Citing the impact of a roofers’ strike on the construction schedule, Sharbot Lake High School Principal Heather Highet said last week that the Granite Ridge Education Centre will not be fully operational at the start of the school year in September.

“Until the roofers’ strike, construction was ahead of schedule,” Highet said, “and now the roof is finally going up, but even the contractors will have to wait until it is up and everything is completely dry before they move on to the next step.”

Highet told a group of parents at a meeting in the cafeteria of Sharbot Lake High School last week that the Limestone Board has developed two scenarios for next fall, Plan A and a Plan B. Under Plan A, the new school will be substantially completed by September and the current building will have been demolished. Students in grade 5 or 6 and up will attend Granite Ridge in September, “but students from Kindergarten to grades 4 or 5 will attend at the current Sharbot Lake Public School building until construction is completed,” said Highet.

This includes students who are attending Hinchinbrooke Public School this year and are slated to move to Granite Ridge.

Plan B is a more complicated scenario. It will be put into place if the new building is not substantially completed by September. In that instance students between grades 6 and 12 will be accommodated in the existing Sharbot Lake High School (SLHS) building.

Under Plan B, the existing school will be demolished sometime during the school year. Highet did not know how long the demolition and clean-up would take and SLHS needs to be removed in order for the parking lot and landscaping plan at the site to be completed.

Within the next two weeks a decision is expected concerning which plan will be put into place.

School staff are particularly anxious to find out which plan will come into effect.

“Either we have to pack everything up and put it into storage because this building is being torn down, or we have to prepare to receive students here in the fall, and then move everything over to the new school when it is ready,” Highet said.

Whichever stage the new school is at come September, the bussing for the students to Sharbot Lake will be in place. Gord Taylor, the Executive Director of the Tri-Board transportation consortium, said that most of the students throughout the wide region that is covered by the new school will be picked up at about the same time they were in the past. He acknowledged that a small number of students will be facing a bus ride of over an hour, “but not any more than previously.”

James MacDonald, who is currently the vice-principal at Hinchinbrooke, will be the new vice-principal at Granite Ridge. He said that based in part on a survey of all the students who will be attending the new school, the new school colours will be blue, green and silver, and the school’s mascot will be a Gryphon.

“The choice of colours and of the Gryphon, which has three parts, both recognize the fact that the new school is a coming together of three schools,” MacDonald said.

On June 3,Sharbot Lake High School Principal, Heather Highet, and long-time SLHS teacher Randy McVety were presented with the 2013 Associate School Award by members of the Faculty of Education at Queen's University at a special presentation and celebration in the school’s cafetorium.

The award honors one Ontario high school and one Ontario elementary school per year for their outstanding contribution to Teacher Education. Sharbot Lake was one of the 250 associate schools in Ontario who take on students teachers in their regular school year. This year 15 schools were nominated for the award. At the presentation Nadine Thompson, the practicum placement assistant at Queens University, first read from some of the letters written by teacher candidates at SLHS this year, who nominated the school for the award. From one letter she read, “From the moment we walked through the door at SLHS we felt included. There seemed to be a constant effort by all of the educators, administrators and support staff to strengthen us as growing teachers.” From another, Thompson read, “This school was wonderful and learning as much as teaching never felt better.”

Paul Twiddy, who is the faculty liaison at the Faculty of Education at Queen's University, also spoke and congratulated the school for their contributions over the last 20 years as an associate school and for taking on a total of 13 teacher candidates this year alone. He “cherry picked” from a letter he wrote supporting what the teacher candidates had to say about their experience at the school. “The school’s support for teacher education this year in particular was very important given the climate of the times and it provided a very stable environment for the teacher candidates here.” He continued, “The exemplary contribution and commitment to education exhibited by the school provided a significant opportunity for the teacher candidates.” School Trustee Ann Goodfellow also spoke at the presentation and said, “Nothing has changed in all of the years that I have known and been associated with this school. It's always been such a tight knit family and this is such an appropriate way to start off on our new adventure next door.”

Following the presentation Principal Heather Highet said, “It feels really good to have the staff here recognized for their hard work because they are a genuine staff that care deeply about their students.” This was the first time that SLHS has won the award.

Melanie Robinson, who heads up the Phys Ed program at Sharbot Lake High School, emceed their annual Athletics Banquet on June 4, where a plethora of awards were given out to honor the school's junior and senior athletes. Though the school's winter season was cut short due to the climate at the school this year, Robinson decided to increase the number of awards given out to each team that played a full season, with two members from each team (and in one case three) receiving coach's awards and one member, the most valuable player award.

Called to the stage numerous times during the presentation were two athletes, one junior and one senior Panther, whose names are currently on the sign board in front of school. Both athletes received gold medals at the Eastern Regionals in Belleville and both will be heading to the OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) finals this Saturday, June 8 in Oshawa.

The first is a grade 10 student, David Cox, who won a gold medal for junior boys high jump with a jump of 1.75 metres. Cox, who made it to OFSAA last year and placed 13th, said he is hoping to make it into the top ten this year. He said the sport is all about form. Cox also received two MVP awards; one for the junior boys volleyball team and the second for track and field, and he was named the Junior Male Athlete of the Year.

SLHS teacher and coach, Ben Moser, who presented Cox with the Junior Male Athlete of the Year Award, said that Cox is “a true, natural, stand out athlete. In every sport that he plays and the way he moves tells you that he is natural. He's improved his personal best year over year to the point where he is now jumping 180 centimetres, which puts him in the top ten junior male jumpers in the province. Not only that but he's also a great student, a great teammate and a great person.”

Johnny “Boom Boom" Vinkle also made numerous forays to the stage to receive awards; as the senior boys MVP in volleyball and in track and field, as well as the Senior Male Athlete of the Year. Vinkle will also be heading to OFSAA in the shot putting event, having won gold in the Eastern Regionals where he beat out the silver medal winner by just under one metre. Vinkle also made it OFSSA last year in the same event. He will be competing against 23 others at OFSSA this year. Vinkle has been shot putting since grade eight and said he played it for years more as a “filler event” for him. Vinkle said he is seated 12th going into the event and he hopes to finish off in the top ten. He also said that he plans to continue playing volleyball at the post-secondary level. One of Vinkle's coaches, SLHS teacher Randy McVety said of Vinkle that he is "a great athlete who got the name “Boom Boom” because of hard hitting on the court... The thing is... Johnny is not at all an aggressive guy but rather, a very reliable player who can keep his cool and he is a player who plays hard but understands that sports are important but not the end of the world. He is also a player who always represents his school very well.”

Other notable athletes who made numerous forays to the stage to receive awards were Skyler Howes, Taylor Welch, Cadence Cumpson and Aadan Kempe. Congratulations to all of the Panthers who received awards this year.

Grade ten students at Sharbot Lake High School had a chance to learn about and benefit a local charity through a program called the Youth Philanthropy Initiative program. The program invites students to learn about local charities in their area by having them chose and research one and then make their case to a number of judges as to why their chosen charity should be awarded a $5,000 cheque. The $5,000 is funded through the Toskan Casale Foundation of Toronto, which was started by Toronto philanthropist Julie Toskan Casale who began it as a means of inspiring young people to become aware of and involved in charitable organizations in their communities.

The program runs at numerous schools in the Limestone District School Board and has become a regular part of SLHS teacher Randy McVety's grade 10 civics class. “I made the program a regular part of the curriculum with the hopes that by becoming aware of the many local charitable organizations through their own research and work, the students might be inspired and become involved with them later in life”, McVety said when I spoke to him earlier this week.

A total of nine projects were completed by SLHS students and in January those nine were judged by five senior students. Three were shortlisted to be finalists. Those finalists made a second presentation on June 3 to a different panel of judges that included School Principal Heather Highet and LDSB trustee Ann Goodfellow, along with six senior students. The winners were announced on June 3 and the group representing Breast Cancer Action Kingston, a local area charity that receives no funding from any of the larger cancer organizations or societies, and who provides family and educational services to people diagnosed with breast cancer, were the recipients of the $5,000 gift. Congratulations to Breast Cancer Action Kingston and to SLHS students Kayley Gregory, Tori Neuman, Chifonne Hugh and Joelle Parr. The student group phoned the charity the day of the presentation, and according to Randy McVety the representatives at Breast Cancer Action Kingston were absolutely elated to find out that they were the recipients of the $5,000 gift.

On Thursday, June 20 at 11:15am a closing ceremony will be held at Sharbot Lake Public School. Former students and staff as well as the general public are invited to come out to mark the event, which will include speeches and performances by current students.

“We will also be opening a time capsule that was done in the year 2000” said school principal, David Allison, “and there will be a memory room devoted to displaying artefacts from the school’s history.”

There will be tours of the building available for those who are interested.

David Allison is also putting out an appeal to the community for materials that may be of historical interest. It’s kind of a last chance for show and tell at the school. Anyone who would like to contact the school about the artefacts they are planning to bring can call 279-2103 to let the school know, or they can just bring them on the 20th to share with others.

“The school has been such an integral part of the community” said Allison, “and we would like as many people as possible to come out for its send-off as the students prepare to move just down the road to the new school next year.”

Jared Salmond, a student at North Addington Education Centre, is the strong, silent type of leader that often flies under the radar, but his contributions to North Addington are significant.

He has resurrected the elementary intramural program, where students in Grades 5 to 8 participate in a lunchtime program of different athletic activities. Jared planned, organized and ran the program, always focusing on getting students involved in fun activities

Jared is an active member of the volleyball program at North Addington where he has played on the volleyball team for three years, acting this year as Captain. In all sporting events, Jared mentors others, modeling both sportsmanship and skill.

Jared’s achievements in team sports at North Addington have been recognized through the school’s awards program where he has been named Male Athlete of the Year. He has also received a prestigious TEAM award which recognizes his commitment to Teamwork, Enthusiasm, Attitude, and Mentorship.

Jared is also committed to helping and developing others through his volunteer activities.

In the wider community, Jared has also been an active volunteer with the Mazinaw Lake Swim Program by assisting with information nights, registration, and the installation and removal of docks. He also participated in the Trick or Eat program, which collected donations for the local food bank, and Jared was also a member of a local Relay for Life Team to support the Canadian Cancer Society.

Jared’s focused efforts and achievements are not limited to sports. He has challenged himself with a broad range of academic studies and has maintained a 93% average throughout high school. At North Addington there is a five-tier points accumulation system which recognizes a student’s academic achievements and milestones. Jared has accumulated sufficient points to be recognized at the third tier and is on track to reach the fourth tier this fall.

Jared is a student who can, and does, do it all. He has pushed himself in every aspect of school life with a quiet confidence that serves as a model for those around him.

Sebastian Back, a graduating student at Sydenham High School, is known by staff and students as a positive, polite, and respectful student leader who is active in the Sydenham High School community, and beyond. He is a highly academic student who excels in his classes, and his teachers describe him as an inquisitive, engaged student, whose maturity and level of critical thinking are extraordinary.

Teachers describe Sebastian as always doing what it takes, not only to pursue excellence for himself, but to support others, and “bring them along” on his journey.

Sebastian serves as Grade 12 representative on Student Council, and in that role, he works hard to ensure he is providing a voice for his peers, as well as supporting the organization of arts-focused events in the school. Outside of School Council, Sebastian can often be found spending his lunch hours tutoring students in mathematics.

Sebastian is a very artistic and creative young man. He is highly successful in many media forms, including video, photography, and writing. He is currently representing Sydenham High School in the Skills Canada competition, in the TV/Video Production category. Sebastian is a writer for a community newspaper that celebrates rural life, and last year, he was one of three finalists in the 2012 KingstonWritersfest Youth Competition

Sebastian is a global thinker. He encourages students to have a broader perspective, and to consider their community, and the world. Outside of the SHS community, Sebastian volunteers for a summer camp for Cree and Ojibway teens from Constance Lake First Nation, 14 hours north of Kingston. The goal of the camp is to bring events into the community, and to motivate the youth towards a better future. Sebastian has also worked with the Kingston Arts Council committee that organized National Youth Arts week last spring.

Sebastian was recently recognized in in the “People to Watch” section, for his outstanding contributions to the school community and beyond. One teacher describes Sebastian as being “all about innovation, superior academic standing, and the well-being of others.” He makes a difference to the classroom, to Sydenham High School, and to his community.

On April 17, Jeremy Diaz, founder of Jer’s Vision, visited NAEC to talk to the students and staff. Jeremy is the force behind the International Day of Pink, a day which NAEC has embraced with growing enthusiasm since they started observing it three years ago. Students sported pink shirts, hats, shoes, badges, etc., on April 10, to celebrate International Day of Pink.

Jeremy talked to Ms. Cuthill and Mr. Hill’s classes first, then spoke to the Secondary classes. He talked about the discrimination he had faced during his school days, first because of race, and then because of sexual orientation. Jeremy told many anecdotes, often using humour to explain how hurtful his peers’ behaviour was.

Jeremy successfully sued his school district, because of the treatment he had received, and used the settlement money to start Jer's Vision. The aim of Jer's Vision is to spread a message of inclusion and acceptance for all, using personal appearances, workshops and conferences.

Jeremy talked about the harm people do by excluding anyone, for whatever reason. As well as discussing discrimination, Jeremy also discussed violence against women and sexism in general. He urged students and staff to think about actions, conscious or unconscious, which may hurt their peers.

Jeremy remained behind after the presentation to address individual questions, and was surrounded by an interested group of students. Jeremy invited students to attend a conference in Ottawa to learn more, and plans are in place to take a group of students on May 30.

The Grade 7 Challenge Program class at Loughborough Public School (LPS) took on an assignment this winter that called for the students to look to the local community.

The sustainability and social justice project they undertook culminated in a presentation to the other students at LPS in a kind of Social Services/Sustainability Fair at the school.

One of the students, Cole Edwards, looked at what happens to developmentally disabled youth after high school, and he prepared a video based on some visits he made to the New Leaf Link program, which is located in the basement of the Sydenham Anglican Church, only a block or so away from his school.

Cole knew about New Leaf Link and the School to Community Program at Sydenham High School because his mother, Nicola, works as a teaching assistant at SHS, and also provides respite care at the Edwards home for a disabled youth.

Cole's aunt and uncle work in the same field in Kingston, so Cole does not have any issues interacting with developmentally disabled people.

“I was very comfortable at New Leaf Link. And I really think they are doing a great job of working with people. The lack of service after the end of high school is a real problem for them. In the video I could not come up with solutions. I don’t think it is something I can really solve; what I was trying to do was make people aware of the topic and see if they will help out New Leaf Link or donate to them,” Cole said.

“The thing that impressed me most was the way Cole handled himself when he came to our programs. He was very professional, very respectful. To be that way at such a young age was really something to see,” said Karin Steiner of New Leaf Link (NELL).

Cole Edwards spent three days at NELL, including one day during the March break.

Steiner was also impressed by Cole's understanding of what is both a social justice and a bureaucratic problem that families with developmentally disabled young adults face.

While enrolled in the public school system, there are educational programs and services available throughout the School to Community classes in local schools, but after that there is a service vacuum, which leaves it up to already stretched families to come up with supports and programming for disabled young adults.

The problem is particularly acute in South Frontenac, because the Community Living Agencies that can step forward to provide support are not very active in South Frontenac. Community-Living North Frontenac is limited in scope to the very edges of the South Frontenac boundary, and it is often difficult for rural families to access the services provided by Community-Living Kingston, which is more focused on the Greater Kingston area.

In order to foster more awareness locally in Sydenham, Cole Edwards invited some of the NELL young adults to Loughborough for a viewing of the video he made about them.

“I could tell that some of the students were uncomfortable; you could tell they were tense - it’s a bit of the unknown for them. They did not know how to respond at times.”

The entire experience was positive for Cole Edwards, including the opportunity to make use of a video camera that he inherited from his grandfather.

“I look forward to doing more video work, and to volunteering at New Leaf Link” he said.

On April 22, after donning blue gloves and with garbage bags in hand, bands of students from Sharbot Lake Public school spread out through the village of Sharbot Lake and did their fair share of garbage gathering in a special community clean up event in celebration of Earth Day.

The event was organized by SLPS teacher Danielle Harding who teaches the grade 3/4 class at the school. The students from grades one through six were divided into multi-aged groups led by older students and were supervised by staff and volunteers. The groups fanned out through the community and picked up trash and recyclables that were gathered at designated spots and were later collected by township staff. Harding said that the event, which has been running for years at the school, is a great opportunity for students to pitch in and help to keep the community clean.

“The students get a sense of the importance of keeping their community clean and the event really drives the point home that we should not litter. We hope that that idea and practice becomes ingrained in them and that they will think twice before littering.” Harding said that the amount of garbage students are seeing in the community is becoming less and less over the years. “I think that overall people are thinking more about not littering and that students especially as they are getting older have been thinking twice about it.”

The students appeared more than pleased to be undertaking the task at hand and Harding said that the kids really enjoy being outside and feeling like they are contributing to a worldwide event. The students were also encouraged to bring garbage-free lunches to school for Earth Day.

Emotions were running high at the 50th Anniversary celebrations that took place at Clarendon Central Public School in Plevna on April 13. Over 200 past and present staff and students, along with friends and family gathered at the school to reunite, celebrate and share their feelings about their time spent at the small rural school, which has served the community for 50 years.

At noon, a special ceremony headed up by co-chairs of the 50th anniversary committee, Brenda Martin and Heather White, recognized the efforts of those who have helped to make the school a lively and loving educational institution over the past five decades.

Visitors were first addressed by the school’s current principal Dave Allison, North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton, and School Trustee Ann Goodfellow. A special anniversary message from former CCPS student Erin Gunsinger (Ibey), who graduated from the school 25 years ago in 1988, highlighted CCPS's important role in the community. She spoke of the rapid changes in the world since her graduation, that it has become a global village and said, “That is not such a bad thing.” In her words, “As annoying as the lack of privacy might be, when it comes down to it, small communities like Plevna still exist because the people here come through for one another.”

She spoke of her childhood growing up in Plevna and the wealth of outdoor opportunities she experienced. She spoke of the school and reminisced about her favorite memories: crazy carpeting, tubing and skiing in winter, walking the old log monkey bars in the playground, and huddling around the school’s cutting edge Commodore 64 computer. “I went to CCPS in the days when kids got to ring the bell, run the ditto machine and hoist the Canadian flag up the pole. We sang O Canada and recited the Lord's prayer every morning”, she recalled. She marveled at how the school has managed to thrive despite “enduring times of economic hardship and radical change. One of the foundations of this community is its school. It's something that we all have in common and it stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of this unique remote rural village and the tough and resourceful, good-hearted people who live here.”

The ceremony continued with a rousing video of current students singing the old CCPS school song, and a plethora of special anniversary mugs and other mementos were presented to former staff and students.

Throughout the day, visitors reminisced about their time at CCPS while perusing the five specially designated “decades” classrooms, which were decorated with school nostalgia and memorabilia. Former student Jody Spingle, who graduated from CCPS in 1988 and who now works in construction and project management in Ottawa, is fondly remembered as a former tether ball champion at CCPS. She said, “It's great to reconnect with students and teachers that I haven't seen for 25 years. I have such fond memories especially of the teachers here and my school days here are one thing that I would never change.”

Gina Kellar (Gore), who graduated from CCPS in 1973 and still resides in Plevna, came to see her old teachers with her husband Rick, who received recognition as a graduate of the first class of 1963.

Brenda Martin said she was thrilled with the exceptional turn out and was pleased to see so many former students and staff. “Many of the teachers who taught here in the '60s and '70s didn't think that they would ever come back to the school, so for them and some of their former students the day has really meant a lot.”

Martin said that these anniversaries can tend to be so emotional because, “People have very formative memories from their school days and for me as a teacher and principal you get really attached to your students.” Kudos to all who made for a very special day that will long be remembered in years to come. Those interested in purchasing a commemorative year book of the 50th Anniversary celebrations and/or a DVD highlighting the day’s events, contact the school at 613-479-2264.