CHSS Chronicle

Out-of-Season Coffeehouse

CHSS's first Coffee House of the year was presented on Wednesday, November 4. The theme was 'The Out-of-Season Coffee House', as seen in the variety of 'holiday' decorations. Eric Armstrong very capably hosted the event and introduced a program of artists performing both original and more familiar songs. All in attendance enjoyed performances of solo vocals, vocals with instrumentation, and small band ensembles.

The school's Global Village Club hosted the event and will give the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity as well as local animal shelters. Thanks to the Club's amazing members who baked and donated a delectable selection of tasty treats. Special thanks to those who volunteered with set-up and clean up; it is very much appreciated. Thanks also to Cathy for the cafeteria space, Mr. Kuiper for website coverage (and clean up! ;-)  ), Emily Hildebrand for the coffee maker, and our CHSS custodians.

(Story courtesy Miss Rose)

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Pillowcases for Charity

CHSS fashion classes have just finished sewing bright cheery pillowcases for a charity group that helps children feel special while battling life challenging illnesses. ConKerr cancer has established 83 chapters serving children in 96 hospitals and pediatric hospices across the United States, Canada and South Africa. In just over two years, ConKerr Cancer has delivered over 75,000 cheerful pillowcases to sick children. For more information on how to help make pillowcases or make a donation visit ConKerr.

(Story and photo courtesy Mrs. Godkin)

We Day

On Monday ,October 5, Mrs. Melady and Mrs Godkin traveled to Toronto with thirteen CHSS students to attend the WE DAY rally at the Air Canada centre. WE DAY, the brainchild of Craig and Marc Kielburger, has grown to be the world's largest youth rally.  The underlying message of day was "we can change the world if we work together."

It was a really early morning with the bus leaving at 5:30 a.m., but it was well worth the lack of sleep and long drive as we were able to hear some of the most inspirational leaders and performers of the time. We had the opportunity to listen to messages from Craig and Marc Kielburger, Elie Wiesel (writer, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor), Robert Kennedy Jr. (environmentalist), Jeffrey Skoll (former president of eBay, President of Participant Media),  Spencer West (motivational speaker), Robin Wiszowaty (community development worker in Kenya), Louise Kent (singer, song writer, musician), Jessi Cruickshank (MTV host), and Mike "Pinball" Clemons (former player and head coach of Toronto Argonauts).  Each speaker drew rounds of applause and cheering as did the musicians—Justin Bieber, Hedley, and the special guests for the day—the Jonas Brothers. Mrs. Melady and I thought we would go deaf with all the cheering and screaming when they arrived on stage. 

Our group hopes to work with the Global Village Club and introduce the WE DAY 10 by 10 campaign in the next few weeks. For more information on WE DAY watch the CTV special on October 10. Go to ctv.ca/weday for more information.

(Story and photo courtesy of Mrs. Godkin)

Cookie Dough!

Fundraising season is upon us, and the Students' Council at CHSS has begun to sell cookie dough with proceeds going to the Ontario Student Leadership Conference. The cost of the cookie dough is $15.00 per box and it comes in five flavours. Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Carnival, Peanut Butter, and White Chocolate Macadamia cookies all come pre-scooped. Each box contains 2.7 pounds of dough making approximately 36 cookies.

To order cookie dough, please go www.chsscookies.webs.com , visit us on parents night on October 22nd, OR Contact us directly at d.steep@tcc.on.ca

Communication Technology Photography

Do You Love Photography? We Do Too!

Check out this fantastic collection of photographs taken by Communication Technology students. All photos in this collection were taken by students in either grade 10 (TGJ2O) or grade 11 (TGJ3M). Most shots are creatively taken in and around Central Huron Secondary School. There are also a few personal pics in there. Keep in mind that photos are compressed for viewing over the web, the original clarity is twice what you see on your screen. Several of these photos will be entered into Henry's Digital Photo Competition. Keep your fingers crossed for your fellow Redmen. They have a chance to win $300.00 if their photo wins.

If you want to develop your photography skills, you should consider taking Communication Technology. CHSS offers it in Grade 10, 11 and 12. See you there! (Also consider joining the CHSS Digital Photography Club.)

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Jacqui Vercruyssen
Central Huron Secondary School
Communication Technology Teacher

Digital Photography Club

You are invited to join what I believe to be the first club to extend beyond the walls of the school to also include parents, staff, and alumni of CHSS. More and more people are taking up photography as a hobby, and the main focus of the club will be on sharing photos and offering comments and critiques. The emphasis will be on both inspiring and educating members.

You can visit the Digital Photography Club blog for more information. To join, you simply need to open a free Flickr account, upload some of your favourite shots, and then join the CHSS Redmen Flickr group.

It doesn't matter if you have a simple point and shoot or a sophisticated DSLR camera; the club will help you develop your creative vision. There will be periodic challenges and competitions within the club, and winners will be showcased on the club blog.

If you have questions, come talk to me (Mr. Kuiper) or email me, and I will be glad to help.

Safe Harbour Run

On Sunday, June 14th, over 200 running enthusiasts gathered in Bayfield to participate in the first annual Safe Harbour Run and support the Huron Women's Shelter. This run was the third of eight in the London Runners' Choice Runpiker series and saw a number of CHSS staff and students participate in either the 2k or 5k. When the dust settled, our school was well represented on the podium with Michael Park finishing third male overall in the 5k. Other award winners included Miss Williams first and Mrs Melady second in their age category in the 2k. In the 5k, Nicole McIntosh placed third in her age category, Miss Carter second in her age category and Matt Chalmers first, Curtis McCallum second, and Matt Popp third in their age category.

Congratulations to all who ran. As part of the organizing committee, Mrs. Godkin appreciated everyone coming to support the shelter and was thrilled to have such a great representation from CHSS. To see all the race results visit http://www.runnerschoice.on.ca/races/results/2009/Bayfield.htm .  To learn more about the Runners' Choice Runpiker Series, visit http://www.runnerschoice.on.ca/runpiker.htm.

(Story courtesy Mrs. Godkin)
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Challenge Day Appreciation Night

This is a reminder to all Challenge Day Participants and Volunteers. The Thank You/Appreciation Night is Wednesday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. in the CHSS cafeteria. Please plan to attend.

Because Nature Matters—Envirothon 2009

On Tuesday, March 31st, students and teachers from nine Huron and Perth high schools gathered at CHSS to participate in a day of workshops in preparation for this year's Envirothon competition. The day began with a lecture by guest speaker Graham Buck, a biologist from the Guelph area who specializes in restoring and preserving fragile ecosystems. The lecture focused on preserving biodiversity in our natural world. This topic is the theme of the 2009 Envirothon Competition. Students then worked in their teams to prepare an eight minute presentation on a given ecological problem. After lunch, each team presented their mock presentation to the other teams and teachers, and they were given constructive feedback in preparation for the actual competition.

The Envirothon teams will travel to Wawanosh Nature Centre on April 9th and take part in workshops on aquatic, soil, wildlife, and forestry ecology. On April 28th, the CHSS Envirothon teams will compete at the Pinery Provincial Park in an effort to take home first place among the Huron-Perth schools. If they can accomplish this feat, they will move on to the Provincial Envirothon in May. This might just be our year...

This year's Envirothon teams consist of Stephanie Seebach, Jeff Gibson, Gary Paquette, Courtney Karounos, and Paul Hearn on Team A, and Katie Crocker, Stephanie Brandon, Tyler Black, Jack Weiler, Fraser King, and T'Miika McMichael on Team B.

(Story courtesy of Mrs. Ross-Holton)
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Pride in Being Red

As the concert band, jazz band and percussion ensemble prepared for their regional competition in London on Tuesday, March 10th, they were given the opportunity to perform their pieces for the student body. Redmen also had the chance to celebrate the accomplishments of our athletes from the fall and winter sports. Congratulations to all athletes and musicians for making us all so proud to be red!

(Story courtesy Mrs. Haines)
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