Michael Power-St. Joseph High School

Infobox Education in Canada
name= Michael Power/St. Joseph Catholic Secondary High School


imagesize= 300px
motto= "The Love of Christ Has Gathered Us Together into One" and "Teach Me Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge"
streetaddress= 105 Eringate Drive
city= Etobicoke
province= Ontario
postalcode= M9C 3Z7
areacode= 416
phone= 393-5529
fax= 393-5742
url= http://www.mpsj.ca
schoolboard= Toronto Catholic District School Board
principal= Rory Muckin
sac president= Marc Benedetti
schooltype= Catholic High school, IB World School
grades= 9-12
language= English
mascot= Trojan
teamname= Power Trojans
colours= Maroon and Gold
enrollment= 2007+ (2008)
founded= 1949
lastupdate= May 23, 2006

Michael Power/St. Joseph High School is a Catholic Secondary School in Etobicoke, part of the city of Toronto, Canada. It is one of few schools in Toronto to offer the International Baccalaureate programme.

The school's official name gives a clue to the fact that it is the amalgamation of two independent schools, Michael Power High School (an all male school) and St. Joseph High School (an all female school). Informally it is often known as "Michael Power", "MPSJ", or just "Power". The school is reputed for its athletic prowess and academic excellence.

History and Tradition

Michael Power/St. Joseph is a dynamic co-ed community of over 2000 students (as of 2005). The present school began as two distinct high schools. The Sisters of St. Joseph opened St. Joseph Islington in 1949 with a population of 150 girls. The school was named after the patron of Canada . Eight years later in 1957, the Basilian Fathers started Michael Power, an all boys high school named after the first Catholic bishop of Toronto . Cooperation, shared resources, co-ed classes and portable facilities characterized the coexistence of these two separate school communities throughout the 60's and 70's.

*In 1982 the two schools were amalgamated officially--the designated principal was a Basilian Father while the vice-principal was a Sister of St. Joseph. In 1986 the Basilian Fathers, continued to lead Michael Power/St. Joseph, a commitment that concluded with the retirement of Fr. Paul James. The transition to a lay leadership team in 1995 marked a new chapter in its history.

*In 1993 the school moved west and north, from what was a unique campus, to its present location under one roof on Eringate Drive. Previously, the building housed Vincent Massey Collegiate Institute. The physical layout of this new school facility extends a warm and friendly invitation to all who enter. The chapel within the larger forum was intentionally designed as the focal point of the school. The colours and decor, the principal's gallery, the graduate's hall, the athletic wing, the honour roll and the scholarship list all contribute to the celebration of positive student achievement.

*In July 2002 Michael Power/St. Joseph received approval from the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva Switzerland to offer the IB Diploma Programme.

*In 2004 portable facilities started making their way back to Michael Power/St. Joseph as the school experiences ever increasing student populations.

*In the spring of 2006 Michael Power/St. Joseph launched PowerTV - a close circuit television information system. The system was designed to display announcements and event highlights throughout the school hallways during the day.

The teachers have established a strong tradition of rigorous academic standards. Currently, over 60% of MPSJ graduates gain admission to college and the workplace. Involvement is characteristic of this school and an quality of both our history and tradition.

Notable Accomplishments

Michael Power/St. Joseph students meet Earl and Countess of Wessex:On June 7th 2005, MPSJ's Free the Children Chapter was honoured to meet Royalty: The Earl and Countess of Wessex (Edward, the Queen's youngest son, and his wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones). A television show honouring the school’s efforts was filmed at Chum Television's Much Music with the Royals, and was aired in the fall of 2005. MPSJ-FTC was delighted to present an $50,000 cheque which went towards building a church in Kenya.

Michael Power/St. Joseph students found Greenpower Canada: On October 22nd, 2001 Michael Manulak along with other MPSJ students founded Greenpower while in their final year at Michael Power/St. Joseph High School. Within months, the group was among the most active in the TCDSB.

Catholic Environment

Both at the local department level and at the global school level, programs and courses at Michael Power/St. Joseph are continually assessed and reviewed. Modifications are made to best serve the diversified needs of the student body. Theology classes are half credit courses and are a yearly requirement. Each day begins with the anthem, morning prayer and reflection. Peer tutoring, peer minister and mentorship programs for staff and students are available for those who are called to volunteer Christian service to others. These programs are limited to the school.

Peer Ministry: The Peer Ministry Council has been included in numerous charity work including the Christmas Food Drive, Breakfast with Santa, the Big Brother and Big Sister program and the grade nine and ten retreats. With the guidance of the Chaplaincy department, Peer Ministers have been able to perform wonderful acts of generosity and in return have received a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

God Squad: God Squad students help the poor of the city by participating on Street Patrol. Street Patrol is Catholic youth walking the downtown streets of Toronto, offering food and friendship to those in need. It started in 1999, and from originally 14 student members it has grown to over 30.

PowerFast: The PowerFast is an annual event at MPSJ that takes place during Lent. Students vow to not eat any food for a period of 60 hours in order to raise awareness of Third World hunger and to raise money for Dr. Simone’s "Canadian Food for Children". Students can choose to sleep over at Power while on the fast, and participate in fun activities, listen to a talk by Dr. Simone, and help him with any tasks he has planned. In 2007, 700 students participated in PowerFast and raised 1,200$, about 300$ more then the previous year.

Social Justice: Students participating in Grade 11 Social Justice program will serve the community in a variety of settings including, elementary schools, hospitals, day care centres, schools for at risk or challenged children, rehab centers, prisons, senior citizen homes, and agencies working with the homeless. Based on the philosophy of Ethics, Scripture, and the teachings of the Catholic Church, social justice issues are explored such as homelessness, human rights, poverty, child exploitation, rights of the unborn, racial equality, ecology, etc.

Athletics

Michael Power/St. Joseph has held a long tradition of athletic excellence. High standards of excellence in athletics are the tradition and continue to be the norm at Michael Power. The athletic and extracurricular achievements are too numerous to list as in its long history the school's sports teams have won many TDCAA and OFSAA championships. Below, is a list of extracurricular sports that students may participate in:

Boys Football, Boys Basketball, Girls Field Hockey, Swimming, Boys/Girls Soccer, Boys/Girls Softball, Track and Field, Boys/Girls Volleyball, Tennis,cheerleading, Badminton, Cross Country, Brake Dancing and Boys Baseball.

Performing, Visual and Musical Arts

Michael Power/St. Joseph High School has dedicated much effort and resources into creating quality student centered forums for the arts. Through its Music, Drama, Visual Arts and Media Departments student talents have been showcased to the community and the city. MPSJ has also been known for its student-organized initiatives in the arts through fashion shows and docudramas.

Music Department and Performances

Michael Power/St. Joseph High School has a very active music department, and has four extracurricular student ensembles throughout the year: a stageband, chamber ensemble, choir, and full orchestra. In addition, the school has a history of putting on a full scale musical production each year. In recent years these productions have received much praise as being almost professional in quality. Almost everyone considers Cinderella to be the best one, because of Matthew Pinto's stellar performance as the chef. The most recent performances have been:

*2008 - Grease
*2007 - Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
*2006 - Cats
*2005 - Cinderella
*2004 - A Night at the Oscars
*2003 - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
*2002 - Back on Broadway
*2001 - On Broadway

Drama Department and Productions

The Drama Department at MPSJ produces various drama productions throughout the school year. These productions are either student created full-scale class performances or put on directly by the Drama department. The most recent productions have been:

*2008 - Leading Ladies
*2007 - Drop Dead
*2006 - It Runs In The Family
*2005 - Brighton Beach Memoirs
*2003 - Fame
*2002 - What The Rabbi Saw

Powerful Visions Art Show

Started in 2004, Powerful Visions is Michael Power/St. Joseph’s annual creative art and media exhibition. The show takes place in the spring of the academic school year and is put on by the Visual and Media Arts department at MPSJ. Its galleries of student created artwork, movies and animations last for about one week and are open for the public to see. Featured student work has gone on to win awards at the national Mind, Media and the Message Festival (formerly known as the McLuhan Multimedia Festival) and displayed in their exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre.

Annual Fashion Show

Michael Power/St. Joseph students annually put on a student created fashion show in the spring of each academic year. Students dedicate months to prepare and encourage Toronto boutiques to lend their clothing for exhibition. Each year is governed by a unique theme (such as “Traffic”, “Hollywood”, “Viva” and "Fusion") and the proceeds go to various charities such as Toronto SickKids Hospital, the Make A Wish Foundation, The Good Shepherd Foundation. MPSJ fashion shows have been known to raise anywhere between $600 to $1000 annually.

MPSJ Free The Children Docudrama

Every year the Free the Children Chapter at MPSJ puts on a student created docudrama. The performance is written, organized, and completely run by students. The themes for these docudramas are focused on the exploitation and poverty of children in developing countries. Student efforts and accomplishments of MPSJ-FTC have been featured in Canadian Living Magazine, Salt and Light Television and honoured by the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Proceeds from these productions go towards building schools around the world. As of 2005, MPSJ-FTC has raised enough money to build a total of two schools in Kenya and Sierra Leone.

Co-curricular Activities

High standards of excellence are the tradition and continue to be the norm at Power. The athletic and extracurricular achievements are too numerous to list. The 1994-95 years saw no fewer than nine TDCAA championship teams, and Power has seen numerous OFSAA championship triumphs in its time. From swimming to skiing, golfing to wrestling, from the Latin club to the science club, chess to weight lifting, Substance to The Post, Student Vanguard Executive Committee to the Yearbook Committee, there is a sport, club or activity that is sure to catch the interest of the most discerning student; the list is, truly, almost endless.

Extracurricular activities and involvement play an important role in the development and education of a Power student. They promote a spirit of cooperation, teamwork, competitiveness, achievement and Power pride! Every student is expected to take part in at least one co-curricular activity.

School Publications and Digital Media

Michael Power/St. Joseph High School uses many media forums to communicate with the school community. Publications such as "The Post" (student newspaper), "Clarion" (yearbook), and "PowerLines" (quarterly newsletter) are distributed to students throughout the academic school year. MPSJ also uses digital methods of communication such as its closed circuit television information system dubbed "PowerTV" and website "mpsj.ca". The majority of these services are student run and monitored by faculty members.

Clarion (Yearbook)

The Michael Power yearbook, "Clarion", is an entirely student run and organized initiative. It started as two independent books back in the 1950’s; "Clarion" was the yearbook of St. Joseph High School and Michael Power High School had its own respective version. When the two schools officially amalgamated in the 1980’s both yearbook committees joined together and adapted "Clarion" as the official name to be used for all future publications. Archives of past yearbooks can be found in the MPSJ Library and in the Yearbook Office.

The yearbook has grown over the years and remains focused on preserving all aspects of school and student life. More recent editions of "Clarion" total 250+ pages and have won several awards from the "Toronto Sun" Newspaper Yearbook Awards.

The Post (Student Newspaper)

Founded in 1963, "The Post" is Michael Power/St. Joseph’s student newspaper. The paper is an entirely student run initiative and is overseen by a teacher moderator. "The Post" is one of the larger clubs at MPSJ and allows all students to submit work for publication. It covers everything from Editorials, Student Life, Opinion, Arts and Entertainment, Sports, Music, News, Poetry and as of 2005 a French section.

The paper has undergone many changes in recent years such as the conversion to a completely digitally laid out paper and in 2005 an online version became available. "The Post" has also been the recipient of several awards from the "Toronto Star" High School Newspaper Awards.

From 2004 until 2006 editorial staff at "The Post" planned to introduce a student magazine entitled "Empowerment". While plans were made to use the magazine to compliment "The Post" newspaper, it unfortunately never took off due to time restrictions. The intention was to produce two issues of "Empowerment" while continuing to publish four issues of "The Post" every academic year.

PowerTV

In the spring of 2006 Michael Power/St. Joseph launched "PowerTV" – a close circuit television information system. The system was designed to use strategically placed plasma televisions throughout the school to display announcements and event highlights. It runs all day long with text-based announcements, video highlights of sports games, school events and student animations.

The system provides a forum for student created artwork and events to be showcased to the school community. It is overseen by school administrators but content is created and updated by students in media and communication technology classes. The "PowerTV" system is seen as an innovative addition to media and technology based learning curriculum. It provides real-time practical experience of advanced digital broadcasting while providing an incentive for students to be fully engaged in media production and creative design.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme

The school was certified to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme in the summer of 2003. Subjects offered as of now in the school are Chemistry (higher level), Biology (higher level), Physics (standard level), English A1 (higher level), French B (standard level), History (standard and higher level), geography (standard level), economics (standard level) and mathematics (standard level). For the session of May 2007, the school achieved an average of 32 points in the International Baccalaureate exams.

Notable Alumni

* Mark Nohra (Football Player: BC Lions (CFL). Played on Atlanta Falcons (NFL), Buffalo Bills (NFL))

External links and references

* [http://www.ibo.org/ International Baccalaureate Organization