A Great Blog

#wearehawks

2012-05-18T08:49:00.001-07:00

WJ Mouat Secondary's newly minted 50-member Character Council planned and executed #wearehawks week at the end of April, 2012. The components to the week included a school-wide assembly & kick-off, the humourous yet passionate 'Character Police', Mouat Minute videos on topics that addressed respect, responsibility, and caring. Abbotsford Mayor, Bruce Banman, participated in an Improv Show in front of a packed theatre where he spoke on character and connected our initiative with the City of Character initiative in Abbotsford, of which he is a member. Students were given an opportunity to show their support by leaving their had prints permanently on the walls of the cafeteria, and over 950 books were collected for charity. The biggest hit may well have been the #wearehawks t-shirt designed by Character Council member, Harman... more shirts have been ordered!

What a week and what a start to the School of Character movement. The best part? It was student-led!!

A Staff Character Committee of 30 staff worked together over the 2010/2011 school year to identify our common language of good character: Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Caring, Awareness, & Teamwork. The next step identified by the leaders of the committee was to hand the initiative over to students so that they could begin weaving in our common language into all the parts of what makes Mouat... Mouat. In fact the language was chosen because it is what we are already about! The goal, now, is to make our roll-out of 'what we're about' more intentional and more widespread. Perhaps teachable moments in classrooms will lead to a discussions on respect, admin-student discussions in the office lead to increase in responsible behaviour, school-wide projects will lead to greater awareness of the needs around us, modelling and impromptu discussions will lead to integrity, involvement in sport will lead to a better understanding of and commitment to the importance of working well with others in teams. Do these things happen already? Absoluetely! Would we continue to build an even stronger school culture for all learners if we were more intentional in an on-going, cross-curricular, system-wide manner, with our common language of good character? Absolutely!

As new students, staff, parents, community supporters enter our building, the hope is that they will quickly be able to articulate the Mouat Way of doing things and then to add them to the ways they work & play at Mouat.

Thank you students for the good work! Looking forward to what 2012/2013 brings!

If you'd like to be a part of the Mouat Character Council, please EMAIL US with your interest.

Way to Go Students!

2012-04-25T13:21:00.003-07:00

The Michael Smith Challenge is a national science contest written by over 1000 students in grades 8, 9, and 10 every year. It was piloted in BC in April 2002 and has run nationally every year since. The Michael Smith Challenge is the only nationwide competition covering all science subjects taught in grade 10. It’s offered in English and French and consists of 6 short answer questions on anything science related. For example, one year students were asked: “Calculate the number of water molecules that fell on Canada last year . . . ” Where would you begin?

This year WJ Mouat had 5 exceptional students attempt the Challenge: Anita dos Santos, Ben Klammer, Kulvir Sekhon, Arshdeep Ganda, and Spencer Spenst. All five students did extremely well and placed in the top 25% in Canada.

Top 3% ---> Anita dos Santos
Top 10% --> Arshdeep Ganda
Top 10% --> Ben Klammer
Top 10% --> Kulvir Sekhon
Top 25% --> Spencer Spenst

Congratulation again to all of you for your hard work and dedication. All of us here at Mouat are very proud of you!

Night To Remember Donations Requested

2012-03-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Night to Remember Committee is looking for the following donations for this year's Grads-Only Night To Remember event on April 20th, 2012.

Please contact Caroline Holland at carholl@telus.net if you have anything you would like to donate.

Items Needed

150 samosas

26 cases of pop

300 individual bags of chips

coffee

chocolate for fondue

4 large bottles Ranch dip

4 large bottles Ketchup

4 large bottles of Mustard

4 large bottles of Relish

3 jars of Mayonnaise

hot chocolate mix

dessert squares

cups for hot beverages

bags of small marshmallows

anything else parents are willing to donate

Healthy Living Groups

2012-02-27T07:57:00.001-08:00

On Feb. 2, 2012, the Mouat Aboriginal Program launched a pilot project, a Healthy Living Girls' Group, which supports the respect, integrity and awareness aspects of Mouat's School of Character Initiative.

A group of seven girls meet once a week at lunch for 6 weeks to learn about a holistic approach to their health. Personal progress is recorded individually in a weekly Medicine Wheel Journey journal and reflected upon together weekly. A discussion is led on a different component of health each week by either a staff member from Aboriginal Health, Mouat P.E. teacher, Youth Care Worker or Mouat's Aboriginal Program Director. Mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health are subjects addressed through topics such as physical activity, nutrition, boundaries, self-esteem, and practicing gratitude.

Girls are literally taking steps towards reaching optimum health by recording the number of steps taken daily with a pedometer they each received. Healthy meals are enjoyed together at each group session as well as new friendships being formed. The response from the girls has been fabulous! A grant has even been applied for and approved for this group from the Aboriginal Sports Recreation and Physical Activity Partners Council!!! The interest by other students has been overwhelming to not only start another Healthy Living Girls' Group, but also a Healthy Living Boys Group after Spring Break.

WJ Mouat Partners With Microsoft to become IT Academy

2012-01-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

Megan Warmerdam, WJ Mouat MS Office Specialist

Business Education teacher Megan Warmerdam has completed the Microsoft Office Specialist program in Microsoft Word 2010 which allows Mouat to become one of the first schools in the province of British Columbia to be recognized as a Microsoft IT Academy. Students taking the Data Management 12 class will have the opportunity to gain proven technical skills which employers look for in today's innovation ecomony. These Microsoft Certification credentials will provide a competitive edge in embarking on careers with major corporations for Data Management 12 students.

Congratulations Ms. Warmerdam and Congratulations WJ Mouat!

Awareness

2011-12-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

One of Mouat's School of Character values is 'Awareness'. Click Here for a definition.

If you were to walk through the halls of the school at lunch time over the past few weeks, you would be bombarded by groups of students selling various items to raise awareness and support for a number of causes. For example the Mouat Mullets (picture to the right), a group of grade 12 boys who pour themselves into everything related to lunchtime intramurals, have taken the initiative to support both Adopt-A-Family and Cancer Research by ordering 'Mouat Mullet' wrist bands and selling them to the student body. Next, they are selling raffle tickets for the school to have the opportunity to shave off their prized mullets. Totals thus far have exceeded $200. Keep in mind that there is no course credit associated with their actions; it's simply being aware of what's going on around them and trying to make a difference in their world.

Of course, this is only the beginning at Mouat. Madame Castonguay's Social Studies students have been selling home-made cupcakes to benefit refugees in Tanzania (Click Here for info), Ms. St-Hilaire's Social Justice students participated in a full day 'Vow of Silence' complete with sponsors and all proceeds benefiting the Fistula Foundation, Mr. Thiessen's Entrepeneurship 12 students are selling Butter Chicken & beverages with 1/2 their proceeds set to benefit the Salvation Army, and the list goes on!

What a wonderful school community with a strong commitment to 'Awareness' both locally and globally!

Unbelievable Students!!

2011-11-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

Mouat is filled with students who are extremely respectful, responsible, and caring! One sees it in the halls, classrooms, and in the office. If you imagine 1500 students plus over 100 staff walking the halls between classes, you might expect a bit of a chaotic feel, but that is not the case! Have a look at students in the halls (random clip)... and check out some of the costumes on our Oct. 31st dress-up day.

Way to go Mouat students! You consistently demonstrate good character in our school community!!

Fruits & Veggies!

2011-09-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

WJ Mouat continues to promote healthy eating in our school and is proud to be a part of the BC School Fruit & Vegetable Nutritional Program this year (Brochure). Every two weeks, students will have the opportunity to sample various fruits and vegetables in their classrooms. There is no cost to students to participate. If you do not wish your student to participate, please fill in the permission form sent home with your student on September 9th and return it to the office before Oct 1st. If you did not receive a copy of this permission form, CLICK HERE.

For more information, CLICK HERE for the program brochure or visit http://www.aitc.ca/bc/sfvnp/

Good Character

2011-09-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Good character was defined at our grade assemblies this past week. One of the concepts/terms identified as being foundational at Mouat is Respect. Imagine a school without respect. If all 1600 students & staff weren't respectful, the place would be thrown into utter chaos. It is actually happening in some parts of the world right now and has impacted the Fraser Valley very recently. Remember the riots in Vancouver over a hockey game?

In my opinion, respect has everything to do with treating other people the way you'd want to be treated & treating other people's things they way you'd want your own things to be treated. That makes sense to me. Does that connect with you?

First Day 101

2011-09-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

It's almost here! Here are a few tips to get you through your first day at WJ Mouat!

--> Check the front doors for your name and the location of your HAT (Homeroom). Report to your HAT at the bell.

--> Maps will be available in your HAT class. If you get lost, look for any adult to help!

--> First Day Hours: 8:25am - 10:50am.

Warning Bell // 8:25 am

Homeroom // 8:30 - 9:10 am

Block A // 9:15 - 9:35 am

Block B // 9:40 - 10:00 am

Block C // 10:05 - 10:25 am

Block D // 10:30 - 10:50 am

Extended Day Classes 10:55 - 11:15 am

--> Plan to be early. You don't need to bring much with you. A pen or pencil would cover it for the first day.

--> Make a good first impression! When you meet your teachers, show them your best! Being polite and respectful are always a good start.

--> When the day is over, please leave campus asap.

2011-07-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Are you a Mouat student that has an article to contribute to our new blog? Email your article (under 300 words) to wjm.secondary@gmail.com for consideration!

2011-07-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the WJ Mouat Blog. Articles to come soon!