December 2014

Murdoch MacKay Collegiate 260 Redonda St. Winnipeg, MB R2C 1L6 Ph. 958-6460 Fax: 224-5920 www.mmci.retsd.mb.ca

Principal Mr. John Muller

Vice-Principals Mrs. Carol Kovacs Mr. Peter Nicholls

RETSD Board Office Ph: 667-7130

CALENDAR

Dec. 3 Winter Concert

Dec. 19 Last day of classes - Christmas Break Early Dismissal 2:30pm

Jan. 5 Classes Resume - Day 2

Jan. 14 Early Dismissal - 2:30

Jan. 26 - 30 First Semester Exams

Feb. 2 No Classes

Feb. 3 Second Semester Begins - Day 1

Feb. 12-13 Grad Picture Retakes

Feb. 16 Louis Riel Day - No Classes

Feb. 18 Early Dismissal - 2:30

Feb. 19 MMCI Open House

Feb. 20 No Classes

For more details and other dates throughout the year please check our website at: mmci.retsd.mb.ca and click on Murdoch MacKay Collegiate website

Murdoch MacKay 30S/40S Drama Stu-dents are busy rehearsing a two-act Don Zolidis play entitled The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon. This 22-actor produc-tion will be presented January 14

th and 15

th

at 7 p.m. nightly. Admission is $10 per adult and $5 per student. Tickets available from cast members, the school office, or at the door.

In the Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon the fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers are turned on their heads in this fast paced two-act play. Follow along as two Narrators and a full cast of actors attempt to re-enact some of the original 209 Brothers Grimm tales, from classics like Snow White, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and many more.

THE BROTHERS GRIMM SPECTACULATHON

Message from Administration...

It was wonderful to see so many families come out for our Parent Teacher Conference Evening on November 20, 2014. Staff appreciated the conversations regarding student growth and goal setting. As we continue to work through our first semester of study, we encourage families to have ongoing discussions about progress with your children, engaging our teaching staff in conversations as needed. As we move towards the holiday season, we would like to wish all of our students and their families a safe, relaxing, and fun filled December.

Mr. J. Muller

Koats for Kids has been a Winnipeg institution since 1989. Every year students from MMCI's Metal

Fabrication Program work with the Charitable Ideas and Youth in Philanthropy Group to make custom

coat hangers to help out. All proceeds go to the Koats for Kids program which distributes winter out-

erwear to families – for some children, having a warm coat means attending school on a cold day, in-

stead of staying home. It’s part of United Way’s commitment to helping children and youth be all they

can be. A HUGE thank you to everyone who supported Murdoch MacKay’s 2014 Koats for Kids fundrais-

ing campaign by purchasing personalized coat hooks!!!

DRAMA UPDATE

Over the past few months, students at Murdoch MacKay Collegiate have been preparing for the April production of Annie Warbucks. Sixty students are taking on various responsibilities to make this musical a great success. Much is being done both on stage and beyond – from learning new songs, to promotion, to set construc-tion, and more. Annie Warbucks takes place after the original Annie with which many are familiar. On Christmas morning in 1933, child welfare commissioner Harriet Doyle arrives at Daddy Warbucks’ mansion

to tell him that he must marry in sixty days or Annie will have to go back to the orphanage. Despite being a father and having someone after his fortune, he manages to fall in love. Mark your 2015 calendar, noting the dates: April 14, 15, 16

th @ 7:30 p.m. At Murdoch Mac-

Kay Collegiate Theatre. Tickets are available at the school office – adults $15 students $5.

Improv at Murdoch has begun!

Students interested in Improv have been coming out on

Mondays from 3:30 – 5:00. Once the team is selected, they

will take that over as their practice time. A noon hour slot will be announced for anyone else

wanting to try out Improv.

The Carpe Diems Improv Team will once again participate in the S.O.S. Improv League which

includes schools from Winnipeg, Grunthal, and Steinbach. On Game Nights, 4 teams gather

at one of the participating schools to entertain the audience and each other in rollicking

fashion! More information and dates will be forthcoming.

See Ms. Peters if you are interested.

S.C.A.A.T. – STUDENTS CREATING AUTISM AWARENESS TOGETHER

This group, now in its 5th

year, works to gain knowledge and share with

groups of students and adults alike. Typically meeting once per month,

S.C.A.A.T. has developed a 1-hour interactive presentation that promotes

inclusion and understanding of those who have Autism. A date for an or-

ganizational meeting will be announced soon.

Remembrance Day

This year, the students of Mr. Rochon’s grade 11 Advanced History class organized and prepared a moving and emotional service on November 7th. The students organized everything for the service, from decid-ing on the roles they assumed, creating a program, speaking parts, distributing poppies , to ensuring the attendance of guests of honour: Mr. Lawrence Toet, MP, The Honourable Daryl Reid, MLA, and Councillor Russ Wyatt, as well as RETSD trustees Mrs. Colleen Carswell, and Mr. Jerry Sodomlak. We also thank the Royal Cana-dian Legion Transcona Branch #7 for attending and participating in the service too.

The students decided on a theme for the service that looked at extremely significant numbers, as it is the 100th anniversary this year of the First World War. The students explained the significance of the different numbers and dates, but also expressed that these soldiers are more than numbers – they are the men and women who defended and are still defending our country.

In preparation for the service, the students participated in the Lest We Forget project provided by Ar-chives Canada at the Millennium Library. Each student was given the opportunity to look deeper into the lives of many soldiers who fought in World War I through a variety of primary source documents to aid in their un-derstanding of who these soldiers really were.

Thank you to all who attended and paid their respects during this service.

Mr. Rochon’s grade 11 Advanced History Students working with the primary source doc-

uments at the Millennium Library

Social Studies Update

On Friday, November 14th, the 4 current grade 9 Social Studies classes had the pleasure of lis-

tening to a presentation by the Member of Parliament for Elmwood Transcona, Mr. Lawrence

Toet. The Social Studies classes are currently working on their Government Unit and as a result

the presentation was very relevant and interesting for both students and teachers alike.

MP Toet’s presentation mostly focussed on what a day in the life of an MP is like. He walked us

through a typical day for him, and it was very enlightening. Who knew that they typically work

such long days – often 12-14 hours, while working in Ottawa during the week?

The best part of the presentation was the question and answer period, which provided us with

insight into why and how MP Toet got into politics as well as a good argument as to why youth

should be interested in government and politics and the importance of voting.

Students from Murdoch Mackay’s Charitable

Ideas and Youth in Philanthropy group par-

ticipated in a hugely successful Halloween

for Hunger campaign, which included a

Hats for Hunger day at the school. This year,

we more than doubled the amount received

last year, collecting over one thousand

pounds of non-perishable food items and

well over one hundred dollars that have

been donated to the Transcona Food Bank.

A BIG thank you to all of the members of the

community as well as staff and students who

so generously donated to this important

cause. A special thank you to all of the stu-

dents who volunteered their time and mus-

cles to the event!

SCIENCE UPDATE...

SPEAK OUT continues at Murdoch MacKay. We will meet weekly to develop public

speaking skills and build confidence in a fun and engaging way. If you know of someone

who could benefit from this, please direct them to speak to Ms. Pe-

ters or Ms. Schultz for details. Traditionally, Murdoch has speakers

compete in the Skills Manitoba Public Speaking Competition and

many have gone on to compete very successfully at Skills Canada.

For anyone interested in pursuing this competition, contact Ms. Pe-

ters or Mrs. Schultz.

English Language Arts Exams: January 2015

Jill Reid Hodgert, ELA Department Head

Because of the nature of the ELA exam, many students believe that it is not necessary to study for Eng-

lish Language Arts exams. The ELA exams, grades 10 and 11 at MMCI follow the same format as out-

lined by the Grade 12 Standards Test. MMCI ELA exams require students to read and view a variety of

texts on a particular topic, to respond to the texts by answering 5 mark questions, to write an extended,

original text (e.g. essay, short story, speech, etc), to connect the topic to prior knowledge and to reflect

on choices in writing. The grade 9 ELA exam will include some multiple choice questions as well that

aim to assess student understanding of literary terms.

Throughout ELA courses, students practice these tasks or skills on a daily basis. Even though students

may not be asked specifically to respond to the novel that was studied in class, the reading and the re-

sponding that was completed during that unit is designed to help students in reading, connecting, writing

and reflecting – the very skills being tested on the final exam.

Students often say, “I can’t really study for an English exam.” If a student has done all of the assign-

ments, is fully aware of his strengths and weaknesses in writing and reading, knows how to write an

original text, like an essay or speech or short story and remembers the strategies for analyzing poetry

and writing 5 mark answers…then no studying would be necessary. However, for most students, some

review of the course materials is usually beneficial. Normally, students are instructed to look over

major assignments, review the rubrics to determine strengths and weaknesses, clarify previous prob-

lems, and think about the various strategies used in class – like the CSCE model for answering 5 mark

questions.

The ELA exam is between five & seven hours in length, depending on grade – however, not all in one

sitting. Students will start the ELA exam about a week prior to the scheduled exam time, as outlined by

the teacher. Students will work on the exam, in class for one hour, over the course of four or five days

while still attending all other regular scheduled classes. Finally, students will complete the last two

hours of the exam during the scheduled exam period, after regular classes have finished. It is a lengthy

process that requires students to be well rested, well-nourished and well prepared.

The grade 12 ELA Standards Test is scheduled for the following dates:

Jan. 6, 2015 (8:30am – 12:10 pm)

Jan. 7, 2015 – during regular scheduled Eng. 40S class – 1 hour

Jan. 8, 2015 – during regular scheduled Eng. 40S class- 1 hour

Jan. 9, 2015 – during regular scheduled Eng. 40S class – 1 hour

The in-class ELA exams (grade 9 – 11) will be beginning the week of Jan. 19, 2015 (check with

your ELA teacher to confirm start date). The two hour portion of the ELA exam will be scheduled dur-

ing exam week Jan. 26 – Jan. 30, 2015.

MURDOCH MACKAY CLANSMEN HOCKEY SCHEDULE

DATE TIME PLACE VS

Wed., Nov. 5 4:30 Varsity View Shaftsbury

Thurs., Nov. 6 4:30 East End Arena TCI

Wed., Nov. 12 4:30 East End Arena Dakota

Wed., Nov. 19 4:30 East End Arena JH Bruns

Wed., Nov. 26 4:00 Centennial Arena Steinbach

Thurs., Dec. 4 6:00 Sanford Arena Sanford

Mon., Dec. 8 3:30 East End Arena Miles Mac

Wed., Dec. 10 4:30 East End Arena West Kildonan

Mon., Dec. 15 3:30 Terry Sawchuck Arena Miles Mac

Wed., Dec. 17 4:30 East End Arena Steinbach

Wed., Jan. 7 4:30 East End Arena Sanford

Fri., Jan. 9 4:00 MTS IcePlex St. Paul’s 2

Mon., Jan. 12 4:00 Lorette Arena Lorette

Wed., Jan. 14 4:30 East End Arena Westwood

Wed., Jan. 21 4:00 Dakota Arena Dakota

Wed., Feb. 4 4:30 East End Arena Lorette

Fri., Feb. 6 4:30 Southdale Arena JH Bruns

Wed., Feb. 11 4:30 East End Arena TCI

COME OUT AND CHEER ON MURDOCH!!

Clansmen Basketball Season is Here! As the Holiday Season approaches there are basketballs in the air, as another season of Clansmen Bas-

ketball is upon us. Our teams have been practicing since late October/ early November and the season

now begins in earnest for our Varsity Boys (coached by Sean Bihun ), our Varsity Girls (coached by

Ms.Thompson) our JV Boys ( coached by Chris Fossen) and our JV Girls coached by Mr. John Janzen.

Games begin the week of December 8-15th so check the KPAC Website at www.kpac.ca for game

times and come out and support your school teams.

Our Grade 9 Boys will also begin competition in the RETSD Grade 9 League

beginning in January. Mr. Simpson (Coach) will be holding tryouts beginning

December 1st.

Good luck to all teams and players and represent our school well!

Transcona Optimist Classic – JV Boys and Girls

Basketball Tournament With Basketball season beginning this month it also starts the tournament sea-

son and the annual Transcona Optimist Classic Tournaments. The Junior Varsity

Boys and Girls tournament will take place this year on December 12 and 13 with

games at Transcona Collegiate and Murdoch MacKay Collegiate. The JV Championship Finals will be

held at Transcona Collegiate on Saturday Dec.13 at 6:00 and 7:30. The Varsity version of the TOC will

take place at the two high schools on the weekend of February 6 & 7, 2015. The Championship games

will be held at MMCI on Saturday Feb.7 at 6:00 and 7:30. Make sure to plan to come out and support

Murdoch MacKay and the Transcona basketball community.

PHYS ED ...

Convocation and Grad Dinner / Dance Information 2015

Please note that Murdoch MacKay’s 2015 Convocation and Grad Dinner Dance will be

held at the RBC Winnipeg Convention Center on Monday June 29 , 2015

Convocation will begin at 1:30 in Hall B (3rd

Floor Convention Center) – Graduates should

arrive at 12:30 to pick up Cap and Gown and for marshalling.

The Dinner /Dance will be in the Main Floor Ballroom ( Convention Center) . Doors will open at 6:00 with Dinner

being served at 7:00.

Murdoch MacKay has a long standing tradition of inviting family and friends to join the Graduates in the Dinner /

Dance celebration. Please plan now to join in the fun. Tickets will be $65 each and will be sold during the month

of May ( dates and times to be announced) . Further Information on ticket sales and all Graduation exercises

will be available to our students and parents early in the second semester.

The Grad Dinner/ Dance committee will also begin meeting to plan these exciting events at the beginning of the

second semester.

Please feel free to contact Mr. Simpson at Murdoch ( 958-6460) or email dsimpson@retsd.mb.ca

Demystifying Math: Part II

In the first newsletter, we talked about tip #1 (setting the stage for homework) and tip #2

(go back over the notes). This month, we’ll focus on the practice problems that make up

the majority of your son/daughter’s math homework. Remember, your child will be as-

signed practice problems almost daily – and as they move into grades 11 and 12, there may

be less available class time to complete them, which means they will need to spend addi-

tional time outside of class working on practice problems. There are two main reasons why

these problems are assigned. The first goes back to the idea of reinforcement of new ideas,

practice problems are one way of ensuring students spend some time outside of math class

thinking about the new concepts they have learned. The second reason simply comes from

the idea of practice – it is difficult to become good at something if you don’t work at it.

Tip #3: When stuck on a practice problem, go back to the notes.

Yes, we’re talking about those class notes again. There are many reasons why teachers are

so adamant that students take down examples in class. One of which being that when a

student gets stuck on a problem they are working on outside of class, the odds are good

that there is something similar shown in an example from class. Examples also usually fol-

low a pattern of increasing difficulty – the first example will be more basic and they will pro-

gress to more complicated situations or additional steps will be added on. When your son

or daughter doesn’t know how to do a question at home, they should first go back through

their examples and look for something similar.

Tip #4: Keep the bigger picture in mind.

Let’s say that your child was assigned 25 practice problems on a particular topic. Maybe

they completed ten in class, and have brought home the remaining 15. Now…you’ve all

eaten dinner, your child has done the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, and it’s time for

homework. Your son/daughter finishes questions 11-16, then becomes completely stuck at

question 17. Despite multiple attempts, the answer on the page is different from the one

listed in the textbook’s answer key.

Skip question 17.

Advise your son/daughter to try 18, and then keep going. It’s entirely possible your child is

missing one step or adding two numbers incorrectly over and over again. Trying a new

question may help get them past that hurdle. In an assignment made up of 25 questions,

one or two incorrect answers does not mean that there is a misunderstanding about the

concept itself.

However, if they are unable to complete questions 17 to 25 – that is a sign of a larger mis-

understanding and they should clarify with the teacher the next day as to how to complete

those questions.

In the next newsletter, tips #5 and #6 will talk about getting help with those tough

questions.

STUDENT SERVICES UPDATE

Grade 12:

Credit checks were completed in November. A list of potential grads for June 2015 has been cre-ated and students can check their name in the main office.

This fall, we hosted presentations by the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, Red River College, RCMP, Booth College and the Military for potential students regarding the pro-grams they offer. Applications are available in the Counselling Office or online at the respective institution’s website.

Interested grade 12 students had the opportunity to attend the Canadian University fair on November 7/14.

Manitoba Student Aid hosted a parent evening on November 20/14. Counsellors also presented scholarship information to parents in attendance. If parents would like a copy of either presenta-tion they are asked to contact Ms. Mann-Simpson at kmannsimpson@retsd.mb.ca and she will forward you a copy of the presentations.

Students will have the opportunity to attend the following Open Houses: University of Manitoba (Feb 19/15)

University of Winnipeg (Feb 18/15)

Red River College (Notre Dame Campus) (Feb 17/15)

Grade 9 -12: Students who know a second language can write a Language credit Challenge Exam and earn up

to 4 high school credits. The next Challenge for language credits exams will be offered in Febru-ary. Please see Mr. Warren in January if you are interested in registering for one of these exams.

All grade 11s will be attending the Rotary Career Symposium on April 22, 2015. All grade 9s will be receiving education from Council on Drug Abuse regarding issues around drug

use and abuse. Grade 9 classes were given a presentation on stress & coping skills.

Community Resources:

Middle School tour dates: Arthur Day (February 5/15), Bernie Wolfe (February 6/15), John Gunn (February 12/14)

Murdoch MacKay Collegiate Open House: Thursday, February 19/15

24-HOUR TELEPHONE SERVICES: Manitoba Suicide Line: 1-877-435-7170 Crisis Line: (204) 786-8686 / Toll free 1-888-322-3019 Sexual Assault Crisis Line: (204) 786-8631 / Toll free 1-888-292-7565 TTY Deaf Access Counselling - (204) 784-4097 Manitoba Farm & Rural Support Services: 1-866-367-3276 (For rural and northern Manitobans. Mon.-Fri. 10 AM to 9 PM)

Important information about bus cancellations due to severe

weather

Beginning this winter, school divisions in metro Winnipeg will be using the temperature at The Forks

as the indicator of severe weather. Previously, metro divisions checked the temperature at the Winni-

peg Airport.

The general rule is that if the wind chill is -45 C or colder at The Forks (as posted by Environment

Canada at about 6:10 a.m.), all Winnipeg school divisions cancel buses for the whole day but schools

usually remain open.

If buses are cancelled, an alert will be posted on the RETSD division website home page. Major

radio stations and local television will also announce busing cancellations.

PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALK

A new pedestrian cross walk has been placed on Redonda between Murdoch MacKay Collegiate and

College Pierre-Elliott Trudeau. We want to remind both drivers and pedestrians that crosswalk safety

is a shared responsibility. Both drivers and pedestrians are responsible for crosswalk safety.

Pedestrians do have the right of way at crosswalks, but they also have the responsibility to cross safe-

ly. Pedestrians should never assume drivers will see them and stop. Follow these helpful tips:

Drivers:

Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and at in-

tersections.

Be prepared to stop at all marked crosswalks.

Stay alert and reduce speed in areas with

crosswalks.

Be alert for bicyclists and skateboarders

whose approaches to the crosswalk may be

much swifter than those of pedestrians.

Come to a complete stop if pedestrians are

crossing or preparing to cross.

Wait until pedestrians have crossed at least

one lane past the lane you are in before resum-

ing travel.

Never pass another vehicle that has stopped or

is slowing down at a crosswalk.

Pedestrians:

Always cross at marked crosswalks. You forfeit your rights as a pedestrian if you cross elsewhere.

Obey any pedestrian signals and look left-right-left to make sure the road is clear in both directions

before crossing.

If a vehicle approaches, make eye contact with the driver to be sure s/he sees you before you cross.

Remember, that icy road conditions also occur in Winnipeg and the drivers may have difficulty stop-

ping their vehicles at crosswalks/intersections.

Look before walking past stopped vehicles. Even if a driver waves you on be sure all lanes are clear

first before crossing.

Remember that bicyclists are not considered pedestrians unless they are walking their bikes. Other-

wise, they are considered vehicles.

From the Staff at

Murdoch MacKay