turned to work for the next three years in order to take care of her family, save some money and de-cide what her next steps would be.

Meanwhile, however, the values she put on learning - as well as the courageous example she set - en-couraged her daughter and son, Kenton, to go on to obtain their own vocational diplomas. In fact, her daughter, now 23, went on to become a Registered Nursing As-sistant. She is also enrolled in a cooking course in order to be bet-ter able to help diabetic patients.

Anthony’s longer-term plan was to enroll at a vocational centre to study Health, Assistance and Nursing Care, but she was not sure what more she needed to do to be accepted into this program;

she wanted to sit with an advisor and ask many questions.

She was referred to SARCA, (Services d’accueil, de référence, de conseil et d’accompagnement), a province-wide, free and con-fidential service mandated by the Ministere de l’Education, du Loisir et du Sport, that all school boards offer to adults aged 16 and up.

SARCA services exist not only for those looking to go into voca-tional training, but for everyone who needs information and sup-port while considering a return to education or who just want to learn about other options open to them.

SARCA helps people make a plan and take it one small step at a time.

I am currently responsible for the SARCA services at the Les-ter B. Pearson School Board, and I’d say that if you, too, have been thinking about completing your secondary school diploma for years, leafing through the flyers that come from your lo-cal vocational training centres, daydreaming about a whole new path for yourself, make contact with SARCA.

Don’t let fear keep you from taking that first step. Nothing is too difficult or too complicated when you are not alone.

Courses for adults, whether in

general education or vocational training, are set up differently than the ones aimed at youth. What’s more, you are not the same person, the teenager, that you were. So whatever your pre-vious experience, give adult sec-tor a try and let SARCA be your starting point.

For her part, once armed with information from SARCA, Antho-ny returned to Place Cartier and completed her prerequisites.

Anthony was accepted into the Nursing Assistant program and is now looking forward to her graduation in June with a Diplo-ma in Vocational Studies (DVS). As it happens, because of all the credits she accumulated at Place Cartier, coupled with the credits of her DVS, she is getting a Sec-ondary School diploma, too!

“Next year, I’ll be making more than I’ve earned until now,” says Anthony. “I came a long way!”

And Anthony doesn’t plan to stop there; she has her sights set at a university level nursing de-gree.

“I’m not scared of the future any-more,” she said with a broad smile.

For more information on SAR-CA, contact:

Lester B. Pearson School Board SARCA Services

514-732-7766 ext. 4http://sarca.lbpsb.qc.ca/con-

tact.asp

by Colleen Scott and Mena Casarcia

The West Island Career Cen-tre celebrated its annual Adult Learners Week from April 1st to the 9th with a variety of ac-tivities aimed at recognizing and supporting students’ efforts, aca-demic success and commitment to lifelong learning.

Adult Learners Week is a prov-ince-wide initiative organized by The Ministry of Education (MELS) and the Adult Education and Vocational sectors which highlights the importance and merits associated with continu-ing education. Last Wednesday, ten students from the West Island Career Centre as well as other students from other adult educa-tion and vocational centres were honored at the Lester B. Pearson’s main office in a reception aimed at celebrating and recognizing students’ dedication to self-im-provement through education. Students were selected and nomi-nated by their teachers to receive an Adult Learners Week certifi-cate based upon criteria and the consideration of the students’ degree of com-mitment, per-severance and academic suc-cess in their programs of study.

Nancy Rous-seau and Dany Lacroix, stu-dents in the Li-censed Practical Nurse program at the West Island Career Centre, were among the nominees who received an Adult Learners Week certificate. Along with accepting their awards, they gave inspiring testimonials at an assembly about their personal journeys which led

them on the path to pursue their education and a career in the nursing industry. For Nancy, it was two years ago that her world as she knew it fell apart. Faced simultaneously with a difficult divorce and loss of employment, Nancy found herself homeless. “It was when I hit rock bottom that I knew I had to make chang-es in my life and become a posi-tive role model for my children”. Moving forward one step at a time, keeping a positive attitude and persevering in her dream of becoming a Licensed Prac-tical Nurse is what enabled Nancy to en-roll in the LPN program last august. When asked what it means to be an adult learner, Nancy states “It means believ-ing in yourself even in the face of difficulties and never losing sight of your goals to be what you want to be-come”.

For Dany Lacroix, pursuing her education to become a Li-censed Prac-tical Nurse was some-thing she had put on hold for many years for the reason that she had been

unable to find a profession that she was genuinely passionate about. Her moving testimonial exemplified the many challenges adult learners face and the sac-rifices they make to pursue their academic goals. Both women have demonstrated outstanding

dedication and academic success in their programs of study and are regarded as positive role models among their peers and teachers.

Adult learners face unique chal-lenges which could involve balanc-ing one’s time and energy between raising a family, working outside the home and finding time to study and attend school. Adult Learners Week aspires to extend support and recognition of the adult stu-dents’ courage and commitment to self-improvement through life-

long learning. Activities which took place dur-ing Adult Learn-ers Week at the West Island Career Cen-tre involved a bulletin board which featured posted inspira-tional messages and testimonials written by staff and students, snacks and re-freshments for

all students and staff compliments of the WICC administration and an assembly which showcased sev-eral students’ and staff members’ talents by singing, dancing and playing musical instruments. The week culminated with an Open House event which welcomed stu-dents and the general public to visit the centre and witness the positive energy and skills displayed by stu-dents of the various departments and staff.

The West Island Career Centre is a vocational centre in Pierrefonds which offers a Diploma of Voca-tional Studies in the Health (Li-censed Practical Nurse and Patient Care Attendant), Automobile Me-chanics, Business Administration and Medical Secretarial programs. It is affiliated with the Lester B. Pearson School Board.

Celebrating Lifelong Learning SARCA Services Spur Success

Photo courtesy safak eran-tasker

Gwenette Anthony in her scrubs

by J.Hiotis & S. Keating

On Monday February 4th, the Lindsay Place High School and Leadership class organized the second annual tubing day which was held at Mont-Avila Ski Resort. With the help of S. Keating and J. Hiotis students raised over $1000 for the Montreal Children’s Hos-pital.

Students spent the day flying

down the slopes on tubes and rafts. All the smiles and laughter were proof a good time was had and all for a good cause!

- “Rafting was such an adrenaline rush. So many memorable mo-ments, conditions were “sick” and the sun was shining.” Max Marini

- “Very fun, I want to come again. What a great event for a great cause.” Jalen Reid-Seales

- “I was impressed by the en-

thusiasm students showed for our annual event. They took the initiative to raise money for the Montreal Children’s Hospi-tal and we challenge ourselves to raise even more funds next year.” Jim HiotisWhen all was said and done,

students and staff had an amazing time and are happy to be able to donate this money to a great cause. We hope to expand the event next year and continue LPHS’ tradition of giving back to the community.

LPHS Tubing Event Raises Money for Sick Kids

visit our website at:

www.pearsonskills.com

• Master a vocational program• Complete a high school diploma• Obtain pre-requisite courses for CEGEP or vocational education• Improve your language skills

• Upgrade your employability skills to be-come more competitive in today’s workforce

• Receive free counseling, support, and referral services

Excellence in Vocational Trainingand Adult Education

Lindsay Library Makeover

by Kathleen O’Reilly, Principal,

Evergreen Elementary

On February 12, 2013 Evergreen launched a new home reading program. “Parents as Partners”, an 8-week initiative implemented by resource teachers Laura Caprini, Christine Sheppard and Micheli Hay, aims to close gaps in reading levels and make sure that no stu-dent falls behind. The goal is to encourage parents to get more in-volved and increase reading time at home with their children.

Research suggests that good readers make great students. Those who enjoy reading and are good at it, have a better chance of doing well in school. While this may seem obvious, it is impor-tant to know that the key to mak-ing this a reality lies in the quality time parents spend reading with their children. Those who were read to in the cradle and spent countless hours snuggled up to a parent reading book after book are the ones to whom reading will come more easily. The good news is that it is never too late to start.

With this in mind, Ms. Caprini and the resource department de-cided to tackle the problem that despite their best efforts there were still too many students read-ing below their expected reading levels. They were determined to find a way to help these students, to ensure that they acquire the ba-sic reading skills they need to suc-ceed. The teachers decided the best plan of action would be to

involve the parents and encourage them to spend extra time reading at home.

“We are all responsible for the formation of our kids.” Said Ms. Caprini.

The truth is that no matter the effort they put in or how ideal the circumstances may be, teachers have limited resources and time. A great way to help the students is for parents to make the time and share the task. Reading must be a part of their everyday lives and the only way to make that happen is for it to be a part of their home life. The added bonus is that it is a wonderful way for parents to bond with their children.

To kick start the program, the resource teachers actively assessed all students in order to determine who was in need. The teachers then invited parents to attend an information evening set up as a workshop. Parents who attend-ed were provided resource tool kits consisting of levelled reading booklets, site words (flash cards) and learning strategies to use at home. There was no charge for these kits other than a simple re-quest; to spend the next 8 weeks reading with their children using these resources. Parents were also asked to sign a contract promis-ing to see it through. Once the 8 weeks passed, the teachers planned to re-assess the students and measure their progress. The hope was that there would be a marked improvement.

At this time, the project has been extended by 2 weeks and things are progressing well. Stu-dents have not been formally as-sessed yet, but resource teachers

have already seen a significant increase in reading proficiency. Ms. Caprini indicated that by the end of April teachers will begin a formal assessment of both the stu-dents who participated and those who did not. The purpose will be to compile data that shows the ef-ficacy of parental participation in the development of their child’s reading skills. They also hope to show that if parents choose not to provide that extra support, the gap that already exists will continue to widen.

As a pilot project “Parents as Partners” focussed on grades 1 through 3 and concentrated on reading in English. However, as Evergreen is a bilingual school, the long term goal is for it to ex-tend into the French reading pro-gram as well. In the short term, the goal is to get students to where they need to be in English and build their confidence as readers. The hope is that this will eventu-ally enable them to transfer their skills to a second language.

“If you don’t close the gap, it widens very quickly and the child gets very discouraged.” Ms. Cap-rini said. Allowing students to feel a sense of accomplishment in English might prevent that from happening and encourage them to take it to the next level by focus-sing on French later.

Children are not born good readers, they must be taught. Dedicated teachers and involved parents make a significant differ-ence in a child’s literacy success. “Parents as Partners” aims to make sure that every student at Ever-green becomes the accomplished reader they can be.

Pearson NewsA5April 2013

by Wusua Mitchell, Principal, Sherwood Forest

Speaking in public is often cited as a common fear or anxiety for many. Here at Sherwood Forest, students get excited for this school-wide event which has been a long standing tradition.

Every student from kindergarten to grade 6 participates in this chal-lenge. The students pick topics of their own choice and present their speeches to their classes. Several students are then selected to visit other classes to present. Once this process is complete, two finalists from each class participate in the Public Speaking Finals which were held on April 24th (K-3) and 25th (4-6).

The students’ topics are diverse, engaging and relevant to current events. From the history of rap music, to a favorite pet; students enthusiastically shared their opin-ions and ideas with the Sherwood

Forest School Community. This year, our distinguished judges; Mrs. Betty MacKinnon, Mrs. Don-na Duncan, Mr. Bryden Murray, Mrs. Arlene Scott and Mrs. Bernice Dresner had the difficult task to se-lect winners at each grade level as well as the overall winner. Here are the results:

Kindergarten - Alice Sharma: Butterflies

Grade 1 - Jordan Verners: Polar Bears

Grade 2 - Ethan Rahal: Why am I nervous?

Grade 3 - Carly Nantel: Monkeys

Grade 4 - Cameron Verners: My Great-grandfather and WWI

Grade 5- Matthew Bailet: Concussions

Grade 6 - Hollie Sanders: Fur Industry

Overall - Zachary Doucet (Grade 6): Gun Control

Matthew Muda from grade 5 says “I decided to write my speech

about Celiac disease because it touched a lot of people when I read it to them. It was a great experi-ence because I had never been on stage alone before, I felt very proud of myself after I spoke. My grand-parents and parents came to school to watch me.”

Hollie Sander, winner from grade 6 says: “I decided to do my speech on the fur industry because I had never expressed my opinion on this topic and I wanted to share it with the school. After hearing my speech, I hope that I can influence people into thinking twice before wearing fur. Even though I have a little bit of stage fright, it is always better to face your fears then to try and hide from them. I could never picture myself up on stage in front of so many people but it wasn’t as bad after I started speaking. This will always be a memorable part of my last year in elementary school.”

Special thanks to our cycle 3 teachers especially Martin Rourke who has organized our Public Speaking Challenge at Sherwood Forest for many years.

Sherwood Forest Public Speaking Contest 2013

Parents as Partners Initiative at Evergreen

On Friday, April 5, student volunteers at Lindsay Place High School gave the library a new look, thanks to a student teach-er and Team Depot initiative at the Home Depot store in Pointe Claire. Student teacher David Zhang, who is also a Home Depot

Associate, noticed that the library at the Pointe Claire High School had not changed since he was a student there from 1998 to 2003. He spoke to the Team Depot lead-er at the store and, after filling out all the necessary papers, the proj-ect was approved and Home De-pot footed the bill. Student vol-unteers prepared the library for Friday’s (April 5) paint job. Zhang

said student volunteers, several paint associates at the Home De-pot, Pointe Claire store as well as store director Philippe St-Georg-es, Team Depot Leader Jane Clair and district manager Anne Legault were at the library, lending many helping hands. Principal Dona Bianchi welcomed the project. “We’re very happy to be part of a true community partnership.”

Instead of an entrance fee, donations of ART MATERIALS would be appreciated.

Vous êtes cordialement invité au

All are invited to attend this second annual eventfeaturing our students’ fantastic masterpieces!

Mercredi le15 mai et jeudi le16 mai 2013Mercredi le15 mai et jeudi le16 mai 2013

15h00 à 19h30

ART SHOW

ThorndaleART SHOW

AMAZINGRAFFLE

PRIZESTO BE WON!

To learn more about the Lester B. Pearson School Board’s Autism Spectrum Disorders

Centre of Excellence, visit:http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/eng/asdn/index.asp

by Mary Rutherford, Community and Spiritual Care

Animator

Thursday, March 21 students, staff, parents and guests par-ticipated in the 2nd annual Irish heritage event at Riverview El-ementary School. The day was filled with interesting and informative activities for our students, designed to de-velop a better understand-ing of our roots and how they have shaped the soci-ety we live in. Several staff members ran workshops on various aspects of this heri-tage including Miss Jo Ann Connelly and Miss Margrete White helping classes create Irish soda bread and Miss Janice Young leading Irish dance workshops. As well we had a number of guests: Mr. Terry Clahane and Miss Christine Forget who shared some aspects of Irish cul-ture and taught a song, Mrs.

Kathleen McAuliffe, an Irish story teller, and Mr. Elliot who taught for many years at Verdun Protes-tant High School who entertained and informed our students with stories of the days of ice boxes complete with ice from the St. Lawrence River.

Students in cycle 3 were par-ticularly privileged to meet with Prof. Jane McGaughey of the

Irish studies program at Concor-dia University, who presented a power point outlining the history and contributions of our com-munity- including stories of im-migration and he building of the Victoria Bridge and the digging of the Lachine Canal.

Our students got to explore their creative sides with two of our volunteers, Mrs. Nancy Roach

and Miss Sarra Bougie, who helped student groups cre-ate an Irish craft.

The day ended with an assembly opened by guest fiddler Kate Baker-Bevin who played a few lively tunes. Students sang along with Mr. Clahane and other guests with songs they had learned earlier in the day. Our assembly ended with a visit by Irish princess and Riverview graduate, Alina Abedi and a wonderful finale by the Riverview Irish danc-ers under the leadership of our own Janice Young of the Young Academy of Irish Dance.

Introducing the Montreal Lake-shore University Women’s Club (MLUWC):

Every female University gradu-ate, residing in the area from Lachine west to the Ontario bor-der, is eligible to join the MLUWC. As we are affiliated to the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) and the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), membership in the MLU-WC will also include membership to those organizations.

There are nine monthly meetings each year, beginning with the Con-vivium in September, and closing with the Annual General Meeting in May. This year the AGM will be held at the St. Raphael Golf Club.

A number of interest groups are available to Club members ranging from Art and Music to Travel, Book Clubs, Gourmet Cooking and

Bridge. These small group meet-ings are held in members’ homes during the day or evening.

The club has existed for more than fifty years. During that time we have enjoyed a good relation-ship with the school boards in the area. Many of our members have been teachers and/or members of parent associations. Our first Club President was Margaret Manson, after whom a LBPSB school and one of our scholarships have been named.

Our commitment to education is shown by the scholarships and bursaries awarded each year to stu-dents residing in our area of opera-tion. This year these awards will total $9,000.

Each December we raise funds for a local charity. Recent recipients include Light a Dream Foundation, West Island Mission and the On Rock Community Diner.’

For more information, please vis-it our website: www.mluwc.com

A6Pearson News April 2013

Congratulations to Diandra Grenier of Lakeside Academy and Trevor Joy of Macdonald High School, who have won this year’s Merit Award from the Wom-en’s Canadian Club of Montreal (WCCM). The prize of a week at Encounters with Canada in Otta-wa is presented by WCCM annu-ally to a Montreal-area Grade 10 student who exhibits outstand-ing school and/or community in-volvement and other special qual-ities. Because of the high quality of this year’s nominated students, WCCM decided to present two merit awards instead of one.

Diandra and Trevor will join 130 other students from across the country for a week at En-counters with Canada during the upcoming school year. They will take part in bilingual work-shops, presentations and excur-sions related to the theme week of their choice, which may be Medicine and Health, Arts and Culture, Sports and Fitness, Sci-ence and Technology, Journalism and Communications or Law, to name just a few of the choices.

Encounters with Canada is the country’s largest youth forum, promoting citizenship, leadership and career exploration. Since its founding in 1982, the program has played host to more than 93,000 students between the ages of 14 and 17. Each year, students from across the LBPSB take part in the program, a few receiving sponsorships from organizations such as WCCM and LEARN.

Earlier this year, student Devan Davidson from Beurling Academy won a week at Encounters with Canada compliments of LEARN. He submitted a winning essay to the Compassion in Action con-test, describing an individual who, through her compassion, has made a difference in the com-munity and to the student’s own life. Devan chose to take part in the Royal Canadian Mounted Po-lice week in February.

For more information about Encounters with Canada, go to www.encounters-rencontres.

ca. The WCCM web site can be found at www.womenscanadian-clubofmontreal.ca, and winning

entries from the Compassion in Action contest can be found at www.learnquebec.ca.

I just want to share our beginning of Earth Day!

Parents received this info last week:

Hello parents,Attached you will find the in-

formation for “L’Autobus Pedes-tre”.

Please note that all routes will start at 7:40 am

Teachers will not be taking at-tendance, if you are there, hop on with us. You are most welcome to walk with us.

If you are out of zone, you can certainly meet us at the starting point of any routes. All routes are about 1 km long and at least 2 adults will be present.

Please, remember that it is the first time we are trying this and we created the routes in consider-

ing the preregistration.All real school bus will be doing

their regular routes and 2 teach-ers are going to receive the stu-dents as a typical day at school.

Daycare will run as usual.We had over 100 students

walking with us this morning, much more than the anticipated 40 that had preregistered.

Even the sun was present with us this morning, I had invited him last week, be he was not sure if he could attend!

We followed with a short as-sembly in the gym. All day, stu-dents will also be raking and sweeping outside. We also plan a 30 minute period without elec-tricity.

I usually don’t brag, but this morning I was especially very proud to be in SJF community!

by Abhishek Salunke

In an imaginary garden,Where thoughts manifest into

a rose,With petals that hold the color

of the rainbow,In the garden of seduction,

My thoughts go wild,Searching for the one Lotus

Rose,And the bee that drinks the

honey,But I fail to find it,

Because you hide in the shadows of the sun,

Like a princess that loves to hide,

But doesn’t want to be found.I get dismayed,

I hear your call like a loon,As soon as I start walking out,

And when I turn around,You appear in front of me,

Like a feather that just touched the seasons of the world.

But a crow hunts you,Like a villain in a love story,

You wait for me,Like a prince charming with a

shiny armor,But I don’t carry such weapons

at all,I’m just a simple guy.

With the aroma of your kiss,I make the crow disappear back into the shadows,

You sing to me,And honor me,

Like I’m the king of the world,But I’m just a pauper,

Who begs under the setting sun.

Abhishek Salunke is a student in the Endeavour Program at Place Cartier Adult Education Centre.

He is an aspiring writer and would like to pursue public speaking in order to raise

awareness about people who face intellectual and physical

challenges.

Rainbow Rose

Irish Heritage Day at Riverview Elementary

Lakeside students win week at Encounters with Canada

(From left) Ellen Laughlin (Encounters with Canada), Sue Tuff (Community Office Coordinator), Trevor Joy (Winner, WCCM Merit Award, Macdonald High) and teacher Ted Duckworth

Devan Davidson, a winner of LEARN’s Compassion in Action contest, attended the RCMP week at Encounters with Canada.

Diana Grenier, WCCM Merit Award winner from Lakeside Academy, with teacher Rob Parker and El-len Laughlin of Encounters with Canada

Montreal Lakeshore University Women’s Club

Strategic Direction 4Promoting Wellness in a Safe and Caring Community

Strategic Direction 3Enhancing School Collaboration and Community Partnerships

The Strategic Directions

L’Autobus Pedestre

Strategic Direction 2Fostering and Supporting a Commitment to Professional Growth for All

Strategic Direction 1Maximizing Student Success in a Culture for Learning

by Mme Coiteux, Principal, St. Charles School

On February 28th, students from Mme Proulx’s grade 3/4 class had the opportunity to participate in the 1st Robotics CO-OPetition with students from Sherwood For-est Elementary School. The day started with a presentation from an aeronautical engineer who was able to capture the students’ atten-tion by explaining the process of building an actual “space” robot is the same as the process the stu-dents have been introduced to as part of the Robotics program.

Pearson NewsA7April 2013

by Ann Tellier

A lot goes on within the walls of any school building and this counts for so much in a child’s day and life. ‘Inside Dorset’ we choose an annual slogan or motto to live by and act on. We have worked on being positive and polite, un-derstanding rights and respon-sibilities, believing ‘si tu veux, tu peux’ and demonstrating ‘attitude is everything’. This year we have been ‘riding the wave’ inside and outside of our school. A wave can carry you along or you can use its power to give you momentum to go further.

We always hope to have our students reach, stretch and go the distance! In March our amazing Physical Education teacher, Mr. Scott Taylor, organized an out-door education experience for our grade 5 and grade 6 Outers’ Club members. Our senior stu-dents opt for (first choice, second choice) an opportunity to expe-rience the great outdoors away from the school’s boundaries. It may be a winter camp, (like this past March event) or a Fall hike or perhaps a canoe trip. The goal is to ‘ride’ some kind of new wave that harnesses the energy to move ahead. We want that ‘breaker’ to

give a student a new feeling of independence, yet feel part of a team. We hope this ‘current’ takes them on a journey of per-sonal pride in accomplishment, as well as path of shared respon-sibility to the group.

This winter camp’s members were a team of teams – smaller meal preparation teams, but a larger core team. This group em-

barked on a first night snowshoe and campfire under a partially starry sky. It was also a larger team of slow and steady cross-country skiers, traveling during that stormy March 19th snow day. They persevered and cheered on one another from Ste. Adele to Val David and back – a big trek on the Petit Train de Nord route! What a test and what an accom-plishment they will never forget!

Thinking outside the school

gives our students a new path of learning something about them-selves. During their time away from school they were also as-signed the challenge of observ-ing a secret friend. They did in-deed keep it secret and later they shared with the whole group some of what they had learned about their special trip compan-ion. Again a moment and experi-ence they will have forever.

‘Thinking outside the school’, we hope, gives our children those ‘remember forever’ moments.

Speaking of ‘thinking outside the school’ and ‘forever moments’ for young children, there is an-other quality of school life that is very often forgotten or missed…and that is FUN! This Spring sea-son, once again at Dorset, we just may have some more FUN! Over the past four years around Eas-ter time (and ever since the Baie d’Urfé centennial year) a large, yellow, long eared furry creature has run amok around our school. Commonly referred to as the Baie d’Urfé Bunny this gen(i)us of mirth and tomfoolery has rou-tinely appeared. Mischief has oc-curred, chases have ensued and the capture of this ‘Wenowned Wogue Wascally Wabbit’ has eluded all the pursuers. Around Easter time in this school… Keep you carrots close and your eyes peeled!

St. Charles Hosts 1st Robotics CO-OPetition Event

by Matthew Albert

I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of both LCCHS and Beurling Academy on their per-formance at First Robotics Com-petition Montreal Regional this Saturday. This project has stu-dents building a ful-ly functional robot in only six weeks and competing in a Stanley Cup-like event.

Beurling Academy, using their defensive strategy, was chosen in the third round of alliance selections by the 4th place team to advance all the way to the semi-finals be-fore their launcher was completely torn off and they suffered from a complete ro-botics failure. Their team was excited just to make the playoffs and was glad to help their alliance make it to the semi-finals.

LCCHS Sonic Howl, using their highly accurate frisbee shooting skills, was part of the 2nd place team alliance and advanced all the way to the First Robotics Compe-titions Montreal Regional Final.

They were competitive until the end, but unfortunately for them one of their alliance robots suf-fered from communication issues and could not be fixed in time for their elimination match. Down one member in their alliance they were not able to overcome the 1st place team alliance and finished 2nd overall in the tournament.

Members of Sonic Howl collected Finalist awards in Montreal and will not be advancing to the St. Louis National Competition.

Both teams showed tremen-dous heart, professionalism and strength upon their defeats. We are looking forward to next year and the dream of advancing to the St. Louis Competition. The

LCCHS team will be wearing their 2nd place medals on Mon-day and adding another trophy to their (in the works) robotics tro-phy case. Both teams held their heads up and worked long hours and deserve recognition for all their hard work, determination and enthusiasm towards science, engineering and technology.

A big thank you goes out to Ga-briel Bran Lopez for hosting such a wonderful event and support-ing our students and Xavier Guil-lot for all of his time and effort put into making First Robotics Quebec a highly competitive and extremely cooperative/support-ive program that will be a joy to work on for years to come.

Images of Mount Pleasant Students and Staff at the

Hudson St. Patrick’s Day Parade

The students from both schools did a wonderful job presenting their robots and showcased ap-proaches to robotics applications at the elementary school level. Many LBPSB representatives were on hand to view the event and many were amazed at how en-gaged and knowledgeable the stu-dents were.

Thanks to Mme Proulx’s initia-tives, St. Charles Cycle 2 curricu-lum now incorporates robotics which integrates many subject areas including French, math and social universe. In fact, the Robotics program is a multi-discipline program which can be incorporated into every subject

area. It offers the opportunity to integrate technology with the curriculum and the students love it. The students are learning how to perform as a team by having a project manager, engineer, tes-ter, and demonstrator for each project. Students are having fun while learning important skills such as computer programming, thinking creatively and teamwork skills (an essential skill for work-ing in the 21st century).

The Robotics program was made possible by Mme Proulx’s fundraising efforts; a grant from the Pearson Education Founda-tion; and Home & School fund-raising dollars.

LCCHS and Beurling Compete in First Robotics Montreal Regional

“Thinking Outside… the School”

LBPSB at the Annual Montreal St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Top, Bottom Left: The Lester B. Pearson Float.Bottom Right: Radio Personality Andrew Peplowski and wife Johanne Morency visit the LBPSB contingent.

A8Pearson News April 2013

by Alycia Ambroziak

Remember the stained glass window project at Birchwood Elementary in St. Lazare? Well,

the windows are finally up in the school’s library. Called A World of Coloured Glass – Our Life at Birchwood, the panels are themed to show student life at the school - each 3 by 8-foot panel has been drawn and designed by

students who have been working since early January with art teach-er Erin Wainwright, a group of volunteer parents as well as with artist Nicole Tremblay “Every Birchwood student from Grade 1 to 6 has worked on this project,”

said Principal Coleen Turner, who came up with the idea for the stained glass windows when she first saw the space in the mez-zanine area of the school. “The windows were just a wide open space crying out for colour.”

It may be too early to play amusement park midway games at La Ronde, but for some arcade fun – and to benefit the Montreal Children’s Hospital – students in grades 5 and 6 at Thorndale Ele-mentary have put together arcade games from recycled material.

And on Saturday, April 6, com-

munity members are invited to have some arcade fun at the Pier-refonds school.”The fundraiser will be an opportunity for all stu-dents to display their work as well as provide family and friends with a chance to play,” said Thorndale Principal Patricia Higgins.

She noted that the grades 5 and 6 students have been study-ing waste, in particular, wasteful packaging and how it affects our

environment.“The children have been work-

ing very diligently since January to gather materials and build their very own arcade games,” she said.

Some of those games include Pac-Man, Skeeball, bean bag toss, pinball and plinko.

When the arcade idea began to take shape, students thought about how they could give back to the community. They chose to help

The Montreal Children’s Hospital because, as one student said, “we wanted to help those children who don’t often have a chance to play.”

The Thorndale Arcade takes place April 6 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the gymnasium of the school, located at 4348 Thorndale St. in Pierrefonds. Admission is by do-nation and 100 per cent of the proceeds will be donated to the children’s hospital.

St. Anthony’s Cirque du Monde a Success

Write for JusticeSarah Di Narzo, a grade 6 stu-

dent at Thorndale Elementary in Pierrefonds, knew what she wanted to say about bullying when she took part in the Mon-treal Bar’s 26th annual Write for Justice /La Justice a Bonne Mine competition.

What she never expected was that her essay would be chosen as one of six winners throughout the Montreal area.

“I worked really hard and put an extreme amount of effort into my essay so I was really nervous when my teacher announced that she had received an exciting email,” said the 11-year-old who hopes to be a doctor and profes-sional athlete when she is older.

“I was shocked and surprised when she announced that I had won.”

Sarah, along with her family, teacher Mara Frost and Thorn-dale Principal. Patricia Higgins, were the Montreal Bar’s offices at the Palais de Justice and then at Complexe Desjardins on April 10 where she, along with five win-ners from across Montreal, read their essays and received a certifi-cate, $200 and Antidote editing computer software.

In her essay, Sarah said that group sessions with teachers or social workers as will as with pa-

rental discussions could help pre-vent bullying.

“We have good and bad in all of us, but I don’t think bullies really want to do what they do,” Sarah said in her essay. “They just don’t know how to interact and communicate with others about things that they themselves are going through, so they act over things and people that they feel they can control or intimidate.”

Sarah said another reason some young people become bullies is because they imitate what they see going on around them, espe-cially at home.

“This is why I think the most important way to help prevent bullying is for parents to be more aware of how their actions affect their kids and how they will be-have around and towards others,” she said adding that kids find it easier to talk about their prob-lems in a group setting because they learn that the reasons they feel the need to be a bully are not unique to them.

“I believe parents have the big-gest role to play to help prevent bullying,” she added. “If they demonstrate kindness and posi-tive attitudes to their children, they will do the same with others, even when their parents aren’t present.”

Thorndale Elementary School Arcade

Jonathan Tainsh, Akash Sasitharan

Seth Cusson, Massimo Mastrangelo,Christopher Zhang

Brandon Psihogios, Anthony Mastrangelo, Massimo Mastrangelo

Matthew Fillipone, Nathaniel Calendar

Reminy Pathinather, Mikayla Greco, Christina Nguyen

Chloe Beauvais

Birchwood Library’s New Stained Glass

The Circus Show was a huge success this year. The students had been practicing since October and it all came together beauti-fully on Friday, March 22nd. The students had two performances, one matinee and one evening. The students in Kindergarten, grade 1-6 had the opportunity to see the show. The evening performance was extremely well attended with over 370 tickets sold. A big thank you to all the staff and parents who helped out for this event, and a special thank you to Mrs. O’Reilly, Ms. Eccles, Mme. Dutta, Mr. Soccoro and Mrs. Showers for their dedication and hard work.

by Alycia Ambroziak

On March 26th a group of 10 students from the Pathways Pro-

gram at Horizon High School visited the Old Brewery Mission in downtown Montreal. The pur-pose of the visit was to deliver and donate over 200 freshly baked oatmeal cookies to the homeless

men and women at the down-town shelter. Once there the stu-dents were taken on a guided tour of the shelter where they learned interesting facts about life on the streets of Montreal and about the

many wonderful services that are provided for the homeless. The visit was a great experience for the students whose behaviour throughout the trip was impec-cable.

The Disney adap-tation of The Little Mermaid has always

been very popular – and this week, students from two Lester B. Pearson elementary schools each brought Ariel and company to life

on their respective stages; Christ-mas Park Elementary in Beacons-field had shows on April 17 and 18 and St. Patrick Elementary in Pincourt had shows running from April 16 to 18. Audiences at both schools had waves of fun.

Images from the dress rehearsal of The Little Mermaid that was presented by students at Christmas Park Elementary School in Beaconsfield on April 17 and 18.

Pearson NewsA9April 2013

Images from the St. Patrick Elementary presentation.

T h e prospect of speak-

ing in public is viewed by many as a nail-biting, stay-up-nights wor-risome event – but apparently no one sent the memo to students at Sherwood Forest Elementary.

They had a ball at the April 24-25 finals of a public-speaking event at the Beaconsfield school.

“The students’ topics were quite diverse – from the history of rap music to a favourite pet – and stu-dents enthusiastically shared their thoughts and ideas with the Sher-wood Forest school community,’ said Wusua Mitchell, principal of the 285-student school.

Every students from kindergar-ten to grade 6 took part in the event, choosing topics of their

own choice, presenting speeches to their own class and then, for those who wanted, to students in other classes.

And on April 24 and 25, two students from each class, includ-ing kindergarten, took part in the finals of the public-speaking event which is held every two years at the school; every other year, stu-dents take part in “Raconte-moi une histoire – French storytelling.”

“This school-wide event allows students to showcase their indi-viduality,” said Mitchell adding that kudos go out to the school’s Cycle 3 teachers, especially Mar-tin Rourke who has organized the public-speaking challenge for many years.

Here are the winners of the pub-lic-speaking event at Sherwood

Forest:Kindergarten - Alice Sharma:

ButterfliesGrade 1 - Jordan Verners: Polar

BearsGrade 2 - Ethan Rahal: Why am

I nervous?Grade 3 - Carly Nantel: Mon-

keysGrade 4 - Cameron Verners: My

Great-grandfather and WWIGrade 5- Matthew Bailet: Con-

cussionsGrade 6 - Hollie Sander: Fur In-

dustryOverall - Zachary Doucet (Grade

6): Gun ControlBoth grade 5 student, Matthew

Muda, whose topic was Celiac dis-ease, and grade 6 student, Hollie Sander, who spoke about the fur industry, said they enjoyed the ex-

perience.“I had never been on stage alone

before,” Matthew said adding that his grandparents and parents came to the event. “I felt very proud of myself.”

Hollie said she hopes her speech will influence people to think twice before wearing fur.

And as for speaking in front of a group of people, she said she was able to overcome a bit of stage fright.

“I could never picture myself up on stage in front of so many people – but it wasn’t bad after I started speaking,” she said. “It’s al-ways better to face your fears than to try and hide from them.

“This will always be a memora-ble part of my last year in elemen-tary school,” she added.

WW Girls’ Night In... In Pictures

Public Speaking at Sherwood Forest

Horizon High School Visits Old Brewery Mission

Riverdale High School pres-ents “IN THE HEIGHTS”! The 2008 Tony Award winning mod-ern-day musical gives audiences a glimpse into three days in the lives of the Latin American com-munity living in Washington Heights, NY. This upbeat and poignant show emphasizes the importance of family, achieving one’s dreams, and the meaning of home, all told through an ex-citing Latino style combination of Rap, Salsa, and Hip-Hop mu-sic. Known for their outstand-ing musical theatre productions, this Riverdale show is not to be missed! Performances take place on April 11th, 12th & 13th at Riverdale High School, 5060 Sources Boulevard at 7:30 pm.

For tickets or more informa-tion, please call Josie Arcobelli at 514-684-9920 or email jarcobe-lli@lbpearson.qc.ca.

Students/Seniors: $12.00Adults: $15.00If you would like to make a

donation to the play or place an advertisement in the program please click here for the Intro-

ductory letter and click here for the Sponsorship Form.

Riverdale High School – In The Heights

Little Mermaids at Christmas Park & St. Patrick

Emma Sheehan and Charlotte Sanquist model the beautifully designed “Girls’ Night In” T-shirts. Design created by Morgan Weinmeister (grade 10).

The Girls Seminar Graduates came back to run workshops on anti bullying, dealing with the effects of divorce and healthy relationships. Here 2012 graduates Kasia Whitelaw, Heather Mcphaden and Jacklyn Spencer talk to some Westwood stu-dents about having a healthy body image.

Suzanne Simatos our Spiritual Animator gives a workshop on Human Trafficking.

A10Pearson News April 2013

As part of Earth Week, CFER Riverdale is holding an open house and E-waste collection day on April 24.

Visitors can drop by, bring their e-waste – anything from old computers and printers, monitors, TV’s DVD’s and VCR’s – and see what students in the work-study program are learn-ing.

Students at Riverdale’s CFER Program – which was just nomi-nated for a West Island of Mon-treal Chamber of Commerce Ac-colades Award - divide their time between classes and dismantling IT products to salvaging usable parts. Instead of having these by-products placed in landfills, they are sold for recycling, which in turn generates modest revenues for CFER Riverdale, a non-profit organization.

And even those revenues are recycled into the community; CFER students regularly visit se-niors’ residences, local elemen-tary schools with a message of eco-responsibility.

The Riverdale CFER program, which was established in 2007, is the only English program of-fered at an English school in Quebec.

The Riverdale CFER program was also recently accredited by the Quebec government as green recyclers.

The CFER program is aimed at students who, for many reasons, were not succeeding in the tra-ditional education stream. Stu-dents who complete the three-year CFER program receive a Ministry of Education certificate whereby they can choose to en-ter the workforce or continue on to adult or vocational education.

The CFER Open House takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Riverdale High School, 5060 Sources Blvd. in Pierrefonds. For more information, call 514-684-2337.

Earth Week CFER

Riverdale

CFER Riverdale WIMCC Accolade Awards

This workshop is based on concepts from Gifts Differing, a book about appreciation and respect for individual differences and the usefulness of these differences in everyday life.

DATE: Saturday, October 19, 2013 or Sunday, October 20, 2013 TIME: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm PLACE: Pearson Electrotechnology Centre

5000 René Huguet, Lachine

Registration fee: $25Lunch will be provided

Register early, space is limited

Sign up online by June 14 and you will be entered into our early bird draw for

a Kobo Mini.

www.lbpsb.qc.ca

For more information, email us at workshopinfo@lbpsb.qc.ca

or call 514-422-3000 and ask for workshop info.

We cannot safely assume that other people’s minds work on the same principles as our own. This impacts our relationships with family, friends and colleagues. By gaining an understanding of personality types, we can learn to harness the richness of diversity rather than struggle with the desire that everyone be like me.Join us for this special day of learning to explore your preferred ways of doing things, and how this enhances and/or limits your effectiveness with others.

Who Should Attend?Teachers, parents, administrators, professionals, support staff, commissioners and senior students (16+) of the Lester B. Pearson School Board community.

What will you gain?The workshop will provide an opportunity to:~ explore different personality styles~ recognize your unique gifts~ appreciate the value of differences~ understand the full potential of collaborative relationships

About our partnership...In keeping with our strategic plan, the LBPSB and Concordia’s Department of Applied Human Sciences are celebrating the seventh year of a partnership providing workshops tailored to our community. The workshop facilitators are graduate students under the guidance of Dr. Raye Kass, a professor and expert in leadership and small group behaviour.

A one-day interactive workshopA one-day inay ina teractive workshop

by Mark Hanna

Great news and congratulations!

Again this year, CFER Riverdale has just been selected as one of 3 finalists for the WIMCC Accolade Awards. This is a tremendous ac-complishment and well deserved recognition.

There will be an official press conference on May 9th, announc-ing this positive news to the busi-ness community.

March Lindsay Place Players’ presentation of The Music Man... in Pictures

CPIC: Teacher PD

Final Deadline for 2012-2013

Applications:

June 10th for the meeting on June 13th

Events taking place after

September 10th, 2013, may also be

applied for at the subsequent meeting,

scheduled for

September 10th, 2013

To learn more about the Lester B. Pearson

School Board’s Autism Spectrum Disorders Centre of Excellence, visit:

www.lbpsb.qc.ca/eng/asdn