Christmas Cheer is Here!

This Tuesday and Wednesday staff and students belted out the Christmas hits in the main foyer for all to hear. Who would have thought that they would have sounded so good? Way to go! Donations were collected for the Christmas Baskets.

HRHS Olympic Torch Relay

On December 10th, twenty Heritage staff and students (and Chinook) had the honour of participating in the Olympic Torch Relay. Very cool!

Heritage Hockey

The PeeWee Boys Hockey team will be playing Selwyn House School at 3:00 on Thursday. Tickets can be purchased in the gym office.

Trip to Florida / March Break

This year's trip to Florida for the sec. 5 students has been launched. It is estimated that approximately 90 students will be taking part in this educational event. Students will be accompanied by approximately 8 adults. It promises to be a success. The dates are Feb. 27th- March 7th. Organizing the trip are Mr. Tilli and Mr. Thomson.

Trip to Costa Rica

Our second trip to Costa Rica is rapidly approaching! Eight students and two teachers (Ms. I. Romero and Ms. M. Skrutkowska) will be leaving for Costa Rica on February 26th, 2010 and returning ten days later on March 6th, 2010. We will be spending March break living with Costa Rican families, going to Spanish school 3 hours a day, and doing volunteer work such as visiting an orphanage and helping out, planting coffee trees on a cooperative coffee plantation and painting a house for an underprivileged family. We are also collecting and bringing shoes for small children to donate to the orphanage. Of course, there will be a little tourism - two days at the beach, as well as visiting local sites such as the rainforest and a volcano. It's very exciting! We're looking forward to our departure.

Trip to NYC

This year due to the overwhelming demand two buses filled with Secondary 4 students, accompanied by chaperones, Mr. Wallach, Ms. Di Genova, Ms. Saha, Mr. Sandilands, Ms McGill, Ms. Guyot, Mr. Payne, Ms Heron, and Ms Francois will make their way to the Big Apple on March 23, 2010. Highlights of the trip include visiting Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, getting a view of the city from Top of The Rock (Rockerfeller Center), walking through Little Italy, Chinatown, Times Square and 5th Avenue. Everyone knows how the shopping is endless in NYC (Toys R Us, NBA Store, Disney Store, Macy’s, Niketown, Abercrombie n Fitch...). The students will also have a guided tour of NYC where they can visit Ground Zero, see the Empire State building, Trump Towers and take a picture of the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park. The students will make their way to Madison Square Garden to watch an action packed live NBA game as the Knicks host the Denver Nuggets. Finally, in true NYC style, the students will attend the Broadway musical “The Lion King”. Students and chaperons alike are anxiously awaiting this ever so popular school trip!!!

Festival of Gifts

It’s that time of year again! The Festival of Gifts Campaign has officially begun so it’s time to start bringing your non-perishable food items to local D-119! This campaign is dedicated to feeding over 40 families in OUR community so please be generous! We have two and a half weeks to fill over 200 boxes so let’s get started Heritage! Show your Huskies Spirit!

Fundraiser for Christmas Baskets

The Student Council will be selling Christmas Blankets in the Main foyer beginning on Monday Nov. 30th. Blankets will be selling all week for a cost of $10.00. All proceeds will go towards the Christmas Baskets. Come support a GREAT cause.

Da Bomb

Da Bomb Tickets going on Sale Monday Nov. 30 at lunch in the main Foyer! - That’s right! It’s that time of year that you’ve all been waiting for where you get to see your friends showcasing their talents as they rock it out at the Da Bomb. Get your tickets so you can see all the hype performances this year’s show has to offer and the opportunity to help contribute to the Christmas Food Basket for needy families.

Show dates are December 4th and December 5th. On December 4th there will be a matinee show opened to all students on a first come first served (you must have your 3rd and 4th teacher’s sign your tickets giving you permission to go to the show) and another show at 7:00p.m. On December 5th the final night of the show will be at 7:00p.m. Ticket prices: matinee show $6; Night performances $8. So don’t forget to get your tickets and to support the annual the Christmas basket by bringing a non-perishable good with you to the show.

Heritage Hockey

On Monday, December 7th the Heritage Girls Hockey team will be hosting Kahnawake in a girls hockey game beginning at 3:00 PM. Grade 8 students may purchase a ticket to this game at a cost of $2.00. Tickets will be sold in the gym area beginning on November 30th. All proceeds from this game will go to Breast Cancer Research.

Aviva Competition

Heritage came out strong in the 3rd round of the Aviva competition with over 1000 votes but didn't manage to get into the top 20. Better luck next time.

Heritage Hockey

On Thursday, November 26th, the Juvenile Boys Hockey Team played the Loyola Warriors.

Well Dressed Wednesday

Wednesday Nov. 25th was well Dressed Wednesday. It was an activity organized by the Readiness Camp mentors and campers in association with the Student Council. Students and staff came to school looking their best. We were really impressed.

A Midsummers Night's Dream

On Tuesday, November 24th, the cycle one students watched the play A Midsummers Night's Dream in the auditorium at school.

Penny Drive

The Environmental Club's Penny Drive was a great success raising $502.33. Balto was the overall winner while Kolyma collected the most pennies. Great work!

MADD

Today Mothers Against Drunk Driving spoke to grade ten and eleven students about the dangers of drinking and driving. For more information you can visit www.madd.ca

David Poulsen visits Heritage

Today, Alberta author, David Poulsen spoke with selected groups of Sec 5 students. David gave a high energy presentation. He is the author of 20 books; has been a rodeo competitor and rodeo clown; rock singer; high school football coach; stage and film actor; and college English instructor. You can visit David's website at www.davidpoulsen.com

Tolerance Caravan

This week members of the Tolerance Caravan have been meeting with secondary three classes to raise awareness about the dangers inherent in prejudice, intolerance and exclusion. A short film on genocide in the 20th century is shown. The Caravan offers the students a chance to talk about all of these issues in a comfortable and open environment. For more information visit www.fondationtolerance.com

KOLYMA TERM 1 CHAMPS!!!!

The house system is off to an exciting year! Throughout the term, the points were close with different teams taking first place however Kolyma was able to maintain their lead for most of the term and came out on top! The amount of participation this year is much better than in previous years. It is great to see so many people getting involved. The Wacky Wednesdays have drawn the crowd! Our annual balloon stomp as well as musical chairs was very popular. It was great to see so many teachers taking part as well... some cheering as well as some taking part in the activities. Our Trivia quizzes are always a huge hit...we have many smart cookies in our classes!

The point standings were:

Balto - 78 points

Polaris – 78 points

Togo – 85 points

Kolyma – 95 pts!!!!

Remembrance Day

Heritage proudly presented a tribute to the men and women who have fought and died for the freedom that we are able to experience today. The Secondary two and three classes were invited to share in the tribute that ranged from the opening service with bagpipes and the entry of The Royal Mounted Police and our cadets to five students who read their winning essays on what Remembrance Day meant for them to a touching speech by one of Heritage’s mothers who described her role in the cavalcade on the Highways for Heroes. The presentation was overwhelming and heart felt. But also what was moving was the response from the student audience who were noticeable affect by the overall experience.

IB Secondary 3 Trip to Stratford

On October 21-23, a group of Secondary 3 IB students spent three busy days visiting the world-renowned Stratford Theatre Festival where they had the opportunity to watch Edmond Rostand’s famous play about unrequited love, Cyrano de Bergerac, Oscar Wilde’s comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, and their favorite, the musical production, West Side Story. They also went on a tour of the costume and props warehouse where they had fun trying on costumes from some of Stratford Theatre’s many productions. On the way home, they had a chance to pay a quick visit to the well-known Mennonite village, St. Jacobs where they sampled tasty treats, and dropped in on the many artisan stores and exhibits.

Shave to Save

On October 22nd, Carly Thompson (Sec. 3) participated in Virgin Radio's Shave to Save 2009 event. Carly raised over $2000 to help the fight against breast cancer. The funds raised go directly to research to find a cure, as well as to funding prevention and awareness programs. Heritage is very proud of Carly.

Grade 10 IB Field Trip

On October 1st, the secondary 4 IB students got an opportunity to go to Mont-St-Gregoire to take part in 2 very different activities. The first was a GPS rally where groups of students made use of a GPS to find hidden enigmas which they went on to solve. The second was a zip-lining experience which many will never forget. For some the experience was a thrill and for others, completing a segment was a challenge that they could feel proud about themselves for accomplishing. Throughout this adventure, students were developing many of the IB Learner Profile traits such as that of being a risk-taker, a communicator and a caring individual.

Student Paintings at the Montreal General Hospital

Students of Mrs. Romanuk's Ethics class (412-03) are given a Big Thank You for having been the first participants from a school in creating paintings for the Montreal General Hospital. On September 28th, Dale Perks a registered nurse working in the surgery clinic came to Heritage along with a reporter from the hospital newspaper to discuss the implication of having the students contribute to the project while interviewing several of them The student's were clear in their message that they were happy to not only have their work on MUHC walls, but that they enjoyed the notion of pleasing patients by creating a more interesting environment.

Many of the students taking an art class now in secondary 5 have expressed an interest in making more paintings for the hospital this year - A great way for students to become active community members - wouldn't you say?

IB Secondary V Field Trip

On September 17th and 18th, 53 senior IB students got the opportunity to visit an observatory on Mont-Megantic, the only National Dark Sky Reserve in the region. The observatory is one of the largest and most powerful in North America. Part of the day was spent at the Astrolab at the base of the mountain, which allowed students to develop a better understanding of the Big Bang theory, our solar system, our galaxy and beyond.

That evening, we were treated to a perfectly clear sky which allowed the students an opportunity to observe through powerful telescopes such celestial bodies as Jupiter and 4 of its moons, the Andromeda galaxy, and several stars up close. As well, we spotted the space station orbiting the earth and found out how to identify the North Star when looking up at the sky. The evening was very cold, the temperature being barely 3 degrees Celsius, but the students quickly forgot the cold air when they were treated to the sight of several shooting ‘stars’! All were in awe of what they saw and learned during the outing, and for a brief moment our group felt very small in this very big universe.

Climbing at Heritage

The Physical Education department added a brand new rock climbing wall facility over the summer. Students are introduced to this activity through their physical education class. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport. It uses the climber's strength, endurance, agility, and balance along with his or her mental control. Although the wall is only 9 feet high, the many routes and problems given to the students makes it a really tough challenge. The comments we hear so far are very positive and we hope to offer them even more in the years to come.