Hello Sherwood Community,
Mid-semester report cards were distributed on Friday November 25th. We are hopeful that this is a “good news” item in your household but if not we would ask that you continue to communicate with our teachers to see how your son or daughter can improve in their academic studies. Parent assist is a great way to keep track of how your son or daughter is doing in their classes. If you have not signed up for parent assist, it is as easy as coming into the Guidance Office with ID to obtain your password.
We have had a busy start up in semester 1 as Sherwood continues to be a vibrant place of learning. November was Literacy Month at Sherwood and we spent two weeks in which everyone in the school read for 16 minutes. We also had a “got caught reading” initiative in which students who were caught reading had their name entered in a draw to win Chapters/Indigo gift certificates. On Tuesday November 22nd, community members from Sherwood had an opportunity to go to Indigo for a Sherwood fundraising night. We had staff and student musicians entertain us and we were able to get some Christmas shopping done. We raised over $700.00 which will be put back into the Sherwood Library. Thanks to Ms. Behiel for all her hard work in organizing this event and to Mr. Baker, Mr. Brady and our music students for showcasing the talent we have at Sherwood
During the week of Nov. 14th, our Student Council organized events for anti-bullying week. Thanks to Alaine Spiwak(President), Dylan McMullen(VP), the entire student council and teacher advisors, Mr. Murkovich, Ms. McKague and Mr. Szkwara for helping to make Sherwood a “bully free zone”. On Nov. 1st, we were able to recognize over 450 of our students at our annual Academic Awards Assembly. Thanks to Mr. Murkovich and the entire awards committee for organizing this event and to Ms. Reid, Ms. Smith and the Office staff for taking care of the “behind the scenes” details. Also on Nov. 1 over 80% of our Grade 9 students participated in “Take our kids to work day”. Thank you to Ms. Trikoupis for the time and effort she put forth in organizing this event for our students.
On November 11th, our students participated in our Annual Remembrance day assembly. We had three guest speakers, two or whom has served in Afghanistan, and it was a very powerful assembly. It was great to see how engaged our students were and how respectful they were of the presentation in front of them. In addition, the guest speakers, music and student presentations left everyone with a lasting impression of what November 11th means. Thank you to everyone who was involved with the assembly including our students, Ms. Karambelas and her drama class, Mr. Baker, Ms. Oliver and the band, Mr. Jones and his Grade 10 History class, Mr. Grant and stage crew, our cadets, Mr. Murray and Ms. Wilkie. Thank you also to Mr. Jones and his students for creating our hallway of heroes that has been commented on by many community members.
Fall sports have come to an end and I want to take this opportunity to thank the coaches and teacher advisors who have spent so much time working with our students. Congratulations to everyone on a great season. I really enjoyed watching our students compete. They are very fortunate to have a group of such dedicated coaches. Our jr. Boys’ volleyball team, coached by Ms. Kindree lost a heartbreaker in the finals, 3-2, to MacNab as they were denied their third City championship in a row. The Girls’ jr. basketball team, coached by Terry Lazar, Louie Ventresca and Ms. Karambelas, lost in the final to Guido de Bres. As we begin our Winter season, the Boys’ Sr. Basketball team, coached by Mr. Thomaidis, won the prestigious Ken Ormerod memorial tournament on Nov. 26th. We look forward to many more successes on the court, the rink and the pool.
On Wednesday November 23rd, Sherwood held our annual grade 8 open house for future Saints. We had over 150 people listen to what Sherwood is all about. Thanks to all our students who did presentations for our guests and to Ms. Mckague and all the staff involved for their work in organizing this very successful night.
Several Sherwood teachers and students participated in Movember to raise money for prostate cancer. We would like to thank all those who contributed as we were able to raise over $3000.00. Thanks to Mr. Szkwara for his leadership in this Month long event.
On Saturday Nov. 12th, many staff, students and community members were part of the Sherwood entry in the Santa Claus parade. The Saint Bernard’s dressed in Sherwood jerseys were the hit of the parade. Thanks to Angela Koklis (School Council Chair) for looking far and wide to get the dogs. Thanks also to Mr. Baker, Ms. Oliver, Mr. Malcew, the rep. band, Ms. Zsiros, Ms. Rose, Ms. Oliver and the cheerleaders and all the students who participated in the event. What a way to showcase some of our amazing staff and students!
The public ARC meeting at Hill Park on October 27th was very well attended as the community (including students) got an opportunity to share their views regarding the ARC process. I would encourage everyone to continue to keep up to date on the process and to that end; the next meetings will be held on Tuesday Nov. 29, Wed. Dec. 7 and 14 and Monday Jan. 16 from 6-9 at the Board of Education. A reminder that all meetings are open to the public. The last public meeting will be held on Tuesday Jan. 11 at a location to be determined.
As always, I thank you for your continued support as we provide the best educational experience for our students.
Mr. R. Gallant
Principal