Rockway student breaks javelin record

Yesterday, Jordan Fayez (grade 9) set a new District 8 Midget Boy's Javelin record.

His throw of 37.72m blew away the previous record of 33.49m!

Congratulations Jordan, and good luck at the regional finals!

Junior High Soccer

On Monday, the gr. 6-8s participated in a soccer tournament with local schools.

Each team is a mix of grades and genders. The day is designed to be a ton of fun and not focused on the results. The Flames had a great day with some fine soccer and a few goals to boot!

Here is a video of some play throughout the day.

Thanks to Janet Bauman and Art Klassen for their coaching efforts.

Celebwrite!

On Tuesday, Rockway held it's annual celebration of the written word with Celebwrite!

To kick things off, we were privileged to have local writers, Erin Noteboom Bow and James Bow, join us as guest speakers. They read excerpts from their novels and poetry and gave our students a taste of their different styles.

You can read James' impressions of the morning entitled "Thank you Rockway!" by clicking on the title.

A member of the Creative Writing class, Brittany Wind, took some time to interview the couple in front of the student body on their writing, inspiration, and path to writing.

Following the interview, the student body split up into four groups and participated in student readings from all grades.

Who knows, someday we may see some of our current students with their own books on the bookstore shelves!

Service Award for Rockway Student

On Wednesday evening, Heather Imrie (gr.9) was recognized by the City of Kitchener for outstanding contributions to our community.

Heather was awarded the Service & Caregiving Award as part of the Kitchener Youth Action Council awards evening. She was the youngest nominee as most of the other nominees were 18+. Her generous and humble contributions to multiple service organizations is truly inspirational.

Congratulations Heather!

Sunil Kuruvilla visits Writer's Craft

Last week author/playwright Sunil Kuruvilla visited the Gr. 12 Writer's Craft class.

Mr. Kuruvilla's award-winning play "Rice Boy" is being presented as part of this year's Stratford Festival season. Click here for more details.

It was inspirational for our budding writers to listen and learn from a talented writer living in our community.

Grandparents Visit

On Thursday, gr. 6-8 students invited their grandparents to Rockway.

They were met by principal Terry Schellenberg, attended a special chapel service featuring student faith histories and our Sr. Choir, and then were hosted by the gr.7s for tea.

This video gives a brief glimpse into the visit by our important supporters.

Rockway Track: Big Race Coming!

Connor Outhit, a gr. 11 student, was featured in today's Waterloo Region Record.

Connor is a middle distance runner (800m and 1500m) and has been competing at a provincial and national level for the past few years. His dedication to the sport is inspiring! Two years ago, he was part of the first Rockway Jr. Boys Cross-country team to win District 8 and compete at OFSAA.

The regional Sr. Boys 800 m race is going to be hotly contested and Connor is one of the favorites. We're all cheering for you Connor!

Click on the picture to read the article.

Mark your calendars!

Awesome Rockway events are happening over the next three weekends!

We start this Friday, May 1 with the amazing Youth Earth Summit (YES). Tons of speakers, food, music, and merchandise supporting our earth!

Click on the poster or go to the website for more details.

Then join us next weekend, May 8-9, for Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest presented by our Grade 11-12.

It's a very funny show and you won't be disappointed!

Click on the poster or go to the website for more details.

And finally come back on May 14 for an incredible evening of music in support of the Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support.

Rockway student and alumni bands are putting together a great show. Sure to get you rocking!

Click on the poster for details.

Rockway Soccer: Game 2!

Rockway's Tori Barratt runs over St. David goalie.

The Flames continued the league season with games yesterday against St. David Catholic Secondary School.

The boys team suffered their second loss, falling to the Celtics 4-0.

The girls showed that they are contenders for the title this year by beating their opponents 2-0. Good pressure throughout the game led to great goals by Iman Sabrie and Steph Fast. The defense showed their grit and gave the Celtics few good chances until late in the game. The Record ran a story today that summarizes the league and puts our girls in the hunt!

Our Flames are up against PRDG on Wednesday where we hope that we can get our boys into the win column and continue strong play from the girls. Go Flames!

Author Debra Ellis visits Rockway

Our grade 6-8s were privileged to hear Debra Ellis (author of 20 books including The Heaven Shop and the Governor General's Award-winning Looking for X), as she paid a visit on Friday. She spoke to the whole group and then held a workshop for our budding authors

She spoke, read, and answered questions about her books and gave our students a chance to hear about the places they are set. Ms. Ellis has traveled to the Middle East, Africa, and Central America to give voice to the children in these places by writing stories inspired by the struggles they face.

Each year, the grade 8s read the book The Heaven Shop, which gives a face to the orphans of AIDS in Africa. To hear Ms. Ellis talk about the children she met before writing the book was inspiring!

glimpse... Student Art Exhibition 2009

Rockway artistic talent was on display last Thursday in glimpse..., Rockway's annual art exhibition.

Grade 9-12 students were featured in a variety of mediums: painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, collage, mixed media. There is a ton of technical and creative talent among ourstudents and the exhibition was a feast for the eyes!

The evening also featured a Fair Trade Cafe put on by the Social Concerns Committee and musical performances by students.

Thanks to the Visual Arts Committee and art teachers Helmi Wiebe and Karen Scott-Booth who put in hours of work and made the evening amazing!