Webcasts of the public hearings on the LBPSB's "Major School Change" consultation are now available for viewing. Please click on the link for the date you wish to view. The webcast will open in a new window for viewing.
(Please note that Tuesday's webcast, due to technical difficulties, will be available no later than Monday, November 23, 2009)
Busing of Students and Vaccination Information
LBPSB is actively working on plans to transport its on-island elementary and high school students to H1N1 vaccination centres. For more details, click here.
Major School Change Consultation - Briefs Posted
All briefs received by the LBPSB are posted on our web site for our communities to consult. Briefs are in standard PDF format and some are quite large, which will cause download times to vary.
Briefs are broken into the school board's "Sector Structure". Briefs that were received by individuals, municipalities, and the like, are posted at the end under the heading "Others".
The Direction de la santé publique de Montréal announced on Wednesday, October 28, an increase in the number of children showing flu-like symptoms. It is important to know that the statistics are based, among other things, on the information forwarded by Quebec school boards regarding the cases of schools or classes where there are more than 10% of the students and staff showing flu-like symptoms.
The LBPSB wishes to reassure all its communities that we are collecting the number of absences in our schools and centres daily and continue to abide by the directives issued from the Direction de la santé publique.
The links below direct you to the websites of the government agencies responsible for public health and providing all pertinent information regarding Influenza A (H1N1).
Beaconsfield High School Senior will carry Olympic torch
Beaconsfield High School recently held an assembly where it was announced that one of their students, Benjamin Mumme, has been named Vancouver 2010 community torchbearer for the City of Beaconsfield. In front of all his fellow grade 11 classmates, Benjamin was welcomed on stage in the school’s auditorium by Beaconsfield’s mayor, David Pollock. Mayor Pollock told the audience Benjamin will be carrying the torch through the city on December 8th and will light a 1.3-metre high ceremonial cauldron at a community celebration at Centennial Park in honour of the arrival of the flame. The 106-day Olympic Torch Relay will visit more than 1,030 communities in every province and territory. Benjamin is one of about 12,000 Canadians to be selected to carry the torch and he says he’s honoured to do it.
Benjamin was nominated by BHS administration for his involvement in school activities and sports. He plays soccer, volleyball, coaches a swim team and does track and field for the school. He also plays competitive water polo, has been on the Honour Roll many times, was involved in student council and has been a recipient of the Carolyn Waldo at Beacon Hill Pool.
Greendale Elementary's Family Dance
Family Haunting on Halloween Eve
It was the night before Halloween,
And all through school,
There were witches and ghosts and even a ghoul!
The children were laughing and giggling with glee
While parents arrived to join the parteeee.
The music was fun and they danced one and all,
In the gym, in the entrance and even the hall.
There was pizza and drinks and prizes galore
Even the DJ was out on the floor.
What a night to remember as the school clock struck nine,
And the children stopped moving and formed a long line.
Greendale, they shouted, as they walked out of sight,
School “spirit” to all and to all a Good Night!
- Dona Bianchi, Principal of Greendale
A spooky Halloween at St. Patrick Elementary
A few Sundays ago the grade six students found a haunted house in the basement of St. Patrick School!
On Friday, October 30th, all the students at St. Pat’s enjoyed activities organized by the school’s Halloween committee.
Thanks to the effort of everyone involved, lots of fun was had by all who attended, the costumes were awesome and the haunted house was pretty scary!
For more photos of the spooky Halloween event, click here.
St. Edmund celebrates Halloween
On October 30th, the spirit of Halloween could be felt all over St. Edmund Elementary School. The students and staff dressed up and all the students had the chance to participate in many games set up in the school’s gym. The many games, which included fortune telling and a bean bag toss game, were all organized and set up by parents. The students had a wonderful time moving from one game to another and once they were finished all the games, they had another surprise waiting for them.
The Montreal Police sent their mascot Flik and a police officer to give students tips on how to have a safe Halloween. The students were thrilled to have the mascot there and were all keen to answer the officer’s questions about safety on Halloween.
On Wednesday, October 28th five hundred BHS students sat in awe in the gym as seven of their peers had their long tresses shaved off all in the name of a great cause! Beaconsfield High School’s Annual “Shave to Save” Campaign for Breast Cancer Research was culminating with the ceremonial head shaving of seven brave BHS students.
On hand to help out were the morning team from radio station Virgin 96 and two hairdressers from La Coupe. The students raised $23, 300.00 for Breast Cancer Research and the pledges are still rolling in! Under the guidance of Community Officer/Spiritual Animator, Mrs. Nancy Dubuc, seven students, who are from four grade levels , and one teacher took on the task of raising money during the month of October while pledging to shave off all their hair. Their goal was to beat last year’s total of $19,000 which they more than accomplished!
BHS has been taking part in this fundraiser for the past five years and each year the number of participants and the amount of money raised has increased. BHS English teacher, Mrs. Jesse Hayes, who is on preventative pregnancy leave was the eighth BHS “shavee”. She had her head shaved on Friday, October 30th at the Shave to Save Celebration Breakfast at Fairview Pointe Claire. The students who had their heads shaved were: Lieska Guzman (Sec 5) Hudson Harris (Sec 2), Amanda Haarer (Sec 4), Lianne Asprey (Sec 3), Hilary Troyer (Sec 3), Victoria Barrett (Sec 3) and Josh Mailman (Sec 2). The BHS community is extremely proud of their students and staff for participating in such a worthy cause!
Flannel PJ’s and fuzzy slippers were the order of the evening on Thursday October 29th at Mount Pleasant. Families showed up in droves to participate in the school’s first ever PJ Story Time Evening.
Sandra Bebbington, Mount Pleasant’s library technician, had the wonderful idea of inviting families for a fun-filled literacy night. Many thanks go out to Sandra for her wonderful storytelling and to the Home and School who served home-baked cookies and milk that was generously donated by IGA Poirier et Fils in Hudson.
Sandra plans to repeat the event several times throughout the year.
A day in the life of an Animal Caretaker Apprentice
Students from Verdun Elementary were fortunate to participate in a behind the scenes visit to the Ecomuseum this October. The grade 3 and 4 classmates and their teachers’ (Mrs. Villeneuve and Mme. Christine) responsibilities were to prepare various meals for the Ecomuseum residents for that day.
It was fruit salad for the porcupine, vegetables for the caribous, meaty bones for the carnivores and chopped up smelt for the river otters. The students were not only thrilled to assume the role of animal caretakers that day, but developed a deeper understanding about the animals of the St.Lawrence River Valley. A big thank you to Dennis Pfeffer and the team at FEDNAV for sponsoring the class trip.
Purcell Academy students learn about photography from an expert
On Oct. 19th Ms Parker's grade 2 bilingual classes at Purcell Academy, had a special visit from photographer Peter Martin. Mr. Martin won the National Newspaper Award for his photograph of Terry Fox running in the rain, which was voted as one of the Top Ten Photos that Changed Canada.
The students were shown a diverse range of photos of children and adults taken by Mr. Martin in different cultures and settings around the world. A camera was donated to each student by a friend of Ms Parker. The children will now be working on a project where they will take their own photos. These photographic creations will be posted on the school’s website in December. What a unique, exciting experience it was for all the students!
On Thursday, October 15th, Lester B. Pearson’s sixth annual Peace Summit was held at the board’s head office. The Summit is something organized by Judy Grant who is responsible for overseeing the Peaceful Schools International Program at the board. This year’s theme was “Heart-to-Heart/We’re all Connected” and its focus was on educating students on how to accept those who have disabilities.
Three to five children from almost every school at the board were in attendance of the day-long event that had the students participating in many activities geared at expanding their awareness of different disabilities and the stereotypes often associated with each one.Some of the activities included becoming better acquainted with the Braille alphabet and learning sign language.
To celebrate the coming of fall, Greendale Daycare invited Deirdre Potash from Art Comes to School to create Quebec autumn landscapes using acrylic paint on canvas board.
The class began with an introduction to the Group of Seven (famous Canadian artists who went into the woods to paint in the 1920’s), followed by a short lesson on the formal qualities of painting (color, composition, seasons, etc…).
Children from 6 to 12 years old experimented with professional art materials. The results were wonderful and the students are very proud of their paintings.
To view more of the children's artwork, click here.
LBPSB's high school students represent Quebec at Alberta conference
Three lucky students and one teacher/advisor from each of LBPSB’s high schools participated in the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC) in Olds, Alberta from September 26th to October 4th.The conference welcomed delegations from over 150 schools from across Canada.
The purpose of the conference was to give students the opportunity to learn about ways in which they can enhance the leadership programs already running in their schools.The students were able to meet with other school leadership groups, listen to great keynote speakers and they also took part in workshops.The conference helped students make connections across the country with other young people who are interested in the same types of projects. They also had the chance to tour Banff and Lake Louise and took in the spectacular sites of Canada’s Western landscape.
The 26th annual CSLC will be taking place at PierrefondsComprehensiveHigh School next year (2010).
To view more photos from the students' trip, click here.
Montreal Juniors player gives inspirational talk at Sunshine Academy
In what marked the beginning of many inspirational talks from the Montreal Juniors Hockey Club, students at SunshineAcademy had the pleasure of listening to Montreal Juniors assistant captain, Mathew Brenton.
As part of the newly formed partnership between LBPSB and the popular Montreal Juniors, players from the team will visit LBPSB’s schools and give students an inspirational talk. At Sunshine on October 5th, Mathew explained how perseverance pays off and told students that no matter what, they should try their best and work hard at everything they do. He also discussed the importance of staying in school.To reinforce his positive message to the students, he explained how he still takes classes even as he continues to play hockey. The students thoroughly enjoyed listening to Mathew.
On Monday, October 5th, the students in Tamara Beach’s Secondary III Community Leadership class hosted a refreshment break at recess for Beurling’s dedicated staff to celebrate World Teachers’ Day (WTD). This was an opportunity to honour and promote the important contributions that teachers make to education and to their communities.
The students baked delicious cupcakes, scrumptious cookies and fancy cakes. Student-leaders took the time to write creative poems for their teachers and the poems were dropped in the teachers’ mailboxes as a surprise. A few of the talented students serenaded the staff with their beautiful voices. A wonderful time was had by all!
On Thursday, September 24th, seventh grade students in Discovery Science at BeaconsfieldHigh School were treated to a different type of classroom. They spent their usual indoor class exploring the natural surroundings found around BHS.Chris Cloutier, an interpretive naturalist at the Morgan Arboretum and who also works closely with Pearson Interactive Community Partnerships spent the morning teaching the science classes about the trees and leaves that surrounded them.
Chris, whose favourite subjects are insects, spiders, trees, ponds/streams and ecology had the students mesmerized by all the information that could be discovered by examining a leaf or a tree. The students, who were thoroughly enjoying Chris’s lesson had many questions for the passionate naturalist and by the end of their class, they could already tell the difference between different types of trees and leaves.
Sunshine, smiling faces and giggles! The tone was set for a perfect afternoon walk. Students and Staff of Greendale Elementary joined together on Thursday, September 24th to support the Marathon of Hope started 29 years ago by a courageous young man.
The seniors paired up with K-4 and Kindergarten students, along with the entire school, parents and staff around the Greendale neighborhood in support of raising funds. Activities took place in school before the big day and students learned about a great Canadian hero, Terry Fox. Assemblies took place, pledges were filled and parents helped along the route to ensure the safety of all. Juice and cookies were provided for everyone compliments of Greendale's Home and School parents. A wonderful time was had by all who participated.
The Pearson Electrotechnology Centre celebrates its first graduation
On September 14th, the Pearson Electrotechnology Centre (PEC) celebrated its very first graduation. Four groups of students were honoured during the ceremony. Three of the groups were from the Electricity Program and one group from the Installation and Repair of Telecommunications Equipment Program.
At the graduation ceremony, Centre Director Paula Pedroso called the graduates trailblazers and mentioned how the graduation marked the last of a series of firsts for the new centre.
School Board officials were on hand to mark the joyous event as well the very proud family and friends of the graduates. PEC opened in 2007 and the program students follow is 16 to 18 months long.
Dorset celebrates the Olympic spirit in a wacky way
On Friday, September 4th, Dorset Elementary held the Wacky Olympic Games. The morning began with a Parade of Nations, followed by a short speech declaring the Games open by Paralympian, Lyne Tremblay (archery). Eight students then carried in the Olympic flag, followed by the torch.
Representing fifty of the 2010 Olympic countries, every student and staff member played at each of the ten events: perogy relay, javelin throw (pool noodles), scooter race, beach ball bowling, chopstick relay, three-legged race, water toss, pasta necklace, ball race and potato hockey. Each event was manned by a grade 11 Beaconsfield High School student. At recess all present enjoyed Lolly’s donated by Chapman’s Ice Cream Company.
The closing ceremony was held in the gym, with short speeches by Scott Mumme (Waterpolo), Lyne Tremblay and Dorset principal Adrian Geller.
Organizers are now looking forward to holding the Wacky Winter Olympic Games!
On August 31st, students all across the Lester B. Pearson School Board began a brand new school year. For St. Edmund, the first morning back had a little extra bonus for them. The students at St. Edmund Elementary were asked to bring in a flag or dress in a costume from any country of their choice. Each class will represent and learn about a different country for the rest of the year. Teachers, too, were dressed in outfits from the countries they will be teaching their students about.
Students filed off the buses, some holding their flags others adjusting their costumes and anxiously waited in the school yard to find out who their teacher would be for the next year.While they waited, CTV News interviewed some of students and their parents and filmed all the action taking place in the school yard.
The wonderful report showcasing St. Edmund’s first day ran on the noon and six o’clock news. To watch the report, click here.
The October 26th Council of Commissioners Meeting began with some wonderful presentations. Orchard Elementary’s student choir kicked off the evening by performing some beautiful song selections.
Once the choir was finished singing, the Dr. Judith Springate award was presented to Benjamin Ozols-Mongeau by Dr. Springate. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a LBPSB graduate who’s achieving high marks, interested in pursuing a career in teaching and enrolled at John Abbott College, where Dr. Springate taught for 35 years.
The Gordon Robertson Centre also made a presentation at the meeting, highlighting their website and featuring some graduates who have excelled in the beauty industry after graduating from the centre.
The final presentation was from the organizing committee of the 26th annual Canadian Student Leadership Conference (Big Top 2010) being hosted by Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School in September 2010. The committee unveiled Big Top 2010’s website and spoke about the activities being planned for the big leadership event.
A very busy first Council meeting
The first Council of Commissioners meeting of the new school year was a busy one.At the meeting, which took place on August 31st, 17 teachers and administrators from China were introduced.They were given certificates after spending 10 days taking part in Professional Development courses and training at the Lester B. Pearson International Centre and LBPSB’s Vocational Centres. They were very well received by all the centre directors who were able to share their expertise with the visitors from China.
The teachers and administrators come from a school called Bai Nan Vocational School (BNVS), China’s first tuition-free, charitable vocational school.The school gives migrant workers’ children the opportunity to an education they wouldn’t be able to receive otherwise.Cheng Shenglong is a 17-year-old student also from that school who is here on a scholarship and who will be spending three weeks at the Pearson Electrotechnology Centre.
Also at the meeting, Marcus Tabachnick, Chairman of LBPSB and Bob Mills Director General of LBPSB signed a letter of intent to establish a partnership between LBPSB and Maimonides Geriatric Centre (Maimonides-PACC Learning Institute (l’Institut du savoir Maimonides-PACC)).Barbra Gold, Executive Director of Maimonides was on hand to sign the letter as well.
The partnership will see P.A.C.C. Vocational and Maimonides have a greater collaboration.Students registered in the Health Care programs at P.A.C.C. will be provided with supervised training in a clinical setting at Maimonides.
Notes
Committee Memberships for 2009-2010 have been decided. Click on the link below.
The chairs of Quebec’s two largest English language public school boards will be requesting meetings with Premier Jean Charest and Minister of Education, Leisure and Sports Michelle Courchesne in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on Bill 104. Angela Mancini of the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) and Marcus Tabachnick of the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) made the announcement October 22 at a joint press conference held at John F. Kennedy High School in St. Michel.
On August 22nd, Chairman Marcus Tabachnick and Commissioner Frank Di Bello were on hand at the inauguration of a new field in LaSalle. They joined LaSalle Mayor Manon Barbe and other esteemed guests, including the late Keith Ewenson's family, in inaugurating the Keith-Ewenson artificial turf football-soccer field and the Fritz-R.-Prévost athletic track.
The field and track are located in Riverside Park in La Salle behind P.A.C.C. Adult and Vocational Centre.
Graduate of Riverdale (1968) awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine
Three U.S. scientists have received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their chromosome research. The Karolinska Institute in Sweden says the trio was honoured for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase, research that has implications for cancer and aging research.
Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak ( Graduate of Riverdale High School) determined how chromosomes can be "copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation," according to the citation.
On behalf of the Lester B. Pearson School Board and Riverdale High School we wish to congratulate all three scientists.
To read the full story on the CBC website, click here...
SPECIAL NOTE: Monday, October 5, 2009. For personal reasons Lena Stanley has stepped down as Parent Commissioner, Elementary Representative. CPC will be holding a new election in the near future.
The Annual General Assembly of Parents’ Committee Representatives was held at the Lester B. Pearson School Board's Head Office on Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 7:15 p.m.
The Parents' Committee of The Lester B. Pearson School Board is divided into sectoral committees in keeping with the school board's administrative sectors. Parent representatives elected at each school's Annual General Assembly and who represent their parents at the school board are then elected from each sector to form the Central Parents' Committee (CPC), along with representatives from the Special Needs Advisory Committee (SNAC).
Parent Commissioners are elected to participate as active non-voting members of the council of commissioners. The results of the elections for Parent Commissioners are:
Lena Stanley, Elementary Representative
Conny Held, Secondary Representative
On September 30, 2009, a meeting will be held to elect the parent representatives for the 2009-2010 Special Needs Advisory Committee (SNAC).
This committee is made up of parents of students with special needs, teachers, school administrators, professionals, support staff and representatives from community agencies. SNAC advises the School Board on special needs issues with regards to educational services, school board policies and allocation of financial resources.
Any parents of students with special needs who are interested in serving on this committee for a one or two year mandate can be elected to SNAC. Meetings are held monthly and are open to all interested parents.
The meeting will begin at 7:30 pm and takes place in the Boardroom at 1925 Brookdale in Dorval.
LBPSB and the Montreal Junior Hockey Club team up for student success
A press conference was held at Restaurant Crescendo in Verdun to announce that the Lester B. Pearson School Board would partner with the Montreal Juniors Hockey Club for their 2009-2010 edition of the “Score with School!” program. The program is one that promotes the importance of education and is meant to enhance the efforts being made by schools and school boards to improve student success.
The program, sponsored by Pediapharm Inc., will provide four season tickets to each of our schools, which will be distributed to students who have achieved academic success or who have shown an improvement in their behaviour and social conduct. As well, players on the Montreal Juniors team, who attended the press conference, will visit schools to speak to students about the importance of education, staying in school and achieving their dreams. Schools will also be invited to attend a Montreal Juniors hockey game during their 2009-2010 season.
Chairman Marcus Tabachnick spoke on behalf of the LBPSB at the press conference saying, “Player visits to the schools will prove significant in providing positive role models of elite athletes who, themselves, believe in the power of education and will show our students that success in sports coupled with success in school is a very powerful combination.” Many principals and members of the LBPSB’s administrative team were on hand to show their support for this new program.
Sylvain Chrétien, President and CEO of Pediapharm Inc., Corporate Sponsor of the program emphasized their dedication towards mentorship and how they believe that these players will be true role models to the students they work with.
Also on hand for the event were administrative staff and coaches of the Montreal Juniors, as well as Director General of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Montreal, who will also benefit greatly from this program.
The following link provides our communities with the full letter from Marcus Tabachnick, Chairman of the Board, on the situation surrounding the acquisition of land for the new school to serve the board's Off-Island community.
The LBPSB will be holding a Town Hall meeting (which will be webcast) on Tuesday, September 15th starting at 7pm at:
Westwood Junior High School
2800, rue Du Bordelais
Saint-Lazare J7T 3E3
The purpose of the meeting is to inform our off-island communities of the situation regarding the acquisition of land for the new school and to discuss the options available to move forward with this project.
We invite you to attend and look forward to seeing you there.
A Connect-Ed message from the Chairman of the Board, Marcus Tabachnick, was sent on Friday, September 11th, to all members of our off-island communities. If you missed the message, you can click here to listen to it.
In order to assist our communities the following documents are being posted so that families with questions concerning the 2009-2010 transportation "bussing for a fee" service have the documents and information they require to understand the process.
While there may remain availability (seats) it is dependant on the day by day situation within the schools. All documents refer to the 2009- 2010 school year only. If available in 2010-2011, these types of requests will have to be submitted in June 2010.
The Annual Report for the 2007-2008 school year is now available. For the first time the LBPSB has produced the report as a video which includes interviews and information on the board's programs and strategic plan. This first attempt at providing our communities with a visual report, rather than written, is consistent with the board's goal of enhanced communications.
Learn to earn in just one year!
Students who begin their studies now will be trained and ready for the job market by summer 2010!
Courses offered include Hairdressing, Esthetics and Electrolysis. Check out their website at grc.lbpsb.qc.ca for more information.
All courses include a sound theoretical background followed by practical demonstrations by highly trained and experienced teachers. The teachers continue to mentor and coach students who practice, practice, practice to develop their expertise in skills such as hair styling and colouring, manicures, facial treatments and other beauty care services. Students practice on each other and then on our most valued clientele. (If you are interested in becoming a client, check the website for more information and call 514-426-3949 for an appointment) In addition our students attend conferences, visit suppliers and do workstudies in local salons and spas.
Entrance requirements: 16 years of age and over, and successfully completed Sec IV English, French and Math or the General Development Test, available at WAAVE
For information check the website grc.lbpsb.qc.ca or call 514-426-5096 or 514-792-5096
On Saturday, May 9th, 2,000 students and their families and staff of the Board had the opportunity to attend the Montreal Impact’s home opening game.Before the game began, two of LBPSB’s students were awarded the Tony Licursi Bursary, named in honour of the late Tony Licursi, a long-time statistician and friend of the Impact club who passed away in 2006. Mr. Licursi was devoted to the cause of helping children better themselves.
The two students selected both displayed a willingness to learn, respect for others, a love of sports, and both were described as being true delightsto have around.Kathryn Babin, a grade six student at St. John Fisher Senior Elementary and Johnny Bucci, a grade eight student at Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School received the bursaries at centre field from Marcus Tabachnick, Chairman of the Board, Viviane Croubalian, Assistant Director General of the Board and a representative from the Montreal Impact.Over 60 students also got the chance to line the field and greet the players on the starting line-up as they ran out before the start of the game.
The event was part of a new partnership between the Montreal Impact and LBPSB that was formed last November.As part of its stay-in-school program, “All the Way with the Impact,” players from the popular soccer team have visited some LBPSB elementary and high schools in the last month to discuss the importance of perseverance, motivation and school with the students.As a complement to the awareness efforts in the classrooms, the Impact offered students the chance to attend their home opener at Saputo Stadium.Although the Impact lost to the Rochester Rhinos 2 to 1, a great time was had by all who attended.
Amazing Accomplishments by St. Thomas High School and Margaret Manson Elementary School
Both St. Thomas High School and Margaret Manson Elementary have made their communities proud with efforts to help less fortunate children in Kenya.Read on to find out exactly what each school did to help make a difference.
Margaret Manson Elementary:
Over the past four years, Margaret Manson Elementary has been in partnership with Free the Children working on their ‘Compassion in Action Project.’To date, Margaret Manson Elementary has donated over $30,000 to the organization, whose mission statement is ‘children helping children through education.’The school recently celebrated the efforts of its community to take on the fund-raising project to build three one-room schools in Kenya.The following schools have been built in Kenya because of the fund-raising done by the school and its community: Enelerai Primary School – opened January 2007; Olongerin Primary School – opened January 2008; and Pimbiniet Primary School – opened in 2009.
In addition to building the schools, with the funds raised by the students and their families, enough money was made to pay for classroom furniture, books, gym equipment, and a hot lunch for each student.This year, through four Hockey Ticket Raffles, $2,000 was raised and will be dispersed for clean water projects in areas of the world where Free the Children is actively helping communities.
Recently, Marc Kielberger, Executive Director of Free the Children sent a personal thank you from Kenya to Margaret Manson in a video.Click here to see the video.
St Thomas High School:
What started as an idea stemming from students attending the Millennium Summit Montreal in 2008, has now led to St. Thomas High School raising enough money to build a school in the Maasai Mara region in Kenya.After hearing inspiring words from Craig and Marc Kielburger of Free the Children at the summit, the students at St. Thomas decided to start a Free the Children club.The club has about 40 members and in February, fundraising began for a new school in Kenya.
Through many different activities, such as the Battle of the Sexes, Pancake Breakfasts, Loonie Fridays, Secondary two Head Shaving and Secondary five business fair activities, the school reached its goal for a new school last month. The cost to build a school for impoverished children in Kenya is $8,500 and as of the beginning of May, St. Thomas already had one-third of the funds needed to build a second school. The new school is made possible through the Free the Children 'Brick by Brick' campaign, an initiative that has allowed more than 500 schools to be build around the world
On Thursday, May 14th, Hetty Van Gurp, a Nova Scotia educator who lost her eldest son in a bullying incident at school in 1991 and founder of Peaceful Schools International (PSI) visited Lester B. Pearson School Board to give them an honour that no other school board in the world has.Ms. Van Gurp started the Peaceful Schools movement in 2001 and has dedicated herself to promoting the need to teach peace in schools.
Over 500 schools world-wide have made a commitment to become qualified as Peaceful Schools. LBPSB is the only school board in the world that has made the commitment to have all its schools become members of the movement. PSI’s main goal is to create a global network of peaceful schools in a non-prescriptive way. It does so by encouraging each school to formulate its own ways of creating a culture of peace using PSI’s criteria as a guide rather than as a strict evaluation measure.
During the ceremony on May 14th, Ms. Van Gurp presented the Board with a certificate declaring that the entire school board is a peaceful one.
The ceremony, attended by many included beautiful songs sang by the Allion choir and LBPSB’s adult choir. Moving speeches were given by Marcus Tabachnick, Judy Grant, the person in charge of Peaceful Schools at LBPSB and Ms. Van Gurp.A cheque of over $2,000 was also presented to Ms. Van Gurp’s sister, Caroline who does magnificent work with children and education in Sierra Leone. The money will go to build schools and will send allow children in the poverty stricken to receive an education.
In addition to the ceremony a Peace Symposium, “We Choose Peace,” was held the next day at LakesideAcademy. Ms. Van Gurp was the symposium’s key note speaker and there were many workshops.
It is not everyday that you will find an Elementary school principal going behind the bench to coach her own students in hockey. If you happened to be at the Bob Birnie Arena in Pointe Claire on April 14, 2009, that is exactly where you would have found St. Charles’ Elementary school principal, Mme Coiteux. Students from grades 5 and 6 were invited to participate in the 3rd Annual Bryden Murray Elementary School 4-on-4 Hockey Tournament. This tournament is dedicated to recognizing hockey at the elementary school level. The St. Charles Sharks team made it to the finals in the top division of the tournament and what an accomplishment that was considering it was the first time the boys played together as a team.
As a result of the unbelievable interest in playing hockey, St. Charles will be offering an extra curricular hockey program to students (boys and girls) from grades 3 to 6 starting in the 2009-2010 school year. “We are very excited to be able to offer this program to our St. Charles students” says Mme Coiteux. She further explains that the goal of the program is to allow young hockey players to further develop their hockey skills while learning to balance academic requirements to prepare for a future where both might play a larger role in their lives. The programs goals are three fold: athletically; academically; and socially. “It’s a win-win situation”, explains Mme Coiteux, “not only are the students benefiting from increasing their level of exercise activity, they are able to bond with their classmates. More importantly, the program is closely tied to the academic aspect since program participation is based on recent academic effort”.
St. Charles is always looking for ways to develop the “whole” child and that is why St. Charles is currently considering offering other enriched extra-curricular activities in addition to the hockey program.
On May 27th and 28th, over 2,000 elementary and high school students, teachers and administrators attended the largest international Space Day in North America hosted by LBPSB at the St. Lazare Airport and Flying Club.
The Pearson Interactive Community Partnership program partnered once again with Laurentide Aviation and the St. Lazare Flying Club to celebrate Space Day, a major educational initiative celebrated internationally. The Board has named the event the John Scholefield Science and Technology Day to honour the late john Scholefield, President of Laurentide Aviation.
The students rotated between many different stations and participated in hands-on activities having a wonderful time learning many new things.Over 30 community partners came together to share their expertise with the children in the areas of aviation aerospace, science and technology. The partners included: The Canadian Space Agency, Cosmodome Laval, The Royal Astronomical Society, The Canadian Forces, The Montreal Police Department, Canadian Aviation Maintenance Council and the Pima Aerospace Museum, to name a few.
The main purpose of the event was to enhance science and technology programs as well as math and engineering. The students also were given the message throughout the event that if they follow their dreams, they can achieve anything.
The Pearson Association of School Administrators (PASA), presented the Outstanding Educator Award for 2009 to Jan Langelier (Principal of Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School). This distinguished award recognizes a person’s outstanding contribution to the field of education over their entire career.
Jan has served in the field of education in many different roles over her career: as teacher and principal, as president of the Lakeshore Teacher’s Union and the Provincial Association of Protestant Teachers, and as Member of the Executive and Board of Directors of the Association of Administrators of English Schools (AAESQ). Most recently she has served as past-president of PASA.
Jan is also the recipient of the 2009 AAESQ’s Distinguished Service Award. Her career has been marked by her sincere caring for the human characteristics of educators and the profound influence they have on what she considers to be the greatest resource society has…. our children. Jan is pictured with Mark Massarelli, president of PASA, and Maria de Wolfe, recipient of the AAESQ Award of Merit, for her commitment and support to in-school administrators of the Lester B Pearson School Board.
Greendale Students Featured in Terrific Track Meet Photos
At a recent track meet on June 3rd, Adam Fabian (FSSTT) managed to capture some great photos of two Greendale students. Meghan Marcheterre in grade four finished second in Hurdles and Matthew Merle in grade five was a High Jump Participant
Barry Hannah receives a meritorious recognition award for his exceptional dedication to the Quebec science literacy movement.
The award is bestowed by the Educational Alliance for Science & Technology as a tribute to his volunteerism and contribution to science fairs and robotics education. The countless number of extracurricular events have been of exceptional quality because of Barry's special spirit, dedication and abilities.
Barry Hannah is an Educational Services Consultant for Elementary & Secondary schools in:
Information & Communication Technologies (ICT), RÉCIT Animator and Personal Orientation Project (POP)
Serge Bouchard's Grade 2 Westpark fathers were invited to participate in an afternoon of fun filled activities.
Westpark students prepared a surprise for "Dad!" During the past three months students worked on a PowerPoint presentation on ¨A day in the life of my father". In so doing, students took an active role in playing detectives to learn about their father's childhood. One hour a week was devoted to implement the technology in preparing the text, the illustrations and the audio. The students invested lots of time and energy in this motivating endeavour.
The day to invite the fathers arrived! The event began with good-humoured fathers participating in various physical activities alongside their children. A picnic followed with a personalized PowerPoint presentation for each father. All this in an atmosphere of warmth and enjoyment.
Dragon Boat Challenge
On Sunday, June 7th, the students, teachers and staff of Riverdale High School joined forces to participate in the Enfant-Retour Québec/Missing Children's Network's Dragon Boat Challenge on the St. Paul Locks of the Lachine Canal. Last year's event raised over $75,000 in support of Enfant Retour's activities. This year's goal is $100,000 and the Riverdale Leader Ship Team has pledged a minimum contribution of $5,000 to the cause.
The Riverdale LeaderShip Team from Enfant Retour Quebec's June 7th Dragon Boat Challenge at the Cote St. Paul locks placed sixth overall out of eighteen entries.
To learn more and make an on-line donation, visit the Riverdale High website. Riverdale High School is proud to support Enfant-Retour Quebec.
On Saturday, May 30th, at the University of Ottawa, Suganaya Kandasamy from Lindsay Place High School and Imane Habi from St. Thomas High School proudly and eloquently represented LBPSB at the CPF (Canadian Parents for French) National Concours d'art oratoire 2009.
Suganya won the third place in her category (enriched French) and Imane Habi came second in her category (French mother tongue). They were each awarded a $ 2,000 scholarship to the University of Ottawa and they also received a special trophy for being among the first three winners in their respective categories.
Hélène Vanasse , French Teacher at St. Thomas, Marie-Eve Claude, French Consultant, Lawrence Depoe, Executive Director at CPF-Quebec and Martine Delsemme went to Ottawa to support the students and salute their courage, a very rewarding experience for all.
On Tuesday, June 2, 2009 the Central Parents' Committee and the Council of Commissioners held their annual Volunteer Awards Ceremony to recognize the extraordinary contribution that volunteers make throughout the communities of the LBPSB.
Speaking on behalf of the Central Parents' Committee was Nan Beaton, Chairperson, on behalf of council, Marcus Tabachnick, Chairman of the Board and on behalf of the administration, Viviane Croubalian, Assistant Director General. Forty-eight volunteers were recognized from all sectors.
Over 500 stakeholders and partners from the school, community, health and social services, economic, political, and academic sectors came together on May 4, 2009 at EMSB's Rosemount High School to take part in the first Regional Roundtables on Student Persistence (Montreal). The attendees shared their views and practices in an effort to improve their own strategies and find out how others concerned with the issue of student retention are tackling the problem.
The roundtables, which are part of a province-wide series of regional roundtables on student persistence launched in fall 2008 by Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec (FCSQ), will be held under the theme Building Consensus for Schools! They will help serve as models by showcasing the many partnerships that have been created to promote and support the development of solutions through collaboration and dialogue:
Marcus Tabachnick, Chairman of the Lester B. Pearson School Board and spokesperson for the English-language school boards, said "The strategy is to tackle the complex issue of student retention as a challenge that concerns the entire community (including education leaders, community organizations, businesses, and families) and provide the leadership and motivation needed to overcome difficulties. Thanks to the joint efforts that are being brought to light at the roundtables, we should soon see tangible results in the improvement of student success rates."
The partnership theme also served as the backdrop for the launch of the Montréal Hooked on School (www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca) network consisting of twenty partners and connected with the five school boards on the Island of Montréal.
St. Edmund's Raises Money for the Montreal Children's Hospital
On March 30th, Susan Greenberg, principal of St. Edmund Elementary School, Pat Adams, a music teacher at the school and students presented a cheque of $864 to the Montreal Children’s Hospital at the annual Caring for Kids Radiothon. Ms. Greenberg, Ms. Adams and the students went on air on CHOM 97.7 to talk about their fundraising initiatives and to present the cheque.
A charitable act that began last year after Ms. Greenbergheard the touching stories at the Radiothon, the students were able to purchase four Circles of Hugs, which enables the hospital to buy new equipment. After this year’s radiothon, the students formed four large circles in the schoolyard and “hugged” each other to symbolize their accomplishments.
Since last year, the students have been participating in “Dime Day” every Wednesday, a day that encourages students to donate whatever they can to a great cause.The students continue to participate in “Dime Day” and have already raised enough money for one Circle of Hug for next year’s radiothon. For this past radiothon, Grade six students also raised money through an entrepreneurship initiative, which was a production of “Grease.” Lindsey Stocker, a grade six student put together a summary of the show:
When the thought first occurred to me of having the Grade Six put on “Grease”, I never thought I would get as much support as I did. My fellow classmates were thrilled that they would be part of something so huge, and our music teacher thought the idea was a great way to get the Grade Sixes to show teamwork.
In December we held auditions and it was a complete success! So many people wanted to be part of the play. Since then, we have been holding rehearsals on Mondays and Fridays. Everyone who is not involved in “Grease” is anxious to see what we have been working so hard on, and we are anxious to show them!We decided to make this project that would have lasting effects.We as a school have been a strong supporter of the Montreal Children’s Hospital and I felt that this would be a natural fit for our fundraising efforts.We set up committees for ideas and programs to make a donation to the Circle of Hugs Campaign.
Firstly, when Mrs. Adams and I were looking over the original script, we found that some things did not make sense. So we decided to find a new ending and add our own style to the play. Now the script is finished, and better than ever! Then we had practices during lunch hours and many meeting discussing costume, set design and prop ideas. We had volunteer parents help us with the car (Greased Lightning), sew costumes and set up set design frames.
In my perspective, “Grease” is a great way to get the whole Grade Six together as friends and show teamwork. We are all very happy to be part if this fun production and everyone is very proud. I found that everyone has a talent that they can contribute in this project, especially in some of the people you would least expect. I imagine the final play on May 6th to be a complete success! It has been a lot of hard effort but I am confident that with everyone working together that this play will be an accomplishment, not only for the students but for the Montreal Children Circle of Hugs Campaign!
Well, the show is over and we are all very excited about the results!! The show was a great success, and our audience loved it. It turned out to be everything I expected, and more!! The singing, the dancing, and every character was perfect in every way. Many students tried out different responsibilities and learned new skills. On top of this great experience we raised over 500 dollars for the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
Riverdale High School was the location for LEARN Quebec’s (Leading English Education and Resource Network) amazing annual journey into interculturalism on Friday May 8, 2009. With over 1,000 students attending the event, which showcased a multitude of intercultural offerings, it was hailed as a huge success.
Tom Rhymes, Principal of Riverdale High School, introduced Yolande James, Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities, Marcus Tabachnick, Chairman of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, Robert T. Mills, Director General of the Lester B. Pearson School Board and Michael J. Canuel, CEO of LEARN Quebec during the opening ceremonies.
Performers representing cultures from across Canada and the world showcased their talents to students from the Island of Montreal, Laval and the South Shore. Student performers from the LBPSB and EMSB (English Montreal School Board) also took to the stage.
The Intercultural Exchange is an event aimed at showing students the ways and customs of other nations and peoples. The event was hosted by the Lester B. Pearson School Board in conjunction with the English Montreal School Board.
On Thursday, May 14th, Hetty Van Gurp, a Nova Scotia educator who lost her eldest son in a bullying incident at school in 1991 and founder of Peaceful Schools International (PSI) visited Lester B. Pearson School Board to give them an honour that no other school board in the world has. To read the full story, follow this link
International Studies Department Brings Venezuela to John Rennie High School
It was somewhat of an emotional goodbye for 55 students at John Rennie High School and 55 students from Colegio Francia, which is situated in Caracas, Venezuela.On Friday, April 17th the International Studies Department held a “Bon Voyage” party at the International Language Centre for students from both schools marking the end of what was described by the students and administrators as an “amazing” experience.
Students from Venezuela, ranging from secondary one to five spent two weeks at LBPSB’s International Language Centre.Each student from Colegio Francia was paired with a student from John Rennie High School and in the mornings, the Venezuelan students shadowed the John Rennie students and attended class with them in order to experience a day in a life of a Canadian student. In the afternoons, the students from Venezuela participated inFrench as a second language classes. In addition they took part in many cultural activities, after school and on the weekends.The students had the opportunity to explore Montreal’s Old Port, visit St. Sauveur and Mont Tremblant, take a trip to Quebec City, shop at a local mall and even got to experience a Cabane à Sucre with their “buddies” from John Rennie.The visit from Venezuela was part of the ongoing effort of the International Studies Department to bring the world to the students of LBPSB.
When asked how students from both high schools liked the experience, they described it as being an incredible opportunity and said they had developed new friendships.Some students from John Rennie even took their “buddies” outside of school time to taste a true Québécois staple: poutine.At the goodbye party, the students danced together forming an enormous Conga line and danced the famous Macarena.When the dancing was over and it was time to go, they embraced each other in a tearful goodbye.Some said they’d keep in touch, others said they’d exchange photos from the two weeks they spent together.In the end, all were thankful for the wonderful friendships they were able to form.
At the council of commissioners meeting of April 27, 2009 the board adopted the administrative staffing structure for the 2009-2010 school year. The following list constitutes the administrative and assignment changes in the schools and centres, effective July 1, 2009:
The Lester B. Pearson Cooperative Education Program and Light a Dream, a non-profit organization that provides work-study experiences for secondary students with developmental challenges, would like to invite you to their spring fund raising event.
A spaghetti dinner fundraiser will take place on Thursday April 30 at the Hymus Pub located at 177 Hymus Blvd in Pointe-Claire. Lunch is served from 11am - 2 pm and dinner is served from 4:30-8pm. Tickets are $7.00 and are available at the door.
All proceeds will support student initiatives that help see the abilities within disabilities. We invite you to visit the Light a Dream store on Cartier Ave. in Pointe-Claire or visit www.lightadream.com. For more information please call 695-3666.
Former Wilder Penfield Student publishes his first book!
We are Proud to Announce:
Vincent E. Pilkington-Landreville, former student of Wilder Penfield School, has published his first book. Now 12 years old and attending Saint Thomas High, Vincent is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished by someone so young. He has certainly raised the bar! Congratulations Vincent.
Please read the following Parent’s perspective to learn more.
Vincent’s interest in reading took off in grade three, while attending Wilder Penfield School. We could not stop him from spending hours with his nose in a book. By grade four he was reading two or three volumes per week and could not get enough.
One day his father mentioned that he recognized Vincent’s love of reading, but had noticed that he never wrote. Well, Vincent, who is always ready for a challenge, took it upon himself to start writing a book. It was not long after that that a few chapters were written. The ideas kept on coming and he began to start looking into finding an illustrator for his book. He commissioned his classmates to sign up and hand in three illustrations: a girl, a dragon and another mythological creature. Several of his classmates participated and within two weeks he had found his illustrator, Emma Awe. She agreed to do the inside illustrations, Vincent was thrilled.
By grade six, all of his classmates were eager, from week to week, to read the next chapter of his book. Vincent now sought the help of a good friend, Julie Csaki, to help him edit his book.
Meanwhile, Vincent decided that he could not wait for a publishing house to accept his book and took it upon himself to find a self-publishing house. After poring hours of his time into finding the perfect publishing company, Vincent chose Xlibris. Vincent dealt with the company entirely on his own.
During the next year, he made decision after decision about printing, placement of pictures and fonts. He found himself a cover artist, a student of Wilder Penfield School, James Peters. Vincent approached him and he accepted to illustrate the cover page. The book, The Story of Stories, was finally completed in November of 2008 and he received his first official copy in December of 2008, the fruit of many long months of work.
The preponderance of this piece of literature was completed with the support and encouragement of the teachers and students of his former school, Wilder Penfield, of which Vincent has very fond memories.
As for us, his parents, we were thrilled and awed as we watched our son evolve and grow as a young, independent and outgoing individual. We are very proud of our son, Vincent, the author.
On April 28th at 7:30 PM, all teens, pre-teens, parents and guardians are invited to a very special "Families Count" education event taking place at the school. The theme is "Dreams, Drugs and Decisions: A Sobering Look Inside the World of Illicit Drugs." The Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Lachine, Randy Johnston will sensitize the audience to the serious problems of illicit drug use in today's world.
Mr. Johnston will help parents by giving them prevention and intervention tools and will teach them how to identify drug abuse in youth. A panel of experts will also be available to take questions from the audience after Mr. Johnston's presentation. For more information, call: 514-634-1429 or email: gina-saba@yahoo.com.
Dedicated students, alumni, volunteers and industry professionals are gearing up for LBPSB's sixth annual Truly Outstanding Pearson Show (TOPS). The show features the Board's most talented high-school students in a production unlike any other.
Between theatre, dance and music, the variety show featuring many different acts performed by students from in and around Montreal to the Ontario border sells out every year. TOPS has garnered so much attention that talent scouts will show up to watch the production. One former student benefited from this and now has David Foster as his producer.
This year, the special theme of New York, New York was selected.An all-star cast will tell the audience the story of three hopefuls looking to make it in the big city.
In celebration of LBPSB’s 10th anniversary, a special red carpet gala will be held on Friday, April 24th.The event is semi-formal and begins at 6:30 PM.Two other shows are scheduled for Saturday, April 25th.A matinee performance will begin at noon and the closing performance takes place at 6:30 PM.All shows are taking place at Lakeside Academy and tickets can be purchased in any LBPSB high school or at the door, depending on availability.
A Thousand and One Ways to Learn Proud to Learn in Montreal!
Quebec’s Adult Learners’ Week is a spectacular event taking place in various public places throughout the province of Quebec during the week of March 28 to April 3, 2009. It is a unique opportunity to celebrate all adults who are learning in the workplace, at school, and in everyday life, and to encourage others to follow in their footsteps. The event also aims to highlight the commitment of individuals and organizations that support adult learners.
The Lester B. Pearson School Board in collaboration with L’Institut de coopération pour l’éducation des adultes (icéa), la conférence régionale des élus (CRÈ) and the Quebec Association for Adult Learning (QAAL) hosted their fourth annual official launch of Adult Learners’ Week on Thursday, April 2, 2009.
It was an outstanding event!
Marcus Tabachnick, Chairman of the Board, welcomed commissioners, dignitaries from the MELS, Literacy Unlimited, QAAL, board employees and especially the learners. The Guest of Honour was Anwar Stewart of the Montreal Alouettes who praised our learners for their efforts and perseverance to get an education.
Recognition of Learning Certificates from ICÉA were awarded to Distance Education students and 157 Lester B. Pearson staff, teachers and students. Very moving testimonials were given by a student from each Adult Education and Vocational Training Centre; with one student representing the learners from the Head Office.
As Assistant Director General Vivianne Croubalian pointed out, the number of students taking courses at the Adult and Vocational Education department of LBPSB has grown incredibly over the past four years. This fact, along with number of our own employees who have also embarked on higher learning, is enough for a celebration of lifelong learning and wonderful accomplishments of which we can all be proud.
A Special Assembly for Students at St. Lawrence Academy Senior
On April 7th, the students at St. Lawrence Academy Senior got a very special treat. Former Impact soccer player, Lloyd Barker, spoke at the school and got the students involved in some soccer playing.
He captivated the students with his life story and presented a powerful message of perseverance to them. In 1998, Mr. Barker suffered from a serious neck injury that came close to leaving him paralyzed. With hard work and by setting goals for himself, he persevered and became very successful.
He also gave the students a chance to showcase their soccer talents. He set up some soccer drills for them to participate in as well. It was a great assembly for all who attended.
Staff and students are both proud and excited to have been awarded the Pat Lewis Humanitarian Award for 2009-2010 from The Quebec Home and School Association. The school has made many significant contributions to improve the lives of people in their community and abroad.
There are many ways in which both the staff and students of the school work to make a difference. They raise money for cancer research through donating money on "dress-down days," support Denim Day for breast cancer research and the entire school raises money for cancer research by participating in the Terry Fox run every September.
They also support a foster child through Plan Canada, make important food donations to Dans la Rue and Sun Youth and they have a Grade Six Mentor Program. Each grade six student is made a mentor for one kindergarten student to ease the transition to elementary school for new students.
It is because of these many ongoing initiatives that the elementary school was recognized with the prestigious and significant award.
On Wednesday, March 18th, 2009, St. Thomas High School hosted the first ever Youth Humanitarian Summit. Four hundred students from Montreal area English and French high schools attended the Summit, which included high impact keynote presentations by Canadian humanitarians Marc Kielburger, executive director of Free the Children and Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder of War Child Canada.
The goal of the Youth Humanitarian Summit was to create awareness about important local and global humanitarian issues and to empower and inspire youth to affect change in their lives, their school communities and the world. The event also included interactive workshops presented by a variety of humanitarian organizations, cultural entertainment from the Burundi Drummers, a student action session, a collective mosaic art project and an exhibit of local and global humanitarian organizations. The Summit was a very successful student-run event with student leaders from the St. Thomas Leadership class and Student Council organizing the event for other youth activists and student leaders from Montreal high schools.
The summit aimed to expose students to numerous global, national and local issues, such as human rights, the plight of refugees, poverty, education, health, homelessness, youth exchange programs and the likes. Some of the humanitarian organizations that took part in the Summit include: Free the Children, War Child Canada, Right to Play, LOVE: Leave Out Violence, YMCA Youth Exchanges Program, Engineers Without Borders, Save Darfur Canada, Tolerance Caravan, WICS: West Island Community Shares, Learn Quebec, Equitas, Terry Fox Foundation, Painting a New World, the Social Justice Committee, Canadian Armed Forces, Dix Milles Villages, Human Trafficking and more.
There are many people to thank for making this event possible. We would especially like to thank Chris Cyr, Principal of St. Thomas High School, Carol Gray, Director of LBPSB High Schools and Robert Mills, Director General of the Lester B. Pearson School Board for their amazing support, encouragement and confidence in our vision to run an inspirational Youth Humanitarian Summit for hundreds of students and teachers. We are extremely thankful for the wonderful support we received from the administration and staff of St. Thomas High School, the Lester B. Pearson School Board, the Pearson Education Foundation, LBPSB Council of Commissioners, Learn Quebec, the Association of English Administrators of Quebec, the City of Pointe Claire, MELS Intercultural Grant, the Government of Quebec and the organizations listed above.
LBP community did itself proud on Sunday as we paraded down Ste. Catherine Street with our float, BHS Band on board, two vans and our huge walking contingent.
Great thanks to TRANSPLUS who for the third year provided us with a truck and flatbed for our float, BHS Band and Director Phil Legault, Assistant Director Valerie Lepage, our commissioners, staff, students, parents, friends, our guys from the shop who once again outdid themselves building the float, our drivers and their grandchildren. Many thanks also to Le Nouvel Hotel and the Irish Society for taking such good care of us. We had a fabulous day.
THE IMPACT EXTENDS ITS STAY-IN-SCHOOL PROGRAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LESTER B. PEARSON SCHOOL BOARD.
In an effort to continue and extend its stay-in-school initiative, the Montreal Impact will reach for a fourth consecutive year thousands of students through its program “All the Way With The Impact”, adding to their partnership the Lester B. Pearson School Board as the fifth school board from the Island of Montreal. The extension of the partnership will from now on ensure a full east-west presence.
Over the next few weeks and throughout the 2009 school calendar, members of the Montreal Impact will visit elementary and high schools to remind young students of the importance of studying, persevering and building self-confidence to succeed.
As a complement to the awareness efforts in the classrooms, young students will get the chance to attend a game, when each school board will have their designated day to a Montreal Impact game. The LBPSB's game day is February 25, 2009 at the Olympic Stadium.
On this occasion, the Impact will highlight the performance of some of the most outstanding students during a special ceremony before the game. The two top students from each school board will be awarded the Tony Licursi bursaries, named in honor of the late Tony Licursi, the long-time statistician who died in 2006 and who was devoted to the cause of helping children better themselves.
To view the February 18th launch of the partnership at St. Lawrence Academy Senior featuring the Impact's of star defender Adam Braz and head coach John Limniatis, click on the Impact logo at the top right.
Allion elementary held an Irish Luncheon, hosted by their Grade 6 students, and among the invitees were the Blue Haven Cloggers, singers Christine and Lisa Forget, the grandparents of their grade 6 students as well as seniors from Windhaven Seniors Resident, HOPE Society, Meals on Wheels and the Royal Canadian Legion.
The annual Saint Patrick's Day parade at Saint-Patrick school was very green...
Afterwards, during the Saint-Patrick's day assembly, students were treated to many presentations such as Irish storytelling , jokes, limericks and a few Irish jigs.
DORVAL, QUEBEC (February 11, 2009) – The board announced the immediate availability of the Connect-ED® community messaging service by Blackboard Connect Inc. to provide board leaders and administrators with the ability to quickly reach parents, students and staff .
“It’s crucial that we are able to notify parents and staff quickly in time-sensitive situations because up-to-date and uniform communication is conducive to an informed and engaged school community,” said Chairman of the Board, Marcus Tabachnick.
Lester B. Pearson deployed the Connect-ED service on Wednesday, February 11, 2009. The board advised that it was also testing the contact details provided by parents. Letters to parents/guardians, adult and vocational students have been distributed by each school and centre to inform them of the upcoming initial message which will be sent at 6:00pm Wednesday evening (February 11th) and provides details how to interact with the Lester B. Pearson Community Messaging System.
The system can be used to inform parents, students and staff members of school closures and contingency plans due to unforeseen incidents, improving the organization’s communication strategy and preventing the spread of misinformation. The Connect-ED service has successfully been used for communication by schools for events such as bus route announcements and delays, school breaks, registration, and immunization days. It is an effective way to keep parents informed about important events in their child’s education.
Congratulations to the Macdonald High School robotics team that participated in the CRC Robotics Competition from February 19-21 at Howard S. Billings High School in Chateauguay.
The students on the team have been working very hard since September, entering not one, but two complete teams into the competition, putting in several hundred hours of work to produce two robots, display kiosks, and bilingual videos, websites and journals for the major cross-curricular project. They started their year with various courses on electronics, fabrication techniques and welding. They then put their skills into practice by creating and decorating their kiosks and beginning the design, prototype and construction phases of their robots.
This years’ challenge required the robot to be able to receive tennis balls, maneuver across the playing field, open garage doors and shoot the tennis balls inside the appropriate garages, all the while working with three other teams at any given time. The Mac High robotics team responded with two different designs. The first robot, called ‘Mac Ozone’, used a launching mechanism for the tennis balls that used compressed air, while the second, ‘Mac Gravity’, used a system that used gravity to launch their tennis balls. Both teams were very competitive with robots produced by twenty other colleges, public and private high schools who participated in the competition, showing them what Mac pride is all about, and heading home with four awards. Both teams made it to the finals for the actual game, while ‘Mac Gravity’ won first place for robot design, and ‘Mac Ozone’ won third place, with the teams finishing fifth and sixth overall for all aspects of the competition, a huge step up from last year.
The students have every reason to be proud of their efforts and are already planning for next year. Wish them luck!
All briefs received by the LBPSB are posted on our web site for our communities to consult. Briefs are in standard PDF format and some are quite large, which will cause download times to vary.
Beaconsfield High School recently held an assembly where it was announced that one of their students, Benjamin Mumme, has been named Vancouver 2010 community torchbearer for the City of Beaconsfield. In front of all his fellow grade 11 classmates, Benjamin was welcomed on stage in the school’s auditorium by Beaconsfield’s mayor, David Pollock. Mayor Pollock told the audience Benjamin will be carrying the torch through the city on December 8th and will light a 1.3-metre high ceremonial cauldron at a community celebration at Centennial Park in honour of the arrival of the flame. The 106-day Olympic Torch Relay will visit more than 1,030 communities in every province and territory. Benjamin is one of about 12,000 Canadians to be selected to carry the torch and he says he’s honoured to do it.
Family Haunting on Halloween Eve
A few Sundays ago the grade six students found a haunted house in the basement of St. Patrick School!
On October 30th, the spirit of Halloween could be felt all over St. Edmund Elementary School. The students and staff dressed up and all the students had the chance to participate in many games set up in the school’s gym. The many games, which included fortune telling and a bean bag toss game, were all organized and set up by parents. The students had a wonderful time moving from one game to another and once they were finished all the games, they had another surprise waiting for them.
On Wednesday, October 28th five hundred BHS students sat in awe in the gym as seven of their peers had their long tresses shaved off all in the name of a great cause! Beaconsfield High School’s Annual “Shave to Save” Campaign for Breast Cancer Research was culminating with the ceremonial head shaving of seven brave BHS students. 
BHS has been taking part in this fundraiser for the past five years and each year the number of participants and the amount of money raised has increased. BHS English teacher, Mrs. Jesse Hayes, who is on preventative pregnancy leave was the eighth BHS “shavee”. She had her head shaved on Friday, October 30th at the Shave to Save Celebration Breakfast at Fairview Pointe Claire. The students who had their heads shaved were: Lieska Guzman (Sec 5) Hudson Harris (Sec 2), Amanda Haarer (Sec 4), Lianne Asprey (Sec 3), Hilary Troyer (Sec 3), Victoria Barrett (Sec 3) and Josh Mailman (Sec 2). The BHS community is extremely proud of their students and staff for participating in such a worthy cause!
Flannel PJ’s and fuzzy slippers were the order of the evening on Thursday October 29th at Mount Pleasant. Families showed up in droves to participate in the school’s first ever PJ Story Time Evening. 
Students from Verdun Elementary were fortunate to participate in a behind the scenes visit to the Ecomuseum this October. The grade 3 and 4 classmates and their teachers’ (Mrs. Villeneuve and Mme. Christine) responsibilities were to prepare various meals for the Ecomuseum residents for that day. 
On Oct. 19th Ms Parker's grade 2 bilingual classes at Purcell Academy, had a special visit from photographer Peter Martin. Mr. Martin won the National Newspaper Award for his photograph of Terry Fox running in the rain, which was voted as one of the Top Ten Photos that Changed Canada. 
The students were shown a diverse range of photos of children and adults taken by Mr. Martin in different cultures and settings around the world. A camera was donated to each student by a friend of Ms Parker. The children will now be working on a project where they will take their own photos. These photographic creations will be posted on the school’s website in December. What a unique, exciting experience it was for all the students! 
Three to five children from almost every school at the board were in attendance of the day-long event that had the students participating in many activities geared at expanding their awareness of different disabilities and the stereotypes often associated with each one..jpg)
To celebrate the coming of fall, Greendale Daycare invited Deirdre Potash from Art Comes to School to create Quebec autumn landscapes using acrylic paint on canvas board. 
Three lucky students and one teacher/advisor from each of LBPSB’s high schools participated in the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC) in 
As part of the newly formed partnership between LBPSB and the popular Montreal Juniors, players from the team will visit LBPSB’s schools and give students an inspirational talk. 
On Monday, October 5th, the students in Tamara Beach’s Secondary III Community Leadership class hosted a refreshment break at recess for Beurling’s dedicated staff to celebrate World Teachers’ Day (WTD). This was an opportunity to honour and promote the important contributions that teachers make to education and to their communities.
On Thursday, September 24th, seventh grade students in Discovery Science at 
Sunshine, smiling faces and giggles! The tone was set for a perfect afternoon walk. Students and Staff of Greendale Elementary joined together on Thursday, September 24th to support the Marathon of Hope started 29 years ago by a courageous young man. 
On September 14th, the Pearson Electrotechnology Centre (PEC) celebrated its very first graduation. Four groups of students were honoured during the ceremony. Three of the groups were from the Electricity Program and one group from the Installation and Repair of Telecommunications Equipment Program. 
On Friday, September 4th, Dorset Elementary held the Wacky Olympic Games. The morning began with a Parade of Nations, followed by a short speech declaring the Games open by Paralympian, Lyne Tremblay (archery). Eight students then carried in the Olympic flag, followed by the torch. 
Representing fifty of the 2010 Olympic countries, every student and staff member played at each of the ten events: perogy relay, javelin throw (pool noodles), scooter race, beach ball bowling, chopstick relay, three-legged race, water toss, pasta necklace, ball race and potato hockey. Each event was manned by a grade 11 Beaconsfield High School student. At recess all present enjoyed Lolly’s donated by Chapman’s Ice Cream Company. 
On August 31st, students all across the Lester B. Pearson School Board began a brand new school year. 
Students filed off the buses, some holding their flags others adjusting their costumes and anxiously waited in the school yard to find out who their teacher would be for the next year.
The first Council of Commissioners meeting of the new school year was a busy one.
The teachers and administrators come from a school called Bai Nan Vocational School (BNVS), China’s first tuition-free, charitable vocational school.
Also at the meeting, Marcus Tabachnick, Chairman of LBPSB and Bob Mills Director General of LBPSB signed a letter of intent to establish a partnership between LBPSB and Maimonides Geriatric Centre (Maimonides-PACC Learning Institute (l’Institut du savoir Maimonides-PACC)).
On August 22nd, Chairman Marcus Tabachnick and Commissioner Frank Di Bello were on hand at the inauguration of a new field in LaSalle. They joined LaSalle Mayor Manon Barbe and other esteemed guests, including the late Keith Ewenson's family, in inaugurating the Keith-Ewenson artificial turf football-soccer field and the Fritz-R.-Prévost athletic track. 
Three U.S. scientists have received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their chromosome research. The Karolinska Institute in Sweden says the trio was honoured for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase, research that has implications for cancer and aging research.
School) determined how chromosomes can be "copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation," according to the citation.
SPECIAL NOTE: Monday, October 5, 2009. For personal reasons Lena Stanley has stepped down as Parent Commissioner, Elementary Representative. CPC will be holding a new election in the near future.
The LBPSB will be holding a Town Hall meeting (which will be webcast) on Tuesday, September 15th starting at 7pm at:
The Annual Report for the 2007-2008 school year is now available. For the first time the LBPSB has produced the report as a video which includes interviews and information on the board's programs and strategic plan. This first attempt at providing our communities with a visual report, rather than written, is consistent with the board's goal of enhanced communications.
On Saturday, May 9th, 2,000 students and their families and staff of the Board had the opportunity to attend the Montreal Impact’s home opening game.
Over the past four years, Margaret Manson Elementary has been in partnership with Free the Children working on their ‘Compassion in Action Project.’
On Thursday, May 14th, Hetty Van Gurp, a 
Over 500 schools world-wide have made a commitment to become qualified as Peaceful Schools. 
T
It is not everyday that you will find an Elementary school principal going behind the bench to coach her own students in hockey. If you happened to be at the Bob Birnie Arena in Pointe Claire on April 14, 2009, that is exactly where you would have found St. Charles’ Elementary school principal, Mme Coiteux. Students from grades 5 and 6 were invited to participate in the 3rd Annual Bryden Murray Elementary School 4-on-4 Hockey Tournament. This tournament is dedicated to recognizing hockey at the elementary school level. The St. Charles Sharks team made it to the finals in the top division of the tournament and what an accomplishment that was considering it was the first time the boys played together as a team.
On May 27th and 28th, over 2,000 elementary and high school students, teachers and administrators attended the largest international Space Day in North America hosted by LBPSB at the St. Lazare Airport and Flying Club.
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Suganya won the third place in her category (enriched French) and Imane Habi came second in her category (French mother tongue). They were each awarded a $ 2,000 scholarship to the University of Ottawa and they also received a special trophy for being among the first three winners in their respective categories. 
The roundtables, which are part of a province-wide series of regional roundtables on student persistence launched in fall 2008 by Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec (FCSQ), will be held under the theme Building Consensus for Schools! They will help serve as models by showcasing the many partnerships that have been created to promote and support the development of solutions through collaboration and dialogue:
On March 30th, Susan Greenberg, principal of St. Edmund Elementary School, Pat Adams, a music teacher at the school and students presented a cheque of $864 to the Montreal Children’s Hospital at the annual Caring for Kids Radiothon. 
Since last year, the students have been participating in “Dime Day” every Wednesday, a day that encourages students to donate whatever they can to a great cause.
In December we held auditions and it was a complete success! So many people wanted to be part of the play. Since then, we have been holding rehearsals on Mondays and Fridays. Everyone who is not involved in “Grease” is anxious to see what we have been working so hard on, and we are anxious to show them!
In my perspective, “Grease” is a great way to get the whole Grade Six together as friends and show teamwork. We are all very happy to be part if this fun production and everyone is very proud. I found that everyone has a talent that they can contribute in this project, especially in some of the people you would least expect. I imagine the final play on May 6th to be a complete success! It has been a lot of hard effort but I am confident that with everyone working together that this play will be an accomplishment, not only for the students but for the Montreal Children Circle of Hugs Campaign!
Riverdale High School was the location for LEARN Quebec’s (Leading English Education and Resource Network) amazing annual journey into interculturalism on Friday May 8, 2009. With over 1,000 students attending the event, which showcased a multitude of intercultural offerings, it was hailed as a huge success.
On Thursday, May 14th, Hetty Van Gurp, a 
It was somewhat of an emotional goodbye for 55 students at John Rennie High School and 55 students from Colegio Francia, which is situated in Caracas, Venezuela.
When asked how students from both high schools liked the experience, they described it as being an incredible opportunity and said they had developed new friendships.
The Lester B. Pearson Cooperative Education Program and Light a Dream, a non-profit organization that provides work-study experiences for secondary students with developmental challenges, would like to invite you to their spring fund raising event. 
We are Proud to Announce:
On April 28th at 7:30 PM, all teens, pre-teens, parents and guardians are invited to a very special "Families Count" education event taking place at the school. The theme is "Dreams, Drugs and Decisions: A Sobering Look Inside the World of Illicit Drugs." The Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Lachine, Randy Johnston will sensitize the audience to the serious problems of illicit drug use in today's world. 
Dedicated students, alumni, volunteers and industry professionals are gearing up for LBPSB's sixth annual Truly Outstanding Pearson Show (TOPS). The show features the Board's most talented high-school students in a production unlike any other. 
Lloyd Barker, spoke at the school and got the students involved in some soccer playing. 
Staff and students are both proud and excited to have been awarded the Pat Lewis Humanitarian Award for 2009-2010 from The Quebec Home and School Association. The school has made many significant contributions to improve the lives of people in their community and abroad. 
Youth Humanitarian Summit ‘09
Allion elementary held an Irish Luncheon, hosted by their Grade 6 students, and among the invitees were the Blue Haven Cloggers, singers Christine and Lisa Forget, the grandparents of their grade 6 students as well as seniors from Windhaven Seniors Resident, HOPE Society, Meals on Wheels and the Royal Canadian Legion.
The annual Saint Patrick's Day parade at Saint-Patrick school was very green...
dance. 
Congratulations to the Macdonald High School robotics team that participated in the CRC Robotics Competition from February 19-21 at Howard S. Billings High School in Chateauguay.