Message from the Principal - Stephen Garland
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Each June marks the beginning of what, in our craft, becomes a mad rush to the end. For those of you that grew up watching “The Flintstones” it is somewhat akin to Wilma, Fred, Pebbles, and Dino (more than) enthusiastically running in one spot before they lower their car and it flies off down the road. Everything in a school like ours – because our students are involved in
so
many different activities and opportunities – happens all at once and usually at breakneck speed. Well… June is here, and though it is completely irrational to think that time goes any quicker or slower from one day/month/year to the next, it does not stop me thinking that it does. It is as though I have barely blinked and the school year has somehow vanished into the ether.
I have shared with you in a previous newsletter that the whirlwind of activities that occur both inside and outside of classrooms each day provides
moments of magic
that make the vocation of teaching and learning as rewarding as any other that exists. As a school community, we have been blessed to be able to share many of those types of moments with your daughters and sons throughout the past 9 months – both individually and collectively. We sincerely hope that many of our students have met or exceeded many of the personal goals that they set for themselves back in September. For those goals that remain unfinished… and that is bound to happen for all of us… please know that we always have the opportunity to re-calibrate our compass and add them to our start-up checklist next year.
There is likely a good deal of introspection and reflection happening over the next four weeks for our soon to be Grads of 2018 – our 55
th
Graduating Class – as they begin to contemplate life beyond STMC. On behalf of our entire school community, I would like to wish each of our graduates the absolute very best as they move to the next stage in their life. “
May God keep you and guide you always… and may your hopes and dreams be forever within your grasp
.”
Lastly, the effort that our students have put into their studies to this point in time is unbelievably commendable. Hard work produces great results and I am confident that each one of our Knights will finish this current school year on a high note.
Blessings,
Steve Garland
Principal, STMC
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Message from the President - Neysa Finnie
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"Jeremiah 29:11 For you know the plans I have for you says the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future with hope”
With less than one week of classes left before the summer, excitement (and pre-exam tension) builds around the school. This school year has been one of wonderful highs - celebrating the successes of our Knights in the classroom and in competitions and welcoming a new leader in our principal Mr. Garland - and a year of times of great sadness as we experienced the passing of Coach Kully and Grade 9 student Yehan and grieved with members of our community who suffered the loss of their loved ones.
I pray that the summer will be a time of rejuvenation for everyone in mind, body and spirit; that you will find peace in your heart and soul. Spend time with loved ones, have a great adventure, read a good book, take up a new sport or hobby. Experience joy. Be safe. Start living a future of hope which God has promised to each of us.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts … forever.
Neysa Finnie
President, STMC
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7:
Night of the Knights
9:
Band & Choir Jazz Night
13:
Last day of classes | Grad farewell
14-21:
Exams
22:
Marks due | Grad breakfast | Staff meeting | Grade level meetings
25:
English 12 provincial exam | Grad rehearsal
27:
Communications 12 provincial exam | Grad ceremonies @ Massey Theatre
28:
Grad Dinner & Dance
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Grade 9 Field Trip to the Powerhouse at Stave Falls
On May 17th, all of our grade 9 students traveled to the Powerhouse at Stave Falls to learn more about hydroelectric generation. The students split their time between a nature walk and a tour of the Powerhouse, where they learned the history and science behind this 100 year old facility.
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Michael Smith Science Challenge
On February 14th, six of our grade 9 and 10 science students took part in the Michael Smith Science Challenge. The results came in this month with grade 10 student
Julianna Pathyil
scoring in the top 3% of the over 1600 students that wrote the competition! Way to go Julianna!
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Grad Dinner & Dance
Reminder to grade 12 parents that tickets are now on sale for the Grad Dinner & Dance. The event takes place on the evening of June 28th at the Hotel Vancouver. Tickets can be purchased online or through Mrs. Silveira in the front office. Please be advised that the price of guest tickets will increase from $125 to $135 on June 11th.
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Mathematics Contest Season Updates
The Mathematics Contest Season for 2017-2018 is now complete. The Mathematics Department is pleased to announce the results.
The Grade 12 Euclid Contest, sponsored by the University of Waterloo, is a 2.5 hour contest. A certificate of distinction is awarded to any student in the top 25% of all participants.
Jacky He
and
Yuhong Mao
earn certificates. Jacky is also awarded a medal for being the top student at STMC.
The Grade 11 Fermat Contest, sponsored by the University of Waterloo, is an hour long contest. A medal is awarded to the top student at each school. Our school winner is
George Wang.
Certificates of distinction are also awarded to
Jacky He, Mike Wang, Julianna Pathyil, Jon Hilario, Maxine King, Victor Chen, Justin Wong,
and
Yousef Mian
for being in the top 25% of all participants.
The Grade 10 Cayley Contest, sponsored by the University of Waterloo, is an hour long contest. A medal is awarded to
Alicia Bremer
for being the top student at STMC.
Georgette Shami
and
Maya Becher
also earn certificates of distinction for being in the top 25% of all participants.
The Grade 9 Pascal Contest, sponsored by the University of Waterloo, is an hour long contest. A medal is awarded to the top student at each school. Our school winner is
Angelina Chen
. Certificates of distinction are awarded to the top 25% of all contest participants. The STMC certificate winners are
Eric Zhang, Rhoswen The,
and
Beatrice Pang.
The Grade 8 Gauss Contest, sponsored by the University of Waterloo, is an hour long contest. The top STMC student is
Daryl Chung
.
William Kong
earned second place and
Zachary Chimko
and
Sydney Christiansen
tied for third place. Certificates are awarded to the top 25% of our school contest participants. The certificate winners are
Ilyssa Calinisan, Danica Chang, Natalie Chen, Jonas Del Rio, Cameron DeWith, Joshua Faria, Marcus Greco, Lindy Guan, Ivy Jiang, Adriano Knezy, Isaac Knoll, Joshua Largo, Christian Martinez, Logan McIntyre, Michael Oetomo, Jeffrey Pacholko, Rhianna Parcon, Thomas Reilly, Julian Selormey, Naseeb Shokar, Keira Simmons, Ambrose Tsang, Ava Wagner, Kate Wolf, Cynthia Wong, Chelsea Yang, Kendra Yee-Ping, Aiden Yu,
and
Kaitlyn Yu.
The Mathematics Department would like to congratulate the winners and all participants. Excellent effort was shown and the marks were very high and often very close.
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The Chamber Choir performed at Fraser Valley International Kiwanis Music Festival and won
"Most Promising Senior Secondary Choir".
The Chamber Choir
are also winners of Provincials Arts BC festival in the age 19 and under category.
The STMC Grade 9 Choir
are winners of the
Provincial Arts BC festival in the age 16 and under category. (A brilliant achievement considering all singers are 14 years old!)
CD's of the STMC Choir's biggest hits are now available for purchase!
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Fraser Valley International Music Festival Results:
Jazz Band B
- GOLD ranking and Top Award for the Most Promising Intermediate Jazz Band
Jazz Band A
- Silver Ranking
Grade 8 Concert Band
- Silver Ranking
Grade 9 Concert Band
- Silver Ranking
Senior Concert Band
- Silver Ranking
Ashlee Oen
- Award for best Jazz Soloist - Drums
Justin Tecson
- Award for best Jazz Soloist - Guitar
Join the Upcoming Celebrations of STMC Music!
Jazz Knight
- Saturday, June 9th - 7pm in the StanJean Centre
(Tickets are $10 at the door. Doors open at 6:30 PM)
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Please see a selection of our Grade 11 Art student's work below. This month we are highlighting their self-portraits in the style of Andy Warhol, way to go Grade 11s!
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The STMC Mathematics Club was created by
Ethan Rajkumar
and Mr. Andy Barron, as a result of Ethan wanting to learn more about how Mathematics applied to society.
The Mathematics Club is an open forum to discuss concepts that aren’t discussed in class. The Mathematics Club currently has 10 members and counting. They have covered projects relating to Matrix Cryptography, an application of Matrices that decodes cryptograms from WWII and creating their own bar-code
symbiologies
. If you want to join the Mathematics Club next year please contact Ethan Rajkumar at
[email protected]
or
Mr. Barron at
[email protected]
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Mr. Barron, with a few of the Math Club students
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STUDENT HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH
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This month, we are highlighting grade 11 student
Lauren Boddington
, who has been making a tremendous impact on the Canadian beach-volleyball circuit! Good luck this summer, and we are sure we will hear more from you in the future. Please read below to know more about Lauren's upcoming competitions.
"I will be participating in the 2018 West Coast AAU Junior Olympics Beach Volleyball held in Santa Monica, California. My partner and I are competing in the U18 category on July 19th-22nd. We are also competing in the 2018 Youth Beach Nationals held in Ashbridge Bay, Toronto, Ontario on August 16th-19th. I am very excited to be able to have an opportunity like this, especially since the competition will be very strong down in California, and in Toronto" -
Lauren Boddington, Grade 11
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As always, we love to hear about all the wonderful and exciting things
in which our Knights are engaged
! If you have something you would like to share on our social media feeds or in the monthly newsletter send an email to
[email protected]
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STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTIONS
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Congratulations to the following students for making it onto the Student Council for 2018-2019:
Alex Aparicio, Finn Carolan, Luca Casellato, Brooklyn Coletta, Leire Coloma, Madison de Asis, Bella Gaspar, Gigi Gaspar, MacKenzie Larsen, Yousef Mian, Sofia Napolitano, Mackenzie Pereira, Sebastian Pugliese, Carson Wong, & Eric Zhang.
The campaign was competitive and the election results were tight. Candidates from all grades decorated the school halls with posters, campaigned on social media and presented speeches and videos to various grade levels. The Student Council team is dedicated and diverse and is excited to plan events for the student body next year.
A huge thank you goes out to the Student Council team of 2017-2018 especially the outgoing Grade 12's:
Ricardo Desjardins, Kayla Hayek, Tessa Longo, Julia Spagnuolo
and
Bronwyn Williams
for their service this year.
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Congratulations to the STMC Track and Field Team for another outstanding season. Through hard work and dedication, the team captured the BC Independent Zone Championships in May.
This past weekend fifty athletes represented our school at the BC High School Championships in Langley. Our Junior Girls won the Provincial Championship Banner. Our Combined Juniors placed second overall in the province which is an amazing accomplishment considering over 350 schools attended the meet.
Our Senior team was also very successful. Our senior girls led by
Giovanna Janes
(silver in javelin),
Shiloh Corrales Nelson
(silver in shot put, 4th in discus and 8th in Hammer throw, and
Rachelle Andrews
(7th in the Multi's) were only three points away from winning the Senior Girls Banner. Our Senior Men's side also had an outstanding showing and were also close to a title. Once again our Senior Boys 4 x 100 meter (
Julian Valerio, David Osho, Tyler Eckert
and
Emmanuel Dadson
) won the gold and will compete at the Harry Jerome Meet later in June. Sam Steele was top eight in javelin and shot put. STMC Senior Men’s placed two 4 x 100 meter teams and two 4 x 400 meter teams in the meet.
In addition,
Michelle Dadson
won 3 medals, gold in shot put, silver in discus and silver in hammer throw.
Janelle Chun, Kate Stewart Barnett, Milena Kalisch,
and
Alicia Bremer
also took medals home including one from the junior girls 4 x 400.
Kate Stewart Barnett
won gold in steeple chase, silver in high jump and 4th in the 3000 meter.
Milena Kalisch
who battled illness throughout the meet was still able to place 7th in the 1500 meter.
Alicia Bremer
was 6th in the hurdles and won a silver medal in the Heptathlon.
Nick Osho
was 4th in the Heptathlon.
Ricky Parsons
placed 8th in the 200 meters and anchored the Junior Men’s 4 x 100 meter team to a 6th place finish with
Josh Lunot, Sean Hernandez
and
Jack Wagner
.
Kashaun Carter
placed 4th in shot put.
Alex Balbino
and
Maria Sain
were strong finishers in Racewalk. Furthermore,
Gian Emil Arucan
won silver in the SO 100 meters and Alexander won a bronze medal.
Our Grade 8s also had a great showing. To name a few,
Luciana Andrews
placed silver in the Pentathlon,
Cameron deWith
placed 6th in the Pentathlon, and
Marco Giovinazzo
placed in 8th in the Pentahlon.
Beatrice Pang
placed 5th in the Pentathlon. The Grade 8 boys 4 x 100 meter team (
Christian Martinez, Michael Oetomo, Cameron deWith
and
Marco Giovinazzo
won a bronze medal.
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Senior Girls Team
Our Sr. Girls Soccer team returned from the recent AA Provincial Championships (Kamloops May 31-June 2) with a 3
rd
place finish Bronze Medal showing. Though the squad fell slightly short of their pre-season goal to try of trying to repeat as AA Provincial Champions, Coaches Zavarise, Garland, and Soares were incredibly proud of the up-tempo, attractive, attacking style of soccer that our girls played. It is a brand of soccer that has become STMC’s trademark and the girls lived up to our billing as one of the premier programs in the province.
Pool Results
STMC 2 — Sa-Hali (Kamloops) 0
STMC 6 — MEI 1
STMC 3 — Crofton House 0
Semi-Finals
STMC 1 — SMUS (Victoria) 2
Bronze Medal Match
STMC 4 — South Kamloops 1
Congratulations to
Mikaela Montagano
(Gr. 12) for being selected to the
Commissioner’s 11 All-Star team
and to our other graduation seniors –
Daniella Berrettoni, Eva Cindric, Isabelle Calinisan, Kayla Hayak,
and
Kaleah Lee
– for the time, commitment, and passion you brought to the STMC Soccer program over the past 5 years!
#WeAreForeverKnight
s and we wish each of you the absolute very best in your post-secondary studies next fall.
Looking ahead, the future continues to look incredibly bright for the Senior team as the vast majority of our players will return next year. The existing group, coupled with the players that will be joining them from our Independent league JV Championship team will mean that we will yet again be a force to be reckoned with next year!
#ContinuedHighHopesFor2019
Lastly, the entire team and the coaches would like to thank the HUGE number of parents that made the trek up to Kamloops to support the girls. It was greatly appreciated by every single one of us. Thank you for everything! A special shout-out also goes to Brother Cassidy who was pitch side for the final two days of the tourney. Having you there, Bro. more than lifted our spirits!!!
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Junior Girls Team
The junior girls soccer team have had a tremendously successful season, wrapping up with some big wins! A huge thank you to all the players, coaches, and especially player parent's for all your support throughout the season.
1
st
place in the Lower Mainland Independent Secondary School Soccer League
2
nd
place at the Jr Girls BC Catholics Tournament
2
nd
place at the Argyle JR soccer tournament
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This year, the STMC golf team achieved a late berth into provincials, which was a great relief considering the team only missed the original cut by two strokes. On June 4 - 6th, our players gave it there all at the stunning Talking Rock championship course just outside of Kamloops.
On the first day of provincial finals, STMC placed tied for seventh. The team put in an excellent performance on the second day and ended up 28 strokes better and came in seventh all alone. Jack Dickie came in 7th in the individual results. This was an excellent result for our team, as STMC was seeded 12th heading into the tournament.
Congratulations to Jack Dickie, Ricky Parsons, Cyena Miller, and Jack Wagner for their performances at provincials, and for their continued commitment to the golf team this year. Thank you to all of our promising junior golfers for your time and effort practicing and playing each week, thank you to all the coaches and staff who assisted with the golf program this season, and a special thank you to all the parents who helped with transport too and from the courses.
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Senior Ultimate Team
The senior ultimate team wrapped up their season with a strong showing at the AA Provincials, held on May 24th & 25th at Newton Athletic Park. They went 4-0 on the first day of the tournament to earn a spot in the semi-finals. After losing to eventual Champions RC Palmer in the semi-finals, the Knights rallied to win the third place game 15-4 over St. John's School.
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SUMMER JUNIOR SPORTS CAMPS
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Summer Volleyball Camp
Who
: Boys and Girls
entering grades 6 - 8
What
:
5 day camp designed to improve basic fundamental skills of the game learning and understanding basic team fundamentals and game strategy
When
:
August 20 - 24, 2018 from 9:00am – 12:00pm
Where
: St. Thomas More Collegiate Gym
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Summer Basketball Camp
Who
: Boys and Girls
entering grades 3 -7
What
: 5 day camp designed to introduce players to the fundamentals of basketball in a fun and competitive atmosphere
When
: July 23 - 27, 2018 from 9:00am - 12:00pm
Where
: St. Thomas More Collegiate Gym
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Summer Football Camp
Who
: Boys
entering grade 8
What
: 2
day camp designed to introduce players to the fundamentals of the game, spend time with their future teammates, and determine player interest for the upcoming football season.
When
: June 11
& 12, 2018 from 3:30pm – 4:45pm
Where
: St. Thomas More Collegiate Field
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The 2017-2018 school year has been a journey of joy and sorrow and we have been humbled to be a part of this community all the way through. We hold every student, every parent and every staff member of this school in our thoughts and prayers as we prepare for the end of another school year. The Parents Association would like to wish everyone a peaceful and rejuvenating summer break. We will continue to work as your PA well into the summer and we will see you all in September 2018.
Our next PA Meeting will be on Monday, June 11th at 7:00 pm. Please note that we will take a break over the summer however we will be available if needed. If there are any questions please contact us at
[email protected]
or
[email protected].
Our next Meeting dates are as follows:
June 11th
at 7:00 pm
July 23rd
(to be confirmed)
September 17th
(to be confirmed)
As you relax over the summer, please take the time to imagine yourself in the wonderful and rewarding role of volunteer! Please send us an email:
[email protected]
if you're ready to sign-up or would like more information on all the short-term or longer-term ways you can volunteer. Parents that bring talents, skills and gifts to our school make us unique and strong. Please help us grow into a stronger community that our students and teachers can all benefit. We are stronger working together as a team than being silent and not sharing with the greater community. We look forward to working with you and are always able to adapt to your scheduling needs!
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June Knight Club Sale
The two biggest sales of the year are coming up!
Grade 8 Uniform Sale
(TODAY!!) Thursday, June 7th, 3-6pm
This sale is meant for incoming grade 8s and other new students joining us in September.
Back-to-School Sale
Wednesday, August 29th, 12-5pm
This sale is meant for all current students entering grades 9-12.
If any parents or students are available to help out at either of these sales,
PLEASE NOTE THAT
ONLINE ORDERS WILL NOT BE FILLED BETWEEN JUNE 1st AND SEPTEMBER 3rd
.
ANY ORDERS RECEIVED DURING THIS TIME PERIOD WILL BE FILLED ONCE SCHOOL RESUMES IN SEPTEMBER.
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There are so many people to thank this year! At the top of our list, hats off to our star Mrs. Rajkumar who cooked and helped out at about 85% of all lunches! It is one thing to schedule people in and quite another to cook food deliciously consistently.
Thanks to our super hot lunch leaders: weekly (Mrs. Lemp, Mrs. Walters, Mrs. Durand), monthly (Mrs. Taraviras, Mrs. Sachinidis, Mr. Ng, Mrs. Del Rosario, Mrs. Cepeliauskas, Mrs. Lashmore, Mrs. Petersen, Mrs. Larson). occasionally (Mrs. Gomez, Mrs. Rickaby, Mrs. Hayek, Mrs. DeGuzman, Mrs. Porcioncula, Mrs. Delazzari, Mrs. Comuzzi, Mrs. Benedet, Mrs. Cirillo, Mrs. Batljan, and Mr. Polych).
Much appreciation to our shoppers: weekly (Mrs. Stadjuhar, Mrs. Lemp), regularly (Mr. & Mrs. Hernandez, Mrs. Sheenan, Mrs. Tran, Mrs. Del Rosario, Wasaznik Family).
Thanks to Ms. Lauang, the student council, Mr. Farano, the lacrosse team, Mr. Muise, the ultimate team, the volleyball team, the music families and the basketball families for filling in all the gaps.
Thanks also to Mr. Carolan, Mrs. Kelly and Mr. Mitchell for getting the menus out on the web. Thanks also to Mr. Carl, Mr. Domingo and Mr. Ramil for cleaning up after us.
Thanks to our hardworking P.A. Exec, Mrs. Wasaznik, Mrs. Takacs, Mrs. Hernandez, Mrs. Suttorp, Mrs. McIntosh, Mrs. Bell for their encouragement and support all year through.
Last but not least, all our other outstanding volunteer families in no particular order: Olaybel, Figueroa, Friesen, Arizola, Gorospe, Tran, Rickaby, Dadson, Jiang, Ponis, Prosperi-Porta, Chimko, Tsang, Schianni, Batljan, Casellato, Rodriquez, Redford, Pugliese, Sheenan, DiTosto, Bremer, Hernandez, Rukavina, Sawyer, Tengku, Bencze, Semilla, Silveri, Mones, Moniz, Blanco, Yuen, Martin, Chay, Li, Ludwiczak, Balbino, DeGuzman, Porcioncula, Rajkumar, Walters, Dizon, Takacs, Durand, Lemp, Riggs, Ciccone, Yang, Westman, Sachinidis, Christiansen, Suresh, Dulay, Petersen, Larson, Peloso, Tarelli, Titotto, Scaglione, Jarman, Silveira, Wong, Wasaznik, Way, and Aunt Bonnie.
If I missed anyone, I apologize. Sharing laughs, food and community with you and great comments from the students made this year’s work worthwhile.
Have a great summer everybody! God reward you for all your dedication to our school.
- Carisa Del Rio, STMC Hot Lunch Coordinator
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Grad Events - Be a Parent Volunteer!
We still need volunteers for Dry Grad (June 28-29). We need up to 20 volunteers, but so far we have only had 4 people sign-up following 2 sign-up appeals!
It is our dedication to our community and the kids at STMC that make this school so special. Our grads are saying good-bye to this wonderful chapter of their lives at STMC and leaving to explore the new possibilities we have all worked so hard to prepare them for.
Please help us now to make this celebration a lasting memory and to honour that dedication from the STMC community. Please read this very special and heart-felt appeal from a grade 12 parent:
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"Hello Grade 11 parents:
My name is Cedric Vaz and my son Dario is graduating this year from STMC. Last year I volunteered to be the Dry Grad parent volunteer captain to oversee the grade 11 parent volunteers to ensure the grads had a fun filled night at Canlan 8 Rinks in Burnaby. Last year the grad dinner was held on a Saturday night and so Dry Grad ran into early Sunday morning. I do realize that the Grad dinner this year is on Thursday June 28 and Dry Grad would end at approximately 5:00 AM on Friday morning June 29.
On behalf of the grade 12 parents I am asking that you consider supporting the graduates this year by volunteering as a Dry Grad captain or grade 11 parent volunteer. We are looking for 10 volunteers at the minimum and one captain. There isn't very much preparation time at all and the duties on the night are very straight forward. I would meet with the Dry grad parent captain once before the event and will provide all the instructions. Parent volunteers would be stationed in pairs at different locations and rotate every so often. You get to experience the grads having a great time and the grads are very appreciative of you being there. I found the experience last year to be very rewarding especially knowing that those amazing grads were enjoying their grad night in a safe and secure location. Your volunteer experience will truly fill you with pride knowing that you are giving back in such an important way. The night actually goes by really fast and you are able to help yourself to the food and drinks (lots of coffee) as you wish. Most of the parents would be able to leave prior to the hypnotist beginning at approx 4:00 AM but 2-3 and the captain would need to remain until all the grads are picked up between approximately 5:15 AM and 5:30 AM. Remember, your child will be graduating next year and you will want the grade 11 parents to commit their time to ensure your child enjoys a safe Dry Grad.
Please volunteer, take the Friday off and enjoy a long weekend. Without parent volunteers Dry Grad would not happen."
-
Cedric, Grade 12 Parent
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Thank you for volunteering so that our graduating class can enjoy this special time of achievement and celebration! Parent volunteers are needed to assist with set-up, food preparation, service and clean-up duties at these events. If you'd like more information on how you can help or if you’d like to volunteer at a certain event, please send us an email:
[email protected]
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