Thorsby Junior Senior High School www.tjshs.blackgold.ca January 2016

Principal’s Message (AKA The Ganton Gazette)

Thorsby High School Community,

Welcome to 2016. In an effort to increase our communication with the school community, we

are resurrecting our monthly newsletter. THS has had an excellent start to the year with many

new and exciting changes. Before we touch on said changes, allow me to introduce myself to

those of you I have not had the pleasure to meet. I have been involved in education since

2006, when I graduated from the University of Alberta. In my 10 years in education, I have

taught in five different schools: Ashmont Secondary School (Ashmont); St. John’s School of

Alberta (Stony Plain); John Maland High School (Devon); New Sarepta Community High

School (New Sarepta); and finally Thorsby High School. My primary background is as a high

school math and science teacher and this is my first year as a principal. I have completed a

Masters Degree through the University of Portland in Educational Leadership.

Now that’s enough of the boring stuff. I grew up in Devon where my main interests were play-

ing hockey, baseball, basketball, and golf. I now live in Edmonton with my wife Bethany and

my two children: Jack, who is five, and just started kindergarten; and Ruby, who is two, and

does an excellent job of being two.

To the dismay of many in the grade 12 class, we have made some changes this year at THS:

We have many new staff members: Mr. Jonah Feil has replaced Mr. Lidkea; Mr. Justin

McFadyen has replaced Mr. Klaassen; Mr. Theo Dykstra has replaced Ms. Fouquette; Mrs.

Cheryl Raugust is our new Librarian/Educational Assistant; and last but not least, Mrs. Pam

Fouillard, also an Educational Assistant.

In September, thanks to the hard work of Mr. Klaassen and everyone last year, we were able to

start a breakfast program with money that was fundraised. The breakfast program currently

runs on Tuesday and Thursday and is available to the entire school population. We would

welcome any help with running the program that the community can offer to ensure its con-

tinued success.

Some of the more minor changes that THS has seen: we have a new logo and crest (new spirit

wear will be available soon). Our FLEX program has become primarily a core remediation

block giving students time to work with staff on their homework or areas of struggle. Also, our

exam week will run a little differently with all exams being written in the morning and a study

hall being run in the afternoon. Finally, the grade 12’s the most controversial change was that

we have switched the order of announcements and O’Canada with the latter being played prior

to the announcements.

In the new year we at THS really want to focus on accountability. We need students to recog-

nize the importance of their education, and be motivated to do well and positively contribute

to their school and community. We want everyone to look towards the future! We request

your help to give your children the education that they deserve.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to call the school or drop by in person.

Thank you for your time in reading this message and I look forward to working with you.

Cheers,

Jon Ganton

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

September................................ 2

October .................................... 2

Awards Night ........................... 3

December................................. 4

PTA Report .............................. 5

Sports ....................................... 6

Exam Schedule ........................ 8

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST

Staff/Students play basket-

ball game—who won?

How much money was given

out for awards? Check it out!

PTA News—who’s the execu-

tive

Exams are coming quick

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela

SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

OCTOBER HIGHLIGHTS

September was a busy month.

Welcome to our new staff

members:

Mr. Jon Ganton

Mr. Justin McFadyen

Mr. Theo Dykstra

Mr. Jonah Feil

Mrs. Cheryl Raugust

Mrs. Pam Fouillard

2

Terry Fox Run

NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

PTA NEWS

Here are the 2015-2016 Board Members of the

Parent Teacher Association.

President: Denise Seib

Secretary: Lorelei Stern

Treasurer: Shelly Birch

AGLC Rep: Kathy Mudry

Community Reps : Sharon Powlik

Gloria Peterson

AWARDS NIGHT

Awards were handed out to

a large number of ur stu-

dents on Friday, November

20 at our annual Awards

Night. Students were recog-

nized for their achievements

in Academics aw wall as

Citizenship, Volunteerism,

Yearbook and Athletic

Awards.

This year, two new scholar-

ships were given to students.

Thanks to Miss Ormberg

and Miss Brown, we now

have an Art and a French

award.

By the end of the ceremony,

almost $8000 was present-

ed to our students. Congrat-

ulations to all and a tremen-

dous thank you to all who

have sponsored awards for

these amazing students.

3

Our male teachers participated in Movember.

The students and staff raised over $800 for

Men’s Health !

All dressed up!

DOOR DECORATING

The annual Door Deco-

rating Contest took place

the last week of school

before holidays. The

Grade 9 Class took first

place!

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Students in grades 7-10 and 12 competed against staff

members in a Basketball game on Friday, December 11. It

was a hard-hitting game, and the teachers came out victori-

ous! It was a great game enjoyed by all!

Students in Grade

9, a few Grade 10’s

Miss Ormberg,

Mrs. Verhun and

Mr. Olson enjoyed

a presentation of “A

Christmas Carol” at the Cit-

adel Theatre on December

16.

STAFF VS STUDENTS BASKETBALL GAME

4

Basketball is in full swing at Thorsby Junior Senior High School.

The Senior Boys and Girls are in a few upcoming tournaments:

Sr: Boys: Westlock—-January 8/9

Ponoka—-February 19/20

Warburg—-February 26/27

Sr. Girls: Westlock—January 8/9

Ponoka—February 12/13

Warburg—February 19/20

Check out the calendar online to find league games for all teams.

Ski Club is up and running

again! We will be making

evening trips to Rabbit Hill

and capping off the season

with a trip to Marmot Basin!

Rabbit Hill Nights

January 11 (Mon)

February 8 (Mon)

February 18 (Thurs)

February 22 (Mon)

March 1 (Tues)

March 7 (Mon)

March 17 (Thurs)

We leave right after school and

return to the school at approx-

imately 9:00 pm. Fees are due

the week before each ski night.

Marmot Trip

The Marmot Trip has been

scheduled for Tuesday, March

22 and Wednesday, March 23.

More details will follow.

*Skiers must attend 3 Rab-

bit Hill nights to be eligi-

ble for the ski trip to Mar-

mot Basin and be in good

academic standing

BASKETBALL NEWS

SKI CLUB

5

Go Sabres!

The Career Centre in the Library has a wealth of information to help you apply for secondary

education,scholarships, and financial aid.

Our Student Union President is Jodi Jacob and our

Vice President is Paige Forster. We’ve been busy already this

year. We planned all of the Halloweek activities, had a couple

theme days, and delivered Santa–grams at Christmas.

Here are a couple of upcoming events we have planned:

Pizza Sale: Tuesday, January 19

Valentine’s Day Candy Grams will be sold February 10, 11 and 12.

We are doing our very

best to keep our website

up to date now. Newslet-

ters, calendars, and per-

mission forms will now

also be available online as

well. Check it out at

www.tjshs.blackgold.ca

Follow Student Union on

Instagram @

ths.studentsunion

STUDENTS UNION

TJSHS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

6

The Breakfast Program

runs Tuesday and

Thursday mornings.

The Concession is open

at lunch on Monday,

Wednesday and Friday.

If there is no school on

Monday or Friday,

changes to the schedule

are posted.

Exam Procedures

A.M. 8:35—9:20 Review for upcoming exams

9:20—9:30 Exams written

9:30-11:30 (Sr High can leave after 1 hr, Jr High must be in the gym until 11)

11:30—12:15 Lunch

12:15-3:08 Optional Study Hall (students can only leave with a signed permission form—no

phone call releases)

All Junior High and Senior High exams are held in the gymnasium. Diploma exams will be held

in Computer Lab, Band Room or Extra office

EXAM SCHEDULE

7

January 2016

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13

English 30-1/30-2

Part A

14 Social 30-2 Part A

15 16

17 18 19

English 30-1/30

-2 Part B

20

Social 30-2 Part

B

21 22 23

24 25 Math 30-1/30-2

Jr High English

Social 10-1/10-2

Social 20-1/20-2

26 Jr High Social

Chem 20

Science 10/20

English 10-2

27 Jr High Science

Math 10 C/10-3

Math 20-1/20-

2/20-3/20-4/20-5

Math 30-3

28 Jr High Math

Bio 20

29

NO SCHOOL

PD Day

30

31

**Diploma Exams are

written from 9:00

am—11:30 am**

January 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6

Early

Dismissal

7

Ski Night

8

Sr Boys and Sr Girls

Basketball @ West-

lock

9

Sr Boys and Sr Girls

Basketball @ West-

lock

10 11

Ski Night

Sr Basketball vs

Breton@ Breton

12

Jr Girls basketball

vs Clear Vista

13 14

Jr Boys Basketball

vs Caledonia

15 16

17 18 19

SU Pizza Sale

Jr Girls Basketball

vs Louis Bull

20

Jr Boys Basketball

vs LJH

21

Jr Boys Basketball

@Dansereau

22 23

24 25

26 27 28

Jr Boys Basketball

vs Clear Vista

29

PD Day

No School

30

31

February 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

Start of

Semester 2

2 3

Early Dismissal

Power School

Marks for S1

available

4

Teachers’

Convention

NO SCHOOL

5

Teachers’

Convention

NO SCHOOL

6

7 8

Ski Night

9 10

Candy grams for

sale

11

Candy grams for

sale

12

Sr Girls Basketball

@ Ponoka

Candy grams for

sale

13

Sr Girls Basketball

@ Ponoka

14 15

Family Day

No School

16 17 18

Ski Night

19

Sr Boys Basketball

@ Ponoka

Sr Girls Basketball

@ Warburg

20

Sr Boys Basketball

@ Ponoka

Sr Girls Basketball

@ Warburg

21 22

Ski Night

23 24 25 26 27

28 29