O C T O B E R
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The Power of Me!
Grade 9 Girls’ Night In
A Message From Our
Chaplaincy Leader
Please accept my congratulatory welcome on behalf of
the Chaplaincy Team of St. Joseph S.S. Having accepted a
position on the School Council, you have likewise accepted a
responsibility for ensuring the Catholic education and
formation of all the students who have entrusted us with
their very selves. Your input and contribution to this school
is of significance and value for your decisions will shape the
lives of many often in ways that you cannot fully foresee. As
councilors your influence should manifest the wisdom that is
rooted in Christian Scripture and Tradition. The power of a
councilor is the power of wisdom and within Christianity
that is the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
In all of your decisions for the common good of the
school community ground yourselves in the Catholic
identity. Each of you through prayer should learn to
discern your own gifts and appreciate the gifts of one
another that have been given to you for the building up of
Christ’s Body. Always pray and ask God for grace that in
all that you do, you will do it for the glory of God because
you seek to do His will. And you can be assured of my
prayers for you.
In Christ,
(Fr. Protodeacon) David Kennedy
Not your typical girls get together.
One hundred girls got together for
an amazing evening of meeting
new friends and great fun. We
prayed and discovered our Godgiven gifts in the mirror, ate a
nutritious meal, and danced until
we were out of breath. We
discovered our creative side as we
created “St. Joe’s” original fashion
pieces and showed them off on the
runway. We concluded the evening
with a group discussion about how
to create the future we want and
deserve through positive self-talk
and creating a “Believe In Your
Dreams” plaque. What a great
evening of laughter, fun and
bonding – the girls LOVED IT!
The
Good
NewsIPSUMS
Report
THE
LOREM
October
2014
FALL 2016
Terry Fox Day
On Thursday, September 25th St. Joseph S.S. continued its
proud tradition of supporting the Terry Fox Foundation by
holding our 13th Annual Terry Fox Day. In the morning
students walked a 5 km route through the local
neighborhood with the Girls Flag Football team acting as
flag bearers. In the afternoon, all were treated to a barbeque
lunch and an opportunity to watch an afternoon doubleheader as the Boy’s Football team took on their rivals from
St. Francis Xavier and the Girls Football teamed played St.
Joan of Arc.
In the end, the school was able to raise over $10,000 dollars
for cancer research, bringing our school’s grand total since
2002 to over $200,000!
Once again this year our top 10 fundraising homerooms will
be treated to breakfast and musical guest appearance by
Desperate Executives lead singer, Jeff Quenneville.
College Fair 2014 - 15
Thursday, November 6th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm, St. Joseph
Secondary School will be hosting their 4th Annual
University/College Fair. The evening will consist of
general info sessions from our GTA universities and colleges
as well as a booth-style format where students and parents
can obtain post secondary information from numerous
Ontario institutions and get their questions answered from
the individual school representatives.
P.A.T.H. Leadership Workshop Series
On Friday September 19th St. Joseph’s P.A.T.H. program
began a new relationship with Outward Bound Canada.
Through generous funding by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic
District School Board, forty- one P.A.T.H. students travelled
to Outward Bound’s urban outdoor education centre, at the
Evergreen Brickworks in downtown Toronto. The students
were given the opportunity to participate in a number of
outdoor activities that heightened their awareness within the
realm of student engagement and student success, thus
enhancing their skills in the classroom.
Follow up workshops will take place on October 24th and
November 20th where the P.A.T.H. students will continue to
hone their leadership skills and facilitate programming for
our pre-Advanced Placement program.
Congratulations to all of the P.A.T.H. students for their
outstanding efforts and participation.
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The
Good
NewsIPSUMS
Report
THE
LOREM
October
2014
FALL 2016
10th Annual Health &
Well-Being Fair
St. Joseph S.S. Link Crew
Welcome Class of 2018
During Grade 9 Orientation
On October 17, 2014, St. Joseph Secondary School
hosted over 25 local community services and agencies
and their interactive displays and information booths on
a wide variety of topics, including mental illness,
addictions, grieving and abuse. This years’ fair was
bigger and better than ever as over 1300 students
attended.
On August 27th, St. Joseph’s Secondary School
welcomed over 250 grade 9 students with an eventfilled celebration.
Grade 9 students were treated to an inviting carnival
like atmosphere complete with music, dance, and
activities. Students had the opportunity to not only
meet our exuberant mascot, Jaguar Joe, but also our
wonderful and devoted Link Crew Ambassadors,
who were responsible for running the event. Grade 9
students participated in both large group and small
group activities, took a tour of the school, got their
schedules and were afforded the opportunity to ask
many questions to their Link Crew Ambassadors.
Laughs could be heard, smiles exchanged and
friendships forged. The day culminated in a grand
BBQ lunch, free raffle and faith filled message.
Science Classes Visit the Zoo
Our Grade Nine students spent a beautiful day at the
Toronto Zoo on September 22. There they learned
about endangered species and had a great time
watching the antics of all the animals. They studied
creatures, big and small, created with diversity and
complexity—what great evidence of God’s
wonderful creations!
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The
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THE
LOREM
October
2014
FALL 2016
Other News…
Grade 9 Spirit Day
The Grade 9s celebrated their Spirit Day on October 2,
2014. The day began with the Grade 9s gathering as a
community of faith to watch the heartwarming movie
Heaven is for Real. After this inspirational and true story
about a boy who actually sees heaven, the Grade 9s,
renewed in their faith, assembled on the football field for
their next adventure where they transformed themselves
into very large bubble-like numbers of 2-0-1-8 and a cross (see
picture) outlined on the field. This number represents the graduating year of
these Grade 9s from St. Joseph and was captured by a professional photographer and his state-of-the-art
quadcopter. We hope to reproduce this image as a gift for each of the Grade 9s on their graduation day, four
years hence. The grade 9s were then treated to a hot lunch in the cafeteria, which offered the Grade 9s an
opportunity to break bread together during one common lunch period. The day culminated with a walk to St.
Joseph’s Parish for a special Grade 9 mass. The Link Crew Ambassadors (LCAs), a group of senior students
who serve as role models for these Grade 9s, were responsible for organizing this event. This day was one in
which the St. Joseph community truly lived their motto “Carpe Diem.” Go Jags!
Health Action Team: Dog Therapy
Students are encouraged to attend the St. John Ambulance
Dog Therapy sessions held in the library every second
Wednesday during all lunches beginning October 29th. The
students are always excite to see the dogs and the dogs are
most happy to help people deal with various forms of stress,
anxiety, isolation, and depression.
Green Team News
This semester the Green Team is hosting monthly community clean
ups. The clean ups take place around the school grounds and also
Marc Diab Park. During Waste Reduction Week the Green Team is
holding a campaign on all lunches to show the importance of
litterless lunches. Every Friday is a "lights out Friday", where the
Green Team encourages teachers to keep the lights off for one period
in the day. On October 29th, 11 members of the Green Team will be
travelling to Fletchers Meadows SS to participate in Ecobuzz 2014,
hosted by the Peel Environmental Youth Alliance and Ecosource.
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THE
LOREM
The
Good
News IPSUMS
Report
FALL 2016
October
2014
St. Joseph Secondary School Presents:
Thursday November 20th
5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Culture Shock at St. Joseph S.S. is a
multicultural festival, featuring traditional
ceremonial costumes, music, art, religion,
dance, literature, history and food samples
from around the world. We have over 300
students from more than 30 countries
preparing this event for the evening of
Thursday, November 20th.
Students and parents visiting the showcase are
asked to pay ahead a $5 entry fee, or $7 at the
door. Money raised from this event will go
towards various Catholic charities.
CULTURE SHOCK 2014 is expected to be an
even bigger event than last year’s
celebration. We hope you can come to our
event and help us share our celebration with
the entire Mississauga community.
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THE GOOD NEWS REPORT
OCTOBER 2014
Clubs
Athletics
Student athlete success on the field, in the classroom
and in life is the goal of our athletics program at St.
Joseph S.S. Over the years we have strived to make
participation in athletics a fun, positive experience
where students learn that success can be achieve
through dedication and hard work. The fall season is
in full swing at St. Joseph. Students’ have had the
opportunity to choose from a variety of sports this
season including girls basketball, bocce, cross country
running, field hockey, flag football, tackle football,
golf, tennis and boys volleyball.
Of particular note one of our golfers, Melissa Gabriele,
placed sixth overall in ROPSSAA and had the
opportunity to represent St. Joseph S.S. at OFSSA for
the fourth consecutive year. Our junior girls’
basketball team and varsity flag football team are both
undefeated thus far and will likely have home court
advantage through their playoff runs. The varsity boys’
football team has had renewed success on the field this
season and is currently working hard to raise
awareness of poverty in our communities through their
2nd Annual Shoe Fundraiser. The boys’ volleyball
program organized and ran a very successful
tournament here at St. Joseph S.S. The senior
volleyball team is in playoff contention and is looking
to finish strong. Finally this week the cross country
team will be sending its largest group of qualifiers – 36
– to ROPSSAA to participate in a qualifier for
OFSSA.
As the fall season comes to a close mid-November we
look forward to many more opportunities for student
participation in intramural sport at St. Joseph S.S. In
the winter season students’ can choose from boys’
basketball, curling, boys and girls hockey, special event
basketball and bowling, swimming, table tennis and
girls volleyball. In the spring season we are looking
forward to running badminton, baseball, cricket,
soccer, slo-pitch, and track and field.
Once again our clubs are up and running, offering a
spectrum of opportunities to meet the diverse
interests of our student body. Student have an
opportunity to choose clubs in the areas of the arts,
social outreach, leadership, media/communications,
ministry or simply general interest. The clubs offered
at St. Joe’s are as follows:
Green Team
Peer Tutors
Solidarity Action Committee
Nicaragua Project
Community Outreach Team
JUMP
Culture Shock
Anime Club
Art Council
Art Club / Open Studio
Artsfest
Jazz Band
Marching Band
Music Ministry/Choir
Drama Club
School Musical
Night of Original Works
Sears Drama Festival
Expressions
IMAGES – Student Art
Exhibit
Artsapalooza
Video Game Club
LINK Crew Ambassadors
Athletic Council
Future Business Leaders
Student Council
The Mirror - School
Newspaper
Year Book Club
White Pine Reading Club
Altar Servers and Lectors
Art Ministry
Class Faith Ambassadors
L.I.F.E. Team
Life Teen Youth Ministry
Morning Team
Retreat Leaders
SafeSpace
Fantasy Hockey Pool Club
Investor’s Club
Mock Bail Team
Mock Trial Teams
School Reach Team
SOMA
Important Dates:
Post-Sec. Assemblies
T.O.K.W.
College/Univ. Fair
Culture Shock!
November 3rd and 4th
November 5th
November 20th
Assemblies for students
applying to college
and/or university.
Take Our Kids to Work
Day.
November 6th
Info sessions from GTA
Colleges and Universities
from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Celebrate our cultural
diversity from 5:30 p.m.
to 8:30 p.m.