Bellerose Composite High School
Encyclopedia
Bellerose Composite High School is a relatively new high school located in northwest St. Albert, Alberta
St. Albert, Alberta
St. Albert is a suburban city in Alberta, located northwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River. It was originally settled as a Métis community, and is now the second largest city in the Edmonton area. St...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

The school mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 is "Rosie the Bulldog" and students are referred to as "Bellerose Bulldogs". Bellerose Composite High School has an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students in grades 10-12 with close to 100 staff. The school was built in 1988, and an extension was added onto the back of the school in the early 2000s. The school is situated in the neighborhood of Deer Ridge and is close to surrounding Lacombe Park and North Ridge. Bellerose is home to several different programs catering to students needs, ranging from International Baccalaureate (IB) to Sports Academy
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...

 for students that participate in higher level sports.

Bike-A-Thon

Bellerose has become widely known for its annual 48 hour Bike-A-Thon to raise money for cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 research. Students cycle in teams of 8-10 for 48 hours non-stop to raise cancer awareness. Originally, the Bike-A-Thon was a 60 hour event, but was shortened to the 48 hour version because of occurrences of over-exertion among the students involved. In 2006, Bellerose was one of the largest non-corporation contributors to the Cross Cancer Institute raising approximately $57,000 for cancer research or about $47.50 per student. During the Bike-A-thon, many "Bulldogs" shave their heads for cancer in an effort to raise even more money for the cause. In 2010, the students of Bellerose raised over $107,000.00 for cancer research, which made the Canadian Cancer Society re-write their record books to make them to second largest check ever to be given to the Society by a school. The 2011 edition of the Bellerose Bike-A-Thon was an even greater success. Over 600 students, nearly two-thirds of the school population, participated and raised in excess of $135,000. This is equivalent to approximately $225 being raised by each individual that participated in the Bike-A-Thon. The majority of the funds in 2011 went to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, with the funds from the annual head shave going towards the Kids With Cancer Society.

To date, the total amount of money that Bellerose students have raised in the eight editions of the Bike-A-Thon is over $500,000. This is one of the most successful fundraisers by any high school in Canada.

Course offerings

Bellerose offers a variety of courses to its students:
  • Career and Life Management Studies (CALM)
  • Career and Technology Studies (CTS)
  • English Language Arts (ELA)
  • T.E.A.M. (Together Everyone Achieves More) Leadership
  • Art 10, 20, 30, and 30-1
  • Drama 10, 20, and 30
    • Drama/English 10-1
  • Music
    • Concert Choir
    • Concert Band 10, 20, 30
    • Jazz Choir 10, 20, 30
    • Jazz Band 10, 20, 30
    • Guitar Class 10, 20, 30
    • Music Theory
    • Musical Theatre 15, 25, 35
      • Advanced Acting 15, 25, 35
  • Languages
    • French
    • Japanese
    • Spanish
  • Mathematics
    • Math 10/20/30/31
    • Math Applied
    • Math 14/24/Algebra 35
  • Physical Education
  • Sciences
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Physics
  • Social Studies

International trips

Bellerose Composite High School has offered the opportunity for international travel to its students. During Spring Break in 2006, Bellerose staff took some of the students on a 12 day excursion to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. They also toured Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. As these Bellerose students traveled across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, other Bellerose students traveled across the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The Japan trip was offered again by Bellerose in 2007 during Spring Break, however, the Europe trip was not offered. Bellerose went to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

again in the summer of 2010, staying with host families in or around the city of Okazaki. Another trip is being planned for the summer of 2011.

External links

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