Principal's Message

Good Morning Garth Webb:

The sun was shining bright for the Colour Run and Terry Fox Day activities we had on our field on Thursday. These events draw awareness to those who have suffered, or are currently battling cancer, and the impact that it has on their families.  We all know of someone whose life has been touched by cancer.  Having been a two time cancer survivor myself, I really appreciated students, staff, and our community doing what they can to help raise awareness and money for cancer while having fun!!  I thoroughly enjoyed being covered in coloured chalk and walking with students.  Congratulations to the Grade 12 Leadership class for running such a successful spirited event!!!  

On Friday, our school observed the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Many students learned about the history of residential schools in Canada and their lasting impact on residential school survivors and their families. Grade 10 History classes consolidated their learning through journal writing and creating an orange shirt display. 

October 1st is the beginning of Islamic Heritage Month.  Along with the learning in the classroom, the MSA is looking forward to having food samples in the foyer every Friday of the month. We will have food from Morocco, Somalia, and Yemen. The MSA will also have displays in the foyer where students can ask questions and learn about Islamic heritage.  There will also be various workshops throughout the month that will include learning sign language for common Muslim terms and greetings.  Read more about Islamic Heritage Month, and its importance in creating an understanding that aims to combat anti-Islamic sentiment, in the blog below. 

I can't believe how fast the month of September went and I look forward to all the activities and events in October.  We will be meeting you all soon for the Parent Teacher Interview evening in October.  We are continuing to nudge students to go vape outside and I may very well enlist your help in volunteering in our school with this concern if this issue does not improve in the next couple weeks. 

Enjoy the lovely summer weather that is forecasted for next week!  Phys-Ed classes, Outdoor Education field trips, Football, Golf, Field Hockey, and Cross Country runners will all love it!!

Take care,

Jacquie Pece

Yom Kippur

Last week on September 24 and 25, many families celebrated Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement—is considered the most important holiday in the Jewish faith. Falling in the month of Tishrei (September or October in the Gregorian calendar), it marks the culmination of the 10 Days of Awe, a period of introspection and repentance that follows Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. According to tradition, it is on Yom Kippur that God decides each person’s fate, so Jews are encouraged to make amends and ask forgiveness for sins committed during the past year. The holiday is observed with a 25-hour fast and a special religious service. Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are known as Judaism’s “High Holy Days.”  (Source)

Sukkot

Sukkot is a weeklong Jewish holiday that comes five days after Yom Kippur (September 29 - October 6). Sukkot celebrates the gathering of the harvest and commemorates the miraculous protection God provided for the children of Israel when they left Egypt. We celebrate Sukkot by dwelling in a foliage-covered booth (known as a sukkah) and by taking the “Four Kinds” (arba minim), four special species of vegetation. 

International Week of Deaf People 

International Week of Deaf People is an initiative of the WFD and was first launched in 1958 in Rome, Italy. It is celebrated annually by the global Deaf Community in the last week of September each year to commemorate the same month the first World Congress of the WFD was held. International Week of Deaf People is celebrated through various activities by the respective Deaf Communities worldwide.

Theme for 2023: A World Where Deaf People Everywhere Can Sign Anywhere!

Student Senate

The HDSB Student Senate is excited to welcome students from schools across Halton to advocate for student voices at the board level. The HDSB Student Senate is an organization made up of Grade 7-12 students who represent their classmates for the year. They work together to identify challenges affecting students in schools and work towards student-led solutions for these problems. 

We are calling on passionate students to apply to become an HDSB Student Senator for the upcoming school year! 3 students will be chosen to represent Garth Webb Secondary School. All interested students, please stop by the main office and see Ms. Bannerman before October 6, 2023. 

Start Up Forms - Action Required

1. All students were sent home with the Secondary Intramural Acknowledgement of Elements of Risk, Consent to Participate, and Medical Information Form in the first week of school. Those forms need to be returned to homeroom teachers ASAP if you have not already handed it in. ALL students must have a completed form (whether or not they will be participating in intramurals). For students who have a spare period 1, they will need to collect a blank form from the main office and hand in their completed forms to the main office as well. 

2. We also sent out electronic forms last week (that are different from the paper form mentioned above) and we need this form filled in online for every student at GWSS. Please click here to access the form if you have not already completed it.

3. Finally, the Student Verification Forms were emailed out this past Thursday. Please review the form that is linked in your email and complete this google form if you have changes you would like us to make to our data.

Your prompt attention to these important forms is much appreciated.

Volunteer Club

Volunteer club dedicates to provide more volunteering opportunities to our students. Our goal is to make the information more accessible for everyone. We post opportunities weekly with all of the information included in our google classroom! If you want to learn more about our club and wish to find more opportunities, please join our google classroom through code: dtpah5l.

 You can also find us on instagram (@gwss.volunteer), LinkedIn (GWSS Volunteer Club), and Twitter (@gwss_volunteer)! If you have any question, feel free to email us at gwssvolunteerclub@gmail.com.

Opportunity for This Week:

Halton Environmental Network

Date: Friday, October 13 to Sunday, October 15, 2023

Location: 5437 Steeles Ave W (Milton, ON)

The HEN is looking for volunteers to help facilitate proper composting and recycling practices at this year’s Hops and Harvest Festival. They are looking for people to help educate the public and encourage event-goers to dispose of their waste properly!

If interested, please fill out this form: https://form-can.keela.co/hops-and-harvest-2023-shift-sign-up 

OR

Email them at volunteer@haltonenvironment.ca

Executive Functioning Coaching for Students

Executive Functioning Coaching is a service provided to secondary students by the Halton District School Board’s Mental Health & Well-Being Department. 

Do you have difficulties with skills like organization, attention/focus, procrastination, time management, studying effectively for tests, or managing larger projects or assignments? Do you become overwhelmed by your to-do list? Do these difficulties impact your grades and/or cause you stress?

If you are interested in working on these skills, consider completing a Self-Referral Form for Executive Functioning (Learning Strategies) Coaching. This service would involve group sessions, taking place every second week (virtually through Google Meet) that focus on developing skills such as time management, planning and organization, study strategies and test-taking tips, attention strategies, stress management and coping, etc. There will be a number of start points for these sessions throughout the first semester. Following the group sessions, you will have the option of accessing individual sessions for additional support in using the strategies.

Students self-refer to this service and no information can be shared with other people without a student's permission.

Additional resources for students can be found on the Mental Health & Well-Being webpage at hdsb.ca.

If you have any questions about these services please contact either Lisa Sedore, (sedorel@hdsb.ca) or Larissa Pipe (pipel@hdsb.ca), Psychologists and Psycho-educational Consultants.

Ensure Immunization Records are Up to Date with Halton Region Health

Students in Grades 9 to 12 must have up-to-date immunization records with Halton Region Public Health.

Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) requires that all children and adolescents attending school be fully immunized against several designated diseases. All immunization requirements for school attendance align with Ontario’s publicly funded immunization schedule. Vaccines required for school attendance are free, safe and effective.

Parents/guardians of all students born in 2006 to 2009 (Grades 9 to 12) must complete the following steps:

1. Review your student's online record at halton.ca/immunize.

2. If your student has missed any vaccines, make an immunization appointment with a health care provider.

3. Report vaccines online at halton.ca/immunize. Every time a health care provider immunizes a student, parents/guardians must report the vaccines to Public Health. Healthcare providers do not report the vaccines they give to their patients.

Students born in 2006 to 2009 must have up to date immunization records (or a valid medical or non-medical exemption) against the following ISPA designated diseases:

• Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Polio;

• Measles, Mumps, Rubella; and

• Meningococcal Disease.

Halton Region Public Health is reviewing the immunization records of Halton students born in 2006 to 2009. Parents/guardians will be notified by mail if their student's record is not up-to-date, starting in October 2023. This school year, students in Grades 9 to 12 may be suspended from school in early 2024 if their immunization records are not updated by the December 2023 deadline.

Please note, at this time COVID-19 vaccines are not required to attend school. You cannot report COVID-19 vaccines using the online reporting tool.

If your student is unable to be immunized for medical reasons or if you choose not to immunize your student, you must submit a vaccine exemption to Halton Region Public Health. For more details about this process, please visit halton.ca/immunize.

To learn more about immunizations, including translated resources, visit ontario.ca/vaccines, immunize.ca/resources or download A Parent's Guide to Vaccination at canada.ca/vaccines.

Free Math Tutoring

 Attention all semester 1 math students! TVO Mathify offers FREE 1:1 online Grade 4-12 math tutoring to students enrolled in Ontario’s public schools. The math tutors are Ontario-certified teachers who use interactive whiteboards, voice, and text chat to help with your specific math questions. You can even take a picture of your math question and upload it to the whiteboard to work on with your tutor. For more information and to register please read below:

Website: https://www.tvomathify.com/students

Grades: 4 to 12

Subject: Mathematics

Courses:   All secondary math courses are supported

Tutors Available: Monday to Friday from 9 am to 9 pm; Saturday & Sunday from 3 pm to 9 pm

How do you register? To register use the link above. You will need your OEN number (found on any report card)

Questions?   Please email Ms. Carmichael (carmichaeld@hdsb.ca)

Upcoming Key Dates

Oct 3 Tuesdays @Ten

Oct 4 OUAC / OCAS Demographics Upload

Oct 6 PA Day - no school for students

Oct 9 Thanksgiving Monday - school closed

Oct 10 Photo Retake Day (for students who have not had a photo taken)

Oct 12 Lockdown Drill

Oct 12 5th Week Report Distribution

Oct 16 School Council Meeting

Oct 18 CP Day - Classes start at 9:30 am

Oct 19 Parent Teacher Interviews

Oct 25 Grade 12 Post Secondary Exploration Event

Nov 1 Take Our Kids to Work Day (Grade 9)

Nov 6-Dec 1 Grad Photos

Nov 7 Tuesdays @Ten

Nov 9 First Day of Semester 1, Term 2

Nov 10 Remembrance Day (Observed)

Nov 11 Remembrance Day

Nov 15 OUAC / OCAS Midterm Mark Upload 

Nov 15 CP Day - Classes start at 9:30 am

Nov 16 Grade 8 Information Night

Nov 17 Midterm Report Distribution

Nov 24 PA Day - no school for students

Nov 27 Full Disclosure