I'm passing along an interesting opportunity for any families and students looking to add some physical support for feelings of depression or anxiety. I've included the details of the program directly from the email I got. I've heard through our school nurse that this has been a great program for many kids. Let me know if you'd like more info, or sign up with anyone it's appropriate for.

Starting March, 2017...

This is a physical activity and mental wellness program for teens 13-18 who experience depression and/or anxiety. For more information, please visit our website, by clicking here. 
 
Here is some information about Jumpstep for Teens:

• 12 week program that meets on Wednesdays for 2 hours per week from 4-6pm
• Program dates are Wednesday, March 1 - Wednesday, May 17, 2016
• Group sessions take place at the Langara Family YMCA in the Multipurpose room
• The program is FREE and participants receive a 12 week complimentary fitness membership to the YMCA!

To register, teens must attend an information session with a parent/legal guardian prior to the start of the program. Please register for one of the following information sessions: 
 
Information Session #1:

• Friday, February 3 from 4-6pm at the Langara Family YMCA
• Email us at jumpstep@gv.ymca.ca to register 

Information Session #2: 

• Thursday, February 16 from 5-7pm at the Robert Lee YMCA
• Email us at jumpstep@gv.ymca.ca to register

*Please note, attendance at one information session is a mandatory step in applying for the program. 
 
Anuschka Naidoo
Manager, Mental Wellness Programs
Community Health
YMCA of Greater Vancouver
T: 604-673-6182
F: 604-684-3255
E: anuschka.naidoo@gv.ymca.ca

More and more 8s are going! Please help me in encouraging our students to attend. It's fantastic support.

Well to say that the honour roll as it originally stood was a bit of a mess, would be an understatement. Unfortuantely, the information I had about how the calculations would happen wasn't what was being done by the district staff who had different instructions. This is why there were so many errors, and why I've sent a new updated list.

What We've Done: Ms. Buteau (Vice-Principal), Jacquie (from the office) and I have added all of the students whose families I spoke with about not being on the list, and the confusion it cost. We've posted a new list in the school hall way and I've shared a picture of it here with all the new names that met the 86.0% cut off in a students best seven classes.

Future Honour Rolls THIS YEAR: For the remainder of this year, Honour Roll will be run internally at the school on the original guidelines that were expected and outlined by the agenda. Second and third term honour rolls will hopefully run much smoother and more accurately than the first.

Future Honour Rolls STARTING NEXT YEAR: Going forward Honour Roll will be run by the district and require an 86% average in ALL classes (no dropping your worst class). Grade 8s, 9s, and 10s will have to have a minimum of eight classes to be considered, while grade 11s will require a minimum of seven classes, and grade 12s will require a minimum of six.

I'm really quite excited by the efforts of so many of our students. No matter what the requirements, we've got some great kids!

Mental Health can be a tough topic to navigate if your first language isn't English. Frog Hollow is putting together a great event February 2nd for families who speak Cantonese at home first. Please consider going if you'd like to learn more. I've attached PDFs for your perusal.

Please click the link for the Cantonese version.