Jared Salmond, a Grade 12 student at North Addington Education Centre, won the OFSAA Character Athlete Award on December 10. The award is sponsored by the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations and is given to a male and female high school athlete each semester. Over the past two years, Jared has been a member of NAEC Senior Boys’ Volleyball team. This year the team had its most successful year in recent memory, finishing fourth in Bay of Quinte and third in COSSA, narrowly missing out on an OFSAA chance. Jared was selected as a winner for the award because of his demonstration of OFSAA’s values of leadership, commitment, respect, equity, growth, and development.

Jared, selected by his peers for the past two seasons to serve as team captain, has always acted in a positive manner both on and off the court. On top of volleyball, last year Jared help start an intramural program for NAEC elementary students and helped with secondary intramurals as well. In the past, Jared has helped with the North Addington Basketball Association and with the North Addington SPIKES program. Outside of school Jared is an instructor with the Mazinaw Lake Swim Program. In all of Jared’s endeavours, he positively demonstrates the core character values outlined by OFSAA.

On December 6, "Frosty Friday" was held at North Addington Education Centre. The secondary students participated in a fun-filled day of activities, like tug-of-war, "Minute to win it," and NAEC’s "Next Top Model." The high school was divided into four house groups; N, A, E, and C, and competed against each other for the honour of winning the title of best house.

The day started off with a pancake breakfast provided by the school to the elementary and secondary students. After eating, the houses split up to work on their house cheer until going off to one of four different activities. The activities were short competitions for each house individually. They competed in "Minute to win it," "Molding minds", three-legged race, and six-person skiing. After a break for lunch, the houses cheered themselves on in a cheer off, and then had a tug-of-war tournament. A sled race after that, finished the physical activities. Then, the most anticipated activity of the day, NAEC’s top model! Four lovely guys showed their confident sides and competed in a fierce beauty pageant.

At the end of the day, and a long battle, N house was declared the winner! All students had an exciting day and enjoyed the formal that evening. The day was organized by the NAEC Students Council.

On November 12, NAEC students attended breakdancing workshops with professional dancers Melly Mel and Rahime. The Grade 5/6, 6/7, 7/8, and Restart classes, as well as nearly 30 Secondary students, took to the floor in a high energy dance workout. Melly Mel and Rahime took students through a series of moves, slowly at first, and then at an increased pace. They then put the moves together, so that students were performing a full dance sequence.

The workshops were geared to the ages of the students, so Rahime and Melly Mel had students doing different moves and routines.The students really enjoyed the high energy workshop, and felt they had really worked hard. The next day student Josie Chaisson remarked on how much work it had been. “It was really fun, but my legs are really stiff today,” she said. “Imagine how they must have felt after doing a whole day of dancing!” The workshop was one of the many offered by MASC, an arts organization based in Ottawa.

The workshop was subsidized by a generous donation from The Crabtree Foundation, which made it possible for NAEC to afford a full-day workshop. It was also subsidized by The North Addington Guild, which helps NAEC students experience arts opportunities they would otherwise not be able to. Readers interested in learning more are directed to www.masconline.ca and www.bboyizm.ca

Special guests at NAEC’s Remembrance Day assembly was a visiting group of paratroopers from Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Petawawa. The assembly featured several students. Breanna Tryon and Cassandra Parks-Delyea were the emcees. Ms. Buck’s Grade 5/6 class recited “In Flanders Field”, and Sierra Baldacchin, Camille Cote and Madi Lessard recited it in French. Mrs. Fuller’s Grade 1 class sang “It’s a Small World”, and Mrs. Snider’s Kindergarten class recited a poem called “Poppy, poppy”.

Sgt. Cornish introduced the paratroopers to the assembly, and a short video outlined the history of the Canadian Armed Forces. As in previous years, the visiting paratroopers ate lunch with the secondary and elementary students, played with them, and visited classes to talk to them about life in the Armed Forces. Students had a variety of questions prepared for the visitors, ranging from personal interests to skills needed in the Armed Forces. As well as chatting with students about life in the forces, the visitors also watched Ms. Buck and Ms. Cuthill's classes performing a "cup song", which involved a coordinated, rhythmic performance in which students clapped and banged cups on the floor.

Back to HomeFeature Article - April 9, 2009 North Addington Education Centre students have many skills! by Valerie Allan

NAEC Skills Competition Team.  Back row: Katie Ohlke, Jake Fobert, Ryan Gagne-Baldacchin, Alex Brennan, Tyler Garey, Jessie Scott, Stephen Kellar, Peter Rasenberg, Front row:  Tim Younie, Shane Baldacchin, Chris Jordan, Jennifer Gaudaur and Stephanie Whittaker.  Photo by:  Joel Hasler.

Eleven students from North Addington Education Centre represented their school at the Limestone District School Board Skills Competition at St. Lawrence College in Kingston on April 1.

North Addington students took the top spots in Electrical Wiring, with Chris Jordan winning the gold medal and Shayne Baldacchin winning the silver medal. Tim Younie also participated. Chris Jordan will go on to compete in the Ontario Skills Competition on May 4, 5 and 6, in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Tyler Garey made a strong showing in Cabinetmaking, while Stephen Kellar and Jessie Scott showed great teamwork in Homebuilding (Team of 2).

Meanwhile, Jennifer Gaudaur and Stephanie Whittaker competed in the photography section and Alex Brennan, Jake Fobert and Ryan Gagne-Baldacchin demonstrated their Graphic design skills. Jennifer placed two percentage points off the gold, and was very proud of her achievement. This was the first event of this kind in which she has participated.

All the students worked hard on preparing for their respective tasks, putting in lots of time outside class time with the help of their teachers, Peter Rasenberg (Technology teacher) and Katie Ohlke (Graphics teacher).

“The level of skill, professionalism and positive attitude the North Addington students showed was incredible. Everyone at NAEC is so proud of their hard work. They definitely have a bright future in their respective trades,” said Ohlke.

A busload of technology students and supporters made the trek to Kingston to cheer their classmates on and explore the different education possibilities at St. Lawrence College.

Photo: NAEC Skills Competition Team.  Back row: Katie Ohlke, Jake Fobert, Ryan Gagne-Baldacchin, Alex Brennan, Tyler Garey, Jessie Scott, Stephen Kellar, Peter Rasenberg, Front row:  Tim Younie, Shane Baldacchin, Chris Jordan, Jennifer Gaudaur and Stephanie Whittaker.  Photo by:  Joel Hasler.

Photo: The EcoTeam, supervised by Ms. Randle, is made up of senior students Gordie Grewal, Brittany McQuigge, Racheal Kellar and Katelyn Ronfeld.Once more, NAEC has been certified as an EcoSchool. Inspectors visited the school on May 6 to do an audit of NAEC’s Eco-practices and determine their level of participation.

One of the initiatives the EcoTeam took this year was to buy water bottles for all the students in the school. This was done in order to discourage students from purchasing plastic bottles of water. Plastic water bottles are made from oil-based products, and the extraction of oil can be damaging to the environment. In addition, the waste plastic produced is very hard to break down and adds a large amount of material to the waste stream.

NAEC’s EcoTeam was awarded two grants this year, which enabled them to turn this plan into reality. The first grant was an elementary outreach grant from Limestone District School Board ($500). The second grant was a Green Apple Grant from Metro ($1000).

The EcoTeam produced educational videos about water issues and presented them to the school on May 4, before giving out the water bottles. Both videos and bottles were well received by elementary and secondary students alike.

Students are encouraged to write their names on the bottles and to continue to use them at school and home. Some students have already used the school engraver to put their names on their water bottles, and students can be seen carrying their water bottles in the halls.

Principal Angela Salmond remarked, “The EcoTeam has worked hard to promote awareness of water issues. Our local geography is closely tied to water, so we must be mindful of our water use. The videos the team produced were very educational.”

 

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.

 

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.