At the end of the 2018-2019 school year, we said farewell and good luck to three long-time staff members.

Mrs. Kantimer is one of the longest-serving teachers at the schools and has been with us since 1986. Over that time, she has taught students from Grades 5 to 8 in both our TEAM and Mentor programmes and has been the director of the elementary summer school for over a decade as well. 

Since 1987, Mr. Drews has been teaching Grades 6, 7, and 8 in the Mentor Intermediate division. Students who had Mr. Drews as a homeroom teacher remember his famous "green marking pen" and credit most of their knowledge of polka music to him!

In her 21 years at the school, Mrs. Lessing taught French in the Mentor Intermediate Division and French and Spanish in the Mentor High School Division. She has been the Grade 10 guidance counsellor for many years and students fondly remember her as their "Mom at Mentor" during difficult times in their teenage years.

We wish them all a long and relaxing retirement!

Welcome back! There were smiles across all campuses yesterday as returning students reunited with old friends and new students were welcomed into the Mentor/TEAM family! We wish everyone a great year full of learning, laughter, and life-long memories!

Great day today for Mentor College / TEAM School TAG and LFC at the WeDay event at Scotiabank Arena! Grade 12 Mentor student Madeline Dimakos was chosen to represent the school by speaking in front of a packed arena! Hear what she had to say.

Today, students across all campuses participated in #orangeshirtday by wearing orange shirts, ribbons, or stickers. Orange Shirt Day commemorates all of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit children who were forced to leave their homes and communities to attend residential schools. #everychildmatters

TEAM School's Green Club is happy to announce its first initiative: composting. No more food in the garbage, each classroom has its own bin and an accompanying list of acceptable items. The bins will be emptied and cleaned by Green Club members weekly. There have only been two meetings so far, but the members have a whole list of ideas to implement at school and at home. Stay tuned for the club's next schoolwide message.

Our school is participating in the Mississauga Food Bank’s annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. Last year, TEAM School was awarded the prize of a basketball clinic with a coach from the 905 Raptors by donating more than 600 pounds of food!

The Student Council has challenged our school to beat our previous record this year. We can achieve our goal by having each student bring in at least 3 items. Some examples of the most needed items are canned fruit, canned vegetables, and dry goods like pasta and rice.

Students can continue to bring in their donations until October 18^th. Donation boxes are located in the front entrance of the school.  All donations are appreciated!

Mentor College/TEAM School are proud to welcome Indigenous artist, activist, and educator Eddy Robinson to the school for the 2019 Speaker Series. As an Anishinaabe/Muskegowuk Cree of the Missanabie Cree First Nation, Eddy Robinson faced a lot of struggles growing up in Toronto. Eddy's father, a residential school survivor, left the family when he was a young boy; alcoholism and abuse followed. 

Mr. Robinson will talk about nationhood, diversity, and leadership. He encourages non-Indigenous people to seek out a deeper understanding of what it means to be Anishinaabe, Indigenous, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit before stepping on the path of reconciliation. 

Event: 2019 Speaker Series, Eddy Robinson
Date: Wednesday October 23
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

The students in Ms. Gerlai's and Van Beers' class recieved a gift from the Canadian Children's Book Centre this week.  Each student is taking home a copy of "My Heart Fills With Happiness", a story that highlights what makes us all happy. The book is written in both English and Plains Cree. What a great way to help us all find meaning in life's small moments.

Ms. Towey is pleased to announce that the TEAM School music programme has received some brand new Orff instruments! The Orff approach is a method of teaching children about music that engages their mind and body through a mixture of singing, dancing, acting and the use of percussion instruments. Students will enjoy playing on a variety of xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels while learning various elements of music and theory. 

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. - Plato

Mr. Macdonald enlisted the help of Caleb, Owen, Flynn, and Molly to present funds raised at school events, including the year-end plays of TEAM School and the Primary and Intermediate divisions, to Deloan D’sa and Kathleen Cymek from the Trillium Health Partners Foundation. Congratulations and thank you to the Mentor and TEAM community for your donations that support Trillium Hospitals.

Students in Ms. Jansen’s Grade 3 science class explored the benefits of aeroponic gardening by getting up close to TEAM School’s Garden Tower. Students concluded that producing leafy greens this way requires less water, less space, no soil, and is pesticide free.  Students tested the pH of the water and observed how the growing medium, rockwool (which comes from basalt rocks) compares to dirt.

An amazing group of students participated in a Revive Center Day with Habitat for Humanity.  Students had the opportunity to create charcuterie boards from African redwood and serving trays from palettes.  The results were spectacular. 

Student worked with sanders, powertools, specialized woodworking tools, and put their own unique touch to each creation.  The finished pieces are sold at the Habitat for Humanity Restore on Dixie Road and all proceeds help to build homes for families in need.

Mr. Miller and Ms. Porlier thank all students for their committment of time to such a great day. 

TEAM School is taking part in the Ontario Schools Battery Recycling Challenge (OSBRC). The program aims to teach children and their families about the proper ways to handle, store and recycle batteries at home and at school. We welcome all the donations of the used batteries! Lets keep them out of the landfill.

TSS Class of 2019 grad Carsen Cormier visited TEAM this afternoon to lead a workshop on makeup art and design with high school drama students enrolled in ADA1O/ADA2O. Carsen, currently studying at College of Makeup Art & Design (CMU), showed the students the basics of creating cuts, bruises, and aging using makeup and liquid latex. The students are in the middle of their technical theatre unit (lighting, sound, set design, costume, and makeup) so the workshop provided the class with a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience creating these TV/movie effects. We thank Carsen for this fun, engaging, and educational visit!

Students flocked to school today for #SpiritDay. Kismet certainly has the right #spirit, and with mid-year evaluations behind her, it's another feather in her cap. She is free as a bird!

Yusuf and Roman are admiring the organic kale, lettuce, herbs, peppers, tomatoes, and dill growing on TEAM School's garden tower! No dirt, all hydroponic, the garden tower has been a source of knowledge and inspiration for all classes at TEAM. It looks like it may be time for another salad!

Congratulations to all of the Culture Show choir members on their three fantastic performances yesterday during the Celebration of Cultural Diversity at Mentor College! Ms. Towey is extremely proud of how well you sang our song Remember Me (Recuérdame) in English and Spanish. All of your hard work and dedication was clearly evident in your performances! 

The annual Culture Show took place yesterday at the Main Campus. The event marked the 17th annual instalment - with acts from all divisions of Mentor/TEAM performing in three concerts throughout the day.

Performances included choirs, dances, instrumental and vocal numbers, as well as martial arts routines. Cultures represented were China, Croatia, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Tanzania, and USA.

The performances only tell half of the story – with the other major component of the celebration being the pavilions – which are run by students and offered the sights, sounds, and flavours of 40 international cultures.

Students from JK – Grade 8 visited pavilions and watched concerts throughout the day and the evening show hosted families, friends, and HS students.

One of the most impressive aspects of the event is that it is entirely student-run. With support from a small team of teachers, the organizing committee plans and executes the entire event.

Congratulations to the organizing committee members:

Grade 12: Carmen Bi, Justin Do, Andy Guzman, Nicholas Newell
Grade 11: Anam Biabani, Sydney Gibson, Haneen Malik, Fiona Sun

Introducing our newest sport at the high school level: girls’ lacrosse. Thanks to coaches Fenton, Borkhoff, and Young for providing this new opportunity for our girls.

The Take Action Group took part in the harvesting of the herb and lettuce planter today. This group's mandate is to teach global citizenship to students and that is exactly what happened today as students learned about a group called Feed It Forward. This organization makes a difference to the lives of Canadians who are in need of assistance with securing nutritious food and regular balanced meals by coordinating the donation of food. The students and staff at TEAM school would like to thank the MTPA for donating the planter and giving everyone the opportunity to learn about the importance of growing food, as well as sharing it with others. 

Information About This School Year:

• Elementary students will advance to the next grade level in September
• March 13 marks will be the basis of final reporting, however evidence of further learning achievement may improve marks
• School work completed during school closure can be marked and assessments can improve a student’s mark
• Final Report cards will be issued
• Successful completion of Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test and the acquisition of 40 Community Service Hours are not requirements for 2019-2020 graduating students
• Our school is closed indefinitely; at this point, the earliest possible ‘return to class’ date is May 4

How are the members of the Mentor/TEAM community staying active during the COVID-19 lockdown? Watch what our students, teachers, and principals have been doing to stay healthy.

Six weeks ago, Mentor Class of 2010 alumnus Mary Kate Fraser (pictured in the photo with Executive Director Mr. Philbrook) contacted the school on behalf of Trillium Health Partners. The hospital’s procurement staff had been charged with getting as much personal protective equipment (PPE) as they could and they wanted to set up face shield production and assembly. They needed a space where they could spread out their donated 3D printers and assembly line to follow physical distance guidelines so our gym was perfect!