November Newsletter

Dates to Remember

November 3, Thursday, Parent/Teacher Interviews, evening
November 4, Friday, Parent/Teacher Interviews, No School
November 9, Remembrance Day Activities
November 10, Professional Learning Day, No School
November 11, Remembrance Day, No School
November 25, School Development Day, No School
December 15, Thursday, Birchwood Christmas concert 7:00 pm (Please note change from the original school calendar)

 Parent/Teacher Interviews

Our first set of Parent/Teacher Interviews will be held on Thursday evening , November 3rd and Friday, all day, November 4th. There will be no classes on Friday. Subject/Specialist (Non-Home Room )Teachers will be available in the cafeteria if you would like to meet with them either Thursday evening or Friday to discuss your son/daughter’s progress.

Birchwood Parent Council

Birchwood Parent Council wants to recognize the significant efforts of all Birchwood Staff in their recent success of the Cold Plate suppers! We have a tight team. Congratulations! At our recent Parent Council meeting it was decided that we will officially join the PEI Federation of Home and School. This will take us under the provincial umbrella, and will facilitate information sharing and networking. During the November 3/4 Parent-Teacher Interviews, stop by the information booth supported by the Multicultural Education Program with the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada. Our next meeting has not yet been scheduled. Please stay tuned. Want to connect with Birchwood Parent Council? Contact Laura Lee Howard (lhoward@upei.ca) or Jessie-Frost Wicks (tinybauble@gmail.com).

Clothing Sale

We will be taking orders for Birchwood School Clothing in the main lobby during parent/teacher interviews Thursday night and all day Friday. Some items that are available for purchase are: T-shirts, sweat shirts, hoodies, gym pants, touques and mittens. These are great Christmas and birthday gifts.

Sports News

Girls and Boys Soccer:
Congratulations to the boys and girls soccer teams for a great season. We would also like to thank the coaches (Mr. Lowther, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Jarvis), for all their work and effort with this years teams! Good luck to the senior players as they move on to the next level in High school.

Girls Volleyball:
The Girls volleyball team play their playoff game next Monday, followed by semi finals on Wednesday. Provincials will be on Saturday. Location TBA. (November 7, 9 & 12).

Cross Country Running:
Congratulations to all the cross country runners who took part in the unit meet and who qualified for the provincials this year. Zone meet held at Charlottetown High School (Top 3 finishers overall): 3rd place: Laura Mohan, 4th place: Emma Moore, 5th place: Sarah Peters. Provincial meet held at Mill River Park (Top 3 finishers overall): 3rd place: Laura Mohan, 4th place: Emma Moore, 5th place: Sarah Peters

Athletes of the Month:
Hunter Mctague (AA boys Soccer)
Savannah Larter (AA girls Soccer)
Allehyiah Villard (AA girls Volleyball)
Laura Mohan (Zone \ Provincial Cross Country Meet)

Birchwood Student Council

Halloween Activities:
The school dance on October 27th was spooktacular!
Classes pulled together to decorate their doors, with Ms. Squire's 9-2 class winning the coveted pizza party.
On Halloween Day, we had out traditional parade across the stage. The costumes and attitudes were fabulous. The following students won an afternoon off to watch a movie: Melvin Sim Turay (funniest), Andre Clyke (scariest), Rafe Wright, Brandon Hickox and Alex MacIsaac (most spirited), Amy Frost-Wicks and Bailey Andrews (group), and A.J. Baldwin (best homemade costume).
Alyssa Dalziel won the Art/Writing Contest. Her prize was a bag full of art supplies.
Thanks to all the BISC members who took part in the October events!

Coming in November:
We have the Remembrance Day Ceremony on November 9th that many of our members will be helping out with.
We will be having an Art/Writing Contest with Remembrance Day being the theme, all entries are due November 7th (writing should be a short story or poem, no more than one page please). All entries are to be passed into Ms. Poirier either at the Library or in the office.

Birchwood Human Rights and Holocaust Studies Program

A group of 21 grade 9 students from Birchwood Intermediate School will be participating in the program this year. This program is part of nation-wide educational initiative, developed and supported by the Asper Foundation of Winnipeg, to involve students in the study of Human Rights and Holocaust.

Each student is required to complete 18 hours of classroom study outside regular classroom hours, 16 hours of volunteer community service, and will maintain a study and personal journal documenting their acquired knowledge and reflection. In April, with other grade 9 students across the country, our students will travel to Washington, D.C., to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum and other venues and events related to their study. The program concludes with a ceremony at which each participant is presented with a Memorandum of Personal Responsibility.

Our students are committed to fulfilling the requirements for this program and are excellent ambassadors for Charlottetown, for Prince Edward Island, and for Canada. Support from the Birchwood community is greatly appreciated and kindly accepted. It would help our students to participate in this outstanding program, further preparing them to make a positive contribution to our society. We are presently seeking items suitable for a silent auction or a gift basket. Monetary donations are most certainly welcome as well.

Please make any cheques payable to "Human Rights and Holocaust Studies Program". Should you require further information, please contact Frances Squire at the school or email fasquire@edu.pe.ca.

Provincial and Scripps National Spelling Bee

Students in grade 7 and 8 interested in participating in the spelling bee this year are asked to please contact Ms. Squire in Room 221.

Birchwood Drama Club

Students interested in participating in the Birchwood Drama Club this year are asked to sign-up next week in Room 221 or see Ms. Squire. Grade 9 students, Gillian Gallivan and Gbemi Oguntona are co-directors of this year's production "The Light in the Library".

Music Note

The Grade 9 band will be performing at Colonel Gray High School on November 8th as part of Canada Band Week. The concert begins at 7 pm. Students are asked to be there by 6:45 pm. We will meet in the cafeteria at Colonel Gray. Please enter the school through the gym doors. Attendance is mandatory and all students must be dressed in concert dress (black bottoms/white tops). Please make every attempt to stay and enjoy the concert after you have performed.

Guitar Club

On Fridays at lunch, we have started a guitar club. Any students are welcome to join the fun. On that note, if you have a guitar that is currently not being used, consider donating the instrument to Birchwood for the school year. It will be well-cared for and greatly appreciated.

Inclement Weather

With the cooler weather coming upon us, please make sure that your son/daughter has the proper clothing when coming to school.

SCHOOL CANCELLATION -If all schools are to be canceled, parents will be notified by radio announcements on local stations. The first announcement will be broadcast by 7:00 am. It may only be necessary to close individual families of schools. Birchwood School is in the Col. Gray Family of Schools.

ONE HOUR DELAY – In case where a decision cannot be made by 7:00 am a one-hour delay will be announced. This means that all schools and buses may operate on one hour later than the usual time. A further announcement regarding delays and/or cancellations will take place by 8:00 am.

LATE BUS RUNS -In some instances, even in good weather, buses may be delayed. In these cases, parents will be notified by radio that a bus or buses will be delayed by a specific amount of time. For example, if a bus is delayed 30 minutes, students can expect to meet the bus 30 minutes later than normal.

SCHOOL CLOSURE – Sometimes, it may be necessary to close individual or families of school during the day to get the children home before weather conditions become too severe. In such cases, announcements will be made on all radio stations and our website at www.edu.pe.ca/esd.

1) Please listen to the radio between 6:30 am – 8:00 am to determine if schools are operating. Telephone lines that are often used for emergency.

2) Do not drop children off at school unless you are certain that school is operating that day.

Performing Arts 4-H Club

This is an exciting opportunity for youth grades 7-9 who enjoy drama and theatre arts! The club will be held Wednesdays, starting November 2, from 7 to 9pm, at the Royalty Centre, Charlottetown. $20 sign-up membership. For further information please phone erc.brown@gmail.com or call 393-8663. Information flyers may be picked up in Room 221. The motto for 4-H is Learn to Do by Doing and this club will operate under that direction where members will work with volunteer leaders to develop their knowledge of and passion for the performing arts... through theatre games, exercises and member directed activities at weekly meetings. The ultimate goal for this club is for members to work together, under the guidance of our volunteer leaders, to develop a dramatic presentation to be showcased at the Provincial Drama Festival which will be held in the spring. So.... what are you waiting for??