The senior girl Panthers at Sharbot Lake High School battled hard in what was a historic game even before it began. In fact it was the first ever KASSAA match to be held at the school since 1999 and the first time a Sharbot Lake team has seeded third in regular season play.

With a record of 9 wins and 3 losses the Panthers knew this match against the Bayridge Blazers, who seeded sixth in season play, would be a tough one.

Both teams have a similar style of play, with great passing and defence.

Panthers Coach Bryan English said pre-game, “We are definitely preparing for a battle and the team that wins today will be the team that swings at more balls and takes more risks.”

Though the Panthers took a quick 10-1 lead in the first set Bayridge turned it on and tied it up but lost the set in the end 27-25

The second was a nail biter and Bayridge came back winning 25-22.

In the third Bayridge came out strong with a 7 point lead early on but the Panthers kept their composure and fought hard, eventually tying it up and winning 25-21.

The fourth was tense from the get go but the Panthers came out winners in the end, taking 3 sets to 1. They will be heading to the semi-finals on Thursday.

I spoke to power hitter Rachel Neadow after the game and she said, “The win was the result of the team not getting down when things were not going our way. Our goal was to stay positive throughout and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”

The goals for Coach English? “We want to go as deep as we can into KASSAA. And we’ll see what happens after that. We’re not looking past that at this point.” That being said he later admitted, “This is a really special team.”

The girls are definitely hoping to make into EOSSAA in Deep River on Feb. 25 and then on to OFSSAA in Kenora, which will cost the team close to $10,000.

Two upcoming fundraisers are being held at Sharbot Lake High School. On Feb. 19, a roast beef dinner with all the fixings, musical entertainment and a live auction and the second, a volleyball-a-thon on Feb. 23 where supporters can make pledges. To purchase a ticket or make a pledge you can call the school at 613-279-2131. Go Panthers!

Shelley Brooks and her Organizing Committee, Front Row, L to R: Laura Gabriel, Emma Peters, Kelsey Ross, Shelley Brooks, Shelby Vicker, Samantha Perry. Back Row, L to R: Rebecca Mills, Kylie Holden, Megan Ross, Melody Patterson, Jessica Warmington, Raquel Pauls, Victoria Hill, Emily HOle, Laura Sands, Elwin van Alst.

For 40 years, Sydenham High's annual fashion show has been a popular sold-out spring event. This year's show will feature fashion from 20 local stores, with music from four decades and the local band Rock Bottom. The audience will compete for real prizes in interactive game shows from the past 40 years and there'll be a retro peek at fashions from the 70's.

To celebrate the show's 40th anniversary, there will be a special evening just for alumni. Everyone who has ever participated in the show, whether as tech, backstage, model, or musician, is invited to come to an anniversary gala. Please get in touch with show coordinater, Shelley Brooks, at SHS, 613-376-3027; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

All profits go to the Haiti Fund run by two fashion show alumni, and to sponsor students in need at SHS.

Public show will be Friday, March 5, 7pm: alumni only evening is Saturday March 6, beginning with social hour at 6:00 pm. Tickets available at SHS and Sydenham One-Stop.

Back Row: Domynick McKenzie, Darian Flieler, Jordon Freeburn Front Row: 3rd Place, Brandon Lloyd (Hunting safety) ,  2nd Place: Courtney Johnson (History of Barbie) , 1st place: Emma Benn (Allergies) Photo: Darlene Dacuk

North Addington Education Centre spent the week of February 25-29 showcasing its fabulous public speakers again this year. After the students all presented their speeches at the classroom level, a few were chosen from each grade to continue on to the division level competition in the library at the school. Our new Vice Principal Mr. John Mooney was very impressed with the quality of the speeches and the ability of the students to memorize their material. The following students represented their grades in the library: Riley Kay, Rowan Lemke, Amanda Clancy, Darian Tryon, Rachel Cumming, Kaden Snider, Madi Lessard, Mackenzie Wilson, Kaitlyn Wilson, Madison Lloyd, Max Bumstead, BreTryon, Tim Shire, Madi Lemke, Brittany Wood, Andre Tryon, Emma Benn, Courtney Johnson, Jordon Freeburn, Brandon Lloyd, Darian Flieler and Domenyk McKenzie. The following students received third place medals: Rachel Cumming, Bre Tryon and Brandon Lloyd. The following students received second place medals: Rowan Lemke, Andre Tryon and Courtney Johnson. The following students received first place medals: Riley Kay, Max Bumstead and Emma Benn. Congratulations to all the speakers on a job well done!

King Max Bumstead and Queen Brianna TryonT

On Tuesday March 9, Mr. Rewbotham's Grade 4/5 class spent their morning preparing for a medieval feast. They held their feast that afternoon with help from the Elementary French teacher, Mme. Bumstead, and six parent volunteers cooking and serving food, as well as doing dishes. The meal includes two different kinds of "ale" along with turkey, potatoes, carrots, turnips, stuffing, homemade bread, and gravy. Many of the students dressed in costumes to fit their position in the feast. Max Bumstead and Brianna Tryon took on the parts of King and Queen, where in which they were dressed in royalty costumes and waited on by others at the feast.  

 "All together the medieval feast was a fantastic learning experience, it was very authentic." said Mr. Rewbotham.

NAEC Elementary Girls’ Basketball Team

On Friday, March 5, the elementary girls’ basketball team traveled to Napanee District Secondary School to compete in a basketball tournament. The Vikings dominated in their first two games against Enterprise and Selby and also in the semi-finals against Sharbot Lake. However they had a close victory against Selby in the finals.

The final score was 17 to 16 for N.A.E.C. The team showed awesome teamwork and sportsmanship. Even though the games were back to back the girls pushed through and got the results that they were hoping for. After the final game the girls received gold medals, which meant that the Vikings were the Limestone District School Board basketball champions!

The players that went to NDSS were Deanna Allen, Taylor Salmond, Emma Benn, Danielle Drysdale, Kendra Wilson, Chantal Smith, Abby Tryon, Cayley Wilson, Brittany Wood, Kassandra James, their amazing coach Madame Bumstead, and Mr. Rewbotham, who was not able to attend the event, but still showed great support for the team.

Teacher Mike Mol, students Matt Edmonds, Shane Caird, Mike Guindon, Mike Barr

Sydenham High School students in Mike Mol’s technology class received a small grant from the Limestone Learning Foundation last year for materials.

The students, Mat Edmonds, Shane Caird, Mike Guindon and Mike Barr designed and built a nifty bi-directional log splitter that will be featured at the Limestone Learning Foundation’s annual fundraising golf tournament next month.

There were plans to raffle off the splitter with proceeds to go to the Learning Foundation, but those plans have not been finalised.

In other news from SHS, Kole Hoover, an Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program student who takes a program in masonry that is jointly administered with St. Lawrence College, has received a silver medal at the provincial skills competition that was held in Waterloo last week.

Last Saturday, Land O' Lakes Public School held a 3-pitch tournament to raise some much-needed money for gym equipment, and, as usual, the community came through for us and had some fun to support our children.

The tournament, held at the Olden ball field, got underway at 8:30 am, and continued non-stop throughout the day until 8:30 that night. The weather couldn't have been better, and there was some great baseball to enjoy. In the end, Kelly Barr's team took first place, and very graciously donated their prize money back to the school, with many thanks. Our total for the day was $770, which will go a long way towards getting the equipment we really need.

Thanks also go out the Olden Rec. Committee who worked all day in the canteen, and to the many players who volunteered to umpire a game or two throughout the day. Very special thanks to Cory Thompson, for without him, this day would not have happened. Cory acted as a contact for teams, put his own team into the tournament, set up the canteen, raked and lined the field in the morning, and acted as an umpire when he had the time. No one worked harder than Cory to make this tournament happen, and we truly appreciate his effort to help our students.

The money we raised will be put to use right away, as we are ordering items like volleyballs, trainer volleyballs, basketballs, soccer balls, badminton raquets, birdies, floor hockey blades, floor hockey pads and stopwatches.

Once again, on behalf of all the staff and students at Land O' Lakes Public School, thank you to everyone who helped out and participated in what turned out to be a great day for us all.

Teacher Mike Mol, students Matt Edmonds, Shane Caird, Mike Guindon, Mike Barr

Sydenham High School students in Mike Mol’s technology class received a small grant from the Limestone Learning Foundation last year for materials.

The students, Mat Edmonds, Shane Caird, Mike Guindon and Mike Barr designed and built a nifty bi-directional log splitter that will be featured at the Limestone Learning Foundation’s annual fundraising golf tournament next month.

There were plans to raffle off the splitter with proceeds to go to the Learning Foundation, but those plans have not been finalised.

In other news from SHS, Kole Hoover, an Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program student who takes a program in masonry that is jointly administered with St. Lawrence College, has received a silver medal at the provincial skills competition that was held in Waterloo last week.

Editorial by Jeff Green

Sometimes transparency is misconstrued as manipulation.

As an observer of the Program and Accommodation Review Committee (PARC), which spent eight months deliberating about the future of the schools in Central and North Frontenac, there were times when I thought the process was some kind of a sham.

The parent council and staff members from schools in Parham, Mountain Grove, Sharbot Lake and Plevna were being led step by step through funding and service models that were designed by the Ministry of Education in Toronto.

The school board staff, who were providing information to the PARC, seemed to be trying to get the parents to do their dirty work for them.

The PARC stuck it out and delivered a report that took into account all the information they had received, but they put their own stamp on things.

Although they took the painful decision to agree that Hinchinbrooke Public School needs to close in order to make building a new school viable, when it came to Land O' Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove, which is newer, they balked. They decided it should remain open.

Months later, the school board senior staff submitted their response to the PARC committee report, and it said Land O 'Lakes had to close as well in order for a new school to be built.

“Aha” I thought, “just as I suspected. They heard what the people said and then did exactly what they had planned to do from the beginning.”

Nonetheless, when there was an opportunity for the public to address the senior staff report, they came out in numbers and made some pretty strong arguments in favour of keeping Land O'Lakes Public School open. It was not only people from Mountain Grove making these points. There were people from Arden, Sharbot Lake, and even Parham who came forward to support Land O' Lakes Public School. Central Frontenac Township made presentations as well.

After that meeting, I recall thinking that the presentations probably would not change anything, but at the very least the supporters of LOLPS had made a number of coherent, respectful presentations to the entire Limestone Board of Trustees.

It turned out, much to my surprise, that not only were the trustees listening very carefully to what was being said, but the school board senior staff and the board of trustees then worked pretty hard behind the scenes, and did some negotiating with the Ministry of Education. They came up with a plan that delivers a new $14 million school, and not only keeps both Clarendon Central and Land O' Lakes Public Schools open, but includes another $1 million for upgrades to them.

It turns out that the whole thing was anything but a done deal from the start. It turns out that the school board was listening to the people all along. It turns out that the way information was being shared throughout the process was really about being honest and transparent.

All of this is indeed cold comfort for residents of Parham who are facing the loss of their community school. And it is true that without closing Hinchinbrooke there would be no new build on the horizon.

But with all that has happened, it is simply not true that the school board conspired to close Hinchinbrooke School. The decision to close it was reached by a number of people, including people who have done a lot of work for Hinchinbrooke school over the years.

The bad news is that a community will lose its school. The good news is that only one community will lose its school and $15 million in new infrastructure will be created in townships that sorely need a boost.

Thank you Limestone District School Board.

Megan Cruickshank with the two artworks selected by the Hotel Dieu students’ art gallery.

North Addington Education Centre student Megan Cruickshank has two pieces of art in the Hotel Dieu Students’ Art Gallery in Kingston. Megan and her family attended the opening ceremony at Hotel Dieu Hospital on Monday, May 10. The opening ceremony consisted of a slide show of all the artworks, followed by a viewing of the artworks on display in the gallery.

Megan is in Grade 9 at NAEC. While she is a gifted art student, the two pieces which were selected were completed in Megan’s spare time. This year, there were over 2,500 submissions, and 100 pieces were chosen, so it is particularly impressive that Megan had two pieces in the gallery.

Mr. R. Westgarth, a teacher at Elginburg Public School, organized the exhibition, along with several volunteers. The gallery has about 75,000 visitors per year. Mr. Westgarth joked that the visitors tend to be a “captive audience” who are at the hospital for medical reasons, but it is still an extensive number of visitors for any gallery.

Submissions came from Limestone District School Board, Hastings Prince Edward District School Board, and Algonquin Lakeshore Catholic School Board.

North Addington students investigate Canada’s art and the Cold War by Valerie Allan

Joanne Butler and Robert Maciag walk through the Diefenbunker on NAEC's school trip

A busload of NAEC students set off for the nation’s capital on Tuesday, May 11 to learn about Canada’s art and Canada’s Cold War experience. The Grade 9 art class, the Grade 8 class, and the School to Community class attended the trip with their teachers.

The first stop for the students was the National Gallery of Canada, where they learned about Canadian artists. The Grade 8 class focused on Contemporary Canadian art. The Grade 9 art class concentrated on Canadian artists from the first settlers up until WWII. Students made sketches of some of the works in the gallery. The School to Community class toured the Canadian Collection and the Aboriginal section.

After an enjoyable couple of hours, the students boarded their bus and headed off to the Diefenbunker, Canada’s Cold War Museum. A guide led the students on an hour-and-a-half journey through the Deifenbunker, far below the ground. They saw the living, recreation, and working conditions of the bunker inhabitants. The Diefenbunker was designed to house the government in the event of a nuclear attack by the USSR on the United States.

School trips are a fun way for students to learn more about the world. Two more trips are planned in May and June, one to the Science Museum and Museum of Nature in Ottawa, and another to the Cataraqui Conservation Authority in Kingston.