Photo by Emily Hole

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Sydenham Golden Eagles at the OFSAA National Capital Region final at the Rogers Centre in Toronto last week. The Golden Eagles took Peterborough’s Crestwood High School to overtime. The entire season came down to a two-yard attempt at a decisive touchdown by star running back Josh Thompson, which was held off by the Crestwood defence. Minutes later Crestwood kicked the winning field goal. The win was the first for Crestwood after losing in the final game at the Rogers Centre three years in a row. Still, it was an impressive run for the Golden Eagles, a season full of comebacks that will add to SHS football lore.

Build it and they will come. That phrase wasn't coined to refer to a free home-made lunch program for students but judging by the turn out at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Sydenham on November 12, it might have well have been. That was when Lunch4Teens launched its first free lunchtime meal for Sydenham High School students and no one was more pleased to see close to 40 students file through the side door at St. Paul's than Janet Knights.

Knights founded and leads the program and said that for her it is a way of providing a healthy home-made lunch to students while also giving them a chance to get out into the community. “I don't remember exactly what inspired me to start it but I knew it would be a good thing,” Janet said when I Interviewed her at St. Paul's on the day of the launch. Janet was assisted by a cheerful group of volunteers, all members of the congregation at St. Paul's and at this point in time she is relying on her own funds to provide the food for the meals.

After speaking with Lisa Taylor, who heads up the hospitality program at Sydenham High School, Taylor offered to have her students prepare the meal.

The meal included home-made squash or chicken noodle soup, egg salad and ham and cheese sandwiches, home-made cookies and a box of juice, and was enjoyed by the students, who arrived en masse at the church. Janet invited each of them to complete a survey that asked what soups and sandwiches they would like for a lunch time meal.

The program will continue weekly every Tuesday at the church from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Janet said that in the hopes of continuing the program into the future and in an effort to make it sustainable, she is planning to approach local businesses, churches, service groups and other organizations and will be asking them to help by donating funds to secure the food costs for the program. Individuals can make donations as well.

So far she is getting a lot of community support and the Sydenham Legion has already committed to providing a lunch and volunteers to serve it up. She also said that two chance meetings at the Foodland grocery store in Sydenham, one with famed NHL'er Doug Gilmore and a second with Canadian comedian Dan Ackroyd, led to both gentleman offering up their support for the program. Janet is also looking for volunteers to help serve the meals.

I not only had a chance to enjoy the meal but also to ask students how they liked their first Lunch4Teens meal. Chantal Lefevre, a grade 11 student at SHS, said she loved the sandwiches and the soup and that it was a much better meal than she might have eaten if she had been left to her own devices. Hunter Spafford, another grade 11 student, agreed and said she really appreciated the delicious and healthy choices, and grade 12 student Ed Burley gave the meal two big thumbs up.

It looks as though Janet has begun something that has very quickly caught on. No doubt she needs to be prepared for what might become an ever-increasing lineup at the church doors every Tuesday. She also said that the program affords enough to feed roughly 50 students and that the meals are given out first-come, first-serve. Anyone wanting to make a donation or to volunteer can contact Janet Knights at 613-379-6948 or 613-545-7039.

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.

Students of all ages at Sydenham High School will be showcasing their musical talent on Friday, December, 2 at the annual SYD's Cafe that will take place in the school gym. The cafe has been an annual event at the school for over two decades. Listeners will be entertained by 16 musical acts by students who will be performing a wide array of musical styles. Tickets are available at the door the night of the show and the doors will open at 6:30PM. All proceeds raised at the event will go towards the schools music program and will allow the department to purchase instruments, supplies and sheet music. Music teacher and Arts Department head Mike Verner is looking forward to the event and said, “It's a great way for musically talented students at the school to showcase their abilities in front of a live, appreciative audience.”

Photo: Students on the high ropes course

“Leadership camp is a place where preconceived ideas about leadership and other barriers are broken down”, said Sydenham High School teacher and leadership camp staff supervisor, Kim Kippen.

Along with co-staff supervisor, Don Lalonde, Kippen oversaw a two-day camp for 70 Sydenham High School students on Oct. 18 and 19 at Camp IAWAH, located off the Westport Road, east of Godfrey.

The leadership camp, which has been running for years at Sydenham HS, aims to impart leadership skills to students from all areas of the school by offering concrete examples of leadership through a series of hands-on activities and discussions. Groups of students from grades 9 through 11 were invited by teachers to attend the camp.

The camp is led by four teacher-nominated grade 12 students. The four leaders were Calista Vogelzang, Cia Myles-Gonzalez, David Amos and Shayna Joron, and they were supported by additional grade 12 students who supervised the various activities.

This year’s camp theme, initiated by the four camp leaders, was titled “The Next Step” and it was designed for the students to explore and experience the defining qualities of leadership: initiative, perspective, setting goals, teamwork, overcoming obstacles, setting examples, and self-improvement. The ideas were discussed and also demonstrated through a series of activities that each student had a chance to participate in.

For the segment on perseverance and overcoming obstacles, students completed a relay obstacle course where a pair of students was tied together by one hand, and had no choice but to use their communication skills in order to successfully complete the course. Following the obstacle course students discussed what kind of communications worked well and what did not.

On the high ropes course, students faced a number of daunting aerial challenges that had them working in teams suspended on ropes high above the tree tops. Student organizer, David Amos, said he felt that the participating students benefited greatly from the camp. “One important idea they learn is that they are able to set goals for themselves and they also take what they have learned here back into the community.”

Shayna Joron agreed. “These skills can really help them to prepare to face challenges in their own lives.” “And they come to realize that anyone has the ability to become a good leader, even the quiet students,” Calista Vogelzang added.

Sydenham High School teacher, Beth Barz, who coaches with the Queen’s University women’s rugby team, the national rugby program and also at Sydenham High, was invited as the guest speaker. She shared some of the wisdom she has accumulated while attending a workshop for female coaches of national teams, particularly what coach Melody Davidson of the Canadian women’s hockey team imparted to her.

“I spoke to them about how Melody brought the team to victory, first with thorough planning and also by reviewing their performances.”

Beth Barz feels that the camp gives students something they might not otherwise get during regular school hours.

“Anytime students can get out of the school setting they are able to think a little bit differently. They are able to challenge themselves in different ways and this gives them a sense of autonomy over how and what they learn. We are recognizing more and more that students need that autonomy, which sometimes, academically they do not always get.”

Kim Kippen agreed.

“It's an incredible opportunity for students who may have never had this kind of experience before to reevaluate their own preconceived ideas of leadership and what it means. Each student tends to build on what they already know so while each student’s experience at the camp is different, it always tends to be a very positive and memorable one.”

Student organizer David Amos had the final word and mentioned that what likely makes students so eager to participate is that “the whole camp revolves around demonstrating leadership ideas in a really fun environment, which I believe is what makes the camp so successful.” 

Photo: Grade 10 students insert plants for the new butterfly garden.

An eco-auditing contest run by the Kingston Sustainability Centre's "Youth Mentoring Youth" program has awarded Sydenham High a butterfly garden as a reward for the school's environmental awareness. Exactly what does a newly-awarded butterfly garden look like? In this case, it comes as bags of soil, compost and mulch, a lot of pots of plants, shovels, trowels, gloves and water pails. This week, members of the International Society for Conservation Biology (themselves biology students at Queen's) demonstrated planting techniques to two grade ten classes. The garden plot had already been worked up in a sunny spot at the front of the school, and within an hour, the plants were all tucked into the garden, watered and mulched. Western 

Landscape services of Elginburg donated the supplies and initial digging. The plants chosen were native or naturalized ones that will attract butterflies with their leaves, nectar and colour. 

Because this is SHS's garden, the flowers will all be red or yellow, the school colours.  

Photo: Miriam Rutledge (right) and Angela Saxe.

Miriam Rutledge, a grade 12 student at Sydenham High School, is one of the top three finalists of 120 students who submitted stories for the “You Think You Can Write” contest, part of the upcoming Kingston WritersFest, which attracts authors of international renown.

Miriam's story titled “The Cellist” was written in the first person and tells the thoughts and observations of a cellist performing in a recital hall in front of a large audience. Like so many successful short stories, “The Cellist’ is based on Rutledge’s own real life experiences. An accomplished cello player, Miriam has been studying privately with Wolf Tormann, a celebrated cello player, teacher and professor of music at Queens University, for 10 years. She knows first hand in body, mind and soul exactly what a cello player undergoes during a recital. So it is no wonder that her story rings so true, as exemplified when the cellist observes from her view on stage “the occasional luminous face in the glow of a cell phone.” Or as in her second paragraph, when the cellist begins to play, and “Each note is like a pearl, perfectly shaped and shining. My bow flows over the strings like ocean waves over rocks on a calm day. I can feel my body moving with the melody and my soul lifting with each crescendo.”

As in all contests, certain stipulations had to met. No more than 750 words, the story also had to include five words: luminous, ocean, melody, dawn and inspire. Miriam felt confident that her subject could easily incorporate all five words and explained, “I already had the idea of writing something like what I did, so it wasn't that difficult for me to include the mandatory words.”

As far as her creative writing goes she says she enjoys it and is currently taking a senior level English course offered at SHS called "Writer’s Craft”. “I've always loved writing creatively. I've written a tragic romance and other things but they tend to be mostly related to school assignments.”As far as pursuing a writing career, Miriam says she hopes to get accepted into the COCA course offered at Queens, which combines computer science with the creative arts so that she can continue her music studies and study fine art as well.

The contest came to her attention thanks to Angela Saxe, a teacher/librarian at SHS and one of the two volunteer youth coordinators at the Kingston Writers’ Festival. Saxe, a writer herself, feels strongly about giving students more opportunities to write creatively. “Not only does the contest bring an awareness to students of the Kingston WritersFest, which in the last couple of years has been aiming some of its programming to youth and young writers, but the contest also gives students a chance to write creatively outside of the school curriculum, which is a good thing.”

The festival will be held from September 22 – 25, and now Miriam is just waiting for the judge’s final verdict, which will be announced on September 22 at the opening night at the Grand Theatre. For more information visit www.kingstonwritersfest.ca

It came as no great surprise to see the Sydenham Junior Golden Eagles leading the Bayridge Blazers 41 to 0 with just four minutes left in the final quarter of the opening game at the Bubba Bowl last week. It has for years been the tradition of Sydenham's junior and senior teams to reign supreme at their hugely popular home football double header, which is played under the bright lights of the Point Park on Sydenham Lake. The annual event continues to draw thousands of fans, many of whom are former students and players at Sydenham.

The event was named for former grade 12 Sydenham high school student and football player Alex (Bubba) Turcotte, who passed away in his sleep 12 years ago. Bubba Bowl demonstrates how football players at Sydenham High School have flourished under the direction of a host of dedicated coaches.

I spoke with Jeff Ryan, educational assistant at SHS, now in his eleventh year of coaching football at the school. This year Ryan stepped in as the head coach of the Sydenham Junior Golden Eagles following an absence due to illness by long-time juniors' head coach Jim Latimer.

Following the juniors' win Ryan said that the final outcome of the game is one that is never completely predictable.

“We knew that our players had more experience playing the game because of the minor system that happens in this area through the Bulldog teams. Unfortunately for Bayridge, they don't have that feeder.” Ryan continued on to say that he “noticed that the Bayridge team has improved a lot this year and have become very physical.”

Following the game Ryan said that Latimer would be pleased to hear about the win, and that he would be sending him a text momentarily.

The heat and humidity were getting to the audience at the springtime Sydenham High School graduation last week (Thursday, June 27)

With over 200 graduates, and dozens of special awards to hand out, the audience had to struggle to maintain their enthusiasm at times.

Not so when Tyler MacComish took the stage to receive awards from the Kingston Community Credit Union and the Sydenham High School Staff Association, when the audience erupted in sustained applause, the loudest cheer for any of the deserving award winners all evening.

Because he has been a student in the School to Community Class, Tyler is now 20 and has been at the school longer than almost all of the graduating class, and his impact has been felt by the entire Sydenham High School community.

One of his teachers, Karl Hammer, met Tyler in September of 2006.

“Tyler began as a very quiet and shy young man, but slowly began to show his true personality over the course of the year. Tyler is one of the most well-mannered and positive people I have ever met.”

Over the past 7 years Tyler has been a manager for soccer, football, basketball, volleyball... he also played junior boys basketball, football and dressed and took the final snaps in the annual Bubba Bowl game in SR football this year. He has twice won manager of the year, and won a special award at this year's athletic banquet for his commitment and service to the athletic program at the school.

He has done co-op programs in the school and at the local Foodland store, where he has become an integral member of the Foodland family.

At SHS he has been the student council representative from the school to community classroom.

“Tyler is Mr. Sydenham,” said Karl Hammer. "He is known by all and highly respected for the joy he brings to people's lives. He is here with me helping me get my classroom ready for next year. Although he has moved on as a student and will leave my program... he will now become one of my close friends.”

If they were ever called down to the office at Sydenham High School this year, you can bet that it wasn't for bad behavior. Both Jacob Sharpe and Jesse Bell returned for their 5th victory lap at SHS this year, primarily for a chance to be a part of the school’s 2013 drama production. Little did they know that due to Bill C-115, it would be they alone producing, directing, and designing the sets. They acted as well in the 14-member cast of the drama production, which ran from May 23-25.

The show was Norm Foster's ribald comedy “Office Hour's”, whose six separate and cleverly connected office scenes tell of the wild, irreverent and highly comedic lives of 4 memorable characters, each caught in their own stormy, controversial and very funny family, romantic, business and professional relationships at the office. Sharpe and Browne had much more work than they should have had to do, and so they do have the official bragging rights for this production, which was a highly entertaining, visually attractive and downright professional piece of high school theatre.

The two were met more than halfway by a very talented cast, many of whom were younger students and newbies to the stage, but who (as I found out later) found their voices and stage legs through the leadership and unbridled enthusiasm of Sharpe and Bell.

Every single member of the cast not only nailed their lines but also delivered them with highly believable comedic mastery. In scene one it was Fleet Brown who set the bar as the disillusioned, down and out, and very soon to fall further TV news reporter Warren Kimble, who was threatened with firing by his sexy but showing-no-mercy producer Pam (Taylor Drake), who ruled the stage and Warren with her firm voice and red-heeled stomp of disapproval.

Owen Orser was convincing and physically hilarious as the small time, lovable, well-meaning but easily swayed and misdirected film producer Gordon Blaine, who took the side of the increasingly tipsy and highly derivative Hollywood director (Connor Beyers), who made a comedic splash with his apish and addled ideas for the next big cinematic hit.

Bryar Vuyk shone as the lying, never faithful but still charismatic and charming husband of the deservedly frustrated and furious Ellie (Leah Gurrl), who wants so much to believe his lies and alibis but cannot due to explicit photos of his philandering shenanigans.

Sharpe and Bell played to great comic effect side by side in Scene four, a very funny family drama with Bell as the cartoonishly overbearing Rhonda, mother of Richard (Sharpe) her soon-to-be-out gay son. The two were joined in the scene by stellar straight man Eric Gordon as Lloyd, the reserved and severely hen-pecked hubby of Rhonda, who in the end has his own little hidden secret to reveal.

In Scene five, race track owner Stan Thurber, played to perfection by Kody Thomson, who definitely knows a thing or two about how to deliver a comedic line, is forced to fire family friend, the overweight jockey Arthur Barnes, who was played with gusto by Gavin Colman and whose highly comedic last-ditch groveling for his job was a memorable highlight.

Bell and Sharpe both were pleased with the Friday night show that I attended. Both students discovered their love of theatre while at SHS and have worked together in many productions there. “Since we've been working together for the past five years we really understand our individual strengths and weaknesses,” Bell said when I spoke with them after the show.

Sharpe said Bell’s strengths are “his ability to work hands on with the actors and his incredible way of getting everyone pumped up and enthused about their roles on stage. He is especially great with the younger actors and made them feel very comfortable and confident.”

Of Sharpe's strengths Bell said, “No one understands the mind of a character like Jacob Sharpe. I may be able to motivate but he is the person that truly understood everything in this script-the jokes and all of the characters. He truly shaped and cultivated all of the actors on stage and his role was that of the traditional director.”

Each one agreed that they could not have done the job without the help of the other.

Where are these two talented students heading next September? Sharpe will be attending a special comedic writing course at Humber College and then plans to study theatre at Ryerson, while Bell plans to become a teacher and will be studying Concurrent Education at Queen's University. They both hope to meet up again sometime in the near future and to do more stage work together. If their production of Office Hours is any indication, it looks as though they both have very bright futures ahead of them, whether on and off the stage.