— April —
Message from the Principal - Stephen Garland
Welcome back after March Break and Easter. I pray you are well rested and took time to enjoy your family. During March break, I participated in meetings in Seattle with the leaders of other Christian Brothers Schools from the US, Argentina and Uruguay. STMC is part of a worldwide network of 280 schools in more than 20 countries across the globe. It was eye-opening to realize the vision and values we share based on the Essential Elements of a Blessed Edmund Rice Education. More to follow …
 
We are now in the home stretch of the school year.   This week I will be attending the Grade 12 retreat – a rite of passage for our graduating students. Their time at STMC has passed quickly.
 
Please keep our students and staff in your prayers as we move toward the end of the school year.
 
Blessings,

Steve Garland
STMC Principal
Message from the President - Neysa Finnie
Alleluia, Jesus is Risen!
 
An early Easter throws spring off a little – the flower gardens aren’t quite as vibrant; the glorious sunshine is a bit deceptive as there is still a chill in the air; it seems like there was less time to prepare for Easter. 
 
Moving through Holy Week is a time of ups and downs – the banquet and humility of Holy Thursday, the starkness of Good Friday, the new light and hope of Easter Saturday and at last, the new life of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. Each day, the church is filled to the brim. We see faces that are usually at other masses or who feel called to be present for Easter. As we make room for each other in the church, we recognize that we are not alone on this pilgrims’ journey and that we are traveling at different paces.
 
Yet, the gift of the Risen Lord is there for our taking whether we are ready or not. Our God of love is a forgiving God; a loving God; a patient God.
 
In this holiest of seasons, we pray:
Lord, the resurrection of Your Son has given us new life and renewed hope.
Help us to live as new people in pursuit of the Christian ideal.
Grant us wisdom to know what we must do,
the will to want to do it,
the courage to undertake it,
the perseverance to continue to do it,
and the strength to complete it. (Source – New Saint Joseph People’s Prayer Book)
 
St. Thomas More … pray for us
Blessed Edmund Rice … pray for us
Live, Jesus, in our hearts … forever.
 
Mrs. Neysa Finnie
President
GIVING NEWS
Gifts to Endow Two New Named Student Awards
 
STMC gratefully acknowledges two significant gifts received this year from generous donors to endow a new named bursary and a new named scholarship for a graduating student.
The Lloyd and Mary Rogers Charitable Foundation’s gift of $85,000 establishes the Lloyd and Mary Rogers Memorial Bursary Fund. This fund will support an annual bursary of at least $2,000 that will be granted to an STMC student whose family, through STMC’s financial aid assessment process, has a demonstrated financial need. The award will be applied directly to the student’s tuition fees at STMC. A strong Catholic education was important to the late Lloyd and Mary Rogers. With their 10 boys (out of 14 children) having gone through Vancouver College, they felt deeply about giving back to the Christian Brothers and to Catholic schools in general. After retiring from many successful years working as a teacher and an administrator in various Catholic and public schools in the Lower Mainland and Kamloops, Lloyd, with his wife Mary, volunteered their time at St. Thomas More Collegiate as a Math teacher and a library assistant, respectively. According to their son, Doug Rogers (who also taught at STMC in the early ‘90s), his parents loved working at STMC. This strong connection that Lloyd and Mary Rogers had with STMC continues today and will continue for many years to come through the Lloyd and Mary Rogers Memorial Bursary Fund.
A new annual scholarship, the Isidor Eisner Trades Scholarship, has been made available to an STMC graduating student beginning this 2017/18 school year through a $25,000 gift from the Eisner family. This award is established to honour the life and work of Mr. Isidor Eisner (November 28, 1935 – January 4, 2018), late husband of Ida Eisner, father of current STMC board chair, Dan Eisner, and grandfather of Jacqueline (Class of 2014) and Katelyn (Class of 2018) Eisner. Isidor Eisner was always very impressed with what STMC meant to his granddaughters, Jacquie and Kate. A German immigrant, Mr. Eisner arrived in Canada in 1957 as a tradesman bricklayer and, in the 1970s, he returned to school to become a steel fabricator. He created a great life for his family in Canada by leveraging opportunities in trades careers and hoped that others could do the same. The Isidor Eisner Trades Scholarship is available to a graduating STMC student who has demonstrated a strong work ethic and has an expressed interested in pursuing a post-secondary education and a career in trades. The first award of $500, made on the recommendation of the STMC Awards Committee, will be given to a student at the graduation ceremonies in June 2018.

STMC did a tremendous job of meeting the specific and unique needs and expectations of our daughters, Jacquie and Kate, and our expectations as parents. We owe the school so much for what they have done for our family that is why we continue to support the school both financially and as volunteers. Thanks so much STMC!” ~Dan and Michelle Eisner
A heartfelt thank you to the Rogers Family and the Eisner Family from St. Thomas More Collegiate!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
ACADEMICS ROUND UP
UBC Physics Olympics

On March 10th, STMC returned to the UBC Physics Olympics for the first time in six years. Competing against 72 other schools, our physics Knights designed a spinning top from a pen, and a baking soda & vinegar powered rocket launcher in the pre-build competitions.  They also competed in a Jeopardy-style Quizzics competition, answered some challenging Fermi questions and completed lab-based events on springs and polarization of light.
Upcoming Physics Contests

The Canadian Association of Physicists Prize Exam takes place on April 11th. Registration closes for the Sir Isaac Newton Physics contest on April 16th. Any students interested in writing either contest, should contact Mr. Muise.

Kwantlen Polytechnic's  Junior Physics and Engineering Challenge takes place on April 28th. It is open to students in grades 8-10. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Mr. Muise.
Workshops for girls in Science and Technology

15 female grade 10 students attended SFU's Girls Exploring Physics workshop on March 29th and gained insight into careers in physics, explored the Trottier observatory and had the opportunity to interact with female faculty members about experiences in science.
STUDENT ART SHOWCASE
Here are some final shots of a Grade 11 & 12 project where the students created art using their hands and geometric patterns as inspiration!
ATHLETICS ROUND UP
Coach Steve De Lazzari Honoured at 15th Orange Helmet Awards

Congratulations to Coach Steve De Lazzari for being recognized as the Scholastic Coach of the Year at the the 15th Annual Orange Helmet Awards . The Orange Helmet Awards celebrate the achievements of those involved in amateur football in British Columbia.
 
The Orange Helmet Awards Committee chose Coach De Lazzari based on his commitment and dedication to coaching amateur football and making it possible for youth in our province to enjoy the benefits of team sports. The Orange Helmet Award Committee will generously bestow a gift in Coach De Lazzari's name to the St. Thomas Moore Knights Football program.



The Girls Basketball Banquet will be held Monday April 9th at STMC. All parents and players from Gr 8 - 12 are to buy tickets for this event from Mr Thierman. Tickets are $20.00 and the event is catered.
Basketball


St Thomas More Collegiate is hosting a Summer Basketball Camp open to girls and boys entering grades 3 to 8. The dates for the camp are July 23rd to 27th. Contact d.zimmermann@stmc.bc.ca for more information. 
Education Technology and New Website Updates
Educational technology at the school has taken a giant step forward this year. A major upgrade of computer systems in the library provided a great start to the year. We continued in the fall by implementing Google’s G Suite for Education as a core component of our online blended learning package for improved student outcomes. Following on this successful development, we significantly improved student access, by acquiring three new classroom Chromebook sets.

Student applications and registrations are now fully online, bringing convenience and accuracy access to these essential school procedures.
Currently, we are working on a major network upgrade that will ensure fast, reliable access to online resources. Report cards are also moving online, to provide easy, archived access.

For the 2018-19 school year, we will be taking educational technology to an even higher level with the introduction of our 1:1 Chromebook program. This exciting development will assign a Chromebook to every student, providing access to a wide range of collaborative learning tools and activities in every class!

Another exciting development to unfold in time for the 2018 - 19 school year will be the implementation of a brand new STMC Website! The new site is being designed by a Vancouver based IT solutions firm, and we are very excited. The new website is currently in the discovery phase of its build, so you can expect more information and plenty of opportunities to provide your feedback and experience with the current site, as well as suggestions for the new one.
PARENTS ASSOCIATION


Our Next Meeting Dates are as Follows:
April 9 (closed)
May 14 Spring Fling (open)
June 11
July 23 (tentative)
September 17



Please join us on Monday, May 14th at 7:00 pm for a quick meeting followed by our annual Spring Fling Celebration. An evening where we welcome all parents to join us and communicate in an open and social environment.
More details to follow!

Please also note that we need a few people to add to our team . We need a Co chair, a student coordinator and a member at large. In quick summary these positions designed to:

Co-chair: Assist and shadow the Chair to learn the ropes, step in if needed and potentially replace the Chair when their children have moved on from our wonderful community
Student Coordination Leader: Organize and communicate in all student volunteer activities with the PA
Member at Large : general duties as needed and shadow to the secretary position

The positions were fully defined and posted at our open February meeting and we would love for some new parents to step forward and apply - we will vote on the new members at the Spring Fling (May 14) meeting.  Please contact the Parents Association at ParentAssociation.STMC@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Please send us an email: pavolunteers@stmc.bc.ca if you're ready to sign-up or would like more information on all the short-term or longer-term ways you can volunteer. Never be shy to communicate with us how we can facilitate your volunteer time in ways that work with your schedule!
KNIGHT CLUB UNIFORM SALE

  Mark your calendars!
Here are the next few sale dates:
April 5 th | May 3 rd
(2:30 - 4:00pm)
 

“APRIL KNIGHT CLUB SALE
Thursday, April 5th
2:30 to 4pm
 
It’s hard to believe, but now that Easter and spring break are behind us, we are in the final stretch of the school year. Why not beat the rush and stock up on any uniform or gym strip items that you know you’ll be needing next year? The last two sales of the year are on:
 
April 5th
May 3rd
 
If you’d like to skip the lineup, feel free to fill out the  2017-2018 Knight Club Order Form and drop it off at the front office (with payment or credit card information). We will fill your order and have you paged at the end of the day (on sale day) to pick it up!!!!”


Can you help once a month? Chopping? Plating? Cashiering? Contact Carisa at cdelrio@csdr.ca . Thank you for your support!



 
Need to see the next hot lunch calendar? Here are three ways you can find it:

1) Posted outside of the STMC school kitchen
2) On a sandwich board outside of Mr. Garland’s office
Connect with us!