Students Adam Smith and Troy Clelland with Geoffrey Murray (centre).

High school students aren’t commonly known to continue their school work over the holidays, but some at Sharbot Lake HS did just that this past Christmas.

Students in the construction technology class under the instruction of Geoff Murray are building acoustic guitars and many are eager to get their projects finished so that they can…yes… play them.

The challenging project is being offered to students from grade 9-12 and was developed by Geoff Murray with the help of music teacher Claudio Valentini.

Recognizing the popularity of guitar playing in the student population (it’s by far the largest of Valentini’s music classes in the school), Murray and Valentini thought the acoustic guitar project would be a way to engage the students by giving them a technical construction experience while simultaneously providing them with a finished, usable object that they can take home, be proud of, and grow with.

Valentini explains, “For some people playing a guitar that they themselves have built is a very personal kind of experience and they can fine tune it the way they like it.”

Murray added, “Local guitar maker Bob Miller has been cheering us on all of the way. He’s lent us books and blades, has supplied some of the fretting materials, and advised us about certain production techniques. Miller also visited the school, giving advice and encouragement.”

Students can choose the acoustic guitar project in lieu of writing the final theoretical exam, since the project constitutes an in depth study. It teaches them hands- on construction processes, finishing skills and requires a concrete understanding of various related materials, design practices and terminology.

Unlike guitar projects that exist in other schools, Murray’s project is based on the design of a standard Yamaha C40 style acoustic guitar. The students are constructing their guitars from door skin mahogany, an affordable material that keeps the cost down to $30, whereas other guitar projects can cost $300 - $400.

The students begin with the tricky technique of shaping the thin pieces of mahogany to form the sides of the guitar body using the hot post technique. Thin strips of mahogany are dampened with water and bent over a hot cylindrical container that has been heated up with a propane blowtorch. The process must be slow and steady so that the wood does not crack.

Once shaped the pieces are lined with purling and glued up. Top and bottom body pieces are cut and then glued together. The neck is constructed and attached and later the frets are drawn in, grooved out and mounted in place along with strings, and tuning pegs.

Once construction is complete the guitar can be painted and finished. On the first day back at class, Murray demonstrated air brush painting to his students as a finishing technique that they can apply to their guitars. The students’ projects are all at various stages of production and they immediately took up where they left off before the Christmas break.

Grade 12 student Troy Leland, who plays the guitar and is in his second year in the shop program, began chiseling out the neck of his guitar prior to gluing it up to the body. “You want to make sure it [the neck] fits properly and is really straight. It has to be all one piece so that it sounds nice,” he said

I asked Troy what he likes about this project.

“It’s something that I can play that I made,” he said. “Playing guitar is like a passion to me. So just being able to say I made this myself and to be able to play it is great.”. He also said that this would not be the last guitar that he makes.

Grade 11 student Kris Newlove worked over the holidays on his guitar at home, making the inner supports and gluing them up and shaping the neck. He took extra precaution in building the neck to ensure its stability. “I placed the grains two different ways to prevent warping. I’ve worked on it so far for 10 hours but I am working very slowly and carefully and trying to be very precise and to get everything just right.”

Adam Smith similarly is at a critical point in construction and is gluing on the purling, the flexible band of notched pieces that the top and bottom pieces of the guitar body are glued to.

Once constructed and finished the project does not end there. Students can also design and make cases or bags for their guitars in Geoffrey Murray’s fabric course, “Anything Fabric.”

Like all good ideas, the project is taking on a life of its own and plans are in the works to continue the guitar project into other areas of the school.

Science teacher David Gervais is planning a coffee house at the school at a later date that will feature students playing on the acoustic guitars they made themselves.

Photo: Cash Matson plays Hansel opposite Jessica Deroches' Gingerbread Witch

For four days in early May, Grade 7 student Cassidy Savic, and Grade 4 student Cash Matson, cast off their normal earthly persona and skillfully transformed themselves into lovable heroes of legend as Land O’ Lakes Public School presented “The Story of Hansel and Gretel”.

Backed by a well-rehearsed choir of 28 “Gingerbread Cookies” conducted by Mrs. Joanne McCullough, and a cast of 32 performers directed by Mr. Brian Robertson and Ms. Jenn Meulenaar, Cash and Cassidy showcased the results of hard work, commitment and sheer talent as they carried the play through song, dance and acting, portraying the lead characters, Hansel and Gretel.

Cast and crew worked together to overcome minor and major obstacles as the performances unfolded, producing awesome results. Cast and crew included Jessica Desroches and Sadie Clarke as the Witches; Devon Scott, Cassy Lowery and Jade Walker as the Children; Jonathon Wisteard and Matt Sproule as the Trolls; Claudia Thompson and Erica Thompson as the Owl and Echo; Jessica Wisteard as the Gypsy; Bailey Paddick as the Sandman; Jesse Mae Ferguson and Megan Power as Caspar and Katrina; the amazing sound and light crew, Ophelia Cooper, Adam Power, Tristen Veley; and the awesome set crew who doubled as emcees, Summer Kennedy, Noah Wilson and Emalee Riddell, with Brianna Drew on props.

Several production numbers clearly stand out: “Public Holiday” featured singing solos by Cassy Lowery, Jade Walker, Cassidy Savic and Cash Matson. As the flats of Hansel and Gretel’s poor mountain cabin transformed into a colourful panache of circus-oriented scenes (designed and painted by Mr. Lee Hull and his grade 7/8 class), the choir exploded onto the stage depicting, through song and action, various circus acts including those of strongmen, puppeteers, clowns, cowgirls, candy vendors, dancers, and acrobats.

In “Hocus Pocus” and “Gingerbread Witch”, Jessica Desroches and Sadie Clarke (who shared the role of the Gingerbread Witch), performed spell-binding, dramatic versions of these songs, mixing up a cauldron of fun with comic sidekicks, goblins Claire Willis and Swayde Scott (voice by Jack Willis). In “Hocus Pocus”, the zombie-induced Gingerbread cookies are transformed into live dancing delights (all 28 gingerbread costumes and the two Shrek costumes were designed and sewn by Mrs. Peggy Muldoon of Sharbot Lake).

“Tap, Tap, Tap” featured the lead actors, Cash and Cassidy, singing this catchy children’s song and skillfully leading choir members (portraying local children) in an entertaining dance.

Ms. Fournier’s Grade 4/5 students did a fine job performing a “Witch’s woodland dance” based on Rossini-Respghi’s “The Tarantella”.

From the pitch-perfect notes of the opening song sung by Dew Princess Kirstin Colliss to the celebratory closing song with Father and Mother (Jacob Brash and Quinn Scott) leading the entire cast, “The Story of Hansel and Gretel” achieved an entertaining sharing of magic, wonder and delight that only children’s theatre can produce.

Director Brian Robertson was noticeably moved when the cast presented him with beautiful thank you cards and dedicated a song to him at the end of the final performance. He thanks everyone – actors, crew, choir and Land O’ Lakes Public School parents and staff – for their support and role in making live children’s theatre such a success in Mountain Grove.

The Sydenham High School (SHS) track team had a good overall showing at last week's Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association (EOSSA) track meet on May 19 and 20, and were particularly strong in the 400, 800, and 1500 metre events.

Among the midget aged girls, SHS star Nicole Armstrong was dominant, winning the 400 metres by a full 2 seconds in a time of 59.44. Nicole also took the 800 metres in a time of 2.24.34, almost 6 seconds ahead of the second place finisher, and her winning 1500 metre time of 4.54.20 was ten seconds ahead of the second place time.

Had Nicole Armstrong been racing with the older athletes in the Senior Division, her times would have placed her in the top three in each race.

Among sprinters, SHS has a very promising junior girls runner, Emelyn Fauvel, who won the 100 metre final in 13.04 seconds. Her time was fastest of any woman’s 100 metre runner in all age groups, save for her own 12.93 time in the preliminary race.

The other area of dominance for SHS was in the senior men's 400 metre race, where SHS runners swept the podium and added the 4th place finisher for good measure. Hayden Peters won the race in 50.22 seconds, Wade Embury finished second in 50.59, Kieran Doyle was third in 50.72 and Matt Fouzies ran fourth in 52.62.

Surprisingly, the senior men did not win the 4 x 400 metre Relay, finishing second in 3.23.04, almost a second behind Thousand Islands High School. Thousand Islands had held their senior men's 400 metre runners out of the individual event to focus on the 4 x 400.

The women's relay teams fared better. SHS won the junior 400 x 100 metre relay in 52.48 seconds, and the 4 x 400 metre open relay in 4:06.09

Other medalists for SHS included Garrett Fraser-Morris, 2nd in the men's 100 metre ambulatory race in 14.66 seconds; Ben Trickey, 2nd in the junior men's 400 metre division 53.15 seconds; Ben Trickey 2nd again in the junior men's 800 metre race in 2.07.77.

Kieran Doyle took 3rd in the men's 800 senior division in 1.57.89, and Nick Belore completed the junior 3000 metre race in 9.57.90, also good for 3rd place. Dylan O'Sullivan finished 3rd in the men's 3000 metre senior race in 8.45.19, and Ben Fisher came 3rd in the senior men's 100 metre hurdles in 15.96 seconds. Hayden Peters won the men's 400 metre hurdles competition in 57.34 seconds, edging out Matt Fouzie who finished second in 57.39 seconds.

In the midget girls' 100 metre division, Melanie Martin finished 2nd in 13.48 seconds. Michela Gossage finished 2nd in the women's 800 metre senior division in 2.23.98.

Lacey Tryon won the women's 1500 metre steeplechase (open division) in 5:29.21; Kayla Gibson finished 3rd in the women's 300 metre hurdles in 50.38 seconds; and Kiercy Latimer came 3rd in the senior women's 400 metre hurdles competition in 1:07.62.

In the jumping competition Celina Grey won the midget women's long jump competition with a jump of 5.04 metres as well as the triple jump competition in the same division with a distance of 10.16 metres. Finally Amanda Tibbutt finished 3rd in the senior women's triple jump competition with a distance of 10.13 metres.

SLHS medalist

Sharbot Lake High School athletes also competed in the EOSSA meet. The best finish by an SLHS athlete was Jessica hole, who finished in 2nd place in the midget women's shot put competition with a throw of 8.37 metres.

The Hinchinbrooke School of Rock has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 2005. What started as a noon-hour gathering of three students has blossomed into a structured extra-curricular program involving upwards of 20 dedicated young musicians in grades seven and eight.

The School of Rock runs from January to June each year, with rehearsals on Wednesday and Thursday after school. The program can accommodate such a large number of students thanks to many generous grants from the Limestone Learning Foundation, which has allowed them to purchase guitars, basses, amplifiers, as well as sound and recording equipment. They have also received a number of donations of instruments.

Students participating in the program learn the foundations of music by playing rock, pop and country. This year's program has two bands – one for experienced players from last year's program, and one for beginners new to the program. They learn everything from The Rolling Stones to The White Stripes, Chuck Berry, Avril Lavigne and Three Dog Night. The School of Rock students and their teacher, Ms. Julia Schall, would like to invite the public to attend their end of the year concert at the Oddfellows Hall in Parham on Saturday, June 4 at 7pm. There will be performances by Army of Eight, High Maintenance and hopefully last year's rockers, HD Supply.

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.”

With over $15 million in the bank and a team of architects from Kingston and Toronto on the job, the design committee for the new JK-12 school at the current Sharbot Lake High School site held public consultations last week.

Ray Zabac from Shoalts and Zabac (Kingston), and Terry White from the Venton group (Toronto), were on hand, as were officials from the Limestone District School Board (LDSB)

“We have not looked at the site in too much detail, but from what we've seen and from the template provided to us, we believe this project is very workable,” said Ray Zabac. “Probably the best site to put the new school on is the parking lot. We realize this will create a parking issue for the year when the building is being constructed.”

Terry White presented some preliminary options that the architects have developed, which will fit an elementary wing, a secondary wing, and an administrative hub into the current parking lot. The architects have met with Central Frontenac Township staff to make sure the permitting process is completed in time, and they said there has been a high level of co-operation.

“They appear to be quite willing to work with us. For example, in order to fit everything in the building, we might be looking at a third storey in one section. The township has a height limit of 10.5 metres, which would limit us to two storeys, but the township says they can change that in this case. This is a kind of flexibility we don't usually see in the city,” said Terry White.

Among the school's attributes will be a full-sized double gym, which is lacking in the current building.

After hearing from the architects, and the school board administration, the 50 or so participants at the meeting split into groups to provide their input into the design and functions of the new building.

When the groups reported back, a number of issues were raised, including the lack of a music or dramatic arts room in the initial plans.

It was also mentioned that while the elementary and secondary sections of the school need to be distinct, the hope is that some of the advantages of the secondary school, such as shop and technical classrooms, would be available for the younger students.

“There should be a maximum amount of space for the students. Not too many architectural touches,” said Anne Howes, a community member on the design committee.

Another group was concerned that the school should accommodate both school needs and community needs, as well as the North Frontenac Little Theatre.

“It is important that the building is beautiful; that it reflects our landscape, our heritage, outdoor spaces, fields, garden, art work and sculpture,” said the reporter from one of the groups.

It was also mentioned that artefacts from the two schools that will be closing, Hinchinbrooke and Sharbot Lake Public School, be integrated into the new building.

The design committee will meet for the next few months behind closed doors and a draft design will be presented to a public meeting later in 2011.

The principals of the schools that will be integrated into the new building, including David Allison (Sharbot Lake Public School), Emily Yanch (Hinchinbrooke), and Heather Hyatt (Sharbot Lake High School), are all on the committee, as is the school trustee for the region, Anne Goodfellow. Members of the public with ideas and concerns about the new building are encouraged to contact them or their local parent council

However, as was pointed out by Peter Lynch, Manager of Financial Services for the LDSB, the basic parameters of the project have been set by the Ministry of Education.

“The template is for a 69,000 square foot building with five regular classrooms for secondary students, 10 smaller classrooms, a full-sized 6,400 square foot gymnasium, two tech rooms, science rooms; all the facilities a good JK-12 would offer,” Peter Lynch said

The budget for the project is $15.7 million.

“That's a lot of money but still quite a challenge because of the site and what needs to be in the school,” he added, “and with site and demolition costs taken out there is $13.9 million for construction.”

Although the idea of co-locating other community facilities with the school was mentioned when the project was first envisioned, any additions to the building would have to be funded by a business, community group, or the township, and thus far no one has come forward.

Peter Lynch said that the timelines for completing the design and doing all the preliminary work so a construction project can proceed in time to complete the project in two years and three months will be tight, but that the school board is planning to complete the project in time for the 2013-2014 school year.

“This year's grade 9 students will graduate out of the new school,” he said, “and there is a lot of excitement in the school about this.”

Photo:Party leaders at LOLPS l-r Shay Melanson, Naomi Mitchel, Ophelia Cooper, Jacob Brash and Cody Matson

Students at Land O'Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove will be casting their ballots at a school-wide election on April 28. The election is part of the Canadian National Student Vote program, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that “aims to build the capacity and commitment of young Canadians to participate in their democracy”. The program introduces students to the electoral process and invites them to hold and run their own mock elections, which coincide with actual elections. This is the first time the program has run at Land O' Lakes, and judging by the enthusiasm of the students, it looks as though the program is accomplishing its goals.

Teachers Mr. Guntensperger and Ms. Fournier organized the mock election, which they felt fit in nicely with the social studies curriculum. “The program helps to build political awareness and also allows the students to become familiar with the national issues,” Norm Guntensperger said at the all-candidates’ meeting that took place in the school gym on April 20.

The program began a few weeks ago and older students in grades 4-8 first researched the platforms of the various parties as they were released in the media. Next, students were invited to form leadership teams representing the four major parties, and each team was assigned a teacher facilitator.

“There was great participation right from the start. The students are really excited about the whole process and the fact that we will be having real, official printed ballots, boxes and voting stations is really exciting,” Mr. Guntensperger said.

Each team appointed speakers for their party and those leaders took to the stage in the gym and presented their platforms to the students. The platforms closely mirrored those of their real counterparts, as did the questions students posed to the leaders, which covered a wide range of topics, including climate change, the national deficit, the long gun registry, defense spending and the current war in Libya.

Norm Guntensperger said it has been interesting to watch the entire process unfold. “Last week the Green Party seemed to be taking the lead but after the meeting in the gym it became very clear that the NDP Party had gained the upper hand.”

Students are encouraged to keep an open mind as the parties unfold their platforms. The campaigns have been respectful and the leaders are campaigning fairly. Only one off-putting incident, involving a marshmallow launcher, has been reported to date. “The students are doing a lot better than the actual parties in that regard,” Guntensperger said.

After the meeting, I asked the student party leaders what they learned from the process. Ophelia Cooper, who was representing the Conservative party said, “It was interesting to learn about all of the programs that the Conservatives are offering and how they are planning to lower taxes. I also learned that it’s a pretty good idea to keep your vote private unless you are willing to stand up for what you believe in.”

Naomi Mitchel, who was representing the Green party said, “I knew that the Green party was concerned with environment but that was about it. I definitely know a lot more about the party now.”

NDP leader, Cody Matson, said, “After looking at all of the parties, I felt the NDP would be the way to go.”

All of the student leaders said the experience has led them to believe that they might one day become involved in politics. Asked what qualities make a good politician, they replied: “Somebody who is nice”; “someone who cares about the economy and the environment”; “someone who is good with words”; and lastly “someone who will keep the promises that they make.”

The school’s election results will be announced on April 28.

Prince Charles Public School in Verona, North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne, and Sharbot Lake Public School, are three of 600 schools from across Ontario that will be offering full-day learning, five days a week, for four and five-year-olds starting in September.

According to a government media release, the program, which was launched on Tuesday, January 12, will have both teachers and early childhood educators working “together to help four and five-year-olds learn during the regular school day. Schools will also offer extended day programs, before and after regular school hours, which will be led by registered early childhood educators. There will be a reasonable fee for these programs, and subsidies will be available for some families, based on financial need. Fees will be determined locally by boards.”

All told, there will be eight schools in the Limestone Board that will start up the program next fall, including Centreville School in Stone Mills Township and Perth Road School in South Frontenac as well as three urban Kingston schools.

Maple Grove School in Lanark Village (in the Upper Canada District School Board) will also offer full-day learning for Kindergarten students.

According to a Limestone School Board media release that came out shortly after the announcement, certain criteria were used to determine which schools would be chosen. These include: “availability of space; community need; existing child-care programs –availability of reasonably priced child care and before and after school care programming; student achievement.”

On January 15, Hinchinbrooke Public School hosted a combined New Year’s and Well Wishes Karaoke dance for Kylie Babcock and her family. Kylie's sister, Taylor, is a grade 3 student at the school. Students enjoyed practising their vocal talents to the delight of the student body and staff. All proceeds for the dance will be donated to the Babcock family along with well wishes from all students at the school. Thanks to Joe and Marg's store for canteen donations and Hinchinbrooke's Student Council for their hard work and dedication towards this event.

There are six schools in the Limestone District School Board that participate in a program called the Youth Philanthropy Initiative, which is sponsored by the Toskan-Casale Foundation. Sharbot Lake High School (SLHS) is one of those schools, and last fall in the grade 10 Civics class, 16 two-member teams were formed to research and promote a charity with a local reach.

The teams prepared presentations on the charities, and after the presentations were made, the four top presentations were selected. Four finalists then did their presentations again at the beginning of January, and the winning team was presented with a cheque for $5,000, which was made out to the charity they had been promoting.

“This is the third year we have been participating in this program,” said Civics teacher Randy McVety, “and one of the things I like about it is, it shows the students how charities work and helps to encourage them to volunteer themselves. And the fact that there is real money at the end of it for one of the charities, adds something very real to it.”

The teams that made the finals spoke on behalf of Martha's Table, Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, the Kingston Youth Shelter, and the St. John’s Ambulance Therapy Dog Service.

Kelsea Babcock and David Riddell chose Martha's Table for their presentation. They had never heard of Martha's Table before (like most of the teams they found the organization after doing a google search) but “We really liked the fact that they were such a grassroots organisation,” said Kelsea Babcock. “They charge something like $1 a meal for people in Kingston who need one, and they are open 5 days a week,” said David Riddell. The students also mentioned that Martha's Table has a clothing program.

Cody Pichie and Jessica Cadieux chose the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind. “We wanted to do something with animals,” said Jessica Cadieux, “and the guide dogs provide a great service for people who really need them.”

“It costs several hundred dollars to train a dog,” said Cody Pichie, “and it all starts with fostering them.”

Pichie explained that guide dogs are raised by volunteer foster families for the first six months, where they receive basic training before being sent for more advanced training. Jessica Cadieux said that it is a goal of hers to foster guide dogs in the future.

Leah Woodcox and Jessica Nedow looked into the Kingston Youth Shelter. “We wanted to look at something that was for young people,” said Jessica Nedow.

“There are many people at our school that have had troubles, and the shelter is something they might need to know about,” said Leah Woodcox.

Woodcox and Nedow learned about the shelter via emails with people who work there. “Confidentiality is important to them. They shelter about 250 - 300 youth a year,” said Leah Woodcox, “it's an important service for Kingston and the region.”

Emma Maloney and Erica Goodberry made the winning presentation on behalf of the St. John's Ambulance Dog therapy program. “We wanted to find a charity that used animals,” said Erica Goodberry. “The dogs go to hospitals for people who are dying, to Alzheimer's patients, and children's centres. They provide psychological stability for people,” said Emma Maloney.

“There is a certification service,” added Erica Goodberry. “The dogs need to be calm, not aggressive.”

There are about 40 dogs and 35 volunteers that are active with the program in Kingston. The $5,000 will go to the program to help cover ongoing costs, such as training and mileage for volunteers.

Sara Porisky, a program co-ordinator with the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, was on hand when the presentations were made to present the cheque to the winners.

Lynne Young, a co-op teacher at SLHS, said that it was a great experience working on the program this year. “I am also looking forward to going to Toronto in the spring. There is a day planned for all of the winning teams from across the province, and I am looking forward to going with the girls and perhaps their families as well.”

“The program gave out over $1 million last year. That’s a lot of money for students to control,” said Randy McVety.