Math, chemistry, physics, biology and exercise science. These are just some of the great courses offered annually at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School. Notice anything? Well the students of STA sure have and the results have been detrimental. Well I suppose you could call them Blakelock students now. Where has the art gone?

Former STA student, Cole Gardner, made the unfortunate decision to leave his school, his friends and his everyday life to pursue his passion of art. A passion STA wasn’t able to support. “High school is supposed to prepare you for what you want to learn in the future,” the artist explained, “I knew I didn’t want to and wasn’t able to do many of the courses there, so why would I stay?” Since his enrollment in our neighbor school, Blakelock, he has been offered course options such as media arts, photography, fashion design, drawing and arts and crafts. These classes offer the opportunity for students to develop an interest into a skill. “I just feel more confident going into art after high school now,” stated Gardner.

St. Thomas Aquinas Guidance counselor, Mr. Knap, explained the unfortunate loss of these classes is simply the result of having a small school population. “We are a school of about eight hundred and fifty; the things we can offer are limited by the amount of students who sign up.” This year the grade twelve Visual Arts course was cancelled, along with Film and Literature. In addition, STA will also be losing grade eleven and twelve Design Technology next year. “I wish we could offer every class to satisfy all the students,” regrets Knap “but unfortunately we can’t due to the numbers.”

Ms. Jasionowska, the school’s art teacher, trusts the program opportunities will grow as the population does. “I have hope for the years to come,” she says optimistically, “I mean, we have this beautiful school now, and it would be great to fill up the studios.”

Unfortunately this optimism won’t help STA student Joshua Garcia. Hoping to study visual arts at Sheridan College upon graduating, he needed to obtain four art credits. This simple requirement became a challenge when the grade twelve visual arts class was cancelled and not combined as a grade eleven/twelve split. He made the difficult decision to stay at STA, regardless of the inconvenience. “Some people left, but I didn’t want to. And I shouldn’t have to.” Because of this, he now has to attend an everyday summer school program in Mississauga to maintain his acceptance at Sheridan College.

“It surely isn’t because we don’t value arts,” states Principal Pat Daly, “it’s just one of the disadvantages of being a small school.” The unfortunate truth is STA falls short in the arts department. Not by choice or negligence, simply because we lack the students. After renovations and academic upgrades such as the implementation of IB Program, STA hopes to see more students and fill the music rooms, studios, and theater. So where has the art gone? I believe the answer to that question has fallen into the hope of our future student body.

Confession #1: While I was in IB I heard people talking about this thing I had yet to experience in high school: it was a social life.  I had just  figured that all of the other kids went home and did their homework for 5 hours every night as I did. I also heard how they went over to each others’ houses to “hangout”, a concept totally foreign to me.  It was weird how these other grade nine students didn’t seem to have as much homework and had so much more free time; it amazed me that they were not constantly studying in preparation for the  pop quiz that might happen, or the test on everything we learned that week. Weirdos.

Confession #2: Google. This was and is my saving grace. It made me look smart  in front of all my IB friends. I have to admit that I have used Google in just about every subject; it’s a nasty habit that I am trying to shake. The best part about Google is the translate button; I used it so often that half of my class thought I spoke Bulgarian. Google doesn’t always work though.  A proof of this, yesterday my French teacher was so offended by what I handed in (information attained on Google) that she said I should see a therapist. I’m starting to think maybe I should do some of my work instead of using Google but that would be to much work so I’ll just stick with my inappropriate French projects. Maybe she will take pity on me and let me pass the class.

Confession #3: IB parties are pretty out-of-control.  IB kids generally get together before exams for study parties.  Here they do math questions, make fake exams, write the fake exams, and freak out about how they might get lower than a 90%.  These study-parties can get pretty intense and these IB kids have been known to faint, scream, and cry when they get a question wrong. If invited to one I would suggest that you be prepared for insanity and bring food to grace these crazy beasts.

As you can see, there are quite a few things that make IB what it is. Whether it is their out of control parties, or secrets to getting the top grades in the class, IB kids are complicated just like the work they do. Oh, and never joke to them about a pop quiz or getting a low mark on a test, it can be deadly. If you do I would run as fast as you can to get away from them (since IB kids are not athletic) and hope you do not see them for the rest of the day or ever again because an IB kid will never forget.

-The opinions expressed in this article are that of the writer and do not reflect the opinions of this paper or those individuals who had the fortitude to stick it out in IB regardless of the difficulties presented by the writer.

“The girls tried very hard; they worked as a team. There is lots of room for progression. It is going to be a good year,” says rugby coach Miss Munden. Throughout the game the score was constantly going back and forth. The junior girls had the ball far in Holy Trinity’s end often, but HT’s offense was fast and hard to stop. Excellent tackling and effort was made by Vanessa Severin, Julia Kennific, and Madison Sforza. Players on the sidelines provided great support for their teammates on the field. “We played amazingly and put in a lot of effort. There were many injuries,” says Jordan Henderson, grade 9 player.

Last week, on Wednesday, our junior girls played in a tournament hosted by Holy Trinity. The girls went undefeated throughout the tournament, and won the last game of the tournament against Holy Trinity 22 points to zero. Some players believe that was why these players came back so strong this time. The tournament was an extremely promising start to this rugby season.

Listen to the announcements for their next game so that you can come out to support our junior girls!

Cave art was created from 30 000BC to 10 000BC by hunters called Cro-Magnon. Their paintings were usually of the animals that they hunted. The hunters used red and yellow ocher which they blew onto the walls of the caves or mixed with fat before applying. We do not know exactly why these paintings were created but they have been called the most outstanding of all prehistoric art. From these paintings we gain further understanding of human intelligence, creativity, and their ways of life, which was taught to the students through this assignment.

Now that STA has been awarded recognition as an IB world school, the grade 10 IB students were provided with the chance to attend an IB University Fair so that they could hear first-hand from universities such as McGill, Waterloo, Queens and Dalhousie the value they place on an IB diploma and the benefits of the IB program in terms of applying for and studying in university.  Some universities offered special scholarships for IB students and many offer IB students the opportunity to transfer credits.  For instance, a high level achieved in an IB course may warrant the recipient the chance to jump ahead a semester (or more) in university as they may be recognized as having already covered the material.

Being only in grade 10, the attendees got their first taste of a university fair and began to seriously consider where they want to head to for post-secondary education.  Some already had a program in mind and were eager to hear the nitty-gritty details, while others simply sought to explore their options by sampling a bit from each booth.  When it was time to go to lunch, it was difficult to pull some students away!

The students, abuzz with discussions and observations over what they thought of various universities, departed from Toronto and arrived back at STA just in time for the buses.  Going home that day, many were optimistic, although admittedly some were even more conflicted than they were originally.  Yet, in any case it was clear that the future was bright… bright as the brilliant sun that cheery Friday.

They emerged over two and a half hours later with notable battle wounds: hand cramps, graphite smudges and slight eye strain.  And these hardened soldiers suffered emotional trauma too; days later, many were still haunted by grammar related nightmares and plagued by worries that they misinterpreted a question or didn’t cross all their ‘i’s and dot all their ‘t’s… or is it the other way around?  In a world where texting and social networking are transforming the English language, those mistakes can happen. Have our language skills deteriorated?  And if so, what affect has that deterioration had on our OSSLT results?

Ms. Power, one of the teachers who helped to prepare the students for the test, reaffirmed that the students had indeed received a lot of practice: “I hope that the grade tens felt prepared for the test.”

“I thought it was relatively straightforward.  I understand why both the school and the government wanted it and needed it.  It’s always a bit tedious to have to do exams, but I understand its purpose,” said Luciana Escobar of having to complete the OSSLT.  Laura Mejia’s response to being asked what she thought of the OSSLT was: “I’m speechless.”  As of now, the OSSLT has not had too much of an effect on the lives of those who have taken it (I was kidding in the opening paragraph when I described post-traumatic stress that was experienced).  When the results of the test arrive, well, that’s another story.

What did I think of it?  Well, as a member of aquinas.me, and therefore someone who likes writing, I should not have found it too challenging or boring.  And I didn’t.  That said, there was one little aspect that irked me, which coincidentally, regarded the newspaper article that we had to write for the test.  So what were my qualms with it?  First of all, we were confined to thinking within the box.  I mean, if imagination is limitless, and limits are put into effect, can it even be called imagination?

Nevertheless, in the end I was able to appease both my hunger for originality and the requirements of the OSSLT.  Myself, and many other of my fellow classmates expressed their relief and satisfaction after completing the test and shared an attitude of “what’s done is done.”  Too bad I can’t say the same about the math quiz that I had later that day…

By Gabriela Panza-Beltrandi

“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” –Joni Mitchell (Big Yellow Bus)

Driving seems a right-of-passage for many youth here North America. Indeed this is reflected here at STA, where a good portion of the student body drives or, at the very least, are licenced to do so. With such a large portion of the school population relying on it, one would assume that this new building would be equipped with a well-designed, state-of-the-art parking lot. According to some students, however, this is not the case.

“They’re dangerous!” exclaims Joanna Babus, a grade 12 student who, since receiving her G-2 this November has been frequently driving to and from school. “Whoever came up with the design has never driven a car or a school bus.” Joanna, whose mother is a former school-bus driver, speaks particularly of the school’s north entrance and how tightly the buses are squeezed together in the afternoons. “It’s almost impossible to leave from that side when the buses are there. It’s terrifying. You can’t even see around the buses and the lanes are way too small. Plus it opens up onto a busy road. I’m surprised there hasn’t been an accident yet.”

On that Sean Kinney would have to agree. “They’re extremely badly designed,” he replies when asked how he finds the parking-lot. Like Joanna, Sean drives to and from school almost every day and similarly expresses his concern towards the lot’s north entrance. “The spacing’s kind of small and the angles to turn into parking are terrible.” Sean also finds that parking itself is a challenge.  He explains in great detail how difficult it is to navigate one’s way around it in the afternoon when the lot is full. Again, he says, it has to do with spacing. “There’s not enough room between cars for us to pull out without worrying about hitting someone.”

Rumors circulating around the students at school theorize that the new parking-lot’s setup has to do with the complaints Oakville residents made when the school was first suggesting the remodel. Some students believe that the current design was a last-minute alteration in order to appease the school’s critiques. However, Mr. Daly has confirmed that this is not the case and any changes made to the school’s original design were minor and in no way significantly affected the parking lot. In other words, the parking was always meant to be this way.

One bus driver for STA’s afternoon route told reporters that he too found the turns difficult to maneuver when driving though our parking lot. While he does not wish to be named, he does mention how paranoid he feels whenever he enters the north-entrance. “It’s that one spot that gets me. I just got to always check around me to make sure no one’s trying to drive around me before I start up again. It’s just too small an area for both cars and a bus to safely fit.”

Clarissa O’Sullivan has learned this first hand. The grad 12 prefect recounts an incident where she was leaving the school after picking up a textbook from her locker. “I almost got hit by a garbage truck driving.” To avoid a collision Clarissa says she was forced to drive up onto the curb.   Student concerns over the parking lot have not yet reached the school board, but one has to wonder why, in a new school, something as vital as a parking lot would be designed as it was. Could it be a design flaw, or are the complaints merely the result of new, inexperienced drivers here at STA? Only time will tell.