June 2016 Issue No. 11 - TCDSB

The Romero Reader

THE ROMERO READER

IN THIS ISSUE :

June 2016 Issue No. 11

Principal:

Ms. Mancini

Vice-Principals:

Ms. Frate

Mr. Sanborn

Environmental Conference, page 2

New Name, page 2

Stone Soup, page 3

Volunteering, page 3

THINKfast, page 4

Chess Club, page 4

Voices That Challenge, page 5

Christmas, page 5

Co-op, page 6

Hospitality and Tourism, page 6

Paint for Power, page 6

Chaplaincy, page 7

Building Skills, page 7

Semi-Formal, page 8

Sports SHSM, page 8

Roller Coaster Competition, page 9

NYC Trip, page 9

Prom, page 9

Romero Art, page 10

Band, page 11

Arts Alive, page 11

Camp Olympia, page 11

Romero Raiders, pages 12, 13

Athletic Banquet, page 14

HPE Trip, page 14

Film Overview, page 15

DD/ME Program, page 15

Autism Awareness, page 15

Badminton Success, page 13

Arts Alive, page 11

Indigenous peoples of Arctic are experiencing.

The students were exposed to an enriching learn-ing opportunity and were fasci-nated by the different species and uniqueness of the poles; the Antarctic is a symbol of world peace, no one owns it and there has never been a war there. It is a peaceful place where bowhead wales can live to be 200 years old; 60% of the world’s polar bears live in Canada; the polar regions are dryer than the Sahara dessert; baby penguins are dying due to excessive krill fishing. Further-more, this was a chance to meet with different profession-als and learn more about dif-ferent career paths.

Thank you to Robert Adragana and his team for tak-ing the initiative to organize this event.

Our Poles, Our Planet

Blessed Archbishop Romero—Our New Name

THE ROMERO READER PAGE 2

choices. The Director of Edu-cation, Angela Gautier, noted that our anthem is our daily reminder of Canada’s unique connection and relationship to the polar regions: “true North strong and free”.

The students were privileged to hear from very knowledgeable and enthusias-tic speakers. Geoff Green stressed his view that we need to be truly connected to na-ture and do more than simply fill our brains with knowledge; our hearts need to be touched, so that we can

By Andrea Perez & Julia Soares

On April 5, 2016, Blessed

Archbishop Romero attended the Our Poles, Our Planet conference at the Catholic Education Centre. Repre-sented by a group of twenty-four grade 9 GEMS students, our school was the largest group present.

The focus of the conference was the Arctic and Antarctic, and the factors endangering these areas, which are mostly related to the impact of poor human

By Andrea Perez Oscar Romero was born August 15, 1917 in El Salvador. Com-pared to the struggles of the general population, he enjoyed a comfortable life as a priest until he realized the injustice experi-enced by those around him. Romero made a choice to not ignore the reality of the poor and oppressed. “Through his example, we are reminded that even seemingly ordinary people can become extraordinary,” said Ms. Perkins-Ball. Due to his decision to be the voice of those

who did not have a voice, Oscar Romero was assassinat-ed March 24, 1980 and beati-fied May 23, 2015, earning the title of ‘Blessed’. Our school has now become ‘Blessed Archbishop Romero Catholic Secondary School’ and will undergo changes. A new sign will be added at the front entrance along with the addition of the word ‘Blessed’ at the side entrance. All uniforms will possess the word ‘blessed’ on the school crest in the next year, though students cur-

rently attending will not need to purchase the new uniform. Through Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero’s life, we have been taught many lessons and continue to be in-spired by his actions. We all have the potential to follow in his example and gather the strength to do what is right. This verse from 1 Timothy 4:12 from St. Paul reminds us of this truth, “Let no one des-pise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

feel compelled to make better choices. With this purpose, he created Students On Ice, an organization that gives high school and university stu-dents, from all around the world, the chance to visit the Arctic and Antarctic through educational expeditions. Any student is able to apply for a scholarship at www.studentsonice.com. Kent Moore, a physics pro-fessor from U of T, explained the difference between natu-ral and human-enhanced greenhouse effects. The pho-tographer Lee Narraway shared stories and her passion for the polar regions through her most memorable photos. The students also heard from Paul Sokolaff, a botanist whose research focuses on the flora of the polar regions. In addition, the students learned about the rich cultural tradi-tions and the suicide crisis the

http://www.studentsonice.com

Stone Soup Cooking Club

PAGE 3 THE ROMERO READER

budget. Guest chefs take the opportunity to help teach these young men and women how to properly navigate the kitchen and also have an un-derstanding of various culinary techniques. The program also introduces the hospitality in-dustry as a possible future career choice.

The Stone Soup Cooking program runs every Tuesday for six sessions each semester. Students have the opportunity to meet guest chefs, learn new techniques and recipes, follow culinary instructions and have fun with their peers in the kitchen.

By Ms. McKetton

Nutrition and proper eating

habits are an integral part of a child’s growth and develop-ment. Healthy eating habits developed early in life will encourage healthy eating as an adult. With fast food being so readily available and finan-cially accessible, healthy choices and good eating hab-its prove to be a challenge.

The Stone Soup Cooking program’s focus is to show that healthy eating and nutrition can be easily attained, cooking can be fun and social, and that delicious meals can be enjoyed on a

Romero’s student-chefs enter the annual cook-off competition -Iron Chef style-at Humber College. Their task is to create a com-plete meal comprised of an appetizer, entrée and dessert, and present their finished dishes to a panel of judges. They are able to showcase their cooking and creativity skills and are judged on their performance in the kitchen, taste and presentation. This after school club is a lot of fun and a terrific learning experience.

Community Service—Donating, Sorting and Team Building

By Ms. Coscarelli

On February 23, 2016 a

group of Romero students and staff volunteered their time from 5:00 to 8:00 at the North York Harvest Food Bank. One of the staff members began by explaining where some of the donations

come from, some being donat-ed by corporations, but mostly from personal donations dur-ing food drives. The group was surprised to hear that there is no government fund-ing. The speaker continued by explaining how these dona-tions get distributed. After this presentation, it was clear to see that many families rely on

the generosity of people and the food banks that collect, sort and allocate the goods. Romero volunteers sorted 3,775 pounds of food. This helped provide meals for 377 families. The stu-dents were moved when they learned of the impact of their work and this experi-ence.

Leslie Venturino, the coordinator for the North York Harvest Food Bank, was very pleased with the efforts of the volunteers and would welcome Romero back any time.

THINKfast


Students then had a chance to meet experts and pro-fessionals in the field of mental illness from the Griffin Centre. Through interactive activities and group discussions, the students learned more about myths regard-ing mental illness, and learned healthy and positive coping mech-anisms.

As the event came closer to the end and students began un-winding, they enjoyed watching the movie Inside Out, which focuses on a difficult moment in the life of the protagonist and personifies the emo-tions she experiences. The stress of the changes in her life remove Joy and Sadness from a central position and Anger, Fear and Disgust take over. Carla, our student nurse from Ryerson, led a discussion in which students had the opportunity to share how their own emotions are similar to those in the movie. After-wards, students participated in a Romero THINKfast tradition: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, where-by students were tested on the learning.

THINKfast ended with a

final reflection in the chapel. Each

student was invited to take a rock

with a positive word written on it.

This was a keepsake and a reminder

that no matter what we go through,

there is always something to look

forward to. This year's THINKFast

was a memorable one, and we thank

all the staff members who orga-

nized and participated in this event.

We look forward to next year’s

THINKfast.

By Sara Rebelo

On February 26, a group of

Romero students gathered to fast from food and feast on positivity, taking the challenge to participate in Romero’s 2016 THINKfast. The morning started off with a blessing by Ms. Perkins-Ball and students also received a green ribbon to symbolize their fast. Green represents mental health, which was the theme, motivation and focus for the event. THINK-fast is a Development and Peace 24-hour fast initiative with the purpose of creating awareness and raising funds for a specific cause.

Students attended their classes and once school was over, the participants met in the chapel, where they were challenged to remain silent for one hour and kept their eyes shut for thirty minutes of that hour. Although apprehensive, taking the vow of silence taught students to be com-fortable with being alone as well as the importance of self-reflection.

Many fun activities were set up, all relating to mental health. Students participated in laughter yoga, stand-up comedy and a fun game of dodgeball. In this version of dodgeball, a volun-teer student had a negative label attached to them. As other stu-dents got hit by Negative, they also got a label placed on them and joined the negative side. The Positives were not allowed to fight back. This shows how quick-ly a negative event in your life can ruin other aspects, take over and overwhelm you.

By Mr. Rumazza

The team had a strong season this year. The

Junior team has made Romero very proud—Eric Dao won silver Jarred Laganas won bronze. Both the junior and senior teams made the playoffs. The Ontario High School Chess Championship took place at UTS (University of Toronto School) this year. Four of our seniors competed in the intermediate section: Osasu Albert, Mi-chael Rios, Sean Batangan and Tony Wang. They all played extremely well, and as a result, placed in the top three of all schools participating. Con-gratulations to the Chess Club.

Chess Club


Voices That Challenge

Ms. Lopes

On March 22, 2016, a group

of Romero students attended

the Voices That Challenge

conference, which models

student leadership initiatives

through keynote speakers

and workshops. Students

received information about

contemporary issues and

strategies they can take back

to their school communities.

The keynote speaker, Em-

manuel Jal, was very enthu-

siastic and moving. He expe-

rienced very difficult life

circumstances and became a

child soldier. By telling his

story of extreme pain and

need, his goal was to com-

municate to the youth pre-

sent the power of a hopeful

and appreciative attitude.

Through hard work and a pos-

itive attitude, Emmanuel Jal

managed to survive and be-

came a recording artist. He

starred in the film “A Good

Lie”, is founder of the We

Want Peace campaign and is a

spokesperson for Amnesty

International & UNICEF. The

students then attended differ-

ent workshops led by different

organizations, focusing on

different issues from the envi-

ronment to homelessness to

mental health, with the pur-

pose of encouraging students to

take initiative, create awareness

and take action in their own

communities. Craig Kielburger,

founder of Me To We, was the

final speaker. To finalize this

inspiring day, he told the story

of people he considers to be

heroes, deconstructing the term

and stressing the perspective

that these are ordinary people

who in their day-to-day have

made a choice to stand up and

help others.

By Leilani Carranza

Every year, the community

at Blessed Archbishop Romero C.S.S. comes togeth-er for the festive season with the annual Share Christmas Drive in order to help the less fortunate during the most charitable time of the year. Fun games of BRINGO were held every morning to en-courage students to bring in cans for the event, which were later donated to a local Food Bank. With a donation of three cans each, students were given a BRINGO card which in turn, gave them a chance to win a Tim Horton's gift card and a voucher for a free lunch at the cafeteria. Through this initiative, over a thousand cans were raised and given to those who needed them most.

Merry Christmas, Romero!

The food drive was

not the only part of Share

Christmas. The event also

included an option for any

homeroom class to voluntari-

ly to ‘adopt a family’ in the

area and fundraise to provide

each family with much need-

ed items, including some

Christmas gifts. Eleven fami-

lies were helped through this

service thanks to the wonder-

ful and kind Romero commu-

nity.

Romero put on a

Christmas concert to display

the talents of students and

staff. With many humourous

moments, it helped put us in

a cheerful spirit.


Paint for Power Project

Co-op at Runnymede Healthcare Centre

By Mr. Giuliani

Recently Runnymede

Healthcare Centre had their 13th annual Black History Month celebration. Blessed Archbishop Romero student Dami Taiwo , 3rd from left, was a volunteer at the event. She is currently volunteering

in the hospital as an assistant nurse through the Romero’s Co-Operative Education Pro-gram. Her co-op experience has encouraged Dami to con-tinue pursuing a career in nursing, “Co-op helped me make up my mind that nurs-ing was something I want to do as a career.”

For more infor-mation about the many co-op courses offered, see Ms. D’Alessandro in Business or stop by the co-op office to speak with Mr. Myskohlid and Mr. Giulia-ni.

By Mr. Alvarez

ISU season is in full swing

and the kitchen on the third

floor has been hopping with

action! Romero’s Hospital-

ity students have been

cooking up a storm with

foods representing several

different cultures. Ranging

from Portuguese to Japa-

nese to Italian and Mexi-

can, the grade 10 students

have put their culinary exper-

tise on display. The classes

were required to shop for

ingredients and produce a

Hospitality and Tourism

dish from their chosen cul-

ture. The exercise not only

put their cooking techniques

to the test, but also gave them

a first-hand understanding of

how to budget for meals and

how much time goes into

feeding a family. Romero is

proud of its cooking students!

Here is a snapshot from our

kitchen. Bon Appetite!

By Noel McArthur

From May 24-27 two of Mr.

Anthony’s biology students, Vy Nguyen and Noël McAr-thur, sold mini paintings as part of their Paint for Power project. All profits from the sales went to the World Wild Life Organization in order to support endangered tigers.

According to the WWF, “After a century of constant decline, the number

of wild tigers is on the rise. According to most recent data, at least 3,890 now exit in the wild—up from an esti-mated 3,200 in 2010.” This is great and encouraging news.

The students sold over 75 paintings and raised $210.00. Moreover, in order to create further awareness and raise additional funds, the students also organized a "Show Your Stripes" day, which was held on Friday,

June 3. On this day students were allowed to wear a striped or tiger related top for $1.00. Funds from this endeavor were also donated to the WWF.

The students appre-ciated the opportunity offered in the course to take this initi-ative, as well as the chance to focus their learning into an area of interest, which al-lowed them to be productive,

creative and impactful on both a local and global level.


By Ms. Perkins-Ball

“Works of love directed to one's neigh-bor are the most perfect external mani-

festation of the interior grace of the Spirit” –Pope Francis, Evangelii

Gaudium

It has been my great pleas-

ure this school year spending time with and getting to know the many wonderful Romero students who have been involved with the vari-ous Chaplaincy Programs and Student Volunteer Teams. From the “A Catholic

Call to Serve” Conference in the fall to serving meals together at St. Francis Table, Romero stu-dents have been consistent in their willingness and enthusi-asm to give back in community and to grow together in faith and service. Sharing our God-given gifts and talents with oth-ers can teach us a great deal about ourselves, and here are just a few of the many things that students on the Chaplaincy Team said they learned through their service experiences this year: “I have learned that prayer is a very powerful force and it has influenced me in many ways. I now include the morning as a time of reflection, and I am reminded of people in need, whether they be countries away or right beside me.” Julia S. –on read-

Chaplaincy: “Faith Expressing Itself Through Love.” (Galatians5:6)

By Mr. De Santis

On March 5, 23 Romero

students participated in the

9th Annual TCDSB Skills

Competition in several differ-

ent categories: Cabinetmak-

ing, Individual Carpentry,

Team of 2 Carpentry, and

Home Building. In prepara-

tion, the students practiced

for many hours after school.

On the day of the competition

they showed great dedication

and resilience, and their hard

work paid off. Romero placed

1st in Home Building

(Fernando Ferreira, Hugo Da

Costa, Brian Junipero, Joseph

Peralta) and 1st and 2nd place

in Cabinetmaking (Anthony

Lochner, Sean Batangan), as

well as 2nd place for Individual

Carpentry (Patricio Silveira).

On March 23, the

TCDSB Landscape and Horti-

culture competition was held

at Romero lead by Mr. De

Santis and Mr. Zambri. The

day was cold and windy, but

six competitors fought a long,

hard battle in order to qualify

to compete in the Provincials:

Daniel Bernardo and Emanuel

Tavares continued to the Pro-

vincial Competitions on May

2nd and 3rd in Waterloo.

Romero students in the

Technological classes continue

to use their skills to help in our

community. In fact, the Vice

Principal at St.

Bernard Catholic

School recently

visited Romero to

thank the class for

the shelving units

that had received

from Romero. He presented a

card made by the Kindergar-

ten class, as well as Tim

Building Skills—Competitions and Community

ing the morning prayers and scripture readings at school liturgies “I learned that doing small things can make people very happy.” Unique E. –on serving meals at St. Francis Table “I was encouraged to try new things, like spending time with older people.” Asia B. –on visiting a soup kitchen “Everything we do, we do with love.” Emmanuel O., he added, “I prac-ticed how to always welcome others; we try to like everybody.” “I learned to relate to people from different cultures and overcame my fear of speaking.” Alexia M.–on presenting and welcoming visiting educators from Japan.

“I gained the courage to run for

Student Trustee.” Austin M.S –on volunteering, leading and at-tending CSLIT “I felt that I was doing something good and was able to learn about

people’s stories.” Alexia –on volunteering at a women’s shelter.

Special thanks to the student readers, both the Announce-ment Teams and the School Prayer and Liturgy Teams. Thank you for the time you gave to practice and prepare and to share of God’s words of encouragement. There are many ways you can get in-volved with Student Chap-laincy. Speak to a members of the Chaplaincy Team or see Ms. PB. All are welcome!

Horton's gift cards for all

those involved in the build.

The skills the students have

learned in the Technological

classes have allowed them to

volunteer and represent

Blessed Archbishop Romero

very well in competitions in

our greater community.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html


Semi-Formal

By Sara Rebelo

On April 8, 2016 Romero

had a tropical night full of

music, masks, flowers and

fun. Romero celebrated

Spring with a Hawaiian

themed semi-formal. As

students walked in, they

were adorned with Hawaiian

leis. What a great way to be

welcomed! The hall was

decked out with flowers and

ty to learn about starting our own Fitness business at Pur-suit Obstacle Course Racing while challenging our bodies to their highest potential on their Obstacle Course. Next stop was getting trained in High Five and we are now qualified to work with youth in a sport and recreation envi-ronment - WOW, this one is going to look GOOOOOD on the resume! We then "Reached Ahead" and visited Humber College's Anatomy

Sports SHSM 2015-2016

Lab where we studied the human body and we were able to see human organs that literally brought life to our learning! Did I forget to mention our fantastic trip to the gorgeous YMCA Cedar Glen Outdoor Education Centre where we also got certified in "Conflict Resolu-tion" and "Communication" - totally amazing! Maze, low ropes, and a team building extravaganza! This year was the first year for Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneur-ship (ICE) training and we did ours at the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority - Albion Hills where we learned to create and innovate to solve real problems that businesses in-cur during their daily

production. Watch out world we might have sparked the entrepreneurial spirit in some of these students! We are looking forward to next year for more curriculum enrich-ing experiences and opportu-nities to prepare ourselves for our future. #GOALS Con-gratulations to all the grade twelve's who are graduating this year with their Sports SHSM Red Seal on their di-plomas - you are all true #FITSPIRATIONS! Have a safe, active, and fun sum-mer :)

By Ms. Jurczynski

Another successful year for

Sports SHSM has come and gone.... Well, not total-ly...there is still the year end celebration! Mmmmm cake! This year was filled with educational, inspiring, and exciting events. We started the year off getting certified in First Aid and CPR/AED and are now ready to save lives. We had the opportuni-

palm trees. The theme was

very well executed. Students

danced the night away with

great music by DJ Smith. A

very big thank you to student

council and Ms.Rach.


By Mr. Rumazza

For the third time, Romero

has captured 2nd place at Canada’s Wonderland ‘Wonder Coaster Contest’! Over 51 roller coasters

were submitted for judging in three divisions. Romero’s grade 12 winning entry won for Crea-tivity and Artistic Value. Con-gratulations go out to team members Brandon Chi, Gregory-Glenn Pascua, Nelson Silva

Wonderland Wonder Coaster

By Ms. Presotto

The annual trip to New York

City occurred over five days at the end of April this year, with almost 30 senior stu-dents making the journey from Blessed Archbishop Romero to Manhattan. With a full bus of students, Ms. Presotto, Mr. Colle, Mr. Cassano and Ms. Kim, and lots of excitement, the stu-dents had the opportunity to bond and develop deeper connections as the bus made the nine-hour journey. Known for its influential art, vibrant culture and finance centre, New York lived up to its reputation as a city that doesn’t sleep. From the first night that we arrived, the trip

was fantastic! Our first night kicked off in Harlem, dining at Jacob’s Restaurant (known for its soul food), and we were patrons at the Apollo Theater for “Amateur Night”! We applauded and booed (it’s encouraged) the acts and the chance to see the birth place of Aretha Franklin, the Jackson Brothers, Eddy Mur-phy, and many more artists. Over the next four days, we took in some extraordi-nary sights and experiences including walking across the famous Brooklyn Bridge, vis-iting the haunting and breath-taking 9/11 Memorial, navi-gating the crazy crowds and lights of Times Square, ex-ploring the Museum of Natu-ral History (famous for “Night at the Museum”), strolling through Central Park, walking “The Chelsea Highline”, going to the top of the Rockefeller Centre, cruis-ing on the Hudson River and taking breathtaking pics of the

New York sky line and the Stat-ue of Liberty, visiting Wall St. and exploring the Financial District, as well as experiencing many other exciting sites. This trip was a highlight of the senior students’ experience; it not only enriched their high school experience, but it also helped to create cherished memories and deeper friendships for all who participated. In the end, the trip was so much fun and lived up to its reputation as a world-class city!

Romero Takes a Bite Out of the Big Apple

Semedo and Alex Phan. Con-gratulations also go out to all the other Romero entries in both the grade 11 and 12 phys-ics classes for their countless hours of hard work. Look for the coaster and winning plaque on display soon!

On June 10, 2016,

Romero’s graduating class celebrated their prom at the Jewel Event Centre. This year’s theme was A Night In Hollywood. The soon-to-be graduates were elegantly pre-sented in their exquisite attire with which they danced the night away. A sincere thank-you goes out to all of those on the prom committee, Ms. Maalouf and Ms. Tramonte, who helped make the night spectacular. Congratulations to the graduating class of 2016!

Prom


Lauren St. Bernard Ricardo Cruz

ROMERO ART

Michael Nitch

Brianna Medeiros

Joanna Gaitan Ruiz

Beatriz Nunes Ribeiro Genelle Gerald

Mariana Fernandes


By Andrea Perez

On Thursday, May 12 the

members of the after school senior band and a grade nine music class performed for the Music Festival at Canada’s Wonderland. Conducted by Ms. Farley, they played three

pieces: Overture 1812, Mack the Knife, and Boogie Woogie Bugle Call. After a well-done performance and some words from the adjudicator, the stu-dents had the rest of the day to themselves. The after-school band, in addition to Ms. Farley’s grade nine instrumen-

tal music class, has per-formed on more than one occasion. With much dedi-cation and practise these students have also played for the school’s Award Ceremo-ny, parent-teacher inter-views, concerts, at Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School

for the TCSB Music Festival, Arts Alive, and mass, to name a few. Band practice is on

Mondays and Wednesdays.

Students have demonstrated

great musical passion and

committed. A special thank

you to Ms. Farley for all her

patience and dedication.

Romero’s Talented Band

By Ms. Pimentel

The Romero 8th Annual

Arts Alive Show was again a great success. Beautiful paint-ings were displayed in the foyer to showcase the stu-dents’ talent. The performers were exceptional. We had great music from our band, as well as awesome singers and a choir that thrilled our audience. Our students’ films were very entertaining and creative. The drama skit was funny and artistic. The Rock band, ‘Oblivious’ was great. The dancers were very profes-sional and had super moves. Our juggler also thrilled the audience, as did our ‘Beat Boxer’ and piano player.

We had such a great turnout this year and students performed with great confi-dence. We also had so many volunteers that contributed to our show's success: stu-dent ticket sellers, teacher supervisors and the arts com-mittee. Thank you to all!

By Julia Soares

On May 13, student leaders

from Blessed Archbishop Romero packed up their bags and headed off to Camp Olym-pia after weeks of hard work and preparation. The weekend in Huntsville was filled with enriching activities and leader-ship building exercises.

The preparation re-quired a lot of hard work and commitment: The students practiced cheer-offs, a lip sync, made a video represent-ing Romero and the theme family and created warm fuzz-ies (a type of mailbox where students leave messages for new friends). Everyone made new friends, as there were student leaders from thirteen different TCDSB schools to meet. Along with all the

Arts Alive

fun, there were also motiva-tional speakers who left a big impact on the students, and there was also a liturgy to pray and worship together. As the priest said, “You are all children of God, and it makes Him happy to see you gathered here as one”.

Bishop Allen hosted the event and the leadership members look forward to next year, which will be the twenty-fifth anniversary of TCDSB leadership teams going to Camp Olympia. Overall, the students were able to improve on their leadership skills and make plenty of new friends. Thank you to all the teachers and staff that made the event possible.

Camp Olympia

By Ms. Maalouf

ROMERO RAIDERS

Swim Team


The 2015-2016

Romero swim team finished their five-month long season on February 11, at the TDCAA Swim Champion-ships. They represented Romero with a winning atti-tude and did exceptionally well in both their relay and individual events. The swim-mers trained hard over the course of the season, practic-ing every Monday and Wednesday at Bishop

Marrocco C.S.S. Through the use of drills, progressions and endurance techniques, the swimmers improved in their swimming abilities overall in-cluding, freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. Alt-hough swimming is very much an individual sport, relays aside, the swimmers continual-ly worked as a team by chal-lenging and encouraging one another to do their best. Great work Romero!

Girls’ Soccer

By Julia Soares

Starting in the beginning of

April, Blessed Archbishop Romero girls from all grades made the Varsity Girls Soccer team. Lead by coaches Ms. Jurczynski and Ms. Maciocia-Sette, the girls overcame trials and persevered through it all.

Before the season offi-cially started, there was a tour-nament in which the girls were able to practice and bond to-

Junior Girls’ Volleyball

In November,

approximately forty junior girls from Blessed Arch-bishop Romero tried out for the Junior Girls’ Vol-leyball team. Starting in

November, the fourteen girls that made the team began practicing, guided by their coach, Ms. Aucoin.

By Julia Soares

They continued on to play several games against many schools in the TCDSB. The experience was new for some. The grade 9 students were able to see what it was like to travel to different schools, or host at Romero for games. All the girls worked as a team, and encouraged bring-ing each other’s strengths to

the table. Ms. Aucoin noted, “If the teammates were asked to play again, 100% would say yes, and that is a measure of success.” The girls had fun, made friends, and enjoyed playing on the team. There will most likely be a team next year and Ms. Aucoin encourages volleyball drop-ins at local community centres.

gether, becoming a cohesive unit. Through practices and games against other schools in the TCDSB, the team im-proved and flourished despite having a small number of members.

The girls graduating this year on the team deserve a special shout out: Catarina Cruzeiro, Gabby Evangelista, and Jamie Morrell. We wish them success in future studies

and hope they continue healthy and active lives, on or off the soccer pitch. “We would like to thank all the girls on the team for representing the Romero Raiders. We hope that they enjoyed their time and that they were able to benefit from the student-athlete experience,” says Ms. Jurczynski. Go Raiders!


ROMERO RAIDERS

Senior Boys’ Soccer

The senior boys’ soccer team

played this season. The season did not go the way we would have wanted, but we certainly learned a few things along the way, including: staying com-mitted, practising hard, keep-ing an eye on the goal, but especially, enjoying the time playing a game we love with friends we’ve made. Thank you to all the boys who stayed

Mr. Scopelliti

fully committed to the team for the entire season, offered no excuses, and made the season a memorable one!

By Ms. Kim

Congratulations to Romero’s

Rita Zha (cover), coached by Mr. Rumazza and Ms. Kim, for winning the silver medal in the OFSAA B tournament. This is the second time Rita has represented the TDCAA at OFSAA for women’s singles. Congratulations also to Crystal Qu, coached by Ms. Simnett and Mr. Castro, from Mon-signor Percy Johnson Catholic

Secondary School for winning the 2016 OFSAA Badminton A gold medal for women’s sin-gles in North Bay, Ontario this past weekend. In the quarter and semi-finals, Crystal defeat-ed the Canadian National gold medalists, Giselle Tan and Chloe Rowe, respectively. In the finals, she defeated Katie Hoe Shue, a double-gold med-alist in the 2015 Junior Pan

Am Games. This is the first time anyone in the TDCAA has won the OFSAA A gold since the tournament was established in 1979. Crystal is an extraordinarily skilled player and we are extremely proud of her accomplish-ments as a member of our athletic association.

Badminton Success

It was another great

eventful season for Romero's Varsity Girls' Softball team. With the addition of several fresh-faced grade 9 students, this team was ready and

willing to play any team they faced this season. Although the season did not produce any

wins, each member of the team exuded strength and de-termination to play their abso-lute best in every game. This included making it through a few minor injuries! This year also marked Romero's return to the Slo-Pitch Tournament at Eto-bicoke Valley in May. The girls enjoyed a day of sunshine

and softball with a great opportunity to train for next year's season. The coaches are proud of all the members of the team who demonstrated perse-verance and determination in improving their skills while always encouraging and supporting each other through the tough losses. This is just the beginning!

By Ms. Tramonte

Varsity Girls’ Softball

By Ms. Aucoin

HPE Department Head &

Athletic Director

Our families and friends are

such an important part of our lives. They do a lot for us and when you have amazing peo-ple like this in your life, hav-ing an opportunity to cele-brate the milestones with them is important and allows us to remember the things that make our lives richer and fuller.

On June 3, over one hundred Romero student ath-letes, teacher coaches and administration gathered to-gether at our annual athletic banquet to celebrate our suc-

cess through sport. This was a time to recognize our students who were part of a team that proudly represented our school as well as those who contributed as leaders.

Congratulations to

all the athletes. You have

learned endurance and deter-

mination, how to overcome

adversity and how to perse-

vere. Thank you to all the

coaches who made these life

lessons possible!

Athletic Banquet


Girls’ Soccer: MVP – Stacey

Paniza, MIP - Kayleene

Carvalho Pinho, The George –

Anna Nguyen

Table Tennis: MVP – Rita Zha, MIP – Daniela Carvalho, The George – Marcos Pires

Girls’ Badminton: MVP – Rita Zha, MIP – Victoria Duarte, The George – Kaylen Angel

Boys’ Badminton: MVP – Osasu Albert, MIP – Lester Gang Ni, The George – Jorge Briones

Jr. Boys’ Basketball: MVP – Kevonte Anderson, MIP – Richard Forbes, The George – Alan Mataro

Sr. Boys’ Basketball: MVP – Kyle Abines, MIP – Daniel Ricketts, The George – Daniel Thompson

Jr. Girls’ Basketball: MVP – Electra Opoku, MIP – Malaya Callaghan-Matthews, The George – Stephanie Garcia

Sr. Girls’ Basketball: MVP – Tekayah Edward, MIP – Angelique Evans, The George – Stacey Paniza

Jr. Boys’ Soccer: MVP – Diogo Carpinteiro, MIP – Nico Orellana, The George – Peter Umana

Boys’ Indoor Soccer: MVP – Fernando Ferreira, MIP – Anthony Dos Santos, The George – Diogo Carpinteiro

Jr. Boys’ Volleyball: MVP – Michael Nitch, MIP – Albert Bernard, The George – Steven Lenis

Jr. Girls’ Volleyball: MVP – Anna Santos, MIP – Alexa Sarmento, The George – Anna Nguyen

Girls’ Softball: MVP – Anna Fisico, MIP – Kayla Nunes, The George – Joanna Gaitan Ruiz

Boys’ Baseball: MVP – Connor Lawless, MIP – Daniel Ricketts, The George – Steven Le

Girls’ Tennis: MVP – Rita Zha

Boys’ Tennis: MVP – Brandon Azevedo, MIP – Daniel Bernardo, The George – Rexlie Nazareno

Sr. Boys’ Volleyball: MVP – Jaleel Phillips, MIP – Joshua Da Silva, The George – Erald Osmani

Girls’ Flag Football: MVP – Julia Soares, MIP – Victoria Duarte, The George – Claudia Espinola

Boys’ Flag Football: MVP – Tyler Ryan, MIP – Albert Bernard, The George – John Cunanan

Ultimate: MVP – Connor Lawless, MIP – Mitchell Correia, The George – Anna Fisico

Swimming: MVP – Connor Lawless, MIP – Anna Fisico, The George – Jonathan Michalski

Sr. Boys’ Soccer: MVP – Anthony Dos Santos and Chris Bustamante, MIP – Mitchell Correia, The George – Geraldo Souza

Sr. Girls’ Athlete of the Year – Stacey Paniza

Sr. Boys’ Athlete of the Year – Connor Lawless

Jr. Girls’ Athlete of the Year – Rita Zha

Jr. Boys’ Athlete of the Year – Michael Nitch & Diogo Carpinteiro

Excellence in Athletics and Academics: Rita Zha & Osasu Albert

By Ms. Aucoin

Students in Health and Physi-

cal Education, on May 24, had the opportunity to partic-ipate in an exciting and enjoy-able outdoor activity. The students travelled to Bramp-ton’s Tree Top Trekking Ad-venture Park where they learned to cross wooden bridges, balance across logs and hammock nets all the while they were suspended high above the forest floor.

The smiles and cheers as the students zipped through the treetops ensured a successful trip.

ROMERO RAIDERS

Treetop Trekking Trip


Film Overview—Inside Out (2015)

Every memory Riley makes growing up is transferred there. At the end of every day, these memories, wheth-er they are happy, sad, dis-gusting or angry, are sent to long-term memory.

Five core memories are introduced, each causing a Personality Island to ap-pear. Joy tries her best to keep Riley happy. However, when Riley's father has a job promotion and the family moves to San Francisco, Riley misses her old home and friends, and up in Headquar-ters, Sadness starts touching everything, making Riley overwhelmingly sad. Joy tries to shut Sadness out, but she’s unsuccessful and when the core memories are knocked over, Joy and Sadness are accidentally sucked up

through the tube that leads to long-term memory.

Fear, Disgust, and Anger try to fill in the role of Joy, but they cannot manage to keep Riley happy. Through a series of events, Riley ends up attempting to run away, trying to go back to Minnesota. In her mind, Joy and Sadness try to get back to Headquarters, but many obstacles continue to get in their way. Along the journey they meet Bing-Bong, Riley's old imaginary friend. Finally, sacrificing Bing-Bong, Joy is able to make it back to Head-quarters with Sadness.

In the end, Sadness is the only one able to help Riley. They accept the fact that some memories become sad, and as Sadness takes over, Riley real-izes she should return to her

By Julia Soares

Do you ever look at someone and wonder, what is going on inside their head?

Something to wonder about is

the 2015 film Inside Out which takes its audience into the main character's head. The story begins when Riley is born in Minnesota, and the five basic emotions—Joy, Sad-ness, Fear, Disgust and An-ger—are personified inside of Riley's mind, “Headquarters”.

family. When she arrives back home, a new type of memory is introduced, one that can have multiple emo-tions. This broadens Riley's perspective on events and the audience comes to realize that sadness is an important aspect of our lives. We can-not shut out emotions; they all play an important role.

During THINKfast, the students discussed and learned more about mental illness and what affects our mental health. Trying to keep sadness at bay will only result in more pain. We should all embrace different emotions and work as a community to help each other. Inside Out is a great film and portrays this important message in a way everyone will enjoy.

By Ms. D’Angelo & Ms. Ratz

Our DD/ME classes have had

a busy semester. April was Autism awareness month. Autism is a disorder that af-fects many of our students directly or through family members. On April 8, a group of energetic and enthusiastic

students and staff mem-bers performed a dance on the cafeteria stage during all three lunches to raise awareness for Autism. Despite not all students being trained dancers,

they worked hard all week to prepare for the performance. They were a little nervous, but did a fantastic job dancing to the song ‘We Are Family’. Special thanks goes out Ms. Ratz’s and Ms. Yousef’s clas-ses, the Romero Dance Crew, Mr. Cassano and all the staff who participated and helped out.

We also began bowl-ing. It has been a lot of fun and we have some very talented bowlers in our program. Addi-tionally, we have had the op-portunity to engage in activi-ties with both Mr. Danner’s religion class and Ms. Perkins-Ball’s Chaplaincy students. Recently we attended the Mini-Olympics where we took part in physical challenges, danced and made new friends.

We are looking for-ward to our upcoming trip to the Toronto Zoo and our end of the year celebrations. We bid farewell to our gradu-

ates Sean Cascanette and Ryan Khan and wish them luck in their future endeavors.

Romero’s DD/ME Program

Newsletter Team

Contributors: Andrea Perez Sara Rebelo Julia Soares

Teachers: Ms. Coscarelli Ms. Lopes

Looking Ahead

Graduation Mass—Monday, June 27 at Our lady of Guadalupe at 9:00am Graduation Ceremony— Tuesday, June 28 at Montecassino at 5:30pm First day of school 2016-2017: Tuesday, September 6

CONGRATULATIONS

To Mr. Anthony on the birth of his son, Jacob Anthony, born on January 18, 2016.

To Mr. Sanita on the birth of his daughter, Leah Sanita, born on April 8, 2016.

Welcome

WORDs OF

INSPIRATION

Ms. Connors’

Comic Corner

We would like to welcome Police Constable Peter De Quintal from

12 Division. He is Romero’s School Resource Officer for the remaining

school year and will return for the new 2016-2017 academic year.

Remembering

Dwight Troop—a dedicated and supportive reader of our school newsletter. We thank you for your encouragement and appreciation. May you rest in peace.

A Special THANK-YOU

We would like to thank Mr. Sanborn for his continuous support of the Romero community and many school initiatives. Mr. Sanborn has been the Vice Principal at Blessed Archbishop Romero for four years. He has also coordinated and been the Principal for Romero’s Grade 9 Transition Pro-gram. In his interactions with staff and students, he has always exemplified strong Catholic values and has been a pillar of our faith at Romero. On behalf of the staff, we would like to take this opportunity to wish him much happiness and success at Cardinal Carter Academy.

We would like to thank Ms. Sisto for her dedication to the TCDSB and especially the Romero community for over 25 years. Ms. Sisto has been the head secretary since Blessed Archbishop Romero C.S.S. opened its doors in 1989. Over the years, she has made a daily effort to support all staff and students. On behalf of the staff, we would like to express our gratitude and wish her happiness in her retirement.

Documents

June 2016 Issue No. 11 - TCDSB