June 28, 2013
It’s been a wonderful first year at BCSS for me, thanks in no small part to the wonderful
staff and students. The political challenges have provided leadership opportunities for
students, and they rose to the challenge to make their school year a success. Special
thanks to our student leaders of Zonta and DECA, our SAC executive, and our Link Crew
who made the transition to grade 9 so smooth for our new students.
We say farewell to our “double” class of grade 12’s, and anticipate a smaller but mightier
BCSS for the 2013-2014 school year. With our boundaries now reduced, we are saying
goodbye as well to the following staff, with their destination following: Ximena Bensusan
(Stephen Lewis SS), Amber Bond (The Humberview), Wende Butcher (retirement), Cat
Chorney (Meadowvale SS), Farah Monteiro (West Credit SS), Jill Mortenson (Turner
Fenton SS), Reapal Pawa (Cawthra Park SS), Kerry Powers (Castlebrooke SS), Leah
Sargant (Clarkson SS), Mandy Treichel (Cawthra Park SS) and Bernadette Woolsey
(Cawthra Park SS). We congratulate Renata Wasley, who has been offered a contract at
Stephen Lewis SS. And we hope that our other Long-Term Occasional teachers, Claudia
Secareau, Keith Seckington, Shamaine Mohan and Nadia Sethi, will soon find a permanent
home in Peel as well.
I encourage all members of the BCSS community to visit http://bcssonline.com, and to subscribe to updates via email or SMS.
Sincerely, Mrs. Terry Whitmell – Principal
ARTS
Students in the Arts are involved - they contribute to the culture
and climate of our school and share this experience with the
community. We are very proud of the success and
achievements of all our Arts students and thank them for
helping to make B.C.S.S. the great school that it is.
VISUAL ARTS
It’s been a creative year for the very talented art students in
drawing and painting, photography and computer arts.
Congratulations to Brenden
Liew-Williams and Nimrit
Kaur whose work in
photography and computer
design are featured in the
CBC’s blog Generation Why!
Photography students
experienced gallery
photography at the Contact show in downtown Toronto. Guest
artists came into the grade 12 Drawing and Painting and gave
a hands-on workshop in student-created stencils. Industry
professionals are continually impressed by our Visual Arts
students’ creativity and insights in their works of art.
DRAMA
A big congratulations to all of the Drama students for their
dedication and remarkable writing, acting and directing skills
throughout the year. Theatre Production took on studentwritten one act plays and grade 11 students excelled in Greek
Tragedy, Comedy and Shakespeare. Grade 10 students
studied contemporary acting theory through student written
and professional scripts and grade 9 Drama students ended the
year with high-energy productions of Children’s theatre. And
that’s not all.
In Drama’s Film & Video
courses students wrote,
directed and edited
Flowertown, BCSS’s very
own daytime drama,
performed in television
sitcoms, co-created horror
films with Commtech, and
produced their own
independent films in a series
called One Minute
Shakespeare. But wait, there’s more!
Who doesn’t like to see a show? Exactly. Drama students had an
amazing time seeing two shows this year.
In December, we laughed, we cried and we skipped out of the
Elgin theatre in Toronto humming those show tunes in Ross
Petty’s hilarious English Pantomime of Snow White and in May,
Drama students experienced the Stratford Festival’s rollicking
Three Musketeers.
MUSIC
Congratulations go out to music students for sharing your
expertise and creativity and for exploring music through
traditional band and vocals and through cutting-edge sampling in
our music studio.
Be prepared, musicians, for BCSS’s brand new music STUDIO
adjoined to our the equally new Mac Lab!
BUSINESS
There were many events and trips in Business, Coop and
Career Studies classes this semester. Business Leadership
(BOH4M0) students worked hard to plan a successful
Graduate Reception for their peers, complete with a catered
meal, entertainment and giveaways. Class CEO’s Gurdeep
Sidhu, Amal Mustafa, Saljoq Khurshid, Bhaavik Narula and
the rest of the class dedicated their efforts to fundraising,
making the event possible by running a bake sale, barbeque
and selling BCSS clothing. A big thank you also goes to the
SAC for their contribution to the event. BOH4M0 students
conquered the High Ropes challenge at the Finlayson Field
Centre as they improved their leadership, teamwork and
communication skills. The grade 12 Business Leadership
students also hosted the ‘Biomimicry in Business’ leadership
training this semester.
Several Business classes attended a field trip to the Rogers
Centre, taking in a Blue Jays game. The BDI3C0
Entrepreneurship class hosted a Trade Show that displayed
their creative Business ideas. BDV4C0 students refined their
Entrepreneurial talents during their Valentine’s sales events.
Careers and BMI3C0 Marketing students headed to the
Georgian College Auto Show to do analysis and learn
marketing strategies. Senior Business classes also travelled to
the Vaughan Mills Shopping Centre to study branding, sales
promotions and advertising in the retail environment.
We had another very successful year in our Co-op program.
Cooperative Education students learned experientially this
semester, successfully navigating their way through various
placements in many industries. Coop students educated the
BCSS student body during the Career Fair, answering
questions and displaying pictures/information about their
experiences. The vast majority of our students did an
outstanding job at their placements. Two students in
particular, Byron Mifsud and Malik Niles helped McHugh PS
produce the school's yearbook. In addition, many of our Co-op
students were offered employment at their placements.
The Business/Cooperative Education/Career Studies
Department and DECA Business Club would like to
congratulate Srijamya Rhaghuvanshi, Sakshi Pachisia,
Gurdeep Sidhu and Tajinder Singh for their excellent
achievement at both provincial and international DECA
business competition this year. Sakshi and Srijamya also
planned a fantastic semi-formal dance this semester; a special
thanks goes out to them for making the event a night to
remember. We would also like to welcome and congratulate
the new DECA Business Club executives for next year:
Harkirat Sidhu – President
Jasondeep Brar and Zainab Hassan – Vice Presidents
Jhanvi Jamindar – CFO
Farouq Sadiq – Public Relations and Events
Nitesh Sandal and Shamily Shanmuganathan – Training
Ridhima Kalia – Secretary
We hope that students have lasting
memories from the many activities
that their Business, Coop and
Career Studies teachers planned
this year!
CANADIAN AND WORLD STUDIES
The grade eleven and twelve environment and geography
classes ( CGF3M0, CGF3M0, and CGR4M0 ) went on a couple
of field trips this semester. The field trips were part of their
culminating activities for the course. Students went to
conservation areas to observe features of the Niagara
Escarpment. Some of the features observed were of glacial
origin and others were of evidence of the earth’s history in
Southern Ontario. On the first trip, students went to various
areas of the Niagara Peninsula to study and see evidence of
glaciations and of the Earth’s history. There were a total of six
stops on this trip, with the final stop being Niagara Falls. On the
second trip, students observed many physical features of the
Rockwood Conservation area. The highlight of the trip was the
various course related features that were observed in a small
area.
The classes also had the opportunity of planting trees with the
Credit Valley Conservation Authority. The trees were planted
right behind the school in the Fletcher’s Creek area. This was
important because it provided the students a sense of
community and showed them what can be done to better our
environment.
On May 24th, Dr. Tushar Mehta was a guest speaker for a couple
of classes. He talked about environmental issues around the
world. Dr. Mehta volunteered for four months on the Sea
Sheppard boats of the coast of Antarctica. The students truly
enjoyed his presentation as some personally went to thank him
afterwards. Dr. Mehta volunteers his time with various
organizations in the GTA, he was hoping to inform students what
is available for them while they are studying their post-secondary
education.
Students also presented their ISU’s in June. The ISU topics
ranged from, animal abuse, environmental hot spots,
environmental stewardship and endangered species. The
presentations were informative and quite outstanding showing
that students are ready for their post-secondary education.
The course finished with a discussion on the future of the human
species. The focus was on hope for a better environmental
future. The discussion centered on the various environmental
issues studied in class, including how we interact with each other
as a species.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Some of the highlights from our classes this semester include; a
self-defense unit for Ms. Chorney’s Grade 10 class with
instructors from AMA in Brampton and all of our grade 9 classes
had Constable Lee-Ann Turza come in as a guest speaker for
our drug unit.
Next September will bring about a number of changes in our
facility. We are looking forward to: our gym floor being
refinished with new bleachers installed, our mezzanine fitness
centre will be getting some new weight machines and a new floor
plan. As well, we are hoping to have the upper field completed
in time for next season’s classes and teams!
Bucks Athletics:
The Senior Boys Basketball Team won the Pineridge
Secondary School Basketball Tournament. Congratulations to
members of Boys Baseball, the Boys and Girls Rugby teams
and Boys Soccer on a strong season representing BCSS well!
Special mention goes to members of the BCSS Track and
Field team who placed 4th overall at ROPSSAA. ROPSSAA
Gold Medalists include; Tatiana Carter, Donte Goulbourne,
Henry Do, Michael Fuller and double gold medalist Justin
Moakler. Silver Medalists included; Cassadie Andrews,
Kody Johnson, Talon Denton, Michael Fuller and Kristina
Klintsaris. Our ROPSSAA Bronze Medalists are; Henry Do,
Gursher Dhillon, Carolyn Gougeon, Kristan-Edgar Alexis,
Justin Moakler. A number of other athletes had top 5 finishes.
Way to go BUCKS!
categories including cognitive and social development. This has
given our high school students a better understanding of child
development. The students have loved their family
studies/playschool experience and allowed for a co-op
experience without leaving the building. We all look forward to
another successful playschool year.
The majority of our athletes who qualified for South Regionals
went on to place top 10 overall! Four athletes have advanced
to OFSAA; Justin Moakler, Henry Do, Donte Goulbourne
and Emmanuella Aboralinde. Congratulations to the Track
team, Mr. Landry and Ms. Bowes for their dedication this
season.
SCIENCE
The science students have had a busy and exciting semester.
There were a lot of new experiences and activities that took
place to engage our motivated students. The grade 10 classes
enjoyed a day downtown at the Green Living Show where they
explored different ways to be “green” while donating their
electronic waste for safe disposal. The highlight of the course
was probably dissecting the sheep eyes and frogs which tied in
perfectly with the optics and cells and tissues units. They also
created exciting and informative presentations on climate
change.
The grade 11 biology students spent a sunny day at the zoo
observing and learning about the various species that live
there. Too bad we missed the pandas by one day! They also
dissected the rats with the student teachers from OISE/UT.
The environmental students went on some exciting day trips to
explore our local natural regions including the Forks of the
Credit and Crawford Lake. They also planted trees in our
community. The physics students wrote news articles about
the extraordinary findings of some important physicists.
Students were challenged with the task of becoming experts
on modern physics and lecturing to their peers. They also
studied energy conservation by building roller coasters.
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
This year the playschool started with a brand new team. The
wonderful trio of Gillian Mortenson (Dept. Head), Carla Ward
(RECE) and Julie Dippelhofer (family studies
teacher), collaboratively worked with 165 Gr. 11/12 students
along with 34 preschoolers. In February, the program was
expanded to include a morning and afternoon option. This was
a great addition to our community but also gave our students
more time to work with the children. The "big friends" enjoyed
being the teacher-of-the-day for their "little friends" and not
only did they serve as educators, the students also took on the
role of evaluator with the introduction of the Playschool Report
Cards. The "little friends" were evaluated under many
SPECIAL EDUCATION
The Special Education department headed by Mr. Landry does
its best to support students with IEPs, as well as any student in
the school that needs our services. The Contact Program run by
Mr. Shaw and TA Ms.Tschirhart provides academic and
emotional support for students, and intense behavioural support
for teachers. Special Needs TAs Mr. McCollin (Q), Ms. Lewis,
Ms. Graham and Ms. Miller work throughout the school providing
physiotherapy, in-class support, and training in technology.
Veteran teachers Ms. Sargant (head monitor teacher) and Ms.
Pace (GLE) have welcomed Mr. Hamilton into the department
this semester to complete the Special Education team. Together
all have worked tirelessly to ensure student success. Classroom
instruction, monitoring, behavioural intervention, opportunities
through trips and conferences, training using assistive
technology, are amongst a long list of supports offered through
Special Education. We will continue to help a variety of students
with special needs transition to post-secondary education
whether it be going to university, college, or apprenticeship
programs.
STUDENT SUCCESS
Keep your son or daughter reading over the summer. Reading
comprehension helps students in all classes and is a great life
long hobby that can take you to way more places than a plane.
Brampton libraries are free and have programs especially
created for teens. Join the “Teen Summer Reading Challenge”,
the “Blind Date with a Book” or other activities. Students that
enjoy these summer activities will be invited to a celebration
at BCSS in the fall. Go to http://www.bramlib.on.ca/ Youth 
Programs and Clubs for more info.
Build a Buck Award Winners–
The staff at BCSS recognize students who are demonstrating constructive character traits and contributing to the positive climate for
learning and working in our school. Congratulations to recipients (Some students have received multiple awards):
Abolarinde, Emmanuella
Ahmed, Husban
Alexander, Angus
Ali, Areeba
AlliBalogun, Tia
Amaral, Caterina
Andrews, Cassadie
Anser Chaudhry, Basit
Atwell, Virginia
Bains, Komal
Bedi, Gurvir
Bhandri, Drohn
Bhangu, Hery
Brar, Karmvir
Brooks , Reece
Bryan, Akiel
Caglar, Mehmet
Campbell, Zachary
Carter, Tatianna
Chaudry, Arbab
Chhokar, Reenu
Chopra, Parth
Christian, Stacey
Cole-Jones, Nicolette
Commey, Francis
Coombs, Megan
Damwar, Kevin
Dao, Andrew
Davis, Dalecia
Dennis, Rashaun
Dhailwal, Komal
Dhaliwal, Karnveer
Dhanjal, Ciza
Dhillon, Akamjot
Divker , Akansh
Do, Scott
Doan, Henry
Doukas, Andrew
Facey , Shanelle
Farooqi, Samiah
Fathima, Rumana
Fernandez, Josianne
Gallant, Bradley
Gharibyar, Michelle
Gignac, Sean
Gill, Arashdeep
Gill, Sahibnoor
Gill, Jeevani
Gill, Sarbjot
Gill, Jaipal
Gosal, Ajitpal
Gosden, Zack
Grewal, Mandeep
Grewall, Daniel
Hamilton, Shantay
Hamilton, Jordan
Hayden, Cory
Heaton, Shawn
Henry, Jasmine
Ho, Alex
Huynh Nguyen, Kim
Ihsan, Shaima
Jackson, Tiffany
Janes, Amanda
Japp, Tamaal
Javed, Muneeb
Jayanth, Sharan
Juneja, Gurashish
Juneja, Ganeem
Kailey Wright
Kalra, Ansh
Kaur, Simarpreet
Kaur, Pavneet
Kaushik, Mohini
KC, Kushal
Khaira, Manreet
Khan, Hamna
Khan Muhammad, Usman
Khem, Sarah
Khurshid, Saljoq
Knapp, Trevor
Kozuszko, Kady
Kuczera, Christopher
Lakhanpal, Prabjot
Leakey, Brian
Leal, Taylor
LeBlanc, Cameron
Lockyer, Hannah
Lubana, Maneet
Luong, Natasha
Maahs, Cassidy
Maan, Guneet
Macdonald, Hayley
Mahabir Chaitram, Nesha
Malhi, Parveen
Maracle, Sammy
Matharu, Navneet
McCluaig, Matthew
McIntosh, Ariel
Mohamed Ariff, Afshana
Motiram, Ravin
Muhammad, Abdullah
Mustafa, Amal
Nanda, Karishma
Narula, Bhaavik
Natt, Jaskiren
Nguyen, Henry
Noseworthy, Melissa
Pachisia, Sakshi
Parkeh, Yash
Patel, Bhakti
Pavao, Jesse
Phan, Jacob
Pobric, Muhamed
Polege, Kenten
Prashad , Sumit
Rai, Paul
Rai, Navneet
Rajan, Akhil
Ramathas, Vaisigan
Ramroop, Sabrina
Rao, Nadine
Rayman, Javed
Reyce, Jena
Richard, Zaham
Roberts, Tyra
Robinson, Tyra
Ryan, Maggie
Sabean, Austin
Sadiq, Farouq
Samuels, Kedisha
Sanghvi, Miloni
Scarlette, Malik
Shah, Jay
Shanmuganathan, Shamily
Thank you for making BCSS a better place for yourself and others!
Sharma, Abolarinde
Sharma, Anmol
Sharma, Nikita
Sidhu, Gurdeep
Singh, Jasveen
Singh, Tanisha
Singh, Harpreet
Singh, Harman
Singh, Emilio
Singh, Charlie
Singh, Bhavleen
Sivayogarajah, Sajanth
Smith , Shaquan
Soni, Ritik
Sookram, Michael
Sosa , Shawn
Stewart, Connor
Stoner, Shane Burton
Suriyakumar, Shantheya
Syed, Afaan
Tang, Matthew
Thandi, Arvind
Theiventhiran, Anujan
Thompson, Meghan
Thomsen , Hannah
Thordarson, Codi
Toora, Nisha
Tran, Christine
Tran, Angela
Varghis, Elizabeth
Vermeersch, Sydney
Virk, Ruhuneet
Vivian, Katharina
Vyas , Karina
Waheed, Ashraf
Walker, Lyndsey
White, Shavon
White, Rebecca
White, Leaneesha
Williams, Terence
Wood, Meaghan
Worrie, Trae
Zaman, Shantel