A S C E N S I O N
December
2014
INSIDE
Chaplaincy
Religion
Elly Gotz
Career Day
International
Students
Frosh
Friday
SHSM
Breakfast
Basketball
Terry
Fox
N E W S
Principal’s Report
We have already arrived at Advent and the large
part of our first semester is over. This year we have
843 young men and women who have taken the tradition of academic excellence at our school to a new
level. These young people have embraced the curriculum with a great enthusiasm, which has made
our launch of the 2014-2015 school year the best
start ever.
I would like to take this opportunity to continue
to acknowledge the commitment of our 2014-2015
Catholic School Council. This year’s school council members are; Mr. Clarence Clarke, our Chairperson; Ms. Anna Endrizzi, our Vice Chairperson;
Ms. Lucy Paulin, our Secretary and Mrs. Laureen
Clarke our Treasurer. This group of dedicated parents have embraced their role to promote the vision of excellence in Catholic Education. I invite
you, parents/guardians, to join our Catholic School
Council meetings held throughout the year, on the
third Wednesday of each month, here at Ascension
of Our Lord Catholic Secondary School. Regularly
updated School Council information is also available on the school website.
The opening of our school year has been an eventful one. In the first three months, we had all of our
Grade 9 and 10 students enjoy class retreats led by
Chaplain Sister Ursula. On September 24th, under
the leadership of Mr. Carolan and a team of Ascension volunteers and students, we had a very successful ‘Terry Fox’ campaign for Cancer Research,
which heightened student awareness, its prevention
and cures, and raised donations totaling $8,572.85
for this cause. We are all extremely proud of the
efforts from our school community.
November was the month that we remember all
who have gone before us and in true Ascension reverence we had a moving Remembrance Day assembly. Special thanks to Mr., Flaherty, Mr. Perri and
Mr. Sra for the amazing presentation that honoured
our soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom.
A special thanks to Mr. Tantalo, Mr. Vu and the entire committee who organized a beautiful evening
Awards Ceremony, honouring the achievements,
hard work and dedication that our students have
committed to their studies.
Our Grade 8 Information Night took place on
Thursday, November 6th at 7pm in the cafeteria.
This was an evening where we invited all Grade 8
students to come and visit our school. We showcased the wonderful things that happen at Ascension and encouraged them to join our school community by registering to be part of our 2015-2016
school year.
Our first formal report card will be sent home with
your son or daughter on November 13th. I would
like to emphasize the importance of open communication between teachers and parents, so please
stay in touch with the teachers that teach your son
or daughter. Open communication and sharing of
information is the cornerstone of a successful student.
The birth of the Messiah is what we are anticipating as we begin to prepare during Advent the great
event of Christmas. The birth of the One who inaugurates our journey from darkness to light, from
sadness to joy, from conflict to peace. Advent is that
time when once again we renew our hope and our
optimism, that we strengthen the bonds of love in
our families and in our friendships. There are signs
of hope all around us if we but look and see. At
Ascension we are blessed with great signs of hope in
our staff and students, as we come together and help
those in need through our clothing drive, food drive
and fundraisers. Thank you to all the students and
staff who make this community such a wonderful
place.
In closing, I would like to thank you, the parents/
guardians, for your continued support. It is when
we work as a team and believe in our students, your
sons and/or daughters, that we are truly successful.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas
God Bless
Ms. S. Gos
Principal
Ascension of our Lord Secondary School 7640 Anaka Drive Mississauga L4T 3H7 (905) 676-1287
Chaplaincy
Retreats are part of life here at Ascension – a time to reflect
on how life is going – how is my faith being lived out – am
I my neighbour’s keeper – are God and I on the same page
for my life plans?
Once again Ascension Eagles give a hand to help Dr. Simone’s ‘kids’ in faraway places like Guatemala. We also
collected candy after Halloween and more clothes for the
cooler climates.
Karina Ramos was the recipient of the Catholic Federation of Ontario Award for leadership. She and her family attended the Father Fogarty dinner on October 25th
where she received her award. Karina is involved in the
leadership course at Ascension as well as she travelled to
Nunavut in June to experience another culture.
Ascension gave THANKS at our Opening Mass which we
celebrated on October 10. Our presider that day was Fr.
Robert Magniela from St. Marguerite D’Youville parish.
As always, the Ascension community reached out to those
in need by bringing in food for St. Vincent de Paul of Our
Lady of the Airways Parish. Every little bit helps!!! And
we continue to feed the hungry with our CHRISTMAS
FOOD DRIVE
ADVENT 2014 at Ascension
Christmas is still weeks away and the Ascension community is ‘PREPARING’:
Advent wreaths, candles lighting the way and our tree all point towards the
coming of Emmanuel into our world. On Tuesday December 2 we celebrated
with the Liturgy of the Word and the blessing of the Advent wreaths which
will light our way in the homerooms.
Religion Department
Religion
The religion department of Ascension of Our Lord
Catholic Secondary School is excited to begin the new
year in faith, hope and love. We encourage our diversified student body to build a worshipping community,
provide service to their fellow human beings, and to
strive to fulfill the Gospel message to love God and love
our neighbor.
Goal:
The overall goal of the Religion Department is to foster
a personal faith relationship with the Lord that will be
reflected in the Gospel values. Through instruction, experiences and witness we hope to encourage students
to embrace Christian values within a collaborative, tolerant and pluralistic school environment.
Objectives:
* The deepening and maturing of the students’ faith
through instruction and reflection.
* The development of attitudes and personal behaviors based on Gospel values.
* The development of sensitivity to Life issues with
a focus on respect for self, others, and the planet that
sustains us.
* To build an awareness of Social Justice on the local,
national and global levels.
* To strengthen the students relationship with God
through prayer and sacrament; thus, leading them to a more meaningful role in a worshipping community.
* A deeper appreciation for pluralistic and multicultural richness inherent within our diverse community.
* To encourage participation in school and community events.
Clothing Drive
Every year, Ascension of our Lord Catholic Secondary School
comes together as a community and dedicates their resources
and time to launch our Clothing Drive and “Out of the Cold”
campaign. This year the Clothing Drive will run from December 2 to December 18. The donated clothing will go to help
our community partners at Dr. Simone, The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, as well as our own school community families.
Over the past several years, we have raised and donated countless bags of clothing and given our time to make a difference.
With the help our school community, we hope to increase all
our totals and contribute even more this year. Thank you in
advance to all staff, students, parents and the entire community
for all your efforts in this worthwhile social justice initiative.
Mr. Della Sciucca, Religion Department
Community
Elly Gotz
During the month of November we honor and remember not
only the veterans of War but the victims as well. On Thursday,
November 20th, 2014 we were blessed to meet Elly Gotz, a holocaust survivor from WWII. He was born in 1928 in Kosovo,
Lithuania. He is a true testament to Christ’s teaching of forgiveness and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, Elly was only
13 years old; the age of a grade 8 student. Elly and his family
were taken to a concentration camp named “Dauchau” where
they were stripped of all belongings, starved, and forced to
work for the Germans.
Disease was the norm and living with lice was common to all
but the feeling and pain of hunger is what most people including himself felt.
Elly consistently kept hope in his heart that one day he would
survive. He informed our students that no matter how hard or
dismal their situation, if they keep hope alive within them, all
good things are possible.
Elly told us by the time the Americans came to liberate them,
that his father was close to death until he revived him with a
piece of bread and the knowledge that they were free.
Elly always focused on the many blessings in life and informed
us that a positive attitude is key to having happiness and success in life. Elly Gotz lived in many countries including Canada. In fact recently he lived beside a German war
criminal who was responsible for killing almost
12,000 Jews in the holocaust. When asked why he
chose not to get revenge he said that, “Hate is like
drinking poison and expecting the other person
to die”.
Elly wears many hats, he is an engineer, a pilot, a teacher, and entrepreneur, film maker and
photographer. He achieved great things in his
life. He informed our students that they too can
be anything they want to be, regardless of their
past, their pain and suffering. Elly then ended
his speech by telling the story of an old man and
his grandson.
The old man explained that there are two wolves
inside us that battle to be fed; one is evil the other
is good. Evil manifested in the form of anger, jealousy, greed, lying, and being egotistical. The good
is love, joy, peace, empathy, kindness and truth.
The grandson asked “which wolf wins the battle”? The Grandfather responded, “It is the one you feed that wins”
Elly is the living example of Christ and an inspirational man. He certainly left an indelible impression on our students and
staff. Although he went through struggles, he reminds us never to lose hope while facing adversity but instead live life to
the fullest and be grateful for each day which is God’s gift to us all.
Shannon Leigh Daykin.
Co-op
Careers
At Ascension, our Co-operative Education program
is in full swing as we have students in meaningful
work placements, in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship program, as well as in Dual Credits from the
various Colleges. Accordingly, meaningful work
placements in schools, fashion, automotive, horticulture, and cosmetology to name but a few provide
students with the opportunity explore the world of
work in the various career fields. Additionally, with
the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP),
students are able to earn apprenticeship hours in the
skilled trades during their Co-op work placement,
while in Dual Credits students are able to earn College Credits which can even count toward their high
school diploma. Congratulations to our OYAP students Edward, Joseph, Shadavia, Bhawanjot, Kyle,
Rory, Zaya and Oneel as well as our Dual Credit students Mikella, Daniele, Joseph, Orelle, Kyle, Joshua, and Tausif!
Career Day
On Thursday, November 20, 2014 Ascension of Our Lord hosted its annual Career
Fair Day. The Career Fair Day was a great
event featuring Rob Ellis from MySafeWork and industry leaders from Peel, the
G.T.A, Niagara, and even from as far away
as Sarnia. The event commenced with
Rob and the industry leaders illustrating
to students the importance of Safety at
the Workplace. The students and all who
attended were highly engaged during the
presentation which comprised Rob Ellis’
emotional personal sharing about the importance of workplace safety followed by industry leaders’ emotional personal sharing about the importance of safety
at the work place. The presentation continued with a work place safety question and answer session in which students
raised important questions regarding workplace safety while industry leaders welcomed and answered those important
questions. The presentation was then followed by a Career Fair Day showcase where industry leaders were situated
throughout the front foyer to showcase the various professions as each grade was called to the front foyer to view and
ask questions about these various professions. It is truly an innovative model we have here at Ascension of combining
a Workplace Safety Presentation with a Career Fair Day – one that is now the benchmark of school presentations across
Ontario and Canada. Great work Ascension on being an innovative leader of combining the importance of workplace
safety to careers.
Community
Community
Frosh Friday
Inaugural Frosh Friday at Ascension!
On September 19th, 2014 at Ascension of
Our Lord, the freshman class participated in
the school’s first ever Frosh Friday. The day
began with a liturgy that gave guidance from
senior students about life in high school.
Afterwards, the students attended various
sessions run by the Leadership Class and
supported by Student Council. The sessions
included soccer, weight training, henna,
minute to win it, and many more. Students
forged new friendships and gained valuable
personal growth throughout their new experiences. The day concluded with an energetic pep rally, with more games
and prizes. Overall, it was an extremely successful day and a positive start to the 2014-2015 school year!
Special Events
Basketball
On Tuesday, November 25, 2014, ASCENSION
OF OUR LORD CSS once again proudly hosted
the THE ROPSSAA SPECIAL EVENTS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT. Someone said that
“Basketball is Life” and I would agree: both require comprehensive teamwork, and both are
successful and productive only when everyone’s
talents and contributions are honestly shared
and expertly coordinated. No one is the expert,
no one is the star; as a teacher of special needs
students, if I had to highlight the achievement
of which I am most proud, it would be “EXCELLENCE THROUGH BELONGING” and “THE
INCLUSION OF TEAM.” This is the kind of
magic which blessed us on this most happy day!
Everyone has a mission, everyone has inherent
dignity, all of which shines most bright within
and through the service of community in the
Light of Christ! The Game is never over – we just
change uniforms and continue to work together!
Jaroslav Stepanenko,
PIP TEACHER,
ASCENSION OF OUR LORD CSS
Business SHSM Breakfast
ASCENSION’S ENTERPRI$ING EAGLE$ BUSINESS
SHSM BREAKFAST FORUM
On Friday November 21, 2014 Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School’s Enterprising Eagles Business Specialist
High Skills Major (SHSM) hosted their third annual Breakfast Forum at the school. The first Breakfast Forum was organized two years ago as a way to showcase and promote the
SHSM program at Ascension. Since then the SHSM program
has seen more interest being generated with a significant increase in the number of students enrolled every year. This
year we have 42 students from grades 11 and 12 in the program, up from 31 last year. Next year, the program is expected to grow even more.
This year’s event again allowed our Hospitality and Tourism
SHSM program (which is more established in the school)
to showcase the talent and skills of their students as they
prepared and served up a delicious breakfast in a manner
befitting professionals. The event was attended by over 160
students from the various Business courses offered at Ascension and a number of invited staff who directly support and
impact the program. Special guests were our school Trustee,
Mr. Thomas Thomas and the Superintendent of our family
of schools Mr. Les Storey.
The guest speaker at the Breakfast Forum was Grenville Pinto, violinist extraordinaire and entertainer. This year saw a
change in how the guest speaker delivered his message. Mr.
Pinto started out with a truly enthralling and captivating set
on his violin which got the audience excited in anticipation
of hearing him speak. He was
then interviewed by Mr. Rulli
a member of our staff. During
the interview Mr. Pinto gave
some insights into how he
managed to transform his
passion for music and playing the violin into a viable
business venture. He also expounded the virtues of working hard toward one’s dreams
and focusing on something
that you enjoy doing. His
message to the students was
extremely well received and
he concluded by encouraging
the students to focus on the
positives in life.
Events
Events
Terry Fox
The students and staff have done it again at Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School! For the
7th year in a row, the community has met the
challenge of each raising “Ten for Terry” as the
school participated in the annual Terry Fox National School Run day on September 24th. “Our
kids and staff are truly amazing” said organizer,
Barry Carolan, a teacher at the school. “We will
raise over $8000 again this year with our walk and
more later on with our Terry Fox student-teacher
ball hockey game!” Ascension uses the Terry Fox
event as a spiritual kick-start to their school year
with a pep rally, a 2.5 km walk and a luncheon. All students and staff participate in this event and students gain a
deeper understanding of the effects of cancer on families and individuals affected by the disease and find meaning in
their contributions to the charity. The entire community hopes that the tradition will continue next year as the school
is now getting close to $100,000 in total donations since the school started participating in the Terry Fox challenge.
Cold and Flu Season
Reminders and Resources: Cold and Flu Season
As cold and flu season progresses, the Dufferin-Peel
Catholic District School Board continues to be
vigilant in ensuring that our schools are clean and
that our school communities are educated regarding good hand hygiene and cough etiquette. These
practices are promoted on an ongoing basis, but as
the prevalence of colds and flu increases, our board
increases the cleaning of contact surfaces, as well as
reminds schools to review cold and flu prevention
with students and staff. Many resources are utilized
from our regional health units.
A reminder, as well, that communicable diseases can
be contracted in public places throughout the year.
For example, cold-related viruses, such as Enterovirus, are transferred from person to person through
hand contact. Cold and flu viruses typically peak
from December through February, but can start as
early as October.
Regional Health Unit Resources
Please assist us by reviewing good hand washing
procedures, as well as other preventative measures,
as outlined in the various Peel Health and Wellington Dufferin Guelph (WDG) resources available to
you through their websites. As always, children who
are unwell, should be kept at home.
Flu Clinics
Also available on the Peel Health and WDG websites, are the schedules of local Flu Clinics.
For more information, visit the health unit websites:
•
Peel Health website: http://www.peelregion.
ca/health
•
Wellington Dufferin Guelph Health website:
www.wdgpublichealth.ca
Direct links to the above information can be found
in the Parent Section of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board website at www.dpcdsb.org
Health
A S C E N S I O N
N E W S
Whom to call
SCHOOL
(905) 676-1287
Principal
S. Gos
Vice Principals
M. Van der Vegt
F. Tantalo
Chaplain
Sr. U. Witkowska
Student Services
D. Ansari
A. Petrozzi
DATES TO REMEMBER
Special Dates to Remember in the 2014-2015 School Year:
Week of Dec. 2nd -5th Clothing/Food Drive
Dec. 2nd
Grade 12 OUAC Applications Due
Dec. 15th to 19th
Christmas Spirit Week
Friday, December 19th Last school day before Christmas
Monday, December 22nd to Friday January 2nd Christmas Break
Jan. 5th Jan. 12th Jan. 19th
Jan. 20th
Jan. 21st to Jan. 27th Jan. 28th Jan. 29th Jan. 30th
Course Selections for 2015-2016 school year begins
Grade 9 Math Exam
Grade 9 EQAO Test
Last Day of Classes for Semester 1
Exam Week
Exam Review Day
PD Day
First Day of Semester 2
Feb. 4th Feb. 6th Feb. 9th
Grad Photo Sign up
Report Card Distribution
Semester 2 Night School Begins
For more details please visit our website www.dpcdsb.org/ACSEN
Academic Resource
F. Muia
Student Success
A. Rulli
Attendance
A. Adamson
School Council
C. Clarke
BOARD OFFICE
(905) 890-1221
Superintendent
L. Storey
Trustee
T. Thomas