BIOLOGY SENSORS AT SHS: Biology students at Sydenham High School (SHS) will be able to do a lot more hands-on science thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Limestone Learning Foundation (LLF).

The science department has a number of SPARKS mini-computers, which are electronic gathering devices that can have sensors attached to them through USB ports, but the only sensors that the school was able to purchase were applicable to the physics program.

Thanks to the grant, two new SPARKS will be purchased, along with a few sets of more extensive biology censors. “With the biology sensors, student will be able to instantly gather large amounts of data. In lakes, for example they can determine water temperature, levels of dissolved oxygen, acidity and more at various depths in an instant. So for Sydenham Lake, where a lot of our students live, we can come up with baseline data for the state of the environment that the students can then spend time analysing,” said Gary Rasmussen, the head of the Science Department at SHS.

Until now biology students have spent most of their time gathering data, but with the new equipment data collection will be easy and the data can be easily converted to spreadsheet or graphing programs. “Students will spend much more time analysing and working with data, which is what science is all about,” Rasmussen said.

Another aspect of the new technology is the possibility of sharing it with community groups and lake associations, Rasmussen added, to help them with lake planning and other activities.

UKULELE PROJECT AT LAND O’LAKES

Ukulele master James Hill gave a concert and workshop at Land O’ Lakes Public School last year, with assistance from Blue Skies in the Community, and ever since the students and parents have been interested in playing the ukulele and learning to read music.

With a $4,700 Learning Foundation grant, the ukulele program at the school will continue to grow this year.

There is now a beginners’ and a more advanced group at the school, with ukuleles for all, as well as stands and other equipment. According to teacher Norm Guntensperger, the LLF grant will cover equipment costs, freeing up other money to bring in some Queen’s music students to help with instruction. “The after school classes that we are planning this year are open to all students in grade 2 and above and to parents and community members as well,” said Guntensperger.

The ukulele program has already been running this fall, and the school Christmas concert this year will include a ukulele performance. Guntensperger is hoping to have James Hill back to the school some time to show him how far the project has progressed.

“He really was an inspiration to us. I think there is a resurgence of the ukulele, which he has started,” said Guntensperger, “and I’m pleased that the Learning Foundation has come through for us in such a big way, as have Queen’s and Blue Skies.”

THE DRUM AT SLHS – The Algonquin Drum has become a major part of the scene at Sharbot Lake High School over the past couple of years. Last year a number of students built their own drums and participated in a drum awakening ceremony late in the school year. The LLF has granted $1,900 to the SLHS Drum this year.

SCHOOL OF ROCK – Julia Schall of Hinchinbrooke Public School is no stranger to the Limestone Learning Foundation, This year is the fifth consecutive year that she has received funding support for the School of Rock program that she runs. The $835 that is coming will enable her to purchase a new guitar and amp and some much-needed stands and patch cords for the School of Rock, which will run after school from January to June this year. In addition to the grant, Lancaster Public School will be loaning a 16-track Yamaha digital recording studio to the School of Rock, which will enable Schall and her students to record live performances and prepare copies for the students.

Schall is pleased that one of her top School of Rock performers, Jordan Lowery, now a Sharbot Lake High School student, will be returning to Hinchinbrooke to help with the more advanced students.

“The School of Rock continues to grow,” she said.

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.

Photo: Volleyball Champions at Hinchinbrooke PS, courtesy of Ms. Julia Schall

Hats off to grade 6, 7 and 8 students at Hinchinbrooke Public School who were crowned this year’s Division 6 Co-ed Volleyball champions. The team’s season ran from early October until last week and included a number of exhibition games at NAEC, Prince Charles PS and Sharbot Lake Intermediate. The final tournament of the season took place at Napanee Secondary School and included teams from Clarendon Central PS, Marysville, Centreville, Sharbot Lake Intermediate, Sandhurst and Holsgrove. In that final tournament, Hinchinbrooke played and beat teams from Clarendon, Marysville and Enterprise, bringing them to the finals where they faced off against Centreville. The Hinchinbrooke team came away victorious at the end of the day. Congratulations to all of the players and to Coach Ms. Julia Schall on a great effort and a great season of play.

Photo: NAEC N house cheer [N House Spirit booster on Frisky Friday.

Last week, students from grades 9 to 12 and staff of North Addington Education Centre participated in Spirit Week, organized by Mrs Sarah Sproule's Grade 12 Leadership class.

Each day had a costume theme and a lunch time event (duct tape a teacher to a wall, dodge ball and fear factor eating) that could earn House teams points towards the culmination of Frisky Friday; a day of team building games and challenges. Teams started Friday with a very competitive cheer off between Houses, followed by a day of tug-o-war, capture the flag, backboard ball, dizzy bat, three-legged race, an obstacle course and a scavenger hunt. 

OSAID hosted a free BBQ and hot chocolate lunch to keep everyone’s strength up. At the end of a very fun and spirit charged week, N House came out with top points to win Frisky Friday. Students then enjoyed their winter formal hosted by the Students’ Council in Flinton.

Photo: Students and staff of Ms. Steele’s School to Community class

On December 7, students in Ms. Steele's School to Community class at Sharbot Lake High School presented a cheque and toys to Ms. Meaghan Dodgson in the school cafeteria, culminating their efforts to give back to the community. The students started fundraising three weeks ago for the school’s annual food, clothing and toy drive, which supports Northern Frontenac Community Services and the local food bank. This was the first time Ms Steele's students had initiated their own project for the drive, which was headed up this year in the school by the student council and French teacher Ms. Meaghan Dodgson.

The School to Community students participated by baking, decorating, advertising and selling cup cakes and when all was said and done the students raised $190 - but their efforts did not stop there. Students then were split into five teams and were partnered with Mr. Robinson's leadership class and together took a shopping trip, where each team purchased an appropriate toy for a child in the community. While Ms. Steele always intended for her students to focus on giving and helping others during the holiday season, she says it was the students themselves who initiated the idea of giving back to those in need in the community.”

“Their effort evolved in the classroom during Remembrance Day when we discussed the idea of helping others in other countries and while my intention had always been to bring that idea around to giving to others in need in our own community, it was the students who had the idea to go there first,” she said. “And that was a really big moment in the classroom.” The fundraising will wrap up on December 16.. Congratulations to Ms Steele’s students on demonstrating how far a cupcake can go in bringing joy to others.

Photo Left: Ms Mayhew's grade 3 class at Harrowsmith PS with their “Tweet Tree”.

For the past four years students at Harrowsmith Public School have been participating in their annual Festival of Trees event, a holiday fundraiser aimed at raising money and food donations for the local community. For school principal Jim Horan, “It's a wonderful opportunity for our students to come together to help those who are less fortunate in South Frontenac.”

Revell Ford Lincoln of Verona sponsored the event and supplied the trees, which each class then decorated. The trees were raffled off on Dec. 10 and all proceeds will go to the local Southern Frontenac Community Services Corporation’s food bank, and the local Free Methodist and United Churches.

Grade eight students play a big part in the fund raising and each year they canvas door-to-door in Harrowsmith for donations. According to Mr. Horan, “The response this year was truly overwhelming. This year we received more food than we have ever received before.”

On Dec. 8 the entire school was invited to the gym where student ambassadors Emily Kellett and Regina Austin emceed the inaugural first day of the event. They invited School Trustee Suzanne Ruttan to launch the three-day festival by lighting up the first tree. She was joined by OPP Staff Sgt. Gary Oullette, who thanked the students for their efforts.

Each class then had a chance to introduce their themed tree to the whole school and this year’s themes were both clever and imaginative. They included a Tweet Tree decorated with edible bird treats, the Adam and Eve tree decorated with real apples, and the Merry Mousemas tree decorated with candy cane-tailed felt mice.

The celebration included a performance by the school’s grade 1, 2 choir and a carol sing-a-long led by Queens University teacher candidates.

The event is not only a way to raise funds for those in need but also a way of bringing the entire school and local community together in a celebration of holiday giving and sharing.

Mr. Horan wishes to thank Revell Ford and the Revell family for their ongoing support as the event’s corporate partner and the OPP, who is the event’s community partner.

On December 11, the Senior Girls’ volleyball team travelled to Loyalist College for a tournament consisting of eight teams.  The girls’ first game of the day was against the strong Marc Garneau team. The girls all played well and won the first set 25-22.  During the second set, Marc Garneau came out fighting and, although the girls got behind, they were able to gain momentum.  Marc Garneau eventually ended up winning the second set 25-22.  After dropping this set, the Lady Panthers did not drop another set during pool play, playing undefeated against St.Theresa’s, Quinte Secondary School and Nicholson.  This propelled our girls into first place for pool play.  The girls were once again up against Marc Garneau in the semi-finals.  The Panthers came out strong and won the first set 25-16.  During  the second set,  Marc Garneau weren’t going to give up without a fight and came out guns- a-blazing, winning the second set 25-22.

Well, our Lady Panthers did not want to give Marc Garneau another victory. They took care of business in the third set and punched their ticket to the finals, winning 15-12. The girls were very determined and ready to take on Cobourg West.  The Lady Panthers came flying out of the gates and did not look back. Our girls were just too strong for the Cobourg team. They won in straight sets 25-12 and 25-15.  The Panthers should be very proud of their victory and what a way to end off an impressive first week of league play in KASSAA. 

The tournament victory would not have been possible without the tournament MVP Rachel Neadow, who continually came up with huge plays and great leadership; Courtney Meeks’ and Sarah Armstrong’s strong service points and great passing; Jen Cota and her consistent and smart play on the court;  Dana Mika taking her game to the next level in important games; Tricia Gray always being ready and getting key points when she was called upon; Sami Stencell and her great passing and HUGE Serve; Kaitlyn Wilkes and her awesome passing and great job in the Semi Final and Championship match; and of course the set up kid Nicole Domen who always does a great job setting up our powerful swingers!!!  Great job ladies and congratulations.

Students at NAEC are working hard to help the local Food Bank again this year, with a repeat of the Empty Bowls Project. The Empty Bowls Project will culminate in a supper on November 19 at the Northern Highlights craft show, combining bowls and food produced by NAEC students and sold for $6. All proceeds will be donated to the Food Bank.

Grade 9, 11 and 12 Art students are making bowls in an array of styles and shapes. While each bowl is clearly individual, students have made an effort to keep the sizes comparable. They are decorating them in a variety of glazes, to make them even more unique works of art. It is estimated that there will be 50 of these one-of-a-kind bowls available.

Meanwhile, members of the Grade 12 Hospitality class are roasting, chopping and simmering to produce soup to go into the bowls. There is a choice of French Onion or Turkey Noodle soup. In addition to the bowl of hearty soup, diners will have a student-made dinner roll as an accompaniment, to make a satisfying fall dinner.

Last time this project ran at NAEC (in 2011), over $250 was donated to the Food Bank as a result of the community’s generosity. As previously, the bowls will be on display at the school in advance, so that interested community members can pre-purchase their bowls.

Principal Angela Salmond is proud of the students’ efforts. “It is always so encouraging to see classes collaborating together on projects,” she said. “It is so much more satisfying when they are doing so for the good of the community. NAEC has a history of helping with the Food Bank, and this continues that tradition.”

On Halloween night, October 31, students from North Addington Education Centre canvassed the community in their costumes; not for candy or treats, but for non-perishable food items. Students and adults were stationed in Flinton, Northbrook, and Cloyne. The response was overwhelming. Most homes had a bag or box of food ready, and were not reluctant to contribute to the community. The event and pick up were supervised by a staff member.

In total, students collected approximately 700 items, which will help the food bank through the winter season. Darian Asselstine, an NAEC student, said, “I couldn’t believe how much fun I had! A lot of people recognized the Campbell’s soup can costumes right away”. School Council chair Sarah Collins said, “I want to do it again next year- I think the supervising adults had just as much fun as the kids.” The items were then taken over to the food bank and unloaded by some of the grade 10 Careers and Civics students.

While this event helped stock the shelves, the winter and holiday seasons are a busy time for the food bank. An attempt was made to go to as many houses as possible, but if your donation was missed, please call North Addington at 613-336-8991 and ask for Candice Bovard; we will pick up your item(s). For those requiring assistance, please contact Land O’ Lakes Community Services at 613-336-8934. Those wishing to donate food, please call Karen Anderson at 613-391-1408 (leave a message if there is no answer).

Angela Salmond, the principal of NAEC, was excited to show her support for the event: “I am so proud of our students and would like to extend my thanks to their families and the community. Our students are able to contribute because of the support we receive from the community. The kids are happy and the shelves are full; that is success. Thank you for investing in our students - I am very grateful.”

Colin Edwards, a long time staff member at the North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne, was not someone who craved the limelight.

However, to this day, he has been remembered as someone who lived his life to the beat of his own drum while also putting NAEC students front and center. It was with that in mind that a special school-wide ceremony was held at NAEC on October 23, naming the school's new Outdoor Education Centre in his honour.

Edwards, who succumbed to cancer in 2006, began teaching at NAEC in 1973. He later became vice principal, but then he asked to go back to the classroom since it was teaching that most inspired him.

The special ceremony was led by Sarah Sproule, lead student success teacher at the school, and included words from school principal Angela Salmond, who summed up the opening of the center as the final culmination of an innovative outdoor education project called “Learning From Our Roots”.

Seed funding from provincial government paid for some of the construction materials for the building. Over the years though, most of the funding required to complete the project came from numerous and very generous donations from the local community and the ongoing fund-raising efforts by students and staff at the school.

The project, which got underway several years ago, included the planting of seedlings on school property; the purchase of numerous outdoor learning materials such as camping equipment, top of the line archery equipment; and finally, the construction of the outdoor education centre. The centre is a one and a half storey post and beam structure that is just under 400 square feet. It which was designed and constructed by former NAEC teacher Mr. Rasenberg and his construction students with the help of Ms. Sproule and Mr. Sissons.

It is now the hub of the school's outdoor education program, housing houses all of the school's brand new camping and archery equipment, and it is where receive instruction prior to heading out into the great outdoors.

A sign in front of the building has a loon, a maple leaf and the Bon Echo rock - three things that Ms. Sproule said she felt Edwards would have appreciated and been proud of.

Principal Salmond said that the school's outdoor education program enables all students at the school to access “not only the 80 plus acres of the school property but also the multitude of lakes and other outdoor learning opportunities in the area.”

She spoke of Colin Edwards as a “teacher, colleague and a friend, someone who believed in tapping into students' interests so that they could reach their full potential, while also providing opportunities and second chances to students that extended beyond the classroom.”

Colin's widow, Grace Edwards, also spoke at the event and expressed her gratitude and surprise at the honour. “This school meant so much to that man,” she said. “He lived and worked in the area and he gave back to the area. He always felt that if you wanted to make a change you had to do so from the inside out and in education, that meant not forcing a square peg into a round hole.”

NAEC students Amey Sauvageau, Jared Salmond, and Taylor Salmond spoke about their own personal growth as a result of the outdoor education at the school. Student Lucas Parks-Delya read the testimonial of a younger student involved in the school's archery program. It is one of the best archery programs in the country and NAEC is the first school in Ontario to become a part of it. Following the ceremony, an official ribbon cutting at the new building. Conservationists of Frontenac Addington President Ron Pethick and grade eight student Tim Shire performed the honours. Following that, a number of students demonstrated their prowess with bow and arrow.

Ms. Sproule, along with fellow teacher Mr. Sissons, raised $7,000 for the project and she was also instrumental in bringing the national archery program to the school. She said she is thrilled to have the new center up and running.

“I am very passionate about outdoor education and believe that students should spend as much time as possible outside. I really believe that some students do not necessarily learn best in a conventional classroom and the goal here is to reach out especially to those students. These programs give, especially to those students, a reason to come to school and something that they can be successful at.”

Staff also hope to purchase snowshoes in the near future.