May 2017NEWSLETTER

4701-52nd Avenue - Yellowknife, NT - X1A 2N8Phone: (867) 669-0773 - Fax: (867) 873-3630

www.sjf.yk1.nt.ca

Principal’s MessageIMPORTANT DATES

Mr. Dean MacInnis

FOR MORE DETAILS SEE CALENDAR ON LAST PAGE.

We’re now into our second last month of classes here at Sir John! Students should soon start thinking about exams and passing in any late assignments to their teachers!Our Scuba Club has just returned from a safe and successful diving trip to Cozumel, Mexico. Inside you will find pictures and an article written by one of our students and another article written by a staff member and chaperone. I’m sure they’re already looking forward to their next adventure in 2019.We have a number of students competing in Territorial Skills Competition & Career Expo this week. Some of the categories include Graphic Design, Photography, Mechanics, Baking and Hairstyling. Check out next month’s newsletter for results!Good luck to all our athletes competing in the Super Soccer tournament this weekend. Cheer on our Falcons and don’t forget to wear your blue and yellow! For a schedule of games visit www.nwtschoolsports.comMs. Tonge’s Senior Art class is finally ready to reveal their “Leaving a Legacy” artwork on May 11th. Join them at their reception at 7pm at the school. See inside for more details.Grad preparations are under way! Check inside for important dates and information. Also there is a grad parent meeting scheduled for May 31st at 7pm at the school to answer any questions you may have regarding the ceremony. Invitations and tickets will be passed out during this meeting as well.If you have any questions about Sir John or need to talk to your child’s teacher please call the school at (867) 669-0773. You can also visit our website at www.sjf.yk1.nt.ca for

school news and staff contact information.

May 2Territorial Skills

CompetitionMay 4-6

Senior Super SoccerMay 11

Leaving a Legacy7pm

May 1231 Hour Famine

May 16SJF Spring Concert at NACC

7pmMay 18

PAC Meeting12noon

Spring Fling7pm

May 19SIP Day NO SCHOOL

May 22Victoria Day NO SCHOOL

May 27YK Track Meet

May 31Grad 2017 Parent Meeting

7pm

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grad 2017 news PARENT MEETING IS TAKING PLACE MAY 31ST AT 7PM AT THE SCHOOL. Details regarding grad will be discussed and invitations and tickets will be distributed.GRAD FEES OF $150 ARE NOW PAST DUE.If you haven’t paid yet please contact the school for payment. These fees are used for the following items:• maintainance and replacement of worn out cap,

gown and tassle• decorations for academic, formal and dry grad• rental fees of equipment and Deejay for dry grad • printing costs of diplomas, invitations, tickets, programsSCHOLARSHIP applications are available in the Main Office. Deadline is June 1.GRAD BIOS should be submitted to the office or to Ms.Schlosser as soon as possible. Fill out one of the templates from the link on the school's website.BABY PICTURES - Grads should e-mail a picture of a baby/toddler picture to rod.kennedy@yk1.nt.ca as soon as possible.DRY GRAD sign-up form is now posted on our website! Grads must fill out and submit this form in order to attend Dry Grad. PARENT VOLUNTEERS! We need your assistance in making this year's Dry Grad a success. More details will be discussed during the parent meeting on May 31st.

Grad Bowling

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I’m an Encounters with Canada alumni which gave me the opportunity to be selected to participate along with 25 other youth delegates from across Canada in a week of ceremonies in France to recognize the 100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge. I am very grateful to Veterans Affairs Canada for making it all possible. In particular, I appreciated the veterans who participated and felt honoured to listen to their stories. While I was there, I was surprised by how moved the veterans were by how many youth are interested in hearing what they have to share; some of them were so touched when we asked questions about their experiences and their medals, that they would grab our hands and start to cry. The experience of the learning we did at museums, first world war sites and cemeteries will last me for my life time and I will do my part to pass on what I have learned to future generations. It is important to learn about and commemorate the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and to remember the fallen soldiers, and respect those who sacrificed so much for us to live in a peace respecting country that is committed to freedom. During the trip, I had a few interviews with the media like a big news channel in France and Radio Canada for example, because I am able to speak French, I’m from the North (which was of interest to the reporters) and I have a relative that fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Orman Almerin Nash is my great great uncle. I saw his name inscribed in the Vimy Ridge monument. He fought there and survived but died two weeks later at the Battle of Arleux. He was was my age when he fought in battle and I am conscious that he left behind a future full of opportunity in those fields I saw and walked over. It was strange how peaceful and green the places of those battles in the Northwest of France and the east of Belgium are now when one hundred years ago, they were anything but that.

My friends from New Brunswick and Saskatchewan and I with a nurse veteran from WW2 that everyone calls Mama Max.

100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge -written by SJF student Emily Sabourin

Sunrise on ceremony day.

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YK1 Staff Spotlight YK1 Student

of the WeekSonia Longchamps, EAMme. Sonia is an Educational Assistant at Sir John Franklin High School and primarily works with the French Immersion program/classes.She moved to Yellowknife in 2008 from Sherbrooke, Quebec. She officially started working for YK1 in 2009 as an EA at William McDonald School and then moved to Sir John in 2010 and has been with us ever since. Previous to that she was hired as a substitute teacher at J.H. Sissons.Sonia has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and is currently pursuing further education. She is married and has three children.Students adore Mme. Sonia and many give her credit for their successes. Some students say they would have never survived high school without her. She cares so deeply for her students academically and personally. She is an educator and a compassionate shoulder to cry on.Sir John is very fortunate to have Mme. Sonia as part of the team!

Chris Yurris, Grade 12Chris is in his fourth and final year at École Sir John Franklin High School and he has taken advantage of his opportunities over that time.Over years he has been involved with assistant coaching junior sports teams, playing basketball, outdoor & indoor soccer, cross-country running, and track & field, but in his final year he has stepped up and taken on the leadership role as the SJF Student Council president.He is extremely passionate about SJF and we see it in the time and effort that he puts into everything he does. He is an excellent role model for the rest of our SJF students. Chris is off to St. Francis Xavier University next year to study political science.We wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Thanks El Presidente.

Telling tales is not only a leisure affair, but it can also be a preoccupation of tattle-talers. The advent of information and communication technologies have made the latter case so compelling that folks are not only preoccupied telling tales they’re also seemingly obsessed with all manners of platforms that allows them to share and exchange tales. Sordid tales solicits the adulation of often few, while the sensational stories salivates those who thirst for the melodramatic and flavored.

Tattle-talers tend to tell tales with reenacting juxtaposition and repeating conjunction, and sometimes such tales verge on the reprehensible, and undoubtedly from any point of view. Often such tales can conjure the bizarre, the comical, and the grandiose. And as such, formulating characters and plots that deconstructs and embeds meaning becomes a craft that tattle-talers don as universal parchments of approval.

Discerning the chaff from the grain is a necessary and transforming skill, when either writing or reading, and it is also an act worth a weight of attention. Since our current largess of social platforms and liberties makes time a premium commodity that cannot be simply exchanged for tattle-taling and tales browsing, or reading. So reading of tales or texts devoid of its appreciation and comprehension is a non-refundable trade-off. Would you reckon?

Would you reckon? -written by Mr. Obed Duru

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Falcons loved Twin Day so much that they had another one!

5 YEARSTomiko RobsonIsabelle FreakeSusan Shantora

10 YEARSKate PowlessDenise HurleyStephen Kirkham

15 YEARSPaul ShearmeObed DuruLeo EhrenbergLandon Peters

20 YEARSMicheline RicardArnold KrausePaul MacDonald

25 YEARSDoreen ClearyDean MacInnisPamela SchlosserMaureen TongeGwen Young

30 YEARSJan Byrne

35 YEARSSandra SchmalzNick Sokolowski

40 YEARSAllan McDonald

Congratulations to the following SJF staff for their long service with Yellowknife Education District No. 1. Staff members fromYK1 were recognized during an awards ceremony on April 22nd.

Congratulations SJF Staff!

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When I first joined the SJF Scuba Club, I expected that the experience was going to be enjoyable, but it turned out to be “excellente”. I knew that there was a large amount of work for us to complete prior to our trip to Cozumel, Mexico: Marine Biology, First Aid certification, PADI diving instruction (both in the classroom and in the pool), not to mention the many hours of fundraising. The process was long but worth it!

This experience was amusing and exciting and most of all - memorable. There are so many stories to share! While we were in Cozumel, we dove through the Palancar Reef for five days straight: two dives per day and one night dive - a total of eleven dives. The first stride jump into the salty ocean was nerve-wracking - it was a different environment for all of us but one that we got to share together. Over the first two days, we finished up our PADI Open Water course that we had started in the pool back in Yellowknife and became PADI Open Water Certified Scuba Divers! Everyone did an amazing job. Once we descended and were under water, it seemed natural because of our pool training. Although I expected it to be quite difficult, it was actually relaxing to view a whole new world of beautiful marine life that still amaze me now: nurse sharks, spotted eagle rays, a rare toadfish, a hundred-year-old turtle, lion fish, dolphins, and many more. The night dive was a completely different environment; many new creatures like octopi, lobster and glowing planktons come out at night. Unfortunately, the diving couldn’t last forever and we had to return home, but before we did, we got the chance to take a land excursion.

On the land excursion, we ventured to the land of Tulum, Mexico. The first stop: Mayan Ruins. We learned bits of their past and history as we walked around the park. We then took a short break near the end to do some exploring of our own. After we headed to Jungle Maya to take a short jeep ride where the cenotes, and zip lining activities were located. Firstly, we tried out the repelling descent into a cenote. At first, I was excited and anxious about wanting to go; however, I deeply enjoy these thrilling type activities. Next on the schedule, we went zip lining. Now that was one of my favourite parts of the trip. There were five towers that ranged from 25-65 metres high. Once the zip-lining was finished, we began our snorkeling adventure. We swam far into the dark cenote viewing the rocks and structures both above and underwater. This was truly something beautiful that I did not expect. Lastly, we took two more zip lines towards the entrance of the park and had a Mexican feast. What a day to remember!

The opportunity to go scuba diving is something I will never forget. Diving in Mexico is something you don’t do very often and takes a lot of work to accomplish. I am so fortunate that I got to experience this with my scuba friends and our amazing chaperones. This trip is definitely something worth repeating, and I will 110% join again in my senior year to gain my Advanced Open Water Certification!

Scuba Trip 2017 Cozumel, Mexico - Written by SJF student Ruby Danh

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On April 15, 2017, the SJF Scuba Club departed for Cozumel, Mexico where each member experienced the trip of a lifetime! A dedicated and energetic group worked hard at fundraising, completing the Marine Biology Course, and the Open Water Diving Course in the pool and in classroom sessions. These rigourous sessions required students to complete classroom work and score 80% on exams in order to participate in the trip.

Congratulations to the fourteen students and one chaperone are now certified Open Water Divers (Arianne Depot-Bernier, Ruby Danh, Hannah Murillo, Sarah duPlessis, Emma duPlessis, Nicolas Bennett, Robbie Paddock, Mindee Naismith, Tamara Jovic, Kayla Sanderson, Grace Clark, Shiri MacPherson, Niva Stephenson, Sophie Clark, Gabrielle LaMarche) and to the two students and one chaperone who are now certified Advanced Open Water Divers (Megan Vu, Alex Robb and Mike Mansfield) who have added to their skill set.

The people on the trip had a wonderful time both in and out of the water. The diving was exciting and adventurous with divers observing beautiful coral, a variety of fish, barracudas, nurse sharks, sea turtles, dolphins, octopi, spotted eagle rays, green moray eels and stingrays to name a few. The excitement of the diving was complemented with resort activities and a day excursion that included rappelling into a cenote, five ziplines, snorkeling in a cenote, a jeep ride, a trip to Tulum and a traditional Mayan ceremony.

Thank you to all the students who made the trip a most unforgettable experience! The students were wonderful ambassadors for our school and it was noted by a multitude of other guests while we were there!

Also, thank you to our chaperones (Ed Lippert, Mindee Naismith, Mike Mansfield, and Shannon Ferreira) who worked so hard to make this trip a memorable experience for the students. Our deepest gratitude goes to Colin Baile and Dawn DeBlieck, our local Master Divers, who trained us from the beginning and who were never ending with their support, guidance, humour and dedication to ensuring we had a safe and fun adventure while in Mexico.

We would also like to express our great appreciation to our District Office, our Administration, Lindsay Chiasson in Finance, our Front Office Staff (Wendy and Andrea) and parents who continue to support the variety of travel groups here at Sir John. Our thanks also goes out to the community who allowed our students and chaperones to undertake such an amazing experience by supporting a variety of opportunities for students to fundraise to help pay for their trip.

If you are interested in exploring the ocean by becoming a certified diver, please look for information about Scuba 2019 in the next school year as the planning begins early for the next trip!

Scuba Trip 2017 Cozumel, Mexico - Written by SJF Educational Assistant and

Scuba Trip chaperone Ms. Mindee Naismith

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SPORT SCHOOL Star of the Month

Logan DoyleApril was a good month of training for Logan in the Falcon Sport School. His form and technique continues to improve with each session in the weight room.In our gymnastics training sessions, Logan is usually one of the first to try the new moves that the coach is introducing. Through his efforts in this area, it is evident that he is trying to implement the correct techniques using cues from the coach.Logan is seeing great progress this semester and his overall efforts have culminated in him being selected as the athlete of the month for April in the Falcon Sport School. Congratulations, Logan!

As part of the grade nine curriculum, students are taught the importance of healthy dating relationships. In Mrs. Ferreira’s English class we read a book called Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn. The book was through the perspective of an abuser who as harming his girlfriend. Our end of unit project was to create something using any sort of media, to show our under standing on the book and on healthy and unhealthy relationships.I chose to show my understanding by creating a magazine that has a comic, a DIY, a book review and multiple articles pertaining to dating abuse. The article shown here is a page in the magazine that states what the early warning signs of an abusive relationship are. It is important to recognize these warning signs so that you can help friends, family and yourself.- Written by SJF student Cailin Willis, Grade 9

Warning Signs

The history of Canada will be told through stories and music in celebration of our 150th year.

This event will feature the band, choir, guitar ensemble and several soloists as we tell the tales of Canada together.

The senior band class will be featured along with SJF alumnus Azure DeGrow and special guests and "Committed" members,

Sean Daly and Scott Lough, in a performance of Peter and the Wolf, as we celebrate our rural beginnings.

Tickets are $10 available at the NACC box office

Join us on Tuesday, May 16 at 7pm at NACC for the

SJF Spring Concert

O Canada Eh!

The school band, SJF Unplugged, competed in the Yellowknife Music Festival and received a GOLD standing! The adjudicator from Edmonton loved our selections and thought that we were the best band that she had heard this Spring. Congratulations to Saki Tashiro, Brian Liang, Jenna Orr, Diana Rockwell, James Drew, Ruby Dahn, Nokuthula Rukobo, Carolynn Ugyuk, Ida Fells, Emily Sabourin and their conductor Ms. Shantora.É

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Music News

ICE CARVING On a cold, windy day in March, Sir John art students bravely carved images out of ice and it was well worth it! Congratulations to the 2017 Champions of the De Beers Group of Companies Inspired Ice High School Challenge. Their carving was called The Unicorn and “The Knucklebusters” are made up of Urbah Syed, Fowsiyo Mohamed, Melissa Clarke and Emily-Ann Andrews.

May 25, 20176:00pm at NACC

$5 admission, general seating, tickets available at NACC, all YK1 schools will be participating

MUSICMUSICshowcase

Yellowknife Education District No. 1invites you to our

LEAVING A LEGACYPORTRAIT PROJECT

ECOLE SIR JOHN FRANKLIN SENIOR ART CLASS PROUDLY PRESENTS:

FALCON ALUMNI

Carmen Braden

Leela Gilday

Dustin Milligan

Thursday, May 11, 2017, 7 PM Main Gallery @ Sir John Reception is OPEN to the PUBLIC Refreshments will be served.

Join us to view the acrylic portraits of 12 renowned Falcon Alumni

RSVP by May 9 to maureen.tonge@yk1.nt.ca

Nancy MacNeill

Dr. Michelle Tuma

Also featuring: Dr. Bob Bromley, Chris Bromley,

Maxine Avery, Susan Aglukark, Glen Abernethy,

Kirsten Carthew, and Kim Duong.

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Ms.Tonge's Senior Art class had a really fun time on Monday, April 24th exploring 'synaesthetic' art by painting music. Specifically, they listened to Bon Iver's "For Emma" & painted the musical notes and tones they heard in colour. It was amazing to see the individual and varied interpretations.

Congratulations to our Falcons that competed in the Gumboot Rally this past weekend. It was the 25th anniversary of this event, one that has historical roots to this school as it was Bill Gilday, our former music teacher, who started a singing group called the “Gumboots” (it included several YK1 and community staff members over the years). This group who first volunteered their singing services to the “Yellowknife Association for Community Living” and from then on this rally event established its identity.

Painting to Music

Giving Back to the community

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Photojournalism

“Most people tend to dress up in dresses or dress shirts on Fancy Friday, but I decided to wear something more diverse,” Tati explained. “It could be considered different from the norm, but as a student of Sir John I am fortunate enough to be able to express myself as well as different cultures, and know that my differenceswill be embraced.”

Tatianna Lim, left, and Viktor Hugo Antolin, right, are seen here dressingup for Fancy Friday.

The following photos were taken by SJF student Anika von Allmen, Grade 12 as part of an assignment in her Photojournalism course.

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SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

M A Y 2 0 1 7

Senior Super SoccerTerritorial Skills

CompetitionStaff Meeting

3:45pm

MADD Presentation

2:20pm

Grade 9 AAT Grade 9 AATLeaving a Legacy

7pm

SJF SpringConcert at NACC

7pm

PAC Meeting12noon

Dept. Head Meeting3:45pm

Spring Fling7pm

31 Hour Famine5pm

Victoria DayNO SCHOOL

YK Track Meet

SIP DayNO SCHOOL

Grad 2017Parent Meeting

7pm