Green Team: Web Seminar with Dr. David Suzuki

David Suzuki, the prestigious and award winning environmentalist, held a web seminar this past Wednesday, on November 2. Along with his co-workers, he set up a virtual classroom where elementary and secondary schools from across North America could partake. If questions were submitted in advance, different schools could ask Dr. Suzuki their personal questions themselves via video chat.

LCC did not have the chance to submit any questions, however, several members of the Green Team, along with Ms. Scattolin and myself, had the privilege of watching. Suzuki took the time to answer approximately ten different questions. I was impressed with many of the questions that were asked and with the elaborate answers that were given in return. In particular, one student asked: “How is it possible to become an environmentalist?” Concisely, Suzuki replies that anyone can really become an environmentalist, as it is not a real profession. If you have a passion for helping the environment then it is important to pursue it along side your career, but it should not be one’s principle occupation. He then said “You should follow your heart and do what makes you happy.” This statement is very encouraging and I appreciated Dr. David Suzuki’s responses a great deal. — Jacklyn Greenspoon ’13

Green Coalition: Montreal Students Exchange Environmental Ideas at LCC

The first ever Green Coalition meeting was held on October 17, 2011. Don’t let the word “coalition” fool you, this was not an activist meeting. Environment-enthusiast students from many different schools, including Royal Vale, Bialak, ECS as well as Elena Poulakis, Kelsey Wiseman, Rebecca Torralbo, Joseph Wiltzer and myself gathered in our LCC auditorium to dialogue about our deteriorating environment.

The meeting was organized by one optimistic second year Marianopolis student, Leehi Yona, whose goal was to have us all combine our ideas and come up with new ways that we can help achieve our common objective, doing all that we can before it’s too late. Getting us, as students, involved in bettering our own future is essential. She gave us ideas such as talking to our city council representative, as she has done. She also suggested some summer internships where you can raise green awareness.

The feeling in the room was indescribable. I had no idea what to expect from this conference. Would the other students be excited, shy, engaged, involved? Everyone had the same goal and we were all keen to achieve it together.  Leehi was so charismatic and got us even more motivated and ready to make a change. My personal favourite part was when all the students had a chance to mingle and exchange ways that their schools contribute to helping the environment. A couple of students from Royal Vale even complemented us on our recyclable paper!

Overall, I think everyone really enjoyed the conference and would love for it to become an annual occurrence. — Sabine Hawa ’12

Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey: An Aussie’s POV

November 2, 2011

DukeofEdNominingueCamp Nominingue was the perfect place for this four-day journey filled with hiking, canoeing and an abundance of memories. The beginning of the trip saw a night filled with star gazing and chatting around the campfire. It was agreed that the next four days would be a lovely break from the city and its demanding lifestyle. After a cold night’s sleep, rising to discover the ground covered completely in frost, the layers of clothing began to pile on. Three canoes filled with eight students singing against each other with the winner remaining unclear. Making it to the beach, we had a short hike to the top of a hill, which had a picture quality view of the lake. We later discovered that the group’s weakness manifested itself in the form of Swedish Berries and therefore an impromptu game of “ninja” was always around the corner. Returning back to ‘base’ we proceeded to sit around the campfire, pass the football and really get to know those we were sharing this experience with.

We spent the night playing an enthusiastic game of “spot,” that was nothing less than ridiculously challenging and managed to engage everyone in the student versus teacher style. From there we celebrated Victor’s 15th birthday in a classic campfire style with brownies, marshmallows and hot chocolate around the fire. By now, we had all realized that without our knowledge of “what the present time was,” how irrelevant knowing it at all really was.

Sunday morning, not too long until we would all have to venture back to Montreal, it dawned on all of us how sad leaving this experience would really be. This aside, the next activity on our agenda was hiking, where we hiked to yet another picture-perfect place. This place was different to most with its vegetation being one of a kind.

On returning, we played a whole group football game before heading out on an orienteering course. The orienteering course was difficult, but was enjoyable to say the least. By having infinite time on a skill, we developed abilities that will hopefully develop further and assist us in the future. By this time the group had managed to form a tight bond.

It was sad to realize that the trip was coming to an end, even though by this point a shower seemed pretty attractive. We continued on with a rather unappealing odour; mixed with a brilliant attitude to finish off our last night with what seemed a late bush walk, star gaze and our intense game of spotlight. As Monday came we all packed our bags filled with dirty clothes, packed up our tents, said goodbye to our beloved fire pit and cleaned up our site. We finished with a few team activities that tested our ability to communicate verbally and physically, with a race to the ultimate finish line.

I’d like to thank Mr. Weiland, Mr. Hirtle, Daniel and Ms. Wall for making the trip possible. Finally I’d also like to thank all that were on the trip for making it an extremely enjoyable and a memorable Canadian experience.– Anna Brouwers, New England School for Girls in Armidale, Australia (Anna is an exchange student spending twelve weeks with LCC )

Corvée du Mont-Royal

Corvee2011_BlogImageAfin de souligner l’année internationale des forêts, les élèves du Middle School ont décidé de participer à la 20e édition de la corvée du Mont-Royal. À 8h30, tout le monde était au rendez-vous et, pendant toute la matinée, les élèves ont planté, planté, planté…
Photos

    Planter des arbres au Mont-Royal était très amusant, on a travaillé pour le service communautaire et on a passé une bonne journée. Je voudrais faire ce type d’activité encore une fois. Cela a ouvert mes yeux sur le monde et sur les changements que je peux faire pour aider l’environnement.
    —Arielle Shiri ’14

    Mon expérience au Mont-Royal a été une tonne de plaisir. Quand nous sommes arrivés, un groupe de personnes a parlé de l’importance de planter des arbres. Ensuite, en groupes, nous avons eu du matériel et des t-shirts. Nous avons ensuite creusé des trous et planté de jeunes arbres qui deviendront grands. J’ai eu beaucoup de plaisir et j’aimerais le refaire.
    —Samantha Adessky ’14

    Planter des arbres au Mont-Royal était une expérience que je n’oublierai jamais. Maintenant chaque fois que j’irai là-bas, je pourrais dire à mes amis « Voyez-vous cet arbre ici? C’est moi qui l’ai planté ». Rien que ça est assez pour dire que c’était une bonne expérience.
    —Matthew Kaspy ’14

    Planter des arbres pour la fondation “les amis de la montagne” était une expérience que je ne vais pas oublier. Une pelle dans une main et un sceau dans l’autre, nous avons planté toute la matinée.
    —Montana Black ’14

    L’expérience au Mont-Royal était très amusante! Premièrement, j’ai fait beaucoup d’exercices en montant et en descendant la montagne! Je n’avais jamais planté d’arbres de ma vie. Je suis très heureuse d’avoir pu faire une différence dans la communauté et de la rendre plus belle! J’espère qu’il y aura beaucoup d’autres activités comme ça à l’avenir.
    —Kaitlin Markus ’14

    C’était un matin chaud, le soleil brillait, une journée parfaite pour planter des arbres. Quand nous sommes arrivés, la guide nous a montré comment faire. Après, nous nous sommes mis au travail. À la fin, nous étions fiers de notre travail.
    —David Rosenberg ’14

    Pour moi, planter des arbres était une nouvelle chose et je ne pouvais pas être plus heureuse avec ma première expérience. Tout était très bien organisé et que les instructions étaient très claires. Notre guide a été très gentille et elle m’a énormément aidée. Elle m’a donné le goût de planter d’autres arbres.
    —Stephanie Shannon ’14

    J’ai vraiment apprécié planter des arbres. C’était la première fois et ce fut une bonne expérience. C’était une bonne journée pour cette activité. Je suis impatiente de retourner au Mont-Royal pour voir les beaux arbres que nous, en tant que groupe, avons plantés ensemble.
    —Jaclyn Lavy ’14

    Cette expérience m’a fait du bien. C’était ma deuxième visite à la montagne pour travailler au service communautaire et c’était aussi satisfaisant que la première fois. Je sentais que je faisais vraiment quelque chose de bien et qui faisait une différence. Cela m’a permis d’apprécier la nature et l’environnement. Planter juste un arbre était beaucoup de travail mais j’en ai planté 4 avec l’aide de ma partenaire, Julianna. Je le referai encore si j’avais la chance. —Stephany Hwang ’14

    À lire:
    Corvée du Mont-Royal 2011

    À regarder (film et photos):
    Des forêts et des hommes par Goodplanet.org

Pondering the Future of Montreal @ LCC

What’s the future of Montreal? This was the focus of this year’s annual Destiny Quebec student leadership conference held this week at LCC. What an excellent topic for those of us who live in this great city. (view gallery)

DQ2011_28Congratulations to DQ 2011 student Co-Chairs Kasha Bonneville ’11 and Greg Sigler ’11 who guided an enthusiastic committee of student leaders. After months of planning, students investigated this question with visiting experts. This was done through the lens of our aging infrastructure, evolving university and health care institutions, the vibrancy of Montreal’s culture, and emerging areas of economic challenge and leadership in the city.

Keynote speaker Alexandre Trudeau presented a fascinating perspective to all Senior School students and visiting delegates. He noted that in Montreal – and indeed everywhere in the West – we need to be aware of the challenges emerging from new economic superpowers China and India. We need to respond with innovation. In Mr. Trudeau’s words, our future success is dependent on being “flexible, tolerant and imaginative.” I know our students are up to the challenge and will emerge as confident leaders who will steward Montreal into the future with care. –Chris Shannon, Headmaster