Month: September 2018

Friday was a beautiful day at CNG… I was able to tell the kids at the end of our Terry Fox Day how incredibly proud I am to be part of a school that has incredibly caring and motivated students.  As a school we raised nearly $5000, shaved 12 heads, made a moving tribute video and moved all 1000 Phoenix through at least 4km of Panorama pathways.  I feel lucky to finish off this busy month with an event where we could all gather together to celebrate successes as a community and to show that we are a school who believes in things bigger than ourselves.  I stand by my belief that I truly teach in the best school in Calgary!

Congrats to our soccer teams for an awesome start to their season.  The girls coming home with a win and the boys putting up a good fight losing by only 1.  Good luck this week!

Congrats to our cross country team for another successful race.  We have our final race this week on Wednesday at Canmore Park.  See your coaches for race details.  Good luck team!

Our volleyball teams all play their first games this week. Both our boys teams will play at home and both our girls teams play at TMC!  It will be a couple nights of incredible competition for all 4 teams!  Good luck athletes!

NOTE TO ALL ATHLETES ON CROSS COUNTRY, SOCCER and VOLLEYBALL: we have black UnderArmour Phoenix Athletics hoodies for sale to all kids on teams.  The hoodies are $40 and athletes can bring cash to Ms Connolley.

Modules continue this week.  Nothing new, so just expect one more week of the same module you were working on last week.  Weather is supposed to be pretty chilly again, so come prepared if you are in an outdoor module!

Today’s meet is located at Confederation Park off of 10th street.  This is just south of what your map indicates.  Good luck!  Have so much fun!!!  Run fast!

Hard to believe we are heading into our last week of Sept and officially closing the first month of school!  There are some BIG important things happening this week!

Phys Ed

• New modules for all our students with the exception of our grade 7-9 Competitive groups.  Come prepared to stay warm outside.
• Anyone in an outdoor module should bring extra socks!

Athletics

• Congrats to our cross country team for doing an incredible job at the first meet!  Good luck at the next one this week!  See your coaches to get the details.
• Good luck to our soccer teams who finally kick off their season and play some games this week.
• Congrats to our athletes who were selected to represent the senior teams for volleyball this year, and a continued good luck to our students who have one tryout left for the junior teams.

Annual Tradition

• Terry Fox Run is on Friday!  It’s an exciting event because we’ve never had this many students running it at one time!  A few important things:
  • Tribute video will be made early this week.  If students wish to place a name on our whiteboard to show who they are running for, we invite them to the aux gym for a quick photo at lunch on Monday or Tuesday
  • Head shave forms are due to Mr Miller by Wednesday.  Any students wanting to shave their head and/or donate their hair must have the parental/guardian permission form signed and handed in.
  • The run will go ahead on Friday even if it’s chilly out!  Please help your child make the best choice in clothing and footwear to ensure they are warm/safe on the course.  Remember it is 4km long and how we dress (for whatever the weather may be) can really effect how enjoyable to the run is.
  • Please talk as a family about the run and the importance of having a positive attitude and doing their best.  We move our bodies on this day to pay tribute to a great Canadian who as done amazing things for cancer research.  We are healthy and strong and as a community we are change makers who have the potential to do amazing things!
  • Fundraising… not mandatory, but is definitely a part of the tradition.  We hope to raise at least a toonie for Terry for each student/staff in our school.  Students were given the opportunity to take pledge forms (and I have more if needed) and ask friends and family if they’d like to donate.  Also, we have a very lonely school page with ZERO fundraisers on it!  If your family is interested in using the online tool to collect funds please use the following link and sign up for a page connected to CNGS.  Create a Fundraising Page!
  • Parents are welcome to join us.  Meet out on the back field at approx 10:15am and join in the fun.  Maybe plan a meeting spot with your child as they all blend together as 1000!!!!!

Thank you for your support.  It was awesome to see so many of you at Meet the Teacher.  Lots of new faces and lots of returning families!  We feel very blessed to have your support with all we do!

We had a great first week of PE and we’re starting to get used to this every other day PE thing!  Big reminder that students MUST be on time because we are submitting attendance through PowerSchool at the start of every single class.  Please check in on your way into the gym or you might be marked absent!

Modules continue this week, same as last week.  MOST kids are outside all week (soccer and cross country).  The weather is forecasted to be cool and maybe wet.  Students MUST change every single day, so our outdoor module students need to be packing sweatpants, tights or track pants to stay warm.  Hoodies are a good idea.  We also recommend mini mitts, toques and an extra pair of socks for this week.

Good luck to our AMAZING cross country team as they compete for the first time on Monday.  This is an awesome team for anyone who loves running because everyone can join, the course aren’t that long and the commitment is minimal.  Please see Mr Miller, Ms Mistal or Ms Meltzer if you are interested in joining still.

Congrats to this years athletes who will be representing the Phoenix on our school soccer teams.  We had a good showing for tryouts and some tough decisions needed to be made.  This is our only week of practices before games kick off next week.  Good luck with your seasons CNG soccer players.

This week marks to start of the volleyball tryouts.  Jr tryouts are for students in grade 6-8 and our Sr tryouts are for grade 9s with some invites from the jr tryouts.  Please be sure your blue form as been handed in prior to tryout.   If you cannot make your tryout, please talk to the coach BEFORE tryouts to express your interest.  Adding on athletes after the first tryout is very problematic.

Tues 2:45-4:30pm – Jr girls

Wed 2:45-4:30pm – Jr boys

Thurs 6:45-8am – Sr boys; 2:45-4:30pm Sr girls

No school Friday which means no Fit club.  Have an awesome long weekend!

Congrats to all the girls who were successful in obtaining a spot on the girls soccer team.  There has been a change in practice for this week from what was put in the school newsletter.  Practice this week will be on THURSDAY not Wednesday.

 

What a busy week to kick off the school year!!!  Pretty exciting to have the opportunity to teach every single student in the whole school… we’ve got A LOT of names to learn and kids to get to know, but it’s an awesome challenge.

For the next 6 weeks the students will be rotation through volleyball, soccer and cross country in grades 5-6.  All students will do all modules and be taught by all three of us.

In grade 7-9, we discussed with our students choosing their level of interest in PE for the school year.  We have 3 sections that the students were asked to express their desire for the section of their choice:

• Competitive: highly motivated physical students with a strong understanding of skills and the ability to combine skills together.  Students in this grouping enjoy tough competition and understand the rules of most sport.  These students will be challenged to build on strategy and tactics in sports and also to use their knowledge to teach others.  There is an increased fitness demand on these students and they will be expected to build their own work out plan.
• Recreational: students who enjoy PE and feel comfortable trying new things.  Students in this group have a decent level of knowledge about many sports and like to be part of a team.  These students will continue building on their previous knowledge in skills, sports and fitness.
• Fundamental: students who would like to focus on the basics needed for success in team sports.  Students in this section will be developing their confidence in individuals skills and then applying them to games.  These students often feel hesitant in a regular PE setting due to inexperience, lack of confidence, being shy or worrying about letting others down.  This groups will be working on building a love for movement and play.

All groupings are assessed based on improvement of physical skills, respect and teamwork, and daily effort.  All sections will rotate through all sports just in a different way, and we will also have the opportunity to each teach all the groups.  We did this system last year and had great success, so we are excited to get to carry on with it in grades 7-9.

In Phoenix Athletics

Soccer tryouts continue this week.  Girls have their last tryout on Monday and boys on Tuesday.  Good luck athletes!

Cross country team starts training this week, Tuesdays at 7:15am and Thursdays after school.  This is an awesome team as there are no cuts and students will only race against other students in their same grade of the same gender.  There are 3 meets over the course of the next 4 weeks, so grab a friend and come out to run!!!!  Anyone in grade 6-9 is welcome, so please visit Mr Miller, Ms Mistal or Ms Meltzer for more information!

Volleyball tryouts start the week of Sept 17th!  Stay tuned for more information!

A couple more sleeps and then summer official ends… the good news is, I’M SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU ALL!!!

This fall is going to bring big changes… new grade, lots of new teachers, new friends, new structure to our time table, but most importantly new opportunity!!!  I challenge you to take all these changes as a chance to try new things and become your best self.

Big items for this first week of school:

1. Anyone grade 6-9 interested in trying out for teams this year MUST pick up the BLUE tryout form and have it handed in to the PE team prior to tryouts.  It is one form for the whole year, so get it signed now!
2. Boys soccer tryouts are on WEDNESDAY SEPT 5 for grade 6-9 from 2:45-4:30pm.
3. Girls soccer tryouts are on THURSDAY SEPT 6 for grade 6-9 from 2:45-4:30pm.
4. Friday will be our first Fit Club.  It starts at 7:15am and is open to all members of our CNG community.  Come out and start your day getting in shape with us!

Enjoy your last moments of summer… I hope you aren’t dreading being back, and though sleeping in and hanging out is hard to beat, CNG is a really great school and I know I look forward to being back together!