In the month of April, on the 22nd day, a very special thing is celebrated every year, Earth Day. Earth Day is a day to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. It's celebrated in multiple countries each year and everyone participates in the appreciation of our planet.

On the morning of Thursday April 22, 2010 Grades 9-12 at North Addington Education Center participated in a scavenger hunt, organized by the Environmental Science teacher, Ms. Melissa Randle and a few of the students.

"I'm really impressed with the Musical Theater class, the Grade 10 Gym class, and the Fashion class for sorting their scavenger hunt items. The event was definitely a success; not only was it fun, the school is even looking cleaner," says Ms. Randle.

Later that day, secondary students were shown a brief video about recycling, made by the high school's very own Environmental Science class. Afterward, students celebrated Earth Day by spending part of their afternoon outside, with blue gloves and garbage bags picking up any garbage and recycling they saw around the school yard, the football field, the track, the front lawn, and even across the street around the library and the museum.

"It's great to see everyone working together for such a great cause, I'm very proud of our students," stated Mrs. Salmond.  

Overall, the participants in the school clean up did a wonderful job, had fun and did their part for the planet.

Shelby Vickery explored using tap water as a form of electricity at Sydenham High School’s Earth Day Carousel.

On April 22 as part of their focus on Earth Day, students at Sydenham High School participated in the Earth Day Carousel, a display of student projects whose focus was the environment.

Included in close to 40 displays were a number of projects that focused on environmental awareness and various practical strategies and solutions to reduce our carbon footprint.

Kieran Doyle, Jen Pople and Rachel Givens did a garbage audit of Sydenham High School, in which they examined 18 bags of school garbage that were collected on April 8.

Their findings were an eye opener- of those 18 bags only two were actually garbage. Four could have been recycled as paper; another four could have been recycled in blue boxes and the last four could have been composted. After crunching the numbers the group found that 89% of the garbage collected could have been recycled.

Doyle said about the project, “It was a messy job but it was well worth it since the statistics showed us that yearly SHS produces 37,000 pounds of garbage. We learned that if students made more of an effort to recycle, that number could be reduced by 27,000 pounds." Doyle hopes the results of the study will go a long way in raising student awareness and that after seeing the numbers, students will be motivated to take those 20 extra steps to the recycle bin.

Shelby Vickery, in her project titled “Tap Water: A Form of Electricity”, demonstrated how household tap water can be used to conduct electricity. Her display demonstrated how an electrical current produced from 6 glasses of house tap water is enough to produce 3 to 6 volts of electricity - enough to power a calculator and according to her, other household items like lamps. Shelby explained, “The technology could be used in emergency situations and for other household items that don’t require too much electricity.”

Tyler Hill, Adam Wilson, Brianna Jeffreys and Chris Lafontaine made a pop can solar heater that can be used as a home heater and another group explored the environmental impact of oil spills.

Most of the projects developed from Erik Rutherford’s grade 12 class on Human Environmental Resource Management. The day’s events also included a school-wide clean up of the Sydenham community, a BBQ, karaoke and a concert by Rock Bottom at the football field.

The day’s aim was three-fold: to explore various issues and alternative green options, and to raise students’ awareness of environmental issues while making a practical contribution to cleaning up the school and community.

Sydenham High School’s Assistant Vice Principal Kelly Roantree was pleased with the day’s event, and as acting chair of the school’s eco-team, is hoping to see the school take on more green initiatives in the near future in the hopes of earning gold status eco certification for this year. Last year the school received a bronze medal. 

Ainsley Jeffrey, Leah Gurr, Anne Archer, Katelyn Doreen and Katie McNichols

Students at Loughborough Public School were getting in one of their last regular rehearsals for Band Bash, the upcoming annual concert for 300 students in Limestone District School Board schools.

The concert is the culmination of the Partnership in Music Program that runs in various LDSB schools for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 and this year close to 300 students are involved.

The program brings professional musicians from the community into local schools, where they offer one hour of instruction per week to students in various band instruments, including flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet drums, lower brass horns and trombones.

The program came into existence roughly 15 years ago, when a number of elementary schools were forced to drop their music programs as a result of budget cuts.

Professional musician Anne Archer is an instructor in the program and teaches flute to students at Sharbot Lake High School and Loughborough PS. On April 27 her grade 7 flute class was putting some finishing touches to a number of pieces that they will be performing at Band Bash. After a run through of “O’ Canada”, the students worked on “Pirates of the Caribbean”, the Simpsons’ theme song, “Stratford March” and “Shalom”, a piece that the group along with Anne will be performing solo at the concert.

For the students the concert is an opportunity to hear how their efforts will come together in a professional venue.

Anne described the pleasure she takes in teaching these students. “It’s a real pleasure to get together with a small group of students, and because the students have elected to do this they are a real pleasure and a joy to teach.”

The concert takes place May 5 at the Grand Hall at Queen’s University in Kingston. A final rehearsal will take place from 3-5pm and the performance will take place from 5:30-6pm. Award-winning composer and director of the Kingston Orchestra, John Palmer, will be conducting.

The guest ensemble performing at the concert will be the La Salle Community Band under the direction of Chris Alfano and they will be playing selections from the musical “Oklahoma”.

Sharbot Lake students with Erica Kresin and Dave Gervais at the annual 30 Hour Famine event at Sharbot Lake high school

On April 16 & 17, 88 students at Sharbot Lake High School completed the 15th annual 30-Hour Famine, a two-day, overnight fundraiser for World Vision Canada, and together raised $4700 for Haitian relief.

Back in March Alexis O’Neill of World Vision came to the school to speak about the 30-Hour Famine fundraiser’s focus on Haitian relief this year and it did not take long before 65 students at the school signed up to participate. 

The students spent 30 hours at the school on Friday and Saturday and did not eat solid food for the duration of the event in order to better empathize with those in the world who unfortunately go hungry on a daily basis.

The famine, sponsored by a number of area businesses and individuals from Sharbot Lake, Ompah, Plevna, Harrowsmith, Perth, and Kingston, included various activities to keep participants active and busy. A Friday night dance was held in the cafeteria and the famine ended with a celebratory lunch on Saturday.

The school event evolved 15 years ago from a social science project in Mr. Giller’s geography class when five students from Arden decided that they would participate in the 30-Hour Famine. The event caught on and has continued every year since.Dave Gervais, a retired science teacher from the school, helped organize this year’s event. He explained that it is an important way for students to recognize that huge numbers of people across the world do not enjoy the luxury of eating the way that we do. When I spoke to him during the event at the school he explained,  “I think the event is something that the school should be really proud of, especially the fact that it encourages the students to develop a social conscience.”

Sharbot Lake science teacher Erica Kresin reiterated the importance of “giving the students a chance to experience the empathy and see what it feels like to go hungry.”For Grade 12 student Tracey Myers it was her third and final year as a participant in the famine and she alone raised $785 for the cause. “I knew it would be my last year participating so I thought I should make it my best so I gave it my all.”

To date the event has raised over $100,000 for World Vision since the school has been participating in the event. 

The library at Harrowsmith Public School will be undergoing renovations in the upcoming weeks in preparation for its rededication and reopening as the new Audrey Handforth and Jewel Collett Memorial Library.

Both were former librarians at the school. Audrey also worked as the school secretary for many years and passed away on April 27, 2007. Jewel Collett, who took over as librarian, passed away suddenly on March 20, 2009.

Prior to her passing Jewel was acting chair of the library committee and had decided to restore the library and name it in Audrey Handforth’s honour in appreciation of the hundreds of volunteer hours she dedicated to it.

With Jewel’s suddenly death last year those plans changed and Principal James Horan recalled, “We were absolutely devastated and it just seemed natural to name and rededicate the new library in both ladies` honour since they both dedicated so much of their time and energy to the library, the students and the community.”

Pat Chase took over as the library committee chair and in the next few weeks a number of changes will be made to the library including the installation of a new reception area, brand-new furniture, a new primary reading area, a new computer station as well as a permanent historical display celebrating the school’s past.

The display will include the typewriter Audrey used for most of her career at the school.

Funds for the project have been raised through a school fish fry fundraiser and most recently through a reading challenge in March where students received pledges for reading an hour a day consecutively for a week. Private donations from the community have also contributed to the project, whose budget now stands at $7500.

The rededication and reopening ceremony will take place at the school on Thursday May 6 at 2:30 pm and everyone is welcome to attend. It has been requested that guests planning to attend call the school in advance so appropriate refreshments can be provided.

Anyone interested in donating to the new library can contact the school at 613-372-2026. Harrowsmith Public School is located at 4121 Colebrooke Road.

Damien Windover (r) with his teacher Lyle Young.

On Wednesday, March 31, Damien Windover of Sharbot Lake High School competed in the Limestone Skills Competition in the Small Power Equipment category. This competition involves a theory exam with 48 questions. In addition, there is a practical component wherein Damien had to troubleshoot, disassemble and reassemble a 3.5 Horse Briggs & Stratton engine to factory specification.

Damien did as well as anyone else on the written portion of the competition but he truly excelled on the practical component. When he completed his assembly, Damien’s engine was the only one that started with the first pull!

Damien prepared for this competition working with Mr. Young in his Small Engine class and by peer-tutoring and studying at home. We wish Damien and his coach, Mr. Young, every success at the Regional competition on April 17 at St. Lawrence College.

The Sydenham High School drama club almost passed on the Sears Festival this year when they could not pull together a production they had been planning. Instead, they split into two groups and brought 20 minute long, three actor pieces called Philistines and Farmers and The Poetics.

Both plays won awards at the Festival, and the production of Poetics, by Canadian playwright Jason Sherman, was one of three plays chosen to move on to the Regional Festival in Cornwall.

Philistines and Farmers starred Curis Law, Geoff Hull and Courtney Sproul. It was an ensemble directed piece. Courtney Sproul was the stage manager and Megan Tidman handled the lighting.

The Poetics starred Dylan Parsons, Ana Donefer-Hickey (who won an acting award of excellence) and Emelie Myles-Gonzales. Stephanie Brown was the stage manager, Julie Sleeth handled the lighting, and the piece was directed by the ensemble.

Dan Raponi runs the drama department at SHS, and he has been working with this same group of students for four years.

“They really are the best student group,” he said, “and they are all graduating this year.”

Most of the above listed people worked on last year’s SHS Sears production of “the Virtuous Burglar”, which also moved on to the regional festival and on “Our Town” last June. They have been hard at work on “the Importance of Being Earnest” which will be the culminating production of this school year.

“It’s going to be an incredible production” Raponi said.

The Philistines and Farmers and The Poetics will be performed at the high school within the next couple of weeks.

Verona Festival mascot Cameron the bog lemming and his bog buddies at PCPS

Cameron the Bog Lemming, beloved mascot of the newly renamed Verona Cattail Festival, made a special appearance at Prince Charles Public School in Verona in the hopes of searching out a number of bog buddies to join him in this year's parade. The parade will open the festival on the evening of Friday, August 6 and will proceed along Main Street to this year's new festival location at the Verona Lions Club.

Close to 40 students dressed as butterflies, beavers, lemmings, ladybugs, flowers, skunks, turtles, bees, blueberries and cattails joined Cameron on stage in the school gym. The Verona Community Association (VCA) puts on the annual three-day festival and VCA President Debbie Lingen welcomed all the bog buddies and handed out free ice cream vouchers to each. Cameron chose five lucky winners from the pack, who each received two passes for free admission to all of the scheduled events, which include musical entertainment, the ever popular cardboard duct tape boat races, the vendors' market, canteen, games and much more. Congratulations to Max Orser, Jamie McIlroy, Aurora Black, Alyssa Teal and Keisha Murphy.

Cameron's visit to the school was intended to introduce children to Cameron and the festival and to begin generating interest for what has come to be one of Verona’s major summer events and attractions. Debbie Lingen was pleased with the enthusiastic turnout at the school and said, “The new theme, the Verona Cattail Festival, is a really appropriate name and theme and it gives us a lot of opportunity to introduce some new and exciting ideas this year. It will not only be the only cattail festival in Canada, but likely all of the world. The point of today's event was to bring the festival together with the children of Verona and introduce them to this year’s parade theme ... And as you can see, they have done a really terrific job.”

The 15th Annual Verona Cattail Festival takes place the weekend of August 6, 7 and 8. Admission is $5 for the entire weekend. For more information visit www.veronafestival.com

On May 18, one of North Addington Education Centre’s students represented “Team Limestone” at the Ontario Skills Competition at the R.I.M. Park in Kitchener/Waterloo. Eighteen hundred students from around Ontario competed, and 30,000 visitors attended this showcase of student skills. Charles James, a Grade 9 student, participated in the Prepared Speech competition.  He had previously competed in the Limestone Board of Education Skills Competition for the honour of representing “Team Limestone” at the provincial level.  

Charles joined a busload of students and teachers from the Limestone Board of Education on a trip that included two nights away. Students competed in a variety of events, from landscaping and other traditional technological subjects to new high-tech subjects such as robotics, photography and web-site design.  

Charles mirrored the high-tech portion of the competition by speaking on the subject of Artificial Intelligence, or A.I. He traced the development of A.I. and speculated on the future application of this technology, including medical applications such as implants to help the blind see.     

Charles’s mother, Bev, and sister, Cassandra joined with his grandmother, Veronica, to cheer Charles on and give him support. The family toured the other competitions, after the Prepared Speech competition, and was particularly interested in the robotics competitions, which featured some suspenseful “races” to complete tasks.

Charles placed 8th in a field of 17 speakers, who were mostly in Grade 11 or 12. The M.C. in the Closing Ceremonies noted that everyone who attended was a winner, as they had already had to compete in one or two competitions to make it to the provincial level.  

Charles, however, expressed a determination to return next year and improve his standing.

“We are all very proud of Charles,” remarked NAEC Principal Angela Salmond. “To take on so many students, most older than he, was a great challenge.  We feel he represented NAEC, as well as ‘Team Limestone’, with great poise.”

For the second year in a row, Sydenham High School and North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne have achieved certification as Eco-Schools.

But while SHS received a bronze certification in 2009 and NAEC received gold, this year SHS was golden, and NAEC received silver level certification.

The Eco-Schools program was created by a consortium of education stakeholders to address environmental issues in the education system. Seven school boards, York University and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority collaborated to adapt and expand on the work of the Toronto District School Board, developing an environmental education program that is used province-wide.

Each year participating schools are evaluated in six key areas – teamwork and leadership, energy conservation, waste minimization, school grounds greening, curriculum, and environmental stewardship in the community.

Among the innovations that put SHS over the top this year was the eco-fair that was held in conjunction with Earth Day. The two schools were among eight in the Limestone Board to achieve the gold, silver or bronze level.