March 5, 2010 - Thornlea - SharpSchool

Thornlea
Secondary School
Thornlea Secondary School
E-Bulletin
http://thornlea.sharpschool.com
Principal: S. Epstein
Vice-Principals: H. Henricks, D. Smith March 5, 2010
thornlea.ss@yrdsb.edu.on.ca
Thank you to all students who submitted courses for next year through Career Cruising. We hope our new program
proved to be helpful by showing you your academic history along with the easy method of seeing course descriptions
and pre-requisites right on the same screen where you made your choices.
Over the next few days we will be completing the course selections for the few remaining students.
The next step is to verify the courses we have on file as the courses you will take next year.
This is the time to make desired changes to your selected courses.
Grades 9-11 student course verification forms were distributed Friday, March 5th. Grade 12 verifications will go home
Monday, March 8th.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT EACH STUDENT REVIEW, WITH PARENTS/GUARDIANS, THE VERIFICATION
FORM FOR ACCURACY. (You should have your copy of the courses chosen in Career Cruising, as reference.)
Instructions on how to make course changes are printed on the verification form. CHANGES TO COURSES MUST BE
RETURNED TO GUIDANCE BEFORE MARCH BREAK. Timetables will be created from this list of courses so please
check carefully.
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THERE WILL BE LIMITED OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE COURSES AFTER MARCH
BREAK. PLANNING FOR COURSE OFFERINGS FOR NEXT YEAR BEGINS IN ERNEST OVER MARCH BREAK
AND IS BASED ON STUDENT COURSE SELECTIONS. ACTUAL CLASSES ARE CREATED, LEAVING VERY
LITTLE ROOM TO CHANGE STUDENTS FROM ONE CLASS/COURSE TO ANOTHER.
Thank you your diligence in checking the verification form and making desired changes NOW.
We certainly want to see all student timetables reflect the needs and wishes of our students.
Enjoy March Break and come back refreshed, ready for the
final lap to June!
Inside this issue…….
Vice-Principal’s Message 2
EQAO—Literacy Test April 8, 2010 3
School Council/Field Trips 4
Re-thinking the way we consume…. 5
Co-op Students off to an Exciting start 6
International Co-operative Education (ICE) 7-9
2010-2011 School Year Calendar 10
The Quest 11
Workshops for Parents 12-15
2009-2010 Calendar of Events 16

Dear Families and Community Members,
With second semester in full swing, students will be receiving interim report
cards on Thursday, March 11. This is a great opportunity for students,
teachers, and parents to exchange feedback about academic progress.
Next week, students and staff enjoy a well deserved March Break.
Classes resume on Monday, March 22.
There are many exciting things happening in and around the school in the
month of March. Our Reach for the Top trivia team competed in a regional
tournament last week. This week, the school plays host to Skills Canada
competitions for students from around York Region. Areas of focus include:
graphic design, video production, public speaking, and interview
skills. Rehearsals for the annual Student One Act Plays – the SOAP Festival
– are also underway.
Best wishes to all students and families for a safe and relaxing March
Break.
Warmest Regards,
Heather Henricks

In an effort to help students prepare for this year’s OSSLT, Thornlea’s
school website has been updated with important and useful links such as
EQAO and sample test booklets and answers.
Visit http://thornlea.sharpschool.com and click on the OSSLT 2010 link.
WORKBOOK AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS WRITING THE OSSLT
Don’t Panic: More Practice for the OSSLT 2 nd Edition is a great workbook
specifically designed to prepare all students writing this year’s OSSLT. It
is available to any interested student through Mrs. Gatti, Mrs. Hanff, or
Mrs. Rampersaud in the Library.
Any questions or concerns about the OSSLT should be directed to Mrs.
Gatti, the Semester 2 Literacy Teacher. Her contact information is as
follows:
905-889-9696 Ext. 414 (voicemail)
laura.gatti@yrdsb.edu.on.ca

THORNLEA SCHOOL COUNCIL Next Meeting is
April 19th, 2010 7:15 pm
Co-Chairs: Sharon Eidelman and Jhanvi Desai
Secretary: Laurie Koch
If you would like to be in contact with our School Council please use the
following
e-mail address: thornlea.ss@sc.yrdsb.edu.on.ca
Join us at our next meeting
THORNLEA SCHOOL COUNCIL PRESENTS…
Fundraising Made Simple
Our students are fortunate to be attending a school with an unparalleled commitment to their academic
and social success. We all know of Thornlea’s reputation for excellence to deliver top quality education
to our children however we also know that regular funding allocations are never quite enough to meet
the needs of our children in order to achieve that success.
Our School Council aims to raise money to support student learning in the classrooms with particular
emphasis on improved technology and equipment. As such, we are asking each Thornlea family to
make a tax-deductible donation to the school. We also invite you to share your thoughts on the direction
of the funds through our School Council meetings.
One hundred percent of the donated funds will be used for items benefiting the students.
By now you should have received the donation letter and form in the mail. We are continuing to accept
donations. Please feel free to drop off or mail a cheque for any amount to support our students and our
school. Receipts will be provided for any donation of $25 or more. If you would like another copy of the
letter and form we are happy to send one to you. Please email thornlea.ss@yrdsb.edu.on.ca.
Please support our school, please support our students. Thank you for your donation.
All Thornlea field trips follow the appropriate YRDSB policy. Any literature that goes
home to parents or students will always be on school letterhead.

Rethinking the way we consume….
It would be interesting to see how our consumption patterns would change if we were
forced to live with everything we wanted to toss away for a period of one year! Many developing
nations are actually ahead of us when it comes to successfully dealing with waste
by seeing it as a commodity and thinking of ways to repurpose items, not only for waste
reduction, but also as a means of generating income. Necessity, as is said, is the mother
of invention. As we attempt to teach our children to be proactive with their lives and anticipate
future challenges before they arrive, we need to
think globally and challenge our own consumer habits before
global challenges end up in our laps.
At Thornlea, students involved in Global Citizenship are
launching a campaign to increase awareness of these concepts.
Along with this, all staff and students will be encouraged
to challenge the way we think about items we
no longer want or need. We will be featuring some of our
activities with you in the next few months, but we would
like to give you a bit of a peek into two of the creative and
innovative ideas we have seen so far:
Our newly renovated school store, Pharley’s is now featuring
items that are in great shape but no longer needed by
their current owners. These items are available for minimal
purchase, with 100% of all profits going to charity.
Students can buy, donate or trade items. So far we have
received jewellery and novelty items.
Our Thornlea Sewing Club, with the help of Ms Cluderay, has teamed up with this project
to introduce their colourful and socially responsible bags. These are still in the
‘prototype’ phase, but will
be available shortly for
purchase by students,
staff and parents. All
profits again will go to
charity! This is the kind
of creative and innovative
thinking that is certainly
an asset for students to
learn to develop.

Thornlea’s Co-op students have been at their placements for only two weeks, but the value
and excitement of experiential learning has already been realized by these student’s.
Their placements cover every sector of the working world ranging from the Medical fields to
Law, Media, the Financial Sectors, Culinary Arts and other Trades.
The following are thoughts from our current Co-op Student’s journals after only
ONE WEEK at their placements:
“I’ve always wanted to work in the real world because I knew that it would give me a whole new
perspective. I am so excited with my Co-op and I look forward to it everyday. I feel like this atmosphere
is where I should belong, and I can contribute my skills and creativity in this field. As
every day goes by I am starting to get more confident with my career choice.”
Januja Debalathas – Mortgage and Insurance Office
“As the end of high school approaches and my future is something that I am beginning to think
about more and more. My mother has always expressed that I would make a great teacher, but
I never thought twice about this profession until now. I have been seeing firsthand the way the
kids rely on the teacher and the smile I get on my face every time my mother asks me about
my day, the thought of teaching has really grown on me.”
Amberly Annison – German Mills Public School
“Through my first week at my co-op placement, I have found a deep connection with the topic
“The Value of the Day.” I am sure that most people have thought “wouldn’t it be great to have
nothing to do,” however, after this week, I have promised myself never to think this again…
“Each day is a gift and not a given right, leave no stone unturned leave no fears behind,” which
gives me the need of wanting to accomplish and learn as much as I can each day. I’ve also
come to realize that my tolerance for wasting time has become very low as I am growing up,
having to make lots of decisions.”
Pauline Lam – Natural Solutions
“The placement I have is perfect for my personality. It lets me discover a different side to my
creativity and is appropriate because it’s the career choice I’ve been considering. The environment
at Tome’s suits my personality because it’s the change of environment I have been looking
for. It’s fun and exciting and makes me anxious to do more work because of how much I
enjoy it.”
Shirelle Amouyal – Tome Haute Couture
“I think my placement will help me in the future to decide on a post secondary program and a
career. It will help me experience the different types of jobs that a graphic designer needs to
do on a regular basis. If during the co-op placement I find that being a graphic designer is not
what I want, then this will allow me to change my post secondary plans in advance. If I know
my choices then I wouldn’t be using up my time as well as money on a program and university
that I do not want to be in.”
Tiffany Sun – Spinning Wheel Design

On March 3 rd , 2010, 15 York Region District School Board International Co-op (ICE) students boarded a plane
from Toronto to begin our 3 month stay in Ecuador, South America. Since we began our journey back in June
2009, we have grown from the many experiences and obstacles we have encountered along the way. Each student
in our ICE 2010 team has brought their own strengths and skills to get to this point.
As part of our preparation towards Ecuador, our biggest single activity was running the ICE 20 th Anniversary,
Dinner and Dance Fundraiser, held on the night of Friday, February 19 th , 2010. Organizing such a big
event meant there were many tests of perseverance and improvisation throughout the night, but by using our
collective strengths, we pushed beyond each hurdle we faced. In simple terms, what did for Feb 19 th was:
-organize, set up and run a silent auction consisting of over 200 items, each ranging from $25 -
$800 in value that our team members collected during the previous months;
-sell and track ticket sales, and then group 10 guests per table to create a seating plan for the
more than 300 attendees;
-create an effective systems for receiving, checking-in at the door, and then escorting guests to
their tables’;
-prepare appetizers for everyone in attendance;
-gather and care for the items deposited at our coat check,
-organize and support our entertainers such as the Ecuadorian Dance Troupe Huairapungo, Dance Heads Ontario
and a foursome from Soul in Motion Dance Arts Academy Inc,
-emcee and run the evening’s program;
-trouble shoot along the way; and
-find a way to bid a hardy goodbye to our own friends and family.
In all it involved a lot of preparation beforehand and activity during the six hour event.
Behind the scenes on February 19 th , many of us had our doubts and felt some sense of impending failure, yet
we kept busy throughout the night, running around with purposeful objectives in our minds often only to be
side-tracked by complications. Some of us were quiet under the pressure, communicating to group members
to try to calm everyone down, others dealt with their stress in different ways. Every one of the 15 students
was different, yet we all came together when the event was over and celebrated it. This was a feat that we
all conquered in our own ways but produced a group result. While we initially had our doubts, in the end the
night was a big success! Financially we netted over $13 000 of proceeds toward the groups’ funds for the
journey or roughly 16% the team’s total program fees. And the unexpected bonus… we learned more about
working together and supporting each other as a team which we know we will draw upon as we live with host
families and work at our agricultural, business, education, health care and social work Co-op placements in
Ecuador from March through May.
On behalf of the International Co-operation Education (ICE) Team 2010, we would like to thank you all for
attending the dinner, purchasing auction items and being ongoing financial and emotional supporters of the
program and our involvement in it. Wish us a bit of “buena suerte” (good luck) for our next stage of the journey!
Ziana Juma and Jadeney Wong
Grade 11 Thornlea SS students and ICE 2010 team members

If you think that experiencing the world, facing challenges, and growing as an individual
and as a group are interests of yours, find out more about the International Cooperative
Education Program to Ecuador by:
visiting the website at www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/ICE - Ecuador,
communicating with ICE teacher David Peacock based out of the Thornlea library office
or by email david.peacock@yrdsb.edu.on.ca, or
attending one of our student and parent information meetings in March as below.
Student and Parent Information Meetings for ICE 2010/2011 Program
Tuesday, March 9
ICE 2010/2011 Information Mtg
Newmarket HS* - Library, 7:00 - 9:15 p.m.
Wednesday, March 10
ICE 2010/2011 Information Mtg
Thornlea SS* - Room 224, 7:00 - 9:15 p.m.
Tuesday, March 23
ICE 2010/2011 Information Mtg
Pierre Elliott Trudeau HS* - Rm 116, 7:00 - 9:15 p.m.
Monday, March 29
ICE 2010/2011 Information Mtg
Aurora HS* - Room 211, 7:00 - 9:15 p.m.
Wednesday, March 31
ICE 2010/2011 Information Mtg
Thornlea SS* - Room 224, 7:00 - 9:15 p.m.
ICE 2010 Last Day of Thornlea preparatory classes

Ice 2010 Kensington Market February Field Trip
Jade Wong and ICE peers at Fundraising Dinner

Ice 2010 Kensington Market February Field Trip
Jade Wong and ICE peers at Fundraising Dinner

BIRTHDAY’S, HOCKEY GAMES AND HOLIDAY’S: MAKING IT WORK AFTER DIVORCE-
A workshop for parents facing the important issues around their children’s life cycle events
such as: Do I have to invite my “ex” to my child’s birthday party, and Can we both go to my
child’s hockey game Monday March 8/10 at 4600 Bathurst St- Lipa Green Centre-6th floor
from 7 to 9 p.m.
HIGH CONFLICT DIVORCE- A workshop for parents wanting to develop strategies and techniques
to deal with a High Conflict situation and help to lessen the impact of that conflict on
their children. This workshop requires active participation and is not for individuals in an abusive
situation. Wednesday March 10/10 at 4600 Bathurst St- Lipa Green Centre- 6 th floor
from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
ADOLESCENTS AND DIVORCE- A workshop for parents who have adolescents and are going
through a separation or divorce. The focus is on understanding your adolescent during this
transitional time and helping them to cope. Thursday March 11/10 at 4600 Bathurst St- Lipa
Green Centre- 6 th floor from 7 to 9 p.m.
YOUNGER WIDOW/WIDOWER BEREAVEMENT GROUP- A six session discussion series for
individuals 60 and under who have recently lost a spouse. Topics include: coping with grief,
living with loneliness and new beginnings. Thursday March 18/10 at 4600 Bathurst St- Lipa
Green Centre-6th floor from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO SEPARATE: WHAT TO TELL THE KIDS- A workshop for parents
about to separate or in the early stages of separation. How and when to tell the children,
how to handle moving day, as well as ideas and strategies to best meet your child’s needs will
be discussed. Wednesday March 24/10 at The Promenade Mall- suite # 313 from 6:30 to 9
p.m.
DEVELOPING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CHILD’S OTHER
PARENT-A workshop for parents wanting to develop a business like relationship with their “ex”
partners by learning to negotiate the day-to-day details of their children’s lives based on the
child’s needs. Thursday March 25/10 at 4600 Bathurst St- Lipa Green Centre- 6 th floor
from 7 to 9 p.m.
EFFECTIVE PARENTING- A four session group to help parents learn what they can do to
raise a happy, motivated and well behaved child. For parents of children ages 2 to 11 years.
Topics include: how to; nurture self esteem, encourage problem solving, increase communication
and set limits. Thursday March 25/10 from 7- 9 p.m. at The Promenade Mall- suite
#313.
For more information or to register, please contact Shawna Sidney at 416-638-7800 Ext #215
or go to our website at www.jfandcs.com.

Teenage hood: Dispelling the Myths”
Series of Workshops for Parents and Teens Together
Wed. April 28th
Wed. May 26th
Healthy Lifestyle (drugs, relationships, friends, etc.)
Support for Parents
Brought to you by RH-EACH
Richmond Hill Engages All For Community and Home:
A partnership of the York Region District School Board,
York Catholic District School Board and your community
agencies serving children, youth and families
No Cost to Families
Location: YRDSB—Community Education Centre Central
Address: 317 Centre Street E., Richmond Hill
Please call 905-884-4775 ext 330 to register
Childcare Available
Parent Talk
Ontario’s Most Popular Parenting Workshops
Positive strategies for dealing with common parenting challenges.
Also available: One-on-One Parent Coaching!
In Your Home. At Our Office. Over the Phone.
Our individual parenting consultations can help you reach your parenting goals. In a private,
confidential, one-on-one session, you will have an opportunity to zero in on your own specific
concerns, questions, and child-rearing challenges.
For workshop dates and times, please visit:
www.practicalparenting.ca
Or email: parenttalk.ca@gmail.com
Or phone: 905-508-5240

Asperger’s 101
Understanding asperger’s syndrome
myth vs reality
TOPICS WILL INCLUDE:
What is Asperger’s Syndrome
Asperger’s and mental health
Working with Asperger’s individuals
Wednesday April 21, 2010 | 7:00 -9:00 pm
Jewish Family & Child | 4600 Bathurst St | LL Room 7
Lipa Green Building
$10 per person
Registration required. Please call Shawna Sidney at 416.638.7800 x
215 or register online at www.jfandcs.com
www.jfandcs.com

Stepping stones for women
Creating your journey towards employment
AN ESSENTIAL WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN LOOKING TO ENTER OR
RE-ENTER THE WORKFORCE.
TOPICS WILL INCLUDE:
Obstacles to finding work
What you bring to the table
Fields vs Occupations
Research and networking skills
www.jfandcs.com

March 11
March 15-19
April 2
April 5
April 7
April 8
April 8
April 9
April 19
April 22
April 30
May 3-14
May 3-6
May 7
May 12
May 17
May 18-21
May 19
May 20
May 24
Interim Reports Distributed
Mid-Winter Break
Good Friday ( No school today)
Easter Monday ( No school today)
Euclid Math Contest
Grade 10 OSSLT
Parents’ Night 6:15 p.m.
Fryer Galois Hypatia Math Contests
School Council Executive Campaigning
7:15pm
DECA Internationals
Mid-Term Reports Distributed
AP Exams
Grade Rep Campaigning
Grade Rep Elections
TIP Parents Night
School Council Meeting 7:15 pm
Outdoor Ed Trip
Music Concert
Thornstock
Victoria Day (No school today)