February has found us and I am sure, like most of you, the thought of Valentine’s Day places stars in your eyes and warmth in your hearts. Most of you will likely already be experiencing these same feelings as our first set of exams has passed and the excitement of a new start has presented itself. Let us take a moment to consider the possibilities sur-rounding new beginnings with regards to our students and staff. A New Semester High School students have embarked on their second and final semester of the year. Planning new IPP goals and re-flecting on accommodations and strate-gies for learning will position our students for an exciting and successful end to the academic year. Grade 6s and Grade 9s Our recent transition evening led by Mr. Burla and Mrs. Jordan opened up the

possibilities and opportunities available in the Junior and Senior High. While extra-curricular and travel experiences may top the list for our students, the fact that they will continue to receive a personalized educational experience that will ensure they continue to find success is surely top of all of our lists. New Additions The literal consideration of new begin-nings sees three of our staff members welcoming new lives in to the world. Over the winter break Mrs. Thomson and her husband welcomed a baby girl, Grace into their family. In January, Mr. Mellor and Ms. Osaka welcomed into their home, baby girl, Zoey, while Ms. Caines and her husband welcomed a baby boy, Archer, into the world. We send well wishes to our staff and the newest addi-tions to our Rundle family.

Volume 12 , Issue 4

ME S S AG E FROM THE PR IN CI PAL

R O C K I E S R U M B L I N G S

RUNDLE ACADEMY 4330 16 Street SW

Calgary, AB T2T 4H9 Ph: 250-2965 / Fax: 250-2914 www.rundleacademy.ab.ca

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Message from the Principal Sandwich for a Story

1

Counsellor’s Notes 2

Society News Parent Advisory Council Gr. 7 / Gr. 10 Orientation Night

3

Elementary Academic Fair 4

In Their Own Words Parent Presentation

5

TELUS Spark Science Centre 6

Junior High Numeracy Project 7

Vertigo Theatre Elementary Literacy Day

8

Junior High Literacy Day Junior High girls Basketball

9

Grade 7/8 Boys Basketball Grade 8/9 Boys Basketball

10

Senior High Girls Basketball Senior High Boys Basketball

11

Junior High Honour Roll 12

Senior High Honour Roll 13

Activities for February 14

Rundle Uniform Store Changes 15

School Nurse - Measles 16

School Nurse - Measles Cont’d 17

February 6 , 2015

“WE MOVE MOUNTAINS”

SAN DW ICH FOR A STORY

On Wednesday, February 4th, Kids Help-

ing Kids had the pleasure of hosting Sam

Sawchuk for a ―lunch and learn‖. Sam is

a Rundle College Alumni, and along with

another friend of his, they started

―Sandwich for a Story.‖ This is a move-

ment that aims to give a face to the

homeless community by spending time

together, rather than simply walking past

someone who is living on the street, or

giving them spare change without much

thought. Their aim is to breed empathy

through familiarity among the homeless

community. The students were able to

ask Sam questions about what he does,

and we look forward to seeing how our

group can help them out! If you have any

questions, speak to someone involved in

Kids Helping Kids, or you can visit their

website at www.sandwichforastory.com.

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 2

COU NS E L LOR ’S NOTE S

Learning Disabilities and Post-Secondary Education Please see below an invitation to the "Transition to Post-Secondary Education for Students with Disabilities" event that will be held on February 21, 2015. This event is intended to facilitate the successful transition from high school to post-secondary for students with disabilities, who may be requiring accessibility services. There will be a number of local post-secondary representatives in attendance to answer any questions from students and parents. Please feel free to contact me at 403-250-2965 (Ext. 103) or staniloff@rundle.ab.ca if you have any questions or con-cerns regarding academics or psychosocial topics.

Ms. Amie Staniloff, School Counsellor

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 3

SOC I ET Y NE W S

Uniform Store Hours

All Year

Monday to Thursday - 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Friday - 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.

Store Closed Daily - 12:00 P.M. to 1:00 P.M.

January’s PAC meeting preceded a highly informative presentation by Ms. Staniloff regarding exam preparation and study strategies. Those in attendance took away a great deal of information and a better understanding of some strategies that could be employed at home in sup-porting their child’s review heading into Midterms, Finals and Diplomas. Unfortunately, PAC m embers were left in suspense, as a planned tour of our newly established Learning Commons was put on hold to facilitate Ms. Staniloff’s presentation. This month’s PAC meeting will take place on February 11

th at 7:00 p.m. We are fortu-

nate to have out Head of Educational Technology, Mr. Jason Maitland, in attendance to take parents through the Learning Commons and highlight the features and tech-nology of a room designed to inspire creativity, collabora-tion and learning. It will be a tour you would hate to miss; we hope to see you there.

PAR E NT ADV I S ORY COU NC IL

GR AD E 7 / GR AD E 10 ORI E NTAT I ON N I GH T

On Thursday, January 15th at 7:00 p.m., Rundle Academy was filled with Grade 6 and 9 stu-

dents, parents, teachers and the thoughts of the future! Our Grade 6 students and parents

were hosted by Mr. Burla and Mr. Maitland and were informed of what the walk across the

parking lot into the Junior High would entail next year. In the Assembly Hall, students and

parents were treated to an informative presentation by Mrs. Jordan and Mr. Waterbury about

the challenges and possibilities that lie ahead! It is hard to believe how quickly our students

grow up and begin making these very important transitions through their academic careers.

We are excited to be a part of the process for many of our Grade 6 and Grade 9 students!

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 4

EL EM E NTARY AC ADE M IC FAI R

Rundle Academy Elementary Academic Fair Parent and Student Guide

Date of Academic Fair: Friday, March 6, 2015

Academic Fair schedule:

Projects:

All students in Rundle Academy Elementary must complete a project.

Students will complete their project independently (no partners or groups).

All projects must be approved by homeroom teacher by February 11, 2014.

Any equipment required for presentation must be arranged by the student and brought in from home (notify teacher if student needs use of electrical outlet).

Projects will be displayed on a table space about 4 feet wide and 2 ½ feet deep.

On the day of the fair, projects must be set up and ready to go by 9:00 a.m.

Most participants bring their projects to school the morning of the fair or the previous day.

On the morning of the fair, students will remain at their presentation from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. to talk with judges and visitors.

The Academic Fair is like a science fair, because students complete projects and present them on a tri-fold. How-ever, the topics can come from a wide range of subjects such as science, history, engineering, health, sports, archi-tecture, language, writing, geography, etc. As parents, one of your major goals for the Academic Fair is to help your child bridge the gap between the interests they pursue at home and the academic learning that engages them at school. Another goal is to limit stress on par-ents and kids. We urge you and your child to focus on enjoying the process of inquiry rather than refining the pres-entation for the fair. If your child is struggling to come up with a topic, or is unsure of the format of the presentation, please refer to the document, "Preparing a Project". Please see the email that went home for further information and direction regard-ing Academic Fair projects.

Time Activity

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Students begin set up of Academic Fair projects in the Fine Arts Centre.

9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Students return to their classes.

9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Parent viewing and judging.

11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Students return to class.

11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony in Fine Arts Centre.

12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Students take down projects.

1:08 p.m. Student dismissal.

How Our Alumni Continue to Move Mountains

Alumna Katie Campbell ‘09

PAR E NT PR ES E NTAT ION

IN TH EIR OW N WORD S

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 5

This year has been very hard for me. My best friend passed away

so I'm taking some time to mourn, but I am getting close to graduat-

ing from the University of Victoria and starting a Masters program in

Reformation Literature. Hopefully, this will still happen, just not as

soon as anticipated. I have sold some of my art, and I'm also trying

to get two books published. One is an illustrated children's book,

and the other an adult science fiction novel. I currently live in Victo-

ria, British Columbia. I've done some travelling, and I am planning

to move to France next year to work on my French before returning

to complete school.

While attending Rundle Academy, I was in-

spired by Ms. Patience and Mrs. Cawthorpe.

They brought my artistic, wild side out, which

has helped me in the personal training and

group fitness classes I teach. Mr. Morrow was

an excellent teacher as well; he helped me to

hone my writing skills and really piqued my

interest in self expression through literature.

Back by popular demand, Rundle College Elementary PAC has secured a presentation by Dr. Alex Russell, best selling author of Drop The Worry Ball. We would like you to save the date - Friday, April 24

th from 12

noon to 1:30 p.m. in the gymnasium. To help offset the cost of this presentation, tickets will be sold beginning Monday, March 2, 2015. Cost to be announced at a later date. We hope you can join us. Dr. Alex Russell is a clinical psychologist who helps children develop resilience and their own personal relationship with school and achievement. At the heart of his message—and his book, Drop The Worry Ball—is that children learn by experiencing non-catastrophic, painful failure, and it is through the process of these failures that they mature into resilient, resourceful and emotionally bal-anced individuals. Please email RSVPs to Mr. Ron Clark at clark@rundle.ab.ca.

On January 13th, the grade 4 and 5 students went on a

field trip to TELUS Spark Science Center. In the morning

students participated in a science workshop called

―Building Machines‖ where they looked at how they could

put simple machines together to create a more complex

machine. In the afternoon students explored the galleries:

Being Human, Open Studio, Earth and Sky, and Energy

and Innovation. Overall, it was a very exciting day with

plenty to see and do!

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 6

TELUS SPARK SC I ENC E CEN TRE

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 7

JUN I OR H IG H NUMER AC Y PROJE CT

How good is the zoom function of the camera on your phone? The junior high numeracy group is embarking on a project to turn any smart phone into a microscope. They are ex-ploring the relationship between geometry and engineering to create a fully functional microscope using basic hard-ware, a lens from a laser pointer, and the 3D design program Tinkercad. Lead by Ms. Scott, this project will allow students to be innovative in their design and see real world applications of geometry as they problem solve themselves to a successful prototype. Although students will be able to be as creative in their design as they like, it needs to fit within the function of the pro-ject. To start them off, Ms. Scott has designed a prototype model to serve as inspiration and to invoke thoughtful questions such as:

Why would the microscope stage need to be moveable?

What shapes allow for a robust design using the least amount of material?

How can I design my microscope to house a small lens with given dimensions?

We cannot wait to see the creative solutions students come up with, as well as all the applications of being able to take photo and video of what is viewed under the scope! Stay tuned!

Prototype design. Created by Ms. Scott using Tinkercad.

Slide as seen through smart-phone camera and laser pointer

Photo of prepared onion skin cells

slide.

Photo of prepared onion root tip

slide.

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 8

EL EM E NTARY L I T ERAC Y DAY

On January 28th, the grade four and five students went to Vertigo Theater to see a unique play called ―Dreaming Now‖.

For an hour the students were mesmerized by a one man show of digital beauty. The concept of the play was created with the thought that the children of today are born knowing and using technology very early on and because of this will they dream in a digital world as well? A large screen developed for the play was connected to a special projector that transported images that were manipulated by the sole actor of the play. After the play, we were fortunate enough to participate in a Q&A with the creator and actor of the play. Our students asked intelligent and relevant questions. Mathew Dixon wondered how long it took to set up the stage for this produc-tion? He also had a private Q&A as we left the theater. What a lucky young man!

On Thursday, January 29th, the elementary students participated in Literacy Day. Students spent the afternoon partici-

pating in various literacy activities to promote the importance of literacy and learning. Activities included creating flip books, making words, exploring iPad literacy apps, making bookmarks, sharing favorite books and series, and reading! It was a very successful and enjoyable afternoon!

VE RTI G O TH E ATRE

OK…. OK…. I’ll be the first to admit that at the beginning

of the season, Junior High Girls Basketball looked pretty

bleak. The Grade 6’s rescued us. We then had nine

girls, seven of which had never played before. Prior to

heading off to our first tournament at Rundle College,

Mrs. Falkenberg and I scrambled to make sure everyone

knew a few of the basics. It was at our first tournament

that we put some serious points on the board against

schools that were much larger than us. It was there that

we started to see the potential in our girls. With solid on-

court leadership from Taya and Soleil, the girls have

grown and developed as players with every passing

game. In our last two tournaments we have only lost two

games and in league play we have only lost one game.

Game wins do not tell the whole story however. What

makes their coaches proud is their willingness to try, their

willingness to be coachable and their willingness to work

hard. As coaches we could not ask for anything more.

Coaches: Mr. Maitland, Mrs. Falkenberg

Why do we celebrate Literacy Day? The Canadian Council on Learning states that ―true literacy encompasses much more than just basic skills. It includes the ability to analyse things, understand general ideas or terms, use symbols in complex ways, apply theories, and perform other necessary life skills―including the ability to engage in the social and economic life of the community.‖ To create awareness of the broad spectrum of literacy, the junior high participated in teacher-designed literacy activi-ties. First, students read silently for half an hour. Next, they participated in activities related to literacy. Imagine the fun in creating a lyrical summary of a book to the tune of ―Uptown Funk‖ with Ms. Switzer and Ms. Irick or winning a FUN-Dip treat from Mr. Mellor during Homonym Bingo! Some students were treated to a second breakfast while the Hobbit was read aloud by Ms. Hoehn. The students became aware that the life skill of literacy comes in many fun packages.

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 9

JUN I OR H IG H L I TERAC Y DAY

Following Origami Instructions Second Breakfast

JUN I OR H IG H G IR L S BAS KE TBAL L

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 10

GR AD E 7/8 BOY S BAS KE TBALL

GR AD E 8/9 BOY S BAS KE TBALL

The Junior High 8/9 Boys Basketball season is well un-derway and the boys are playing some great basketball. Their skills are continually improving and the results thus far are proof of their cohesive strength. We are just past the midway point in our season and have compiled three league wins and one very close loss to Chinook Winds. With the playoffs looming after only two more games, the team is looking to take the top spot and finish with a strong record. Tournament play has also been impressive and we have faced some good challenges outside our league. Most notably our trip to Rosemary to play in their annual tour-nament was a great opportunity for the boys. The experi-ence gained was extremely valuable and the trip was also a good time for the team to bond. After losing our first game, the boys were able to bounce back and win their next two and finish as consolation champs. Coming up as we approach the end of the season, the team will also be granted a birth in the Zone Champion-ships which we will be hosting March 6

th and 7

th. This will

give us another opportunity to face some great challeng-

ers and to see how they truly measure up against teams across the entire South Central Zone of Alberta.

Coaches: Mr. Paz, Mr. Vesey

The grade 7/8 Boys are in full swing of their 2014-2015 basketball campaign. With a full roster of 14 athletes, program participation is high once again. The team has been working hard and developing their body control, ball handling, outside moves, inside moves, defense, rebounding, and team offensive skills during morning and after school prac-tices. All of this hard work has been paying off, as they have a 3 – 2 – 1 record in regular season play. The team has also played in three weekend tournaments and has made it to a medal game in two of the three tournaments. Rundle Academy looks forward to hosting the league year-end tournament Thursday, February 19

th and Tuesday Feb

24th in our home gym! Come out to cheer on your Rockies!

Coach: Mr. Locking

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 11

SE N I OR H I G H G IR L S BASK ETBAL L

The Senior High Girls Basketball

team is in the midst of a great sea-

son that has seen them make giant

strides. The girls recently won the

Cobra Cup by defeating Rundle

College, FFCA, and Our Lady of

the Snows. Taylor Quantz was

named a tournament all-star for her

tremendous effort. The girls are

striving to make some noise in the

league playoffs coming up in

March. Please come out and sup-

port them in the games leading up

to the playoffs!

Coach: Mr. Anderson

The Senior Boys Basketball team has had a very successful season so far. They took away a consolation win at their tournament in Banff, and are near the top of the standings in the league. Earlier this month, the boys competed against a number of schools with high school populations well over 500 in a 16-team tournament in Forestburg, and beat Camrose Collegiate to take the Bronze medal. Come watch as the boys make the drive towards playoffs, and aim for our first championships banner for the Senior Boys Basketball program. Go Rockies!

Coaches: Mr. Waterbury, Ms. Switzer

SE N I OR H I G H BOY S BAS KE TBAL L

Page 12

Excellence (90% - 100%)

Gold (85% - 89%)

Silver (80% - 84%)

Bronze (75% - 79%)

Volume 12 , Issue 4

JUNIOR HIGH HONOUR ROLL REPORT 2 - 2014/2015

Figol, Sawyer (Gr. 7) Heise, Amy (Gr. 9)

Morrow, Liam (Gr. 7)

Samuels, David (Gr. 8) Stephen, Tom (Gr. 7)

Bouma, Bram (Gr. 9) Bruyn, Juliana (Gr. 8) Clay, Zander (Gr. 7)

de Paiva, Will (Gr. 7) Faircloth-Nunn, Elisabeth (Gr. 8)

Fryett, Miles (Gr. 8) Hoffinger, Sarah (Gr. 7)

Jacob, Emma (Gr. 9) Menard. Nicole (Gr. 8)

Nield, Isaac (Gr. 8)

Poutanen, Penn (Gr. 9) Sutton, Leah (Gr. 7) Taylor, Ben (Gr. 8) Yadav, Kai (Gr. 8)

Berry, Annette (Gr. 9) Bortl, Thrissa (Gr. 8) Bouma, Ari (Gr. 8)

Brandon-Christie, Rowan (Gr. 9) Buker, Emma (Gr. 8) Colwell, Taya (Gr. 8) Ell, Carson (Gr. 7)

Gordon, Lachlan (Gr. 9) Gruending, Carter (Gr. 8) Hamilton, Jared (Gr. 8)

Hards, Ian (Gr. 8) Hironaka, J.T. (Gr. 7)

Hopkins, Matthew (Gr. 7) Jakubec, JP (Gr. 7)

Kane, Noah (Gr. 9) Maxwell, Ben (Gr. 8) Toews, Sam (Gr. 8)

Valentine, Andrew (Gr. 8) Voit, Aiden (Gr. 9)

Woronuk, Ellie (Gr. 7)

D'Onofrio, Nick (Gr. 7) De Land, Charlie (Gr. 7) DeJager, Jaxon (Gr. 7)

Ell, Blake (Gr. 7) Faulconbridge, Dustin (Gr. 8) Fischer-Essar, Jared (Gr. 8) Gardiner, Aneisha (Gr. 9)

Holan, Ryan (Gr. 9)

Huck, Soleil (Gr. 7) Kloss, Mitchell (Gr. 9) Leaver, Olivia (Gr. 9) Lupi, Isabella (Gr. 7)

Mancuso, Jasmine (Gr. 9) Marinakos, Andreas (Gr. 7) Martopullo, Anthony (Gr. 8)

Metcs, Charles (Gr. 8)

Petti, Oliver (Gr. 9) Retzer, Nathan (Gr. 9) Rogers, Jaxson (Gr. 7)

Shomody, Phoenix (Gr. 9) Willson, Gannon (Gr. 9)

Page 13

Excellence (90% - 100%)

Gold (85% - 89%)

Silver (80% - 84%)

Bronze (75% - 79%)

Volume 12 , Issue 4

SENIOR HIGH HONOUR ROLL REPORT 2 - 2014/2015

Berloni, Mia (Gr. 12) Holloway, Curtis (Gr. 12)

Louw, Cristi (Gr. 12)

Berry, Stephanie (Gr. 12) Buker, Jesse (Gr. 12) Clarke, Sean (Gr. 12)

Elliott, Katharine (Gr. 12) Evans, Taylor (Gr. 12)

Farmer, Carmen (Gr. 12)

Hughes, Jannelle (Gr. 10) Needham, Georgia (Gr. 10)

Olson, Cameron (Gr. 12) Petti, Dominic (Gr. 10)

Robertson, Tyler (Gr. 10) Stephen, Alix (Gr. 11)

Smith, Emily (Gr. 10) Smith, Max (Gr. 11)

Thomsen, Kristian (Gr. 12) Udy, Alycia (Gr. 11)

Bennett, Katherine (Gr. 11) Bhullar, Rajan (Gr. 12)

Block, Nick (Gr. 12) Brodylo, Robyn (Gr. 11)

Bruyn, Jon-Jacob (Gr. 12) Coombs, Annelise (Gr. 11)

de Paiva, Max (Gr. 11) Geiger, Ross (Gr. 10)

Graham, Dylan (Gr. 11) Hallson, Eric (Gr. 11) Hansen, Nick (Gr. 12)

Huntley, Kennedy (Gr. 11)

Louw, Carley (Gr. 12) McNeill, Denyn (Gr. 12) Molloy, Brendan (Gr. 11) Moumdjian, Alex (Gr. 12)

Abbott, Tom (Gr. 12) Abdel-Keriem, Ramy (Gr. 12)

Barr, Dylan (Gr. 11) Bischoff, Alexi (Gr. 12)

Brennan, Georgia (Gr. 10) Bridges, Jack (Gr. 11) Budd, Payton (Gr. 11)

Colpitts, Gabriel (Gr. 12)

Cortese, Amedeo (Gr. 10) Gaetz, Jaxon (Gr. 12)

Hillstead, Madison (Gr. 11) Jurok, Johanna (Gr. 12) Kerkovius, Sepp (Gr. 10) Larmour, Nick (Gr. 10) Magee, Kaitlyn (Gr. 12)

Millions, Qunitin (Gr. 10)

O’Connor, Casey (Gr. 10) Rinehart, Liam (Gr. 12) Sisson, Teagan (Gr. 10)

Smith, Lara (Gr. 10) Smith, Mollie (Gr. 12)

Stan, Anthoney (Gr. 11) Tecklenburg, Cal (Gr. 11)

Volume 12 , Issue 4 Page 14

AC T IV I TI ES FOR FEBRUARY

February 5-6 Grade 12 Graduation Photos February 9 Dare to Care - Junior High February 10-11 Elementary Winter Activities February 11 Grade 9 Biodiversity Field Trip to the Calgary Zoo February 12-13 Teachers Convention (No School for Students) February 16 Family Day (No School) February 19 Peru Trip Student Meeting (3:15 P.M. - 4:15 P.M.) February 23 Grade 4 and 5 Field Trip to Fort Calgary February 26 Dress Down Day Peru Trip Parent Meeting (7:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.) March 5 Grade 7 Field Trip to the Calgary Zoo March 6 Elementary Academic Fair (8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.) in the Fine Arts Centre

REMINDER TO ALL PARENTS

Our Classroom Moodle Pages and our Division Portals sites are accessible from our home-page (www.rundleacademy.ab.ca). Look for morning announcements posted on our Moodle Pages. Follow us on Twitter @rundleacademy for more information and upcoming events.

January 27, 2015 Dear Rundle Families, Re: Rundle Uniform Store Changes Rundle has enjoyed an outstanding relationship with Top Marks for the supply of student uniforms for many years. For the past several years, Top Marks has been operating an on-line service for many of its private school clients across Canada and Rundle is pleased to announce that we will be migrating our uniform store operations to this on-line model. Uniforms will be ordered on-line over a secure website and delivered to your home or office via Canada Post. Through the first few months of this year we will be phasing out the operations of the uniform store at the Society Office. Our plan is for normal operations of the uniform store to close on February 27, 2015. From March 2-March 13, 2015 we will be selling our remaining inventory at discounted pricing on a non-refundable, no-exchange basis. We have been working closely with Top Marks to ensure a smooth transition of the service. Top Marks has been working with two other private schools in the Calgary area utilizing this on-line model for several years and by all reports, it has been working well for both families and the schools. Families will continue to enjoy the same quality products that we have been providing for years. The new approach will allow a reasonable reduction in the cost of uniforms for our families. More information will follow via e-mail from Lisa Hansen (hansen@rundle.ab.ca) in the upcoming weeks. Thank you for your ongoing support of Rundle College. Yours truly, Doug Hodgins, CA Director of Finance, Business Manager Rundle College Society

Measles and Travel February 2, 2015

To School Administration, Staff and Parents: As spring holidays approach, we know that many families have vacations planned, both within and outside of Canada. Travelling increases your family’s risk of exposure to many different diseases, including measles. Measles is a very real threat in many parts of the world, including as close to home as California, where a measles outbreak is currently ongoing. It is always important to ensure all your immunizations are up to date before you travel. If you are travelling to an area where a measles outbreak is currently active (including, but not limited to, California), it is very important to ensure all travellers have received the right number of doses, for their age, of the MMR vaccine – the vaccine that protects against measles - before departing on the trip. Children six months to six years old may require an earlier dose of vaccine than provided in the routine schedule, anyone born in or after 1970 should ensure they have had two doses of vaccine, and adults born before 1970 should have one dose. If you are uncertain whether you and/or your children need the MMR vaccine before travelling, please call your local community health centre to discuss. If you are not sure how to reach your local community health centre, you can also call Health Link Alberta at 1.866.408.5465. Please remember: Measles is a serious disease: In addition to fever, rash and other symptoms, about one in three persons with measles will have one or more complications, including diarrhea, ear infections (which can lead to permanent hearing loss), pneumonia, inflammation of the brain and seizures. Measles can also lead to death. Although complications are more common among children under five years of age, individuals 20 years of age and older and those with compromised immune systems, even healthy people are a risk of complications. In fact, about one in ten people with measles need hospital treatment. Measles is extremely contagious: Measles disease is caused by a virus that spreads easily through the air. When someone with measles has been in a room, the virus can survive in the air for up to two hours after the person has left and infect people who simply breathe the air during that time. People who have never been vaccinated or who have never had measles disease are 90 per cent likely to get sick with measles, if exposed to the measles virus.

Measles can be prevented with vaccine: Two doses of the MMR vaccine, at the appropriate ages and intervals, are required to be protected against measles. One dose of MMR vaccine provides approximately 95% protection. The second dose of MMR vaccine is required for 99% protection. Although everyone’s body responds slightly differently to vaccine, we do know that without any vaccine, you are 100% at risk. Be sure you and your family are protected. For more information on measles disease and the MMR vaccine, please visit www.immunizealberta.ca or call Health Link Alberta at 1.866.408.5465. Sincerely, Dr. Richard Musto Dr. Christopher Sikora Medical Officer of Health Medical Officer of Health Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services Calgary Zone Edmonton Zone Dr. Albert de Villiers Dr. Wadieh Yacoub Medical Officer of Health Medical Officer of Health Alberta Health Services First Nations Inuit Health Branch North Zone-West, North Zone Lead Health Canada Dr Deena Hinshaw Dr. Vivien Suttorp Medical Officer of Health Medical Officer of Health Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services Central Zone South Zone