Photo: NAEC N house cheer [N House Spirit booster on Frisky Friday.

Last week, students from grades 9 to 12 and staff of North Addington Education Centre participated in Spirit Week, organized by Mrs Sarah Sproule's Grade 12 Leadership class.

Each day had a costume theme and a lunch time event (duct tape a teacher to a wall, dodge ball and fear factor eating) that could earn House teams points towards the culmination of Frisky Friday; a day of team building games and challenges. Teams started Friday with a very competitive cheer off between Houses, followed by a day of tug-o-war, capture the flag, backboard ball, dizzy bat, three-legged race, an obstacle course and a scavenger hunt. 

OSAID hosted a free BBQ and hot chocolate lunch to keep everyone’s strength up. At the end of a very fun and spirit charged week, N House came out with top points to win Frisky Friday. Students then enjoyed their winter formal hosted by the Students’ Council in Flinton.

Photo: Students and staff of Ms. Steele’s School to Community class

On December 7, students in Ms. Steele's School to Community class at Sharbot Lake High School presented a cheque and toys to Ms. Meaghan Dodgson in the school cafeteria, culminating their efforts to give back to the community. The students started fundraising three weeks ago for the school’s annual food, clothing and toy drive, which supports Northern Frontenac Community Services and the local food bank. This was the first time Ms Steele's students had initiated their own project for the drive, which was headed up this year in the school by the student council and French teacher Ms. Meaghan Dodgson.

The School to Community students participated by baking, decorating, advertising and selling cup cakes and when all was said and done the students raised $190 - but their efforts did not stop there. Students then were split into five teams and were partnered with Mr. Robinson's leadership class and together took a shopping trip, where each team purchased an appropriate toy for a child in the community. While Ms. Steele always intended for her students to focus on giving and helping others during the holiday season, she says it was the students themselves who initiated the idea of giving back to those in need in the community.”

“Their effort evolved in the classroom during Remembrance Day when we discussed the idea of helping others in other countries and while my intention had always been to bring that idea around to giving to others in need in our own community, it was the students who had the idea to go there first,” she said. “And that was a really big moment in the classroom.” The fundraising will wrap up on December 16.. Congratulations to Ms Steele’s students on demonstrating how far a cupcake can go in bringing joy to others.

Photo Left: Ms Mayhew's grade 3 class at Harrowsmith PS with their “Tweet Tree”.

For the past four years students at Harrowsmith Public School have been participating in their annual Festival of Trees event, a holiday fundraiser aimed at raising money and food donations for the local community. For school principal Jim Horan, “It's a wonderful opportunity for our students to come together to help those who are less fortunate in South Frontenac.”

Revell Ford Lincoln of Verona sponsored the event and supplied the trees, which each class then decorated. The trees were raffled off on Dec. 10 and all proceeds will go to the local Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation’s food bank, and the local Free Methodist and United Churches.

Grade eight students play a big part in the fund raising and each year they canvas door-to-door in Harrowsmith for donations. According to Mr. Horan, “The response this year was truly overwhelming. This year we received more food than we have ever received before.”

On Dec. 8 the entire school was invited to the gym where student ambassadors Emily Kellett and Regina Austin emceed the inaugural first day of the event. They invited School Trustee Suzanne Ruttan to launch the three-day festival by lighting up the first tree. She was joined by OPP Staff Sgt. Gary Oullette, who thanked the students for their efforts.

Each class then had a chance to introduce their themed tree to the whole school and this year’s themes were both clever and imaginative. They included a Tweet Tree decorated with edible bird treats, the Adam and Eve tree decorated with real apples, and the Merry Mousemas tree decorated with candy cane-tailed felt mice.

The celebration included a performance by the school’s grade 1, 2 choir and a carol sing-a-long led by Queens University teacher candidates.

The event is not only a way to raise funds for those in need but also a way of bringing the entire school and local community together in a celebration of holiday giving and sharing.

Mr. Horan wishes to thank Revell Ford and the Revell family for their ongoing support as the event’s corporate partner and the OPP, who is the event’s community partner.

On December 11, the Senior Girls’ volleyball team travelled to Loyalist College for a tournament consisting of eight teams.  The girls’ first game of the day was against the strong Marc Garneau team. The girls all played well and won the first set 25-22.  During the second set, Marc Garneau came out fighting and, although the girls got behind, they were able to gain momentum.  Marc Garneau eventually ended up winning the second set 25-22.  After dropping this set, the Lady Panthers did not drop another set during pool play, playing undefeated against St.Theresa’s, Quinte Secondary School and Nicholson.  This propelled our girls into first place for pool play.  The girls were once again up against Marc Garneau in the semi-finals.  The Panthers came out strong and won the first set 25-16.  During  the second set,  Marc Garneau weren’t going to give up without a fight and came out guns- a-blazing, winning the second set 25-22.

Well, our Lady Panthers did not want to give Marc Garneau another victory. They took care of business in the third set and punched their ticket to the finals, winning 15-12. The girls were very determined and ready to take on Cobourg West.  The Lady Panthers came flying out of the gates and did not look back. Our girls were just too strong for the Cobourg team. They won in straight sets 25-12 and 25-15.  The Panthers should be very proud of their victory and what a way to end off an impressive first week of league play in KASSAA. 

The tournament victory would not have been possible without the tournament MVP Rachel Neadow, who continually came up with huge plays and great leadership; Courtney Meeks’ and Sarah Armstrong’s strong service points and great passing; Jen Cota and her consistent and smart play on the court;  Dana Mika taking her game to the next level in important games; Tricia Gray always being ready and getting key points when she was called upon; Sami Stencell and her great passing and HUGE Serve; Kaitlyn Wilkes and her awesome passing and great job in the Semi Final and Championship match; and of course the set up kid Nicole Domen who always does a great job setting up our powerful swingers!!!  Great job ladies and congratulations.

Students at NAEC are working hard to help the local Food Bank again this year, with a repeat of the Empty Bowls Project. The Empty Bowls Project will culminate in a supper on November 19 at the Northern Highlights craft show, combining bowls and food produced by NAEC students and sold for $6. All proceeds will be donated to the Food Bank.

Grade 9, 11 and 12 Art students are making bowls in an array of styles and shapes. While each bowl is clearly individual, students have made an effort to keep the sizes comparable. They are decorating them in a variety of glazes, to make them even more unique works of art. It is estimated that there will be 50 of these one-of-a-kind bowls available.

Meanwhile, members of the Grade 12 Hospitality class are roasting, chopping and simmering to produce soup to go into the bowls. There is a choice of French Onion or Turkey Noodle soup. In addition to the bowl of hearty soup, diners will have a student-made dinner roll as an accompaniment, to make a satisfying fall dinner.

Last time this project ran at NAEC (in 2011), over $250 was donated to the Food Bank as a result of the community’s generosity. As previously, the bowls will be on display at the school in advance, so that interested community members can pre-purchase their bowls.

Principal Angela Salmond is proud of the students’ efforts. “It is always so encouraging to see classes collaborating together on projects,” she said. “It is so much more satisfying when they are doing so for the good of the community. NAEC has a history of helping with the Food Bank, and this continues that tradition.”

On Halloween night, October 31, students from North Addington Education Centre canvassed the community in their costumes; not for candy or treats, but for non-perishable food items. Students and adults were stationed in Flinton, Northbrook, and Cloyne. The response was overwhelming. Most homes had a bag or box of food ready, and were not reluctant to contribute to the community. The event and pick up were supervised by a staff member.

In total, students collected approximately 700 items, which will help the food bank through the winter season. Darian Asselstine, an NAEC student, said, “I couldn’t believe how much fun I had! A lot of people recognized the Campbell’s soup can costumes right away”. School Council chair Sarah Collins said, “I want to do it again next year- I think the supervising adults had just as much fun as the kids.” The items were then taken over to the food bank and unloaded by some of the grade 10 Careers and Civics students.

While this event helped stock the shelves, the winter and holiday seasons are a busy time for the food bank. An attempt was made to go to as many houses as possible, but if your donation was missed, please call North Addington at 613-336-8991 and ask for Candice Bovard; we will pick up your item(s). For those requiring assistance, please contact Land O’ Lakes Community Services at 613-336-8934. Those wishing to donate food, please call Karen Anderson at 613-391-1408 (leave a message if there is no answer).

Angela Salmond, the principal of NAEC, was excited to show her support for the event: “I am so proud of our students and would like to extend my thanks to their families and the community. Our students are able to contribute because of the support we receive from the community. The kids are happy and the shelves are full; that is success. Thank you for investing in our students - I am very grateful.”

Colin Edwards, a long time staff member at the North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne, was not someone who craved the limelight.

However, to this day, he has been remembered as someone who lived his life to the beat of his own drum while also putting NAEC students front and center. It was with that in mind that a special school-wide ceremony was held at NAEC on October 23, naming the school's new Outdoor Education Centre in his honour.

Edwards, who succumbed to cancer in 2006, began teaching at NAEC in 1973. He later became vice principal, but then he asked to go back to the classroom since it was teaching that most inspired him.

The special ceremony was led by Sarah Sproule, lead student success teacher at the school, and included words from school principal Angela Salmond, who summed up the opening of the center as the final culmination of an innovative outdoor education project called “Learning From Our Roots”.

Seed funding from provincial government paid for some of the construction materials for the building. Over the years though, most of the funding required to complete the project came from numerous and very generous donations from the local community and the ongoing fund-raising efforts by students and staff at the school.

The project, which got underway several years ago, included the planting of seedlings on school property; the purchase of numerous outdoor learning materials such as camping equipment, top of the line archery equipment; and finally, the construction of the outdoor education centre. The centre is a one and a half storey post and beam structure that is just under 400 square feet. It which was designed and constructed by former NAEC teacher Mr. Rasenberg and his construction students with the help of Ms. Sproule and Mr. Sissons.

It is now the hub of the school's outdoor education program, housing houses all of the school's brand new camping and archery equipment, and it is where receive instruction prior to heading out into the great outdoors.

A sign in front of the building has a loon, a maple leaf and the Bon Echo rock - three things that Ms. Sproule said she felt Edwards would have appreciated and been proud of.

Principal Salmond said that the school's outdoor education program enables all students at the school to access “not only the 80 plus acres of the school property but also the multitude of lakes and other outdoor learning opportunities in the area.”

She spoke of Colin Edwards as a “teacher, colleague and a friend, someone who believed in tapping into students' interests so that they could reach their full potential, while also providing opportunities and second chances to students that extended beyond the classroom.”

Colin's widow, Grace Edwards, also spoke at the event and expressed her gratitude and surprise at the honour. “This school meant so much to that man,” she said. “He lived and worked in the area and he gave back to the area. He always felt that if you wanted to make a change you had to do so from the inside out and in education, that meant not forcing a square peg into a round hole.”

NAEC students Amey Sauvageau, Jared Salmond, and Taylor Salmond spoke about their own personal growth as a result of the outdoor education at the school. Student Lucas Parks-Delya read the testimonial of a younger student involved in the school's archery program. It is one of the best archery programs in the country and NAEC is the first school in Ontario to become a part of it. Following the ceremony, an official ribbon cutting at the new building. Conservationists of Frontenac Addington President Ron Pethick and grade eight student Tim Shire performed the honours. Following that, a number of students demonstrated their prowess with bow and arrow.

Ms. Sproule, along with fellow teacher Mr. Sissons, raised $7,000 for the project and she was also instrumental in bringing the national archery program to the school. She said she is thrilled to have the new center up and running.

“I am very passionate about outdoor education and believe that students should spend as much time as possible outside. I really believe that some students do not necessarily learn best in a conventional classroom and the goal here is to reach out especially to those students. These programs give, especially to those students, a reason to come to school and something that they can be successful at.”

Staff also hope to purchase snowshoes in the near future.

Photo: Sierra's dad, Sean Baldacchin assists in her Locks for Love donation at NAEC

At the NAEC's final Pride Assembly for 2011, which took place on December 16, four young students were invited by the school's vice principal Mr. John Mooney to present a cheque to Carolyn Hasler, Chair of the Flinton Relay for Life. The cheque for $1734 will benefit cancer research, and represents the total amount that the 219 elementary students at the school raised at this year’s Terry Fox run, which took place in October. Cheque presenters included: from grade two, Emma Mc Fadden; from grade three Sasha Berndt, and Jakob Acosta-Vlasic; and from grade four Sierra Baldachin. The four students were chosen to make the presentation, since together they have raised close to $3,000 by cutting and donating their hair to either Locks for Love or Angel Hair for Children, two organizations that make wigs for patients who have lost their hair while undergoing cancer treatment.

The four students’ efforts, along with the cheque, brings the school’s total to just under $5,000, something the school can definitely be proud of. Following the presentation, student Sierra Baldachin invited her dad Sean to the stage to assist her in cutting off her 86 cm waist-length locks, which she has been growing since birth. Sierra’s grandmother died from cancer, and Sierra recalled the self-consciousness her grandmother experienced due to hair loss while undergoing her treatments. So for Sierra, cutting off her own locks made perfect sense. “I'll miss having long hair and I won't be able to do as much with what is left but I know that getting it cut will definitively change some people’s lives and that makes it all worth while.”

NAEC Vice Principal Mr. Mooney had nothing but praise for the efforts of the students at the school. “Part of the education we teach today is character education, which is all about helping students to see how they can make a difference and be a positive force in society. So by publicly recognizing and celebrating both the students’ group and individual efforts, I feel that we are showing them that they can indeed make a positive difference in the world.”

The school held their annual Christmas concert on Dec. 21, and guests were encouraged to bring non-perishable food items that will be donated to the local food bank.

Photo: Architects drawing of the new school.

Trustee Ann Goodfellow, along with Limestone Board Manager of Facility Services David Fowler, and Manager of Planning Wayne Toms, brought the preliminary drawings for the new Sharbot Lake Kindergarten to Grade 12 school to Central Frontenac Council’s Dec. 13 meeting. The school will be built in the parking lot of the current high school over the next 20 months.

The L shaped, three-storey design is very similar to the one that was presented in July and has been further refined by the project’s architect.

The school will be a 69,000 square foot building, including a full gym and an adjacent cafeteria/auditorium, all located on the second floor of the building.

“Our plans are to build a school that will accommodate 220 secondary and 239 elementary students, which will open its doors in September of 2013,” said David Fowler. “We are awaiting approvals in the winter and are hoping to go to tender and then break ground in the spring. It will be exciting to put this facility in the community.”

Among the features of the current plan are the ability of the wall between the cafeteria/auditorium and the gym to be removed to open up a large space for community use.

“If it were all opened up, there would be space for up to 1,000 people,” said Ann Goodfellow.

In line with provincial policy, all levels, and all the rooms in the building will be fully accessible. Care has also been taken to ensure that younger students are kept in a separate space from the older students. It will also have classrooms for special needs students on all three levels.

Mayor Janet Gutowski said, “I can tell you that the whole community is really looking forward to this. I’m very proud that we will have the first school in the Limestone Board that has been specifically designed as a Kindergarten to grade 12 building, and that it is a true partnership between the school board and the township.” 

Central Frontenac Council – Dec. 13,

By Jeff Green

In their final meeting of 2011, Central Frontenac Council received a lot of information about planning matters, roads and waste management issues, and learned that they will be deep into budget deliberations in early January of 2012.

Kennebec Lake subdivision – In a first for the township, planning consultant Glenn Tunnock outlined how McIntosh Perry, the developer that is planning to build a 24-lot subdivision with 16 waterfront lots as well as 8 back lots on Kennebec Lake, has been working collaboratively not only with the township and conservation authority, but with the Kennebec Lake Association as well.

Greg Newman from McIntosh Perry outlined the proposal, which is wending its way through the plan of subdivision, zoning bylaw amendment, and severance processes in Central Frontenac and Frontenac County.

The current plan calls for the new subdivision to be accessed off Henderson Road just south of the Kennebec Lake bridge. The access road will be built to township standards and will become a township road,

One unusual departure of the project is that McIntosh Perry is planning to give most of the land that is not being used for building lots to the township for use as parkland. The land that will be offered totals over 60% of the Baker Valley property that McIntosh Perry is developing.

In the earlier planning stages, a common waterfront area was going to be set aside for use by the 8 non-waterfront lot owners, but that idea has been shelved.

Garrison Shores – Township Planning Co-ordinator Cathy MacMunn said that the long, long, awaited Garrison Shores condominium agreement is on the agenda for approval at Frontenac County Council this week.

(Note – the Frontenac County meeting took place on Wednesday morning, December 14, after this edition of the Frontenac News had gone to press. By the time you are reading this, residents of Garrison Shores should have deeds to their properties after waiting almost 30 years.)

Public Works – For those who think that township snow plows have been a rare sight on gravel roads, Public Works Manager Mike Richardson explained why. “The gravel roads are still not frozen,” Richardson said, “which causes us some difficulty in clearing the roads without unintentionally scraping some gravel off. We try not to plow the gravel roads at this time of year if the snow is not very deep.”

Hinchinbrooke garage repairs – the Ministry of Labour has taken an interest in the state of the Hinchinbrooke garage, which has forced the township to take action. Work has been done to repair a leaking roof and window. Also, holes have been made in the back wall by some of the township’s larger plows. Richardson reported that rather than just repairing the walls, a wood frame extension is being built at minimal cost and the walls will be repaired after that so that no more holes will be punched through.

“Why are the drivers allowed to drive through the end of the garage?” asked Councilor Bill Snyder.

“It’s not that drivers are allowed to drive through the garage,” said Richardson, who then paused, and said, “I don’t have an answer for that.

Mayor Gutowski intervened.

“Those holes have come about over time, some of it several years ago, before Mike Richardson came to the township. Basically the garage hasn’t gotten bigger, but our vehicles have,” she said.

Mike Richardson said he is trying to spend as little money as possible on the garage while still complying with Ministry of Labour orders because he will be making a proposal to Council during the budget debate for a plan that will involve mothballing the Hinchinbrooke garage and moving all the equipment to another location.

Bridge plan – Richardson presented a 5-year capital bridge plan that calls for a $350,000 bridge repair budget each year. Included in 2012 is the replacement of the Johnston Road bridge, and a new culvert on the Fall River Road.

Waste not want not – Waste Management Supervisor Kyle Labbett brought several proposals to council from the waste management committee

In the first, the committee requested that brush and lumber for burning be accepted only at the Hinchinbooke transfer station.

The committee also wants to limit the time frame during which residents can take advantage of their annual free load. The free dump will be available for two weeks (and 3 weekends) in the spring and fall. The spring dates are between the weekend before the May 24th weekend, until the weekend after the May 24th weekend, and the fall dates are from the weekend before Labour Day until the weekend after Labour Day.

The waste management committee also looked once again at the possibility of a transfer station at the former Chippego Lake dump site in the far southwest of the township, far from any other waste site, in response to a petition from area residents.

Once again they found the costs were too high and they denied the request.

Finally, Kyle Labbett reported that new materials will be able to be recycled. Tetrapacks, juice boxes and milk cartons can all be recycled with other paper products. Paper coffee cups can also be recycled in the paper stream, while the lids must go in the bin for plastic and tin.

Central Frontenac is also partnering with North Frontenac in the purchase of Blue Boxes, which will be sold to residents for a nominal fee. Dry cell batteries will also be recycled in the township, in bins that will be located at commercial outlets in various locations.

Construction details – Permits for a shade under $8 million in construction have been taken out this year, about half a million more than 2010. In all, 17 new residential units are under construction, as compared to 21 at this time last year (the 2010 total included the five-unit not-for-profit seniors’ housing project, which counted as five new units.)

Photo: Nick Babcock singing an original at SYD's Cafe at SHS

Numerous musically talented students at Sydenham High School took to the stage on December 2 for the school’s annual SYD's Cafe talent show, a fundraiser for the school’s music program. A total of 13 acts entertained a large audience in the school gym and showed that the school boasts a number of incredibly talented young individuals. I caught the first half of the show, which included a spectacular solo mash-up dance by Amy Walton.

Nick Babcock accompanied himself on guitar and for his second number treated the fans to a first - one of his own original tunes, a soulful, sexy dedication to Jenny. Other highlights included two very accomplished covers by Shelby Plumridge, who accompanied herself on guitar and Maddy Creasor who sang a moving version of the tune “Beautiful” while Eddy the rapper performed his latest rhymes.

Emcees for the evening Jessie Bell and Jordan Dawson did a fine job interspersing comedic banter between the numbers. The popular event continues to be the perfect opportunity for students to show off their musical chops while raising money for the music program at the school.