Our Deteriorating Natural World

By: Cassandra Ly, Grade 11

Do you have a pet at home? Dog? Cat? Bird? How about a ferret? Just a thought: How would you feel if your furry or feathery friend became an endangered species? Gradually disappearing? It’s reality and it’s the truth.  Our animals are slowly dying. Not just a couple hundred species, approximately more than 1000 have been placed under the Endangered Species Act, and the numbers are continuing to rise. The environmental, social, and trading impacts on our world are beyond what we as humans could have ever imagined. Evidently, it has caused our natural world to deteriorate at an appalling rate. I look at these images of animals and think to myself: What has our world become of?  The 10 animals listed below have been declared the most endangered species in our world, according to the World Wildlife Fund. We all are capable of preserving the lives of animals, no matter how big or small.

Protests = Bloody Battles?

By: Cassandra Ly, Grade 11

When was the last time it was known to everyone that protesting, a simple display of civil disobedience, has transformed into something disastrous and even deadly? Recently, there have been many of these so-called “peaceful” protests occurring in China. This is in regard to many issues including employment, safety, and security demands in different aspects of the Chinese society. These dangerous protests have occurred in the city of Urumqi, Xinjiang; starting off as a crowd of citizens demanding change to the public health system to having paramilitary policemen being brought in.

So, what is the reason for this hysteria? In early September, many incidents of syringe stabbings were reported in the city of Urumqi. Approximately 600 citizens became victims of these arbitrary stabbings, and fortunately only 100 cases “showed any sign of injury.” Innocent people have been targeted on crowded buses and other well-populated areas in the city. Due to the dangers of these “hypodermic syringe needles”, many parents have been very concerned about the safety of their children at school, especially since the H1N1 flu and many other diseases are infecting more and more people.

American Journalists = 12 Years in Labour Prison?

By: Cassandra Ly,  Grade11

The many, many countries that exist in our world live under different forms of healthcare, economic values, and one of the biggest driving forces to these factors, the government. Some may be more open to the outside world, encouraging citizens to put in their opinions while others rather keep themselves isolated. North Korea or also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a single-party and self-reliant state, currently run by Kim Jong-Il, the president. Therefore, many limitations are enforced towards not only North Korean citizens, but also visitors of the state. Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two young journalists are reporters for Current TV, an Al Gore run production located in San-Francisco. Laura Ling, 32 and Euna Lee, 36 were detained by guards at the North Korean border on March 17th, 2009 for “illegally entering the country.” They were taken in for filming and interviewing female refugees that were near the border of China, which was officially announced in May.

YCCD – Youth Celebrate Canada Day

By: Cassandra Ly & Emily Chan 

Everyone has that special day once a year to celebrate with their loved ones with more and more fun as the years fly by. On Wednesday, July 1^st, 2009, come down to celebrate Canada’s 142^nd birthday here in our community at Renfrew Community Centre. Youth Celebrate Canada Day core committee is holding its 13^th annual event with exciting new games, entertainment, crafts, prizes, and the best of all, food! Starting from 1:00 – 4:30, you have plenty of time to enjoy Canada Day with your family and friends. Come check it out; this event is going to be a blast!

Organic Garden Update – Have you eaten your greens yet?

By: Cassandra Ly, Grade 10 

Windermere’s Organic Garden has not just flourished with many new fruits and vegetables in the past few months but has also grabbed the attention of many people in the community. People from different schools and organizations have dropped by to take a peek at the small but powerful changes that the garden has made at Windermere. A few have even donated money to the green cause, including Zenith in Action presented by Coast Capital Savings. Bonnie Ha and Chanel Ly, currently grade 11 students are taking on the project of the Organic Garden in their grade 12 year. At the Zenith Conference in mid May, they presented the project in front of a panel of judges. In the end, they received a $500 grant that will go towards the finances needed with purchasing rain barrels or the installation of an irrigation system in the garden.

Warrior of the Month: Jason D’Souza

By: Puneet Riar, Grade 11, Emily Chan, Grade 10 & Cassandra Ly, Grade 10

Congrats Jason! You are June’s warrior of the month! Why do you think you were nominated?
JD: I was probably nominated because people were intrigued by my amazingly good looks or they rigged the election. I’m 92.5% sure it’s the second one though.

LOL! Well you won, so whatever! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
JD: Well, I have 2 legs which are nice to have especially since I love sports. I do everything around it; read, write, eat, sleep, talk, breathe. If sports were a woman, I’d marry her.

So, you were recently voted valedictorian. How does it feel to be valedictorian, Mr. Valedictorian?
JD: Becoming valedictorian was very cool, especially since I was chosen by my fellow grads and it wasn’t a random choice. It’s very humbling.

Student Council Election Results

By: Jason Costa, President, Student Council 08/09

The 2009/2010 student council is as follows:

President - Nathan Dinh
Vice President – Cassandra Ly
Secretary – Lily Le
Treasurer – Bobby Lau
Communications Officer – Amy Wu
Publicity Officer – Venus Wan
Sports Representative – Alivia Ma
Community Service Liaison – Chanel Ly
VDSC Representative – Sarah Xie
Social Events Coordinator – Ping Na Huang
Grade 12 Representative – Kathy Tran
Grade 11 Representative - Yuge Liu
Grade 10 Representative – Farrah Bui
Grade 9 Representative - Amy Bui
Grade 8 Representative – To be elected in Fall of 2009/2010 School Year
Members at Large - Maria Vriniotis, Will Savvedra, Harminder Bhachu, Humayra Uddin, Hardeep Gosal

Congratulations to all those that ran for Student Council as well as those that were elected into next year’s Council!

Editors’ Message

It’s May! This issue marks the second last issue of the year. You may not realize it, but last year there was no June Issue. But hey, we’ve got some terrible news for you: by this time, we have both “retired” as project leaders/editors and are now helping next year’s brand new committee take over! :O *Gasp*! The editor of this month’s issue was Valerie Wong (Gr. 10) and the soon-to-be new project head is Gurjita Gadey (Gr. 11). They will both be working with a team of dedicated and enthusiastic individuals: Brendan Chan, Cassandra Ly, Emily Chan, Eric Lam, Jenny Ho, Jhona Binos, Mitchell Agostinho, Nicole Yu, Puneet Riar, Tammy Lee, and Yuge Liu. If you would like to join next year’s committee, please email us by May 25th. We have positions open for several of our teams, including Promotion, Distribution, Photography, and more. Come June, we will have completely handed The Word over to the new committee. You’ll hear from us one last time in June AND get the chance to read about all our screw ups *wink wink*, but just in case you miss it, we would like to say THANKS for always supporting us and believing in what we do. WORD

- Chitha Manoranjan & Jenn Lin

Cut Paper, Not Jobs at CBC

By Cassandra Ly, Grade 10

Each country has its own diverse culture and unique national treasures that hold history and stories; Egypt has its pyramids, England has its crown Jewels, and in Canada – our treasures are what make up the backbone of our country. One of those treasures includes our media broadcasting station, CBC. It is one of Canada’s most popular public broadcasters with its bilingual radio and television services. Currently, CBC is suffering from a hectic situation of planning 800 job-cuts this summer due to the nation’s recession resulting in the economy entering into a state of debt. However, a few private networks including CTV and CanWest have been reported to be excused by the government. As opposed to public broadcasting who obtains all funds from the public; including donations, specific taxes, and funding from the government. Since this is so, public broadcasters are known as “non-commercial” networks that air more educational programs and documentaries that are deemed ‘less attractive’ to the mass market, such as The Passionate Eye and This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

STUDENT COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Brought to you exclusively from the Editors of The Word

Questions
1. First + Last Name, Grade
2. Hobbies/Interests/Passions
3. Position running for OR acclaimed position?
4. Why are you running? OR if acclaimed, what will you strive to do?
BONUS:
5. Prior Experience?
6. One thing you want students to know about you?

Chicken: Man’s New Best Friend?

By Jenny Ho, Grade 9

Ever thought about keeping a few chickens in your backyard for fresh eggs? Recently, Vancouver City Council introduced a new policy, which allows residents to keep backyard chickens. There are many cities in the United States and Canada with a similar bylaw, including Seattle, Washington D.C., New York City, and Victoria. Of course, within the bylaws, there are many points to consider. If this proposed bylaw passes, residents are able to raise chickens as early as June. The proposed by-law raises much debate from Vancourites. Some are in favour of this new policy, but some residents and animal welfare groups are against the idea.

Bio-degradable or not?!

By Cassandra Ly, Grade 10

As you walk to the cashier of the supermarket with your hands full of groceries, place it down onto the conveyor belt, and pay for the total, it is rare for the cashier to ask paper or plastic. Instead, they would ask, “Would you like any bags?” The majority of supermarkets give out plastic bags that customers usually use only once or twice. Where do they end up after that? Most of the bags end up in the landfills with other garbage that cannot decompose for thousands of years. If they don’t go into landfills, they’re literally floating around in huge masses in the sea. The plastic that ends up there cannot be easily scooped out, as it means extracting all the smaller organisms as well. Burning plastic bags is one solution, but pollutes the environment and increases the greenhouse gas emissions in the process. On top of that, plastic bags are mistaken as food by animals, such as turtles. They clog their airways or intestines, causing animals to suffer painful deaths.

Windermere Organic Garden

By: Cassandra Ly, Grade 10

There is nothing better than being able to walk outside into the school’s courtyard to see the wide variety of fresh and organic vegetables and fruits that are being grown. In only 2 years, the organic garden has flourished with potatoes to broccoli to tomatoes and even raspberries and blueberries. With the dedicated work of students and teachers, Windermere’s organic garden has become very, very successful.  Recently, 7 new beds were built, adding on to the previous 5. These 12 beds will be the holders of parsley, cilantro, onions, lettuce, and many other vegetables, coming soon in the spring. On top of that, a salad bar will be in the cafeteria very soon, giving students the opportunity to make their own salads. The organic garden also has a great composting system, where students empty out the distributed bins throughout the school every few days.

Questionaire

by Cassandra Ly

Purple snow or orange snow?

Lina Phan – Grade 10
-Purple snow

Chitha Manoranjan – Grade 12
-Purple Snow. Orange snow looks too much like something else. – _ -

New Years Resolutions Questionaire

by Nicole Yu

Kylie Rondpre, Grade 9: Oh. I will give more to the needy; I will help raise awareness [for] poverty, not only other countries, but also our own; I will reduce waste; I will gain super powers and save the helpless; I will show my appreciation for others, [and] I will accept what comes to me.
Nicole: That’s great!
Kylie: I will also read to old people, hahaha.

Allison Ferreira, Grade 8: In 2009, I will… hm… I will try to volunteer in the community more!

Mathical Review

By Cassandra Ly

Who ever knew adding together a few feet-tapping, hip-shaking beats along with some brain-racking math formulas and rules could make a musical? In this case, a “high school mathical?” Windermere’s Athena Arts program hosted its first ever musical with its creative storyline written and produced by Maggie Przyborowska, directed by Mitchell Agostinho, and choreographed by Aiden Farrell and Natasha Pheko; the masterminds behind this successful production. Parents, teachers, administrators and other students also made great contributions. “The Number Devil,” a fiction, fun kids’ book written by Hans Magnus Enzensberger about a young boy who has dreams of the number devil visiting him was the inspiration to the creation of the mathical. Songs ranged from old-school classics including “Beat it” to “YMCA” to modern catchy beats including “Rehab.” Instead though, these songs were drastically altered from “Beat it” to “Cheat it,” from “YMCA” to “mx + b,” and from “Rehab” to “Math class.” The hard work of more than 30 grade 8 & 9 Athena students along with the help of a few Nootka students paid off with their great dance moves, acting, singing, and overall presentation. High School Mathical is definitely a one-of-a-kind production and was entertaining and a joy to watch.

“What do you want for Christmas?” Questionaire

by Cassandra Ly

Chanel Ly: A newer, shinier, faster, red road bike.
Nathan Dinh: A better, faster, stronger city bike.
Chanel Ly: Are you talking about your own bike?
Nathan Dinh: Nooo… I’m just trying to make fun of yours.

---

Dan Calud – Grade 10: Money and goodies. 

---

Mr. Rymer: Jaguar XKE 1967-1969.
Cassandra: Would you like a new watch with that?
Mr. Rymer: Sure, definitely!

Questionaire

Interviewer; Cassandra Ly

Would you rather have a fairy godmother like Cinderella or be able to fly like Tinkerbell?

Emily Chan – Grade 10
 “Be able to fly. So I can see the world in a different view. Hehe!  “

Mr. Castilho
 “Fly for freedom…but as long as I don’t cause any pollution.”

Angela Wong – Grade 9
 “If I choose to have a fairy godmother, can I wish for the other?“
Cassandra: “Sure, why not?!”
Angela: “Then a fairy godmother!  “

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Athina Pilarinos – Grade 10
 “A woodchuck would chuck A LOT of wood, if a woodchuck could chuck wood.“

Mr. Griffiths
 “2 root 2!“

Madame Begg
 “A woodchuck can’t chuck wood!“

Would you rather grow your hair like Rapunzel or have a full grown Santa beard?

Mitchell Agostinho – Grade 11
 “HMMM… good question… I would go for the beard.”

Mr. Zitka
 “None of the above…due to BUNSEN BURNER safety.”

Mr. Hamlen
 “Long hair like Rapunzel. The hair on my face just doesn’t work for me…”
Cassandra: “Too itchy?”
Mr. Hamlen: “Yeah, too itchy!”

X-ray vision or invisibility?

Christopher Ly – Grade 8
 “Invisibility… So, I can hook up with ‘Ms. Invisible.’”

Kaitlyn Fung – Grade 8
 “Invisibility powers. Then, I could sneak around and overhear evil plans!”

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes! Yikes!

Here at Windermere, the newest “it” toy is not a Nintendo DS, or the new 3G IPhone, but a bicycle!

Have you noticed the sudden increase of bikes around the school lately? Windermere is beginning to enter a new revolution of bicycles. More and more students and teachers are buckling up their helmets and riding to school. I mean, why sit in that stuffy, humid car when you can relax and enjoy the fresh air on your bike?

Fortunately Windermere has many areas where to store your bike and opportunities to learn how to properly maintain it. ACTION (Active Community Team In Our Neighbourhood) has been holding bike workshops from time to time and are going to continue to do so this year. (If you are interested, come to ACTION meetings on Tuesdays to get more details).

Also, we have bike racks that are very conveniently located in front of the school’s main entrance to lock up your bike. If those are fully occupied (which they frequently are), no worries, we have another solution! Our new bike shed in front of the parking lot beside the tech building is another great place to store your bike. It keeps your bikes safe and dry from the elements. The bike shed is available to all students and staff and will be open in the mornings between 8:00 and 8:25am. You can simply drop it off and pick it back up after school beween 3:05 and 3:30pm.

Windermere has held some very successful and pretty awesome events that have promoted bike awareness, including last year’s “Bike Train,” “Bike Fest,” and “Anti-Idling Week.” These are just a few steps that Windermere students have taken to be that muc more of an eco-friendly school. You can also help take action by simply riding your bike to school. You’re not just helping the environment by putting less pollution into the air and using up limited resources; you’re also helping your own body to gain those extra benefits that you don’t seem to get setting in a car. It’s a win-win situation! So, grab those funky bikes of yours and ride to school TODAY!