

Rundle Academy March 2017
#WEARERUNDLE
A Message from our Principal One of the constants in our High School program is the “Semester 2 Turnaround Day”. Students meet with their TAs to discuss the upcoming semester, reflect on the previous semester and develop goals and strategies that would best meet their needs and support their achievement moving forward.
Mr. Van der Meer
In her book, GRIT, Angela Duckworth references the current coach of the Seattle Seahawks football team, Pete Carroll. She writes about a moment in Pete’s life that saw him hit a roadblock and left him unsure as how best to move forward. He sought out advice and inspiration from a fellow colleague, John Wooden, an accomplished NCAA basketball coach. Essentially, what Pete discovered was that he was lacking a plan for how to establish a philosophy that would drive his own personal success. While our students might not be establishing their own life philosophies as they move through the program at Rundle Academy, they are developing the skills and understanding of how to achieve success and overcome obstacles. As Pete strived towards his philosophy, he understood that there exists guidelines and boundaries that needed to be considered in achieving the success he sought. A diagram of Pete’s considerations, suggested by Angela Duckworth, describes this process, but is also aligned with how we approach achievement at Rundle Academy:
One of the ways the TA system helps students is by identifying their goals for post secondary and life after Rundle with the understanding that, to achieve these goals, we must first consider goals for the year, the semester and the short term, much in the same fashion as the diagram above. As much as Senior High students purposely set down on the first day of Semester 2 to work through these goals, each one of the students at Rundle Academy spends time working with their TA identifying what is of personal importance and the small steps that need to be taken on their path to achieving these goals. As Pete Carroll identifies, the process is not an easy one, but fortunately for our students they have the ability, perseverance and support available to them so that the process not only becomes achievable, but a reality.
#WEARERUNDLE
 
A Message from Mr. Burla Innovation, Design Thinking and Passion These title words are the focus of many education articles these days and with good reason. These are important future skills that today's students will need in post-secondary school and the work force. Newer initiatives around school have taken these ideas and Rundle-ized them.
Mr. Burla
Recent months have seen the Junior High take on their Entrepreneurial Spirit Project that has them problem solve and collaborate on a challenge that will improve aspects of our community. Elementary STEM club started in hopes of beginning the process of innovation that will prepare them for Maker Club when they get to Junior High, where they will continue to build on their design skills. The Maker movement is a good example of how, although these terms may be talked about a lot now, we have always understood the need for our population to take hold of their passions and work on their problem solving skills. Academic Fair is just behind us and this has been a staple passion project event at our school for more than 15 years. Each year, it is always impressive to see the topics students choose to present on as it truly speaks to the essence of their passions. These are the topics they not only want to learn more about, but also want to share their knowledge of with their peers and outside adults. This is engaged, beautiful learning. I recently had a wonderful conversation with a long standing parent who has seen our program grow. This parent commented to me about how much we help others and how they have witnessed Rundle's commitment to helping students grow. They commented on how Kids Helping Kids has grown and how much they support others, the efforts in "Brown Bagging" and adopting families during the holidays, and in recent years, the "Sandwich for a Story" program and the F&ST program's development. What was interesting was the comment made about how they have seen the passion around the move from teacher directed support to student centred initiatives. This comment was very appreciated and nice to hear, and it speaks to how well our student population can take hold of an idea and build and create a program around it. The development of the Entrepreneurial Project was the spark of the conversation, but I believe it can be supported by initiatives such as peer support this year, as well. A very generous comment. So what is next for innovation and passion? Well, the Talent Show is always a great way for students to show off their passions that are often a part of their life outside the Academy. Then there is high school. A place where they gain exposure to in-depth curriculum that builds on their passions and gets them excited for their next step, post secondary school. There, they will pursue what they really love, and that will hopefully lead them to a career that they really love. Students: keep learning, keep innovating, and keep exploring your passions.
#WEARERUNDLE
Grade 6 Zoo Trip On January 10th, the grade 6 students went to The Calgary Zoo for the Flight, Aerodynamics and Biomimicry program. During this program, they learned how animals use Bernoulli’s Principle and how animals have influenced human flight through several hands on activities. Some of the activities the students took part in included comparing real bird’s wings, an iPad app about air movement, a sorting activity, and a parachute drop. One of the highlights from this field trip was walking through the bird conservatory and learning about the specific birds living there, such as the beautiful snowy owl.
Ms. Thompson
Mr. Locking
Ms. Falkenberg
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Zoo Trip, Grade 9 On Wednesday February 15th the grade 9s went totThe Calgary Zoo to learn about biological diversity. We had a chance to learn about different animal skulls, compare penguin genetics and learn about a variety of strategies in the animal and plant kingdoms to increase diversity within each species. Highlights of the day included playing matchmaker for some Humbolt Penguins, having a chance to see the new baby gorilla, and taking part in an interactive tour of the Canadian Wilds exhibit - including replicating a Whooping Crane mating dance!
Ms. Adams
Mr. Palmer
Ms. Schaffner
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Jr. High Girls Basketball The Jr. High Girls Basketball team has shown great growth over the past couple of months with their skills and understanding of the game. The girls have come together as a team ,encouraging and supporting one another. It is sad to see this season end, but the coaches are really looking forward to a great season next year. A big thank you to all the parents who ensured their daughters got to the early morning practices and cheered loudly at all of the games. Thank you for a great season!
Ms. Falkenberg
Roster: Dylan Flora Danika Gabrielle Kate Jaeda Jordan Ellie Braelyn Sophie Sasha Shea Elizabeth Danielle
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Mr. Wolf
Rockies Shine in Brooks The Senior Girl’s Basketball team travelled to Brooks, Alberta for a tournament on February 3rd and 4th to face some tough competition. In their first game, the team faced a tough squad from Notre Dame School. The girls played well but came up short with a 53-42 loss. Their next game came against Drumheller where they once again came up a bit short on the scoreboard. The final game was awarded as a win for Rundle as Calgary Academy forfeited due to a shortage of players. Despite the two losses, the girls had a great time in the skills competition. Sadie and Soleil made it to the final in the three point competition, which Sadie ended up winning in an exciting fashion! Mary represented our team in the free throw competition making it to the top three players. Well done Rockies! The team will travel to Three Hills on March 3rd in their final tournament of the season. Go Rockies Go!
#WEARERUNDLE
USED UNIFORM SALE! 

Thursday, March 9th 1:00 - 6:00 p.m. Junior High Lunchroom
 
Alumni Profile How Our Alumni Continue to Move Mountains Alumna Katie Evans ’10 IN THEIR OWN WORDS
After graduating from Rundle Academy, I was enrolled in a variety of courses involving Human Resources and Social Work. After some time, I decided to enrol into the Fashion Marketing Ms. Cawthorpe Program at Olds College. After taking some courses in Fashion Marketing, I decided to open up my own business and follow my passion in fashion! I developed The Clothing Bar because, since the time I could talk, I wanted a place to shop where I felt like I was a part of something. My choices of budget shopping were limited: Value Village, and/or Goodwill. I always knew there was more to shopping than clothes. Yes, clothes are what we sell; however, The Clothing Bar offers so much more than that. We offer a place for community, a place for local talent, and a place to feel like you have a second closet to run to in times of need. I have worked with multiple charities, raising money during events and donating unsold clothing. I try to get involved with the local small business community as much as I can. Rundle Academy allowed me the opportunity to receive individualized attention and learn in a family community. A message to future graduates: do not give up on following your dreams! Katie Evans has created her own website and Fashion Blog through her ownership of the The Clothing Bar in the Marda Loop area of Calgary. You are welcome to check out her website: http://www.clothingbarboutique.ca/
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Elementary Winter Activities Academy Elementary students were treated to some great weather when they spent 2 days snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in Kananaskis Country on February 14th and 15th. The students enjoyed spending time together in the great outdoors learning about wildlife, how mountains are formed, and forestation. Our amazing guides not only helped teach us about snowshoeing and cross-country ski skills but also about our beautiful surroundings. All in all, the students and staff had a wonderful time and enjoyed the experience immensely. We will look forward to another adventure next year!
Mr. Bucher
Ms. Kapitza
#WEARERUNDLE
Greek Day- Grade 6 Social Studies
To finish up our unit on Ancient Athens in Social Studies, Grade 6’s celebrated their first annual Greek day on Monday January 9th. The morning consisted of sharing projects on all aspects of Greek life with our Grade 4-6 students in the form of a gallery walk, and then a short presentation from each pair of students. Topics included Currency, Military, the Olympics, Clothing, Food and much more. Grade 6’s then enjoyed a fabulous Greek lunch from Pegasus restaurant to celebrate!
Ms. Thompson
Mr. Locking
Ms. Falkenberg
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Cheerleading The Rundle Cheerleading Team has finally entered their competition season after 4 long months of practice, and have now performed at two of their four competitions this year with fantastic results! The cheerleaders took home second place in the Battle of Champions Competition at the Corral Centre here in Calgary, and took home third place at the Dance and Cheer Challenge in Red Deer. We are looking forward to seeing what our last, and largest, competitions have in store for us! We hope to see lots of support at our final competition of the year on March 18th at Mount Royal University!
Ms. Rushton
Ms. Weddell
#WEARERUNDLE
 
JH ESP Project The Junior High has been engrossed in their Entrepreneurial Spirit Project. For February and March, each TA in the Junior High took on a challenge close to Rundle and has come up with their own plan to overcome it. Along the way they learned skills that included problem solving, organizing, presenting and researching, among other design thinking aspects.
Mr. Burla
The project's introduction was kicked off by two guest entrepreneur speakers hosted by Calgary Start Up, supported by Kari Gordon. Hannah Cree started the group off and led them through aspects of what it takes to be a social entrepreneur and how to look at things through different lenses. One exercise she led the students through was the "bad birthday idea" and how to take a bad idea and find good ideas within it. The second speaker, Stephen King, spoke about creativity. He discussed whether it was better being a "Guitar Player or a Guitar Hero" and which path led to creating new ideas and which led to consumption of things. The following month saw TAs look at two questions: 1) How can we communicate the benefits of our 2017 Project (that financially supports students at Rundle)? and 2) Are we environmentally friendly? Other speakers that have guided our Junior High include local entrepreneur and Start Up Calgary supporter Brian, who coached on goal setting, determining your baseline and finding your audience, as well as Rundle's own Director of Advancement, Aaron Goettel, and Director of Finance, Doug Hodgins, who both took time to answer questions and offer suggestions. The pitch presentations from the Junior High will occur March 20th and there are sure to be many take-away ideas
Elementary STEM Project With design thinking and problem solving at its core, 27 elementary students have come out to learn about the innovation process. Tackling problems, this group is expanding its understanding of collaboration and critical thinking, all the while learning about ideation and changing procedures as needs arise. The first two design challenges tackled the designing of a paper airplane that could loop around a marker and developing a storage unit to keep a snow ball frozen indoors. It has been a lot of fun seeing these engineers work hard at their challenges.
#WEARERUNDLE
Counsellor Understanding Confidentiality in School Counselling Confidentiality is one of the main ethical considerations for school counsellors. How do we maintain students' trust, but still do what we can to keep students safe and parents informed? How do laws and ethics co-exist? Here are some basic questions and answers on this topic for school counsellors.
Ms. Staniloff
1. What exactly is confidentiality? According to the Journal of Professional School Counselling: “Confidentiality is a professional’s promise or contract to respect clients’ privacy by not disclosing anything revealed during counselling, except under agreed upon conditions.” 2. Does a minor student have a right to confidentiality? No. In Alberta, a parent has the right to information gathered about their child in counselling. However, the counsellor and parent may agree ahead of time that certain aspects of service will remain confidential. The counsellor will only disclose information to a custodial parent upon request, or if it is in the best interest of the student. 3. Can a school counsellor see a minor student without parental consent? Yes. Guidance and counselling services are considered an integral part of the school program. Consequently, parental consent is not required. However, consent is required for formal psychoeducational testing. 4. Who is actually the school counsellor’s “client?” The minor student, or the parents? From an ethical standpoint, the school counsellor’s client is the student. The parents’ needs are considered, but the needs of the students come first, above all others. Please feel free to contact me at 403-250-2965 (Ext. 103) or staniloff@rundle.ab.ca if you have questions regarding counselling services at Rundle Academy. Ms. Amie Staniloff School Counsellor
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Peer Support The students in Peer Support have been very busy planning Pink Shirt Day over the past few weeks. They promoted kindness throughout the day by visiting every classroom and distributing homemade cookies, eating lunch with Junior High students, and talking about ways to stop bullying. Promoting kindness, encouraging student success, and being present, made a huge difference for the student population. Peer support is grateful that Rundle Academy came together to show their support in eliminating bullying by wearing a pink shirt. In the upcoming months, Peer Support will be busy planning many activities for Mental Health Week.
Ms. Staniloff
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Glenbow Museum- Grade 5 On January 25, 2017, the students in Grade 5 went on a field trip to explore the Glenbow Museum as part of the Social Studies curriculum. They looked at how the First Nations from four different geographic zones utilized the resources of those areas for food, shelter, and clothing. Students especially enjoyed the hands-on activities, visual displays, and stories that our educator told throughout the day, which helped them to better understand different First Nations’ cultures and to reinforce concepts learned at school.
Ms. Briggs
Mr. Bucher
Ms. Petropoulos
#WEARERUNDLE
Car Rally, Grade 5 Over the past couple of months, the grade 5 students have been learning about electricity and they had the opportunity to build a number of different mechanisms. As a culminating project, we had a guest speaker, George Pastirik from Science Is…, in to talk to students about building their own battery-powered vehicles. Then, on February 22nd the grade 5’s had the chance to show off their own creations during our annual Car Rally. All the students did a fantastic job on their projects, and it was a great way to end our electricity unit. The entire elementary had the chance to vote on the finalist and the results were as follows: The winner for Best Use of Recycled Materials was Munro, the Best Looking Car award went to Max, and the Most Creative Concept was a tie between Munro and Lyla. Congratulations!
Mr. Bucher
Ms. Petropoulos
#WEARERUNDLE


Grade 8/9 Boys Basketball The 8/9 boys wrap up their season tomorrow and look forward to another good playoff run as they look to capture their second league title in two years!
Mr. Paz
Mr. Vesey
#WEARERUNDLE
Teacher’s Pet, Grade 4 This month, the grade 4s took part in two very special in-school field trips, courtesy of Teacher’s Pet. During the first visit, the students participated in the Alberta edition of The Amazing Race, in which they travelled to the six geographic regions of our province to determine which would be the best area to start a new city. In the next visit, Team Carpitza took part in an introduction to simple machines. This time, the students learned about a variety of machines and their uses, and put their knowledge to use to build and test out catapults. A big thank you to the grade 4 parents for volunteering their time to help make this happen, and therefore make the students’ experience that much more enjoyable.
Mr. Carr
Ms. Kapitza
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Outdoor Education The Junior High Outdoor Environmental Education class is deep into our climbing lessons at Mount Royal University’s climbing gym. Students have mastered the knots and belay techniques required for independent top rope climbing. Self checks, partner checks and climbing commands have been memorized and perfected! We are now practising physical movement techniques, and that will assist with facing the many challenging climbs and wall problems!!
Mr. Palmer
#WEARERUNDLE
STEM Robotics Option Rundle Academy is offering a STEM Robotics option class to junior high students during the second semester. In this class, students build a Lego Mindstorm robot, including a programmable “brick”. Once completed, students learn the basics of coding using the brick’s program. Then they set upon the task of programming their robots to complete various tasks including: following a set course, moving objects, and recognizing the environment using sight and touch sensors. Students learn a wide range of skills throughout the course as they collaborate with partners, observe and manipulate the Lego components, design challenges, plan tasks, code programs, and reflect upon their learning. Once students are comfortable with the programming aspect, they will then decide on a display format to showcase their learning.
Mr. Wolf
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Kids Helping Kids Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids On February 7th, Ms. Kapitza accompanied 10 of our elementary and junior high students from Kids Helping Kids who volunteered their time to make sandwiches and prepare lunches for many Calgary students in-need. In total the group helped feed 1057 students. Way to go, Kids Helping Kids! We look forward to going back on March 7th!
Ms. Kapitza
#WEARERUNDLE
 
Grade 7/8 Boys Basketball The Grade 7/8 Boys Basketball Season will finish with the year end tournament on March 3rd and 4th, hosted at Rundle Academy. The team’s thirteen young athletes have played nearly 20 games this season in both tournaments and league play. Each week the team has worked hard to improve their fundamental basketball skills and players have developed immensely. Players have shown commitment throughout the season, sometimes arriving 30 minutes early for 7am practice! We look forward to finishing the season on a high note and seeing what these young athletes have in store for Rundle Academy in future years! Coach Carr and Coach Locking
Mr. Carr
Mr. Locking
#WEARERUNDLE
Senior Boys Basketball The Senior Boys Basketball team have had an extremely successful season being ranked in the top 15 in the province! We went undefeated in league play, earning us #1 in overall rankings. In the semi finals against Master’s Academy, the boys won 84-48. They took on Clear Water Academy in the league finals where they ended up winning by 20 points! It was a very tight game going into the fourth quarter, but a 25-3 run helped to solidify the boy’s win! We look forward to hosting the 1A boys basketball provincials next week!
Ms. Switzer
Mr. Rasch
We wish Quintin M. and Alex P. all the best next year and want them to know how much we are going to miss their presence on the court! Their dedication, mentoring, and encouragement were extremely beneficial to all of our younger players. They both were great role models!
FAST
Families and Schools Together
Ms. Speidel
Ms. Weddell
Ms. Kapitza
Ms. Whiting
It’s hard to believe that we’ve already wrapped up our 6th week with the FAST Families - and we have only two weeks until the families graduate from this amazing program! Our Academy students have been getting nothing but positive feedback from the staff and program leaders at St. Damian - they have truly let their leadership skills shine, and have been instrumental in running a smooth program! Special thanks to Teanna and Emily who have stepped up as lead volunteers, and to James who has attended every volunteer evening! It has been so rewarding for us to see the families grow closer in their school community throughout this program, and we look forward to celebrating their success on their Graduation evening on March 23rd!
Rundle Academy Performing Arts presents
Robin Hood
by Larry Blamire
7 1 0 2 , 8 1 5 1 May
s t r Fine A e
Centr 6:30 s r o o D :00 7 w o h S
Tickets: bit.ly/academytix
Presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.