2 FIRST GLANCE P.4: WORLD
STAFF FOUNDERS Russell Kim, Felix Guo EDITOR IN CHIEF Beverley Fung
A Cambodian Dining Experience
P.12: LIFE
P.10: SCHOOL
AP Exams
P.12 CLUBS
EDITOR Matthew Yep WRITERS Coco Chen, Jeff Feng Beverley Fung, Elaine Gao, Nigel Tan, Zhen Zhen Tsai Sherry Zuo COLUMNIST Jenny Zhao LAYOUT DESIGN Coco Chen COVER AND GRAPHICS Coco Chen WEBSITE DESIGN Jordan Liu Zhen Zhen Tsai SPECIAL THANKS TO Rachel Shin
Getting Organized
DCON 2016
GET INVOLVED IN THE PT POST! A lot of people dont’t seem to fully appreciate the fact that The Pinetree Post is a student newspaper, fully run and produced by the students. This means that any student can submit content of any kind, whether they be a letter to the editor (I’ll have to prepare myself for these), editorials on issues you feel strongly about, or even comics. Plus, there will be prizes
up for grabs for the best content submitted that month! We also have many positions to fill in our staff, since some members graduated last year. No matter your niche, whether it be writing, editing, drawing, coding websites, navigating savvy business deals, or marketing, we’re looking for students in all grades to join us!
Join us Fridays in Room A204 during lunch to learn more about PTP.
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First Glance EDITOR’S NOTE
So far so good
Beverley Fung Editor in Chief
Getting in the swing of things. Hello Pinetree,
Welcome back from spring break. This month is the time to get motivated and focused again: interim report cards come next week, AP exams are next month, and there are only two and a half more months of until the end of this school year, and then we are free for the summer. Unless you have summer school. In April’s issue, we have recapped many events that have happened recently and ones that are coming up. Our writers have covered a multitude of events, from those within the school such as March Madness and Tiki Dance, to the Global Perspective’s Cambodia trip and the music department’s New York trip. You may recognize yourself in the photos in this issue if you participated in any of the events. A few of us who are very stressed and/or organized at this time have also written articles on being stressed and organized. I hope you all are having a great few weeks back, and keep pushing it. We are almost at the finish line. See you all next month, Beverley Fung
Hard at work.
Zhen Zhen Tsai/ Pinetree Post
4 WORLD STRUGGLES OF A TOURIST
A Cambodian Dining Experience
GP students building in Cambodia.
Language barriers: annoying in the moment, amusing in reflection.
Elaine Gao Writer
The rules were simple. We had twenty dollars each and empty stomachs to fill. However, the complications were not. We were located in a sleepy Cambodian province named Stung Treng, which, at best, could be considered little more than a big city. To give you an idea of the scale, Cambodia fits into British Columbia five times with room to spare. However, Cambodia has twenty-five provinces. Stung Treng doesn’t see very many tourists, save for the gangly Australians destined for Laos making an overnight stop. They eat at self-labeled Internet Cafes that are almost certainly dimly lit and incredibly depressing.
Elaine Gao/Pinetree Post
We were part of a group of students taking a class called “Global Perspectives”, and I figured it was the least we could do to try and experience Khmer culture. My brilliant game plan was to visit TripAdvisor (which, up until then, I thought was a catalogue of all the restaurants that had ever existed) and find somewhere suitably exotic. Of course, this was all barring the fact that TripAdvisor is a website written by tourists, for tourists. I was ready for culture immersion. Only four restaurants were listed under Stung Treng province and we decided that the one named “Guitar Milk” would give us the best local experience for our time. Maybe the four-star rating also helped us make our decision, but I know that I’m definitely not that petty a person. Google Maps prescribed a 1.6 kilometer walk, so we screenshotted the directions and stepped out from the safety of our mosquito-infested hotel rooms into the perilous Cambodian atmosphere.
World All was going well right from the beginning. At the first intersection we came across, we began arguing over whether or not it was the correct right turn. Words like “I’m pretty sure we turn further up there,” were cut by “We’re clearly supposed to take the first turn, this map shows a solid block.” To satisfy the dissenting member of our party, we continued straight until he could verify for himself that we were, indeed, supposed to take the first right turn.
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was just waiting for someone else to say, “This is probably not a good idea, let’s just go find some bowl noodles.” We stumbled around in the dark for several blocks, and fought over the directions again. None of us could imagine how a restaurant could be tucked away among these tiny, nondescript houses. Morale was low. No one had actually expected to find this mythical restaurant when someone spotted a ratty wooden sign stashed in a large bush with the words “Guitar Milk – 200 Meters” scrawled across in some terrible font that looked like the handwriting of the ghost inside “The Scream” painting. We all chose to ignore all these terrible omens, instead shrieking with excitement and exchanging high fives. We had done it. We had survived. We were basically Cambodians by passage of ritual now. These celebratory thoughts were so distracting that I almost missed the restaurant when we walked by it. This was due entirely to the fact that I was looking for a restaurant, and not a car shed. “Look! It’s Guitar Milk!” One person in our group had stopped walking and seemed transfixed on a large residential car park. I squinted back to assess the situation. Tacked onto a wooden Our second problem stemmed from the relatively telephone pole was a sign that, indeed, said, insignificant fact that the Khmer language and street “Welcome to Guitar Milk”. Beyond the sign was names looked like squiggles on a page to all of us. I say a stony path half hidden by fake palm leaves and relatively insignificant, because we had a more difficult illuminated by fairy lights. Oh boy. time looking for the street names. In Canada, each and We tiptoed down the path and tried to every intersection is obnoxiously plastered with the look as awkward and uneasy as possible so serving names of the streets. In Stung Treng, those signs were staff would know that we were dumb tourists and nowhere to be found. The map told us that we were to we needed to be seated. We were not so lucky. A continue straight for 1.2 kilometers, and luckily enough, lady behind a cash register eyed our every move one member of our party claimed that he was a human with disinterest. When we braved a question to her odometer and could simply “sense” when we had walked asking where we should sit, she turned around and enough. called for someone. I suppose the odometer wasn’t fully operational Out rushed a young man with a tray of that evening due to the hunger gripping at our guts drinks. We assumed that the drinks were for seating because around 4 blocks in, he stopped and declared us, but he gestured wildly with one hand before that he had no idea where we were. It was common to scurrying down another path. We mistook this as see children adopting pitiful expressions and disguises on a sign to follow him to our seats, until he turned the streets of Cambodia in order to extort money from around and gestured some more. He did not stop unsuspecting tourists, and the four of us mimicked this until we stopped walking. Perhaps we were to wait. tactic by lining up, hanging our heads, and trudging up I began to wonder exactly which dingus
“No one said anything, but I knew that every single one of us was just waiting for someone else to say, ‘This is probably not a good idea, let’s just go find some bowl noodles.’”
6 WORLD thought visiting a non-tourist restaurant would be a good idea. Everything was written in Khmer, right down to the WiFi password. Feral looking domestic housecats tussled violently in the corner, and something told me that this wasn’t a cat café. I restrained myself from petting them when they came close. Finally, the young man stumbled around to greet and seat our troupe. He fumbled around with a stack of paper menus before running off again to answer the cash register lady’s calls. This entire restaurant was a one-man show! He prepped the meals, tended the bar, served the food, and spelled out the WiFi password to phone addicted teens. I was almost impressed. He returned again when we were ready to order. We had carefully curated a list of foods we wanted to order based on suggestions found online. This was serious stuff – I did not walk 1.6 kilometers to eat anything less than the calamari and the specialty dumplings we were going to order.
“I began to wonder exactly which dingus thought visiting a nontourist restaurant would be a good idea.”
Except, I did. Things started to go downhill the moment we started pointing at things on the menu. We circled the dumplings, and the server shook his head. We pointed to the calamari, and he started shaking his head so intensely I could have sworn he was a bobblehead figurine. Finally, we motioned for him to cross out everything we were not able to order off the menu. We watched in horror as he crossed out virtually every item on the list. When he was done, our astronomically long list of leftover options included fried rice, a fried noodle dish, and a sandwich. Left with such a difficult menu to puzzle over, we slowly came to our senses and decided individually what to eat. We experienced a similar ordeal with the
drink menu, and we were left with ordering either apple juice, guava juice, or water. Service was as speedy as a single man running a tiki style restaurant can be, and by the time we received our blue apple juices we were so desensitized to this bizarre dining that we simply began to idly sip and watch the cats fight. We probably should’ve been more worried about our well-being, and we were told never to order drinks with ice in shady establishments because it wasn’t safe to drink the tap water, but I was thirsty and there was no way that Traveller’s Diarrhea could be worse than this ordeal (not politically correct and please do not adopt this mindset). We wouldn’t be able to leave Guitar Milk that night without being scared right until the bitter end. We marched up to the cash register lady to pay, and she wordlessly calculated our bill. We were charged in Cambodian riel, but we only carried American dollars. We’d run into no troubles paying with American Dollars before, but when we presented it to her, it seemed like she had never seen anything of the sort before. She stared at the American bills, then at us, then at her register. She didn’t move. I was terrified. We didn’t bring enough riel between us to pay for this bill. For a minute, I envisioned myself being trapped at Guitar Milk for the rest of my life. There would be no escape. There was no cell signal in Cambodia, and there was no way we could contact our sponsor teacher. We would be declared missing but they’d never find us because, as previously mentioned, Guitar Milk was located in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly, the cash register lady toyed with the calculator with renewed vigor. She snatched the American dollars out of our hands and began fiddling with some other bills in the register. I eyed my group and we collectively agreed to make a run for it. “Please, keep the change.” I knew she didn’t speak English, but she seemed to know. Maybe they’d scared away many tourists in the exact same fashion before. It’s been weeks but I’m still shell shocked by what I experienced at Guitar Milk. One thing’s for sure: I’m going on TripAdvisor, writing a five-star review, and sending more unsuspecting tourists to Guitar Milk’s unassuming gates.
STUDENT LIFE
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READY TO DRESS UP
Spirit Week
Elaine Gao/Pinetree Post Friends, jerseys, and a (cropped out) lacrosse stick for Sports Day. Day, and Throwback Day, finally rounding itself off Nigel Tan with Sports Day. Writer While turnout for this year’s spirit week School spirit extends to everyone, amounted to a decent crowd of school logo-toting teenagers, there was an unfortunate incident of even those absent. disagreement regarding the scheduling of this event. Whether you call it pride, loyalty, or simply a One student raised the issue of having a spirit week smaller sense of nationalism, school spirit undeniably during a chaotic time period where a sizeable chunk of forms the foundation of any school community. And the graduating student body, which includes the of course, what better way to put forth a Global Perspectives class, was absent. This concern demonstration of such spirit than holding a spirit was soon echoed by a large number of students, week? believing it to be unfair, as many of their peers would During this five-day-long orgy of said school be left out of the momentous occasion. This rapidly spirit, students all around the school advertise their led to a sort of divide among the graduating class, with enthusiasm for Pinetree by decking themselves out in spirit wear, sports jerseys, coloured clothes, or anything some set on having spirit week postponed indefinitely, while others wanted two spirit weeks to be held. else that can be thrown onto the human body that is Ultimately, spirit week proceeded as planned. loosely related to the school. This year’s spirit week featured a full week-long This was due to the constraints of the yearbook; everything to be put into the yearbook had to be compiled lineup of various festivity-filled planetary rotational and edited before spring break. Had spirit week been cycles. Kicking off the event with Spirit Day itself on moved or delayed at all, it would have been far too late Monday, the week soon progressed into Twin Day, PJ to feature it in the yearbook.
8 STUDENT LIFE PRE-SPRING BREAK FUN
March Madness Carnival Jeffrey Shen Writer
Nobody actually went mad.
To officially welcome the transition from cold rainy weather to sunshine and blue skies, the Principal’s Advisory Council decided to host its annual spring carnival. However, as a member of the PAC, I can assure you that what seemed like a few hours of innocent fun was actually the result of months of planning, and the contributions of more than 30 people. The Grade 9 Council, guided by the Grade 10 Council, began planning this event in early February. The first major issue was figuring out what to name this event. With the top two choices being “March Madness” and “March On”, the winning name won by single vote. To compensate for the other half of the council, the official slogan for the event became “March on to March Madness”. With this slogan, we were overwhelmed by the number of grade 9’s who actually signed up, and ‘marched on’ to the event. With more than 40 teams signing up, we all knew that the event was going to be an instant success. On the day of the carnival, all of the council members stayed after school to set up the gym and the cafeteria. It was a race against time, as people were scrambling to hang streamers, blow up balloons, and set up their game stations. It seemed as though we weren’t going to make it, but in the end, the carnival was a hit! I was extremely nervous when I saw all of the people pouring in through the gym door, and I was scared that they wouldn’t think that the games and stations were going to be fun. However, after an hour or so, I had a huge smile on my face and had sweated through all of my clothes. As I looked around, all I saw were people smiling, laughing, and having a great time. Dozens of people were lining up in front of my station, and they all seemed to love my non-alcoholic beer pong game. I hadn’t had that much fun in a long
time. To the participants of this event, the carnival seemed effortless and spontaneous. However, the incredible night would not have been made possible without the generous funding provided by Mr. McCullough. This event also would not have happened if it hadn’t been for the tremendous help of the custodians, who stayed until 11:00 PM to help clean up after the event. Special thanks to Mrs. Woods, who helped to supervise this event. Last but not least, it was truly the Principal’s Advisory Council who turned an initial concept into reality. This organization of outstanding students truly contributed to this school in such a unique way. As a member of the Grade 9 Council, I can assure everyone that we would not have been able to pull it off if it hadn’t been for the mentoring and guidance provided by the Grade 10 Council. Overall, March Madness was such a success, and everyone had so much fun. It was truly a great experience for the Grade 9 Council because this was the first event that we had hosted. It taught us to work together as a team, which is so important when organizing large events. After March Madness, I realized that lots of things in life are simply impossible to complete with only one person. Even though disagreements and conflicts did occur throughout the process, it is important to remember that they are inevitable, and that there are always ways of solving them.
Jeffrey and Raghda’s station.
Emily Liang/Pinetree Post
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Student Life PHOTO GALLERY
March Madness Principal’s Advisory Council 9 and 10 members held many stations of activities in the gym. Coco Chen, Emily Liang, Bennett Tan Photographers
The frisbee toss station.
Kira (left) and Coco (right) at their station.
Using chopsticks is an art form.
Coco Chen/Pinetree Post
Coco Chen/Pinetree Post
Coco Chen/Pinetree Post
The most beautiful station. Coco Chen/Pinetree Post
10 SCHOOL SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
AP Exams
The multiple guess section of an exam. Nigel Tan, Sherry Zuo Writers
Stress levels are running high for the students taking Advanced Placement exams in May.
As the month of May rapidly looms ever closer, one shadow haunting the minds of many a stressed out student is the thought of dreaded AP exams. These grueling, challenging, and taxing tests are the bane of any student’s attempt at springtime relaxation. To seasoned AP students, the phrase “This will be on the AP exam” and the smell of a beaten up green and yellow Barron book bring up thoughts that are anything but pleasant. To those not taking any of the exams, the term AP might be a tad unfamiliar. AP, or Advanced Placement exams, are assessments that offer university course credits to those who pass. The exams are a mind numbing three hours in length, running either in the morning from 8-11, or in the afternoon, from 123. Each exam consists of a large multiple choice section from a booklet, followed by a written portion that can involve essays, graphs, or full answer calculations and questions. This year, the exams will
Photo courtesy of elmodenofrontline.com
run during the first two weeks of May, as per usual. From May 2-6 and 9-13, the library will be closed for the purpose of examination writing. Advanced Placement exams are held on the same few days every year worldwide. Students who have written the examination are forbidden from speaking of the test for the following twenty-four-hour period after, to
“These grueling, challenging, and taxing tests are the bane of any student’s attempt at springtime relaxation.”
prevent any sort of dishonest conduct. The signing of a temporary non-disclosure contract is necessary in order to write the exam. CollegeBoard, the United States company which designs and administers the Advanced Placement exams, proudly offers an exam for nearly every major academic subject of interest. With thirty-three exams offered, one can challenge an exam for anything from macroeconomics to statistics.
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School However, while CollegeBoard itself designs thirty-three exams yearly, not all of them are available at every school. For example, here at Pinetree, exams such as AP United States History or Italian Language and Culture are not available. Every school offers a different set of AP exams, usually corresponding to what AP classes are available in that school, with some places not participating in the AP program at all. Although CollegeBoard is supposedly private but not- for profit, it would be a falsity to claim that the fees for taking Advanced Placement exams are not exorbitant. At $150 per exam, the cost this year has increased from the $125 fee last spring, due in large to the low purchasing power of our dollar. One might question the sanity of shelling out $150 just to go through dozens of hours of agony studying, followed by another three-hour dose of pure exam. However, each course in university can be anywhere for $400-$1000 each, plus books and supplies. Passing an AP Exam would allow one to bypass one course per exam, potentially amounting to thousands in savings, as well as a head start on upper level courses. AP Exams are graded on a scale, with possible scores ranging from 1-5. A ‘3’ is considered to be a pass, however post-secondary institutions will only award course credits for scores of ‘4’ and above. Exams are scored using a proprietary calculation formula that gives a numerical total out of a certain total score, usually being somewhere in the 150 range. Each grade from 1-5 covers a range of possible actual question scores. Failure, defined subjectively by each test-taker, will – thankfully - not end academic careers. Those applying to Canadian universities are not required to send AP scores as part of the admission process. AP scores are only considered if students wish to bypass a first year course, as mentioned above. For students wanting to apply to the U.S., they can request for CollegeBoard to exclude poor scores from their score report for an additional $10 per score, per university. All in all, Advanced Placement exams are simply one more challenge faced by the everyday secondary school student. While they may be dreaded, challenging, and extremely expensive, it is hoped that one’s efforts now will pay off in the future. All of us here at the Pinetree Post wish each and every person the best of luck on their exams!
MUSIC TAKEOVER
New York
The highly-anticipated New York trip for music students. Jenny Zhao Ready for New York
April is the long-awaited month for all passionate music students. Every year, the music department organizes a music tour for senior band and choir members to enjoy. This music-filled trip has had participating students excited since June, when the Carmichaels announced the destination of Pinetree’s 2016 Music Tour. This spring, Pinetree’s music students will adventure through the streets of Manhattan and surf the underground subways of SoHo. Staying in a luxurious hotel near Times Square, the students can hardly wait to experience their first steps in New York City. During the 7-day trip, 36 accomplished young musicians from Pinetree will have the opportunity to view 25 tourist attractions, see 3 musicals, and explore many other places in the city. The students representing our school will also visit and perform in an art and music based elementary school, interact with students in New York, and share their passion for music. While in New York, students will also have daily free time to roam around the city after visiting sites. With a packed schedule, this once-in-alifetime trip will make memories that last a lifetime. Leaving on April 12th, students’ hearts pound with excitement as this date approaches. The students will be visiting famous sites such as the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Lincoln Jazz Centre, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Statue of Liberty. Watch out, New York!
12 LIFE BRAIN DUMP
Getting Organized
An example of a weekly spread from a bullet journal. Coco Chen, Sherry Zuo Writers
Time to refocus.
It’s April. Students are three quarters of the way to the finish line, but many are beginning to lose energy after months of toil. To bring back the feeling of a “fresh start”, and to help students stay on top of their game throughout the warmer seasons, we at the Pinetree Post are featuring an innovative new planner system called the bullet journal. So, what exactly is a bullet journal and what does it do? For students who want to improve their organization but have difficulty maintaining traditional planners, bullet journaling is a versatile way to keep track of important events, homework, and miscellaneous tasks. A bullet journal can combine the scrapbook, to-do list, diary, and planner into one clear, convenient, and travel-friendly book. A major benefit of using this system is that it’s completely customizable. Students can begin their journals any month of the year, not just during the January New-Year’s-resolution-rush. Additionally, skipping days and adding additional pages is possible,
Photo courtesy of bohoberry.com
so there is minimal guilt caused by empty entries. If students find traditional planners bland, they can use colored pens, stickers, polaroid photos, and washi tapes to spruce up the look of their weekly spreads. For those who have creative tendencies, having a bullet journal that doubles as a scrapbook is a great idea. Bujo users fill and structure their journals based on their own necessities, and many choose to add in pages featuring packing lists, music recommendations, wish lists, and water-intake trackers. Moreover, bullet journals use the “rapid logging” system that reduces time consumption while maintaining clarity, so underuse and abandonment is less of an issue. Below are steps to setting up your very own bullet journal, as well as further explanation of the rapid logging system. (Again, this is all customizable, which means you do not have to follow it exactly): 1. Get a pen and a notebook. A sturdy journal with relatively thick pages that minimize bleed-through is ideal, but any empty notebook you have lying around works. Recommendations: Moleskine Journals, Paper Pauper Press Essentials Notebook, Leuchtturm1917 Notebooks.
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Life Tip: Most people opt for grid, dot, or even blank notebooks over lined ones because they are more versatile and less obstructive. 2. Leave space for an index An index is critical for good organization and finding pages quickly. You don’t have to write anything except for the title yet - just leave one or two pages 3. Calendar Add in a small, one or two page yearly calendar so you can keep track of the date and highlight any school breaks or important dates. Tip: Printing a calendar and pasting it onto your journal will save time. 4. Monthly Page Write the numbers 1-30/31 down your page, with a line for each date. Here, you can write birthdays, dentist appointments, and exam dates. 5. Weekly Spread Either leave a 1/4 or a 1/3 of a page for each day in the week in advance, or write and date as you go, adapting the space to your tasks. Here, you can write homework pages and to-dos for each day. 6. Rapid Logging. Lastly, number and title each page as you write as opposed to all at once. Once you start a “section”, write it down in the index. Bullet System: categorize the tasks by progress, urgency, etc. with a key, which can be customized, though most people prefer to follow a basic one such as this example.
A bullet journal’s key. Photo courtesy of bohoberry.com Have fun bullet journaling!!
SPRING DANCE
Tiki Party A night of fun. Rachel Shin PAC 11 Member
This year, Principal’s Advisory Council 11 was given the privilege of planning Pinetree’s annual school-wide dance. After taking in a number of opinions and ideas into consideration, we changed the dress code from semi-formal to casual, set a Hawaiian theme, and invited professional DJs for music, lights, mist, and smoke, all of which were new to Pinetree’s school-wide dances. There were a few bumps along the road but because of our very capable and reliable Council members, I believe we were able to smooth it out efficiently. Many months of planning and hard work were dedicated into bringing out the best of this one night for Pinetree students, but I am sure that not one of us regret the time and effort we spent as the enjoyment and words of appreciation from the attendees were far too rewarding. I am very proud of our Council members who all adapted to new changes and hosted a school-wide event successfully. I am very thankful for their dedication, time, and efforts. I would also like to extend my gratitude to UNICEF for providing us with a concession stand, as well as lovely teachers and administrators who helped us ensure the safety of the student guests! Last but most definitely not the least, on behalf of all the Council members and Tiki Party attendees, I would like to thank you, Mr. McCullough, for making this event possible. With the utmost sincerity, mahalo, teachers, administrators, UNICEF, Council, Tiki Party guests, and Mr. McCullough! Also, make sure to stay tuned on our Facebook page to catch Pinetree Post’s video of the night!
14 CLUBS AND EVENTS PRETENDING TO BE GROWN UP
DCON 2016
Excited Key Clubbers dressed for the Governor’s Ball. Coco Chen, Jeff Feng, Zhen Zhen Tsai Writers
Sleepless in Seattle.
The first leg of the journey began as all great journeys do, with forty sweaty teenagers in a bus. These teenagers, along with a few adults, were headed to “DCON”, or “District Convention”. DCON is an annual Key Club event recapping and celebrating the district’s accomplishments of the previous year, and welcoming the new. Taking place at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel and the Washington State Convention Center, more than two thousand Key Clubbers from around the Pacific Northwest came together to share ideas and gain knowledge to better their home, school, and community. Following arrival in Seattle, each club was required to register, settle in, and prepare for the Opening Ceremony at 6:00pm. The Opening Ceremony consisted of all two thousand members of the convention occupying a large room and enjoying the spectacular ambiance of yelling and everyone challenging each other on the basis of who has more
Coco Chen/Pinetree Post
spirit. Pinetree Secondary had the privilege of sitting in the very back, where members could casually enjoy the barbaric scenery in front of them. But apart from
“Pinetree Secondary had the privilege of sitting in the very back, where members could casually enjoy the barbaric scene in front of them. ” all of the excitement, the Opening Ceremony held several serious speeches regarding topics such as the progress of Key Club, suicide, and personal inspiration. When the ceremony came to a close, everyone returned to their hotel rooms to change into
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Clubs and Events business attire for caucusing. During caucusing, members were expected to listen attentively to the speeches of the candidates of the upcoming District Executive Board. Speeches were delivered by potential Governors, Secretaries, Treasurers, Editors, and International Trustees; each speaker prepared their own speech with the intention to persuade delegates to vote for them the next day. After listening to nine well-prepared and well-delivered speeches, everyone retreated to their respective hotel rooms where they may or may not have slept, and prepared for the busy day ahead. The next day, participants took part in dozens of different workshops, ranging from “Public Speaking” to “Kiwanis’ Children’s Cancer Program” to “How to Run a Club”. From these workshops, Key Clubbers gained many invaluable life lessons and shared a great time with newly made friends. There were also specific workshops for the executive team in which they learned how to properly and effectively operate in their respective positions. At the same time, the President and Vice President of each individual Key Club in the district was to act as a delegate in the voting of the upcoming district board. After attending five workshops, each an hour long, members were given time to eat dinner and return to their rooms to prepare for the upcoming ceremony and ball. The Closing Ceremony was both a sad and joyous occasion. Goodbyes were said to the executives of the 2015-2016 term, and congratulations and welcomes were given to the incoming ones for 2016-2017. Awards were also given out to outstanding members and clubs. Three member awards were given for division 13/15/17, which is the division that Pinetree is in. Amidst this, Key Clubbers showcased their unique talents in a talent show. The newly elected district board was also announced and the instatement of their positions became official. DCON finished off with the Governor’s Ball. Less Cinderella-esque and more like a school dance, the final event was two hours of photos, hugs, free cookies, and excellent extra-virgin fruit punch. Divisions and schools gathered for group photos, congratulations were given for incoming and outgoing executives, and people danced to Top 40 Radio. For those who weren’t feeling the dance scene, a level of the convention centre was sectioned off for activities. When everything was over, DCON attendees returned to their hotel rooms for some well-deserved rest. Overall, DCON 2016 was a wonderful experience for all those who attended. Members were able to learn, meet new people, and gain everlasting memories. Hopefully, next year more people will be able to gain these experiences as well. See you next year at Portland for DCON 2017!
PERSONAL NOTE
2017
From Pinetree Key Club’s President. Rachel Shin Key Club President
DCONs are very important to me. DCON2014 was the reason I walked into A100 for Pinetree Key Club’s first meeting of the 2014-2015 term. DCON2015 was where I was officially installed as Club Treasurer, and first exposed to Key Clubbers across the district, beyond the Vancouver area. Being in the same room as over two thousand other youths dedicated to service was tremendously inspiring and amazing. Furthermore, to directly see the impact we were making on the world--the lives we saved, the lives we will save--took my breath away. DCON2016 did not disappoint me as both the convention and Key Clubbers of Pacific Northwest once again confirmed my passion for service and Key Club. However, the inspiration and sensation I receive and feel at DCONs are things I cannot relay onto anyone else, no matter how hard I try or would like to, yet it is too good to let you miss out on; thus, I, on behalf of your 2016-2017 Executive Board, invite you to DCON2017. In Caring and Service, Rachel Shin
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EVENTS AND NOTICES Sunday
April 2016
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
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1. April Fools’ Day
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1. Amazing Race Ticket Sales Begin
1. Candy Gram Sales Begin
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1. Froyo Sale
1. Froyo Sale
ADVERTISE HERE The Pinetree Post is now selling advertising space for local businesses and club/school events on its website as well as in the print copy. We average about 3000 visits a month to our website and we have a readership the size of Pinetree Secondary-around 1300 students. The prices for ads are as follows: $10 for a credit card-sized ad $15 for a banner size ad $20 for a half page ad $35 for a full page ad
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1. Tiki Party
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1. Earth Week Festivities 2. Froyo Sale
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1. Froyo Sale 2. Cream Puff Sale
1. Pro-D Day
1. Earth Week Festivities 2. Bubble Tea Sale 1. Amazing Race 2. Henna Sale
YEARBOOK FEES Do you love yourself? Do you love being cool? Do you attend Pinetree Secondary School? Then you should cash in to buy a yearbook! Nowhere else will you find a 256 page, full colour, glossy pull out centre-included, hardcover, high definiton book at a better value than the mere $45 that Pinetree asks for. Other than great photographs, accurate summations, witty captions, and sleek design, the yearbook is also a valuable visual time capsule for the years to come. If you don’t have a yearbook, how will people write their heartfelt summer goodbyes to you, complete with pen illustrations? Get a form and buy now!