March Newsletter

Inside this issue

Nanaimo Dry Grad ...................... 2

This Month in Physics 11 ............. 2

Future VIU Student Night…………..2

Graduation 2016 ......................... 3

Upcoming Dates.......................... 3

Tofino Fishing Trip ...................... 4

International Student Trips ......... 4

Tech Trek at UBC ......................... 4

Provincial Exam Results……………..5

THS is 20 Years Old!......................5

Grad Photos……………………………...6

Message from the Principal—

Catherine Brazier

On Being a Responsive School

“No one seeks to create a new setting that is a replication of

the old.” These words were written by a well known educa-

tionalist, Seymour Sarason in his book The Skeptical Visionary.

Sarason is providing a cautionary comment to schools who

choose to begin the daunting task of school reform. His

writing reflects a common pitfall for reform educators when

they, with enthusiasm, purpose and justifiable reason, begin

to change (or newly create) an education system in order to

better meet the needs of the student population with which

they work. The pitfall has to do with wanting to create some-

thing new but, often unconsciously, defaulting to developing something that continues to

remain within the realm of the safe and familiar.

At The High School at VIU the staff are exploring a possible change to how we do school

that is in response to the common needs we are seeing within our student population. I

started with the paragraph above because we are aware that the current model of high

school “the safe and familiar” is not working well for the vast majority of our stu-

dents...even if they don’t realize it themselves. Sarason’s caution is also important for us

to keep in mind so that we remain focused on the recognized needs of our students ra-

ther than what we, as educators, find comfortable and familiar. We are excited, curious

and a little nervous. The excitement and curiosity are absolutely required for any change

effort. The nervousness will ensure the accountability and checks and balances needed

as well.

As the BC Ministry of Education continues to roll out the new K-12 curriculum we plan to

work to be at the front of the change curve with our plans to explore a Self-Directed

Learning Model for THS. This type of model fits well with the new curriculum’s direction

that focusses on inquiry based and personalized learning.

For any of you that may have heard the term ‘self-directed learning’ it might conjure up

visions of students being set loose to figure things out for themselves. This is absolutely

not what we are envisioning. In fact, we are looking at a model of schooling that will

provide students with more guidance and support in a way that is individualized for

them. This will be accomplished through a variety of systems of instruction, coaching,

advising, accountability and ongoing assessment.

What we are excited about (among many other elements) is that a Self-Directed Learning

Model has the potential to be responsive to those learners who are ready to “charge

ahead” as well as for those learners who need more time to solidify new skills and

knowledge. Within a flexible framework, both types of learners, can work and learn at

the pace that works best for them.

We are hoping to begin implementation in September 2016. However, no changes will

be made before their time. We will keep our school community updated as to our pro-

gress. In the meantime you may find the following link of interest:

A Unique Learning Model: Thomas Haney Secondary, Maple Ridge, BC (video link)

March 2016 Issue 5

This Month in...Physics 11 In Physics 11, students are exploring kinematics: the sci-ence of motion! Students have been working their way through inquiry-based labs as teams. They designed their own experiments to prove their hypothesis about velocity and acceleration. So don't be surprised if you see the class out dropping eggs from high places or playing with bouncy balls, tennis balls, marbles, stopwatches and toy cars. It turns out, toy cars can teach us

Future Student Night— Wednesday, March 16th

6:30-8:30pm in the Royal Arbutus Room (above the Cafeteria)

Whether you’re a future VIU student ready to start in the fall or just want to learn

more...join us!

Spend an evening with VIU community members who can answer your questions and

get you connected to the university. Get to know representatives from Student Advis-

ing, our lovely Recruitment Officers, some amazing current students (Student Ambas-

sadors) who are there just for you.

Future Student? Potential Student? Parent? Guardian? Grandparent? We want to

meet you!

RSVP (appreciated but not required); joanna.hesketh@viu.ca or

christine.heffernan@viu.ca

Spring Break Days— March 14-18 and March 21-24

Join us for Spring Break Days on the Nanaimo Campus! Campus and Residence tours.

Speak with Student Ambassadors and Drop-in Advising in Building 200.

Registration is required: https://www2.viu.ca/newstudents/SpringBreakatVIU.asp

Class Shadows

Interested in sitting in on a class? When you register for Spring Break Days, let us

know the program area you have applied for (plus your area of interest for BA, BBA,

and BSc) and we will see if there is a class that you can join while you’re on campus.

Questions? Contact joanna.hesketh@viu.ca

“Everywhere we’ve been, we have been leaving traces…” ‘We Were Here’ music and lyrics by Boy

Nanaimo Dry Grad— June 24, 2016

Future Student Night and Spring Break Days at VIU

Dry Grad provides graduating

student with the opportunity

to celebrate their success at

an alcohol and drug-free

event.

The event is hosted at the Beban Park

Complex in Nanaimo. Graduates will be

entertained with many fun filled activi-

ties. Events include karaoke, scuba div-

ing, kayak races, movies prize give-a-

ways and much more will round out the

all night affair. The event also includes a

colossal amount of food, drink, friends,

music - and a lot of fun!

850 students attended Dry Grad

2015. We hope with further support and

awareness about Dry Grad, this number

will grow yearly! Approximately 300

volunteers participate during the night.

Tickets are $55 and can be purchased at

the school office.

Please visit the website for more infor-mation: www.nanaimodrygrad.com/student-information.html

2

Upcoming Dates

March 12-28 Spring Break

March 29 Classes resume

March 31 Assembly, 8:45

April 5 Grad Photos

April 18 Assembly, 8:45

April 29 Report Cards

May 23 Victoria Day

June 14 Grad Events

June 15 Pro-D Day

June 21 Last day of classes June 23 English 10 Provincial exam June 24 English 12 & Science 10 Provincial exams June 27 Math 10 Provincial exam

Graduation 2016

The year is flying by and Graduation is almost

around the corner!

Each June, at The High School at VIU, we all

celebrate our graduates. Graduation at THS is

a whole school affair, from the ceremony to

the dinner/dance celebration.

We encourage all students to join in the even-

ing celebration. Homestay families are warm-

ly welcomed to both the ceremony and the

dinner/dance as well!

A common question we get from the families

of graduates is “How many tickets are we

allowed to get?” Here is yet another advantage of a small school...there is no limit!

We have had graduates bring a dozen or more family members to the ceremony and

the evening celebration. The more the merrier we say!

This year’s event:

June 14, 2016

Ceremony: 1pm in the Malaspina Theatre (Building 310)

Dinner/Dance: 6pm at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre

Tickets: $45 each and can be purchased at the school office or online at Eventbrite (http://www.eventbrite.com/e/graduation-dinner-dance-tickets-22802119754)

3

Some of our 2016 Graduates

Tofino Fishing/Surfing Trip in June

On June 3 THS will take stu-dents on our annual fishing and surfing trip to Ucluelet. Mr. Butler will drive a VIU 24 passenger bus to transport all students to Ucluelet on Friday June 3 right after school. We have rented a house in town that is an easy walk to local shops and the waterfront. It also has a hot tub, full kitchen and barbeque, all of which we will make use of. On Saturday morning, early, the fishing group will leave. They will return about 1:00pm. The surfing group will have a little more time to sleep as the lessons will not start until about 10:00am. They will finish at about 1:00pm then travel back to Ucluelet. Saturday evening we will barbeque fresh salmon and crabs, if we are lucky and the traps are full. The itinerary will repeat on Sunday with the second fishing group leaving at 5:30am and the surfers leaving at 9:00am once again. We will all meet at the Ucluelet dock for final loading and return home. The cost of this weekend is $500 per student. This includes transportation, fishing licences, surfing lessons, food and ac-commodation. Any questions? Contact David Butler at david.butler@viu.ca

International Student Trips Outside of Nanaimo

UBC’s Department of Computer Science is offering a series of workshops for high

school students who are interested in exploring the world of computer science.

Saturday, April 2, 2016 (10:00 AM - 1:00 PM)

Industry speaker: Google

Faculty speaker: George Tsiknis

The TechTrek Saturday workshop program brings high-school students and parents to

campus for a half-day of computer-science activities, including programming, learning

to design programs and games, and listening to real industry professionals and univer-

sity experts talk about the cutting edge of technology-- all in a fun, friendly environ-

ment, complete with snacks! Registered students can enter to win cool prizes!

Students who are interested in attending need to register at:

https://apps.cs.ubc.ca/TechTrek/

Recently I have been receiving many

requests from underage students (under

19) who want to go to Vancouver (and

other locations) and stay overnight with-

out adult supervision. These overnights

would sometimes be at a friend’s place

and sometimes, in spite of age re-

strictions, would end up in hotels.

I have sometimes agreed to the trip, if I

got explicit permission from their par-

ents. Even with this permission I have

always felt uneasy about this practice.

After consultation with other principals

who are custodians for international

students I have decided to stop this prac-

tice immediately.

Going forward, international students

who are under my custodial care, will

not be permitted to stay overnight out-

side of Nanaimo without an adult of at

least 25 years of age who is approved by

me.

International students will continue to

be permitted to travel outside of Nanai-

mo with their homestay families.

4

Tech Trek at UBC: Computer Science for Girls Saturday Workshop

“Good luck on the final exams you're complaining about on Facebook instead of studying for.” -Anonymous-

Provincial Exam results from the January sitting can be accessed by students at the

Student Secure Website (https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/tsw/tsw/student/ ).

Students who do not have an account will need to create one using their PEN

(Personal Education Num-

ber). This number is on all

report cards and on the

student card received

from THS when they ar-

rived.

Twenty years ago, then VIU President,

Richard Johnson, envisioned a university

campus that welcomed the world. As

part of his vision, The High School at VIU

was born. The school has gone through

many name changes over the years but

has remained a high school that wel-

comes students from countries around

the world to come to VIU and study for

their BC graduation diploma alongside

Canadian students.

Later this year we will be cele-

brating the school’s 20 year

history with an alumni reun-

ion , Open House and a varie-

ty of other activities.

Please save your calendar

dates for our exciting celebra-

tion:

Thursday June 9th

2-4pm Open house at school in-cluding a “Butler” BBQ

Friday June 10th Dinner at Royal Arbutus Room Doors open at 5:30pm, dinner at 6pm Link for Reunion tickets https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-high-school-at-viu-20-year-reunion-alumni-dinner-tickets-20895038623?aff=efbevent Photo: Alumni reunion dinner De-cember 2014

5

Provincial Exam Results

The High School at VIU is 20 Years Old!!!!

Grad Photos will be taking place on April 5th starting at 8:30am. It is important that

all graduates are at school that day for these photos.

Students who would like retakes from

the regular school photos taken earlier

in the year may also get pictures taken

on April 5th.

Grad Photos and Retakes The High School at Vancouver Island University

900 Fifth Street, Building 350

Nanaimo, BC

Phone: 250-40-6317

www.viu.ca/highschool