SCHOOL DISTRICT # 83
PHONE :
250-836-2831
E-MAIL :
ers@sd83.bc.ca
MAIL :
P.O. BOX 9
SICAMOUS BC
V0E 2V0
DA T ES T O REM EM BER:

DECEMBER 1st
Trimester 2 begins

EAGLE RIVER SECONDARY
VOLUME 7
ISSUE 3
DECEMBER 2014
Season’s Greetings !!
JAZZ & CONCERT BAND PERFORMANCE
DECEMBER 11, 2014 @ 7pm
DECEMBER 1st
Core Studies 3 Begins

DECEMBER 11th
ERS Jazz Band Concert 7 PM

DECEMBER 12th
Report Cards Sent Home

DECEMBER 18th
Ski & Snowboard Day @
Silverstar

DECEMBER 19th
Last Day School

DEC. 20th - JAN. 4th
School Closed

Drug Prevention Day
JANUARY 5th
School Resumes
On November 20th, ERS and the ERS Parent Advisory held a Drug Prevention Day
in the gym. The day was informative and fun and our students learned a lot. The
themes for the day were the prevention of drug misuse through wellness and healthy
choices. Presenters were Cpl. Luis Sardenhia from the Salmon Arm RCMP, Terri
Ross from Interior Health, and Amir Javid from Touchstone Family Association in
Richmond. The event ended with a school wide barbecue.
A big thanks to all our presenters for a job well done, and to Bob Evans and the ERS
PAC for all their hard work and organization.
If you’re interested in being involved in the school and your child’s education, or just
being well informed about what’s going on at the school, please call and ask about
PAC (Parent Advisory Committee)
ERS CONCERT & JAZZ BAND
WITH OPEN MIC NIGHT
Thursday December 11, 2014 at 7:00pm
ERS Concert & Jazz Bands & Open Mic
Featuring the ERS Jazz & Concert Band, a group of talented and dedicated musicians.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
Coffee & Tea available at venue.
Donations are kindly accepted to raise funds for “ Walk With Me Canada”
an agency who helps victims of human trafficking in Canada.
Dry Grad Auction
The Class of 2015 would like to thank the many individuals and businesses for their
generous donations to this year’s Dry Grad Auction.
The auction was a smashing success and wouldn’t have happened without the
amazing support of our community.
Thank you also to the volunteers who worked so hard to put this evening together as
well as grad sponsor, Curtis Bellows and auctioneer extraordinaire, Jim Niemi.
The annual ERS Christmas Craft Fair was once again a huge success. Many
thanks to those in the community who came out to do some Christmas
shopping, sample some Christmas baking and catch up with old friends.
Library News:
Science Shows Something Surprising About People Who Still Read Fiction - By Gabe Bergado November 21, 2014
They tend to be more empathetic toward others.
It's not news that reading has countless benefits: Poetry stimulates parts of the brain linked to memory and sparks selfreflection; kids who read the Harry Potter books tend to be better people. But what about people who only read newspapers? Or people who scan Twitter all day? Are those readers' brains different from literary junkies who peruse the pages of
19th century fictional classics?
Short answer: Yes — reading enhances connectivity in the brain. But readers of fiction? They're a special breed.
The study: A 2013 Emory University study looked at the brains of fiction readers. Researchers compared the brains of people after they read to the brains of people who didn't read. The brains of the readers — they read Robert Harris' Pompeii
over a nine-day period at night — showed more activity in certain areas than those who didn't read.
Specifically, researchers found heightened connectivity in the left temporal cortex, part of the brain typically associated
with understanding language. The researchers also found increased connectivity in the central sulcus of the brain, the primary sensory region, which helps the brain visualize movement. When you visualize yourself scoring a touchdown while
playing football, you can actually somewhat feel yourself in the action. A similar process happens when you envision yourself as a character in a book: You can take on the emotions they are feeling.
It may sound hooey hooey, but it's true: Fiction readers make great friends as they tend to be more aware of others' emotions.
This is further apparent in a 2013 study that investigated emotional transportation, which is how sensitive people are to
others' feelings. Researchers calculated emotional transportation by having participants express how a story they read
affected them emotionally on a five-point scale — for example, how the main character's success made them feel, and
how sorry they felt for the characters.
In the study, empathy was only apparent in the groups of people who read fiction and who were emotionally transported.
Meanwhile, those who were not transported demonstrated a decrease in empathy.
For the experiment, participants either read a piece of literary
fiction or popular fiction, followed by identifying facial emotions
solely through the eyes. Those who read literary fiction scored
consistently higher, by about 10%.
The world around is as real as it gets. Might as well indulge in
some fiction. Science says it'll make you better at interacting
with people.
ERS Book Club:
Thursday Jan 22nd at lunch
Discussion: Canadian Authors
Lunch, Prizes and Good Company
Happy Holidays!
Pre-order your yearbooks now!
2014-2015 Yearbooks are now available for Pre-Order! Pre-Order them before
Jan. 31st and receive $5 off ($35.00)
Also did you miss out on last year’s yearbook or even the year before? We are selling
them at an amazing price of $20, well below cost.
Pick yours up soon as quantities are limited.
THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD BANK DONATIONS.
SOCIAL JUSTICE CLASS 2014-2015
Welcome to ERS:
After working as a Teacher on Call last year, Mr. Ostoforov (or
Mr. 'O' to his students) has joined the teaching staff at ERS.
When Mr. 'O' isn't teaching math, you can find him in the computer lab overseeing a number of computer courses and the
creation of the 2014-2015 yearbook.
Mrs. Nickles is a welcome addition to the front office at ERS.
She comes to us after spending last year at Lenwood Middle
School in Armstrong. Mrs. Nickles is enjoying getting to know
all of the staff and students….and Mr. Anderson’s sense of
humour.
Molly Folliott has been working with SD 83 Ab Ed Department
for 3 years at Parkview in Sicamous and at AES in Armstrong.
She filled in here at ERS the last few months of the 2014 school
year. She is happy to be back at ERS, looking forward to a great
year!
Ms. Derkach joins us this school year after working at Parkview,
Hillcrest , and being on call for the 2014 school year. She is
happy to be at ERS. She loves spending time with her grandchildren when not here at the school.
Did you know that the Aboriginal Education Department has its own facebook
and twitter account to keep you updated?
Check it out at:
facebook.com/aboriginaleducation83 or twitter.com/AbEdSD83
Snowball Dance
December 17th - 7:00-9:00pm
Don ‘t forget to pick up your tickets
$4.00 each or 2 for $6.00
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Grad Photos
Grad Photos:
December 15th & 16th