North Queens
Community School
VOLUME 9—May, 2015
Important
Dates:
Administration Message
Welcome May! It is
wonderful to finally have
warmer temperatures
and no snow! Thankfully, spring has sprung!
Our students had a fantastic basketball season.
Now the track and field
and softball season are
just starting their practices.
you have any concerns I
encourage you to contact me.
Respectfully,
The last two months of
school are busy ones for
staff and students. If
Jennifer Weare
visitors to avoid wearing
products with fragrance
or strong scents, such
as hairspray, soaps, colognes, deodorants, aftershaves, etc. These
chemicals can cause
serious health problems
for many people especially those with asthma,
allergies and environmental illness.
Used Jew ellery Collection
The Vimy Ridge Team is
collecting used jewellery
to be refurbished and
sold in support of their
fundraising efforts. Does
your jewellery box con-
tain items that you never
wear? If you’ve got
necklaces, beads, rings,
watches, bracelets, earrings, broaches or other
jewellery treasures that
May 11-15—Grade 10
CBL Students at NSCC
May 13—Embedded
Time, Dismissal at 1:15
pm
May 14—Grades 6-12
Dance, 7 to 10 pm, $7
Scent Sensitive School
Please note the signs
posted around the
school stating: ―This is a
Scent Sensitive School‖.
We encourage the students, staff and school
May 6—SAC Meeting,
6:30 pm
you’re no longer using,
we’d love to take them
off your hands! There’s
a collection box in Ms.
Ramey’s classroom waiting for drop offs!
May 18—Victoria
Day—No School for
Students
May 23—Spring Fling
May 26—Primary Orientation
May 27—Embedded
Time, Dismissal at 1:15
pm
June 18-24—Exams
June 25—29—Marking
Days, No School for
Students
June 25—Prom, 7 pm
Dress Code
The following dress code
is in effect at North
Queens, this includes
dances and extracurricular activities:
Any clothing displaying
references or text relating to alcohol or drugs,
sexual, sexist or racial
content, or profanity will
not be permitted.
Clothing should cover
the midriff (belly) area
and cleavage. Skirts or
shorts should be long
enough to cover to midthigh. Tank tops are permitted as long as cleav-
age is covered—no
strapless tops or spaghetti strap tanks/tops.
Students wearing inappropriate clothing will be
asked to change their
appearance or will be
sent home.
June 29—Graduation,
7 pm
June 30—Last Day of
School
Page 2
“If you want the
rainbow, you’ve
got to put up with
the rain.”
~ Dolly Parton
May 2015 Newsletter
Aftermath: A MADD Canada
Presentation
Did you know that MADD
Canada visited our school
last month to share their
2014 school presentation? ―Aftermath‖, was a
powerful video about the
tragic consequences of
impaired driving seen
through the eyes of a
young man whose family
and friends are affected
when his brother makes
the terrible decision to
drive impaired. Our students heard about the
impact that such choices
have on families, neighbours and communities.
While the film was moving
and illustrated the realities
of impaired driving in a
heart-touching way, more
important than the film or
the message was what
happened after the
presentation was over.
This film sparked interesting conversation among
our student body.
Please take the time to
discuss this topic as a
family. We were startled
to learn that four Canadians die every day as a
result of impaired driving.
More are injured or emotionally impacted. The
presenter encouraged
students to consider four
main points which would
be great shared with
family members:
1. Make the choice to not
drive impaired.
2. Make the choice not to
get in a vehicle with
someone who is impaired
(even if they think they
are ok)
3. Plan Ahead – have a
plan as a family. What
happens if you find yourself in that situation? This
can happen to any student, any parent. It’s
worth
the conversation.
4. Don’t let someone drive
impaired and if they do,
phone 911. The
consequences of the law
are far less impactful than
loss of life or injury.
MADD made us
think. Will it get your family talking? Have the
conversation today!
Greenfield Elementary Fun Fair
The Greenfield Elementary School’s Annual Fun
Fair is happening on Sat-
urday, June 20 from 11
am to 1 pm.
There will be lots of activities such as: cake walk,
car wash, silent auction,
diva booth, theme baskets and much more!
The Kattawapiskat Project
This project is to gather
school/educational supplies within our communities and send them to a
remote reserve in Canada. We will be sending
supplies to a Kattawapiskat First Nations
school called J.R
Nakogee School. The
community is located near
the Hudson Bay where
Ontario and Nunavut
meet. Our goal is to gather school supplies for this
community that is in need.
The project will run from
May 1st to June 1st and
we are asking students in
our community to donate
supplies into the drop off
box located at the school.
There will be a list of suggested items located in
the lobby. We thank everyone for their support.
Volume 9
We Were Silent
24 hours, 19 students…
No texting, no talking, no
typing.
This was the scene as
several of our Students
for Social Justice took the
Vow of Silence in partnership with Free the Children on April 16th. Students rallied early in the
morning to get things in
place and began their
silent awareness campaign at 9 am. This event
was held all across the
nation in recognition that
around the world, there
are those whose voices
are not heard. Our students became silent to
draw attention to a variety
of issues.
Several went silent for
those enslaved by violence, child labour and
discrimination.
Others took the opportunity to support those silenced by bullying, gender
bias, and persecution.
One stood for those
forced into war at young
ages.
Finally, we were silent for
those who do not feel free
to express their sexuality
due to bias and prejudice.
Our students learned firsthand that being voiceless
is difficult, presents unknown challenges and
strips away one’s personality. They stood for those
whose voices need to be
heard. We were silent and
stood in solidarity with
others to shed light on
these situations. #Silent
Spartans – Well Done!
Self-Identification Initiative
Starting May 1, 2015
The South Shore Regional School Board is asking
all parents/guardians and
staff to help us learn more
about the diversity of our
student and staff populations and our communities.
Self-identification, identifying one’s ancestry and/
or Aboriginal identity, is
important to our school
system and students. It
helps us know who our
students and staff are,
how demographics are
changing, and how best
we can support our students, staff and schools.
Self-identification also
helps us to plan and allocate resources and staff
to support the success of
all students.
Effective May 1, 2015,
we are encouraging all
parents/guardians, staff
and students to identify
their ancestry and/or Aboriginal identity. Selfidentification is for everyone.
We will be sending a selfidentification form home
with all elementary and
middle school students
(P-9). High school students (10-12) will have
opportunities to complete
a self-identification form
at school. When you receive the form, please
take a moment to fill it
out and return it to your
child’s school.
Even if you have chosen
to self-identify in the past,
we want to make sure
everyone has a chance to
complete or update their
information, especially
since we now have the
ability to include more
than one ancestry and/or
Aboriginal identity in a
student’s record.
For further information on
self-identification please
contact your school or
visit www.ssrsb.ca.
Watch for the form in early May. Thank you in
advance for taking an
interest in this important
initiative.
Page 3
“Every great dream
begins with a
dreamer. Always
remember, you have
within you the
strength, the
patience, and the
passion to reach for
the stars to change
the world.”
~ Harriet Tubman
Page 4
“People will forget
what you said,
people will forget
what you did, but
people will never
forget how you
made them feel.”
~Maya Angelou
May 2015 Newsletter
30 Hour Famine for Free the Children
Students in grades 7-12
will participate in a variety
of awareness activities
including an African Water Walk, Poverty Potluck,
Cardboard Village Con-
struction and a few other
surprises! Please note
that students must drink
water or juice every hour
during this event. This
event starts on May 7 at 9
am and end on May 8 at 3
pm. The after event is 3
to 6 pm. See Ms. Ramey
to sign up!
V i m y R i d g e 2 0 1 7 – N e w Tr a v e l l e r s
Welcome!
In April 2017, a team of
18 youth from North
Queens School will embark on the trip of a life
time. By now most people have heard of our
VIMY 2017 Campaign.
We want to take a few
minutes to tell you about it
and encourage others to
join.
The trip is set to take
place over a period of 12
days in conjunction with
the Centennial Celebration at Vimy Ridge,
France. Our students will
be in attendance at the
100th Anniversary Ceremony and will be visiting
the ―Vimy Memorial Site,‖
―Arromanches‖ (where the
Allies established an artificial temporary harbour to
allow the unloading of
heavy equipment), the
―Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial,‖ Juno Beach Centre,‖ and
―Beny-sur-Mer Canadian
War Cemetery.‖ They will
also visit the Anne Frank
House in Amsterdam and
several war-related attractions/sites in Great Britain
and France.
At the present time we
are welcoming additional
enrollment for this trip.
Students must currently
be in grades 7 – 10
(grades 9-12 at time of
travel). Payment plans
are available. Interested
families should contact
Ms. Ramey for more information ([email protected]
or 902-682-3500).
Nursery School Registration
Early registration for the
2015/2016 year for the
Caledonia & Area Nursery School will be June 8,
6:00pm at the Nursery
School. Children must be
3 years of age to register. However, if there is
space, students can begin
at any time during the
year, so if your child will
turn 3 years of age during
the school year, please
feel free to attend and get
the information. Spread
the word!
AT V P o k e r R a l l y
There will be an ATV
Poker Rally, Saturday,
May 30 beginning at the
Pleasant River Hall in
support of the Caledonia
& Area Nursery
School. Registration and
start will begin at 9
am. There will be a BBQ
at the half way point, door
prices and 50/50 tickets. $20 per hand. Prizes are 12% for first, 8%
for second and 5% for
third. Dance to follow that
evening at the Westfield
Hall from 9—1pm, DJ
Veinotte's Hot
Tracks. $10 per person.
Volume 9
Gazebo Project
Hello North Queens! You
will never guess what we
are planning to build! Our
Grade 10 class has been
discussing this Gazebo
project for quite some
time now. We would like
to thank Mr. Strong for
helping us and continuing
to guide us as we plan
and soon start building.
The idea came about
when we talked about
prom, trees are nice but
they don't make the best
back ground for pictures,
and after the infamous
willow tree was taken out
by a hurricane we decided this would be the next
best thing! The plan is to
become closer as a com-
munity, school and also
have something that will
look amazing for prom
pictures of course. Join us
for our open house showcase on June 18th. If anyone would like to help in
any way please contact
the school at 682-3500.
C o l l a b o r a t i v e L e a r n i n g Te a m ( C LT )
On early dismissal days,
small groups of teachers
gather to work on our
school improvement
goals. NQCS has two
school improvement
goals: 1. Improving student feelings of a positive
sense of belonging and 2.
Improving student use of
assessment for learning
to monitor their learning.
In order to do this teachers are working on a variety of projects and activities to support these
goals. Some teachers
are looking at how to use
feedback to improve understanding of non-fiction
texts, others are working
on how technology can
be used to support student success. Two
groups are working on
looking at improving
sense of belonging by
using mindfulness techniques and other ideas to
see how students feel
about being part of the
school community.
Seahaw ks Minor Football Club
Do you like football? Want
to try-it for free? Come to
the Fieldhouse and join in
our camp. Learn some
football skills and try on
the gear. We’ll have clinics on passing, catching,
kicking, blocking and
tackle techniques. Experienced Coaches will be
there for proper instruc-
tion (former Acadia player and CIS Coach along
with Seahawks Coaches). Come on out and try
it and have some fun!
Parents – we have an
information session
planned just for you so
you can learn about the
organization and football
on the south shore and in
the province; from 1 – 2
pm on May 2. Football
Camp/Try-It for New
Players will be at the HB
Studios Fieldhouse on
May 2, from 1 – 4 pm,
ages: 7 – 14. This is a
free event! Please contact: John Peters at 902
543-1582 or [email protected]
May Day Extravaganza
There will be a May Day
Extravaganza on Sat May
9 from 10 am to 1 pm at
West Northfield Elementary School. Penny Auction (closes 12 noon),
Live Auction (starts 12
noon), jail, games of
chance, surprise wall,
Plinko, Haunted Room,
duck pond, face painting,
Toonie Toss, Stand-A-
bottle, mini golf, cake
walk, BBQ, crafts, books,
much more! Information
541-8220.
Page 5
“Do what you can,
with what you have,
where you are.”
~ Theodore
Roosevelt
Page 6
May 2015 Newsletter
L y m e D i s e a s e Aw a r e n e s s M o n t h
“My friends, love is
better than anger.
Hope is better than
fear. Optimism is
better than
despair. So let us
be loving, hopeful
and optimistic. And
we’ll change the
world.”
~Jack Layton
Although May is generally
known as Lyme Disease
Awareness Month, ticks
can be active at any time
of the year when temperatures are consistently
around 4C. Therefore,
even though there is still
snow on the ground in
many places, ticks are
now active. Ticks can also
carry other things along
with, or instead of Lyme
disease so it really should
be Tick Borne Disease
Awareness rather than
just Lyme
Disease Awareness.
Ticks in Nova Scotia have
been found to carry other
things like Ehrlichia and
Anaplasmosis (both seen
by Veterinarians in the
province) and because
ticks can be transported
from many areas by migratory birds they can
carry just about anything
like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever,
Babesiosis, Bartonella,
Borrelia miyamoto, etc.
There has also been a
recent article advising that
Powassan Virus has been
found in Nova Scotia ticks
and this can be deadly
www.cbc.ca/news/
canada/toronto/powassan
-virus-prompts-officials-toexpand-tick-monitoring1.3036326. Because we
had extensive snow cover
this winter instead of our
usual freeze/thaw cycles,
the ticks were actually
protected and less will
have died off over the
winter. Therefore, it is
imperative that you take
precautions when outside
and to ensure that your
pets are kept healthy as
well. Although there are
areas where a larger
number of back-legged
ticks can be found (areas
that are considered endemic), they have now
been found in all parts of
Nova Scotia. Because
disease carrying ticks can
be transported by animals
and migratory birds, there
are no borders to where
ticks can be found. All
Nova Scotian's need to
realize that ticks are here
to stay and that we need
to learn to live with them.
There are things you
should add to your daily
routine if you spend any
time outdoors such as
always using insect repellent; wearing light coloured clothes so that you
can spot any ticks before
they find bare skin or you
carry them into your
house; shower/bathe
shortly after being outside
and perform daily tick
checks. Prevention is the
ultimate goal as diagnosis
and treatment of tick
borne diseases can be
problematic due to the
diversity of symptoms and
the dizzying array of diseases that can be transmitted. To help make
yourself aware, you can
start with the province's
Lyme Disease brochure
www.novascotia.ca/dhw/
cdpc/
documents/06037_LymeDisea
se_Pamphlet_En.pdf
Wa l k t h e Wa l k f o r Au t i s m
Walk the Walk for Autism
will be held on June 13 at
the Lunenburg County
Lifestyle Centre. Everyone is encouraged to put
together a team and join
them for a fun day of festivities. The day begins at
9 am with registration.
There will be fun activities
for the kids as well begin-
ning at 9 am. There will
be a bouncy castle,
games, face painting, etc.
The opening ceremony is
at 10:30 am and then the
walk will begin. Once the
walk is finished, the activities will be available as
well as a free BBQ and
cake. On line registration
is now open. Please reg-
ister at
www.walkthewalkforautis
m.ca/bridgewater or contact Debbie England at
902-543-2384 (home) or
email [email protected] All
donations support the
delivery of programs and
resources in the South
Shore community.