High School News

At 6:30pm on Monday, May 14th, all grade 10 students and parents are invited to attend an orientation meeting regarding next year’s YWAM trip. Each year, our grade 11 class works with Youth With A Mission Vancouver during the second week of September. Itinerary details will be shared, costs and fundraising will be discussed – along with a time for questions. If you are unable to attend, please speak with Mr. Nelson.

We have banquet tickets and ceremony invitations ready to be picked up at the Main Office. Pop buy to pick them up (or purchase them) any time!

In December, we were able to send a love offering of just over $6000 to our Jericho Ministries brothers and sisters in Honduras. This week, Jaime Young, former teacher and mission trip leader, sent us an update on how these funds blessed the Jericho community. Betsy and the Jericho staff were blown away by this surprise gift, but once again saw it as God’s provision in a particularly challenging time, financially. The funds we raised were used to cover December salaries for Jericho staff to allow their ministry with women and children to continue. A Jericho Ministries update was shared in video form on our Facebook page, if you are interested in hearing more.

As we head into Spring Break, our high school staff are looking ahead to March 2019 and our next Honduras mission trip. If you or your grade 9-11 child is interested in being part of this trip, please contact Mr. Nelson. An application package can be downloaded by clicking on the link below. May God continue to use this partnership to be a mutual blessing for our communities!

Honduras- 2019 Application Form

Calling All Runners, Throwers, Jumpers, Golfers, Etc: We Need You!

With winter slowwwwly receding (hopefully) and high school basketball almost complete, our attention turns to spring and outdoors sports. This week interested students signed up for Track and Field, Golf and Girls Soccer.

So far we have about 10 athletes wanting to participate in Track and Field and coaches Scott Smith, Kenton Friesen, and Andrew Aukema are eager to start training as soon as possible. A meeting has been set up for next Thursday, March 15 at 3:00pm to meet the athletes and set up a practice/training schedule.

No one as yet has signed up for Golf, but coach Frank Crosina has not begun to weave his persuasive magic so hopefully that will change in the near future.

As for Girls Soccer, we lost about 90% of our team to graduation last year and the sign up is to primarily to gauge interest among our students. So far we have 6 girls signed up but need at least 12 more to have a viable team.

All this is said to not only inform you but as high school parents perhaps you might strike up a conversation with your child to see if they are interested in any of these sports and to encourage them to sign up ASAP if that interest is positive.

Grade 8 Basketball Starts Soon

The Grade 8 Boys team this year will need to be a mix of grade 8 and 7 boys to field a team. We have 4-5 eligible grade 8 boys (those who played Junior A or B are not eligible for grade 8 basketball) plus 3-6 interested grade 7 boys from whom we still need parental approval. Our first practice will be held next Wednesday @ 3:00-5:00 in the Cedars gym. Games will be Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. Right now, coaches will be Mr. Ludditt with help from Mr. Wilson and Jenkin Wilson.

As of the moment, there will not be a Grade 8 Girls team as there are no grade 8 girls seeking to play basketball and we will not field a team with only grade 7s. Again, conversations with the grade 8 girls may change the interest and if that happens we will seek to get a team entered in the league.

Each term, many of our high school students achieve Honor Roll status for their academic work. In our second term, 67% of our students were on the Honor Roll (‘A’ average). At the end of the year, we recognize students who demonstrate high academic achievement consistently across all four terms with Academic Achievement medals and plaques. You can read more about the criteria for these awards in our Student and Parent Handbook.

However, we also take time to recognize students who demonstrate exemplary work habits throughout each semester. We do so with a Letter of Commendation from our High School Vice Principal, Mr. Nelson. This letter can be stuck to the fridge at home – but also has the potential to be used in applications for volunteer and/or paid work that a students may wish to apply for beyond our walls.

The following students received Letters of Commendation for their faithful attendance and attention to the task of learning in Semester 1:

Grade 8

• Rebekah B.
• Mitchell C.
• Jakob D.
• Makenzie D.
• Grace H.
• Tony K.
• Hayden L.
• Jakob O.
• Landen R.
• Brenn S.
• Andries V.
• Zachariah W.
• Jenevieve W.

Grade 9

• Noelle A.
• Jayden B.
• Anna D.
• Mckenzie F.
• Hailey G.
• Eryn I.
• Chloe N.
• Mitchell N.
• Trinitee O.
• Devon S.
• Evan S.
• Maillee T.
• Evan T.
• Max W.
• Cole W.
• Ben W.
• Anna W.

Grade 10

• Lucas C.
• Melody F.
• Karl K.
• Josh L.
• Antonija M.
• Micaela R.
• Sayler R.
• Victoria V.
• Emma W.

Grade 11

• Angela A.
• Aidan C.
• Evelyn D.
• Faith D.
• Lindsay H.
• Joel N.
• Abigail W.

Grade 12

• Taylor E.
• Darcee H.
• Jessi I.
• Caleb L
• Matthew M.
• Ashleigh R.
• Madison S.
• Kaitlynn S.
• Cassidy W.
• Serah Z.

It is that time of year again!

As we move toward Semester 2, work on next year’s high school schedule begins. Please make note of the following dates and steps in the process.

January 15-29 – Grade 8-11 Class Visits
Mr. Nelson and Mrs. Giesbrecht have started visiting classes to discuss the scheduling process, the new 2018 Graduation Program, and a short survey of courses that they are interested in or need to take next year. Click on these links for digital copies:

• New 2018 Graduation Program requirements
• Survey of possible course offerings

Note: All Ministry of Education course descriptions can be found under the curriculum tab at https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/

January 30th – High School Orientation Night
All grade 7 parents, and any other interested elementary parents, are invited to come to Cedars at 7pm to hear about the Cedars High School in a presentation by Mr. Nelson and a panel of current students and alumni. We will preview a draft of our 2018/19 grade 8 schedule, and discuss and answer questions about our high school program.

February 13-16th – First Draft of High School Schedule
During this week, students will be given an initial draft of the high school schedule and asked to complete a course selection sheet to provide feedback and help us create our final schedule. Although some time will be set aside to guide students through course selection at the school, Mrs. Giesbrecht, our Academic Advisor, is available by appointment to sit down with students and parents to provide further assistance. Students and parents are also encouraged to use the online myBlueprint tool to investigate post-secondary pathways and program prerequisites. All of our grade 8-11 students have been introduced to this tool, but Mr. Nelson can be contacted for support.

Mid-April – Final Student Timetables Issued
Once all course selection forms are collected, teacher assignments are confirmed, and small adjustments have been made, students will be placed into classes and, Lord willing, final timetables issued in April.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Nelson or Mrs. Giesbrecht.