At ECCHS, students have many opportunities to become connected in the school by being involved in clubs and student-led activities. We offer a wide variety of fine arts programs, leadership groups, and teams for students to explore their interests. Beyond the classroom learning environment, these types of connections contribute to a positive school culture.

On October 2, we are honoured that Myrna Yellowbird will be speaking with many of our classes on the topic of Truth and Reconciliation. ÉCCHS is committed to learning about the many experiences of Indigenous Peoples over generations.

Best wishes to our golfers, football team, cross country runners, and volleyball teams! Thank you to our many volunteer coaches, volunteer drivers, and bus drivers for their time in supporting our teams. Also, thank you to our Student Council for organizing the back to school BBQ.

Student assessment is reported digitally on PowerSchool in real-time so physical report cards will not be distributed. Parents can access their child’s academic progress through the PowerSchool parent portal and the phone application. We encourage parents to contact their child’s teachers if they have questions about their child’s learning. We are also having our first School (Parent) Council Meeting on October 9th at 7:00 in our library commons. Please join us to find out more about the amazing opportunities available to students and how you can play a part in supporting your student in the education process.

Our annual Awards Program will be on Friday, November 22 at 7:00 p.m. in the Trojan Zone. The Awards Program will include the presentation of Grade 12 scholarships; Grade 10 and 11 award recipients will be recognized as well. Award recipients will receive an invitation to attend the Awards Program. Students who have been invited should let Mr. C. Kendall know whether they plan to attend. Honours certificates for Grades 9-11 will be presented to students from 8:45-10:00 a.m. on November 22 in the Trojan Zone. The Honours List from the 2023-24 school year is now posted in the Trojan Zone. If you are unable to attend the Awards Program, you can tune in via the livestream link that will be posted on the school website on that date. Thank you to our sponsors and generous community members for supporting our students!

As we move into October, we are thankful for our students, families, and staff for their efforts in such a wonderful start up and super September!

Administrative Team:

Shane Gau- Principal (Grade 11 rep.)

Sandra Wills- Assistant Principal (Gr. 9 rep.)

Paula Neuman- Assistant Principal (Gr. 10 rep.)

Chad Kendall- Assistant Principal (Gr. 12 rep.)

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

Battle River School Division emphasizes safe and caring schools. Part of providing a safe learning environment is helping students and staff be prepared for an emergency.

Our school holds six fire drills each year and we will also be holding two lockdown drills – one in October and another in the spring.

A lockdown is when all the students and staff are tucked into their classrooms (or another safe, lockable area of the school) to avoid an intruder inside the building. This is not a situation we expect our schools to encounter but, just like a fire drill, practicing will help us all be better prepared if such an incident does occur.

When we hold our lockdown drill, discussions will also take place with students in a calm, sensitive, age-appropriate way, so as not to generate anxiety or fear. If you’d like to speak to your children ahead of time, to provide additional reassurance that they are safe at school and drills are what we do so we are prepared ‘just in case’, we would welcome your support.

During a lockdown drill, the outside doors of the school will also be locked. If you should arrive at the school during the brief time our drill is taking place (either this month or in the spring) you will see a sign letting you know why you can’t get in.

It is possible we will have police officers present for the drill, as well as representatives of the school division. Their role is to help us evaluate our preparedness and suggest any changes we might make in future drills.

Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact me at the information outlined below.

Sincerely,

Chad Kendall

Assistant Principal

École Camrose Composite High School

Phone: (780) 672-4416 Ext. 6708

E-Mail: ckendall@brsd.ab.ca

• Junior 9 Band Camp is October 21/22. Permission forms are live on Rycor. Looking for a few more chaperones; background checks requires so if you can help, please contact Mr Green at ggreen@brsd.ab.ca
• Panago Pizza fundraising orders closed September 26, but Grocery Card orders are still open until October 3. Forms are available in the students' Google Classroom.
• New to the Music program? Uniform and performance expectations are found in the Music Handbook, distributed at the Orientation Night in early September, and in every Music student's folder.
• The Senior Band will once again participate in the Legion's Remembrance Day ceremony, on Monday, November 11. We'd like to see a full turnout for this important event.

Hello Everyone!

My name is Olivia Millington and I am a grade 12 student at the Camrose Composite High School. I have recently put my education on pause as on August 7th 2024, I packed all my stuff and moved to Mexico for the 2024/2025 school year. I am here through a program called Rotary Youth Exchange and have been very gratefully sponsored by the Rotary Club of Camrose to spend my year in Hermosillo, Sonora. Rotary International sends out over 10 000 students a year to participate in their Youth Exchange to help increase peace and understanding amongst the world through our youth. For the 2024/2025 year, my district in Northern Alberta (5370) sent out 9 students from all over the northern part of the province such as Athabasca, Westlock, Edmonton, Grand Prairie, St. Albert, and Camrose. We were all sent to different countries including Denmark, Mexico, Brazil, Austria, Germany, France and Japan.

To kick off my year, all of the inbound students of my district (4100) flew into La Paz BCS to participate in an orientation and get to know each other. There are 48 of us here in this district with our home countries including Italy, Denmark, Canada, USA, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Brazil and Taiwan. We celebrated our arrival in La Paz with great food, lots of pool time, new music, dancing, the beach, games and exploring the city's boardwalk. After our first four days together we were separated across 4 Mexican states; Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora and Sinaloa. We are located in many famous cities such as Tijuana, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and also some more underrated ones such as Hermosillo, Guyamas, Ciudad de Obregón, Culiacan, Ensenada, La Paz, Puerto Penasco, and Navojoa. There are 11 students staying with me in Hermosillo and we were all warmly welcomed in the airport by our host families and a whole mariachi band. We spent our first 20 minutes in Hermosillo dancing with our host families and enjoying the music of the mariachi. My host family welcomed me with balloons, a poster, and a bouquet of Mexican snacks and treats.

My experience so far in Mexico has been amazing and I've got to experience so many new tastes, new culture, new customs, new music, a new school system, a different family structure and the satisfaction of improving so much in the Spanish language in the span of one month. Things that I've noticed about Mexico that are different from Canada range from different customs such as greeting people with a hug and a kiss, wearing shoes in the house, everyone singing and dancing in public but also the different structure of things such as how the streets are set up, how school runs, and how very minimal people walk places here. Hermosillo is very hot being one of the hottest in Mexico and it has exceeded 40 degrees everyday since I've arrived. The heat took a lot of getting used to as initially I got very sick from it with the combination of a new schedule and new foods. The buildings here have the AC cranked so high it's impossible to be in there comfortably, I feel like I'm back in winter in Canada. My school is a private school called Instituto de Vanguardia and I attend with my three other friends from Germany, France, and Taiwan. We have to wear uniforms everyday which was a huge adjustment for us. On mondays we wear a green plaid skirt with a white blouse and black leather shoes and for the rest of the week we wear blue jeans with a bright blue polo shirt. School starts at 7 AM and finishes at 2:10 PM. It's a long day, but it's a great way to improve my Spanish and make new friends. I also joined the basketball team here which has a great group of girls and I'm enjoying staying active Monday-Friday.

My first month has been a blast and I can't wait to watch myself transform in the Spanish language and also as a person. I'm looking forward to celebrating numerous things in the next month such as my birthday and Mexican Independence Day. Independence Day will be my first ever Mexican holiday celebration and I'm ready to fully submerge myself, participate and learn about this very important historical day.

Thank you for reading,

Olivia Millington

Grade 12 student, Camrose Alberta

The student council has begun again! To kickstart another school year, the returning members of last year's council organized a first day barbeque to welcome our students back to school. It was a huge success; our volunteers served hotdog lunch to hundreds of Trojans and enjoyed the warm afternoon together. Our diverse team of returning and new members has met a total of three times throughout September in order to begin plans for our events this year. Some upcoming events include National Truth and Reconciliation Day, during which the student council will encourage support and participation through the distribution of orange shirt pins. Next, we have begun preparations for Thanksgiving. Students can look forward to a theme week including chances to win prizes through eating contests and raffles based on their contributions to our food drive. If you are interested in adding your input and organizing the behind-the-scenes of our school's events, the student council meets weekly on Tuesday at lunch, and all participants are welcome! On behalf of the 2024-2025 student council, welcome back Trojans. We look forward to a great year together!

All Shared Students should be up and running in their Moodle courses! Students are reminded to keep on track and ensure they are watching the Due Dates and the Course Completion progress bar at the top of their course page. Families - please watch for an email from Mrs. Hoff about a Verification Form in SchoolEngage and a Shared Student Acknowledgement Form. Students should be checking their BRSD email regularly/daily! Email your course teacher if you have any questions!

Football

Our football team is back playing 12 man football! Lots of key players are back this year from their championship a season ago. They also have a lot of young players on the team, which is great for the future. They have started 0-2 with a loss to Hunting Hills and a close game that came down to the wire against HJ Cody. They have 4 more regular season games to go to get into that win column. Their next home action is October 11th when they host Notre Dame from Red Deer

Golf

We sent 6 golfers to zones at the Alberta Springs course down by Red Deer on September 16th, it turned out to be a great day for golf. Our boys team finished 3rd overall, just out of provincial qualification. Ethan Allen however shot a great round earning an individual berth to Provincials in Grande Prairie September 23rd and 24th. During the 2 day competition he was able to keep pace with the front runners, eventually finishing in the top half.

Volleyball

September is a busy month for volleyball, ÉCCHS has 6 teams competing. Our grade 9 girls and boys, junior volleyball and senior volleyball teams have all had their first regular season games and each team has competed in at least 1 tournament. Some of the September highlights include: our grade 9 boys winning their home tournament while, our jr. girls have started their season 2-0, both our sr. volleyball teams won the consolation side of the SCA tournament in Sherwood Park. October is just as busy with volleyball. Our junior teams host their home tournament October 4th and 5th, with all 6 teams traveling for both league and away tournaments.

Cross Country Running has been underway at the school since the beginning of the year. So far the team has attended 2 races that are a part of the Battle River Race Series, the first race was held in Hardisty and the second was held in Bashaw. Our athletes have been running extremely well. A special congratulations goes out to these athletes for finishing in the top 10 in their respective categories:

Ava Heie – Gold medal at the Hardisty Race

Mack Johnston – 6th at the Hardisty Race and 4th at the Bashaw Race

Aaliyah Riopel – 7th at the Hardisty Race and 10th at the Bashaw Race

Hedda Rookmaker – 2nd at the Hardisty Race and 4th at the Bashaw Race

Zak Schulmeister – 5th at the Hardisty Race and 2nd at the Bashaw Race

Emma Searle – 5th at the Hardisty and 7th at the Bashaw Race

Shelby Smith – 10th at the Hardisty Race

Svana Sveinbjornson – Gold medal at the Viking Race and Bashaw Race

Lauryn Woodford – 8th at the Hardisty Race

There are 3 races left in the Battle River Race Series and the Zones meet which is just for grade 10-12 students. Camrose Composite High School is hosting zones this year at the Nordic Centre on Ocotber 9th. Students that finish in the top 18 in their division qualify for provincials. The last 3 races in the Battle River Race Series are the Camrose Race on September 26th, the Brownfield Race on Ocotber 3rd and the New Norway Race on October 10th.

Congratulations to the JV Girls volleyball team on defeating Lacombe last night!

Welcome to École Camrose Composite High School! A dual-track school with programs in English & French Immersion. Our mission is to provide the best possible educational opportunities for all of our students.

Email: cchsweb@brsd.ab.ca
Website: https://cchs.brsd.ab.ca/
Location: 6205 48 Avenue, Camrose, AB, Canada
Phone: 780-672-4416
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/battleriver31/
Twitter: @CamroseCCHS