The Latest-November 2015

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history-Aldous Huxley

It was been a busy October in the Social Science Department. Our students were involved in many activities that allowed them to take a more “hands-on” approach to their learning.

Ms.Hallarn, Mr. Myers and Mlle Karpiuk’s Grade 9 geography classes made trips to Fort William Historical Park to take part in activities under the direction of park staff. The GPS scavenger hunt was a big hit with the students as they scoured the grounds for items in geocaches. They also spent time exploring native culture in the learning wigwam and constructing items of leather. We look forward to our return visits in the spring with new groups of students.

Mlle Karpiuk’s French Immersion geography class did some “hands on” exploring in our school’s front yard. Utilizing the garden that was planted last year, the students looked at the composition of the soil. After their exploration was over, they broke down all the plants and composted the garden. That then provided an opportunity to discuss the importance of soil density and minerals.

Mlle Karpiuk’s French Immersion history class created their own war museum as part of their World War I unit. Students had to pick important events from the WW1 and build a model of something that coincides with the event.  Examples included an electric shock machine, medals from heroes, a zepplin, a u-boat and a sock.

On Monday, October 19^th Canada held a federal election, which saw the selection of a new governing party and Prime Minister. Ms. Caza’s and her civics classes arranged for our school to participate in the Canada-wide Student Vote, which encourages students to become more civically aware and involved in the electoral process. More than 15 classes in the school participated in the period 2 vote, casting nearly 300 ballots. Hopefully activities like this will lead to an increase in youth voter turn out in the future. The results, with students voting for candidates in Thunder Bay-Rainy River, are as follows:

Don Rusnak (Liberal) 182 votes

John Rafferty (NDP) 49 votes

Christy Radbourne (Green) 34 votes

Moe Comuzzi (Conservative) 30 votes

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