It’s hard to believe that we are already heading into the final couple of weeks before the winter break. I truly can-not believe how quickly the time has passed. While we got off this year to a “unique” start, I am proud to say that we are fully up and running with more teams and clubs than ever. In fact, we’ve had one of the most successful Fall seasons in Athletics in the history of our school. Our senior girls’ volleyball team just returned from Cran-brook to place second in the province. Our swim team placed 13th in the province with our girls’ medley relay team taking the gold and setting a new provincial time record. The girls’ field hockey team made it to the provin-cials for the first time in our history! The junior girls’ volleyball team placed 9th in the province. The grade 9 girls’ volleyball team came in second in the district. Our Junior boys’ volleyball team place 3rd in the district and went on to compete in the Fraser Valleys. The Grade 9 boys’ volleyball team placed fourth in the district…in the junior league! Our junior boys’ soccer team placed first in the district and lost a heartbreaker in the quarter finals in the Fraser Valleys during a shootout. Our senior boys’ volleyball team tied in 11th place in the Fraser Valleys. Four athletes on the cross country team competed in the provincials in Victoria. So, to put these results in perspective, there are over 300 high schools in the province that have athletic teams. To earn a spot in the provincials is a remarkable accomplishment. Congratulations to all the teams and athletes this season and a huge thank you to the school and community coaches who gave our students the opportunity to compete and represent Riverside so well. The month of December is filled with several activities and events. Our Theatre department has just completed their Festival of Short Shorts and Riverside will be hosting MetFest, a compilation of school plays from around the district from Dec. 2-4 at 7 pm. The English Department is once again organizing the Spoken Word Competition on Dec. 11 and 12 for students taking English this semester. This is a terrific event to showcase the creative talent of our students as they express themselves through poetry slams, short stories, and poems. The music department is also performing on Dec. 11 at 7 pm in the theatre for our winter concert. This is a wonderful even-ing to hear our choir, concert bands, and jazz ensembles perform. Lastly, our students are carrying on the tradi-tion of giving by collecting food for the Christmas Share Food Hampers. Schools in the Tri-Cities play a signifi-cant role in helping to provide food to those in need. The food collected by schools this month will provide enough for families in need until June. Help us with our food drive by sending your child to school with items of food each Wednesday to be collected in RAP.

On behalf of the staff at Riverside, I want to wish you and your family the very best this holiday season. I hope you get some time to relax, reconnect with family and friends, and enjoy some special moments with loved ones.

Anthony Ciolfitto

this issue Counselling News P.2

“Best Buddies” Fundraiser P.3

Festive Fall Music Concert P.3

Holiday Hampers P.3

After-Grad News P4

RIVERSIDE SECONDARY SCHOOL 2215 REEVE STREET PORT COQUITLAM, BC V3C 6K8 (604) 941-6053 riverside@sd43.bc.ca

ISSUE

03

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CALENDAR of EVENTS

December 5th

Professional Day (school-based)

December 9th

After-Grad Meeting 7:00 pm Library

Winter Ball -Gr. 11/12 - 6:00 p.m.

December 11th

Music Concert

7:00 p.m. River’s Edge Theatre

Spoken Word –Gr. 11/12

12:40—3:00 Café

December 12th

Spoken Word—Gr. 9/10

12:40—3 p.m. Cafe

December 15th

Pick up Cookie/Pie Orders 3 p.m.

December 16th

PAC Meeting 7:00 pm Library

December 18th—20th

Emily BB Tournament

December 19

Last Day of School before Winter

Break—Early Dismissal 12:30

December 22—January 2nd

Winter Break

January 5th

School Back in Session

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @rside43

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Post-Secondary Admission Most BC universities have a February 28th early admission deadline. UBC is the exception with a December 10th deadline for those students wishing to be considered for major scholarships and a February 3rd deadline for all others. Note: UBC has changed their admissions policy. They will now use marks from only those courses that are completed by February 1st to calcu-late the admission average. In some cases, the grade 11 marks will be used. Eastern universities generally have earlier deadlines and college deadlines tend to vary. Be sure to check out post-secondary institution web sites for details. Students are encouraged to apply to BC schools on-line at www.applybc.ca Grade 12 marks and Post-secondary Applications The Ministry sends official copies of student’s interim marks in April and official transcripts in July to post-secondary institutions in order to assist students through the admissions process. The Ministry can send marks information only if a student gives them permission to do so. Students are required to complete the “Post-Secondary Institution Choice Form” (PSI) on-line on the Ministry website. Counsellors have provided specific instructions to students. As well, detailed instruction can be found on the counselling department web site. Only those students applying for a September ‘15 entry need to submit their PSI form. Semester Two course changes Students may see their counsellor early in January to change semester two courses. New semester two schedules will be given out in RAP on January 28th. Following that, students will have only one more opportunity to request course changes: January 28th and 29th.

COUNSELLING DEPARTMENT INFORMATION

P.E. NEWS

The Riverside Physical Education Department is off and "running" again this year. Even with the delayed start we have done our best to keep the kids active but continue with some of the traditional activities. The Grade 9's have just completed a unit on Active Health, which encourages our students the importance of a healthy mind/body. The Grade 10's learned St. John Ambulance "Emergency First Aid", essential life skills including the practical part of CPR and using an AED (automated ex-ternal defibrillator). Last week all classes skated at the Port Coquitlam ice rink. This yearly activity is one of the highlights of the first part of the year. The Physical Education 10 students had the opportunity of participating in some new sports this semester, including Archery. After Christmas, the Grade 10's will be taking part in a 3 day self defence unit. We look forward to teaching these students more in the new year. If you have any questions about what we are doing please don't hesitate to contact your child’s Physical Education teacher.. Also you can follow our classes on Twitter @rside43 or #rsidePE.

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RIVERSIDE’S BEST BUDDIES

PROGRAM As the busy holiday season rolls

around the corner, we are all searching for gifts to our family members and friends. This is a

great opportunity to buy a Cookie Mix Jar and support

Riverside’s Best Buddies Program! For $5, you’ll receive

a nicely put together jar of chocolate-chip cookie or

oatmeal-raisin cookie ingredients and an instruction

card for the wonderful treat. The Cookie Mix Jars will go on sale

early December in the front foyer.

In order for this fundraiser to take place, we are looking for people who can donate glass

jars with the lids. The jars have to be fairly large in order to fit all of the ingredients. The jars can be dropped off in Room 121 at

Riverside. We thank everyone in advance for your support.

Fall Festive Concert

December 11th

7:00 pm.

River’s Edge Theatre Small ensembles will start performing at 6:45 to welcome in the audience. There will be a small concession during inter-mission. Raffle prizes, silent auction, 50/50 along with music galore!

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Even though we only had a few weeks to prepare for the Winter Market, the event on Saturday November 15th was a HUGE success: Here are some of the highlights:

- 120 tables sold to crafters/vendors: Gymnasium and Cafeteria were full to the max

- Approximately 40 volunteers to put this event on: from decora-tions/bake sales/50.50 tickets/clean up….

- Dozens and dozens of delicious baked goods - A multitude of baskets/prizes for auction - A couple of helpful Grinches - And one Santa Claus to welcome and take pictures with chil-

dren We are still tabulating the revenue from that event, and will let you know as soon as we have it! HUGE THANKS to parents, students, Santa, the Grinches, the After-Grad Committee members and the school Administration for your amazing talents and assistance in putting together another suc-cessful Winter Market! Next and last fundraising event for Dry-Grad will be the Pub-night: January 31st at the Cat and Fid-dle Pub (more info to follow) Next Dry-Grad meeting: Tuesday, Dec. 9th – 7pm at the library. We will be discussing the pub night fundraising and the Dry-Grad event Holiday cheers from The After-Grad Committee

RIVERSIDE AFTER-GRAD NEWS

School District No. 43 (Coquitlam)

International Baccalaureate Program

Information Meeting for Grade 8 and 9 Students and Parents

Monday, January 5th or Wednesday, January 7th, 2015

7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Port Moody Secondary School Students interested in entering the IB Program for talented and highly motivated students should attend one of these meetings to receive all pertinent information. There will be an opportunity for students and parents to ask teachers and students questions about the IB Program. All registration information will be available at these meetings. Information about Port Moody Secondary and the IB Program can be found on the web at pmssblues.net and www.ibo.org.

Information from your Career Centre

DO YOU PLAY VOLLEYBALL, BASKETBALL, SOCCER, BADMINTON,

OR GOLF?

DO YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO PLAY YOUR SPORT IN UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE? TAKE A LOOK AT PACWEST – BC’S BRANCH OF THE CCAA

The Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) is the governing body for collegiate/institute athletics in B.C. Today there are 11 PACWEST member institutions located across the province. A total of 51 teams compete in five sports for the right to represent BC at the CCAA Nationals. The 11 institutions are: Camosun College, Capilano University, Columbia Bible College, College of the Rockies, Douglas Col-lege, Kwantlen University, Langara College, Quest University, UBC Okanagan, University of Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island University Collegiate Athletics is an integral part of a balanced, holistic educational program of any institution. Athletics provide laboratory courses on physical, mental and social development, teaching lifelong values of teamwork, discipline, commitment, perseverance, fairness, and respect. Statistics show that student athletes are consistently strong academically, develop positive lifestyles traits, and contribute to community spirit and growth. Therefore, athletics should not be viewed as a fringe benefit to strong academic programs, but as a core component of learning, growth and develop-ment. Mission Statement “The Pacific Western Athletic Association empowers member institutions in their quest to provide quality athletic opportunities to enhance the overall educational experience of their students.”

Please see Mrs. Rogers in your Career Centre for more information – room 213!