Starting the New Year on the Right Foot

Posted on January 13, 2010 by admin

new-years-resolution-apple It’s a new year, a new decade and the beginning of LCC’s second century.

The past year was notable for a number of developments: the capacity of a Canadian minority government to maintain power, our ongoing war with insurgents in Afghanistan, the election of Obama in the USA, the global economic recession, the threat of the H1N1 flu, the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the effort to address climate change at the Copenhagen Conference in December, and the sudden death of celebrities like Michael Jackson.

We also all smiled when we first saw the YouTube video of the talented, but modest, British singer Susan Boyle on the British Idol show, and the Royal Bank of Canada just revealed that Canadians recently surveyed are also smiling and hopeful about the economy and life in general in 2010. Likewise, south of the border three out of four Americans surveyed have similar views for the coming year.

How about life at LCC? We have wrapped up a full century of achievement. We have matured into a modern coed school where young men and women work together and collaborate in a respectful manner. Students benefit from committed teachers and outstanding facilities and resources. We all have much to be thankful for.

But as a teenager, the adults at LCC understand not everything is easy, the pathway is not always self-evident or without hurdles. Nonetheless, it is important for our students to get involved, try new things, take risks, be creative, and evolve as young leaders. They should reach beyond their personal comfort zones, for in the process, they will grow, mature, learn and discover their hidden potential in all areas of school life.

Case in point: I commend our House Heads and all LCC students for embracing the spirit of Non Nobis Solum in December when they more than tripled the number of boxes of food gathered for the needy in Montreal compared to last year at this time – collecting an impressive 70 boxes. Great work – I am very proud of this initiative and the empathy demonstrated for others less fortunate than us. Bottle that same spirit, and let’s use it to feed the appetite of student initiatives for the balance of the school year.

The start of a new calendar year is a good time to be honest with yourself. Are you fully engaged? Can you do better in some courses? What new activity can you try? 2010 offers a host of possibilities for every student. Do your best – set reasonable goals, seek the help of the ample support available at LCC, be engaged, strive to improve, and 2010 will surely be memorable and productive. — Headmaster Christopher Shannon

Vow of Silence Reflection

Posted on November 24, 2009 by admin

VowSilence November 20, 2009

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the UN Convention of the rights of children. By taking part in the Vow of Silence, we restricted ourselves from speaking, e-mailing, going on Facebook or texting. We cut back on these methods of communication to raise awareness about the millions of children around the world whose basic rights are non-existent and who do not have a voice to speak out about the injustices they live with. These children live in a world where food is a commodity and where most things are simply unattainable. We, as representative of LCC’s Free the Children committee, have decided to take it upon ourselves to raise awareness about these injustices and try and comprehend the amount of difficulty it is not to be heard and unable to convey basic necessities and personal thought. A change needs to be made and it is our commitment to not only raise awareness but also eventually make a difference.
— Noah Schoula ’11
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This feeling of frustration is overwhelming. Having so much to say, but no words to express yourself. Having a solution to all of the problems, without the ability to tell anyone how things must be done. It’s impossible to imagine how one can handle this in everyday life. Seeing the faults in the world around you, but not being able to breathe a word. Impossible.

Student Council this morning was just the beginning. A very productive day in the Board Room, although devoid of any grade 10 input. All four of the grade 10 representatives have taken the vow of silence, and we were all chomping at the bit to propose our valid solutions to the pressing issues in the school. But we had no voice.

Walking through the halls to class was equally dreadful. Not being able to return any good mornings or hellos, walking by pretending not to hear anyone. I felt guilty not replying to any of their greetings, for I didn’t want anyone to be upset. But if the hundreds of millions of children around the world don’t get to have their voice heard, why should I?

Imagine conducting a 6-station chemistry lab without being able to communicate to your partner. As you may infer, not a lot of production was yielded. My partner, Jordan, had taken the vow of silence as well, so any questions we had for our teacher were locked inside of our minds.

Skip ahead to French class. Our teacher explains how the new French government exam will be conducted. All of the questions dying to break free from my lips are trapped. To be saved for another day. So many answers left unknown.

Recess. Everyone is in a relentless pursuit to get me to speak. Taunting. Tickling. Anything they can try. They won’t break me. I’ll just pretend they’re not there. I fear that they’re not properly interpreting the message we’re trying to spread.

English class. Essay is due. Internet isn’t working, and I need to print. But of course, I can’t communicate this problem. I feel so powerless. So frustrated. So tempted. But I cannot speak. If they can’t be heard, why should I be? Poetry discussion. Robert Frost, one of my favourites. But I cannot participate. I have no voice.

Math. Step function word problem. Who got the answer? “I did!”, I am dying to yell. But I can’t. For I have no voice.

Lunch wasn’t very easy. The same question, over and over again. “Why are you doing this?” I just show them the message on my back, and no more needs to be said.

History. Class debate. Enough said.

All in all, my day at school was enlightening to say the least. It really made me think about the unfathomable repression one without the ability to be heard must feel. However, no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to fully appreciate the silence of those deprived by hunger or a lack of education. My frustration with not being able to talk to my friends, or speak my opinion on Robert Frost’s The Road Less Taken, is incomparable to those forced into child labour that are punished for speaking out against unsafe and unfair work conditions. The evil, so rampant among them, chokes out their voice, leaving them trapped in a perpetual silence. It was my goal to spread awareness about this, in the proper way, and it is my hope that I have succeeded. Only time will tell.

— Greg Sigler ’11

The True Meaning of Non Nobis Solum

Posted on October 29, 2009 by admin

FarhaFoundation Non nobis solum … As a newcomer to the LCC community, a few short weeks ago those words were nothing but latin to me.

On the 20th September, myself and several of my Pre-University classmates took part in a walk for the Farha Foundation to raise money for the prevention and treatment of AIDS; a vicious incurable disease, sweeping through Africa and many parts of the developed word.

The fight against AIDS has always been of interest to me. As an incurable disease that affects the entire world, it represents, in my opinion, one of the greatest challenges that mankind has to face in the modern day.

The day was sunny, and the walk was calm and pleasant. I was surprised to find that many of my Grade 12 ‘fellows’ had already completed their obligatory community service hours, going as much as 25 hours above the call of duty.

It occurred to me at that point that the value of mandatory community service is not in the immediate value it has for society, but in the values it promotes in the individual. To give a student a sense that it is important to help others for no direct personal gain is not only good for his/her social development, but also good for society as a whole in the long term, as the amount that he/she will eventually contribute to society will far dwarf the 20 hours of service spent over one year. By pushing students to help others, it seemed to me more that LCC was encouraging them to help themselves.

Leon Dunkley-Clark (Pre-U ’10)

Inspired to Make a Difference

Posted on September 17, 2009 by admin

YPIPhoto When I first heard about the Youth Philanthropy Initiative, I must admit that I thought it would just be some more work that I simply would not have enough time for. I was not really looking forward to it. However, I soon realized that this was an extremely rewarding experience in which I had the opportunity to learn about small charities in Montreal.

We first decided on the Native Women’s Shelter as our charity because we were very impressed with the way the charity helped a small and often overlooked minority. We felt like they could seriously benefit from the grand prize of $5,000. We met with some of the workers at the shelter and even one of the women benefitting from their services. She said that the shelter had changed her life when she managed to get away from her old existence and start anew. She had been with, as she put it, a “bad man” and had been using many drugs. When we were introduced to her, she had been clean for eight months and was looking to move out on her own in the near future. This woman greatly inspired us when it came time to create our presentation.

Though in the end we came second in the YPI competition, we knew we still wanted to help the shelter in some way. Therefore, we organized a bake sale in which we enlisted the help of many people in our grade and raised $400 in support of the organization. There was also a free dress day at school in which everyone brought in one item of clothing. The school did not know what to do with them, so we offered to take all the garments off their hands and bring them to the shelter. The workers at the shelter were overjoyed and we felt like, however small, we had made a difference. Read about LCC in the NWS newsletter.

—Liane Bernstein ’09

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