La classe de droit de 11e année avec Me Marin Cojocaru

Posted on December 12, 2013 by admin

Réflexions sur le procès simulé R.c.Wai en présence de Me Marin Cojocaru du lundi 9 décembre 2013.

J’ai vraiment apprécié la visite de Me Cojocaru. Je crois qu’il nous a bien aidé durant le procès. J’ai apprécié ses corrections, car je crois que ce cours est là pour nous aider, et il nous a bien expliqué comment la cour fonctionne. – Luca Saputo ’14

C’était une très belle expérience et j’ai beaucoup aimé la façon dont Me Cojocaru nous donnait ses idées pendant le procès. Ces points de vue ont été appréciés et je vais les appliquer au prochain procès. – Eric Tellier ’14

Au cours du procès simulé, j’ai appris quand faire des objections. J’ai aussi appris quelles questions vous pouvez poser pendant le procès. Me Cojocaru m’a vraiment aidé à m’imaginer dans un vrai procès, j’ai adoré son implication et ses explications pour nous dire ce que nous ne faisions pas correctement. – Arianna Silla ’14

Je pensais que c’était une bonne expérience. Ça nous a aidé quand il nous interrompait quand nous faisions quelque chose d’une façon incorrecte. Il nous donnait des conseils que j’utiliserai la prochaine fois. Dans l’ensemble, j’ai beaucoup appris pendant ce procès. – Carina Bertoldi ’14

J’ai beaucoup aimé l’expérience du procès simulé. Comme l’année dernière, je trouve qu’à chaque fois, j’ai plus de connaissances en sortant de la classe. Je vous remercie M. Maurice et je suis content que Me Cojocaru puisse venir, ça a été un grand plaisir. – Matthew Filgiano ’14

Lundi quand Me Cojocaru est venu regarder notre procès simulé, il avait beaucoup d’informations précieuses à offrir. À certains moments, je me suis sentie très frustrée, car chaque fois que je posais des questions, il m’interrompait. Avec le recul, j’ai compris les raisons et j’ai appris beaucoup de choses pendant cette heure passée avec lui. – Lindsay Eiley ’14

Mon expérience pendant l’appel du procès de Jesse Wai était très enrichissante, et je l’ai beaucoup aimée. Comme juge stagiaire, j’avais beaucoup à apprendre pendant ce procès, Me Cojocaru et M. Maurice m’ont grandement aidé à décider quelles objections devraient être acceptées. Ils m’ont aussi expliqué le terme: “preuve close”. Je pense que je me suis bien amélioré depuis ma première expérience comme juge, et notre dernier procès m’a appris encore plus qu’avant. – Nicholas Tabet ’14

Comme c’est ma première année de droit, mon apprentissage est exponentiel, car chaque cours, je reçois une quantité énorme d’informations. Cependant, ma plus grande expérience est celle d’avoir eu la chance d’être un avocat. C’était une expérience très utile et j’ai appris comment poser les “bonnes” questions et comment formuler un argument cohérent et intelligent. – Elie Climan ’14

Honoured & Proud To Have Been An LCC Exchange Student

Posted on December 2, 2013 by admin

I landed in Montreal 54 days, 10 hours and … minutes from today. I climbed off my air Canada flight not exactly sure what to expect besides seeing pictures of gigantic moose and cars buried in 50 feet deep snow. But other then that, I expected a city filled with people with saying “eh.” What greeted me was a beautiful city with a vibrant atmosphere that I still can’t explain, filled with some amazing people. 54 days…it is incredible to think how many laughs have been shared, smiles exchanged and unforgettable memories have been made in such a short time.

When Canadians think of South Africa they think of mud huts and starving children, but it’s very far from that! We have huge cities and cars – that’s probably why my first encounters with LCC students went something like this:

“Oh you’re from Africa – then why are you white?”
“Is South Africa even a country? Like where is that”…amazes me since its all in the name!
“What’s your accent British, Australian?”…try South African accent…“Oh yeah, but is that British or Australian”

During my time at LCC, I’ve been given numerous opportunities. The first opportunity I was given was to experience freezing weather on Duke of Ed silver trip. After going on the Duke of Ed trip, I can safely say that I will never complain about being cold back home in South Africa ever again. This was my first experience of camping in the snow…. I don’t think my toes will ever recover. To all those who conquered it with me we are true survivors.

I was given the opportunity to go with the LCC debating team to a tournament at Carlton University. This is where my South African accent proved to be quite a commodity. At Carlton, I believe we spent more time debating about how the actual debate (who won extra) than actually debating. I want to thank Mr. George and the LCC debaters who suited up with such swag for a great weekend.

LCC it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. I’ve built a robot that actually moves! Props to my robotics class for the best African jokes. I was able to learn a little French by the best and one and only M. Sigouin. I learned how to create skits using Tibetan throat singing in drama and witness Mr. Shefler blow up many things including Halloween pumpkins. LCC, thank you for making me excited for school every Monday morning. I don’t think I’m ever going to say that again.

I’ve been able to try out, play and watch sports that I would never be able to in South Africa. I tried playing on the Juvenile Basketball team – it is a miracle I didn’t start kicking the ball considering how little I actually knew about the game. I got to be the mascot for my amazing midget volleyball team. I also was able to watch some skilled players play football and ice hockey.

I’m going to miss the African jokes, your ridiculous attempts at imitating my accent but mostly, I’m going to miss your chocolate milk vending machines.

I’m honoured and proud to say that I was an exchange student at LCC. Besides LCC being older then my entire country, the staff and facilities are amazing. I don’t study under a tree on the ground in South Africa but my school certainly doesn’t have its very own rink.

I want to thank everyone who played a part in my exchange. Thank you to my host family, Mr. Shannon, Mr. Neal and Ms. Shadley for graciously welcoming me into your school and country. I could never imagine that I would feel so at home at school on the other side of the world. Its true that every good thing needs to come to an end but this isn’t a goodbye. I will be back.

Just like this LCC pin pinned to my blazer, all of you and our memories will always be a pinned to my heart. Goodbye and thank you LCC. – Carmen Debeer (exchange student from St. Stithians Girls College, South Africa)

Community Service: A Global Perspective

Posted on November 29, 2013 by admin

Throughout my high school experience, I had the opportunity to travel abroad multiple times. These travels included a student exchange to Australia, two Duke of Edinburgh Gold trips to Peru and an International Round Square Conference in South Africa. Each of my experiences gave me a new perspective in terms of community service, the diversity of people in the world and the challenges faced by those in developing countries. Not only have these experiences broadened my global awareness; they have also helped me grow and continue to grow into who I am.

When I arrived in Peru two years ago, it was my first exposure to a developing country. I thought I knew what to expect: barefoot hungry children, worn down houses and desperation. On my first day doing service at a shantytown called Las Palmas outside of the capital city, Lima, I found out my preconception was very wrong. The conditions were worse than I expected: stray dogs roamed all over, dust covered absolutely everything and a rotting stench filled the air. Fortunately, I was also wrong about the state of the people in the community. The children were happy and eager to play with us and each other, and the adults possessed a sense of pride in themselves and their community. The physical labour we performed was not enough. Upon our arrival home, a few friends and I decided we needed to do something more. We started fundraising in hopes of helping improve the community as much as we possibly could.

A few months later, along with other LCC representatives we set off to South Africa for an International Round Square conference. Besides partaking in the conference, we helped out at a daycare and school for kids who grew up in impoverished conditions. We only spent a few hours volunteering: taking care of the kids, painting a roof and playing soccer. I left the service days extremely upset. Between my experiences in Peru and South Africa, I noticed how happy the locals were in spite of their assumed “lack” of materials that we consider necessary for our happiness here in North America such as cell phones, cool shoes and ice cream desserts.

On the plane ride home I began to contemplate – why am I so lucky to have all that I do? What is the point of doing “service” for a few hours when at the end of the day these children’s lives are “unimproved”?

I returned home in a philosophical crisis. I wanted to help, Peru, South Africa, everywhere! I just didn’t know how to do it in a way that would actually help them, and improve their lives.

My friends and I who were already fundraising for the community in Peru decided we could start a micro-loan fund in the community, a lump sum of money that would go to starting businesses for women so they could be self-sufficient and help feed their families. After hours spent discussing how the fund would work with the mayor of Las Palmas, the town, and signing the necessary documents, we handed over the money to the mayor. While the money did end up in the community, we have yet to hear back on the happenings of the fund for the past eight months, so we do not know how it turned out. Unfortunately, all we can do is hope it ended up benefitting the community in some way. This is an example of why even though you may have good intentions, you have to be very careful when it comes to international service and make sure you trust the person dealing with your money.

Fortunately, we were more careful when we fundraised for the daycare we worked at in South Africa. The money was handed over to a woman who we had met and who worked to improve the day care, so she had already successfully dealt with donations like ours.

Ultimately, one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from these experiences is that it’s important to learn about the world, because exposure is the first step to help making it a better place. Although in my life I hope I discover the “best” way for me to do service, there is certainly no right answer. Once you are exposed to an issue, it is very difficult to simply forget about it. Whether it’s in the city of Montreal or some remote village in India, it is important to realize what matters locally and internationally, and to do your best to help. – Sarah Salzman (Pre-U ’14)

Student Exchange: Internationalism Changed My Life

Posted on November 28, 2013 by admin

I am born of Polish parents. I am an American citizen. I live in Canada, but I am a citizen of the world. It’s funny how things happen. Three years ago, I was introduced to the idea of a student exchange. I saw and heard so many things about students traveling abroad, and I made it my goal to experience an exchange on my own. I wanted to go somewhere completely foreign, someplace that no one I knew had gone before, so I chose Thailand.

From the very first moment I stepped onto Thai soil, Thailand became my home. I spent six weeks atThe Regents School in Pattayain boarding and I had the time of my life. I played basketball, did cross country running and played in their school band. I took weekend trips to pristine island resorts with my local friends and did a bicycle trip through the slums of Bangkok. Every weekend, I would get the opportunity to volunteer through different clubs in the school and help out at a local orphanage for handicapped children with my friends. In my boarding house alone, I met more people of diverse backgrounds than I could have imagined. I made friends from Bhutan, Lithuania, Armenia, South Africa and South Korea, just to mention a few. When it came time to leave, I felt like I was a movie character – as I looked out from the back window of the moving car on the way to the airport, all of my friends stood in a line, crying and waving goodbye. I, too, was in tears and didn’t want to leave.

Many people may say that their exchange was wonderful or enlightening, but my exchange experience changed my life. After having discovered a new exotic world and making unbroken friendships, I decided that my travel to Thailand would not stop there. I made it my goal to go back the next summer to see my friends, and on top of that I wanted to try something new and volunteer abroad. That’s when, with the help of my father, I found the Mercy Center and embarked on a four week independent volunteer trip to Bangkok’s biggest slum – Klong Toey, the “Slaughterhouse”.

I was extremely nervous because I was going to live by myself in a major city where crime and corruption was supposed to be very widespread. In the taxicab on the way to Mercy Center I obviously had thoughts racing through my head of, “Oh. Maybe I should turn around now. It’s not too late.” But chickening out was not the answer. I had traveled 26 hours and there was no turning back.

What really made me push forward, though, was the idea that I would be doing something useful and unique. The service I was going to do was not meant for me, but for the people in need. To turn back would be selfish and irresponsible.

Before I knew it, I was at the entrance of the Mercy Center, with a big purple suitcase in hand.The Mercy Centre, established by Father Joe Meier, is an emergency organization that takes care of families that have been exposed to human trafficking, rape, AIDs, sickness and any disaster. Many kids that live at the Mercy Centre are there because they have lost their families or were abandoned.

So I spent my summer working in the “Slaughterhouse”. The struggle started on my first day, when I was told that I would be teaching English to kids of all ages. Now imagine yourself in my position.This wasn’t a “read to your buddy for an hour” situation. I was a 15-year old girl that had to make a lesson plan before the next morning, get familiar with 20 students in my class and teach them. Oh yeah. I forgot to mention. None of them spoke a word of English and I had no idea how to speak Thai.

What made everything easier, though, was that all the kids were so sweet and wanted to help me do my best. They were super attentive and worked so hard in class – they really wanted to learn. After my first full day in the classroom, I was ecstatic. I loved my students and could not wait to see them the next day! When it was time for lunch for my pre-school students, I would go to the outdoor basketball court and play soccer on the smooth surface with the older local kids. I was really bad at soccer, but they still always let me play with them and taught me so many tricks.

Over my four weeks, I got the chance to work with kids from the ages of 6 to 18 and even worked on the organization’s farm outside of the city once a week.

There, I truly didn’t feel like I was doing community service, but living a normal life in a city that never sleeps.When I wasn’t working, I was spending time in the small alleyway home where I lived with eight Thai university students. I had only a tiny room with a bed and a fan, so with Thailand’s rainy season and 30+-degree weather, AC was something I had to learn to live without.

As you can imagine, it was truly a parallel world with a completely different culture, language and society rules but I soon blended in with the help of the locals’ open-mindedness and friendliness towards me.

In the end, my whole idea of this volunteer trip being only for the people in need was wrong. By the end of my trip I realized that the students I was teaching, helped me more that I could have imagined. They taught me responsibility, perseverance and acceptance. They accepted me as their teacher and they cared for me from day one.

I never imagined that going on an exchange would have done so much for me. Taking that chance three years ago helped me build a bond with the country and the people that I see myself revisiting for the rest of my life. I am going off to university next year, but I have promised myself that I will take at least six months of my four years in college and go back to the Mercy Center to live and volunteer full time.

The internationalism that I gained from going on exchange and volunteering abroad is immeasurable. Maybe you may never reach a stage in your life where you will visit a slum or go on an exchange, like I did. I feel at home in Thailand, but many people may not feel the same way. But I know that each and very one of you have the potential to do service in an environment that you feel comfortable in and grow to love.

I encourage all of you to step out of your comfort zone and take any opportunity you have to travel and help others while doing so. I can assure you that you won’t regret it, and it may just change your life. – Olga Jablonski (Pre-U ’14)

Polar Bear International

Posted on November 15, 2013 by admin

Le 13 Novembre, 2013, j’ai eu la chance de participer à un webinar avec plusieurs écoles du monde et Polar Bear International, un organisme qui fait des recherches sur les aspects variés de la vie de l’ours polaire dans le parc national de Wapuskau au Manitoba. Au cours de la conférence, qui était dirigée par un Webcast live, cinq scientifiques discutaient avec nous des problèmes controversés et répondaient aux questions que les écoles participantes ont posées. Savais-tu que, à cause des déchets qui arrivent dans le grand nord, tous les ours polaires ont environ deux cent formes de contamination dans leur corps?

Vous pouvez vérifier le chaine Youtube pour revoir le webinar.– Andrew Zhang ’17