I'm going to start by saying that Anneka Hendricks Wang isn't just any other student. And this new website she's created has the potential to be incredibly powerful and uplifting. Anneka is a grade 12 student at our school who has created a homepage to talk about mental health and to share stories. She'll be sharing this with parts of our student population, with our school, I hope with our staff, and with the community.

The Link: www.mindofmatter.org/

I'd encourage you to check it out when you have time. Thanks!

Aydin Quach is a former fantastic student at Van Tech who now works with Frog Hollow and is offering this great opportunity.

My name is Aydin Quach and I am the current Scholarship and Bursary programer for Van Tech. I am hosting Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House's annual RUReady seminar this year for Grades 8-11 on Sunday, February 10th from 12:00-3:00! The program will take place at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, 2131 Renfrew St, Vancouver, BC. This program will go into detail what to expect in post-secondary and how to prepare for entry into life after high school. The segments will include information on post-secondary institution application, campus life, financial literacy, and scholarship/grant/bursary applications. I will also include some component of course planning for attendees. 

Here is a link to the Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/runiversityready-2019-tickets-54868294546

At the request of some pretty cool people at Brit, I'm passing along a message for an opportunity for students. It's a program where students do their academics on day 1 at their home school (Van Tech) and go to Brit for day 2 to do the Film Academy. Only students currently in Mainstream would be able to apply. Here are all the details...

From Mike Wiskar (Program Teacher) and Nick Despotakis (Vice-Principal)
FILM ACADEMY PILOT – BRITANNIA SECONDARY
 
Have you ever thought of a career in the Film Industry? If so, the Film Academy Pilot at Britannia Secondary is for you. In this program, you will be enrolled in 4 film related courses and spend every other day fully immersed in the creation of films. Students will learn about script writing, story boarding, producing, directing, filming, sound, editing and presenting your finished projects. The connections with SFU Film School and IATSE mentors, along with equipment from William F. White will give students an enriched experience in film that will prepare students for their next steps directly into the Film Industry or to further education in Film Studies. Students will also be placed on Work Experience opportunities in the field.

• One or two-year cohort program: grade 11 & 12
• Students register at their home school for the academics on Day 1
• Students attend every other day on Day 2

This seems like a worthy event to share, so I'm passing along the details. Copy/pasted from Killarney's organizing parent (Phil Graham).

In response to the many expressions of concern and interest from our parent body around these issues, we have invited Aaron Alexander (former Executive Director of the Youth Restorative Action Project and a professional Social Fluency trainer) to share some ideas, resources and practical tools from his extensive experience in this area.
 
Please feel free to join us and/or to extend an invitation to any parents, teachers, colleagues that you feel may be have an interest in learning how to better support the development of strong socials skills in our teens. Here are the event, speaker and registration details:
 
Social Fluency Workshop – January 16th, 2019
 
Is your teen developing social skills beyond the screen? Social media is always on, but climbing rates of anxiety disorders and social isolation suggest that our teens aren’t building the kinds of connections - or learning the skills to make the connections - that are critical for their future health, wealth and happiness. On January 16th, 2019 from 7-9PM Killarney Secondary PAC is hosting a Social Fluency Workshop to share ideas and practical exercises for helping our teens (and ourselves!) develop and foster healthy social connections.

The workshop is open to all and is Free with RSVP. Speaker and registration details here

To be clear, I'm certainly not hoping anyone will go and join an IB program - my students are like family! - but I also don't want to take away an opportunity for someone who might be interested. I've attached the information for Churchill and Britannia's International Bachelorette (IB) programs. It's a grade 11 and 12 program you apply to in your grade 10 year.

Info nights are:
Britannia - Jan 15th (info on the left side below)
Churchill - Jan 10th (info on the right side below)

Resiliency is a bit of a buzz word in working with youth, but for good reason - it's so important. About 6 years ago I started talking to students who had learning disabilities all the time and we saw considerable changes in their commitment to school and (with some time) their marks. I think it's true for everyone though.

I LOVE what this article has to say and felt it was worth sharing.

https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/build-resilient-kids-prepared-for-life/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=onsiteshare

The TLDR version of 8 is this (but really, read the article! It's worth it.)
1. They Let The Kids Struggle
2. They Let Their Kids Experience Rejection
3. They Don’t Condone a Victim Mentality
4. They Do More Than Tell Them to ‘Buck Up’ When Struggles Occur
5. They Help Their Kids Learn How to Label Their Feelings and Emotions.
6. They Give Their Kids The Tools to Self Soothe
7. They Admit Their Mistakes. And Then They Fix Them
8. They Always Connect Their Kid’s Self Worth to Their Level of Effort