Classe Neige 2012 – Partie 2

Posted on March 23, 2012 by admin

Aujourd’hui, nous nous sommes levés tôt, prêts pour la grande journée qui nous attendait. Une fois habillés et lavés, nous avons marché jusqu’à la salle à manger, où un déjeuner fantastique était déjà placé devant nous. Quand nos estomacs étaient remplis et notre sommeil parti, nous sommes montés dans l’autobus, à 9h00. La ballade n’a pas duré très longtemps: 10 minutes maximum. Même si tout était couvert de boue, je pense que tout le monde a oublié ce fait lorsqu’on a vu comment l’activité était géniale. Le nom “Arbre Aventure” la décrit vraiment bien: avec tous les arbres qui nous entouraient et la hauteur du parcours, c’était une vraie aventure. Le premier trajet, “Mini Tarzan”, n’était pas aussi difficile ou long que les trois autres, avec leurs tyroliennes et nombreux obstacles. Pour les gens avec une peur des hauteurs, c’était un vrai défi, mais tous les groupes ont réussi à monter au moins un parcours. Une journée formidable, en gros, surtout avec la tire qu’on a mangée pour le dessert!–Brooks Reid-Constantin ’17

Des nouvelles de Jouvence

Posted on March 22, 2012 by admin

On est arrivé à Jouvence dans à 10:30. Le trajet a pris à peu près 1 heure et demie. Les animateurs semblent très gentils et ils étaient très contents de nous voir. À Jouvence, il y avait de la boue et un peu de neige. Durant la journée, on a fait des activités demandant des habiletés physiques et mentales: on a fait des abris en bois et on on a goûté à la “banik” pour la première fois, on a fait une chasse au trésor et on a dansé en groupe. La température est très belle et il y a un peu de boue, de glace et de neige sur le sol. Il fait chaud pour un printemps. On n’a pas de technologie avec nous, alors quelque fois on s’ennuie de l’Internet, la télévision et des IPads, etc. Alors, on va voir ce que demain nous montrera!

Duke of Ed Gold Trip 2012: Peru Expedition Update

Posted on March 8, 2012 by admin

March 8, 2012

Upon my return to Peru, I did not know what to expect. I would soon find out that, although many landmarks were familiar to me, I was seeing everything in a completely new light. I was wiser and the shantytowns of Lima didn’t shock me. Rather they incited me to want to get to work immediately!

We spent four days in Las Palmas completing our community service project, which included a new set of stairs, a new fence, a fresh coat of paint and a new roof. By the fourth day, every student had mixed feelings about leaving Las Palmas. Although we may have been filled with excitement with the prospects of beginning the hike in Cusco, we would be leaving behind a community to which we had grown very close.– Emily Tiberi ’12

Five days ago, eighteen LCC students who would work on the service project in Las Palmas flew into the desert city, Lima. With last years experience doing the service project and the Salkantay Trek, I didn’t feel nervous. I was rather excited to see how things had changed over a year.

Every morning, when driving to Las Palmas, I noticed that the poverty levels hadn’t changed. The chaotic way of life and the number of shantytowns stacked on the desert was the same. It seemed as if I had not left Peru last March. When working at the community, the locals treated us with the same respect and warmth they had shown us in 2011. I remembered their names and faces and so did they. Under the scorching heat, we worked on the concrete roof until the very last minute. Today, we fly to Cusco. We are anxious about the hike, but at the same time, excited to walk the same path where Incas and adventurers explored.– Kenya Shatani (Pre-U ’12)

Biology: Rat Dissection

Posted on March 2, 2012 by admin

On Wednesday, February 29, we dissected a rat in Mr. Shefler’s Grade 10 biology class. At first, we were nervous and didn’t know what to expect. But, once we got going, we realized it was actually pretty cool. It was interesting to see such a complex digestive system in such a small body. Seeing the organs in person, instead of just inside a textbook enhanced our understanding of the bodily systems. We feel very privileged to go to a school that offers such dissections.
–Jacklyn Greenspoon ’13 and Lizzie McInnes ’13

The Value of “Almosts”

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

We almost did it… We got so close… So frustrating! There were a lot of LCC athletes with that feeling last week. Within 24 hours, four very solid LCC Lion teams of athletes lost four separate nail-biter games; two of them at home and two on the road. Close. So close. There’s an old saying that “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Although this presents some interesting imagery, I disagree with the premise of the statement. We all learn from coming close, from the pile of “almosts” we accumulate in our lives. They are valuable learning moments.

I had the good fortune of seeing both of our home games: Juvenile Boys Hockey vs. Selwyn House and the Juvenile Girls Basketball game the following day against John Rennie. Both were great games; evidence of lots of solid preparation, with a lot of skill on display, solid teamwork, physical hard work and genuine emotion laid bare on the ice and on the gym floor. I’m told it was the same for our squads playing playoff games away: Bantam Boys Hockey and Juvenile Girls Hockey.

The Juvenile boys game on our home ice was a classic barnburner. It took five periods and a 16-man shootout to decide the outcome. Well before the shootout began, the piles of snow were becoming ridiculously thick since they hadn’t cleaned the ice in so long, and it had become almost impossible for players to handle the puck.

Without a doubt the four final outcomes were frustrating, disappointing and upsetting: but they were also so memorable. In fact, that is one of the greatest qualities of competitive athletics in school. We don’t always win. You can’t always win. There are always factors beyond our control, and even when our teams play very well—as they did last week—a roll or a bounce or a fine play by an opponent can make all the difference, but not always in your favour. I am certain that for all our athletes on those four teams, they would have surely preferred a different outcome. But they will never forget that difficult loss and the experience will help make them better next time…. Not just as an athlete but when they find themselves under pressure, when emotions are high and something important is on the line.

We all like to win and we’d all like to see an “A” on the report card in every subject but despite our efforts to control our fate and destiny, real life has a way of creeping in and reminding us that despite all the hard work and preparation, things can’t always go our way. That’s a key element of life that we all learn one way or another and, in an odd way, it’s good that our students have such valuable concrete experiences with hurdles and frustration during the high school years.

That said, I congratulate all of our teams who proudly wore the LCC Lion on their chests last week. They did their best and impressed all of us who were out to support. They have all progressed a great deal since the start of their respective seasons, and the coaches deserve much of the thanks for that. We thank them for their dedication, inspiration and helping our students develop the resiliency necessary to pick themselves up and stay positive.

I also saw these same qualities at play at the robotics competition last week at Vanier College—where our team placed among the top 10 teams, including CEGEPS—and in the creative flair presented in the Senior School play, “Departures and Arrivals.” Great job, LCC Players!

All of these activities outside of the classroom have helped to make each of you stronger, wiser, better teammates, more insightful.–Chris Shannon, Headmaster