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MONARCH MATTERS November 2005

Table of Contents MPC in the News 1 Principal’s Message 2 Vice Principals’ Messages 2 Seniors in Cyberspace 2 ABEL 2 Remembrance Day 3 A Very Halal Christmas Dinner 3 Red Door Shelter 3 Student Council News 3 News from the Music Department 3 News from the Mathe-matics Department 4 M.E..N.D. 4 Stratford Visit 4 Mathematics News 4 Abel 4 BIZ News 5 COOP News 5 “Take our kids to Work Day” 5 OYAP Presentation 5 Biz Quiz 5 Community Volunteer Fair 6 Grade 8 Visits 6 Greenwood Visits 6 Guidance News 6 Bicycle Club 6 Scholarship Report 6 Drama News 7 Monarch Park Rocks 7 Talented Angels 7 Science Club 7 Senior Girls’ Basketball 8 Hockey News 8

“MONARCH MATTERS” SALUTES OUR STAFF, STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS!

BREAKFAST CLUB KICKOFF AT MONARCH PARK COLLEGIATE A GREAT SUCCESS! On Wednesday, November 9, 2005, the Monarch Park Collegiate Breakfast Club was officially launched and dozens of Monarch Park Collegiate students had an excellent breakfast prepared by Toronto Argos players and cheerleaders. The Toronto Children’s Breakfast Club ensures that all students at our school have access to a good breakfast during the school week. The president of the Argonauts, Keith Pelley, vowed that the Breakfast Club would be an ongoing effort for the team and that players, coaches, cheerleaders and staff members will be at Monarch Park on a weekly basis to serve up a hot breakfast and offer words and advice and encouragement to students at the school. Special thanks to Vice Principal Ms Pat O’Dell for making this incredible opportunity for our Monarch Park students possible! Mary Card – Staff Reporter

INTERNATIONAL BACALAUREATE (IB) PROGRAM TO BE OFFERED AT MONARCH PARK COLLEGIATE Starting in the fall of 2006, Monarch Park Collegiate will be offering a package of courses to prepare students for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program. The International Bacalaureate (IB) is an internationally recognized program that was begun in 1968 and that is now offered at 1300 schools in 91 countries. This is an academic program that focuses on excellence and on the development of the ‘whole’ student. Final ex-ams internationally standardized. Universities around the world recognize the program and, in many cases, offer university credit for students who have graduated with an IB diploma. Students interested in IB at MPC will need to be self-motivated and have a high degree of intellectual curiosity. They will need strong writ-ten and verbal skills in English and will want to participate in their school, local, national and international communities. The IB program will fit well with MPC’s focus on Global Education. Both philosophies strive to create students who are inquisitive, knowledgeable and caring. MPC will be one of only six schools in the Toronto District School Board to offer this rigorous academic program. Students who graduate from Monarch Park Collegiate starting in the year 2009 will earn both their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and the IB Diploma. For further information, please contact Monarch Park Collegiate Principal, Mr. Rob MacKinnon at 416-393-0190. Rob MacKinnon, Pat O’Dell and Mary Card - Staff Reporters

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Monarch Matters MONARCH PARK COLLEGIATE, 1 HANSON STREET , TORONTO, ONTARIO, M4J 1G6

Congratulations to Faiza Wahid. She cor-rectly answer the ques-tions in the June 2005 edition of Monarch Mat-ters and identified the name of Ms Martha Rus-sel’s company as INTE-GRACARE and the name of her trademark moose as Florence Moosengale, RM (Registered Moose). MC and KT - coeditors

Our MPC students welcome and thank the Toronto Argonauts and members

of the Blue Thunder Dance Team!

Members of the Toronto Argonauts Football Team and Cheerleaders serve

up a delicious breakfast at MPC!

Members of the Toronto Argonauts Blue Thunder Dance Team with Ms Pat

O’Dell at the Breakfast Club!

Argo flips for our MPC students at the Breakfast Club opening.

Monarch Park’s own dancers, the “Talented Angels”, relax with Argo play-

ers after their performance on Citytv's Breakfast Television.

L to R: Ms Mary Card, Sheila Ilanga our MPC songstress (who sang for her break-fast), and Ms Karen Thompson celebrate the opening of the MPC Breakfast Club.

Former student and tutor C.J. Cromwell en-

joys the event.

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Message from our Principal, Mr. Rob MacKinnon What a great start to the school year! Wonderful events, accomplishments, and renewal have all hap-pened at the school in our first three months. First, though, I would like to welcome all the new stu-dents who registered at Monarch in September. We are very happy that you have chosen to become a member of the Monarch Park family. As you are starting to real-ize, being a part of the Monarch community means that you have a huge set of choices before you. You can (and should!) become a part of the many teams and clubs that are offered at the school. There are also a variety of one-time events that you can support – fund-raising events, cultural events, and great volunteering opportunities. You should also know that if you are having any difficulty with any of your courses your teachers will support you with extra help and sugges-tions for better study skills - take responsibility for your education! And if you are starting your day without a healthy breakfast, come out and join us at the break-fast club in room 205 – for 25 cents you can enjoy a hot or cold breakfast. Who can focus without a good break-fast? We offer a lot at MPC and hope that you will be-come a full participant in the life of the school! Students who joined us this year may have done so in response to the growing reputation that Monarch is get-ting in the greater community. The fantastic work of the students on major projects like the Free the Chil-dren Brick by Brick campaign to build a school in Kenya and the success that they have had on sports teams and in clubs and at academic competitions has spread the word that Monarch is becoming a real presence in the city. The teachers are some of the best in the province and have been recognized by the Board, the teachers’ Federation (for Equity, and the Status of Women) and by the Prime Minister (Ms. Card won a certificate for teaching excellence last year). Monarch’s reputation is also growing for the great programs that we offer our students. In the next year we will be offering the Inter-national Baccalaureate and the Kenya Experience pro-gram. Another great element of our school is the school it-self. In September we came back to a somewhat differ-ent place. The drapes throughout the school had all been renewed, some classrooms had their desks and chairs replaced, our cafeteria had new chairs and tables and our Large Group Room (I think we need a new name for that room!) had been totally updated to include sound, lights, computer links and access to the Ad-vanced Broadband Enabled Learning Project. Also, the tired old front of the building is finally getting a face-lift. The first part of the work is almost done; the spring will see the completion of the project and the final painting. And finally, we have introduced many new computers into classrooms and teacher offices (the Board’s ratio of computers to students is 10:1 - at MPC we have a 6:1 ratio). We had a great Arts Assembly (congratulations again to the dynamic arts' teachers!) and are looking forward to our Holiday Assembly and to our “A Very Halal Christ-mas Dinner” on December 20th. Have a great holiday season and a happy new year!

Message from Vice-Principal, Ms Pat O’Dell This year I am enjoying working with our Monarch Park students, staff and members of our community once again. We have opened up a Monarch Park Breakfast Club which is thriving. I am coaching the Boys’ Hockey Team. I am enjoying this new and exciting activity and the new students with whom I have been working. I look forward to another tremendous year at Monarch Park and it’s certainly off to a great start! Message from Vice Principal, Ms Sue LeMesurier It is so hard to believe that this year at Monarch Park Collegiate could be better than last year. The school is so energized. Working with students and staff and de-veloping an inclusive environment has been extremely rewarding. We have been working towards student suc-cess at all levels. This year we have a new Curling Team called “Monarch Rocks”. I look forward to Semester 2 which I hope is just as exciting as Semester 1. SENIORS IN CYBERSPACE This is the fifth year that our school has partnered with Toronto Intergenerational Partnerships to host the Sen-iors in Cyberspace program at our school. On a weekly basis 15 “senior” students learn basic computer and Internet skills from our volunteer MPC “student” teach-ers. The computers are an excellent bridge to connect the generations together. Coordinating the program for Toronto Intergenerational Partnerships is Laura Damiano, a field placement student from George Brown College. Our student leader is Raymond Liu. Mary Card - Staff Reporter

ABEL (ADVANCED BROADBAND ENABLED LEARNING) The Large Group Room is now our dedicated ABEL room. Our school is now connected and ready to videoconference with students at Parkdale Collegiate and Ursula Franklin Academy in the TDSB, schools in the YRDSB, and in other provinces, and universities. Your ABEL leadership team this year consists of Mary Card, Martin Aller-Stead, Martin Herbst, Karen Thompson, Terry Wister, and our Principal Rob MacKinnon. A special thank you to Terry Wister for preparing the ABEL room with the assis-tance of Obadiah George and his York University team. Our first videoconference on December 16th, 2005 is a Pascal Math Contest Workshop in which we will connect our Grade 9 Mathe-matics students with a professor at the University of Waterloo and students from Dr. John M. Denison S.S. in YRDSB. Mary Card - Staff Reporter

L to R: The MPC Admin Team: Ms Pat O’Dell, VP, Mr. Rob MacKinnon, Principal and Ms Sue LeMesurier, VP

Raymond Liu

Kone Johnson and his senior Paul

senior Mohammed and Thomas Li

Laura Damiano

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REMEMBRANCE DAY 2005 Remembrance Day was celebrated at Monarch Park on November 11th. Every member of the school was invited to come to our annual Re-membrance Day assembly, com-plete with Veterans and present-day Canadian Armed Forces Peace-keepers, a piper and student and staff speakers. 88 year old retired Sapper Sgt. Ross Wagg shared some of his memories of WW II, and Ma-jor David Devries spoke about working in Bosnia in the name of all Canadians. Stu-dents from the grade 9 Drama class presented a dra-matic reading of “In Flanders Fields”, Mr. Clayton our new music teacher played the last post and the whole school stood at 11 o’clock, sharing the formal words of remembrance; “They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We Will Remember Them.” Then the silence, broken only by the piping of “The Flowers Of The For-est” by the school’s official Piper, Monarch Park gradu-ate Kevin Pett. As a continuation of thanks to Veterans (2005 being the Year of the Veteran), many staff and students lined up to sign a Birthday card to Ross Wagg for his 88th birthday. In addition, the school’s Annual Halal Christmas Dinner is especially welcoming veter-ans from the Royal Canadian Legion Byng Branch on Coxwell at Gerrard. Martin Aller-Stead - Staff Reporter

STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS Student Council activities began with Grade 9 Orienta-tion to MPC:council members greeted in-coming Grade 9’s, played welcome games, handed out time-tables and gave them a tour around the school. The Council also hosted a Welcome Back BBQ where grade 9 stu-dents received two free hotdogs and a pop; other stu-dents paid $2.00 for their hot dog lunch! Fifteen stu-dents participated in the CN Stair Climb, raising $300.00 for the United Way. MPC students also donated 500 lbs of food for the Red Door Shelter as part of the Thanksgiving celebrations; thanks to Ms Goncalves for organizing this fabulous event. The Free the Children Coin Drive has continued to raise funds towards the building of another classroom in Kenya. Ms Karen Thompson and Mr. Martin Herbst - Staff Reporters

MONARCH PARK COLLEGIATE’S THIRD ANNUAL “A VERY HALAL CHRISTMAS DINNER” FOR COMMUNITY SENIORS TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2005 Monarch Park Collegiate staff and students, in partner-ship with the Toronto Intergenerational Partnerships, are opening our doors, once again this year, to welcome our community seniors to the third annual “A Very Halal Christmas Dinner” on Tuesday, December 20th, 2005 from 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. We welcome interested community members and organizations to contact us at monarchmatters@hotmail.com to see how they can be a part of a great community evening! For further informa-tion or to purchase tickets please contact Laura, at Toronto Intergenerational Partnerships, 416-531-8447, ext. 2. Mary Card - Staff Reporter

RED DOOR SHELTER The staff at our community Red Door Shelter was delighted to receive a cheque from the Monarch Park staff and students to assist them with their programs for abused mothers and their children. Director Tanya Lord has offered to assist our stu-dents when they begin the White Ribbon /Red Rose fund-raising activity this December. Karen Thompson - Staff Reporter

NEWS FROM THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT Well, it’s another year at Monarch Park, and it is a year of change for the music department. Under the direc-tion of the new music teacher, Mr. Clayton, there have been some unusual and exciting sounds echoing in the halls, and everyone involved in music at Monarch could not be happier about the response from the school com-munity. Thanks to everyone for their support and en-couragement during the Arts Assembly, 2005. It was at the assembly that the music classes unveiled their new sound for their peers and teachers to an overwhelming response. Our contribution to the assembly featured the talented senior band, as well as the groovy junior band, featuring Victoria Lawson on vocals, and a break-out performance by Simon Hochmann on trumpet. It is an exciting time for students to be in music, Monarch music is a program in transition, and there are so many possibilities that we have the freedom to create a mod-ern, relevant program that is of value to students. If you have any ideas or talent, now is the time to use them, when they are most effective in making change. Let’s make music. Mr. Nick Clayton - Staff Reporter

L to R: Ms Johanna Tzountzouris, Major David Devries, Kevin Pett, Sapper Sgt. Ross Wagg, MPC student Tom Johnson,

Mr. David Marcotte, Sami Sharif, Martin Aller-Stead

L to R: Ms Karen Thompson, Ms Tanya Lord (Director - Red Door Shelter) and Ms Kris Kozell at

the Red Door Shelter

The Student Council dona-tions to the Red Door Shelter help the chefs in the kitchen

prepare for Thanksgiving!

NEWS FROM THE MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT The staff and students in the Mathematics Department have been busy this year participating in “Mathematical Events”. In November several of our students wrote the Canadian Open Math Challenge sponsored by the Univer-sity of Waterloo. This year our Mathematics students will also be writing the Grade 9 Pascal Math Contest, the Grade 10 Cayley Math Contest, the Grade 11 Fermat Math Contest and the Grade 12 Euclid Math Contest. Our students are also participating in Math League contests. The students in our Grade 9 Mathematics classes are busy preparing for the first “EQAO Assessment of Mathe-matics” that will be held in January of 2006 and will be participating in an ABEL Pascal Math Contest Workshop videoconference. Our Monarch Park Mathematics stu-dents have been busy volunteering their expertise in the community. A special thank you to the Mathematics stu-dents who volunteered at the OAME (Ontario Association for Mathematics Education) TEAMS Miniconference held on November 3, 2005 at Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute. Another group of volunteers shared their ex-pertise in Mathematical Technology with the Grade 8 students from our feeder schools and from Greenwood School. Chess guru Mr. Arnie Niederhoffer recently held a lunchtime “Chess Challenge” for interested staff and students. He played twelve boards at the same time, and we are proud to report that he won nine of the games. We are all waiting the for lunchtime Scrabble Challenge in the Scrabbledome! The students in Ms Card’s Grade 10 Mathematics class used their mathematical counting skills to determine the award winning number of pop tabs collected for the M.E.N.D. contest during Waste Reduction Week. Mary Card – Staff Reporter

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M.E.N.D. (Monarch Park Environment Now Dharamsala) Monarch Park’s new environment group is up and running. Some have asked, "Why 'Dharamsala'?" Many know Dharam-sala as a place, that of the residence in northwestern India of the Dalai Lama, spiritual and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhists. “Dharamsala” actually means “rest house” tradi-tionally intended to house pilgrims. “Dharam” derives from Sanskrit and means “duty.” In other words, one should learn to do one’s duty towards truth. Given the connection be-tween what we see as our individual responsibility to act to solve some of our environmental problems and an undergird-ing sense of the sacredness of nature, the image of environ-mental “pilgrims” had significant resonance. In this choice of words, we also found appeal in the philosophic parallels to the Canadian context vis-a-vis traditional Aboriginal spiri-tuality in which people are meant to be guardians rather than “owners” of our natural environment. Consequently, our name was born. And our acronym clearly communicates our motivation to take steps, however small, to fix things. To that end, this new academic year we have kick-started Monarch’s recycling program, re-establishing a crew from M.E.N.D. that looks after the collection of paper and card-board to be recycled. We have also recently expanded this program to include blue bins in our hallways and in class-rooms to facilitate the recycling of more aluminum cans and bottles, either plastic or glass. M.E.N.D. has also created some public awareness posters as part of the blue bin pro-gram in order to promote further awareness amongst stu-dents and staff on the benefits of recycling. In conjunction with M.E.N.D., and as a part of a unit of study, Ms. Gon-calves’ 4U, Grade 12, Environmental Issues class likewise has produced some exquisite multi-media posters on a vari-e t y o f i m p o r t a n t r e l a t e d t o p i c s . Another highlight of this year so far was M.E.N.D.’s sponsor-ship of activities during Waste Reduction Week in Canada during October. Each day during that week we conducted the Great Canadian Environment Quiz over the P.A. for homeform classes. From the feedback received from both students and staff, this endeavor was very successful in underscoring to everyone the need to be cognizant of the impact that the waste we produce in our highly consumer society has, as well as giving some practical strategies to reuse, reduce or recycle. In tandem with the quiz, M.E.N.D. sponsored a drive to collect dead, household batteries in order that we could dispose of them safely, diverting their toxic residue from landfill sites; we also challenged students and staff to bring in the tabs from aluminum cans so that they could ultimately be donated to a company that recy-cles them for use in making wheelchairs. Prizes--energy-conserving florescent mini-bulbs--were awarded respectively to the student and staff member who brought in the most items at the end of the week. Congratulations to Stephanie Yee and staff member, Ms. Mary Card! Your enthusiastic support of these activities was much appreciated. Our next project on the horizon is planning for Earth Day in April 2006. Stay tuned for the thread-and-needle workings from the caring hands of our M.E.N.D. members: Ms. Gon-calves (teacher leader); Mr. Goman (teacher leader); Ray-mond Liu (president); Yanni Zhu (designer/creator of our fantastic logo!); Trudy Ekubor; Favadia Nosheen; Qianqian Lin; Lynn Zeng; Nimo Osman; Andong Zhang; Emily Ibsen; Sarah Ambrose. Until then, remember M.E.N.D.’s motto: “We can fix things!” Staff Reporter - Mr. David Goman SPECIAL THANKS once again to our Mathematics/Business Studies/Technology Studies volunteer (and future teacher), Aly Hirji, for his dedication, enthusi-asm and energy, and for helping our students to achieve success! MC and KT - Staff Reporters

OAME TEAMS volunteers L to R (back): Ms Mary Card, Anoja Visvanathan, Dajanth Visvanathan, L to R (front)

David Mac, Stella Ha, Matthew Cornish,

Taylor Dixon-Beninger

Grade 8 Visit Volunteers L TO R: Stella Ha, Ms Mary Card, Dajanth Visvanathan, Carey Basaraba, Sarina Cao, Catherine Copeland, Mat-

thew Cornish, Mr. Vidak Cu-ric, Anoja Visvanathan

OAME TEAMS Volunteers L to R: Raymond Liu,

David Cheung, Sajeev Devaraj, Dajanth Visvanathan,

Arman Amiri, Tan Islam

Mr. Arnie Niederhoffer chal-lenges all staff and students to a

“Simultaneous Chess Match”

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BUSINESS STUDIES “BIZ NEWS” QLEAD: On November 18th to 20th, 2005 Monarch Park set six students to a leadership symposium at Queen’s University that was held over a period of three days. Participants were introduced to a series of activities and inspirational speakers oriented towards moulding them to become the leaders of tomorrow. GO GLOBAL: Two Monarch Park students attended workshops on globalization hosted by the YMCA. The students who received training will make in-class pres-entations to their peers on topics such as world poverty and fair trade. Certificates will be given to each stu-dent upon completion of the program. The BOH4M1 class will conduct a fundraising activity during the month of January 2006 as part of their inde-pendent study unit, in order to raise money for the Free The Children “Brick by Brick” campaign, which goes towards the building of a school in Kenya. Senior Busi-ness Students in the BBB4M1 and the BOH4M1 classes attended the Youth Entrepreneurship Form at the Metro Convention Centre on Monday, September 26, 2005. Students attended workshops and heard speakers from the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, the RBC Finan-cial Group and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. Elliot Scolnik - Staff Reporter COOPERATIVE EDUCATION NEWS The 2005 semester for Cooperative Education is off to an excellent start! Students are enjoying placements in such areas as teaching, real estate, banking, diagnostic imaging, trauma nursing, digital photography, cooking, financial investment, auto mechanics, video editing and office administration at the Air Canada Centre. Our Coop students have been given wonderful opportunities such as Mahar Qtiefan (shown below in photos) with the Toronto Fire Services and Skye Baziuk who works with the Free the Children/Leaders Today organization. Stu-dents in apprenticeable trades have taken advantage of the available OYAP programs. We are proud of our stu-dents Ashley Willard who has been offered an appren-ticeship with Daniel et Daniel and Peter D’Souza who has been offered an apprenticeship with Genuine Auto Imports. Congratulations to all! Karen Thompson - Staff Reporter

MS. KYRITIS’ ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLASS HOLDS A SUCCESSFUL HALLOWEEN CANDY SALE

“TAKE OUR KIDS TO WORK DAY” On Wednesday November 2nd, 2005, Grade 9 students all across Canada went to work with their parents/guardians/family members/friends. Monarch Park stu-dents also participated and spent the day at elementary schools, insurance companies, roofing companies, den-tal offices and local businesses. One group of Grade 9 students chose to spend the day on a Field Trip to the Ontario Federation of Labour, accompanied by Mr. Mar-tin Aller-Stead and Ms K. Thompson. Of course, Monarch Park students eagerly participated in all the workshops, earning as many prizes as they could collect and learn-ing about labour unions, health and safety issues and human rights in the workplace. We also spent the day munching on pizza, cookies, and muffins and returned home to MPC with pockets bulging with prizes. Karen Thompson - Staff Reporter

SPECIAL GUESTS AT OYAP PRESENTATION On October 18th, 2005 the Large Group Room was filled with students interested in finding out about the OYAP (Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Programs) offered by the Ministry of Education and Training. Guidance and Coop staff were present to assist with questions. Bruce Bur-gess from the OYAP program spoke about the variety of types of apprenticeships in Carpentry, Plumbing, Elec-trical, Horticulture, Auto mechanics and Auto techni-cian, Logistics and Air-Conditioning. While pointing out the need for young people to fill these occupations, Mr. Burgess also stressed that these were very high-paying positions. As a special feature, two of Monarch’s Coop-erative Education graduates spoke about their successes in the OYAP programs. Aquiles Milaya, In his final year in the Information Technology OYAP program, stressed how the “Accelerated” OYAP programs can save stu-dents an entire year of tuition and shared stories of his success. Kevin Morris, also a former Coop student, spoke about his first year in the Child and Youth Worker OYAP program. It was a delight to have these former Monarchians come back to share their experiences with staff and students! Karen Thompson - Staff Reporter BIZ QUIZ: Who is the newest Monarch Park bagpiper whose photo is to the right? Email your answer to monarchmatters@hotmail.com by December 22, 2005. PARADIGM CONTEST: Help us to RENAME the Large Group Room to better reflect its new role at our school. Email your suggestions to monarchmatters@hotmail.com by December 22, 2005.

L to R: Rafique Said, Mo-bashira Sharif, Ali Faraidan-Afshar, Mr. Aller-Stead, Ra-

chel MacKenzie, Ayusha Nadeem, & Sara Saleem par-ticipate in “Take our Kids To

Work” Day.

L to R: Ms Karen Thompson, former Monarch Park Students Kevin Morris, Aquiles Milaya, and Cooperative Education

teacher Martin Aller-Stead at the OYAP presentation held at Monarch Park Collegiate

L to R: Michael Butac, Kenny Yeung, William Yu, Luisa Quintero, Trudy Ekubor, Malkiat Lubuna, Ms Kyritsis,

Ahmed Idris

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COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER FAIR The cafeteria was filled with students and guests for the Toronto Intergenerational Community Volunteer Fair all morning on Wednesday, October 12th. Sue McMahon from the Toronto Intergenerational Partner-ship and Karen Thompson from the Cooperative Educa-tion Program organized various volunteer organizations to speak to our students about obtaining their commu-nity volunteer hours in safe, pleasant and rewarding environments. Students eagerly signed up with different organizations to lend their talents by helping with sen-iors and young people, teaching English and computer skills and helping out in various offices. Last year, Mon-arch Park won a Community Volunteer Award from the TIP for their active participation in community events. Karen Thompson - Staff Reporter

GRADE 8 VISITS On Tuesday, November 8th, our staff and students wel-comed students from Bowmore, Earl Beatty and Duke of Connaught to Monarch Park Collegiate. The students enjoyed a memorable tour of our school which included a Crime Scene Investigation presented by Ms Kozell and Mr. Herbst, a hands-on demonstration of the use of Graphing Calculators in Mathematics by Ms Card and Mr. Curic, and a spectacular science show presented by Mr Au. Special thanks to Ms Shaw for organizing this event. Mary Card and Karen Thompson - Staff Reporters GREENWOOD VISITS On Friday, November 25th, our staff and students wel-comed several groups of students from Greenwood who came to visit our school. Special thanks to Ms Jean Rhamey for organizing this great event! Mary Card and Karen Thompson - Staff Reporters

NEWS FROM THE GUIDANCE OFFICE This has been a very busy fall season in Guidance. Our office is full of people wanting to work with our stu-dents. Besides the regulars, Ms. Zeldin, Mr. Bowers, Mrs. Shaw and our secretary Chris Swindells, we have Fawzia and Sosan the settlement workers who work with newcomers to Canada, Iolanda the social worker, Jameela the Pathways counsellor and Taryn the student nurse from Ryerson. Graduating students have been attending university and college visits with reps who have been visiting our school and information sessions held by Mr. Bowers for university and Mrs. Shaw for college. Keep on attending and doing your research for the programs you want to apply for. The university deadline is January 11, 2006 and the college deadline is February 1, 2006. PIN's for university applicants will be in at the end of November, and remember, you do not need a PIN to apply on-line for college. Mr. Bowers is working with the scholarship guru Ms. Card to help our grads fund their post-secondary educations. Attend the scholarship seminars every Thursday at lunch in room 224. Many of our students are working on completing their 40 hours of community service in really creative ways. Thank you to those of you who are tutoring at our neighbouring school, Earl Haig Public School. Keep up the great community work. We are proud of you. As semester 1 term 1 nears the end, we encourage you all to attend all your classes, work hard and have a suc-cessful semester! Cathy Zeldin - Staff Reporter

MONARCH PARK COLLEGIATE BICYCLE CLUB The members of the Bicycle Club have worked hard to prepare a renovated "Giant Road Bicycle" for a raffle to be held at the Christmas Assembly. Members will be selling raffle tickets from November to Christmas in the main foyer. Proceeds will go towards renovating more b icyc les and to "Free the Chi ldren" . Carrie Hilhorst - Staff Reporter SCHOLARSHIP NEWS Congratulations to our Monarch Park graduates for the school year 2004-2005. We are proud to report that our students received over $200,000 in awards, scholarships and bursaries! Thank you to our community partners for providing financial assistance to our very deserving Monarch Park Collegiate “Scholarship Students”! MPC STUDENT IN U OF T MENTORSHIP PROGRAM Congratulations to Azra Khakoo who has been accepted into the Mentorship program in the Neuro-Psychology Department at the University of Toronto for the school year 2005-2006. Mary Card – Staff Reporter

Ms Karen Thompson and Coop Volunteer Howard Lee pre-

pare for the Community Vol-unteer Fair at Monarch Park.

Our Community Partners from Toronto Intergenerational

Partnership set up their dis-plays for our MPC students.

Emily Ibsen and Sarah Ambrose and other interested students find out important information at the Queen’s University visit.

L to R: Stella Ha, Lisa La-chacz and Megan Rouselle selling tickets for the Mon-arch Park Bicycle Raffle.

Our enthusiastic MPC student volunteers (in the photo above) helped to make our Parents’ Night this year a great success!

L to R: Tanzilah Chowdhury, Neha Fatima, Tanveer Ameeruddin, Favadia Nosheen

Faiza Wahid wel-comes her

brother, Akber Wahid, from Bow-more to MPC at

the Grade 8 visits.

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NEWS FROM THE DRAMA/ARTS DEPARTMENT Life is getting busier and busier in the MPC Drama De-partment! Here are a few highlights of what we’ve all been up to and what’s coming up! Ms. Tzountzouris’ Grade 9 Drama class presented In Flanders’ Fields in tableau and choral reading for the Remembrance Day Assembly on Nov. 11th. The Grade 9 and Grade 11 Drama classes will be attending the CanStage produc-tion of Crowns at the Bluma Appel Theatre on Novem-ber 23rd. The MPC Drama Club is in rehearsals for its first production A Night of Song and Dance! The per-formances will take place on Monday, December 19th (during school hours) and Tuesday, December 20th in the evening. We will once again have the honour of per-forming for our guests at the Very Halal Christmas Din-ner, and we invite all family, friends and MPC staff to join us for the show. It will be spectacular, and will include over 20 of MPC’s finest actors, singers and dancers! See you there! The MPC Arts Assembly will take place on Thursday, December 1st. It will dazzle you with music, visual art, media, and drama! There may also be a surprise performance by MPC’s very own Arts Teachers! Keep your eyes open! Congratulations to James Pyke, Nicole Souza and Rachel Richards for being chosen to be a part of Soulpepper's exciting Opening Night Club. They are among 30 students from across the GTA who will work with Soulpepper theatre profes-sionals in workshops, attend the opening night presen-tations of four plays and hang out with the cast and crew after the show. Hooray! The MPC ESL Drama Class (Semester 2) is one of two ESL groups chosen to partici-pate in Factory Theatre's new program, Undercur-rents. They will work with writers, directors and actors and develop a play about their experiences as new Ca-nadians. The play will be presented at Factory Theatre in April. More news to follow! Johanna Tzountzouris – Staff Reporter TALENTED ANGELS If it’s the duty of an angel to lift one’s spirit, then these dancing angels do just that with their mercurial steps. Ever since these pixies of dance have exploded onto the scene and won a place in my heart, they have left their audiences wanting more. Not only have they danced here live at Monarch Park but they have also entertained the nation on City TV's Breakfast Televi-sion. Their next dancing engagement is on December the 23rd at Monarch Park’s Christmas assembly. Mr. David G. Marcotte – Staff Reporter MONARCH PARK ROCKS! It’s fully in the house and right on the button. Curling has gripped Monarch under the eyes of Mr. Marcotte, Mr. Winn, Ms. LeMesurier, and Mr. Gurney. While the game of curling has been played by hundreds of stu-dents throughout the years, this is the first year that his Canadian sport has been played by a Monarch Park team. I am both professionally and personally proud to be coaching the Curling Team, “Monarch Rocks”. As the season progresses, there will be further notices. Mr. David G. Marcotte – Coach and Staff Reporter THANK YOU to ONDINA and her friendly and efficient of-fice staff, to our hardworking Educational Assistants, to ROB our Swim Instructor/Lifeguard, to PETER and his hardwork-ing caretaking staff, and to ANGELA and her excellent cafe-teria staff for the excellent meals! MC and KT and MPC

NEWS FROM THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT MONARCH PARK SCIENCE CLUB The Science Club at Monarch Park meets every alter-nate Wednesday to discuss the latest developments relating to Science and to conduct various experiments. The purpose of these experiments is to enhance stu-dents’ interest in Science. The students have already done experiments on methane bubbles, made soap bars and super balls. The Science Club also offers opportuni-ties to students to compete in various science-related events and competitive tests conducted by various uni-versities. In addition we conduct Chem Parties with munchies and homework help. Nine Monarch Park stu-dents participated in the “Crystal Growing Competi-tion” organized by the Chemical Institute of Canada. The students painstakingly grew crystals of copper sul-fate from its powder form in the Chemistry Lab over weeks in October and November. One of the Monarch Park Crystals was adjudged to be of high quality at the Ontario Science Center. It scored 9.2 out of 10 on the basis of criteria like mass, edges quality, quality of faces, clarity and freedom from occlusion. The Science Club also invites distinguished scientists to talk to our students on topics of their interest. Dr. William Pietro of York University will be speaking to the students on “The Chemistry of Sex, Drugs and the Brain”. The talk outlines the principles of drug discovery using the ac-tion of street drugs as an example. The talk focuses on depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders and psycho-sexual dysfunction. Sarita Madan - Staff Reporter

MPC STAFF NEWS We warmly welcome our new staff members this year. They are Ms Aarti Kumaria (Science) Mr. Nick Clayton (Music), Ms. Pat Humphrey (DD), Ms Kathy Parker (DD), Mr. Peter Ignat (DD) and Mr. Justin Broderick (School Based Safety Monitor). Welcome back to Ms Kelly Watson, Dr. Aija Mazsilis and Mr. Gordan Baricevic. We wish happiness and congratulate Miriam Silot (office staff) on her new appointment at East-dale, and Kim Malcher (Phys Ed) who is now teaching in Peel. Our best wishes to Ms Bren Hoadley. MC and KT and MPC

L to R (Back): Ms Sarita Madan, Ammna Sabir, Sarah Ambrose, Edgar Cao, Josefina Zhu, Raymond Liu

L to R (Front): Zarghuna Hakime, Nafisa Sarwath, Zarmina Ahmadi

MPC Staff and Students on Halloween Afghan Club Food Sale

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knock down the giant…a chance to accomplish what was, to some people, impossible…and with what seemed an eternity, the ball finally came down and…just missed the hoop. The Senior Girls Basketball Team’s season was officially over. What really made me proud as a coach was the way the team walked off the court…their heads held high and they had smiles on their faces. It hurt to lose such a close and hard fought game but the girl’s knew what this game meant…they knew that they could have had the game. The unbeatable giant was beatable and they proved it. The team saved their best game for last. Throughout the entire season, they team stuck together and fought through the tough times and pushed each other to be better and do better each and every day. The entire team deserves the recognition they deserve! I cannot begin to explain how proud I am of you girls! You are all very special people who make our school the great school that it is! I love you guys! Let’s go all the way next year…what do you say? On three…1–2–3-MONARCH!! Vidak Curic - Coach and Staff Reporter HOCKEY NEWS The Monarch Park Lions Hockey Team 2005-2006 is off to a great season. We practice every Monday morning at 6:30 a.m. at Ted Reeve Arena. We’ve played two games and won two games! Our team captain is Justyn Rowland and the two assistant coaches are Jasper McMulkin and Alex Kennedy. Team members are Justin Ament, Adam Baker, Adam Beauchamp, Matthew Caillier, David Cummins, Jimmy Chin, David Brown, Geoff Goldsmith, William Gray, Jacob Huffman, Da-mien Jones, Brett Kirkland, Kevin McCloggan, Daniel McLean, James McLean, Shane Newell, Trevor Nose-worthy and Matthew Raines. Ms Pat O’Dell - Coach and Staff Reporter Special thanks to the enthusiastic coach, Ms O’Dell.

SPORTS NEWS SENIOR GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Well…another season has come and gone and this year’s Senior Girls’ Basketball Team proved that they were once again a team to be reckoned with. With a 6 – 3 re-cord, Monarch Park hosted their Quarter-Final match taking on rivals Riverdale Collegiate. Having defeated Riverdale Collegiate the previous two occasions, Monarch Park continued their dominance with a 50-44 victory. With this victory, Monarch Park advanced to the semi-final game finding themselves matched up against heavy favourite North Toronto Collegiate. Having lost to North Toronto two weeks prior by a score of 51-28, Monarch Park was ready for the challenge. As North Toronto was undefeated (10-0) and having crushed teams by an aver-age of 35 points, Monarch Park understood that only hard work, determination, focus and heart were keys to suc-cess. When the two teams locked up in battle, the cheering crowd witnessed an awe-inspiring spectacle…with ten seconds left in the game, Monarch Park was down by only three points (35-32), a feat no other team in the league managed to accomplished or even come close for that matter. North Toronto was shell-shocked and momentum was definitely on Monarch Park’s side. After a timeout was called by the Monarch coach and a play drawn, the Girls set out to do the unthinkable. A three point shot was what Monarch Park needed and with one second left on the clock…a three point shot was in the air…a chance to take it into overtime…a chance to

MONARCH PARK COLLEGIATE “Success For Every Student”

One Hanson Street Toronto Ontario M4J 1G6 Telephone: 416-393-0190

Fax: 416-393-0834 Email: monarchmatters@hotmail.com “Monarch Matters” … In Every Way!

Volume 41, No. 2 Find us on the web at

http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/monarch/

This edition of “Monarch Matters” has been lovingly prepared for you by Ms Mary Card, Mathematics Teacher and Curriculum Leader of Mathematics,

Sciences, Physical Education and Health, and Ms Karen Thompson, Cooperative Education Teacher Monitor and Curriculum Leader of Business Studies,

Technology Studies, and Cooperative Education.

A big, big thank you to Dave Ross and

dbVi-sion.ca

for main-taining

our school’s website

this year!

Mr. Curic and members of the amazing Senior Girls’ Basketball team celebrate their quarter final win against Riverdale!

L to R (Back): Team MVP Ashley Nurse, Sally Hakim, Daydra Facey, Alex Brooks, Shemique Blair, Samantha Stasyk, Mr. Curic,

Sidena Ellis, Courtney Gore, Sarah Douven, Ammna Sabir L to R (Front): Cynthia Cheng, Jahbresha Johnson, Ayana Leo-

nard, Sara Jodah, Nattisha Johnson, Skye Baziuk

The Monarch Park Lions Hockey Team congratulate each other on the ice after

wining their first game at Ted Reeve Arena.

Mr. Rob MacKinnon and Ms Pat O’Dell with our Monarch Park Lions Hockey Team at

Ted Reeve Arena.

Photos for this edition of “Monarch Matters” are courtesy of Mary Card, Karen Thompson,

Martin Aller-Stead and Sarita Madan.