Joseph Howe Senior Public School20 Winter Gardens Trail,

Scarborough, Ontario M1C 3E7(416) 396-6405

Ms. S. Boland, Principal Ms. J. Solman, Vice Principal

http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/josephhowe

NOVEMBER 2014Nov. 5 Cafeteria Food Service ClosedNov. 6 Cafeteria Food Service ClosedNov. 7 Pizza Lunch Fundraiser – School Council

Cafeteria Food Service ClosedNov. 8 Charlottetown School Winter Fair – 10:00 a.m.Nov. 10 Term 1 Progress Report Goes HomeNov. 10 Police Liaison Assembly – Youth And The LawNov. 11 Remembrance Day Assembly – 10:15 a.m. - gymNov. 13 Evening Parent InterviewsNov. 13 Police Liaison Assembly – Youth And The LawNov. 14 P.A. Day - Students Do Not Attend SchoolNov. 14 Gr. 8 Year-End Trip Electronic Reg. Deadline

Through Brightspark websiteNov. 14 Family Skate Day - NoonNov. 14 Morning Parent InterviewsNov. 17 Ski Club Forms Given Out By Mr. BarnesNov. 19 Book Club Begins – Lunch TimeNov. 19 Public Health Immunization Clinic Nov. 24 School Council Meeting – 7:00 p.m. – LibraryDec. 5 P.A. Day- Students Do Not Attend SchoolDec. 8 Winter Concert/Fundraiser Basket Raffle DrawDec. 12 Ski Club Forms And Payments Due To Mr. BarnesDec. 12 Mowat Winter Concert – All studentsDec. 12 Pizza Lunch Fundraiser – School Council

Cafeteria Food Service ClosedDec. 16 Skyloft Meeting And Fitting – 3:10 p.m. CafeteriaDec. 22 Christmas Break BeginsJan. 5 First Day Back After Christmas BreakJan. 9 Pizza Lunch Fundraiser – School Council

Cafeteria Food Service ClosedJan. 13 Ski Club At Skyloft After School Jan. 14 Gr. 8 to 9 Info Meeting At Mowat – 7:00 p.m.

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING

THE CAFETERIA SERVERY WILL BE CLOSED NOVEMBER 5, 6, AND 7. PLEASE BRING YOUR LUNCH FROM HOME. NOV. 7 IS OUR PIZZA FUNDRAISER.

THE TEMPERATURE IS STARTING TO DROP

Students are reminded to dress appropriately for cold weather conditions. If it isn’t raining, students

will be required to go outdoors before or after eating their lunch. The fresh air is invigorating and students come back for afternoon studies refreshed and ready to learn. When the temperature drops to minus 20 students are allowed to remain indoors.

We welcome Ms. Cheryl Teixeira to Joseph Howe. Ms. Teixeira is replacing Ms. Levy in her absence. As most of you know, Ms. Levy had to take an earlier than expected leave of absence due to her pregnancy.

TERM 1 PROGRESS REPORT

We will be sending home progress reports on Nov. 10 which will give parents an indication of how your child is progressing thus far. There will be no grades on this report, only an indication of how your child is progressing.

Parent interviews will be held the evening of Thursday, Nov. 13 and the morning of Friday, Nov. 14. More information will go home shortly regarding interviews. Nov. 14 is a P.A. Students do not attend school.

REMIND 101

Sign up and receive short weekly texts from the Principal! This is a one-way text that will remind parents/guardians of events that are happening at the school each week.

Text 437-800-2358 with the message @josephh and you will be a member of Remind 101!

Prevention is the best approach. We request your co-operation in not

sending any snacks or lunches containing peanuts or nut products

and to refrain from bringing aerosol products to Joseph Howe. Please take particular notice of Halloween candies in your child’s loot bag.

TERRY FOX

We are pleased to announce that this year Joseph Howe’s Terry Fox run raised a grand total of $656.00.  Well done!  Thanks to all staff and students who participated and to those who donated in our community to this worthy cause.

SCHOOL COUNCIL VOLUNTEERS

My thanks to all our pizza lunch parent volunteers. Thank you also to those parents who volunteer to make and sell popcorn each week on Tuesday after school. We appreciate your efforts and the students really enjoy the special treats you provide.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

Congratulations to our new Executive School Council:

Eliza Kattsir and Mary Hadjiyianni, Co-ChairsHolly Allardyce, SecretaryMelissa Davies, Treasurer

If you have an item you would like to post on the agenda for our next meeting please contact Mrs. Kattsir at eliza4@rogers.com

The School Council meets from 7:00 p.m. to approximately 8:15 p.m. in the school library on the second floor. Parents, staff and members of the community make up the council. All are welcome. Our regular meetings dates have now been established:

Nov. 24, Jan. 19, Feb. 23, April 20, May 25 and a tentative date of June 15 if required.

The minutes will be posted on the School Council website.

SAFE WELCOME PROGRAMSECURE ACCESS SYSTEM

 A secure access system has been installed at Joseph Howe for the safety of our students and staff. Please be advised that all doors of the school will remain locked after 9:00 a.m. This system gives our school staff more control over who enters Joseph Howe. Anyone who wishes to enter after 9:00 a.m. will have to ring the buzzer on the wall to gain access through the front doors. Students in the portables will have an access key (available in the portable from their teacher) when necessary that will open the side parking lot door.  All visitors who enter Joseph Howe will come to the office upon entry. When the 8:45 a.m. entry bell rings, students are to enter the school through the backyard entrance until 9:00 a.m. All doors will be locked at 9:00 a.m. and late students should then enter through the front doors using the buzzer. 

Please note that teachers are on supervision duty at 8:30 a.m. in the morning prior to students entering the building at 8:45 a.m. Therefore, students are asked to arrive no earlier than 8:30 a.m. unless they have a practice or activity at the school. Finally, in the event of a lockdown, parents are reminded that the entire school will be closed and no one will be allowed to enter or exit Joseph Howe until we have been given the “all clear” by the Toronto Police Services. If a lockdown necessitates keeping students in past the regular dismissal time, parents will NOT be able to come into the school to pick up their child(ren) until all is deemed clear. We thank you for your co-operation in this matter. We have reminded students not to open the doors to ANYONE. Students who notice someone outside who wants into the school should not open the door to anyone. The visitor will gain access through the secure system by ringing the buzzer to contact the office.

A BIG THANK YOU!

I would like to recognize some of our dedicated staff and to say thank you for their commitment to extra-curricular activities and the time they have voluntarily given to our students.

I would like to thank Ms. Solman, Mr. Sliz, and Mr. Barnes for their support of our Cross Country Team and to all the parents who came out to support our students during the Cross Country meets we participated in. We were out each morning during the months of September and October, both at Joseph Howe and at Adams Park, with approximately 65 athletes, to ensure that our students had a good warm-up training session and they didn’t let us down.

What an awesome performance at the Eastern Conference Finals for our cross country team. 37 Joseph Howe athletes competed against the top runners from Scarborough schools at Thomson Park. Mr. Barnes, Ms. Solman and Mr. Sliz are very proud of all team members for their effort, determination, commitment and perseverance. All their training has paid off as all four Joseph Howe teams claimed first place and brought home banners for being CHAMPIONS. Way to go Hornets!

Many of the runners placed in the top 30 and qualified to compete at City Finals at Centennial Park in Etobicoke.

Students who placed in the top ten:Grade 7 boys: Owen in 3rd, Cameron in 9th

Grade 7 girls: Rachel in 2nd, Sarah in 5th

Grade 8 boys: Nick in first place, Evan in 2nd place Declan in 5th and Dontae in 7th.

Grade 8 girls: Ashley 1st place, Hannah in 7th place and Lakshmi in 10th place.

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At City Finals our teams placed respectably:Grade 7 boys’ team – 4th

Grade 7 girls’ team – 10th

Grade 8 boys’ team – 4th

Grade 8 girls’ team – 10th

Top individual placements at City Finals were:

Grade 7 boys – Cameron F. - 30th

Grade 7 girls – Rachel T. – 13th

Grade 8 boys – Evan B. - 17th

Grade 8 girls – Ashley N. - 12th

Ms. Solman, and I would like to, once again, congratulate all the athletes on another outstanding season.

I would also like to thank all the parents who supported our students and who drove to and from our meets. It is wonderful to be in a school where this type of support is a regular occurrence.

Just a reminder that we need our sports team shirts returned as soon as possible. Some have gone missing and we’d like to have them all returned. Please check cupboards and drawers and have any team shirts returned to Howe.

MOWAT WINTER CONCERT

Joseph Howe students have been cordially invited to Sir Oliver Mowat on the afternoon of Friday, December 12, to attend a music concert and to see the Arts in Action at Mowat. As you may know, Mowat has a special fine arts music program that our grade 8 students may apply to by audition for grade 9. December 12 is turning out to be a busy day with pizza lunch, the Mowat concert and Ski Club application/payments due all on the same day! Students need to bring their lunch from home on December 12 if they are not participating in the pizza fundraiser as the servery will be closed.

YOUTH AND THE LAW ASSEMBLY

Our Police Liaison officers will be at Joseph Howe on November 10 and November 13. They will be putting on a presentation on “Youth and the Law” for our grade 8 students.

GRADE 8 OTTAWA/MONTREAL TRIP

Our grade 8 year-end trip dates have been changed to Tuesday, June 9 to Friday, June 12, 2015. We hosted an information night to explain the details of the trip and the payment options in October. More information is available on the Brightsparks website.

Registration is easy, please visit:

https//mytour.brightsparktravel.ca no later than: Nov. 14, 2014. Create your own account using TOUR WEB CODE 1453812. A deposit of $100.00 + $45.00 Travel Guard

Insurance is required upon registration. Insurance is strongly recommended by Brightspark to avoid cancellation penalities and to protect yourself while on tour by adding Travel Guard Insurance to your registration for $45.00.

On Line Sign Up Process For Parents

1. Visit www.brightsparktravel.ca2. Select “trip login” (top right hand corner of page)3. Create the Parent Account (right hand side of

page). Enter your email address, first and last name of the parent/guardian, a password you will remember and the tour web code. You will find your tour web code on the top right hand corner of the parent information letter you received. The code is 1453812. Please read the terms and conditions and click “create an account”. On this page be sure you are entering YOUR information, not your child’s

4. You are now on your tour home page. On the left side of the page click “Register a Participant”.

5. “Register a New Participate” – click on the blue box “register and pay”. If you see your name under “my accounts” (because of previous registrations with us) do NOT click the “view and edit” button. It will take you to the wrong area.

6. Please fill out all necessary fields. Do not enter an email address for your child. If they have any allergies, please enter them on this page.

7. The next page shows you the cost of the tour based on quad occupancy and allows you to choose the insurance option. You will be asked again if you have read the Terms and Conditions and you must click before proceeding. “Click “Next Step”.

8. Deposit page – here you have the option of paying by VISA or MasterCard credit card OR by on-line banking. Click on option.

REMEMBRANCE DAY ASSEMBLY

We will have a special guest for our Remembrance Day Assembly on Nov. 11. Inspector Art Little, head of 43 Division, who also severed in the army under the Airborne Division will be speaking. Those parents who wish to participate in our assembly are invited to arrive at 10:15 a.m. in the gym.

WINTER BREAK

This year winter break takes place from Monday, Dec. 22 to Friday, Jan. 2. Students attend school until Friday, Dec. 19. Students

return to school on Monday, Jan. 5.

Ms. S. Boland, Principal

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 JOSEPH HOWE WINTER CONCERTCELEBRATING THE ARTS

Our holiday concert is fast approaching and the groups are busy practising. Our musical event will take place on the evening of December 8 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets will be available closer to the date for those who wish to attend. Limited seating will be available so be sure to get your tickets early. Tickets will be $5.00 with proceeds going directly to the enhancement of the Music Department. During the evening we will also be showcasing our choir, cooking club, drama group and artwork done by our students.

Mrs. J. Hanson

LIBRARY NEWS

Did you know that your child can get help from their school library when outside of school? The Virtual Library provides learning resources for students from K-12. Parents and caregivers can also explore the Parent Resources section of the Virtual Library site.

The TDSB has a Virtual Library website of digital resources (e-books, news articles, streamed video, curated sites), to help students, teachers and parents. Digital resources can be accessed anywhere, anytime with an internet connection.

Some resources need passwords. These can be found in your child’s agenda.

The Virtual Library is an extension of your school library. It can be used for inquiry, projects, homework, building a love of reading or just for fun.

The Virtual Library can be found via:

TDSB – http://www.tdsb.on.ca – top navigation bar – Find Your School – enter your school name – left navigation bar – Virtual LibraryOrAcademic Workspace (AW) – https://aw.tdsb.on.ca – login with student number and network password – top navigation bar – my home – left navigation bar Library (also provides access to Home drive, Google Drive, Pickup/Drop off folders)

HALLOWEEN

The SAC worked hard to spook-ifying Portable 2 and everybody did a fantastic job.  On Tuesday,

October 28, classes were invited for a tour to have some scary Halloween fun.

ME TO WE NEWS

Nice job Joseph Howe! Our “Me To We Club” had a goal of 400 non-perishable food items for our first campaign: We Scare Hunger. This initiative was to help our local community by bringing in non-perishable food items to our local food bank, and help those in our own community, who need food. We are proud to say that we surpassed that goal and ended up with a total of 500 non-perishable food items to donate to our local food drive. Way to be the difference Howe!

Lakshmi A., 8B

JOSEPH HOWE GIFT BASKET RAFFLE

The Gift Basket Raffle is a successful fundraiser with lots of school spirit. All of the students get involved by having each class put together a themed gift basket. Ms. Boland invited a runner from each home room to come to the office and select a theme for their class out of a hat. The wrapped baskets will be displayed in the foyer on Nov. 13 and 14 during parent/teacher conferences as well as twice a week during lunches and during the Winter Concert. Students, staff and families can purchase and submit their ballots to try and win the basket of their choice.

Each student is asked to contribute a new item ($10.00 max.) towards the basket in their classroom.

A holiday party will be given to the class with the highest percentage of participation. Please bring your items for the class basket no later than Nov. 10. Here are the basket themes for each class:

7A SPORTS 8A BAKING

7B CHOCOLATE 8B ARTS/CRAFTS

7C DATE NIGHT 8C GIFT CARDS

7D GAMES NIGHT 8D SPA

7E CANDY 8E PASTA NIGHT

7F SCRAPBOOKING 8F WINTER FUN

7G CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY STAFF BASKET

The draw will take place following the Winter Concert on December 8. Winners will be contacted. Please be sure to include your phone number on your tickets. Ticket prices are as follows:

$1.00 each 6 for $5.00 12 for $10.00 25 for $20.00

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The more you buy, the more chances you have to win!

GRADE 8 TO 9 TRANSITION MEETING

Parents and guardians of grade 8 students were invited to attend an information evening at Joseph Howe in October. The focus of the evening was the grade 8 to 9 transition process for our grade 8 students. It was a good turnout. Thank you to those that attended.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ GRADE 9INFORMATION EVENINGS

Students and parent/guardians will make important decisions early in the new year about choice of secondary school (subject to optional attendance procedures) and course selection for next September.

Beginning in November, secondary schools will be holding information sessions for grade 8 students and their parents/guardians. We strongly encourage you to review the valuable information about the high school process in the Choices For Nine 2015 – 2016 brochure and to attend the information evenings at the secondary schools. You can also access this information at www.tdsb.on.ca/goingtohighschool.

Sir Oliver Mowat’s information evening will take place on Thursday, January 14, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

Please note that there was a date change for Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s information night. The remaining information nights at local secondary schools are as follows:

Bendale B.T.I. Nov. 18 6:30Cedarbrae Dec. 2 6:45David & Mary Thomson Nov. 4 6:30Delphi Secondary Alternative Dec. 4 7:00 East York Jan. 14 6:30Malvern Jan. 13 7:00Maplewood High School By Appt. OnlyR.H. King Academy Nov. 26 6:00/7:30Rosedale Heights School of Ats Nov. 20 6:15/7:00 SATEC@W.A. Porter Nov. 19 6:00/7 :00Sir Oliver Mowat Jan. 14 7:00Sir Robert L. Borden Jan. 8 7:00Sir Wilfrid Laurier Nov. 13 6:30West Hill Nov. 18 6:30Wexford – Performing Arts Nov. 12 7:00 – Visual & Media Arts Nov. 13 7:00Winston Churchill Dec. 3 6:30Woburn Nov. 25 6:30

Mrs. M. Liska, Guidance Counsellor

HOUSELEAGUE

House League will start up the first week in November with dodge ball games.  All students are welcome to participate in Houseleague and have some fun regardless of skill level or experience.  The games will be one class in friendly competition with another.

These games will take place during the lunch hour. The grade 8 classes will play the first half of the lunch period (when they would normally be outside) and the grade 7 classes will play during the second half of lunch (when they would normally go outside). Grade 8 students are to leave the gym when their Houseleague session is finished.

BOYS’ SLO-PITCH SEASON

Wow, what a season for the boys’ slo-pitch team. The boys’ team had an amazing season with only one loss in their very last game. It all started in tryouts when they showed off their astonishing talents from hitting to fielding to their great leadership. In our first game you could tell that we would have an incredible season, we won by a mile! All the other games were easy wins with the boys winning the conference finals by over 8 runs but the boys knew they would have to play 100 times harder to win the city-finals. The semi-final game was the hardest game they have ever played in slo-pitch because our opponents were a good hitting team and they knew how to play slo-pitch. It was the bottom of the last inning, bases loaded, two out with Jake R., 8D, up to bat, SMASH, Jake roped the ball over the left fielder’s head scoring two runs to win Joseph Howe the semi-finals and the boys were off to the finals against Glen Ames. The boys lost the coin toss but that didn’t matter because every time they lost the toss they had won. In the end, the boys got smoked 9-0. Even though we lost in the finals we had a fun season thanks to Mr. Sliz. Also, thank you for all the support from parents who drove and cheered us on.

Jacob F., 8C and Nick D., 8A

THE GIRLS’ SLO-PITCH SEASON

Joseph Howe had a strong girls’ slo-pitch team this year. Try-outs proved that because very few girls were cut. There were many extraordinary players on the team. The team was made up of grade 7 and 8 girls. Vanessa, Ashley, Shonali, Stephanie, Rebekah, Rianna, Holly, Brianna, Naomi, Emerald, Stephanie, Savannah, and Elle were on the team. The pre-season went undefeated. Almost all of our games had an incredible score in our favour of 9-2, 10-0. It was only once we came to play our rivals from

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Jack Minor that we thought the other team might have a chance to possibly win. Out of the eastern teams Joseph Howe was the team to beat. The first game was tied 3-3 and left up to a coin toss to decide which team would go into the conference finals in first place. Unfortunately, our team lost every coin toss we were involved in. Going into the conference finals we were in second place but we were confident that we could take down our rivals. The first game was a clean sweep at a 10-0 win. The conference finals inspired our team to put up a fight to win. We were behind in the last inning, but this just gave us the chance to show the kind of stuff our team was made of. A couple of home runs later and we won the game 5-4 to take on the city finals. Unfortunately, the first game of the finals gave us our only loss and ended our season.

From the start of tryouts to our last game we all improved immensely. Overall, we played a great season that we should all be proud of. Cities was just the cherry on top of the cake, it’s nice to have but not needed. Also, our thanks to Ms. Fullard for driving. We were a great team thanks to our coaches, Mr. Sliz, Mr. Barnes, and a volunteer, Ms. Fiddler. Thank you also for all the support from parents who drove and cheered the team on.

Stephanie and Ashley

SCHOOL COUNCIL PIZZA FUNDRAISER

November 7, December 12 and January 9

The cafeteria food services will be closed on the above dates. Students will have to bring their own lunch to school if they did not choose to participate in pizza lunch days. Students will NOT be allowed to sign out and go the local plazas.

YOUR NEW STUDENT COUNCIL

Elections have now taken place and the results are in! Congratulations to those students who have been voted in as your new student council for 2014/2015. We know they are going to do a great job as leaders in the student body.

President: Nick S., 8E

Vice President: Sarah M., 8C

Public Relations: Lauren S., 8C, and Aaman J., 8E

Social Convenors: Felix W., 8F and Naomi C., 8C

Council Crew: Xamida H., 8F, Shonali A., 8E, Sathira R., 8A, Ryan A., 8E, and Hannah J., 8C

JOSEPH HOWE SKI CLUB NEWS

We are happy to announce that Joseph Howe will once again have a Ski Club!!!  Permission forms will be handed out by Mr. Barnes in the library on November 17. We will only be taking 90 students, so the first students to return completed forms and payment will get the spots.  If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Barnes.

Payment and forms are due back by Friday, December 12, at the latest.  Please place your completed form/payment in the marked bin in the office.  

We will have a representative from Skyloft come to visit our Club and speak about Safety on the Slopes on Tuesday, December 16, starting at 3:15 p.m.  Attendance is mandatory for Ski Club members.  The presentation will last for about 30-40 minutes.  After the presentation, there will be a fitting for those who are renting equipment.

The cost of the Ski Club will be:

- $175.00 for bus, lessons and lift ticket for 4 dates

- $225.00 for bus, lessons, rental and lift ticket for 4 dates

Ski Club will take place at Skyloft on:

Tuesday, January 13,Tuesday, January 20, Tuesday, January 27 and Tuesday, February 3

With a rain/extreme cold weather date of Tuesday, February 10.  The make-up date is in case Skyloft cancels -if we cancel we do not get a refund.

We will leave Joseph Howe at 3:15 p.m. and arrive at Skyloft about 4:00 p.m.  Lessons will start shortly after (these lessons are MANDATORY for all skiers/boarders). We will return to the West Rouge Go Station at around 9:15 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. depending on the weather and road conditions.  Helmets are also MANDATORY for all skiers/boarders.

Please note that drop off will be at the West Rouge Go Station parking lot at 9:15 p.m. - 9:30 p. m.   Please be prompt when picking up your child since it will be a long day for everyone involved.

Thanks to all staff who are involved in such a great club. Without everyone's co-operation and effort, we would not have the opportunity to run at Joseph Howe Ski Club.

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Mr. J. Barnes

TORONTO PUBLIC HEALTH

Each year Toronto Public Health offers free vaccines to grade 7 and 8 students through immunization clinics in schools. Grade 7 students can receive hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines, and grade 8 girls may get the HPV vaccine. These vaccines are not available for free from your doctor.

The Toronto Public Health will be at Howe on Nov. 19 to inoculate our students. Please be sure to return your signed permission form to your child’s teacher.

THE FLU

We would like to commend the parents and guardians of Joseph Howe on their prompt

notification to the office regarding the absence of their child.

We request that parents and guardians keep children who are ill home from school if they have a sore throat, fever, cough, or other symptoms indicating illness. This year’s flu symptoms seem to be fever, sore throat, and cough. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter. We continue to announce over the P.A. for children to wash their hands with soap and water, especially before lunch.

Please think of others when you contemplate sending your sick child to school to just do one presentation or test or to participate in that one sporting event, and then return home. Your child is going to come in contact with many people in that short amount of time in class or at that sporting event.

Communicate with your child’s teacher/coach to find out about tests or homework in their absence

Alternative arrangements will be made for your child’s presentation, or scheduled testing. The team will just have to play on without your child, but the spread of illness will be prevented.

BOOK CLUB

Book Club starts on Monday, Nov. 17, on Day 3 at lunch time in the library with

Ms. Downey.

If you like to read the latest, greatest books you might like to join the book club.

Book club members should bring their lunch from home on book club days.

We meet every Day 3 (unless there is a staff meeting) from November to March. All are welcome.

Ms. J. DowneyCOMMUNITY NEWS

CHARLOTTETOWN SCHOOL’S 33 ANNUAL WINTER FAIR

Charlottetown School will be holding a winter fair on Saturday, November 8, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

During the fair they will have a silent auction, vendors, opportunities to have your picture taken with Santa, a basket room, pony rides, and other exciting events.

FAMILY SKATE DAY

There will be a neighbourhood family skate day on November 14 from noon to 2:00 p.m. at Heron Park Recreation Centre. Nov. 14 is a P.A. Day for elementary and secondary students.  

43 Division police station is collecting used child and adult size skates. These can be dropped off at the front desk of the station.

EAST METRO YOUTH WALK-IN CLINIC OPENS

East Metro Youth Services walk-in clinic is a no fee, no appointment service for youth and their families dealing with mental health issues, including addictions, bullying, depression, identity, and behavioural concerns.

Monday to Thursday, 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., (last appointment 7:00 p.m.) and Fridays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 1200 Markham Road (at Ellesmere) Second Floor. 416/438-3697.

If you need some help dealing with these or any other issues, please come right in to see them. Remember, no appointments are necessary.

Don’t fit in? Need to talk? Hate yourself? Feel the world would be better off without you? Stressed? Depressed? Waking up anxious? Feel like you could just throw up? Fighting at home? No one listens? Feel like your head will explode? Too much partying? Too much booze and dope? Obsessed with your weight? Harming yourself? Queer and questioning?

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Worried about the future?

For more information please go to www.emys.on.ca

Here are some tips on standing up for yourself from The Child Development Institute:

Give yourself enough time to think about the problem calmly and clearly.

Describe it to yourself. Ask yourself: What is happening? What are they doing that is upsetting me?

Tell someone else about it if you need some help. Plan what you are going to say about how their

behaviour has affected you, without being judgmental or acting angry.

Create a brief, to the point ‘I’ statement to say what you want: “I feel uncomfortable when you say that. Please stop.”

Plan when you are going to say it. Choose the time and place carefully.

Rehearse it in your mind or with someone who is supportive.

Take a deep breath, make sure to get the attention of the person, and then tell them.

Be prepared to feel anxious or scared. If they respond with anger, take a deep breath and stay calm and firm.

Remember: Don't give up! Standing up for yourself takes practice.

Here are some other websites that students may find helpful:

www.kidshelpphone.ca

Confidential telephone and online counselling for youth in Canada.

Lots of information on issues like bullying, dating and healthy relationships.

www.aboutkidshealth.ca

Health information from the Hospital for Sick Children.

Practical health information and cool animations about how your body works.

www.youthconnect.ca

A bilingual site with resources for teens from the Government of Ontario.

This is the second part of a series on The Bully the Bullied and the Bystander. This month we will look at the “Bullied”

THE BULLIED

The person who is being bullied is essentially a “victim”. A victim is usually an innocent person who has done nothing to deserve the abuse. Victims should never keep the problem a secret. The only way to stop bullying is to “bring it out in the open”. Bullying is everyone’s business!

Victims must learn to be ASSERTIVE. They must let others know how they feel or what they need in a positive way. Bullies are not assertive: they are AGGRESSIVE. Being aggressive means taking advantage of another in negative ways.

Violence in TV shows, movies, video games, and music often leads young people to believe that bullying and aggression equal power and respect. Remember that what is seen and heard on television is mostly make- believe.

Disclosure is the best defence against being bullied. Often, those being bullied are afraid to come forward. There may be signs to help others recognize when a person is being victimized.

These could include: Fear of going to school Change in sleeping/eating patterns Unusual aggressive or withdrawal behaviour Decline in school performance

Creating an atmosphere of trust will help to keep the lines of communication open with children in your care.

Ms. S. MacInnis, Instructional Guidance Leader

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