Australia Exchange: Happy to be in school at St Philip’s College!

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Although it is summer, I am still in school! Even so, I am really happy that I chose to come to St Philip’s College in Alice Springs, Australia. We started off the exchange at a school camp called Mittagundi and I had a great time there. The camp was eight hours out of Melbourne by bus. That part of the trip was horrible because no one wants to be on a bus on a windy road for eight hours straight. Once we arrived at the camp they took all of our electronics and then we were told that the following day we would be going to the snow. The next day we hiked up three hills to finally arrive at snow level very late at night. We had to set up our tents and cook ourselves dinner. We spent two days there and then we hiked back down to the camp. We spent the rest of the week working on the farm. We fed the animals and cooked meals in the kitchen. We had to cook using absolutely no electricity! After a week we returned to Melbourne for the night.

The next morning we flew back to Alice Springs where I met the host family at the airport. We went on a bit of a driving tour and the first thing they showed me was the Todd River. The Todd River is not really a river because most of the year there is no water in it. The only time that there is water is when it rains and it only rains around four times a year! People say that if you see the river flood three times then you can be called a local.

When we arrived at the house we watched a movie and ate Tim Tams. We spent a couple of days off from school but we returned to school on Monday. I met everyone and had a tour of the school. I already knew most people because of the camp except for a few kids who did not attend the camp. I also met the other exchange students. We spent the rest of the week getting used to everything and making sure we liked all of our classes.

Anina, my exchange partner has a job like most of the kids here and had to go to a meeting on Saturday.  So I went out with my friend Georgia instead. We walked around the shopping center until Anina was finished. After that we watched friends play netball. When all of our friends were done playing a bunch of them were going to go bowling and so they invited us but Anina had to work so I went alone. At bowling I met another exchange student named Tamsin from South Africa. The next day Anina and her family took me on a day trip to Simpsons Gap and Stanley Chasm so we decided to invite Tamsin to come with us. We traveled to Simpsons Gap, which took about 20 minutes. We then drove 20 more minutes to Stanley Chasm, where we hiked to the center of the Chasm. Then we returned to the cafe where Tamsin and I had our first Australian meat pies! The next day we went back to school and planned our trip to Ares rock. — Emily Bekins ’15

Classe Nature: J’adore mon chalet!

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J’ai toujours voulu aller dans un camp où on dort. Maintenant, j’ai une idée de comment ça se passe dans un de ces camps. J’adore mon chalet! J’aime avoir toutes mes amies avec moi et j’aime comment tout est organisé. J’aime être dans la même chambre que mes amies les plus proches parce qu’elles m’aident avec mon journal et parce que j’ai beaucoup de plaisir avec elles. J’aime comment ma chambre est organisée car j’aime les lits superposés et les étagères.

En conclusion, j’aime mon chalet et je n’en demanderais jamais un autre! MERCI LES PROFS!!! – Alexandra Bromberg ’18

Classe Nature: J’ai escaladé jusqu’au sommet du rocher!

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Notre première activité aujourd’hui était l’escalade. Cette activité était très amusante, mais j’étais un peu nerveux car les rochers naturels qu’on devait escalader était très hauts. De plus, je ne suis pas si bon en escalade. Cependant, quand j’escaladais le mur, j’avais de plus en plus confiance en moi-même. Étonnamment, j’ai escaladé jusqu’au sommet du rocher! Saviez-vous que c’était la première fois que j’escaladais un rocher jusqu’au sommet? L’escalade est définitivement un sport intéressant et j’aimerais continuer à en faire. J’ai vraiment eu beaucoup de plaisir aujourd’hui! – Terry Xiao ’18

Fighting Shoreline Debris

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On June 1st, I participated in a shoreline cleanup hosted by the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup organization, the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Centre and WWF Canada. The activity consisted of picking up everything from cigarette butts to plastic bottles by the Lachine Canal. We did this to prevent any garbage getting into the water and out into the ocean.

Toutes les années, plusieurs animaux meurent en s’étouffant avec des déchets jetés par les humains. Pendant deux heures, nous les avons ramassés sur les deux cotés du canal Lachine, proche du marché Atwater. A la fin de l’activité, on avait deux sacs de vidange pleins. Même si c’était une expérience fatigante, elle a été amusante! –Noah Wou ’16

Time to Declutter

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Messy_deskLast Friday’s Grandparents’ Day was truly a special celebration.  Hundreds of grandparents came to LCC for an opportunity to connect with children in a manner that is both meaningful and inspiring to see.

The presence of so many happy elderly people made me think of my wise old aunt Kathleen who had a full life.  She lived well into her 90’s—healthy, active, engaged, and upbeat to the end. In her 90’s Kathleen took a lot of courses for personal interest and self-development. One course led to her doing housework in the nude, which was supposedly very therapeutic.  She loved it; people just knew to avoid her place in the mornings!

My favourite course that Kathleen took was called “decluttering.”  To “declutter” is to rid yourself of the piles that build up around you over time—the mess that gets in the way and can prevent productivity, efficiency, even happiness.

In my aunt’s case, the decluttering course focused less on reducing the useless “stuff” in her life as it did on getting rid of people who were dragging her down—the complainers, the whiners, the negative forces who could make any 90 year-old miserable. So during the last few years of her life, aunt Kathleen actively decluttered  —literally consciously dropping friends who were mostly negative energy and who brought her down.

So let’s think about “decluttering” in your life. I’m not suggesting you start “dropping” friends left and right. But this is the time of year when we all benefit from evaluating our circumstances and clearing a path to daylight, to efficiency, to a more positive attitude, or positive mindset.

How does your personal space look—your desk at home, your documents on your computer? It’s time for more than spring-cleaning; it’s time to “declutter” and eliminate the mess that stands in your way as you prepare to wrap up your school year.

So how about friends? Are the people you spend most of your time with uplifting and supportive? Or have you somehow fallen into a circle of whiners & complainers?  Ultimately, the people you surround yourself with help to define you and what you will become.

So value true friendship and be wary of those who are “takers” or false friends. Let’s all take the necessary steps to “declutter” this week—whether its things or people—and thanks to the life wisdom auntie Kathleen for the reminder that it is simple steps and decisions that help us to define our priorities and ultimately our destiny. — Chris Shannon, Headmaster