Energizing. Cheery. Intriguing. Intense. Hilarious. Enlightening. This is just a sampling of the words yelled forth by this year’s Grade Nine squad when asked to describe the year thus far. In ELA, Mr. Kirk has us exploring Human Rights and Freedoms. In Social Studies, we’ve just finished making personal timelines and now we are looking at ancient human history and pre-history. They’ll be on display in our classroom shortly, so swing on in and have a look. (bring chips) Speaking of items on display, we’ve been working on painting the ceiling tiles. It’s a bit like the Sistine Chapel except with a little more Disney and Sports Logos. Do you have any questions about finding the surface area of a Composite Shape? You can ask us now, because that’s what Mr. Herman is teaching us in Math. Can you imagine having Ms. Prakash as a science teacher? It’s a blast. Literally. She sure likes blowing things up. Our leader, Mr. Graham is teaching us about Decision making in Health class and we’re looking at life for teenagers in past decades. It’s crazy. Volleyball, welding and Kitchen Wizardry round out our daily schedules.

All in all, I don’t think we’ve ever been happier.

Well, the Grade 9 camping trip has come and gone. It was amazing. Thank you to all of the chaperones who came with us. You worked hard and we know this trip cannot happen without you. Thanks also to Harold who drives a bus like no one else. School itself continues to be invigorating even though Spring fever has hit hard. In ELA, we have had some very interesting discussions and worked through some fascinating case studies about people who were faced with incredible choices in Nazi Germany. What is the difference between a child soldier in Sierra Leone and a Hitler Youth member in World War II? Why do we feel so differently about them? Our Sunflower study has really challenged us. In Social Studies we’re learning about globalization. Where in the world would be the best place to build a chocolate bar factory? We based our decision on availability and cost of resources, as well as labour costs and ethical practices. Pretty fascinating. In Health class, we continue talking about Adolescent issues and relationships. Math has us looking and working with the basics of angles, circles and trigonometry. Good stuff. Science has us looking at cells, the building blocks of life. It’s been a great year and we thank all the teachers and staff for making it so. See you next year!

Our camping trip is quickly approaching. The trip dates have been moved up a day. Due to the Provincial Track meet starting on June 7th, and the number of grade 9 students who are potential provincial athletes, we had to make that adjustment. We’ve been busy preparing ourselves for all of the anticipated adventures that await us. As we finished up our discussions about the book, Into The Wild, and read a short story by Jack London called To Build a Fire, we decided to venture out into the field and build our own fires from scratch. Some groups were successful, some were not. My hope is that those who were unsuccessful will sharpen their survival skills before heading north. Again, any parent help would be appreciated. We have just started reading an amazing true story called The Sunflower. The preamble says, “ You are a prisoner in a concentration camp. A dying Nazi soldier asks for your for- giveness. What would you do?” As we read this together, we will be able to explore some huge questions regard- ing war, evil and the possibilities and

In Social studies, we learned about multi-national corporations, as well as where and how the goods we buy are manufactured. Incredible. We also continue to follow what happening daily with CNN Student News.

Genetics, symmetry and track and field usually round off our learning day. 

On May 28th, we will be visited by the health nurse who will spend the morning teaching us about Health and Sexuality. A more detailed par- ent letter will be sent home.