Friday, November 29 – No school for students
Winter Concert – Tuesday, November 26
The John G. Diefenbaker Winter Concert is being held on Tuesday, November 26 at Foothills Alliance Church. Doors open at 6:30pm, Music starts at 7:00pm.
Tickets will be sold at the door: $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 13-17, children 12 and under get in free.
Leadership in the Arts (LITA) Lunchbox Showcase – Thursday, November 28 in the Cafeteria at lunch
Harry Hood Memorial Award Recipient
Congratulations to Tolu S. for being awarded the Harry Hood Memorial Award, through the Calgary Booster Club. This prestigious award is given to one player in each High School Football Division. Tolu earned this great honour through his dominant play on the field, as well as his hard work in the classroom, and volunteerism.
This season Tolu rushed for 1240 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Tolu, congratulations on this tremendous honour, and an outstanding high school career!
Best of luck in your future football ventures.
Purdys Chocolates Fundraiser
Each year, the John G. Diefenbaker Music Parents Association (JGDMPA) raises money to help support the music programs here at John G. Diefenbaker High School. These funds are used to offset the cost of concert programs, clinicians, uniforms, student scholarships and field trips.
This means our Purdys Chocolate Fundraiser begins....NOW! Go get your Christmas treats. This year, our goal is to raise $3000 so we need your help—but don’t worry, all the work you're doing is choosing which chocolates to order. It’s time to stock up on beautiful Christmas gift boxes, classic Purdys Favourites, Himalayan Pink Salt Caramels, Sweet Georgia Browns and so much more. All profits will go directly to the JGD Music Parents Association to enhance our music students’ experience! So, satisfy those cravings and get all your holiday gift-shopping done while supporting such a great cause.
The deadline to order is December 2 2024. Orders must be placed through this link: Purdys Fundraising. Once orders close, we'll send out a sweet notification letting you know when and where you can collect your delicious treats. Share the love with friends and family who might be interested – it means the world to us!
Artist Spotlight
Meet Yasmeen E. She is a Grade 12 student who experiments with different mediums in order to improve her painting and drawing skills, while also incorporating different themes such as family, scenery, and realism. Yasmeen has used mediums such as oil paints, colored pencils, gouache, watercolor, etc. to portray these ideas, and is inspired by countless artists on social media, including family members of her own. Yasmeen submitted artwork (middle painting) into the AU Arts ShowOff! Exhibition, and succeeded in making it as a finalist in the 11th Grade Category. Congratulations! She finds it important to incorporate family in her paintings, because it showcases the relationship she has with them. She does this by spending hours on making their faces recognizable so that her family can be impacted the same way she is while painting. Yasmeen continues to experiment with mediums, and aspires to pursue a career in animation and character design.
Attention: Parents/Guardians of students with an Individual Program Plan (IPP)
If you are among the 70% of parents/guardians and students who have returned your signature page, THANK YOU!
Parents/guardians and students who have not yet returned their signature pages have been individually emailed. Please check your email, including junk mail and trash, if you are unsure. Please contact the IPP Co-ordinator Georgina Davidson (ghdavidson@cbe.ab.ca) if you need another copy, would like it sent to you by email, or have any other questions. Signature pages can be dropped off by students or parents in the Main Office.
This notice will be the last reminder of this important task.
Once again, thank you to all families for your support and involvement.
Updates from IB
This week our Grade 11 IB students presented their “Collaborative Science Projects”. The project had the students select an overall theme that can be studied through the view of multiple science disciplines. This year, students selected “Exoplanets” as the theme and aimed to answer the age old question of “whether or not there are other life forms in space?”
Extended Essay Evening
Some of our IB students are tasked with writing a 4000 word essay as part of their IB Diploma requirements. They have selected topics of interest ranging from Mathematics, History, Psychology and Second Languages. To get a kick-start to the writing process, students spent an evening writing in the library wrapped up with everyone’s favorite, pizza. We can’t wait to see the finished products!
Veterans Food Bank Donations
Thank you for all the non perishable food items already donated. We will continue the collection of donations in the front foyer until Thursday, November 28.
Jacket Racket Donations
We are collecting lightly used/clean winter apparel to donate to Jacket Racket for other schools. Please bring items to the front foyer before November 28. If you are a family who require winter apparel, please reach out to Ms. Cat Turner cjturner@cbe.ab.ca. We have previous years’ donations from Jacket Racket we can share.
Congratulations to all of last year’s Grade 10 and 11 Honour Roll Students!
Honour Roll Certificates were distributed this week to all of last year’s Grade 10s and 11s who received an overall average last year of 80% or higher. Courses which are not included in this calculation would be any course taken off campus and not during the school year at Diefenbaker.
We are proud of our students for all of their hard work as they strive for excellence! 52% of Grade 10 students and 40% of our Grade 11s achieved Honour Roll status! Congratulations and well done! We are very proud of you!
Child and Youth Well-Being Family and Caregiver Fall/Winter Series 2024/2025
The Calgary Board of Education invites all parents and guardians to join us in a pre-recorded and live online series focusing on child and youth well-being. These sessions will be hosted in partnership with experts from Alberta Health Services and Recovery Alberta and will explore topics such as Peer Pressure, Healthy Relationships, Mental Health for Highly Sensitive Teens, and navigating Parent-Teen relationships.
Acting on feedback from participants who joined us during our live online sessions over the past two years, moving forward we invite all guardians and parents to listen to the pre-recorded or live sessions at their convenience.
Suggestions from the Well-Being team are listed below:
Upcoming Live Sessions
1| November 28th | 10:00am-11:30am | Mental Health for Highly Sensitive Teens; Unique Struggles for those Emotional Feelers | Tracy Fields, MSW, RSW – Register Here
All sessions are listed on the CBE website.
Yearbooks on Sale Now
Link to Order: Jostens
Planet Youth Calgary Wants To Hear From Our Youth!
Your voices matter - we want to hear how your community can support youth!
Planet Youth is a program led by United Way of Calgary and Area. With local partners and data, we help young people live their best life.
On December 4, Grade 10 students have a choice to take a survey. This survey is part of Planet Youth Calgary's work to improve community resources and recreation. The data will help identify key support areas, promoting connection, belonging, and growth. Please use the following PDF to view the FAQ about Planet Youth.
The survey is completely anonymous, takes 15-30 minutes, and asks about substance use and social life in four areas: family, friends, school, and leisure activities. No personal identifiers are attached to the survey responses and data is stored securely. faq
We need to hear directly from our city's youth. Listening to youth voices is crucial for making them feel valued and respected. The Planet Youth survey is the first step in understanding youth needs and guiding our community work.
Survey results will be shared in the new year with Community Action Teams, schools, and communities. These teams will use the data to find strengths and needs, then create plans to support youth.
We encourage you to complete the consent form so your student’s voice can be heard. Please email completed digital consent forms to johngdiefenbaker@cbe.ab.ca or return paper copies to the main office.
We will host two parent/guardian information sessions at Diefenbaker to provide more information and an opportunity to ask questions to the survey organizers. The sessions will be held on Wednesday, November 6 and Thursday, November 14 from 4:00-4:30pm in the library.
