An important weekAs we return to school next week, we have the opportunity to honour the lost children and survivors of the Canadian Residential School system. Our week will go as follows: Monday - Morning Message and Video on Mavericks Media Tuesday - Morning Message and Video on Mavericks Media Wednesday - Orange Shirt Day, Virtual Orange Shirt Day Assembly, Moment of Silence @ 2:15 Thursday - National Day of Truth & Reconciliation - No Classes We have had the privilege of having some resources shared with us from multiple sources. We would love to share them with our school community. They include the following...
 Our visual art students rememberIn honor of Truth and Reconciliation Day, Ms. Wray’s Grade 7 & 8 art class will be painting rocks to hide around the community to help spread awareness. If you find one of these rocks, you can send a picture to awray@rrvsd.ca, then feel free to either keep or rehide it. #MSremembers  notification of a covid vaccine clinicManitoba Public Health is hosting a COVID-19 Vaccination clinic in our school. The clinic will be hosted at Morris School on Wednesday October 13th. Mr. Watson visited classes yesterday to deliver envelopes containing more information as well as a consent form that is required to be signed IF you'd like your student to be vaccinated. All students under the age of 16 require parental consent to receive the vaccine at a school-based immunization clinic. From Manitoba Public Health: You can review information about the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine which is available online at https://www.manitoba.ca/covid19/vaccine/resources.html for more information about the risks and benefits of vaccination. Here you can also find more information for special situations such as autoimmune conditions. If you would like your child to receive the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at school, you can access the consent form and learn more about the consent process at https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/resources.html#forms. For households that can’t access or print an online consent form, you can get a paper consent form from your child’s school. Consent forms will also be available for parents the day of the clinic. After you complete the consent form, please have your child return this form to the school office by Friday, October 1st, in order for Public Health staff to prepare for the clinic. Only those students with signed consent forms will be called from class to attend the vaccination clinic. If you do not want your child to participate there is no further action that is required. In access - you reap what you sow!September has been a busy month for everyone in the Access class. We’ve had some new students join us and we’re looking forward to getting to know everyone a little better. We have been reaping the benefits of our garden and hope people have enjoyed our canned salsa and fresh vegetable soup. We were excited to clean up a few of the garden boxes and bring in the Cinderella pumpkins. It will be fun to bake and carve them next month.  soccer kick starts mavericks athleticsAfter what seems like an eternity, our student athletes were allowed to participate in a school sport. The Varsity Maverick soccer teams were both in action on Thursday this past week. Our Maverick girls hosted the RVS Raiders and our boys traveled to Vita to take on thee Shevchenko Sabres. The girls used a strong defensive effort to earn a 1-0 win over the Raiders. The boys lost in a squeaker (2-1) to the Sabres. We congratulate all the Mavericks for representing our school in athletics. We look forward to having our Junior Varsity Volleyball teams jump into competition at this weekend's tournament in Morris. There will be a live stream of the JV Volleyball action. You can access the live stream link through this link (https://www.mhsaa.ca/tournaments/view/6412/morris-mavericks-jv-boys-volleyball-tournament/)  book fair in the books!Thank you to everyone who supported our Scholastic Book Fair! Congratulations to Kylan Adams in Mr. Petty's room who was the winner of the Family Prize Draw. She was able to pick $25 of items for herself and $25 for her classroom! Other prize winners of a free book pick were:
The school would like to thank Mrs. Dekezel for her tireless support of our students and staff in her role as our school librarian. She is definitely one of our school treasures. She makes our school better everyday she's here! We would also like to thank Mr. Ricard for giving up the school gym to allow the Book Fair to be hosted there. It mean one rainy day of Phys. Ed for our students, but it was a perfect location for the fair.  week 1 of intramurals wraps up That's a wrap for Week 1 for Flag Football and 3 Pitch. Thanks to everyone that signed up and played this week. Big shout out to the helpers, Rocky, Ethan, Hassan, Kyrah, and Gabe. Be sure to check out the schedules near the gym, the 7/8 hallways, and online at http://maverickintramurals.weebly.com. Just a reminder to be at the field on time and ready to play. Interested in being a sub? Contact Mr. Petty. outdoor courts project bi-weekly rafflePlease consider purchasing tickets to the Red River Wellness Committee's next 50/50 Bi-Weekly Raffle. Tickets will be drawn on Wednesday, September 29th at 9 am. You can purchase tickets up to Tuesday, September 28th @ 11:59 pm. The QR code below will take you directly to the site. All proceeds go to the Outdoor Courts Project located at Morris School. Thank you, in advance, to all of you who decided to support the project by purchase a raffle ticket (1 for $5, 3 for $10, 10 for $20, or 50 for $50) or making a tax deductible donation.  Kindergarten students explore nature!This afternoon Ms. McLaren took our Kindergarten class for a bit of a tour. The goal of the tour was to explore, collect, and sort the various leaves they found on their trip! Way to Go, MAV's!          
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book fair continues on mondayFamilies of K-8 students are welcome to enter the Junior Gym (following health protocols) after their student has completed their scheduled Strong Beginnings Appointment. Mrs. Dekezel looks forward to seeing everyone. A great way to grab your book selection for the school year.  Our first bi-weekly raffle winnerCongratulations to Gilles Buisson for being selected as the first winner of our bi-weekly 50/50 draw. The 50/50 raffle is being run by the Red River Wellness Committee with the purpose of raising money for our outdoor courts project situated at Morris School. Our next draw is Wednesday, September 29th at 9 am. Tickets for that draw must be purchased before midnight the day before (September 28). Please consider supporting the raffle. The QR code below will take you directly to the raffle website.  mr. hikers starts a new course!Mr. Hiker started a new course this week. On top of hosting Level 1 & 2 Welding students from various locations throughout the Red River valley, he has opened the doors to our Grade 9 & 10 Morris School students in our school's new Introduction to Welding course. Over the course of their time in the shop, our students will learn:
hearing screening the yearbook needs you! If there are any Grades 9-12 students interested in helping with the yearbook this year, please speak to Martine Munford, Jamie Quiddaeon or Mrs. DeKezel. Photos are needed of all events. If you can help in any way, we would like to hear from you in person or by email. hosting our first tournament...in a while! Morris School is proud to host its first tournament in what seems like an eternity. Following all Public Health protocols and Volleyball Manitoba "Return to Play" protocols, our JV teams will be hosting a small scale tournament Saturday September 25. To manage all the protocols that go with hosting an indoor event, it unfortunately means it will be a spectator free event. Please keep an eye on the school social media pages to find out how you can watch online. wanted: gently used gym equipment Morris School Senior Years' gym is looking for donations of gently used Fitness equipment (e.g. dumbbells, plates, exercise bands, etc.) Please contact Steph Kurylko (skurylko@rrvsd.ca) if you have anything to spare.     Strong Beginnings start this week! Strong Beginnings is a MANDATORY assessment that occurs early in September for students in Kindergarten to Grade 8. On Friday, September 17 and Monday, September 20, children will attend school by appointment for approximately 60 minutes to participate in assessment activities. Kindergarten students are asked to book a 30 minute appointment during one of the time slots on Monday, September 20 (No appointments available on September 17). The appointments on these days replace regular classes..so NO classes for Grades K-8 students on Friday or Monday. Grades 9-12 students...we'll see you at school! A Strong Beginnings session is an opportunity for teachers to extend and consolidate their understanding of each child in order to plan for instruction. This, in turn, will effectively address unique learning needs as early as possible in the new school year. All Grades K-8 students need to be registered for Strong Beginnings by Thursday, September 16th. We book online using our Conference Manager software. If you do not have a Conference Manager account, please access the site via our school's website or by clicking here. If you are new to school, please create an account and add your student's into the system. If you have questions, please contact Mr. Watson. New Students - emails issued this week New students to our school will be issued an rrvsd.ca email account from our Divisional Tech Department. This is the email account that their teachers and the school office will communicate to them about their course materials or school related information. Student rrvsd accounts have some restrictions in place that won't allow them to receive emails from outside the rrvsd. We hope to have these email addresses available to our new students by the end of this week. We appreciate your patience. change of address, phone #, or email In order to receive all the information you require to be an active member of our school community, we need to be sure your contact information is up-to-date. If you've moved to another residence, changed (or dropped) a phone number or have a new email address, please let Ms. Denny know in the office as soon as possible. Her email is dleblanc@rrvsd.ca. We appreciate being kept in the loop on the above changes. Thank you, in advance, for helping us out. Outdoor courts raffle - first draw this weekPlease consider supporting our community's fundraising efforts by purchasing a raffle ticket. The outdoor courts project will enhance our school grounds a great deal with new surfaces that will host multiple events and activities during our school day and for our greater Morris community after school, on weekends, and during our vacation days. You can purchase tickets on a bi-weekly basis. A portion of the proceeds will go towards each bi-weekly draw. A jackpot draw in March is accumulating between now and March based on a percentage of the ticket sales. Click here to purchase a ticket. Thank you for helping us meet our fundraising goals. (https://raffle.link/rrwc)  Boys volleyball gets rolling this week Our Varsity Girls got started on court this past week and now it's time for the boys to start. Our Varsity Boys will practice at 3:30 on Monday, September 13. Please see Mr. Cox if you are interested in playing, but aren't able to make Tuesday's practice. Our JV Boys will practice from 3:45-5:30 on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Please reach out to Mrs. Leflar if you're unable to make it to practice. Go MAV's! mavericks athletics informationGirls Soccer: First practice Tuesday at 3:30 (see Mrs. Skoglund if you missed the soccer meeting) Boys Soccer: First practice Tuesday at 3:30 (see Mr. Ricard if you missed the soccer meeting) JV Boys Volleyball: First practice Tuesday at 3:30 (see Mrs. Leflar if you missed the meeting on Friday) JV Girls Volleyball: First practice Tuesday at 3:30 (see Mr. Dekezel for more info) Varsity Girls Volleyball: See Mr. Lehmann for more info Varsity Boys Volleyball: First practice Monday at 3:30 (see Mr. Cox for more info) Any gr 9-12 students interested in Cross Country Running are asked to stop by and see Mrs. Kurylko any time next week. sign up for intramurals (Grades 5-12) In the spirit of getting involved, the school has recruited Mr. Petty to be our Intramural Coordinator. In typical Mr. Petty fashion, he has jumped in with both feet. The first look at what could/will be can be found by accessing the website Mr. Petty has created. The plan is to get the year up and running and start a full slate of Intramural sessions after Strong Beginnings (after September 20). Activities will include non-sporting activities, with the goal of having something for everyone at the school to become involved. Check out the site...http://maverickintramurals.weebly.com/ D&D Meeting - Monday! Are you tired of the same old same old? Find yourself daydreaming about fighting dragons, saving the common folk, and finding amazing treasure? Then this is the club for you! Dungeons and Dragons (or D&D for short) is a game in which you create a character, live in a fantastical world, and go on adventures just like a video game, except with dice and your friends around you. If this interests you, attend our initial meeting in Room 29 (Mr. Antoski's room) on Monday, September 13 at 12:15 so you can come join. There is limited space for this club so make sure to check it out! grades 7-12 school schedules adjustedIn order to meet Public Health protocols of keeping the hallways as uncongested as possible, we have created a new schedule for our "uncohorted" students in Grades 7-12. The schedule below allows for the Grades 7/8, 9/10, and 11/12 to be in the hallway at separate times. It also coincides with the Early Years' schedule to allow our younger students to visit the library and the music room. We're still working through some minor nuances of the schedule, but our students are doing a great job of accommodating our new adjustment. We would ask our town students to arrive no earlier than 5 minutes before their Entry time.      Welcome & WELCOME BACK Morris School is excited to see you next week. We hope your summer was full of adventure, relaxing, enjoying the sometimes scorching heat and recent showers (a bit late for our farm families). We also hope that you are ready for the current school year. The majority of our staff have been in getting their classrooms and course work ready for your return next week. Although we are preparing for another year to guard against COVID-19, you'll notice a few changes. They include:
Welcome to our school communityOver the summer, two of our teaching staff welcomed new members to their family. We would like to introduce these new Mavericks to our school community. Congratulations to the Berezowski (Kallie) and Charron (Porter) families on their additions. Look out Class of 2039! entries/exits/pick-ups & Drop OffsThis will serve as a reminder for some and new information for others, but please reference the map below to remind yourself or learn the location of your student(s) entry/exit door. As per previous blog posts, please refrain from stopping or parking in the traffic circle at the end of Toronto Avenue by the east end of our school. Feel free to park up to the east edge of the school building, but not any further. This will prevent your vehicle from disrupting traffic flow. If you've driven on Highway 23 this summer you'll see some construction. We haven't confirmed if our bus loop will be accessible to our busses next week. If we can't access the bus loop, we will ask the busses to use the back lane between Montreal and Toronto Avenues and drop our student off there. In either scenario, we will ensure they reach their meeting points or doors safely. Maplewood has changed to powerschool The Red River Valley School Division has changed their school administration software. Maplewood is out and PowerSchool is in. A number of people at the division level have been working tirelessly to ensure PowerSchool is up and running to start the school year. We appreciate all their efforts. There may be some hiccups to begin the year, but we will overcome. One of those hiccups is that PowerSchool has not yet been linked to our Online Cash (KEV) system. We would usually encourage families to pay their school fees online, but due to the current circumstances, the school will accept cash or cheque (payable to Morris School) for the time being. When KEV is up and running again, we will let you know. We apologize for the inconvenience. Students and parents will have their own portals to access student grades, attendance and other information. Stay tuned for more information in future blog posts. Grades 9-12 Timetables Grades 9-12 students be sure to log into Maplewood (you're still able to do so) and check out your timetable for the upcoming school year. We will also have class lists posted in multiple locations on the first day of school so students know where to go for their first class. Hard copies of timetables will be distributed by your first period teacher. Once the PowerSchool portal is up and running, you will be able to access it there as well. maverick sports anyone? get involved! Girls Volleyball Mr. Lehmann is inviting all grade 10-12 girls interested in playing high school volleyball, you are invited to the following practices & tournament: Practice - Sept 7 @ 3:30-5:00 PM - Morris SY Gym Practice - Sept 9 @ 3:30 - 5:00 PM Student-athletes must wear masks during volleyball practice. Varsity Boys Volleyball Mr. Cox is inviting all those interested in playing Varsity Boys Volleyball to attend practices on Wednesday, September 8 and Monday, September 13. Each practice will take place from 3:30 - 5 pm in the Senior Years' Gym. Student-athletes must wear masks during volleyball practice. Varsity Soccer Attention all High School soccer players! There will be a meeting held September 9th at 3:20 for Grades 9-12 interested in playing High School soccer. Mr. Ricard is hosting a boy's meeting will be in the Science lab. Mrs. Skoglund is hosting a girl's meeting will be in the Library. Hope to see you all there! We've spent 2.5 years not being able to play for the MAVERICKS...consider getting involved in something at our school! D&D @ Morris School! Are you tired of the same old same old? Find yourself daydreaming about fighting dragons, saving the common folk, and finding amazing treasure? Then this is the club for you! Dungeons and Dragons (or D&D for short) is a game in which you create a character, live in a fantastical world, and go on adventures just like a video game, except with dice and your friends around you. If this interests you, keep your eyes peeled for the next announcement of our initial meeting in Room 29 (Mr. Antoski's room) so you can come join. It will be the week of September 13th once school is back in the swing of things. There is limited space for this club so make sure to check it out! Intramurals (Grades 5-12) In the spirit of getting involved, the school has recruited Mr. Petty to be our Intramural Coordinator. In typical Mr. Petty fashion, he has jumped in with both feet. The first look at what could/will be can be found by accessing the website Mr. Petty has created. The plan is to get the year up and running and start a full slate of Intramural sessions after Strong Beginnings (after September 20). Activities will include non-sporting activities, with the goal of having something for everyone at the school to become involved. Check out the site...http://maverickintramurals.weebly.com/ courts project running a raffleThe Red River Wellness Committee is continuing its work to build brand new Outdoor Courts at Morris School. The $200 000 fundraising goal is a lofty one, but committee is determined to succeed. One of their most recent fundraising initiatives is a 50/50 Raffle. The raffle launched on September 1. The raffle is made up of multiple bi-weekly draws and one jackpot draw in March. The great thing about the bi-weekly draws is you can have multiple chances to win. We encourage you to follow this link (https://raffle.link/rrwc) to participate. The first draw is Wednesday, September 15th at 9 am. Tickets must be purchased by Tuesday, September 14th to be eligible for the draw on the 15th. Raffle winners will be posted on the blog as well on the social media accounts at the school as well as the Courts Project's. strong beginnings - September 17 & 20After a year away, our Strong Beginnings process resumes on September 17 & 20. Strong Beginnings is an assessment that occurs early in September for students in Kindergarten to Grade 8. Children will attend school by appointment for approximately 60 minutes (30 minutes for Kindergarten) to participate in assessment activities. The appointments on these days replace regular classes. This is an opportunity for teachers to extend and consolidate their understanding of each child in order to plan for instruction. This, in turn, will effectively address unique learning needs as early as possible in the new school year. We will set up our online booking system (Conference Manager) and send out information to those families who are asked to book an appointment with your student's homeroom teacher.    thank you, class of 2021Our Graduating Class of 2021 experienced one of the most unique years in Morris School history. Since the polio epidemic back in the 1950's, Morris School has not faced a challenge to what "regular" school looked and felt like more than this past school year. Our Class of 2020 had a "taste" of this last year, but our Class of 2021 had the "full meal deal" of COVID-19. We applaud our grads for their resiliency, their adaptability, and their ability to face a challenge as positively as they could. We wish all of our graduates the best as they move on to the next phase of their lives. Consider this an invitation for you to come back and visit, keep in touch, and reach out if you feel we could assist you in any way. You are MAV's forever. Thank you, Class of 2021 Class of 2021 Graduates Quincy Aloisio Dante Anderson Madison Beaulieu Trey Campbell - Academic First (Family Studies 40S) Keeghan Chaput Natasha Claeys Madison Cote - Academic Firsts (Biology 40S, ELA Comp 40S, Access Credit Union Scholarship, MLA Bursary for Excellence, Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship Alexandria (Lexi) Dingle - U of M Guertin Scholarship, Portage-Lisgar Conservative Electoral District - Candace Bergen Leadership Award. Jayda Doell - Governor General Award, Academic Firsts (Applied Math 40S, Chemistry 40S, Geography 40S, Global Issues 40S) Red River Valley Teachers Association Scholarship, Miller Environmental Scholarship, Queen Elizabeth II Academic Entrance Scholarship. Chloe Edel - Morris School Liberal Arts Award, Providence College Student Leadership Scholarship, Province College Entrance Scholarship Holly Edel - Morris Legion Ladies Auxiliary Bursary, Red River Valley Teachers Association Scholarship Hunter Edel - Dual Diploma (Academic/Vocational), Academic First (Art 40S), Morris Technical Training Scholarship. Karly Edel - Co-Valedictorian, MHSAAA 'A/AA' Scholar Athlete of the Year, Academic Firsts (ELA Lit Focus 40S, ELA Comp Focus 40S, Global Issues 40S), Morris School Athlete Award, Morris School Co-Curricular Award, MLA Bursary for Excellence in Writing, Morris Chamber of Commerce Scholarship, U of M Chown Centennial Scholarship, Queen Elizabeth II Academic Entrance Scholarship Angel Elsley Teagon Fillion Ethan Flamand Cassidy Friesen Zander Herkert - Dual Diploma (Academic/Vocational) Alexis Hurd Jordan Huska - Dual Diploma (Academic/Vocational), Dale Rempel Citizenship Scholarship, Walter Anderson Memorial Award Philip Inducil Molli Johnston - Academic Firsts (Family Studies 40S, Psychology 40S), Morris School General Proficiency Award, Miller Environmental Scholarship, Guertin Centennial Scholarship. Darius Joof - Partners in Education Scholarship Viktor (Manuel) Kasatkin Stephan Klapka Seth Korosil Chloe Landry - RRTVA Scholarship, Guertin Centennial Scholarship Noah McKay Bryce Neustater - Co-Valedictorian, Morris School Athlete Award, Morris School Co-Curricular Award, 'A/AA' MHSAA Scholar Athlete of the Year, Winkler Consumer Co-op Scholarship, CMU Entrance Scholarship Kody Ocko-Kurarz Jana Olayan - Academic First (Band 40S), Miller Environmental Scholarship, Morris School Co-Curricular Award, Queen Elizabeth II Academic Entrance Scholarship Matthew Phillips Eric Piette Jewel Roberts Robert Schiewe - Academic First (ELA Transactional 40S) Carl Solnes Reanna Stack Sjusen Storck - Academic Firsts (Band 40S, Psychology 40S), Morris School Athlete Award, Miller Environmental Scholarship, Queen Elizabeth II Academic Entrance Scholarship Roy Tambal Musa - Academic First (Essentials Math 40S) Chloe Wesley please return - textbooks, tech, & library stuff It's crunch time! In a typical year, our students would be at school to hand in their textbooks, laptops, and outstanding library books. Well, as we all know, it's not a typical year. So...in light of that, please do your best to bring back any outstanding school property so we can close out the year properly and have all the things we would need to have a good start to our next school year. As per last few blog posts, there is a bin outside the front doors of the school for outstanding textbooks and library books. Please "buzz" into the school if you are returning any tech to the school. If you are unable to drop things off at the school between 7:30 am and 4:00 pm (Monday - Friday), please let us know and we will have someone drop by your residence to pick up your outstanding items. in her own words - THANK YOU, MRS. BIALLY!Dear Families, After 27 years of teaching I will be retiring from teaching at Morris School. I have had an incredible journey from several terms, to Kindergarten teacher and ending my career in the Physical Education department. There were no favorites as each area was an exciting, new experience. I wish to thank you parents for all the wonderful support you gave me and your children. Especially these past two years. It has not been easy, but yet, the children arrived at school ready and willing to learn. Through my Kindergarten years I introduced 200 children to the academic system. Hoping to instill a love of learning. During my physical education years I met with 140 students daily giving me many great memories. I remember the first day jitters in Kindergarten of the parents, the child and the teacher or having the students come up to me and say - gym is their favorite class. Having past students say hi to me in the hallways or uptown always brightened my day. Parents, thank you again for giving me the opportunity to meet and teach your child. Students, past and present thank you for doing your personal best, being respectful and being safe. I believe you will do great things. I was blessed to have one of the most gratifying careers ever. Now it’s time to say “Honey, I’m home forever!” Mrs. Bially  Thank you, Mr. LewisAfter a "few" years of teaching and coaching at Morris School, Mr/Coach Lewis has hung up his Maverick whistle. Our resident hockey expert and alum has been a big part of our school in the classroom, on the ice, and behind the bench. His contributions to our students lives are and were invaluable. The championships were awesome, but the lessons taught by and experiences with Mr./Coach Lewis were what the students will remember. On behalf of Morris School, we thank you, Mr. Lewis for you contributions to our school and greater community. We wish you all the best! We hope your golf game is impacted by the increased amount of time you have to spend on it. Thank you, Mrs. Giesbrecht!After contributing her time and talents on and off for the past eight (8) years as an Educational Assistant in Early Years portion of our school, Mrs. Giesbrecht has decided to retire. We thank Mrs. Giesbrecht for her friendly and helping nature she showed to our staff and students. We are a better school now because she was part of it. We wish Mrs. Giesbrecht all the best as she fills her time with things non-school related. Welcome to the Maverick community, Kallie!Early this past Wednesday, Mr. & Mrs. Berezowski welcomed a new member to the Maverick Community. Only 9 days late than expected, their daughter, Kallie Lea Lynn Berezowski arrived at 3:15 am (Late and a night owl...not a great combo!?!). Kallie weighed 7 lbs and 12 oz and is 20 1/2 inches tall! ( identical to her brother). Reports are that the family is doing well, "just very tired!" Congratulations to the Berezowski family!  GRade 5/6 finish what they startedA few weeks ago, prior to Remote Learning, our Grade 5/6 students started a "beautification" project in the outdoor classroom. They didn't quite finish the job, so four of our Grade 5/6 students took upon themselves to finish it off! Thank you to Joel, Hassaan, Gabe, & Shylo for helping out your school become a better place. Way to go, MAV's! Staff adjustments for the 2021-22 School yearAs we firm up our teaching "roster" for the upcoming school year, we would like to announce some adjustments to next year's teaching faculty.
K-7 students will have their homeroom teacher identified for the upcoming school year in the last line of their June report cards. Report cards will be emailed out on Wednesday, June 30. band wraps up with a final 'concert!'The grade 7/8 band students have been making music with their ukuleles from home over the remote learning period. In addition to learning their own favourite songs, they worked together to learn "A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman. They recorded their parts individually from home to piece together this video! Thank you for your hard work and musicianship, grade 7/8's! Click on the Google Drive link to view the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cZrP8enVEUo_AQYSo4OuHmrHmhxmyjKt/view?usp=sharing 2. Mr. Lehmann and the phys-ed team challenged the Morris School music students to an Uptown Funk Percussion/Basketball Challenge! Thank you to the students who participated and sent in their videos. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SwyxpfYPwpByvLeLpC68eTi-Qx_6WXf7/view?usp=sharing 3. The grade 9-12 band students completed a project called "Music Makes Us" over the past couple of months. It was a collaboration project between the Morris School Senior Band and the residents of the Red River Valley Lodge. The students had the opportunity to connect with, learn about, and makic music for someone they were paired up with at the care home. They got to interview their person, get to know them, make musical connections, and share a variety of different projects, creations, and recordings over the past couple of months. The band students each learned the favourite song of their partner, some wrote songs specially for them, and some did research projects on their favourite bands and genres of music. It was inspiring to see the connections and creativity that grew from this project, and the residents at the Lodge were filled with joy to receive these musical gifts each week! Great work, Senior Band! Here are a just a few video samples of what the students created over the course of this project: Kate's ukulele/voice performance of "Walking After Midnight" by Patsy Cline: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U0JAAmPJpxDd8Y5h_ifrrYMWqWzRfxYh/view?usp=sharing Mikayla's trumpet composition of "Springtime": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KgYKwvS0ti0Zqfqj5sjpJkYgvQpmjKxo/view?usp=sharing Martine's flute duet performance of "This World Is Not My Home": https://drive.google.com/file/d/107yC7qL570yrbT9qGi_oqIijsQy-YVGS/view?usp=sharing Sjusen's euphonium performance of "Bluebird on Your Windowsill": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J_3go0vcDe_AXZfEDzt7Eg03ltgtGSuR/view?usp=sharing Outdoor ed's final projectDuring remote learning this last month, one of the projects the Outdoor Ed students completed was building and hanging a birdhouse. The students were given the wood but they had to do all the assembling and find a great place in their yard or somewhere around town to hang the birdhouse. The students and I would like to say a huge thank you to Steve Peters and the crew at Morris Build-All Centre for donating the wood for our project!       It's grad season!Our Class of 2021 students have been around the building over the last couple of days picking up their "gear" they'll need to convocate next week. It's been great to see everyone! We look forward to seeing you again soon! Kindergarten readiness bag Unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions the K-visit day is unable to occur this year. Instead we would like to invite you and your child to pick up the K-Readiness Bag. When: June 21st, 2021 Where: Front entrance picnic table area (on Toronto Avenue) Time: Anytime between 9-12 IF you are unable to attend this day, the K-bags will be available at the front entrance outside of the school for the remainder of the week. Due to our need to practice social distancing please note that this will be a come and go event. The playground will be unavailable. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact one of us. Looking forward to meeting you and your child! Amy Charron Current Kindergarten Teacher K-6 Guidance Counselor acharron@rrvsd.ca Ashley Harrison Resource Teacher aharrison@rrvsd.ca thank you and Keep it going! We thank everyone who has stopped by the school to drop off their textbooks, library books, or tech equipment that you had in your possession that belonged to the school! As per last few blog posts, there is a bin outside the front doors of the school for outstanding textbooks and library books. Please "buzz" into the school if you are returning any tech to the school. If you are unable to drop things off at the school between 7:30 am and 4:00 pm (Monday - Friday), please let us know and we will have someone drop by your residence to pick up your outstanding items. MAGNIFICENT Moccasin makingA few months ago, while learning about the Métis, the Access class started a meticulous moccasin project. Mrs. Laura Ducharme from St. Malo brought in her patterns and beading expertise. We traced our patterns, cut our materials and began beading our vamps. This took a few weeks and some frustration, but we got it done. Then we began the process of sewing everything together by hand. We learned to be patient and that it’s ok to ask a friend for help. Due to remote learning we had to finish our project by watching videos and following the instructions on our own. Once all the pieces were sewn we assembled everything together and added the fur collars. We’re extremely satisfied with our finished products and will wear our moccasins with pride! ---Mrs. Noel  up up and away...first time kite flyers!Our Access class had some students who had never flown a kite! How does Mrs. Noel react to that...? She finds some kites and they get outside on a perfect flying day! Way to Go, MAV's! Gr 3/4's study ancient societiesThe grade 3/4 classes studied ancient societies. They showed their knowledge through dioramas. They showed many elements that included people, transportations, clothing, structures, jobs, art and more.            gr 3/4's head to the farm...virtually at least!The Grade 3/4 classes visited a broiler chicken barn for their virtual field trip. The Plett farm is in southern Manitoba and they raise 10 000 free run chicks at a time. Did you know that chickens are the closest relatives to dinosaurs?       Jazz band ends the year on a latin note (or 2)!The Jazz Band students have overcome many challenges this past year, one being playing instruments on their own at home! They were excited to take on a project where they could feel a sense of teamwork and play something as an ensemble! For this Latin tune, Fiesta Latina, the students each recorded their instrument part(s) to a backing track. The audio tracks were all pieced together and video was added to create this virtual performance! Special thank you to Mr. Willems, Mr. Stevenson, and Mr. Zimmerman for playing in our virtual rhythm section! https://youtu.be/blIfISio0QY  camping gear donation request The Morris School OUTDOOR ED. PROGRAM is looking for donations of lightly used camping equipment. The Outdoor Ed. program will be going on multiple 2-4 day camping trips into backcountry campsites during future school years. We will either be hiking or canoeing into these campsites, and we require dependable equipment that can be relied upon to serve our shelter, transportation, and food/hydration needs during these camping trips If you have any of the following camping/outdoor gear that you would be willing to donate to Morris School Outdoor Ed. program, you can drop it off on the front steps at the main doors of the building. Your generosity would be much appreciated! Equipment needed:
 Mrs. B has been busy!Before leaving to have her baby, Mrs. Berezowski has been busy ordering some new items for the Home Ec Kitchens! Students taking Home Ec next year can look forward to trying out: new kettles, microwaves, aprons, frying pans and air fryers! Grade 10's continue to wax poetically  congratulations computer club members!Our Computer Club students participated in the Astro-Pi project of writing computer code and having it run on the international space station. As a recognition of the project, the students received a certificate that showed the satellites position in orbit when the code was executed. Way to Go, MAV's!   Courts Project momentum continuesDue to generous donations from the community, we are in the position to actually create a "thermometer" to track our progress. We are over the 10% raised mark and we are grateful to those who have considered this project worthy of their donation. We even received some "ink" this week as well! (See https://www.pembinavalleyonline.com/local/morris-outdoor-sports-court-proposal-gaining-momentum) We are in the process of applying for an exciting raffle opportunity. Stay tuned for more news.      Kindergarten readiness Bags Unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions the K-visit day is unable to occur this year. Instead we would like to invite you and your child to pick up the K-Readiness Bag. When: June 21st, 2021 Where: Front entrance picnic table area (on Toronto Avenue) Time: Anytime between 9-12 IF you are unable to attend this day, the K-bags will be available at the front entrance outside of the school for the remainder of the week. Due to our need to practice social distancing please note that this will be a come and go event. The playground will be unavailable. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact one of us. Looking forward to meeting you and your child! Amy Charron Current Kindergarten Teacher K-6 Guidance Counselor acharron@rrvsd.ca Ashley Harrison Resource Teacher aharrison@rrvsd.ca You're not finished until things are returned! As we approach the end of the year, please ensure any textbooks, library books, or tech equipment that you have in your possession that belongs to the school is returned before you consider yourself "done for the year!" As per last week's blog post, There is a bin outside the front doors of the school for outstanding textbooks and library books. Please "buzz" into the school if you are returning any tech to the school. If you are unable to drop things off at the school between 7:30 am and 4:00 pm (Monday - Friday), please let us know and we will have someone drop by your residence to pick up your outstanding items. welding shop welcomes some new equipmentThis year the Morris School welding program was the recipient of the SSEEF (Skills Strategy Equipment Enhancement Fund) grant. The Skills Strategy Equipment Enhancement Fund provides targeted funding to ensure that students have access to state of the art equipment to learn the high-demand skills they need to get good jobs in Manitoba's growing economy. The Skills Strategy Equipment Enhancement Fund provides $1,500,000.00 to improve technical vocational and industrial arts programs in Grades 7–12. This support is intended to ensure that programming is relevant to current and future labour market needs. This fund will focus on preparing students to take advantage of employment opportunities in Manitoba’s growing economy and to continue the development of Manitoba’s skilled workforce. The fund will further support the need for advanced equipment pertaining to “Green Jobs” in Manitoba. Particular emphasis will be placed on supporting high school level programs to become accredited with Apprenticeship Manitoba. With the grant awarded to our school, we were able secure three Power wave S500 welders. The Power Wave S500 is quickly becoming commonplace in many welding businesses, having these machines in our program will give our students an advantage when they enter the workforce.  We are also excited offer an Introduction to Welding course next year to 28 Grade 9 & 10 Morris School students. Mr. Hiker's creativity and generosity of time made this happen and the school appreciates it immensely. camping gear donation request The Morris School OUTDOOR ED. PROGRAM is looking for donations of lightly used camping equipment. The Outdoor Ed. program will be going on multiple 2-4 day camping trips into backcountry campsites during future school years. We will either be hiking or canoeing into these campsites, and we require dependable equipment that can be relied upon to serve our shelter, transportation, and food/hydration needs during these camping trips If you have any of the following camping/outdoor gear that you would be willing to donate to Morris School Outdoor Ed. program, you can drop it off on the front steps at the main doors of the building. Your generosity would be much appreciated! Equipment needed:
 grade 3/4 Mahara's class build carnivalsMs. Mahara's Grade 3/4 class are currently learning about area and perimeter in Math. The was tasked with designing a carnival. They had to include 8 rides and buildings with specific areas/perimeters, plus 2 of their own choice! This project was done entirely during remote learning and Ms. Mahara was very excited to share the results of her students' labours! Way to go, MAV's! a few fun activities for our students @ schoolOn Monday this week, the K-2 students of Critical Service Workers are here at the school remote learning. As a bit of a change up, Mrs. Harrison asked for their help to beautify the school. The students jumped at the chance to help. Today, the K-2's were back at with bubble making! For those interested readers, you can get some really good information from the https://happyhooligans.ca/homemade-giant-bubbles/ website. Grade 12 Pre-Cal show their appreciationOur Grade 12 Pre-Cal Math students showed a little appreciation yesterday for their mentor, Mr. Cox by actually unblocking their cameras and displaying literal signs of gratitude. The recognition was super cool and very much deserved! Way to go, MAV’s!  Grade 5-8 PHys Ed out treasure hunting again!Congrats to the following winners of today's TREASURE HUNT activity! Gr. 5/6- Tessa Johnston, who shared it with her family! Gr. 7/8- Lucas, Alisha and Tristan! grade 7/8 Math - Project Make it!Mrs. Leflar tasked her Grade 7/8 Math student and asked them to build it, create it, plant it, construct it, bake it, cook it, design it, and then calculate the cost of it. They needed to find a recipe, some plans or start from scratch and determine what ingredients, tools, or materials they would need. They then needed to calculate the materials, supplies, or ingredients costs. It was not required to actually build it or make it and yet some students were able to. We had grade 7/8 students come up with: cheerio bars golden graham bars cakes smoothies ice cream cakes traditional recipes a cat tree dog house tool box fire pit a cat trap pebble placemat dirt bike jump slime treehouse cupcakes grilled cheese Way to go, MAV's! Grade 10's wax poeticallyMrs. Clayton's Grade 10 ELA class studied poetry, learning how to paint pictures with words by using figurative language, sound devices, and vivid imagery. To cap off our unit, students wrote poems inspired by art (called ekphrasis). Mrs. Clayton believes the hardest part for her students was selecting the artwork to write about because there was so much to choose from. As we cap of the year with two or three more blog posts, we will provide you with some samples of their work! Way to go, MAV's!   courts project momentum is building!It was a busy week for the Morris School Courts Project. Numerous donations from within our community were received and momentum is starting to build. We would like to thank our recent donors, two of which are featured below. The Access Credit Union has awarded the project $5000 after the committee members submitted a grant application. Big Way Foods in Morris hosted a "top up" fundraiser event and the proceeds, plus a generous top up of the top up was received. Our school and the fundraising committee are humbled by the generosity shown thus far. We hope to take advantage of this momentum to get us closer to the fundraising goal we have set for our project! Thank you, Morris! Immunization information    Remote learning extended until end of June In light of yesterday’s announcement by the Province continuing with remote learning in the Red River Valley School Division, we have made some decisions regarding what June will look like for our Grades 9-12 students. More information regarding the plan for K-8 students will be communicated early next week. June 11 - last day to learn new material in formal remote classes for Grades 9-12 students. Students who have finished all their assignments and whose grades are determined are finished for the year. Monday, June 7 to Friday, June 11 will follow the schedule created at the beginning of the school year. June 14-29: Assessment and Recovery. This is for 1) students to finish up outstanding assignments/improve their grades and/or 2) for students who are at risk of losing their credit(s) and need recovery work. June 23-25: Class of 2021 Graduation Convocation - online sign up details coming soon. June 29 (9am): Deadline for Recovery Work Notes:
PIcking up or returning equipment/supplies Based on the information above, we would ask all students to consider their plan to bring their textbooks, library books, borrowed tech (laptops, tablets, MiFi devices, chargers, etc.) immediately following the completion of their final remote learning session. There will be a bin outside the front doors of the school for outstanding textbooks and library books. Please "buzz" into the school if you are returning any tech to the school. If you are unable to drop things off at the school between 7:30 am and 4:00 pm (Monday - Friday), please let us know and we will have someone drop by your residence to pick up your outstanding items. Attn: Class of 2021 - grad Info/update Hi Grads, We are hosting a Grad Info Google Meet (virtual meet) on Monday, June 7th at 4pm. An invitation to join us will be sent from the morrisschoolgradinfo@rrvsd.ca email address. It is important you attend or review the posted recording after which will be posted on the school website. With the latest Graduation Provincial Info we sent to you last week, we have adjusted our plans. We know all these changes are very difficult for all of you as a family. As a committee and staff, we will do our very best to make your Enchanted Forest themed Graduation the very best it can be and a memorable one for your child. Graduation will still be on June 23-25 at the school with individual convocations. Now it will be a drive up event in the Vocational area with a photo booth station set up outside in a 2nd location. We have to follow all Public Health orders but we will still create special individual convocations for each graduate. We will share details at the meeting and sign up times for convocations will be opened up Wednesday, June 9th. Hope to see you there! Corinna Derewianchuk & the Morris School Grad Committee Class of 2021 grad ads Grads are selling 'Grad Ad's' for the yearbook. Recognize the special graduate in your life with an expression of love, friendship, and congratulations. Choose a quarter, eighth, or sixteenth page grad ad to acknowledge their successes. You can find the order form in your Grad update email or on the Morris School Website. coming soon...change the year to 2021! every child matters This past weekend we learned about the remains of 215 children discovered, with help from ground-penetrating radar at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Morris School remembers and mourns the children who lost their lives and we send our condolences to their families. Our school's flag will be a half mast for a total of 215 hours to commemorate these children and as a sign of solidarity for former Residential School members. To our indigenous school community members, we stand with you. If you need support, please call the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066. To the remaining members of our community, it is our job to become more educated on topics that affect our school community members, especially as it pertains to the Calls to Action from the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. We must and will be better.  We still have some students in schoolAlthough the majority of our student body is working from home, students of our community's Critical Service Workers are attending. Morris School support staff are doing an amazing job assisting our students while our teachers are hosting Google Meets. We appreciate seeing the students and want to thank and acknowledge the dedication of our staff during this time. Before the temperature reached a whopping 39 degrees today, our students spent some time in the shade working on their schoolwork! Way to go, MAV's! Grade 5/6 compost project! maverick musicians display their talentsThe K-2's have been participating in music in all sorts of ways these past couple of weeks! The students have five options on their music choice boards each week: play, sing, move, explore and listen. Thank you to everyone who has been sharing what they have been working on. Great work, Maverick Musicians! Grade 7/8's keep the poetry coming!  VACCINATION information    Remote Learning extended On Thursday, our school learned at the same time as all Manitobans that Red River Valley School Division will continue to be in Remote Learning for at least another week. The proposed return to school date would be Monday, June 7th. We thank all Maverick families and our wonderful staff for their work during the last two weeks. Attendance has been very good and we appreciate the engagement of our students. If we find out more about the Province's plans, we will do our best to inform you IF we hear it before the general public. our maverick song makers! Over the past couple of months, all grades 5-12 music students have had the opportunity to explore a digital music composition website called "Chrome Music Lab". After some experimenting and aural skills practice, every student created their own song! Check out this gallery website to explore our schools' music lab creations. https://songmakergallery.com/gallery/morris-school-music-lab-creations attn: Class of 2021 - Baby photo submissions If you still have not yet submitted your baby pictures, please send them to morrisschoolgradinfo@rrvsd.ca ASAP! We need 3-5 pictures from each Grad. grad gear is in! If you ordered Class of 2021 Grad Gear, the order has arrived. If you would like it sooner than later, please call the school and arrange a pick up. If you can wait until your first day back after remote learning, you can pick up your gear in the office. census 2021 is counting on you!!  Grades 1-2 get interactive with parrotsThroughout the last 2 weeks, the grade 1/2 students have been learning about Parrots, completing activities through Seesaw and making their own lapbooks at home. Today we had a special guest join all three of our 1/2 classes in a Google Meet to teach us more about them. Our classes compiled a list of questions prior to the presentation and had over 40 students participate in the Google Meet. Thank you to Mrs. Cheryl Crick and family for joining us with her two parrots, Monty and Rhubarb. Cheryl told us many stories about her parrots and taught us a lot of great information. She is extremely knowledgeable about the habits and care of parrots. Our students enjoyed learning about them, watching them eat a Dorito chip, dance, sing and play with their favorite toys. It was a great way to wrap up our unit on Parrots.   vaccination information A hunting we will go...During remote learning, the Morris School Gr. 5-12 Phys. Ed. staff have organized a TREASURE HUNT around town on Friday's. Students receive hints (pictures, map locations) of treasure locations and can choose to go searching for the prize! Congratulations goes out to today's expert treasure hunters (Cody Dueck and William Harder) who successfully found the Treasure Treats around town! Stay tuned for next week's treasure hunt! grade 7/8 poetry just keeps on comin'!  HACKERGAL HACKATHON! The countdown is on for Hackergal's 10th National Hackathon on June 4-11 2021! In just two weeks, hundreds of girls across Canada will come together to code during our 10th National All-Girls Hackathon! Your students will have the opportunity to learn from phenomenal women and girls in tech! We've invited two young inspiring entrepreneurs, Alishba Imran and Shagun Maheshwari who together will share how they are changing the future of technology. There are also a ton of exciting giveaways and prizes for girls to win throughout the Hackathon week including a chance to win an iPad!! SIGN UP FOR HACKERGAL'S HACKATHON TODAY (Click here) Only a few days left to round up @ Bigway!!    And......................remote! About three weeks ago, we THOUGHT our school was heading into the home stretch of our school year. However, we took a quick pivot last week and Morris School was forced to adapt and adjust again! As we experienced rising case numbers in and around our community, our school was also affected. On Friday last week, we made the tough decision to start remote learning for K-4 students on Monday. Shortly after, the Red River Valley School Division announced our entire division would go to remote learning on Tuesday. That lead to a bit of confusion (multiple emails sent to parents, etc.), but we worked it out and our students flexed and adapted again. We want to thank all of our students and their families for their patience, flexibility, and questions over the last week. We THINK we've got things going fairly smoothly. We also want to recognize our staff for their quick transition to remote learning and their willingness to do whatever it takes to ensure our students have what they need to succeed at this time in their educational careers. It's been a year to remember. We hope to see all of our students soon, but thank you for making this week work! VACCINATION information Grade 1/2's learning about life!The grade 1/2 students have been learning about the needs of living things. As part of their unit, students are planting bean seeds in a ziplock bag and will be observing the growth and changes that take place. kindergarten visit days postponed Due to our switch to remote learning, our Kindergarten Visit Days have been postponed. A schedule will be provided after our school is finished with remote learning. If you have questions, please contact the school. Grade 10 Geography class meets expert!Last Wednesday the Grade 10 Geography class had a guest speaker named Dean Blezard. Mr. Blezard spoke to the class about Gas/ Oil wells and Environmental Drilling. Mr. Blezard was a farmer for 30 years in Saskatchewan and had Natural Gas Wells on some parts of his farm. Later he moved to Alberta and started up an Environmental Drilling company that is called in for well decommissions and pipe breaks or spills. The Geography class learned a lot that pertained to their current unit of Natural Resources in Canada. We greatly appreciated Mr. Blezard taking the time to chat with our class! Submitted by Kendal Berezowski History, Geography, Tactile Art Teacher and Short Term Absence Coordinator  hot off the press...a new K-6 Guidance website! Hello Kindergarten to Grade 6 Families, I am sharing a link to the Morris School K-6 Guidance website. On this website, you will find a number of resources for mental wellbeing for K-6 students, including activities for students as well as resources for you as parents/guardians, which you may find particularly beneficial at this time. For ease of access, your child also has the option to access my Google Classroom for guidance resources by using the class code: 6wcrk3v. Morris School K-6 Guidance Website: https://sites.google.com/rrvsd.ca/morrisschoolkto6guidance/home If you have any questions or would like any additional guidance support at this time, please do not hesitate to contact me. Wishing you all well! Mrs. Charron support the morris school court project! Grade 7/8's continue to be poetic!  Grad ads - class of 2021 A grad parent update letter has been emailed to all parents and is also available on the Morris School website, under Grad information. Grads are selling 'Grad Ad's' for the yearbook. Recognize the special graduate in your life with an expression of love, friendship, and congratulations. Choose a quarter, eighth, or sixteenth page grad ad to acknowledge their successes. You can find the order form in your Grad update email or on the Morris School Website. hackergal hackathon! The countdown is on for Hackergal's 10th National Hackathon on June 4-11 2021! In just two weeks, hundreds of girls across Canada will come together to code during our 10th National All-Girls Hackathon! Your students will have the opportunity to learn from phenomenal women and girls in tech! We've invited two young inspiring entrepreneurs, Alishba Imran and Shagun Maheshwari who together will share how they are changing the future of technology. There are also a ton of exciting giveaways and prizes for girls to win throughout the Hackathon week including a chance to win an iPad!! SIGN UP FOR HACKERGAL'S HACKATHON TODAY (Click here)      |
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