Macdonald High School Alumni Association

Earth Hour was a huge success in Canada. One household at a time, one business, one town…and so it goes.  As my dad used to say, “It’s the peanuts that feed the elephants”!

http://earthhour.org/take-action/business-supporters/Canada/

Word has it that if everyone turned off their lights for one hour, the year’s carbon footprint would be reduced by 22,290,910 pounds, which is equivalent to sparing 400,000 trees and reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosohere by 8.4 million pounds. 

Visit http://www.wwf.ca/earthhour/ and join in on a positive initiative that will give old Mother Nature a hand.

May 16-18, 2008

THERE WILL BE A REUNION / GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY PARTY

AT DORSET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, IN BAIE D’URFE. 

Please drop in for a visit, leave a footprint and take the virtual tour at

http://dorset.lbpsb.qc.ca/

Organizers are looking for elementary school photos to display at the reunion.

Do you have any?

Would you like to share them? 

If so, please scan them as jpegs and e-mail them to:

 http://dorset.lbpsb.qc.ca/

Sunday, May 20th, 2007, marked a turning point in Mac’s history.  We officially entered the second centennial of our existence.  To mark the occasion, MHSAA has produced a commemorative album with photos, anecdotes, speeches and sweet memories of the ceremony.  Anyone wishing to order a copy is welcome to contact me at vivian.bruce@gmail.com and we can proceed from there.  

Canadian orders will be honoured upon receipt of a $50 cheque; postage and packaging included. Costs to reprint have increased since first edition. 

International orders, please add $5 for postage. 

The Chronicle  BY ALBERT KRAMBERGER

editor@transcontinental.ca

Macdonald High School principal Jim Aitken has been chosen as one of the country’s top principals this year by The Learning Partnership and the Canadian Association of Principals.

Aitken, an educator since 1970 and Mac’s principal for seven years, was one of 33 named as Canada’s Outstanding Principals for 2008. The program, now in its fourth year, honours contributions promoting quality education in publicly-funded schools across the country.

“It’s very flattering,” Aitken, 61, said of the award.

Mac High’s governing board chairman has nothing but praise for the Ste. Anne de Bellevue school’s top administrator.

“He’s an outstanding administrator,” said Robert Hamel, a Pincourt resident. “He always has the welfare of students at heart.”

Hamel added Aitken has done everything from living up to the zero tolerance policy for violence to getting involved with students one-on-one. “You see him in the halls and at special activities and at teacher’s night,” he said. “The kids know him and they’re not afraid of him.”

Aitken is very transparent with governing board members and is open to answering queries from parents, Hamel said, adding he’s had nothing but “full co-operation from the school’s administration dealing with any issues.”

Meanwhile, Aitken said his main focus as principal has been on student success. He said he’s not looking for quick solutions but wants students to “learn how to learn.”

“I want them to take ownership of their education and to get their parents into it as well,” he said.

“I don’t want students to accept lower marks in Grade 7 or 8,” he added.

As part of the Outstanding Principals initiative, Aitken and the other winners will participate in a five-day leadership training program in late February in Toronto. They will be formally honoured at a gala on Feb. 26. For more information, check www.thelearningpartnership.ca.

… a happy healthy Holiday Season and the best of everything for the New Year.

The minutes from the November 17 General Meeting are now available HERE.

Dr. Menzies!  CONGRATULATIONS! 

Heather will receive an honorary doctorate at Concordia’s fall convocation.  She recently participated in Author’s Alcove at the Centennial Celebrations and we saw first-hand the *stuff* of which this lady is made.  She does the school proud!

Please see http://machigh.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=752&start=0

Date:    SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2007 11:00am -12:00 noon 

Place:   The Royal Canadian Legion, Churchill Branch 91             

             28 rue Ste. Anne               Ste. Anne de Bellevue, 

             Québec H9X 1L3               514-457-9332

PLEASE e-mail vivian.bruce@gmail.com if you plan to attend.  

The June 9th minutes from the Annual General Meeting have been posted in MHSAA Minutes.