by Valerie Allan

On April 24, the North Gym at NAEC was packed with contestants and spectators in the first National Archery in the Schools Tournament hosted by NAEC. Present were students, staff and parents from Granite Ridge Education Centre, Madawaska Valley District High School, and North Addington Education Centre. There were 32 participants in the Tournament, including NAEC students Devin Gagne-Baldacchin, Brittany Delyea, Madi Lemke, Greg Garey, William Cruickshank, Stephen Humphrey, Caleb Leoen, and Eric Chatson.

The tournament was part of the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), organized by Sarah Sproule. Ms. Sproule was certified as a NASP trainer and instructor this past August, and NAEC was one of the first ten schools in Ontario to be certified as a NASP school.

NAEC placed first overall, with a total of 1300 points out of a possible 1500. NAEC students placed as follows: Girls’ competition: Brittany Delyea – 1^st, Madi Lemke – 4^th. Boys’ competition: Greg Garey – 1^st, William Cruickshank – 2^nd, Stephen Humphrey - 3^rd, Caleb Leoen and Eric Chatson – 5^th (tie).

Next year, NAEC will be partaking in the provincial championships, and already has been invited to Madawaska Valley District High School for a tournament next school year.

The sponsor for NASP is the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. The slogan of NASP is “Changing Lives one Arrow at a Time”.

by Valerie Allan

A small group of Grade 10 Art students took advantage of the bus taking students to the Science conference at Bayridge Secondary School; they hitched a ride to The Glass House on Sydenham Road, as part of an extension of the Art Curriculum. As well as enjoying making a piece of art, the students loved the pets at The Glass House – two very friendly cats and a lovely dog made the students feel right at home. The students completed a piece from scratch, starting with cutting out a pattern from paper, then cutting the glass, foiling it, soldering it, and adding a patina. This process usually takes about six hours, but the students managed it in less than four hours, by concentrating hard on their task.

The trip was made possible by The Glass House charging a reduced fee for their class, and a subsidy from the Artist’s Guild.

Students at staff and Loughborough Public School in Sydenham have been busy gearing up to celebrate their school's 100th anniversary. The celebrations will take place on Friday, May 1 from 4-8 p.m. with events taking place at Loughborough P.S., Sydenham High School and the Grace Centre.

A number of displays of students' work will be set up in the foyer at LPS and the school's Spirit Store will also be on site offering up a selection of LPS logo and crest-bearing spirit gear, including lanyards, t-shirts, scarves, school supplies, bracelets and more. The LPS school mascot, Leo the Lion, will also be making a special appearance. For those requiring a meal, the LPS school council will be putting on a barbeque at Sydenham High School and there will be a raffle with a number of prizes donated by local businesses and individuals, including a gas barbeque, travel accessories, and a number of gift certificates courtesy of Trousdale's General Store. An old-fashioned photo booth will be set up and those wanting a historic pic will be able to don period costumes.

Next door, at Sydenham High School, there will an anniversary cake cutting at 6:15 p.m., followed by speeches by School Board Trustee, Suzanne Ruttan, and School Superintendent, Krishna Burra.

Then at 7 p.m. LPS students from grades 5-8 will perform a play titled “One Hundred Years of Learning”, written and directed by Christine Harvey. The play is made up of a number of vignettes including skits, songs and dances. It hearkens back to the area's first native inhabitants and covers the history of the Sydenham community and the school.

A number of events will also be taking place at Sydenham's Grace Centre, including an art show by LPS students in the main hall. Students from the grade7/8 challenge program will be offering up tours of the community garden that they are growing there, and which will provide fresh vegetables and other produce to the local food bank and to seniors at Sydenham's retirement residence.

Loughborough Public School has a unique history. Originally built in 1915, it has undergone two major expansions since that time, the most recent in 1993 when a new library, entrance way and new classrooms were constructed, which brought an end to its outdoor portables. The school has received awards. In 2002/2003 it was named the Associate School of the Year by Queen's University. It has also birthed a number of unique programs, including its annual Girls Active Living and Sports (GALS) conference, which was recognized by none other than Oprah Winfrey.

Helen Peterson, who has been principal at the school for the last four years, and taught there for five years, is thrilled to be a part of the school 100th anniversary celebrations. “This is a unique opportunity for students, staff and the entire community to celebrate 100 years of teaching and learning at Loughborough. Many of our students have parents and grand parents who went to this school and its great for our students to see, understand and celebrate how the school has changed so dramatically and adapted so well over the last one hundred years. In 1915 education looked very different to what it has become today and that history represents something interesting for students to learn about and understand."

by Liz Steele-Drew

If you had been a guest at the very first Comedy Night GREC ever hosted - last Friday night, you were probably wondering, as you sat hunched down in your seat, avoiding eye contact with the keenly intuitive comics, why has something like this not taken place sooner? Those who attended the show were treated to some hilarious stories and observations that the talented comics, including headliner Brendan McKeigan, (Just For Laughs, USO Tour in Iraq, Kuwait, Africa) so easily put into words. Aaron Keefe, the grade 11 student who organized the event, worked with Jason Laurans from Absolute Comedy to put on the “clean” show for students and parents.

“We had an opportunity to bring some kind of feel good event to the school and a comedy show just seemed like it would be a great idea.” Keefe, with support from Cindi Scott, Adolescent Care Worker, contacted Absolute Comedy and brought the four comics from Ottawa and Kingston to Granite Ridge Education Centre, for the hour and a half long show.

The money to put on the show comes from a new program funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. “We are in the second year of OPHEA’s (Ontario Physical Education Association) Smoke Free Ontario pilot project. The program focuses on building student leadership while addressing tobacco and other health related topics. Shaming smokers to stop or not even start, doesn’t work,” said Scott.

Students involved in the program received training and support from YATI (Youth Advocacy Training Institute), OPHEA and KFLA Health. The students are encouraged to spread the word on the tactics big tobacco uses to trick youth into starting to smoke. YATI believes the key to engaging youth in the fight against Big Tobacco is to find out what they are passionate about. If they are passionate about the environment, educate them about the amount of garbage that smoking creates. If they are passionate about human rights, educate them about how Big Tobacco uses child labour to harvest tobacco plants, often resulting in green tobacco sickness, or acute nicotine poisoning.

“We planned a few events over the month of April to educate students about stress, how to deal with it in healthy ways. The Comedy Night was a great opportunity to just sit back and laugh, which is a great way to deal with stress. Before the comics took the stage we had a two-minute public service type announcement that talked about the tactics big tobacco uses to entice young people into starting smoking. The newest concern on the tobacco front is flavoured tobacco. This stuff was developed with youth in mind. I don’t know of many adults who would choose to smoke a watermelon flavored tobacco product,” concluded Scott.

For most of the comics this was the first time they had travelled west on Hwy. 7, or at least the first time they turned left at the flashing light in front of the Petro Can station. It was quite obvious that they took some time to do a bit of sightseeing before taking to the stage. They poked fun at the dual purpose rooms in the new school: The café-torium - Is that a combination of a cafeteria and a crematorium? And the Drama Music room - Do they study only dramatic music? Their hilarious stories and impressions left the audience beaming. At one point the student sitting next to me, who was bent over laughing most of the night, elbowed me in the side and said, “It’s so funny! Because it so true!”

Stress Education Month @ GREC continues this week with Massage Therapist Annette Gray Jackson offering free mini-massages to students during their lunch hour on Tuesday and Thursday.

In an effort to demonstrate their school pride and tidy up their school grounds, students and staff at the Granite Ridge Education Centre in Sharbot Lake donned plastic gloves and with garbage bags in hand picked up trash in around the school property on their annual Pitch-In Day on April 23. The students collected countless bags of debris and recyclables and as a result the school property is looking much cleaner and tidier for the spring season. Mr. McVety, who teaches grade 10 Civics, and Mr. Leonard, who teaches global studies, history and social sciences at the school, were assisting their students with the clean up. School Principal, Heather Highet, said, “Winter tends to leave a lot of garbage behind and this Pitch-In Day at the school not only tidies up the school property but it is an opportunity for students to celebrate Earth Day and gives them a chance to take pride in their school and community.”

The 33 young singers that comprise the Elginburg Public School Choir are no strangers to guest performances and over the years they have been invited to sing at numerous community happenings. The group has performed many times at the Fairmount Home and last year they were the special guests at Miss Emily Fennell's CD Release party and concert, which took place at the Ambassador Hotel in Kingston.

Recently the choir was invited to perform at the 70th Annual Battle of the Atlantic Ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, May 3 beginning at 11 a.m. at Navy Memorial Park in Kingston. The Battle of the Atlantic Service has been commemorated annually every year since the end of World War 2 in 1945 and choir director Jennifer Guild said the invitation came as “an incredible honour”. Guild, who teaches grade three at the school and founded the choir, said the group will be performing a number of commemorative songs, including Remembrance Day by Bryan Adams, Highway of Heroes by the Trews, I Will Remember You by Sarah McLachlan, One Tin Soldier and Blowing in The Wind. The choir, which sings primarily in unison with touches of added harmonies, will be joined on stage by a number of musicians, including Annette McCaffrey who teaches music at Elginburg, along with Greg Ross, Steve Stenman and Scott Martin.

The choir is made up of students from grades 3 through 8. It has been in existence for six years and continues to grow year after year. The students practice regularly at lunch and recess and in gearing up for this special performance they have also been practicing after school.

I visited the school on April 23 after the choir had just returned from a music festival at Prince Charles Public School in Napanee, where they had been invited to perform, and I had a chance to watch them in rehearsal. One could not help but be moved by their dedication and the joy that they take in performing together. I spoke with a few members of the group, who spoke of their love of singing and the opportunity it brings them to visit numerous places and people in and around the community.

Guild is a dedicated and enthusiastic leader who strongly believes that the choir gives the students a chance to express themselves in a different and special way. “I chose very inspirational songs, which give the singers a chance to sing their hearts out and the opportunity to just let everything else go. When they are singing they are really in the moment and they really seem to enjoy the music that they are making together as a group.”

The singers were wearing their brand new choir shirts and Guild said that she is trying to instill in them the understanding that the upcoming concert is “a big opportunity and also an important part of Canadian history.” Their participation in the Kingston ceremony will no doubt make it a memorable one.

by Valerie Allan

NAEC is participating in a scientific experiment in partnership with Guelph University. Students, staff, and visitors may have noticed the giant “Malaise” trap situated behind the school. This trap attracts and traps insects, which are then sent to the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario in order to assign a barcode to their DNA.

This is a cross-Canada endeavour, involving secondary schools in each province. NAEC is the only school in Limestone District School Board to participate. Ms. Randle, a Science teacher at NAEC, applied for this opportunity. NAEC was one of about 60 sites selected from over 200 applications. Ms. Randle explains, “When I heard about this opportunity at STAO 2014, I knew that this was the type of project that I wanted our students to participate in.”

The Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) at the University of Guelph outlines the program in some of their literature: “Through this program we have provided thousands of students with information on biodiversity, DNA barcoding, and the star of our program — the Malaise trap. Because this tent-like apparatus is so effective at collecting insects, we provide each class with its own trap to explore biodiversity in their schoolyard.”

The trap is set up for three weeks, and specimens are collected by students throughout that time.

The art work of the 24 students who participated in this year's Art Club at Land O'Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove was on display at their final show on April 20. The students spent six weeks creating the colourful paintings still lifes that were on display.

Grade 7/8 teacher, Mr. Hull, who heads up the club, said that he was impressed with the student work. He explained that he likes to let the students paint what comes naturally to them and tries his best not to influence their final pieces. The students began by learning basic drawing techniques, and then moved into creating colour tones, first painting with larger brushes and then moving into finishing accents using smaller brushes. The paintings were impressive and ranged from bright, dramatic colour schemes of frogs and teddy bears, some reminiscent of Matisse, to impressionistically depicted vases of flowers and other subjects. The only rule that the young artists had to abide by was not using black to create their darker tones and shadows since it has a tendency to muddy the final work.

The special event was catered by Linda Tremblay with the help of her children, Boris and Natasha. The young artists and their guests enjoyed a number of fancy treats that included cappuccinos, sparkling juices, cakes, fancy croissant sandwiches, lemon and chocolate mousse, a fancy layer cake and speared fruit sticks.

Students in grades four through eight at Granite Ridge Education Centre in Sharbot Lake were taken on a wild ride thanks to a special presentation in the school gym on April 20. The dramatic production titled “Spirit Horse” is a professional traveling show put on by Roseneath Theatre in partnership with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario. Currently in its fourth week of touring, it will be presented to a total of 100 schools in Ontario.

The production is a highly energetic tale about an Aboriginal family who have lost their mother and are faced with a number of real life challenges as they try to exist in an urban setting.

The tale involves a horse called Wild Wind, who appears thanks to a vision of the children’s grandfather as the family struggles with issues of racism, poverty, illiteracy and the death of a loved one in an urban setting, all of which deal them a number of challenging blows. The production aims to teach students through dramatic story telling about a number of difficult social issues while giving students a chance to explore a different aspect of life that they might be unfamiliar with.

The plot centers around two First Nations youth struggling in a single parent home and trying to find a balance between their traditional ways and the urban world. The play is a Native American adaptation by Drew Hayden Taylor of the Irish play Tir Na N' Og by Greg Banks and is based on a re-telling of the Stoney Nakoda Nation legend about Spirit Horses.

The four-member cast had their work cut out for them as they aptly brought to life 65 different characters in the play, which lasted just under one hour and was performed at break neck speed. With the help of a small but inventive set that included an old car seat and a dramatic piece of scaffolding that the actors climbed in, over and on top of, the actors used a combination of inventive dramatic styles and music to bring this energetic and cathartic tale to life. Musician Alex Lamoureux played a number of instruments including drums, jaw harp, accordion, fiddle, flutes and his own boot-clad feet to add a musical dimension to the piece, which kept the action rolling along.

Tim Hill, who played the main roles of the children’s father and grandfather as well as the very proud, spirited and sure-footed horse, Wild Wind, was both comedic and emotionally engaging and covered a broad swath of dramatic ground in the play.

Equally engaging were Brianne Tucker and Dakota Hebert who played the other two main roles, daughters Jessie and Angie respectively. Both showed depth in their portrayals of the young daughters who were faced with the challenges of trying to live life with a grieving single father while grieving themselves and facing the struggles and engaging adventures that come their way.

The story ends on a positive note as the family comes together to accept their mother’s death while demonstrating how perseverance and team work can enable them to overcome the obstacles that they are presented with.

The GREC students appeared mesmerized by the tale and their questions following the performance showed how story telling through the dramatic arts can engage youngsters in a number of difficult real life issues.

The cast, who are representatives of Canada's Métis, Inuit, and First Nations communities, should be commended on their performances. Prior to the show at GREC they, along with behind the scenes stage manager Dana Paul, were interviewed on CBC's Ontario Morning with Wei Chen. Following their performance the cast and crew packed the set into their pick up truck and headed off to Lombardy, where they performed the play again that afternoon.

For teachers wanting to bring attention to a number of important social issues that face youngsters today, Spirit Horse offers a creative outlook on the challenges that face us all as we struggle to maintain balance in what can often be a difficult, challenging and sometimes dangerous world. For more information visit Spirithorse.ca

submitted by NAEC

On April 18, Wyatt Keller of North Addington Education Centre competed in the Eastern Ontario Regional Skills Competition Qualifer event held at St. Lawrence College. Competing in Small Powered Equipment, Wyatt wrote a trades exam, reassembled a small engine and completed a wiring project. Winning second place, Wyatt now moves on to join fellow NAEC'ers Terri-Lynn Rosenblath (Graphic Design Studio Production) and Kameron Armstrong (Work Place Health & Safety) on Team Limestone, who will travel to the Ontario Technological Skills Competition in Waterloo, May 4 to 6.