page 18, Whitbi Fiee Pres's. Wdneèsday, Sà pie mb er 27, 1995 'i. k4it LIA Gavin Crisp FATHER LEO J. AUSTIN ix. liI Alana Coster SINCLAIR SECONDARY'SCHOOL You nover really like the colder months, anyway. Perhaps it is because the thought of staying in bed with a runny nose and a temperature of 102 dogreeB has nover really intrigiIed you. However, a stronger possibility is that the colder months have always been synonymous witlh the beginning of another school year. You begin to wander through the halls of your "home away from home" ini an attempt to see if the leaveis haven't been the only things to change. Stroling past the science lab, wafts of formaldehyde consumne the air and intoricate its. inhabitants. MIr. Miekuz cornes out of a classroomn with a smile on his face and abounce inbis step -his junior boys' soccer teamn opened their season wth a resounding 7-O win over Courtice. You waik down the stairway and pace past the gym. A volleybal Mfes through the open gym door. Inside the gymn lies another of the Wildcats' winng teams - the junior boys'volleyball team. They are practising hard, waiting for their next opponent to follow the way of. the Sinclair Oeltics - a team that has suffered a loss at the hand of the Wildcats. With victories coming ever so easily to other Austin sports teams, you wonder, when do the real challenges begin? Proud, you leave the gymn and walk past the library. You see the ever-effervescent Mrs. Clancy, the librarian, holding a pile of books. You open the door for her and then walk to the cafeteria. Ahhh ... the cafeteria. As you gaze through the locked doors, you remember the school dance you attended last week. You inwardly '! laugh as you rememrber watching certain members of the teaching staff showcase their "unique" dance styles. Your silent giggles die, however, as you realize that you were MM. dancing almost as poonly and you find yourself wondering how soon it will ho until the next dance sa that perhaps you may prepare your moves and, subsequently, hold your own on the dance floor. As the day cames ta, a close, you beave the sohool via the doars by the music and drarna rooms in front of which there is a throng of students. Your inquisitive nature takes you into the room where you flnd Mr. Labriola and Mr. Shea organizing auditions for Austin's budding thespians who are eager ta appear in the Austin Conimunity Theatre's presentation of7The Pirates of Penzance. You are reminded of how great last years presentation of The Beggar's Opera was, and only wishing you could act, leave the roam. At your car you look back. A hush surrounds the school's extenior, but you know that appearances can ho deoeiving. This is your school and you know only too well that it is anything but quiet inside. You want ta learn; you want ta hoe involved; you want ta make friends; you want ta botter yourself. This is your schoob and you are glad ta ho back. A big, fiendly welcome toa ah readers aur there. Tanya Hunter and I are Grade il students and will relate Sinclair Secondary School news in this column for tho duration of the semester. Sinclair is up and running for the second year. Everyone is excited ta ho back ... okay, maybe not that' excited. We have corne a long wayr since aur population has increased ta 1,100 students, from just more than 700. Studonts who are entering their second year at the school are finding it difficuit ta share the halls and lunch room space with now students. The student common area is nat just for sociaiizing, hanging out or grabbing that hast saur key. It has naw turned inta a second dining hall where students can chow down on this week's mystery meat. Auditions for Skin, by Dennis Faon, and the spring musical The Secret Garden have been happening this week. Best of luck ta al aur aspiring actors. Tryouts have already taken place and team rosters have been decided. They're off ta a great start and we wish them continued success. Jason Collier HENRY ST. H.S. Wehcome back, Hawks. Anather school year. is upon us, and students everywhere are settling in and preparing for anather miine months of homowork, assignments, presentations and due dates. For the majanity of students, it is the beginning of anather year of high school. But for those students entering Grade 9, it marks the start of their high schoob. education, binging with it new challenges and experiences. For rnany, this will ho their first expenience with the semester systern which Henry emphoys, and they will aise attend classes in a school probabiy larger than the one from which they have came. The building May look large and foreboding, but the possibiities are endless and the Hawks are friendly, so welcome ta Henry. Wc're sure you'll have a great year. The student body is hard at work getting tbings set for the new season. Teams and clubs are getting inta the swing of things in preparation for the upcoming year and sign-ups will soon ho taking place. Assemblies have begun and the students are already being informed of upcoming events and opportunities. Student cards are now on sale, and the first fundraisers of the year are already on the street. For returning students, itfs life as usual and it hardiy seems as if they were away at ail. Everyane is busy getting reacquainted and catching up an the news of the summer while getting used ta their new classes, teachers and requirements. The school is also geaing up for the Sodbuster Marathon ta, take place at the end of this week. The school continues ta try ta, get pledges ta caver the purchase cost ($16,000) of the sod for the new sports field. For further information, or ta make a pledge, contact the schoal at 668-2731. Recently our junior boys' volleybail team and junior girls' basketball team took a trip ta Cha tham. lxx friendly competitian, Our teanis were defeated but had a great weekend. 1Yearbooki sales have been successful thus far. Yearbooks have been 'seliing outside the cafeteria for $25. If you haven't purchased your book of memonies, time is running out sa bing in your money. On Saturday, Nov. 4, Sinclair Secondary School wiil hold. their second annual craft and collectibles sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For those who enjoy picking up a paintbrush or glue gun, îget that hand in motion because new vendors are wanted. Call Mrs. Cotter or Mrs. Jones at the schaal at 666-5400. To date there. are over 55 Michelangelos signed up for the afternoon. Got a problem? You have the ids? Don't worry, studont ambassadors have the ankle-biters covered at the school daycare. Just drop them off *on your way in. ST. CHARLES GARNIER Bonjour. Welcome back. I hope everyone had a great summer. I know that I did. Since this is my first article, I suppose I should take this opportunity to introduce myseif. My narne is Nicole Fillion and I have been attending Saint- Charles-Gzarnier Secondary School for four years. I arn a member of the school choir and an active participant in the school's youth group, Jeunesse du Monde. This js my second year in high school and I arn very honoured ta have been chosen for this assignment. Lots of -thingg have happoned during aur first- two weeks of classe. The ftrst day was, of course, very hectic and full of surprise. Old friends were reunited and. new friends were welcomed. We started the rnorning with an officiai school assernbly led by our principal, Mr. Berry- Ho introduced us ta the teachers'and ta aur new student council. The rest of that week sped by. Teamn reports rosumed and student coundil activities got under way, including Grade 9 activity days on Thursdiy and Friday. Yearbooks were cistributed on Friday and ezveryoA ne noyed reliving aidA A bientot. Frn -those ofyou with an incarne, or juat that $5-a-week allowance, start saving those hard-earned pennies for the trip ta siee Beauty and thze Beast on April 17. Start paying your deposit monthiy, sa by the time April roils around the trip will ho paid for. That's all for this week, sa until next, keep smokin' down those halls before the red scroen changes. Lonelle Seibo TRAFALGAR CASTLE*- Hello again, folks. Camping weekend was a huge success, a bit chaotic perhaps, but nonetheless a lot of fun. Most of us were just settling inta the routine af school life once again when wo - the whobe school -- packed aur bags, gat an a bus and left town. There wore 157 students,ý 14 teachers and 40,000 pieces of absaiuteiy necessary buggage' fighting for the back seat on the fivo buses. W. decided ta put ail of the buggage on one bus a nd leave them ta their own devices whist wo continued ta, argue. The fighting didn't last long. As usuai, Trafalgar staff stopped in and came up with the universally acceptable solution. We were ta travel'according ta aur houses - four houses, four buses - as simple as that. When a new student cames ta Trafalgar, she is immediately put into a house. Whether it ho Haro, Maxwell, Farewell or Carter, they spend the rest of their Trafalgar career tzying ta eamn points for their respective houses. Points are earned during house. games (sports),. high academics, debate wars, etc. For many cf us this was the flrst realization that "camping weekend" was just a caver-up for Pointfest '96. The wonderful weekend facade of palm trees and ocean breeze crurnbed befare aur very eyes. As house captain of the yeblow house, Haro, it was up ta me ta, make this trip sound exciting ta al of my Haro members on aur bus. I can only tell you that the 401 will nover be the same. What with al the cheering, yeihing, whooping and singing, those pon motorists rnust have thought that we were a bunch of ex-convicts on their way ta Disneyworld, nat a group of students of a conservative private schoob gaing on a camping trip. To sum up the weekend, it turned out ta ho great, what with campfires, activity day, airband (which wo wan hy daing an eightied pop sang, Don't You Want Me, by Huinan League), freezing coid cabins, an avernight trip ta an' ishand, campfood, in bed hy 10 p.m., teacixer patral, andi very cute kcitchen staff. On the way home, haîf of us passed eut immediately but others gleefully sang aur cheers with huge enthusiasrn for five whole minutes before foilowing raute and drapping off themiselves. Camping was wonderful, but going home, having a shawer, and gtrting inta my own bed lwaso a "A -LJ(TTLE-EXTRA-HELP" TUTORING SERVICE *we Lise only Certified Ontario Teachers «el~ we tutor in YOUR home. and *we teach the classroomn curriculum - - please cali 668- 784.1 for a brochure! - \ F raticive.ç owiied aiid operated bv Certifled Ontario Teachers '7ý m