Photo: NAEC's new young authors

Each year, radio station 98.9FM The Drive gets money to promote Canadian music. The station has decided to put the money into music programs across the Limestone board, and is donating $1000 each to 13 schools. North Addington Education Centre was lucky to be one of them and on April 4, Joe and Jenn-O of The Drive, presented the music department with a $1000 cheque. Beth Lindsay of the music department says the department is very grateful for the donation and plans on using it towards repairing many of the instruments so they will continue to have the resources to run a successful program at the school. Nick Smart, Mike Deshane and Daryn Bolland played two rock songs for their classmates and the DJs. The clip should be aired on Friday morning.

Photo: NAEC's new young authors

Students in Ms. Buck’s grade 5/6 class at the North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne were feeling quite proud this week, and with good reason. All 27 students were celebrating the arrival of their very own, newly bound, hard cover, one off copies of a non-fiction book, which each had authored by themselves.

The book project was the brain child of their teacher, Ms. Buck, who is a first year teacher at NAEC, and it was geared to cover the non-fiction section of the language curriculum. “I thought this project would definitely be a lot more fun than writing a test. My goal was to really engage all of the students, especially those who might otherwise be lukewarm about the thought of writing, researching and creating an original piece of writing.” By choosing their own topics, the students had a chance to be creative while learning how to research, write, design and lay out a work of their own making. The finished product gave them something tangible at the end, something indeed worthy of celebration.

Ms Buck provided the students with a check list of what they needed to include: a table of contents, a glossary, at least four sub headings, fact boxes, at least one photo per page and a biography.

The class worked on their books on and off for about two months and when they were completed, the individual pages were printed off before Ms. Buck sent them off to be bound in hard cover at Smiths Fall Book Binding. She was as surprised and delighted with the finished results as her students were. “The finished books are truly amazing.” The cost of $10 per book seems nothing compared to the pride each title has bestowed on its author, many of whom say they never thought they could have accomplished such a undertaking.

One proud author, Max, chose fruit as his subject because of his love of pie and he included in his book all kinds of exotic fruits, where and how they are grown and what they are used for.

Grade six student Emma's book titled “The World of Polar Bears” explores a subject that is near and dear to her heart. Other titles included “Blob Fish”, “A Walk with Brock Throughout Canada”, “Extreme Sports” and “In the Life of a Moose”.

With the new books in hand the students will now prepare presentations to the class and will also have a chance read their books to the younger students at the school.

Ms. Buck was pleased with the enthusiasm her students showed for the project and plans to repeat it again next year. “This is something that motivates the students and gives them a real sense of accomplishment.” Judging by their faces and their intent desire to speak about their new works, these first books might not be the last ones created by the students in this class.

Photo: Scott Cannatta (centre) with students at NAEC. Photo: Katie Ohlke.

Some of us get exhausted just thinking of a marathon, let alone running one. But Scott Cannata, a physical anthropology student at Trent University in Peterborough, intends to run one marathon, or 42.2 kilometres, every day for approximately seven months in a run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. That translates to 209 marathons.

Cannata’s journey, named The Run To Live, will start on May 1, 2011 at St. John’s, NL and end at Port Renfrew, BC around mid-December if all goes as planned.

Scott Cannata has many local family connections and on March 26, a fundraiser was held for him at the Flinton hall. Many bands, groups and individuals donated their time and talents to make the event a success.

One of the organizers, Beverly James, is a cousin of Scott’s, and she says she was overwhelmed by the response. “We didn’t have that much time to organize it,” she said, “but everyone pitched in – all the musicians - and people just showed up with plates of sandwiches and food for the buffet dinner.” Beverley said that the musicians really helped each other – one group had forgotten their keyboard so John Fradenburg of Log Cabin Music drove all the way back to his store to bring one.

The organizers are planning another fundraiser, to be held when Scott passes through Kaladar on his run, and James says that all the musicians have already indicated their willingness to play again on that day.

“The run will be really tough for him, both physically and psychologically – perhaps the psychological part will be the hardest,” James said, “but he’s a tremendous young man. He can do it.”

Unlike his hero, Terry Fox, Scott Cannata has never had cancer, but when he was 12 his mother Deborah battled cervical cancer, which affected him deeply. Later, he lost his paternal grandfather to cancer. On a video that was made about the Run to Live, he says that that showed him that not everybody survives the way his mother has.

In September 2009 he decided to undertake the run and has been training ever since for it. He runs about 150 to 200 kilometres a week, in addition to cross-training.

In addition to his mother and grandfather, he has dedicated the run to several people, one of whom is his six-year-old cousin, Isabelle Lemke, of Belleville. Isabelle is almost finished her treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukemia after than two years of chemotherapy and in spite of being very sick from the treatments last week, she was able to be present at the fundraiser on Saturday night.

Scott is also planning to dedicate part of each run to someone he reads about in the letters he will be receiving.

The day before the Flinton event, Scott visited North Addington Education Centre (NAEC). He told the students, "Running a marathon a day is hard and will hurt, but it is nothing compared to the pain of dealing with cancer on a daily basis." Many NAEC students came out to Flinton to support Scott - they performed, volunteered and spoke.

In the coming months students and adults will be writing to Scott and they will track his journey via a large map of Canada at the school. For every toonie donation that comes in, students will put a sticker on the map.

Beverley James said that a group of runners from the school intends to meet Scott on Highway 7 and run with him. Of course, he will pass by Sharbot Lake first and she hopes that NAEC’s efforts will inspire other schools in the area to undertake fundraisers. “Perhaps runners from one school could escort Scott to meet runners from the other,” she said.

The fundraisers that are taking place right now are to raise funds for the expenses of the trip. The Flinton event brought in $3,000, and Beverly James wishes to thank all the musicians and the many people who helped on Saturday night.

The fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society will start when the run starts on May 1. The goal of The Run To Live is to raise $2 for every Canadian, or approximately $70 million. Because of his local connections, many from this area will probably be watching the run with special interest. To follow Scott’s progress, to donate, or post messages of support, visit www.theruntolive.com. 

Photo:  Lloyd Arnold and Carol Belanger

Every Thursday evening between 7 and 9PM the gym at Sharbot Lake high school comes alive with the sound of squeaking rubber-soled shoes and the whoosh of high-speed birdies.

That is the time that anyone seeking a bit of good, clean, social fun and fitness can meet on the badminton courts in the gym and enjoy two hours of non-stop play.

Ron Abbott of Godfrey is almost always there. He mans “the box” and will happily supply racquets and birdies (a.k.a. shuttlecocks) to those in need. Ron has been heading up the weekly sessions ever since retired SLHS teacher Gary Giller started the tradition close to 30 years ago. When Ron is not manning the box he is on the court enjoying a game. “It's such a great way to keep in shape and they say that in badminton you actually use more muscles than in any other kind of sport.” That being said, Ron adds that it is also not a particularly strenuous sport. He can count the number of injuries he's witnessed in his decades of play on one hand. He stressed the fact that it is also a relatively easy game that almost anyone can play and quickly become good at.

The two courts in the gym can hold eight players at a time and usually anywhere from 8-15 players will show up on any given Thursday night. Many of the regulars have been coming for years and to keep games interesting it is pretty common to see teams regularly switch up partners. Ron informed me that a good team is one where “the two players can anticipate their teammates’ moves and who cover each other on the court.” Because the game tends to be one of strategy, two partners who work together will tend to go a long way.”

The more competitive players will tend to seek each other out but competitive play on the whole tends to be a secondary consideration for most. Instead it is a friendly feeling of camaraderie that prevails in the gym.

Ann Temple is the newest player to the sessions and she travels 25 minutes to come every Thursday night to play. “I heard about it from a friend and started coming and found the environment very welcoming, helpful and easy going. Though I wasn't very good when I started I feel I've come along way.”

Lloyd Arnold of Crow Lake, who will be turning 80 in June, has been attending the sessions since moving to the area. He is an experienced player and played in an industrial league in Montreal back in the 1950s. “I have always loved the game and when I moved out this way thought I should get back at it. I have always enjoyed playing the game and it definitely helps keep me nimble.”

The sessions are held throughout the regular school year with breaks for Christmas and in March.

Anyone is welcome to play and children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Normally the fee is $5 per semester, though this year the fees were waived due to a surplus in the coffers.

Ron encourages anyone interested to come and try it out. “It’s a lot of fun and usually after a few tries people tend to pick it up pretty quick.”

Players just need to wear rubber-soled shoes and Ron will be happy to get them every thing else they need.

Photo: Hinchinbrooke Grade 6/7 students lead the Fun Days.

Students at Hinchinbrooke Public School are coming to understand the daily hardships that youngsters in Kenya face thanks to the efforts of HPS teacher Debbie Jones and her grade 6/7 class. For five years now Ms. Jones and her students have been holding Fun Days for Kenya, monthly school-wide fundraisers designed as a fun way for students at the school to raise money for people in Kenya. Hope2 Kenya is a not-for-profit organization begun by Sandy Foster, a long time educator from North Bay who in the past has visited HPS personally to thank them for their ongoing support. The organization raises funds to implement a number of different projects in Kenya, all of which aim at helping Kenyans to become self-sufficient. In Sandy's words the projects are meant to provide “ a hand up” rather than “a hand out”.

In July 2010 Sandy was joined by an eight member team and traveled to Kenya to complete a number of different projects they had started there, including Veronica Home, an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS and Kolongolo School. The team also set up a food distribution centre for widows in need.

HPS students in Ms. Jones’ class explained in particular what they are learning by putting on these regular fundraisers to support Foster and the organizations ongoing efforts in Kenya.

“We are fund raising to help give the kids in Kenya a chance to do what we always get to do,” said Hanna Smail. Megen Hole added, “We tend to take for granted everything that we have here at home so this is a chance for us to see that we can make a difference and help others who are in need.”

The Fun Days take place in the gym and every class in the school is invited to participate in a number of different games and activities. Debbie Jones' students are in charge of designing, setting up, and organizing the entire event. They also sell the tickets, run all of the booths and afterward do an in-depth analysis of which activities were successful, which were not and assess all the numbers.” Not only are the students becoming aware of others in the world who are in need and learning that they can help make a difference, but the event also provides the students with an opportunity to practice a number of educational skills that they are learning- math, geography and a number of other related skills.

Ms. Jones feels it is important to give her students a chance to do something to help others in need in the world and likes to share Foster's motto, a motto Foster borrowed from Helen Keller that states, “I am only one, but still I am one. I can not do everything but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

In Sandy Foster’s words, this means, “No child should be dying of malnutrition, water borne diseases, malaria, TB or AIDS. No child should be left an orphan without having basic needs fulfilled. The little I can do might help the child who may one day lead Kenya into democracy and peace.”

So far this year Ms. Jones’ class has helped the school to raise $700 for the Hope2Kenya team, which for its size is no small feat.

For more information visit www.hope2kenya.org

Toddlers in Harrowsmith and Parham will be eligible for all day kindergarten when they reach school age in the fall of 2012. The Limestone District School Board announced last week that the early learning program would be extended to the local schools for the 2012-2013 school year.

The two schools will join Sharbot Lake Public School, Prince Charles (Verona), North Addington Education Centre (Cloyne) and Perth Road Public School, who already have the program in place. Other local schools, including Loughborough PS (Sydenham), Clarendon Central (Plevna) and Land O’Lakes PS (Mountain Grove) are not on the list, but the program is designed to roll out throughout the province in the coming years. In the Limestone Board, the roll out has been accelerated in the rural schools, leaving a number of schools in Kingston with the current system, which provides kindergarten two days each week and every second Friday, or half-days, Monday to Friday.

Hinchinbrooke school was chosen as a site for all day kindergarten in 2012 even though it is slated to close at the end of the 2012-2013 school year.

Jane Douglas, Communications Director for the Limestone Board, said that since the students from Hinchinbrooke will be going to a new school in Sharbot Lake in 2013 and the current Sharbot Lake Public School students have the program, it made sense for early learning to be in place one year before all the students are brought together in a new school.

All schools in Ontario are slated for early learning by the 2015-2016 school year.

When the program was initially announced early in 2010, the following criteria were identified for selecting schools for accelerated adoption of early learning: availability of space, community need, existing child care programs, availability of reasonably priced childcare and after school care programming, and student achievement.

Photo: SLHS students were given the opportunity to safely demonstrate proper techniques for rappelling trees.

On March 4, students in the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) – Forestry program at Sharbot Lake High School experienced this old adage first hand. Two representatives from Hydro One, Marty Little and Bob Burke, volunteered their time to speak with the students and to demonstrate proper techniques for rappelling trees. After the Hydro One demonstration, each student was then given the opportunity to safely demonstrate that he/she did indeed “learn the ropes”.

Students in the Northern Forester program, the only Forestry SHSM in the Limestone District School Board, work closely with one another and with lead teacher, Lyle Young as they take the classroom outdoors. At the present time, students have earned their first of seven certifications, chainsaw safety, and enjoy the weekly outings to the woodlot to perfect their skills. Plans are in progress for students to earn other certifications this semester, including First Aid, WHMIS, GPS navigation and Project Wild.

The SHSM Forestry Program is available to students beginning in grade 11 and provides unique opportunities for students. By completing a Specialist High Skills Major, a student earns a red seal on his/her diploma which recognizes that a student has achieved the necessary credits, skills, knowledge and sector certifications associated with a specific industry. More information is available in Student Services.

Special thanks to teacher candidate Eric Weese who organized the experience for the students.

Photo: NAEC students gather core samples from Lake Mazinaw. Courtesy of Dave Deacon

Grade nine students from North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne had a chance to get to the bottom of things when on Feb.23 they assisted Queen’s University geographer Scott Lamoureux and Professor Robert McLeman of the University of Ottawa in extracting core samples from the bottom of frozen Mazinaw Lake near Bon Echo Provincial Park. The research is part of a multi-university project aimed at understanding what impacts climate change may have in store for people of this region. The samples will be used to reconstruct the environmental changes in the Eastern Ontario Highlands over the past several centuries. By involving local communities in the project, the researchers hope to raise awareness of environmental issues and to encourage students to pursue post-secondary training in environmental research.

Participating students from Mr. Hasler's, Ms. Snider's and Ms. Lloyd’s classes at NAEC used an auger to drill holes into the lake ice, into which they inserted metre-long plastic tubes. The tubes were then lowered down to the lake bottom and a weight was used to pound the tubes into the sediment there encasing a core sample in each. The layers in the cores show a history of the environment going back hundreds of years, to pre-European settlement. Two samples were obtained, which students then took back to their classrooms, where they were studied.

Professor Robert McLeman explained what exactly the samples showed. “We saw in both samples, about mid-way through, a large grey streak which points to an event that likely occurred roughly 100 years ago. The streak demonstrates that there was large-scale erosion going on, likely the result of the clear cutting of the forest around the lake.”

McLeman explained how this type of information would give researchers the information they are hoping to gain to get a better understanding of climate change. ”With this research we are hoping to get a better understanding of the trends of long-term environmental trends in the region. We will use the findings to help us plan for the future and help us to adapt to climate change. Similarly, because so many people live downstream from Mazinaw Lake it’s also important for us to understand what changes are happening from a water management point of view.”

Researchers plan to take more core samples from the lake, which will be sent to laboratories for further study. The results will also be sent to the students at NAEC for further learning opportunities.

Professor McLeman was pleased to provide the students with such an exciting and valuable hands-on learning tool. “By allowing the students to practice hands-on science in their own backyard we are hoping to get them excited about the environmental sciences and are also hoping to encourage them to pursue environmental studies later on, either at college or university.”

The Sharbot Lake High School Panthers Senior Girls Volleyball team lost out to Regiopolis High School 3 sets to 1 in the final match of the Kingston Area Secondary School Athletic Association (KASSAA) on Sunday, Feb. 20.

Considering the size difference in the two schools - Regiopolis is a Class AAA school with well over 1,000 students while Sharbot Lake High School has a population that is five times smaller - there was no shame in losing out in the finale of the KASSAA season and bringing home the silver.

“It's been quite a ride,” said team coach Mark Elliot. “The girls have done well. I'm really proud of them. They felt they played their best against Regi, which is all they really expect.”

This week, the team is playing against teams from smaller “A” size schools at the Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Association Tournament in Carleton Place. The Panthers are seeded second in the six team tournament, with the school from the town of Embrun (located East of Ottawa near Russell) being the top seed. The Embrun team won the tournament last year.

“That puts the pressure on Embrun, really,” Elliott said. The Panther team is a veteran squad, with a number of girls in their fifth year at the school. “The core of the team is the same as last year’s, but the girls tell me they play a lot better as a unit than they did last year. I know they will give it their all at EOSSAA.”

The winning team at the EOSSAA tournament will go on to the provincial finals at the OFSAA tournament in the Quinte region, which starts on March 8.

Photo: Mr. Schneider's grade 2/3 class at PCPS

Students at Prince Charles PS in Verona had a chance to win a cake and eat it too as they and their families got creative in the kitchen, baking cakes for the school’s annual Valentine’s Day cake raffle.

The cakes came in all shapes, colours and sizes and every student had a chance to bid on their favorites. The event is a fundraiser for the Parent Council at PCPS and helps them put on regular events like the Grade 8 graduation, the school-wide free skate at the Frontenac Community Arena, the pancake breakfast and also to purchase gym equipment.

Nicki Gowdy, who chairs the Parent Council said, “The kids absolutely love it and it is a chance for them to be creative in the kitchen.”