MOHAMMAD AL KHATIB ’ S STORY CONT’ D

Mohammad enjoyed his time in Jordan and made many friends. Although the war did not spread to Jordan, there was still much poverty and it was not a completely stable country. After four years in Jordan, Mohammad’s father received a call from the Government of Canada asking if they would like to come to Canada. Mohammad’s father agreed since he believed there was no future for their family in Jordan. Other than his immediate family, most of Mohammad’s relatives currently live in Jordan, and they choose to stay there to live out their faith as devout Muslims. Mohammad’s family arrived in Canada in 2016 when he was 10 years old.

Syria remains in a state of violence, chaos, and danger to this day. One of Mohammad’s aunts still lives there today, and she barely has sufficient water, food, and electricity. He explained that it is currently almost impossible to leave for the borders of Syria. Although Damascus was in a state of chaos and danger when his family fled, Mohammad still enjoys reflecting on the joyful memories he had in his time there. He reminisces over the days his father acted as the leader of their small community, climbing on roofs with his friends, his time with family, and his old home. He misses his time in Syria and hopes he will be able to return one day.

EVA MARKATOS

Beginning in 1953, the Luther Invitational Basketball Tournament is the longest running high school tournament in all of Canada. LIT was inducted into the Regina Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

This year, for the 69th Annual LIT, there will be teams from Regina high schools to out-of-province high schools competing. To decide which Regina teams will play in the LIT on February 9th and 10th, Luther held a Pre-LIT, which happened on January 9th and 10th.

Although LIT is a basketball tournament, there are plenty of opportunities for students of all talents, not just athletics, to be involved in the annual event. There are numerous committees, made up of students from Luther, that plan all aspects of the tournament through months of preparation. Artwork, security, and advertising are just a few of the skills needed to make LIT happen.

As a person who does not know much about basketball at all, let alone sports in general, working on the LIT Media committee for the past month or so has been a very enjoyable experience for me. Until now, I was not a person that attended sporting events. Before becoming involved with LIT, watching my school’s basketball teams play on a school evening was not something that I would partake in all that often. Now, although I still do not understand the game of basketball completely, I enjoy watching as I value being immersed in the community’s energy and excitement.

LIT is a great way to celebrate the talented basketball players at our school as well as the connected, hardworking, creative Luther community!