INSIDE THIS ISSUE - Saint Thomas Aquinas

Volume 22, Issue 8
Page
541 West Keith Road, North Vancouver, BC V7M 1M5
Principal: Mr. J. Campbell
Vice Principal: Mr. C. Campbell
Vice Principal: Mr. T. Horton
Tel: 604-987-4431
Fax: 604-987-7816
Web: www.aquinas.org
VOLUME 22, ISSUE 8
April 2015
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Student Achievement
2-5
Academic Advisor
6
Grad News
7
Alumni News
7
Library News
8
Community News
9-10
IMPORTANT DATES IN
may
Grade 12 Retreat
6-8
Spring Choral Concert
11
School Mass
13
March 4 Life
14
Victoria Day /
18
School Closed
T
he smiling faces you see in the above picture are ones of gratitude.
Gratitude from the staff receiving the kind words from their student
presenters and the student affirmation after each speech. We are very
lucky to have such a dedicated staff to lead our students on their high school
journeys. This time of year is very hectic as we are wrapping up the current year
and planning for the next one. Preliminary course selections have started the
2015-16 timetable in motion and teachers are busy preparing their students for the
upcoming exams in June. Graduation event planning and post-secondary
acceptance offers are foremost in the minds of our Grade 12 students. This year
the graduation ceremonies will take place at the end of June, thus enabling the
students time to focus and complete their studies prior to the big day.
Please pray for our graduating student as they embark on their Grade 12 retreat.
They will be discerning their future plans and planning for life after high school.
Last, but not least, see you at the International Night on May 29.
Have a great May!
Mr. J. Campbell, Principal
Spring Band Concert
19
CARPOOL NEEDED FROM DEEP COVE
Fine Arts Evening
26
Spirit Day &
29
Prior to this year, a school bus was running from Deep Cove to STA, but it hasn’t
run all year. There are some families who are willing to carpool and share the
driving. If you are looking for this opportunity, please call the STA office and
leave your contact information.
International Night
Page 2
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Congratulations
to Jon Tubeo winner of the STA
Great Canadian Geography
Challenge.
GRADE 9 HERITAGE FAIR...
Congratulations to all grade 9 students on completing many outstanding project
for this year’s STA Heritage Fair. Well done.
GOLD RECIPIENTS
Thomas Curalli for his project on the Huron Carol
Nicole Greig for her project on the Notre Dame Cathedral
Alice Wong for her project on the Orpheum Theatre
Ann Joby for her project on the Bluebird Nurses
SILVER AWARD RECIPIENTS
~Dante Agosti-Moro~Justin Balmaceda~Gabriel Galat~Katherine Harland~
Teresa La Porta~Anastasia Redpath~Derek Scott~
Katie Weinborn~Joshua Yellowley~
BRONZE AWARD RECIPIENTS
~Dominic Annen~Sam Boppart~Zora Brough~Sam Holman~
Emily Kwok-Choon~Jordana Minni~Carissa Moore~Natasha Nock~
David Onak~Atlasi Rasuli~Jon Tubeo~Wendy Wimberley~
HONOURABLE MENTION
~Annie Bremer-Sada~Erik Dahl~Valerie Kasabashain~Cynthia Kamali~
Justin Li~Michael Mora~Adam Nobes~Dani Noriega~Isabella Parotta~
Diana Pavel~Amy Scott~Matthew Wattier~
STUDENT CHOICE AWARDS
~Justin Balmaceda~Max Green~Nicole Greig~Sanjana Singh~
STA WRESTLING TEAM
W
e would like to congratulate James Sutherland and
Karah Bulaqui. Both wrestlers qualified to represent BC at the
National Wrestling Championships which were held in
Fredericton, New Brunswick earlier this April.
James finished 2nd in the country defeating a former national
champion on the way to the final and Karah successfully defended
her National title! Amazing Results! You can read all about it in
the North Shore News by clicking on the following link:
http://www.nsnews.com/sports/capilano-wrestling-club-membersgrab-national-titles-1.1827760
Volume 22, Issue 8
Page 3
STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2015-16
On Thursday, April 23, the STA student
body held elections for their 2015-16
student council. The successful candidates
are listed at the right.
Congratulations to all students who ran.
PRESIDENT
Arina Dmitrenko & Sean Docherty
FINANCE
Andrew Savage & Jason Lee
COMMUNICATIONS
Patrick Ellis & Emily Thorpe
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Sean Revilla & Chad Kushneriuk
HISTORIANS
Gemma Ferguson & Dayle Gumabao
TECHNOLOGY
Calvin Kam & Chris McKenna
FINE ARTS EVENING
P
lease join the Fine Arts Department in celebrating the Performance A rts at our Spring
Fine Arts Evening. The event will take place on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at
6:30 pm in the school gym. Doors open at 6:00 pm, donations will be accepted at the
door. The evening will include the following Term 2 curricular performances:
Drama 10: "Betweenity" (Lindsay Price); a show about the beats, pauses and silences in
conversations and how those can speak many volumes.
Drama 9: "Smarty Pants" (Bradley Hayward); a show about how children today need to
remember how to play- as five year olds!
Drama 8: "Big Bad" (Alec Strum); a show about the Big Bad Wolf being called to trial for all
of the atrocities he has committed and learning the reasons behind them.
Come and join us for a fabulously fun spring evening of
dramatic dalliances!
We look forward to seeing you there!
-Cristina McAllister, Teacher
Page 4
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
STA MUSIC DEPARTMENT...
A
pril has been a very busy
month for our
ensembles. We began on
Wednesday, April 1
with a repeat of last year’s
successful STAND Against Hunger
Concert, this year hosted at Notre
Dame Secondary School. The
programme included performances
by the Grade 9 and Senior Concert
Band from Notre Dame Secondary,
and the Grade 10 and Senior
Concert bands from S.T.A. We
raised several hundred dollars
toward The Door Is Open, at which
students from both schools
volunteer on a regular basis.
On Thursday, April 9 the Concert
and Chamber Choirs under the
direction of Mrs. Rebane
performed at the Kiwanis Choral
Festival. The Grade 9, Grade 10 and
Senior Concert Bands performed at
the Kiwanis Concert Band Festival
on April 21 and 22. These festival
performances are a cornerstone of
our music program and in addition
to their own performance and
adjudication, the students have an
opportunity to listen to other
ensembles.
professional stage in front of a large
audience in the conference centre, a
clinic with one of the adjudicators,
opportunities to listen to other
ensembles, a fabulous concert
featuring guest artists, and a massed
band session involving 1,314
instrumentalists. Our Junior Jazz
Ensemble received a Silver Award
for their performance, and our
Senior Jazz Ensemble received a
Gold Award. We would like to
thank the many parents who came
The month concluded with the
up to hear our performance; it was
Junior and Senior Jazz Ensembles’
great to see you! Thanks also to
trip to the Whistler Music Festival
Mrs. Bingham and Mrs. Schreiber
on April 24-26, 2015. This is now
who helped chaperone the trip. We
one of the most prestigious music
received many compliments
festivals in western Canada, offering
regarding the students during
the students a performance on a
the weekend.
Photos of Grade 9,
Grade 10 and Senior
Concert Bands at the
Kiwanis Concert
Band Festival at
Bethany Baptist
Church
in Richmond
Volume 22, Issue 8
Page 5
Photos of Junior Jazz Ensemble and Senior Jazz Ensemble at the Whistler Music Festival
We now move into the home stretch of our performance calendar with the following events:
Monday, May 11 at 7:00 pm
Spring Choral Concert at Centennial Theatr e
Tickets on sale now at the Centennial Theatre Concert Box Office

Tuesday, May 19 at 7:00 pm
Spring Band Concert at Centennial Theatr e
Tickets on sale now at the Centennial Theatre Concert Box Office

Friday, May 29 at 6:00 pm
International Night at S.T.A. featur ing our S. T. A. J azz Ensemble
Page 6
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
NEWS FROM THE ACADEMIC ADVISOR…..
COURSE SELECTION
SUMMER SCHOOL
GRADE 8-10 STUDENTS
Information is available for North Vancouver and
West Vancouver at the following links:
Paper course selection for students
entering grade 8-10 in September will be
initiated in late May once the timetable has
been finalized.
http://www.sd44.ca/school/summer/Pages/default.aspx
and
http://www.sd45.bc.ca/summer-learning/
GRADE 11 & 12 STUDENTS
Online course selection for students
entering grade 11 and 12 in September will
be scheduled for late May. We are still
working out a timetable, but parents will be
informed of the date via email, the STA
website, and through announcements to
students at school. This is the final course
selection and will be filled on a first-come,
first-served basis with the provision that all
students will be enrolled in the courses they
need to fulfill their graduation requirements.
Sections and teachers are not guaranteed.
Some electives do fill up quickly.
Students who have been recommended to
take Communications 11 or 12, Apprentice
and Workplace Math 11 or Foundations
Math 11, or a specific science course, need
signed parental consent to permit the
student to enroll in a course outside the
school’s recommendations. Students will be
given forms to take home closer to the
course registration time.
It is not too late to make an appointment
with Mrs. Maledy to discuss next year’s
course selection. Changes to course
selection may be made up until
September 25, but it is recommended that
students give as much advance notice as
possible so as to not lose instructional time.
After the drop deadline, courses cannot be
dropped or added.
Check for registration dates and pre-requisites. For North
Vancouver, registration must be done in person; for West
Vancouver, registration is online.
Some courses fill up quickly, so be proactive!
LANGUAGE CHALLENGE EXAMS
Second language challenge exam: names of students
wanting to challenge a second language will be taken in
the fall. Students should see the Academic Counsellor in
September for more information. Exams are administered
through the Delta School District.
GRADE 12 STUDENT INFORMATION
Grade 12 Students: Please tell us of your offers of
admission and any scholarships, bursaries or awards you
have received. These statistics are kept at the school, and
special mention is made at the graduation ceremony.
Corpus Christi College is accepting applications for the
fall, and for summer courses. Students in grade 12 may
upgrade their English and/or Math in August. These are
non-credit university prep courses. For more
information, visit the website:
http://corpuschristi.ca/universityprep
Volume 22, Issue 8
Page 7
GRAD NEWS...
W
ith the distribution of grad packages on April 27, grade 12 students are one step
closer to bidding farewell to STA. Grads brought home a Dinner/Dance order form
and menu, a Future Plans handout, Commencement invitations and listing of the
grad events schedule. Individual fundraising totals are on each order form. Congratulations to
those students who participated in our fundraising opportunities and have chipped away at these
yearend costs. Deadline for submission of order form and future plans is May 11. Here is a brief
synopsis of the events organized by the school:
Thursday, June 25 at 11:00 am
Graduation Mass to be celebrated at STA. Refreshments to follow.
Thursday, June 25 at 7:00 pm
Commencement Ceremonies at Broadway Church in Vancouver
Friday, June 26 at 6:30 pm
Dinner & Dance for Grads and their parents at the Crystal Pavilion Ballroom, Pan Pacific Hotel
The schedule of events is available online at
www.aquinas.org
under News & Events --- Grad 2015.
ALUMNI NEWS...
VANESSA BOTTESELLE, STA GRAD 2014
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA-OKANAGAN CAMPUS
Vanessa was awarded Female Rookie of the Year 2014-15 for basketball. She was
a regular component of her team’s rotation, logging thirteen minutes per contest.
She is quickly developing into a valuable playmaker at the point guard slot and
played in each of the team’s twenty matchups.
OSCAR BULAQUI, STA GRAD 2014
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Oscar, currently a redshirt freshman at SFU, won the 50-kilogram junior title at
the 2015 ASICS Junior/Senior Canadian Wrestling Championships held in March
at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario
Page 8
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
LIBRARY NEWS….
A
pril brought plenty of
sunny days, some rain and
even some snow on the
mountains. In the library we
saw a flurry of activity with
many class visits. The month
began with Mrs. Kroondyk’s
and Mrs. McAllister’s
English 11 classes making
use of our broad collection of
atlases, dictionaries, and
science, world religions and
geography themed books to
complete a prereading
assignment for the novel
The Alchemist. In addition to
recording definitions,
students located and mapped
place names such as Cairo,
El Fayoum, and Andalucia.
Mrs. Frith’s senior Fr ench
students explored Impression
through our art books and
Mrs. Lamasan’s,
Ms Liang’s and
Mrs. Hughes’ Religion 8
classes made good use of our
Women of the Bible books
for their Women of the
Old Testament and
Mary assignment.
Mrs. Purkiss’s Religion 9
students have been studying
the Social Justice teachings of
the Catholic Church and are
now using a great selection of
our book club titles in their
literature circles. They will be
making connections between
the people, places and events
in their novels to issues from
around the globe today.
Mr. Galat’s Geogr aphy 12
students visited the library for
research on their Geography
Current Events scrapbook
assignment.
Mrs. Sawdon’s English 12
students will all be reading
different fiction titles from
our collection dealing with
the broad topic of
“Darkness”.
English 8 students in
Ms Mattia’s class flipped
through well over 40 poetry
books to find one to SIFT
through. Students identified
the story, images, form and
tone/theme from a poem
which caught their eye.
Thank you to Elisa Pharaon
and Shamus Cochlin for their
generous donations to the
library. Much appreciated!
PARENTS’ BOOKSHELF
April is National Poetry month, and while Shakespeare is perhaps one of the most well
known poets, his poems are just a very few of the many we have represented in the literature
section of the library. We have a variety of titles which feature everything from traditional
love sonnets, poems by youth for youth, spiritual poetry, contemporary Canadian poetry and
even titles you might not have thought possible.
Appropriate to the season is Going Top Shelf: An Anthology of Canadian Hockey Poetry.
Who knew?
Volume 22, Issue 8
Page 9
Wanna Roll?
Now it is even easier than ever to “roll up the rim”, and roll with the
flow on down to Tim Hortons. As of April 1st, Tim Hortons has joined
our list of supporting SchoolBucks’ merchants. Now is as good as
any time to stock up on gift cards and share the joy.
Remember, the merchants support our school through your purchases! You buy the gift card and a percentage of your purchase
goes back to the school. Sweeeeet. What a way to roll!
Coffee with that?
Next order date is Thursday, May 7th with pick-up Thursday, May 14th.
PARENT ASSOCIATION NEWS...
The Spring Plant Fundraiser is under way and
orders must be placed by Friday, May 1. Pick
up will be on Friday, May 8, before
9:00 am and after 3:00 pm. Oder using the
link on the website:
http://www.aquinas.org/community/parentassociation/hanging-baskets-more/
On Tuesday, May 5 the Parent Association
will host refreshments for the New Parents
Evening. Anyone who would like to assist
with this event should contact Diana Bagaric
at: Diana@group3performance.com.
The next Parent Association meeting will take
place on Thursday, May 7 at 9:15 am in room
207 of the Convent. All parents are invited to
attend.
Thank you to the following families who generously made donations to
ThinkFast: Atkinson/Schneider, Schuab/Weinborn,
Gonzalez/Noriega, Spiller, Mustapich/Neubert
as well as the following retailers: Y eti Y ogurt & Purdy’s Chocolates.
HOLY TRINITY PARISH CAR RAFFLE
Parents selling Holy Trinity car raffle tickets can return the tickets
and money by putting them in the Holy Trinity Church rectory mail
slot or the Holy Trinity School front office mail slot. All tickets
returned by May 6 will be entered into a draw to win a
$50 gift certificate to White Spot.
No need to sell out your booklet to be entered into the draw.
SCHOOL
BUCKS
Page 10
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
SCHOOL UNIFORMS
Used uniforms are available for sale through out the school year.
If you have a uniform you would like to purchase or donate
please call or text Kimberly Shortreed at 604-317-1529.
INTERNATIONAL NIGHT
THE FAMILY EVENT OF THE YEAR
COME ONE, COME ALL TO STA’S 21ST ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL NIGHT ON FRIDAY, MAY 29.
A night filled with travel without leaving the school. With food from all over the world, your taste buds will
experience faraway places. With all food plates only $1 each, and with all the money going to Campus Ministry’s
charities, your full tummy will know it ate to help others. Challenge yourself to bring as many family members
as possible, from 1 day old to 100 years old.
And if you have that special dish from around the world that you love to make, we would love to taste it.
If you would like to help for a bit of the night serving food or helping in the kitchen, we would love to have you.
If you have a great idea for a raffle prize donation, would love to let someone win it.
Do you know any fantastic cultural dancers, singers, musicians, performers, groups who would like to donate
their talents to this great charity fundraising event by performing at International Night?
Having performances from around the world is an amazing way to share different cultures.
Please contact Mrs. Hidalgo (hidalgo@aquinas.org) or at the school (604)987-4431.
For more information contact Brenda Dayton: Dayton.brenda@gmail.com
Time: 6 pm—9:30 pm
Cost at the door:
Adults $5
Students $2
Family $12
Food tickets are $1 each
This event is brought to you by
STA Campus Ministry.
newsletter@aquinas.org
Please notify the office if you move or change your e-mail address.