Des nouvelles de la Classe Rouge, Jouvence

Posted on September 22, 2011 by admin

Bonjour à vous tous,

Le séjour à Jouvence se déroule à merveille. Nous avons recueilli quelques impressions pour vous.

Des animatrices courageuses
Les animatrices s’appellent Splenda, Picasso, Carpet et Shakti. Elles sont vraiment gentilles, courageuses et amusantes. Splenda est tout à fait unique, Picasso est artistique, Carpet est toujours joyeuse et Shakti raconte de très bonnes histoires. Merci à toutes les animatrices !
(Composé par Alexandra Bromberg, français enrichi 5A)

Un grand choix d’activités
J’ai aimé l’hébertisme parce que les obstacles dans la forêt étaient vraiment amusants. On a fait un grand jeu le soir et tout le monde a aimé ça. Il y a aussi du tir à l’arc, de l’escalade et plein d’autres activités. Les activités à Jouvence sont vraiment intéressantes.
(Maria Makarov, français enrichi 5B)

Une nourriture délicieuse
La nourriture est très bonne. Nous avons mangé de délicieuses saucisses au diner hier. Ce matin des crêpes étaient servies pour le déjeuner. Un des élèves a mangé dix crêpes! Tout le monde trouve que la nourriture est magnifique !
(Terry Xiao, Français accéléré)

Schools on Board: Eager with Anticipation

Posted on September 22, 2011 by admin

LCC student Karen Butt is travelling through the Northwest Passage as a part of the Schools on Board/Arctic Net collaboration aboard the Amundsen. Here’s her first reflection.

September 21, 2011

I arrived in Quebec City today, and got to meet all the southern participants. It was a beautiful day and we spent the afternoon walking around the old part of the city. I’m getting really excited because I got to see a lot of pictures and videos taken by someone who’s been on the Amundsen many times. I’m blown away by all the things that there are to experience in the Arctic and I feel like there will never be enough time to embrace it all. I also got to glance through the on-board schedule and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow when I get to enter an entirely different universe.

I’m getting up in 4 hours to fly to Kugluktuk, and we get to board the ship once we arrive. I’m really looking forward to settling in and getting a tour of the ship. What comes after sounds so different and exciting that I can’t believe it’s real yet.—Karen Butt ’12

Duke of Ed Bronze Trip: New Friends, New Skills and Teamwork

Posted on September 15, 2011 by admin

This year, the grade 9 class had the opportunity to participate in an incredible experience trip that introduced us to the Duke of Edinburgh program (view photo gallery). Not only did we learn useful outdoor skills, the trip also afforded us the opportunity to bond with the 20 new students we welcomed to the class of 2014 at the start of this year.

The moment I heard that this year’s trip was taking place in Notre-Dâme de la Rouge, I knew it would be amazing. This town has already had a great impact on my life: my late uncle was the mayor of Grenville Sur la Rouge for many years.

Canoeing, tenting, hiking and skill management are all examples of the many activities included in this excursion. Grouped into pairs of houses, we had the chance to interact with new classmates and some “old ones” whom we did not know so well. Each activity consisted of a new skill, more concentration and teamwork. The canoeing activity clearly brought out the best of each advisory’s team spirit and leadership. The risk management brought out the best of our fear and concentration, and paid off with a new accomplishment. The hiking led to intense conversation and new friendships. Culminating by some astonishing waterfalls, the hike was one of the best activities of all. Last but not least, the team challenges activity helped us build new aptitudes and further developed collaboration between advisees as well as our interpersonal team skills.

Some of us were given the opportunity to sleep in tents on a separate island close by. This involved canoeing with our necessities, assembling and disassembling our tents and enjoying hotdogs and marshmallows by the bonfire.

Overall, this year’s experience trip was unforgettable. Thank you LCC for giving us the chance to dive headfirst into a new school year. —Victoria Van Ryswyk ’14

Learning by Experience in Thailand

Posted on September 7, 2011 by admin

On August 21 I found myself in a new part of the world. I kept telling myself, “I am in Thailand. I am in Thailand,” but somehow it never fully hit me that I am on the other side of the world without anyone I know or can to whom I can go.

As I travelled to The Regent’s School I kept certain Thai rules in mind that I had read in a guide: never touch peoples’ heads, no revealing clothing (shoulders & high thighs) and NEVER say anything disrespectful about the King His Majesty or the Queen. At first, these rules seemed pointless to me because these types of behaviours were never a problem at home, but I knew that here I would have to adapt for the next six weeks.

After an hour-long drive from Bangkok airport to Pattaya, I arrived at the school. After leaving my bags in my large three-person (at the time) empty room, I went for a small tour of the beautiful red brick campus with two new boarders from Lithuania. The thing that has stayed with me was the humidity in the air. What I did not know then was that the next day scorching heat would also be part of the daily weather here in Thailand.
Like most youths, I can dismiss the advice of my elders, so when I was told on that August night that the “pesky tiny gnat-like flies” bite and leave nasty marks, I had the uncomfortable pleasure of seeing what they did to me the next day. Any mosquito bite would have been ten-times better than the marks that these almost invisible flies had left!

The next day, things started to become more promising as I had my first hot meal (which was delicious) and went swimming with all of the girls in the boarding house. Little did I know that when I returned from the pool, my roommate would be waiting for me. Antaya and I got along the minute we saw each other.

Everything, so far, is great here! I’ve met many new friends, experienced a whole new way of living and learned to be even more independent. There are still a lot of things to be done here such as elephant trekking and visiting “Community Partners.” It is just the beginning of the trip and I already worry about when it will end. —Olga Jablonski ’13

A Welcome Experience at the Welcome Hall

Posted on September 2, 2011 by admin

Today we started our Youth Philanthropy Initiative by volunteering at a grass roots organization called Welcome Hall Mission. This organization affects the lives of many; the young, the old, families and new immigrants through their many services offered. This organization serves as a shelter, a food bank, a rehabilitation centre for men, women and youth, and as a counseling centre.

The grade 10 Woods House advisory visited this centre yesterday to give much needed help. We made food packaging for the people who will be coming in today, we inventoried school supplies from their recent ”back to school drive,” and we organized clothing that would later be given out to the clients of the Hall.

Working with such a great organization that helps so many people in our city was a fantastic experience. Knowing that the food we were distributing would go to kids and families who really needed it felt good. It was great to work with our advisory. As a whole I think we all realized how fortunate we are and that in a city like Montreal, there still is a great amount of poverty. –Alexa Dlouhy ’13