Kemp Edmonds Addresses Student Body About Social Media Former Saints student emphasizes the importance of knowing how to take advantage of social media technology
By Alan Osiovich
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ast month, Georgian Kemp Edmonds spoke to the student body about the significance that social media plays in youths’ lives. During his presentation, Edmonds also considered both the beneficial and detrimental consequences that result from this social technology. Edmonds began his presentation during morning assembly posing the question, “What is more powerful than China, Iran and the Media?” Edmonds continued by addressing the widespread misconception that social media is simply a fad. Edmonds told The Echo that spreading this message to teenagers is especially vital. “Social media is so important to your [the youth] generation because as people who have always had it in your lives there is a lot of things you understand that others don’t, and in the future they will be looking to you for the answers.” Edmonds, accompanied by a simple prezi presentation, outlined the “life-saving and politically crucial” role that social networking sites have had in the third world. Edmonds cited several examples, including a recent
presidential election in Nigeria that was monitored with SMS technology and the Haiti disaster. Edmonds told the student body that social media has had an overwhelming impact in Haiti. “Social media has facilitated massive giving on a global level incredibly fast; communication via twitter and iPhones has made communication with people in dire need almost impossible to miss.” Despite having graduated 10 years ago, Edmonds attributes much of his motivation to Anthony Mercer’s words during a chemistry class in Edmonds’ grade 12 year. “One class, he said of my work, ‘You can do better than this. You aren’t using your full potential and if you
Students step into shoes of blind athletes for a day By Ivan Cheung
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ow would it feel to be blind but still want to play sports? PE students recently received the opportunity to step into the shoes of a visually impaired athlete by playing Goal-Ball. Mike Lonergan, coach at BC BlindSports society, led the class in exploring this unique sport. He also teaches track and field, soccer, tandem cycling, Frisbee golf, showdown, and swimming. “Goalball is a paralympic sport played by blind or visually impaired athletes around the world,” he explained. “It is the only team sport specifically designed for blind athletes.” The game, utilizing a heavy ball filled with metal chimes, involves rolling the ball across the goal line of the opposing team. The twist of the game is that all the players have to play with blindfolds. While the sport did not sound very exciting to students at first, its lasting impact and memories really benefited them. Varun Banthia, a participant of the PE class and visually impaired student himself, commented on the experience of playing Goalball. “We learned to broaden our perspectives,” he said. “ Goalball allowed us to step into the shoes of a blind person.” Daniel Truckalhoon, was sur-
prised by the unique sensation of being “handicapped”. “It was inspiring,” he said. “It’s inspiring because we can experience how blind people can play sports regardless of impairments.” Banthia feels that playing the sport was a good way to allow a physically capable person to experience a handicap. “Many people have difficulty imagining how it is to be blind,” he said. “This is one way to experience it. You don’t need to be good at sports to be good at Goalball,” Banthia added. The coach visited Saints because the school had an interest in learning about Paralympic sports and also because there is a student that is visually impaired. “I visit schools all around BC and Canada, usually where there is a blind or visually impaired student.” Lonergan felt that playing Goalball benefitted both the body and leadership skills. “It is a great exercise for fitness,” he said. “In addition, it teaches sport skills, team skills and important strategies.” Banthia agreed with the coach’s insights. “Goalball makes us work as a team, communicate without sights and sounds, and also improves our memory and orientation skills.”
continue down this road you will never reach your full potential.’ Those may not have been his exact words, but that was the sentiment and they really stuck with me more than anything else from
my days at Saints. Standing in front of 160 teachers it was his smiling face that truly told me that I was now, finally, on the right path. Thank you Dr. Mercer I never got a chance to tell you how important that advice was and how it truly stuck with me and helped me to continually challenge myself.” Milo Carbol, a Grade 12 student, said that he enjoyed every minute of Edmonds’ presentation, “Simplicity was key to his presentation; Edmond’s slides were really simple, usually one word or one picture per slide. The presentation had a great flow, and Edmonds did a great job in front of the entire school.” Despite presenting to audiences about once a week, Edmonds makes en-
tirely new presentations for each engagement. He explained that in doing so, he can keep presentations relevant and as up to date as possible, “It is time consuming, but it’s always worth it.” Edmonds works in the Marketing and Communications department at BCIT. His job is focused on using technology for recruiting and community building purposes at the college. Edmonds has two personal blogs that he updates regularly; Edmonds uses blogs to help businesses incorporate social media into their corporate structure. Edmonds also teaches a course at BCIT called Introduction to Social Networking. Check out Kemp’s Blogs: http://kempedmonds.com
Ipods in class? The teachers’ perspective:
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By Peter Ding eeing lots of St. George’s students using Ipods (including Iphones and Ipod touches) in class, The Echo wonders whether it is a serious issue or not in school. A few teachers, who have long-term teaching experience, were interviewed about their views on excessive use of Ipods in class. Marko Rnic, head of the music department, observed that students use Ipods to gain access to the internet in class. It is a big distraction, so he would prefer that students did not bring Ipod to class. Rnic also said, “There is a time for every activity. No activities can be done at the same time. Especially in a lesson, it’s not good for learning because everyone learns different aspects of things. Although there are students who have learnt how to play some music pieces very well, they can still learn new things from class when they listen to their teachers again.” Dwight Hillis, coach of the varsity hockey team and an English teacher, suggested that Ipod use in class is not a significant problem. He said, “I will occasionally ask boys to use their IPods to look up information we are discussing, and I’m sure boys are texting or watching occasional videos. That is a classroom management issue for which I must be diligent. Again, it is not a problem of merit.” Hillis said that he understood the fascination of having an Ipod and reporting excessive Ipod use in class is like complaining about the rain falling in Vancouver. Hillis believes that Ipods provide an advantage as students can access information that they never could. “Being able to access information on an author or quickly listen to a song in reference to a text is a positive if viewed correctly. We are the eyes of the world; it would be a shame if we were not allowed to look at all of it when we have the ability.” Hubert Wohlgemuth, a chemistry teacher and the head of the ski and snowboard team, usually asks boys to remove their ear pieces before class starts. “Occasionally, I will allow them to use ipods to listen to music when working on an assignment. Some kids use their ipod touches to play games. In those cases I will ask them to put them away. If I see it again, I remove it for the remainder of class,” he said. However, he did see the boys using their Iphones or other cell phones for sending and receiving texts during class. He usually called on the student if it is excessive or frequent. He believes that removing Ipods from them is quite sufficient. “I haven’t reported this problem to the school, as I don’t think it is a problem. The students are usually very respectful when asked to put them away,” he said. Wohlgemuth does not think that students can use Ipods for anything relevant to class. He said, “I would like to know how they use an ipod for studying purposes! My lectures are not pre-recorded, nor are there any good chemistry games!”