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Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School

PIROUETTE Inside the March 2016 Issue

La

Undeterred by last week’s snow day, the Health and Physical Edu-

cation classes’ trip to Georgina Outdoor Recreation Centre was a

go (and a BLAST!) on Friday, March 4!

We are the Future 1

From the Administration’s Desk 2

Department News 3-12

PETHS is… Athletics 14-15

Mental Health & Well-Being 16

“It is our future in which we will find our greatness” - Pierre Elliott Trudeau

This edition of La Pirouette is proudly presented to you by editor John Shep, Assistant Head of Special Education, and assisted by Sandra Fusco, English teacher.

“DUCK!” was the theme of Wednesday, March 9’s dodgeball tournament presented by ESP (Empowered Student Partnership), in

collaboration with the York Region Police and club teacher advisors, Stephanie Veneruz and Reena Bhagani.

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From the Administration’s Desk

Even though the winter of 2015 did not seem to be

very Canadian, we are happy that warmer days are

finally upon us and soon we will see the signs of

spring. While we have already begun planning for the

2016-2017 school year, it is nice to see a newsletter full

of the incredible learning opportunities and experienc-

es that are provided to our school community. While

it is impossible to highlight them all, we are most

proud of the ways that our school community has

embraced the work of our Trudeau values: developing

our critical thinking skills, providing opportunities to

explore the post-secondary pathways and committing

to personal well-being.

This year our students, staff and parent community

have continued to embrace these three priorities and

listed below are only a few of the achievements of our

work together:

Our Trudeau Terrace (BUILD) continues to take

shape – we have installed 10 picnic benches and,

thanks to a grant from the Markham Environmen-

tal Sustainability Fund, an additional outdoor space

will be added this spring

We had record number of participants in many of

the academic contests that take place in the winter

– more than 100 students participated in the Uni-

versity of Waterloo Math contests and our Busi-

ness and Health Sciences students participated in

DECA and HOSA, with many students advancing

to international competition

Our athletes were well represented in the YRAA

competitions – of the many teams that trained this

year, our Senior Boys Basketball team won several

GTA tournaments and both our Senior Boys Vol-

leyball and Swim Teams competed in Ontario

championships

This year’s 1st Pathways and Careers Night was a

huge success and we welcomed 30 parents and

alumni to share their career knowledge with more

than 350 students and parents

Our Student Leaders have excelled: Our CREATE

conference has implemented initiatives for well-

being, Trusivity is leading the dialogue about equi-

ty and inclusion and our Student Council initiatives

such as #MyTrudeauStory or the upcoming semi-

formal provide opportunities to enjoy school life

outside the classroom

This small snapshot of a few highlights represents was

a fraction of the learning that is achieved here every

day. Students and teachers spend hundreds of hours

aiming to learn with and from each other.

We are also very proud that our School Council has

continued to provide opportunities to share infor-

mation and discuss topics that are of interest to our

parents, guardians, family and community members.

We hope that you will join us at one of our upcoming

Parents Reaching Out grant sessions on March 31 or

April 28 where we will have case studies and guest

speakers that focus on parenting tips and raising

healthy and successful teens.

Please follow us on twitter @trudeauhs or going to

http://goo.gl/KZsZ0w to keep up to date with all

our news and announcements. In addition, please do

not hesitate to e-mail any one of us if you have ques-

tions or feedback. Thank you all for the role you play

in helping to make our school a great place to learn

and work.

Trudeau’s SCHOOL COUNCIL Update

The School Council is committed to supporting quality learning in a safe environment through a partnership

with staff, students, parents and the community to provide the highest standard of education. All parents/

guardians are welcome.

“From Student Success to Lifelong Achievement” PRO Grant Student Case Study Discussion: March 31

Next meeting date: April 28 @ 7PM (PRO Grant Guest Speaker: Dr. Susan Chuang from the University of

Guelph)

For further info, please contact: Julie Lum, School Council Chair or e-mail

pierre.elliott.trudeau.hs@sc.yrdsb.ca

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Department News

Mathematics Karen Jagoe, Teacher

The Mathematics Department

wishes to congratulate Yuanxian

Wang, Jason Yuen, Vivian He, and

William Wen on their results in the

2015 Sun Life Financial Canadian

Open Mathematics Challenge, the

Math@Mac Online Mathematics

Competition and the American

Mathematics Competition. Vivian,

Yuanxian and Jason have been

invited to the second round of the

2016 Sun Life Financial CMO

Qualifying Repêchage Competi-

tion. As well, William, Jason and

Yuanxian have been invited to the

American Invitational Mathematics

Examination. Bonne Chance!!

The Euclid Mathematics contest is

on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Stu-

dents interested in writing the con-

test are to sign up with their Grade

12 Mathematics teacher or Mr.

Pournasrola. The deadline is Fri-

day, March 11.

Once again, the Ministry of Educa-

tion has provided special funding

for after school Mathematics pro-

grams for Grades 9 and 10 stu-

dents not meeting the provincial

standard. Forms are being distrib-

uted by Grade 9 and 10 teachers.

The Grade 9 After School Numer-

acy Program commences March 21

through April 20; classes are Mon-

days and Wednesdays. The Grade

10 After School Numeracy Pro-

gram commences March 21

through April 20; classes are Mon-

days and Tuesdays. Students are

asked to return signed forms to

their teacher before March Break –

Friday, March 11.

English Kristy Webster, Assistant Subject Head

We are incredibly pleased that

there are four sections of students

participating in the after-school

literacy classes at Trudeau. These

classes run for students in prepa-

ration for the OSSLT which is

being written on March 31. We

commend the efforts of these

students for putting in the extra

time and energy to prepare for the

test. We truly appreciate the sup-

port of the parent community in

making this endeavor such a suc-

cess. Best wishes to everyone

writing the test!

Unfortunately, due to lack of en-

rollment, the after-school Grade 9

session did not run first semester.

However, any parents who are

interested in having their son/

daughter receive any additional

support in developing the skills

crucial for the Grade 9 English

program are welcome to join this

semester’s after-school course.

When students return from March

Break, this extra support class for

Grade 9 students will run on

Mondays and Wednesdays after

school. Students can pick up

forms from the English office or

from their English teacher. The

English department looks forward

to supporting our Grade 9s!

Parents always ask us, “how can I

help my child perform better in

English?” Our answer is to en-

courage students to “read” and

then “read some more.” The fol-

lowing infographic stresses the

importance of reading and how it

can help and enrich their lives:

Keep up to date:

Don’t forget to check us out on

Twitter @trudeaumusic

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Department News

Business Emily Marotta-Kulcsar, Subject Head

Trudeau Business is off to a fantas-

tic, Semester 2 start! Our entire

Department welcomes back Mme.

Nethersole, who has re-joined us

to teach BTT1OF. We also said

farewell to Mme. Stevenson and M.

Jackson, and thanked them for all

of their hard work and dedication.

In January and February, our De-

partment also welcomed the Char-

tered Professional Accountants

Association (CPA of Ontario) who

presented information about their

institute and program of study. All

Grade 11 Accounting classes took

part in this informative and lively

set of presentations. A plaque was

awarded to our school on behalf of

the 6th place CPA provincial

placement of Raymond Si. This

is truly an outstanding achieve-

ment! We look forward to fu-

ture partnerships with CPA.

Last fall, our Business Leader-

ship students, along with the

Computer Science Department,

went to see a screening of the

movie The Intern. This field trip

was a huge success! Students

saw first-hand how the Business

themes of diversity, gender

roles, and collaboration exist in

Management.

Once again, our Introduction to

Business classes (BBI2O1) went to

the Cadbury plant in November.

They directly saw how production

processes are at the heart of busi-

ness. Thanks to Mr. Gandhi, Ms.

Ayliffe, Mr. Shields, Mr. Jackson,

and Mr. Kostandoff for your ef-

forts in making this trip a memora-

ble one.

Later this spring, our department

will, once again, host many provin-

cially-run contests that are spon-

sored by The Ontario Business

Educators’ Associa t ion or

O.B.E.A. These are annual events

that are held on the same day

throughout Ontario. As always, we

are anticipating great results from

Trudeau Business students!

In brief, there has been much

“Business” happening at Trudeau,

and we look forward to continue

fostering student success and ex-

cellence!

DECA Amul Gandhi, Teacher Advisor

2015-2016 was an amazing year for

DECA@Trudeau! The year start-

ed with over 200 students writing

the entrance test to join this year’s

chapter. After elimination, we had

130 students representing Trudeau.

This year, we had the privilege of

hosting the Regional Competition

on November 7, 2015. With over

1800 students competing from

throughout the Board, DE-

CA@Trudeau did not disappoint

with over 40 awards presented to

our students.

90 of the students qualified to

compete at the Provincial Compe-

tition over two days in February in

downtown Toronto. With over

8,000 students coming from across

Ontario, the competition was

fierce. Through hard work and

determination, 14 of our students

will represent Team Ontario at the

International Career Development

Conference (ICDC) this April in

Nashville, Tennessee.

We wish the following students

great success at ICDC: Tristen

Huang, Ethan Thompson, Alex

Lee, Grace Shan, Justin Oue,

Christy Lee, Abilash Sathyakumar,

Ellie Li, Sherry Sun, Flora Zhang,

Catherine Tang, Yiran Zhang, An-

tonia Racz and Stephen Choi.

Lastly, we would like to thank Ms.

Daleman, Ms. McKague, Ms. Mac-

Donald, Mr. Lee and Mr. Rajah

who took time out of their busy

schedules to help support the DE-

CA@Trudeau chapter this year.

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Transforma Dan Giang, Teacher Advisor

We are proud to announce that

Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School

now has a partner school in Brazil!

We have been matched with C.E.

Dom Antonio Almeida Moraes

Junior, a state school located in São

Gonçalo, a municipality in the

Greater Rio de Janeiro area with

approximately 600 students in

Grades 6-12.

Transforma is the educational

component of the Rio 2016 Olym-

pic Games. It aims to connect

schools in Brazil with schools from

participating Olympic countries

from around the world. As the

only school in Canada participat-

ing, our students are proudly repre-

senting the entire country.

The first stage of Transforma is

already complete with students

sending a cultural box filled with

i tems represent ing Canada

(pictured below). Members of the

Transforma Committee, including

Justin Hai, Kristen Price, Gary

Wang, and Evan Wong, worked

until late hours to prepare the box.

This box is currently being shipped

to our partner school and we

should expect a return package in

April.

Future events include a video ex-

change as well as a cultural fair to

be held in June.

History Kajal Joshi, Teacher

This year, our Grade 10

History students had

the exciting opportunity

to participate in the

“How We Remember”

contest offered by His-

torica Canada. The

contest challenged stu-

dents to create either a

piece of writing or art-

work around the theme

of remembrance for

World War One.

We are extremely happy and

proud to announce that

Grade 10 History student

Simon Lee (pictured above)

won first place in the Senior

Writing Division. Simon

wrote a screenplay about the

Halifax Explosion. All of the

entries submitted to the con-

test were reviewed by a jury

who viewed hundreds of sub-

missions from all across Can-

ada. As first place winner,

Simon received an iPad. We

would like to congratulate

Simon on this remarkable

achievement; we are all very proud

of you!

Simon’s screenplay can be viewed

online at http://canada1914-

1945.ca/

We would also like to congratulate

Nemica Raneethran, a Semester 1

Civics student in the History de-

partment. She was one of 107 stu-

dents selected from across Ontario

to participate in a three-day Model

Parliament Program

in Toronto. While

there, she met key

figures in Ontario’s

parliament including

Kathleen Wynne, and

learned about the

legislative process

through workshops

and presentations.

She did a great job

representing our

school!

Upcoming Events:

Our History students

are really looking for-

ward to a number of

field trips taking place this spring.

Our Grade 10 History students will

be visiting Camp Borden again this

year where they will have the op-

portunity to view a large collection

of weapons, soldier uniforms,

tanks, military equipment, and mili-

tary aircraft. Our Grade 11 World

History students will also be going

to the ROM to view the Rome and

Greece exhibits. Last, but not

least, our Grade 11 and 12 Law

students will be visiting the courts

again this year where they will be

able to speak to a judge and view

current, ongoing trials.

Department News

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Department News

Music Tiffany Wong & Ronald Cheung, Students

It has been a hectic, yet fulfilling

and successful time for the Music

Department as we slowly approach

the end of the school year at Pierre

Elliott Trudeau High School. Alt-

hough semester two only just start-

ed, our students have accom-

plished so much from attending

extended rehearsals to playing in

multiple music festivals across the

GTA.

Throughout these past few

months, students and teachers

have worked tirelessly to perfect

their competition and festival piec-

es. Of course, the ensembles’ hard

work did not go unnoticed. Our

students went to these festivals

with their heads held high and an

overwhelming confidence that

matched no other schools. At mu-

sic festivals such as OBA, OVF,

Kiwanis, GTI, and YCB, we re-

ceived many outstanding recogni-

tions from world-class adjudicators

who were blown away with every-

one’s performances. Their rank-

ings at these festivals are evidence

of the students’ hard-work, dedica-

tion, and passion for music.

Some highlights of the rankings

include: the Grade 10 symphonic

band, Grade 9 concert band, junior

strings, Grade 12 wind symphony

receiving a platinum rating; the

intermediate strings, Trudeau

chamber choir, Grade 9 concert

winds, Grade 11 wind symphony,

and Grade 10 symphonic wind

receiving a gold rating! Although

such recognitions are amazing, the

importance of attending these fes-

tivals and competitions is to allow

students to have the opportunity to

make music and connect with oth-

ers through their mutual love of

the art. Bravo to all students,

teachers, chaperones, and admin

for these amazing accomplish-

ments!

As we continue to journey through

the second semester of the school

year, we will approach our annual

Spring Harmonies Concert at the

FLATO Markham Theatre. Our

spring concert is a two-night con-

cert that showcases all the ensem-

bles’ musical abilities throughout

the school year. This concert is a

reflection of the students’ improve-

ments and skills that they have

garnered during the semester. The

Spring Harmonies Concert is an

amazing opportunity for parents,

guardians, and friends to attend

because our performances will

highlight an array of genres from

strings, to jazz, to vocals. It will

definitely be a jam-packed night

full of amazing music that you will

never forget. Our students have

worked very hard preparing for

this concert and support from their

friends and family will definitely

encourage them to continue to

pursue music and find joy when

playing their instruments.

In addition, a new initiative that

the Music Council will try to hold

is a bake sale. The objective of the

bake sale is to raise money to fur-

ther improve the resources that we

have in our department. With the

money raised, we will aim to buy

more iMacs for

our computer

lab to allow all

students to

have a chance

to use our re-

sources, to

benefit their

learning and

understanding

of music theo-

ry and to ad-

vance our stu-

dent’s learning

and devotion

to music.

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Course Selection Sabrina Cao, Student

A topic that constantly lingers in a

student’s mind, especially as gradu-

ation creeps around the corner, is

post-secondary education. At the

mere age of sixteen, Trudeau stu-

dents have taken, or will be taking,

their first steps into planning their

career path for the future. With

the pressure of making decisions

that will ultimately decide their life,

students often find this a frustrat-

ing process.

As a Grade 11 student, I am very

much caught up between the wave

of anxiety and excitement of life

after high school. Having recently

submitted my course selection

form, it was a shock to realize that

this is going to be the last time I

will be choosing my courses in

high school. The amount of free-

dom Trudeau provides for course

selection is amazing; students have

the choice from taking Food and

Nutrition classes to learn the art of

culinary, to learning Newton’s Law

in Physics. However, having this

enormous spectrum of courses

introduces another obstacle:

choosing those that fit a student’s

pathway. Many Trudeau students

get caught up in the process of

selecting appropriate courses that

will meet the pre-requisites for post

-secondary programs, and help

lighten their course load. As a re-

sult, the choices students make

today will impact their future pas-

sion for certain fields.

As we move past course selection,

we encounter many more decisions

heading our way, such as should I

apply for college or university?

Which program is fit for me?

What are my alternatives? With

decisions thrown at us at every

turn, the support of and encour-

agement of parents and teachers

are especially important. Now, I

do not mean the constant ques-

tioning of “what do you want to do

in the future?”, but instead guid-

ance and counselling as to how we

should proceed down this path.

After all, deciding for the future is

a big thing.

Co-operative Ed Fanny Leung, Teacher

Co-operative Education students

have started their work placements

this semester. The variety of path-

ways and careers that students are

experiencing include law, television

media, culinary arts, graphic design,

artistic game design, education, vet

and pet care, medicine, human

resources, chemical testing, ac-

counting and pharmaceutical stud-

ies (pictured here is Bunny Lee, Co

-op stu-

dent) .

We

would

like to

wel-

come

and

thank

our new

commu-

nity

partners for this semester: Clip-

wires Game Design, Fisher Envi-

ronmental Ltd. (chemical testing),

Buttonville Day Care, Holman

Exhibits, Dr. Jonathan Tai’s Dental

Clinic, Dog Village Grooming and

Daycare Center, Svirk Branislav

and Paradise Homes, Children’s

Place, Phase One Audio Group,

The Treadmill Factory and Dr.

C.K. Yeung Walk-In and Family

Clinic. We look forward to a se-

mester of fulfilling experiential

learning with all our existing and

new community partners. For

more information about co-op,

please visit http://goo.gl/

XzlsBY.

Department News

From the Guidance Office: Course verification was handed out this past Tuesday and is due back on Friday, March 11. This is

an opportunity for students to make changes to the courses they have selected for next year.

Grade 10 and 11 students attended assemblies where Ms. Linkewich explained how their course

selections actually determine the courses that run next year. The myths and facts of making

changes to timetables were discussed. Please see: http://bit.ly/1QtRm81 for the presentation

students saw.

Graduating students will begin applying for Grad Awards in early May. Students will see Tweets on

the Guidance Twitter account (@PETHSGuidance) and hear announcements about applying to

these Grad Awards.

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Student

Services Amrita Mulchand & Martin

Gorman, Teachers

Thanks to a $1,000

through Metro Green

Apple Grant and a gen-

erous donation of over

800 cans of soup from

local business, Key-

stone Studios, for Se-

mester two we have

expanded PLENTY - Trudeau’s

Breakfast Program. We are very

pleased that as a result our Com-

munity Classes from Rooms 104 &

105 will be further included in this

initiative.

This allows our students to gain

important life skills in the kitchen

as well as being the catalyst for

improved social skills as they greet

the students coming to the PLEN-

TY counter. We are looking for-

ward to the next few months of

this year and into next year as we

expand the menu of items being

offered by PLENTY and the role

our students will play in their prep-

aration. We would also like to

thank the mainstream students

who take the time to engage with

our students at PLENTY and we

encourage others to take the time

to do so.

With the help of these students

and the amazing staff members, we

have been serving over 100 stu-

dents daily, helping support their

academic success and well-being.

If you would like to know how you

can support our Breakfast Pro-

gram, please contact John Shep at

john.shep@yrdsb.ca.

Tech Studies Tara Antle, Subject Head

After a very busy and successful

first semester, we were excited to

welcome our semester two stu-

dents into our new classroom and

workshop spaces in Tech Studies.

As always, there is a lot going on in

all of our classes. From Computer

Engineering and Communications

Technology, to the projects being

designed and constructed by our

Tech Design students, it is no

wonder why time seems to be fly-

ing by so quickly.

Our newest classes, Hairstyling and

Aesthetics, have been very interest-

ing and exciting for students. On

March 8, stu-

dents were

busy with the

ManiCURE for

Cancer fund-

raiser, provid-

ing manicures,

hand and arm

massages, tem-

porary tattoos

and nail de-

signs, with all

money raised

going to the Canadian Cancer Soci-

ety. We are so proud of our stu-

dents for sharing their skills and

getting involved in this cause. Al-

so, we would like to congratulate

Bethany Mark from Ms. Meleca’s

class who entered the York Region

Skills Competition in Hair Styling

(pictured below). Bethany compet-

ed on March 3 at Seneca College,

winning a 2nd place medal for her

styling creations. Congratulations,

Bethany!

As always, we are looking forward

to learning with all of our students

and sharing their many successes

throughout the remainder of the

semester.

Department News

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Department News

Computers Lori Young, Department Head

During the week of December 7-13,

all of our Grade 9 students had the

opportunity to participate in the

Hour of Code which is a global

movement reaching tens of millions

of students in 180+ countries. We

believe that every student should

have the opportunity to learn com-

puter science. It helps nurture prob-

lem-solving skills, logic and creativity.

By starting early, students will have a

f o u n d a -

tion for

success in

any 21st

c e n t u r y

c a r e e r

path.

In Janu-

ary, six of

our Grade 10 students presented the

Hour of Code to some of our ele-

mentary partner schools (pictured on

right).

On February 17, 32 students from all

grades wrote the three hour Canadian

Computing Competition program-

ming contest from the University of

Waterloo, with one of our students,

Jason Yuen, receiving a perfect score

on the senior contest. On March 8,

the successful students wrote the

Canadian Computing competition

Olympiad Qualifying Round.

On March 30, we will be sending

four teams to represent our school at

the York Region Programming con-

test at Huron Heights. And, for the

second time, we will be sending an all

-female team.

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Department News

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Department News

Drama & Dance Shannon Mann, Department Head

This has been another amazing year

for the Drama and Dance depart-

ment, which culminates this semes-

ter with the Grade 12 Senior Show

May 12 & 13 and the full depart-

ment showcase “Mosaic” in June.

Our first semester Grade 11 pro-

duction students began with their

Remembrance Day performance at

the grade assemblies and culminat-

ed in a performance tour of their

show about the DOs and

DON’Ts of High School. The

students along with their teach-

ers, Mr. Keval and Ms. Boyd-

Navazo toured their shows to

Castlemore P.S. and Beckett

Farm P.S. Milliken Mills P.S.

also came for a visit to watch

this performance and stayed to

view the Grade 11 performance

class’ “Romeo and Juliet.”

Our first semester Grade 12

production class started out on a

retreat to YMCA Cedar Glen

(pictured on left), where students

and teacher, Mrs. Mann, spent

some time developing their compa-

ny and participating in team build-

ing activities. Their show “The

Struggles,” written by Kendra

Pearson, is about a student who

struggles with her

ADHD and dyslexia

and takes the audience

on a journey which

teaches us that we are

all unique and to em-

brace our struggles as

they are a part of us –

just because one is dif-

ferent does not make

them stupid or insignif-

icant. These students

took their strong mes-

sage on a two day tour to Bur Oak

S.S, Markham District H.S., Ash-

ton Meadows P.S and Castlemore

P.S. The students also performed

in a buy in which had almost 200

Trudeau staff and students support

their show! “The Struggles” com-

peted on March 3 in the Sears On-

tario Drama Festival hosted at Tru-

deau (pictured below) which start-

ed in a day of workshops by thea-

tre professionals and ended in a

final performance of their incredi-

ble show. All students on and off

stage performed with excellence.

However, this class became more

than a touring group, they became

a family and their teacher Mrs.

Mann could not be more proud of

all their accomplishments.

Our junior students also worked

hard in semester one and continue

to work hard in semester two. Our

Grade 9s performed the show

“Skin” by Dennis Foon and we

look forward to the large cast of

over 60 students performing this in

June, as well as our Grade 10s put-

ting together a show that focuses

on wacky Canadian laws from past

and present. The junior program

also hosted four co-op teacher as-

sistant students this year: Erin Un-

derhill, Andy Chang, Raemyn

Cheema and Kwame Brown.

Our Dance program is also busy

preparing for their dance show in

June, organized by their teacher

Ms. Twiddy. They have even been

learning some tap dancing from

Mrs. Mann! They have been hav-

ing a blast and are looking forward

to doing their own choreography.

Trudeau Theatrics hosted Cabaret

in December that had over 180

performers and an audience of

over 650 students, parents,

friends and teachers - our larg-

est Cabaret yet. There was

singing, dancing, teacher acts,

comedy acts. Overall, it was a

great time had by all. Special

thanks to Trudeau Theatrics

and our tech team for all their

hard work in making it a prob-

lem free evening.

For more information on what

is happening in the Drama and

Dance department follow us on

twitter @PETHS_theatrics or feel

free to contact Mrs. Mann, depart-

ment head at any time, shan-

non.mann@yrdsb.ca

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Department News

ESL Department hosts

international students from

Sir William Mulock SS for its

annual Chinese New Year

celebration on February 17

ESL

A shining example of staff and

student collaboration in modern

learning, mathematics and

mental health through

innovation, leadership and equity

For more info or to contribute,

contact susan.johnston@yrdsb.ca

BUILD

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PETHS is... Athletics

Volleyball Dave Weber, Coach

The senior boys volleyball team

(pictured below, left) travelled to

Windsor, ON, from November 25-

28, 2015, to play in the AAA OF-

SAA championships. It was the

first time a boys’ volleyball team

from our school qualified and we

were up for the challenge.

Despite being seeded #18 out of 20

teams and being the lowest seed in

our pool, our team made every

match competitive and became an

exciting team to watch. Some high-

lights from pool play included los-

ing a game to Agincourt Collegiate,

the eventual gold medal winners, by

a 27-25 score. We also took the

#12 seed, Christ the King from

Hamilton, to a third set despite

losing 17-15. We did win a match

over #15 seed, St. Peters from Pe-

terborough, in two games straight

and fought hard in a 28-26 loss to

the #5 seed from Eastview in Bar-

rie.

We now found ourselves in a spot

in the consolation quarter final

against the #7 seed, Chatham

Kent. This proved to be the best

volleyball match I have been a part

of in 20 years of coaching. Our

team played their hearts out and

never gave up for a moment. The

quality of defence we played was

incredible and many coaches and

players alike commented on what a

talented

team we

had. In

t h i s

m a t c h ,

we lost

the first

set 25-

13, but

r a l l i e d

to win

the next

t w o

with 25-

21 and

2 8 - 2 6

scores. We just needed

to win a third set to ad-

vance to play the next

day. The fourth set was

our biggest battle yet,

but we couldn’t finish

off our opponents and

lost 25-20. In the final

set, we put everything

we had into it with great

passing by Zhang Chen,

attacks by Benny Young,

incredible middle play by Tyler

Simcoe and Richard Sun, solid set-

ting by Chris Louie and all-around

awesome play by Adrian and Reid

Johnston. The final set was tied at

13 points apiece and it was any-

one’s game. Unfortunately, a

tough block and a big hit later and

we lost 15-13.

Despite the loss, OFSAA was a

great experience for all players and

coaches and our team was an amaz-

ing success. A few weeks after re-

turning home, we received a letter

and banner in the mail that we had

won the OFSAA Sportsmanship in

Sport Award for our amazing char-

acter and determination during the

provincial championships. This

award is voted on by the coaches,

officials and organizers of the tour-

nament. Although not a champi-

onship, this banner is displayed

proudly in our gym (pictured be-

low, right) as a testament to the

talent and integrity of this year’s

team.

Overall, we had a great season with

a tournament win in Unionville and

several runner up appearances.

This team had a 10-2 regular season

record and was the runner up in the

YRAA Championship. A big con-

gratulations goes out to our gradu-

ating players Dawson Li, Abel

Shen, Tommy Peng, Chris Louie,

Richard Sun, Wilfred Zhang and,

our captain, Tyler Simcoe. All of

you have done your school very

proud.

15

PETHS is… Athletics

Rugby

John Shep, Coach

We have been rebuilding the Rug-

by program here at Trudeau over

the last year. What you may not

know is that this rebuilding was a

student-led initiative. Ms. Young,

Mr. McCumber and I had a group

of Grade 11s and 12s come to us

last year with a plan, a committed

group of 30 students and the assis-

tance of a local Community

Coach. They showed a great deal

of leadership and did it all with the

utmost respect. Those who re-

mained at the school this year have

been continuing to build the pro-

gram, running a 7s team and inspir-

ing the Juniors and Girls to organ-

ize teams as well. In the weeks

leading up to the March Break,

they volunteered on their lunches

to go into Phys. Ed. classes to

teach the non-contact fundamen-

tals of Rugby and took interested

students on a Field Trip on March

8 to the Markham Sports Dome to

work with our Community Coach,

Martin Coe. Now, with the help of

Mr. Weber, tryouts will be held

when students return from March

Break, open to Boys and Girls of

all skill levels and grades.

These are the types of students that

prove there is great value in sport

beyond the physical. They demon-

strate the camara-

derie, leadership

and character that

we hope all stu-

dents will aspire to.

Senior Boys

Basketball

Dave Kroetsch, Coach

2015-2016 season highlights:

27 wins and 8 losses

YRAA Sr.

Boys Tier 1

semi-finalists

St. Br.

Andre Rick

Maloney Car-

dinal Classic champions

Fr. Michael McGivney

Prestige Holiday Clash

tournament champions

George Brown Col-

lege Frankie Gyamfi Me-

morial tournament 4th

place

All Spring 2016 sports will begin

after March Break!

For all Trudeau Athletics news

and updates, on Twitter, follow

@PETHSAthletics

16

Just LISTEN, NOTICE AND

CONNECT

From the YRDSB:

It is never too early to learn how to recognize the

signs of mental health problems and indicators of

stress that can contribute to mental health prob-

lems. Both adults and kids can learn how to rec-

ognize the signs of stress and ways to stay men-

tally well.

If you are worried about your child's moods

or behaviours, talk to your child about it. You

might say something like:

"I've noticed lately that __________, and I'm

worried because that's not normal for you."

"How are you doing?"

"How have you been feeling? You seem really

down lately?"

"What's been bugging you these days?" or

"What's been stressing you out these days?"

Talk to the staff at your child's school. Talk to

your child's teacher, who is able to see your child

at school and compare how your child is doing

compared to other children. You might ask:

How your child is doing in school

How your child is getting along with teachers or

classmates

Any concerns the teacher has

Take your child to see a family physician or

pediatrician or have your child seen by a

mental health professional, like a psycholo-

gist, social worker, or psychiatrist.

Encourage them to visit anonymous supports

like KidsHelpPhone.ca

From Anonymous

I am a staff member who has experienced mental health issues

on and off for almost ten years. Stats show that one in five staff

members, one in five students, one in five parents and guardians

will be like me.

At different times in my journey, I have sought therapy, needed

medication and have continued to use coping strategies to allow

myself to stay resilient through it. But more than any of these,

this ability to make it through these struggles has been because

of those who have just noticed, listened and connected.

The details, the sordid specifics are not for here; neither is this

about those who have made feeling anonymous the norm. This

is for those who have helped along the way, those who have

made me feel valued and not anonymous:

For ___ who encouraged me to get help, to take care of myself

so I could take care of others, and then became a source of that

help;

For ___ who asked me why “I ain’t flashed a smile in a long

while”;

For ___ who was brave enough to not hide behind “it’s none of

my business;”

For ___ who took an unknown for coffee to become known;

For ___ who showed me that an act of caring can come in many

forms: it can be honesty, it can be a cookie.

This is also for anon, for tomorrow. This is a bold step forward,

to bring mental health issues out of the darkness and into the

light, to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with

mental health.

The next bold step of tomorrow is ours. We all have the power

to make it so our students, our colleagues, our children and

loved ones do not have to remain anonymous. We just have to

notice, listen and connect.

Mental Health and Well-Being

For up-to-date Trudeau event

information, visit our website:

www.trudeau.hs.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/

And find us on Twitter: @trudeauhs