Last week, eight North Addington Education Centre students traveled to Waterloo, Ontario as part of Team Limestone, competing in the Ontario Technological Skills Competition (OTSC) against the top students in every school board in Ontario.

Kayden Snider, Bradley Kavanaugh-Sweeny, Bryce Runions and David Chen competed in the Elementary Team of Four- 2D Animation competition. This competition required students to story board, design and then animate a given scenario on the computer.

In the Secondary Division, Kameron Armstrong competed in Workplace Health and Safety including a written test, a presentation on welding safety and conducting spot inspections at the competition.

Natalie Reynolds competed in the Graphic Design Presentation competition, where she made a 15-minute presentation of her designs for the 2017 OTSC, Facebook Banner and T-shirt design.

Emma Fuller competed in the Graphic Design Studio Production competition, designing a brochure and packaging material for the St. Jacob's Farmers Market, and using three different design programs, two of which she learned for the competition.

Bree Gillingham competed in the Digital Photography competition bringing her best photograph, completing an editing test, shooting the many competitions at OTSC to tell a narrative and then editing these images for evaluation.

Overall Team Limestone did extremely well, wining Gold in Auto Collision Repair, Gold in Electrical Installation, Silver in Secondary 2D Animation, team of two, and Bronze in Culinary Arts.

Congratulations to all the students who competed in this year's Ontario Technological Skills Competition!

A dinner and K-12 talent show will be held at Granite Ridge Education Centre on Thursday, May 5. The chicken dinner will start at 5:30pm and a vegetarian entrée is also available. There will be a pie/cake dessert auction at 6:30, and the talent show starts at 7pm. Dinner is $10 for adults, $5 for kids; five years & under free, and reservations must be made for the dinner. The talent show only is $3 and you can pay at the door. The show will feature musicians, vocalists, songwriters, storytellers, dancers and others. Proceeds from the event will support the grade 8 grad trip and the parent council. Call GREC at 613-279-2131 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to reserve for dinner or for more details.

It takes a great amount of courage to take a risk and put your skills to the test; especially in a board-wide competition.

On April 6, 23 North Addington students did just that and finished very strongly in seven, rigorous, skill-based competitions at St Lawrence College against students from Limestone District School Board and the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board.

Kaden Snider, Bradley Kavanaugh-Sweeney, Bryce Runions and David Chen, the first ever Elementary Team members at NAEC, won gold in 2D Computer Animation with a huge score of 83%.

Andrew Freeburn fired up his torch and made a very strong showing in the Welding competition.

In TV/Video Team of Two: Brianna Bolduc and Aidan Brough came in 4th; filming, producing and editing an awesome PSA about going outside your comfort zone to achieve great things.

Kameron Armstrong took home a gold medal for Workplace Health and Safety and helped out at the competition during the day.

In Graphic Design Studio Production: Shannon Delyea, Emma Fuller, Denver Lucas, Terri-Lynn Rosenblath, Brittany Delyea and Noah Thibideau created fantastic designs in set time period with complex requirements. Denver Lucas won the bronze medal for his designs and Emma Fuller won the gold for hers.

Bree Gillingham, Harley Brown, Brei Burleigh, Cassidy Wilson and Shae Flager competed in the Photography competition, completing a complicated Photoshop editing test, then photographing and editing images they took of the Skills Competition. They were also judged on two polished photographs they brought with them. Bree Gillingham won the gold medal for her photographs.

In the Graphic Design Presentation competition, Austin Cunningham impressed the judges with his confident presentation and Summer Andrew demonstrated her creative design skills. At the end of the extremely competitive event, Natalie Reynolds won the Gold medal for her outstanding poster and postcard designs.

All the NAEC Gold Medal winners have qualified for Team Limestone, to compete at the Provincial Skills Competition in Waterloo, May 2 – 4, 2016. Congratulations to all of the NAEC Skills Team!

Land O'Lakes Public School Grade 2/3 teacher, Danielle Harding, understands that one of the best ways to get students interested in ancient history is to present it in the form of a play, and as it often goes with youngsters, sometimes the more hysterical things get the better.

On April 7 and 8, Ms. Harding and her ϋber-talented cast and crew performed the D.M. Larson play, “The Hysterical History of the Trojan War” for students at the school as well as students from North Addington Education Centre, Granite Ridge Education Centre, and Clarendon Central Public School.

The play involves a large cast of characters, mostly Greek gods, whose interactions and relationships bring about the conflict known as the Trojan War. The play is the perfect vehicle for getting youngsters interested in ancient history, since it offers up lots of intricate sword fighting, a slew of Trojan guards and Spartan soldiers, numerous guffaws, and best of all, a number of anachronistic add-ins like cell phones, clever sound and lighting effects, songs, and one awe-inspiring foot stomp/rap tune, which fully engaged the audience much more than any straight history play could.

The plot and the action unfolded at a mighty clip. The audience was kept on the edge of their seats since they were asked by Athena, who directed the Spartan half of the audience, to cheer on the Spartans while Helen encouraged the other half to “Go, Troy!”

The moveable props in this production were also exceptional and included a chain-drawn stage door and a looming Trojan wall as the two main focuses on the stage. A spectacular ship sailed through the gym at one point and, yes, there was a Trojan horse too. The costumes were equally dazzling with the lead actors sporting wrap-up-the-leg sandals, leafy laurels and more.

Hats off to the entire cast and crew in bringing the play so aptly to life and enticing youngsters to learn about the ancient history of Rome and Greece, and all the gods and goddesses who wreaked so much havoc there.

Designing, sewing and donning “character capes” is a unique art project that is giving one class of grade six students at Perth Road Public School not only a chance to learn how to sew, but also an opportunity to better understand their own and their fellow students personal potentials.

On March 29 the students in Miss Grahams classroom split up into groups to resume the work they began a few weeks ago on their “character capes”. The project is one of the Issues Based Arts Projects made possible through a grant created through a partnership between the Limestone District School Board and the Ontario Arts Council. The idea of a group sewing project based on the theme of character capes was developed by PRPS teacher Kelly Graham and long time textile artist Elinor Rush.

For a number of weeks the students have been designing and sewing character capes as a way to develop their own personal characters while learning to respect the personalities and traits of their fellow students as they work together in teams. The character themes are based in native folklore, specifically the teachings of the seven grandfathers. The names of the capes include: honesty, love, wisdom, growth, self control, courage and respect. Each group has designed the lettering and imagery to fit their trait and the idea is that when a student in the class demonstrates a trait they will be acknowledged by donning that particular cape.

Prior to splitting up into their sewing groups, the students discussed the basic personality traits. Then, based on a test that each took, they were placed into groups where different personalities in the class could have a chance to work together as a team. The project has encouraged students not only to learn the hard skills of how to design and sew a wearable cape but also to better understand their own personal strengths and weaknesses while also learning to respect those of their fellow students. Miss Graham explained how the idea for the capes came about.

“The goal here was for the students to explore personal strengths and group dynamics and to create an object that could recognize their special achievements”, Graham said. “Earlier in the year I recognized a common dynamic in many classrooms where certain students tend to get a lot more air time than others and it concerned me. Through this project, the students have learned to listen to each other and to see that every student in the class has a special and important role to play. The result has been a more diverse, inclusive and respectful classroom community.'”

Textile artist Elinor Rush's role has been to help the students to learn the skills of designing and sewing fabric and she began by providing each group with a sewing kit and showing them the basics of sewing. Students also learned basic pattern drafting skills. The result has been seven colourful capes with images that include an owl (wisdom), a heart and a dove (love), a bluejay (honesty), a leafy tree (growth), a white and brown bear (courage), a wolf (respect) and a dog balancing a bone on its nose (self control).

“What has developed here is much more of a team community, one that is more inclusive and respectful compared to how it was before the project began', Graham said.

A number of students spoke to me about what they have learned both about themselves and their fellow classmates through the character capes project. Jaxon Stonness who worked on the self control cap,e said, “the whole point of the project was to learn how to work together as a team”. Nick Johnston who worked on the cape of wisdom said that he learned “how to value everyone in the group.” Miss Graham hopes that the students will take these special “character cape” traits out with them into the bigger world, along with a new and a better understanding of how every person, no matter their personality type, has something of value to offer.

Several members of the Grade 10 Art class visited The Glass House in Kingston on March 10. Students learned how to cut, grind, foil, solder and polish stained glass, in order to make a sun-catcher. The trip was subsidized by the Guild Fund, which is donated by the North Addington Guild to promote the Arts at NAEC.

NAEC’s “Speak Up” Grant Successful

North Addington Education Centre’s Safe Society applied for a “Speak Up” grant from the Ministry of Education, and were successful in securing a $2,500 grant. The application was spear-headed by Emma Fuller, with input from core Safe Society members Mackenzie Johnson, Selena Pelicos, Harley Brown, Devin Gagne-Baldacchin, Sierra Baldacchin, Tory Tryon, and Olivia Douglas. The funds will be used for various initiatives over the next two school years. Members plan to invite speakers, plan trips, and organize events to address issues of equality based on gender, ability and ethnic origins. The Safe Society is a group of students who believe that school should be welcoming and safe for all, and who are interested in social justice.

Beyond The Hurt at NAEC

The Red Cross ran a “Beyond the Hurt” workshop at NAEC on March 7 and 8. Beyond the Hurt is a bullying and harassment prevention program that builds capacity within schools to achieve and maintain a positive school climate. It empowers youth with the knowledge and leadership skills to take an active role in a safe and respectful school culture. Youth facilitators were Selena Pelicos, Brianna Bolduc, Alex Flagler, Camille Cote, Olivia Bence and Mackenzie Johnson. Staff advisors were Mr. Kerr and Ms. Harnden. This initiative was one of the projects taken on by the Safe Society at NAEC.

Day of Pink at NAEC

NAEC is planning to celebrate the International Day of Pink on April 13. The Safe Society is working on a small presentation for the assembly. Members of the community are invited to attend. Details will follow.

Members of the parent council at Prince Charles Public School in Verona, along with some of the school’s staff members, organized and hosted a direct sellers/craft show and sale at the school on March 26, which combined forces with vendors at the Frontenac Farmers Easter Market event. Proceeds from the parent council’s fundraiser will go towards purchasing new playground equipment for the school, at a cost of approximately $13,000. The event offered visitors a unique shopping experience, with a number of direct sellers and crafters offering up a wide variety of products. The farmers’ market vendors also donated their table rental fees to the playground fundraiser.

Alison Williams, secretary of the PCPS parent council, helped organize the event. She said, “There has been a great need for this kind of equipment at the school for a number of years now and we, the parent council, have already made a down payment on the equipment, which will be installed at the school sometime in April”. Williams said that while the school currently has playground equipment for kindergarten-aged school children and children in grades six and above, there is a great need for equipment for the intermediate students at the school. '”Currently there is no equipment outside specifically geared for children in grades 2 through 5.”

The new equipment to be purchased will include three large separate structures; two different types of rock climbing walls and a third structure that will have interactive equipment that focuses on developing this age group’s gross motor skills.

On March 10, North Addington Education Centre held an indoor Winter Carnival. The event was supposed to take place in late February, but due to a series of snow days, their “winter” carnival became more of a “spring” carnival.

There were six activities in total: A food station where students were treated to hot chocolate and cookies made by Mr. Defosse’s hospitality class; “Strike a Pose”, a photo challenge; “Melting Iceburg”, a team-building activity where students found creative ways to fit on a constantly shrinking tarp; and a Scrabble activity, where students fetched letters that were hidden across the hallway, competing to create five words.

High school teacher, Mr. Sissons, was impressed with how the high school student helpers handled the event. “The best part was the way the high school students manned the events. It was awesome and pretty much flawless. If there was anything that needed to be adapted, they adapted to it right away and made changes on the fly to make the events run smoothly. We wrote down the errors that we had and are using them to go forward for the next event.”

The turnaround was pretty quick at Granite Ridge Education Centre last month. Principal Heather Highet, who oversaw the construction of the new school and remained at the helm for two years after it opened, found out in January that she would be moving to Bayridge High School in Kingston for the second semester of the 2015 - 2016 school year.

In her place, the Limestone District School Board decided to install the school's vice-principal, James McDonald, as acting principal until the end of the school year, when he may become the school's principal on a full-time basis.

For McDonald the new role is his fourth in the so-called northern reaches of the Limestone board. He taught at Clarendon Central in Plevna for six years when he first came to the board, then worked as vice-principal with Emily Yanch at Hinchinbrooke and Land O'Lakes Public Schools. When Hinchinbrooke and Sharbot Lake public and high schools were closed, and Granite Ridge was opened he became the new vice-principal.

“Heather and I worked on the direction of the school,” he said last week in an interview at his office. “Our school goals haven't changed: increase literacy, increase math skills and student engagement. These are fairly standard and important goals.”

There are mechanisms to evaluate progress that the school uses, such as report cards and province-wide EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability) testing to evaluate literacy and math skills in students, and Granite Ridge also employs other benchmarks to monitor student progress in these areas.

As well, beyond measuring and teaching skills, Granite Ridge has been working at creating a culture of reading in the school.

“GREC Reads is a program where at a certain time in the school day, every one of the students, from K-12, spends 20 minutes reading. Students get a wide variety of choice; the idea is for them to read out of interest. The program culminates in a book talk. As the program has developed, there has been a remarkable increase in our students just reading for the love of it, and some have indicated a connection between their interest reading and required reading,” McDonald said.

There are also reading groups in the school, which are designed to help students work on specific skills together, with the help of trained staff.

McDonald said that in terms of administrative style he prefers to use a collaborative rather than a top-down approach. “I see myself working with the teachers and staff here, not over them in any way. We all have different roles, of course, and I am adjusting to my new role. There is a great deal of expertise in this building; it is really truly phenomenal. My role is to foster that, to provide the circumstance to make it all come together.”

One example of teacher innovation comes from grade 3/4 teacher, Scott Flegal. Flegal has his students working with a tablet-based app called “explain everything”, which enriches all the material they access on their tablets with a click through to a wealth of background material.

Flegal's classroom is also unusual, almost borrowing a page from surrealist artists. The desks are there; there is a bank of computers by the window and the walls are covered with charts and student art and posters. Everything looks just like a busy grade 2 class, except that in place of chairs there are large blue balls. “The students sit on the balls instead of chairs so they are able to rock, to move their body while staying in place. It's something that has been tried elsewhere. Mr. Flegal wanted to try it in his class and he has had some success. We went to the school council for some funding and we found the rest in our own budget.”

Some of the older students have been involved in the development of an aquaculture project using the two ponds on the school property, and there have been a number of initiatives directed at providing opportunities for elementary and secondary students to learn together.

“It all comes down to building a school community,” said McDonald. “When we all came together we were having to develop a brand new culture of learning here, based on the needs of the students and a collaborative approach by staff. When Sharbot Lake High School was here there was a sense of family. Everyone talked about it, and that's something we have been building on now that we are Granite Ridge.”

North Addington Education Centre has started a junior music group for playing the ukulele and singing. The club meets twice a week at lunch to practice a variety of classic pop and folk songs. Practices will become more frequent as they prepare for performances.

Grade 3/4 teacher and co-founder of the ukulele group, Mr. Reynolds, is happy to revive music in the school environment. “In the past number of years, the arts have been largely ignored and underfunded due to the increased focus on literacy and numeracy. Madam Choma and I wanted to provide an opportunity for students to learn some basic music theory on a new instrument and to perform in our school talent show. Through the generous donation from the North Addington Guild, we’ve been able to purchase a number of ukuleles and guitars to start our stringed instrument club.”

The North Addington Guild makes a yearly donation to Arts education for North Addington students using revenue from their Arts Showcase, which takes place at the school.

Students in the ukulele group are already showing a lot of progress and are really enjoying their experience so far.

“The ukulele sounds really pretty”, said grade 6 student, Amber Verbruggen.

“I like the feeling of it and how you can get into it”, said grade 5 student Julia Cuddy.

Grade 6 student, Jeremy Pelicos, said that he joined the group because he “thought it would be fun”.

When asked what the club has learned so far, Alyssa Borger said, “We learned Am, F and C with our hands”. The ukulele club is planning to combine forces with the secondary choir for their talent show performance.