2 FIRST GLANCE P.4: SCHOOL
P.6: CLUBS
The Pinetree Post
STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Beverley Fung EDITOR Jeff Feng
Howto Apply to University
P.10: GLOBAL
Beginner’s Guide to MUN
P.12: SCHOOL
WRITERS Benjamin Connor, Emily Liang, Julia Park, Jeffrey Shen, Shirley Wang, Jenny Zhao, Sherry Zuo LAYOUT DESIGN Beverley Fung COVER AND GRAPHICS Emily Liang WEBSITE DESIGN Zhen Zhen Tsai Marvin Shi SPECIAL THANKS TO PTSS Confessions, Mr. Clarke, Student Voters, PT’s MUN Club, Mr. Lau
2016 Recap
Block Schedule Changes
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First Glance EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE
2017 - The Year of Change New year and we’re back with more PT Post. Beverley Fung Editor-in-Chief Happy New Year, Pinetree! How has the first month of 2017 been? For us at the Pinetree Post, it has been quite eventful. We have a long line-up of articles prepared for all of you this month. Now, with university applications eagerly sent away, Pinetree seniors are nervously waiting for their letters back. While waiting, why not take a look back on the whole stressful process in our (un)helpful guide on “How to Apply to University.” For our younger members in the Pinetree community, read up on what to expect in your grade 12 year - see our tips on how to leave universities speechless when reading your amazing applications. Let’s all look forward to great things from our grads next year who hopefully, did not follow all of our advice. Before we jump too far into the future of 2017, why not take a look back on 2016? Recently, you may remember the recent US Presidential election that has been riddled with controversy. Across the ocean, there was also disorder in Europe over Britain’s decision to leave the European Union; this incident being fondly named, “Brexit.” Over in Asia, there is news regarding the past Korean Prime Minister, Park Geun-hye. A huge scandal led to a series of protests against her, resulting in her impeachment in the later part of the year. Read more about the various major events witnessed in 2016. Message us on Facebook to let us know which 2016 event was most memorable to you.
Big changes were not only seen on the global stage, but there have also been many changes at Pinetree, most notably the semester 2 schedule change. The block rotation has changed from the previous rotatingschedule to a static one. For some people this is a good change, and for others, it is less agreeable. Check out our article on the subject to learn more about what is to come, how your fellow students feel about these changes, and an exclusive interview with the school’s administration. In addition to the schedule change, we have witnessed some other changes in the Pinetree community, specifically our online community continue onto read more about one of Pinetree’s popular online platforms. It seems that 2017 is looking to be the year of change. With the introduction of the new Skytrain, it looks like there is an increasing number of local restaurants opening up. How do you know which one’s are worth going to? The writers at the Pinetree Post have compiled a list of reviews on new restaurants to help you find what your hungry stomach is looking for. If you’re still hungry for more articles, let us know what you want to hear through our Facebook page, or send in your own articles to our email, thepinetreepost@gmail.com, for your chance to be featured in our next issue. Sincerely,
Beverley Fung
4 SCHOOL A SIMPLE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
How to Apply to University
Universities hate them! #4 will shock you!
How to get that rejection letter with minimal effort.
Benjamin Connor Writer
It’s that time of year when we should be working to satisfy our New Year resolutions, and preparing for the joy of our upcoming barrage of final exams - except, that’s not at all that is happening to our poor grade twelves. I don’t think I speak for myself when I say that this is a tense and stressful period of time consisting of university applications. So instead of actually being productive and working on mine, I’ve decided to share with you my vast wealth of knowledge regarding the applications (by vast I mean the two applications I’ve looked at so far). Here are few helpful tips that will make application process much easier (assuming you actually don’t want to attend that university).
1. Lie. You read it right. University applications
ask for a whole array of different experiences that for some of you may be still in the process of happening, or not at all. How are you supposed to distinguish yourself from the competitor if the most impressive thing you’ve done is show up to
Photo courtesy of entrepreneur.com
class (which can be impressive in some cases, but I digress). You need experience and you need it fast. Here’s the trick, you need lies that make you seem good, but not suspiciously amazing. For example, a good lie is that you pick up trash on the trail every weekend. I mean where’s the lie? Who can prove that it didn’t happen? Maybe the garbage hiding in the bushes, but they’re not going to talk.
2. Embellish. This is the most important part of
the application. Embellishing isn’t exactly lying, you’re just making the scene more interesting for the reader. Let’s say you were walking to the park - actually, that might be too farfetched. You were walking down your hallway to get a snack after waking up at twelve and you were shivering because it was cold. Just tweak a few points and say you were walking down the trail in the forest on a cold autumn day. We’re still keeping the most important activity here, you were walking. Maybe your parent gripped at you about how you don’t do anything. Perfect, you can say a bird flew out of the tree and almost attacked you. Then add something really profound like you realised nature hates man. Another route is you can say you’re an activist who opposes food wastage because you eat everything in your refrigerator. I mean close enough, you’re
School preventing food waste.
3. Be Humble. University applications are going
to ask you for a long list of your many (or scarce) accomplishments and experiences. Here’s what you do - list everything that you’ve ever done (or the lies) and when they ask you what your best trait is, you say “I’m humble,” or better yet “modest.” This is the key selling feature after you’ve finished bragging about yourself.
4. Procrastinate. I know what you’re thinking, I
shouldn’t gamble my future to the early hours of 3:00 am when the deadline is at 6:00 am, but I mean how are you going to prepare for university otherwise if you’re not willing to pull an allnighter? You can try all you want to sit down and apply weeks before the deadline, but how are you going to feel the pressure of getting it done? You’ll be sitting there looking at your answers, think that they look good enough, and decide to later carefully look them over again. No, that is all wrong. You’re going waste so much time. At 3:00 am, you’ll be looking at your answers thinking that they better be good enough. That’s how a winner thinks.
5. Pretend you were confused. You’re going to
need really good grades to get into a prestigious university, and if you don’t have those, fear not. Play dumb. This is what you need to do. If it includes self-reporting ,you can just flip the numbers around so you’re 59% actually turns into 95%. If questioned about if you can always claim you saw a nine and a five then everything went black. It was an honest mistake.
6. Don’t even bother applying. You might come
across an application that will just take way too much time to complete, so you to contemplate whether you should do it or take a nap. Take a nap, you deserve it. If you start an application when you are tired, it will not end well.
5 7. Get Creative. University applications are looking for something in particular, and that something is originality. You are most likely going to have a couple questions on your application asking about challenges you have overcome, or what you have learned from your experiences. You may think that you are supposed to answer the question, but wait - no - it’s a trap. You see, everyone will answer the question in a very similar fashion, so you have to come up with a response that is out of the blue. For example, you can talk about that time your cat chewed your phone charger and you became very angry. I mean, who else will talk something out of the blue like that. It’s original and therefore will gain more attention.
8. Don’t bother proofreading and send it in as soon
as you type the last word. If you have gotten this far in the application, you can afford to roll the dice. Send in the university application as it is, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. It’s out of your control now.
Note from the Editor-in-Chief: If you’ve gotten this far without realizing that we don’t actually encourage you to follow all of these steps, then I might as well tell you now - obviously (or at least I hope it’s obvious), one should not take this advice seriously. If you are looking to use this as a resource for your application writing, then please take it with a grain of salt and use it as an example of what not to do. At the end of the day, you should “get creative” and make sure university’s are getting an accurate representation of who you are - not necessarily what the universities want to hear, but what you want the universities to hear.
6 CLUBS A BEGINNER’S GUIDE
Model United Nations
Your typical MUN Conference
It’s MUN-derful! Jeffrey Shen Writer
Model United Nations is an organization that I have been involved in since grade nine. For those who haven’t attended a single conference, they may seem like strange and foreign gatherings. I have to admit, it is difficult to imagine what happens at a Model UN conference without attending any. So, what I will do for you is break a conference down step-by-step, and hopefully make them easier to understand. Possibly, I will be able to convince you to try it out. Model United Nations events are able to take place because of the committed members who come together and manage the meticulous processes of organizing the event. Each conference consists of an organized, often student-led group that finds a venue to host the event. They then plan out the complete itinerary for the conference. There will be real United
Photo courtesy of limun.org.uk
Nations committees such as DISEC, UNESCO, and SOCHUM, that deal with different topics including international relations, healthcare, education, and gender equality. When registering for a conference, you will have to choose the committee, as well as the country that you want to represent. If you’ve never attended a conference before, it may be best to first attend a day-conference, rather than an overnight conference. Overnight conferences requires you to stay at a hotel, and spend three days attending countless committee sessions. If you attend a day-conference, you will not be overwhelmed by the amount of debate and discussion that you will need to partake in. Also, if you decide that MUN is not for you, you will save three days of your life and hundreds of dollars. In regards to selecting a country, if you do not want too much pressure, choose a country that does not have a lot of relevance to the topic at hand. For example, if the topic is “Syrian Refugees,” stray away from picking a Middle-Eastern country since you
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Clubs will likely be heavily involved, and picked-on because of your country’s relevance to the topic at hand. For newcomers who are unsure of which committee to choose, it’s good to do some research beforehand. For example, the UNSC (United Nations Security Council) deals with issues such as warfare. The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) deals with much more social and diplomatic problems, as opposed to the topics of more militaristic committees. Each conference will have different topics for each committee. It is extremely important that you choose a committee with a topic that interests you, or else you will have to talk about a topic that bores you for hours at a time. After choosing to attend a conference, selecting a committee, and picking a country, what happens next? It’s important to realize that you will be in a room with anywhere from ten to eighty people, and most of them you will have never met before. Public speaking can be scary for a lot of people, and speaking in front of fifty strangers might elevate that fear even more. But that’s the whole point of MUN; MUN helps to improve one’s confidence, and teaches people to enjoy the rush of adrenaline that surges through the body when standing up to speak; it is about teaching people to speak up and bring their stances or ideas to the table, in order to solve the issues at hand. MUN, like anything, is very dependant on mental strength. If you are feeling confident, you will display it in your speeches, debate, and overall publicspeaking. However, if you are feeling nervous or shy, your unwanted emotions may also show. It’s important to understand that everyone attends conferences to learn, discuss, and share ideas. Never fear that other people will judge or make fun of you; I’ll tell you right now - they will not. “Munners” are friendly, and attending conferences is one of the best ways to meet new people, and network with students from all over the province. The best way to be confident in what you say is to conduct prior research. Do a lot of research ahead of time. This way, you’ll be sure that what you say is accurate, relevant, and meaningful. I remember the first time I attended a conference - I didn’t speak until the third committee session. For me, my first MUN
conference was a true learning experience. I was able to see how the debates were structured, witness the etiquette that people used to compose themselves, and observe the different countries interacted with each other. Ultimately, don’t feel pressured to do anything. If you don’t feel like you are ready to speak, then you don’t have to. But do remember, you are investing time and money into the events. So don’t waste time on Facebook, and don’t watch YouTube videos during a committee session. Be involved. Even if you don’t speak, make sure that you know what’s going on so that in the future, once you’ve gained enough experience, you will be able contribute to your committee. Remember, MUN is not for everyone, but you will never know until you try it. As I’ve already said, it’s a great way of meeting new people, and you can receive a lot of great opportunities from it. It might seem scary or intimidating at first, but the same idea applies to many great things in life. Overall, MUN is an amazing organization that allows people to become educated about the world around us. I encourage anyone who is even remotely interested to try it out!
SAVE A LIFE TODAY! After reading this article, are you interested in upping your extracurricular’s game? Well, why not start with learning how to save a life! The Pinetree First Aid Club is hosting a Standard First Aid certification course at our school. Where: TBD Price: $120 When: Feb 20-21, 27-28 (Must attend all 4 days) Time: 4PM - 8PM Send an email to thepinetreepost@gmail.com for more information and if you are interested in attending this event or come to A
8 SCHOOL THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL FABRICATION
Reflection of Pinetree’s Adaptation
A favourite past time of the average PTSS student
The effects of social media. Sherry Zuo & Jeff Feng Writer As citizens of the modern age, we speed towards technological advancement and new methods of communication; within Pinetree Secondary, the student-body adjusts to the progression around us through the construction of new platforms of connection - namely, social media. Past grades and generations shared a very organic, yet slightly dull sense of community, grounded in face-toface conversation and limited to scatters of rather isolated friend groups. Snail mail at the time was a revolutionary idea, and pioneered the dream of talking to people without having to see their faces. Yet, nowadays we are united in a radically different way. Social networking has become much more accessible, and Pinetree now has an instagram page, a twitter account, and facebook groups for multiple student
Photo courtesy of PTSS Confessions
clubs. Writing letters is now a taboo practice of the past because nearly no one wants to put in the effort to create meaningful passages that demonstrate a sense of compassion towards their receivers, and provide said receivers with physical tokens that they can treasure for their lives. What matters now is efficiency, ease of communication, and making non-face to face interactions as meaningless as possible. Of course, the development of modern communication has truly revolutionized the way that people live today, and is a blessing towards humankind; yet, systems always contain flaws. Among many innocuous elements of student interaction and connectivity, however, lurks something arguably sinister -- PTSS Confessions. Yes, that’s correct. We have been hiding behind the facade of a seemingly legitimate introduction and topic only to reveal our true motive of shamelessly reviewing Pinetree’s infamous confessions page. Like every other high school student seeking entertainment with minimal brain cell requirement, we at Pinetree Post have also spent hours scrolling through memeful
School facebook feeds, and fatefully stumbled upon the PTSS Confessions page. On first impression, it seems harmless enough - after all, it’s merely students expressing their views, right? Nearly five hundred angst-filled student commentaries proved otherwise. One of the most interesting - we use that term loosely - aspects of the page is the constantly brewing and sometimes melodramatic high school romance. We couldn’t resist browsing through confessions dedicated to vague initials or cheesy nicknames, and forming mental images of our sleep-deprived peers professing hidden passions towards their unsuspecting beloved. After all, one of the very contributors to this article has found a “soccer team” quite different from those he usually participates in. Who knew that a mere saxophone, made of brass and played with a single reed, could be so alluring? Let’s not forget the numerous references to mystery pronouns such as “you” and “her”, confessions that only truly apply to one person but serve as shady literature to the rest of us. Another popular trend is the “beef ” circulating around the page, and no, we don’t mean the kind we sautée to perfection on a pan. No, we also don’t mean the kind that highschoolers who watch too much Masterchef tragically produce. Amongst the confessions are a scatter of posts, perhaps aiming to create social divisions between student groups, or perpetuate stereotypes of Pinetree’s peculiar racial demographics. Or, perhaps, they are reasonably stating that grade nines should reconsider acting as traffic cones in the vigorous current of student traffic. Everything is up to personal interpretation. Evidently, all the confessions on the page are anonymous, leading to their inevitable lack of validity. Are all of the romantic pleas legitimate? Or are they simply students’ attempts to embarrass their fellow peers? There is a sense of skepticism that one must use to shield themselves when exploring the page, as the anonymity of the site protects those who post fake love-letters during their seemingly endless amount of spare time. But, beyond the confessions that demonstrate a questionable level of truth, there are also posts that are not even worth considering. Some people exploit their invisibility on the site, and use it as a segway to pass time. The majority the
9 “confessions” are as far from actual confessions as they can possibly be, and consist of random phrases, incomprehensible jokes, obviously fake statements, and content that this generation labels as, “memes.” There is a term in economics - “deadweight loss” - which is essentially synonymous to “extra burden.” Though the actual meaning behind the term has no correlation to this page, the basic idea is applicable to many of the confessions. Truthfully, all of the confessions pages in existence share a rather honourable core principle. These pages allow those who might harbour pentup emotions to express themselves in an anonymous manner - those who are uncomfortable sharing what they perhaps need to share are given the opportunity to express themselves in a way that keeps their identity a secret. The intent is for readers to pass judgement because they do not know who to judge. Thus, anyone who visits the page should respect those who truly use it as an outlet to obtain some emotional relief. Yet, this is social media we are talking about - a place where it is difficult to do anything without being on the receiving end ot external judgement. In the end, harsh judgment and insults are inevitable - many people will likely even doubt that sincere confessions are true. To those who post honest confessions, I apologize for possibly doubting or judging you, as well as respect the courage it took for you to express yourself. But, I warn and remind you - unwanted feedback is to be expected because pages like these are intended for people to simply share under a shroud of assured anonymity, rather than seek out constructive criticism. Overall, the growth of communication and social media often induces waves of trends that comeand-go, adding to the wasteland of worthless and even embarrassing content that we of the twenty-first century immerse ourselves in. Confessions pages are undoubtedly one of the more questionable trends of our time, but like all students, we fail to even ask the questions; rather, we hop on the bandwagon and hope to get a kick out of the comedy, sadness, sympathy, pity, infrequent but admirable sincerity, and anonymous banter that define PTSS Confessions. We do not know how long this page will last, but we do know that it supports the unpredictable phenomenon that is modern social media.
10GLOBAL YEAR IN REVIEW:
2016 Recap
ORLANDO ATTACK PRINCE
The famous singer-songwriter “Purple Rain” Prince was found dead at the age of 57. The cause of death was ruled to be an accidental overdose of fentanyl. Prince shot to fame in the 80’s, and became known as one of the stars of the 20th century due to his significantly unique style, vast range of talents (besides singing and dancing, he composed his own music and played various instruments), and his eccentric quirks. Hailed as one of the most talented musicians of his generation, he will be dearly missed.
CHRISTINA GIMMIE
Christina Grimmie, aged 22, was a former YouTube star with over 3 million subscribers. On YouTube, her talent was discovered, kickstarting her musical career where she would end up performing backup for several big names in the industry like Selena Gomez. She appeared on season six of “The Voice,” and won third place. At an autograph signing inside a theater in Orlando, Christina Grimmie fell victim to an assassination, conducted by a man named Kevin Loibl. Her brother, Marcus Grimmie, was able to restrain the shooter by tackling him to the ground. However, Christina Grimmie later passed away from her wounds.
Omar Mateen, a 29 year old man with connections to ISIS, carried out one of the worst mass shootings in American history at the gay nightclub, Pulse. 49 people died, and more than 50 were injured. The police were eventually able to stop him. The event sparked massive outrage as many took to social media to discuss the issues of hate crime and terrorism. This was not only one of the most controversial topics of 2016, but also one of the lowest moments of the year.
The United Kingdom deciding to leave the European Union was one of the most significant and most controversial political events of the decade, let alone 2016. Following a referendum held on June 23, 2016, 52% of the voters selected Brexit, enforcing the decision to leave the union. The event dealt with many factors, including financial burden to local economies, unemployment concerns, and external influence of British politics/ laws. Even after the vote, there are still many details to sort out. The estimated time that Britain will leave the European Union is 2019.
BREXIT
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Global The 2016 Summer Olympics was one of the major international sporting events of the year. There were many controversial topics of discussion before the games, including the instability of Brazil’s federal government, as well as many labor and health concerns. There were cases of labor-abuse and under budgeting; furthermore, many of the venues were incomplete only a few weeks before the opening ceremony. The outbreak of the Zika virus also led to concern.
RIO 2016
ATTACK IN NICE
After a fireworks display to celebrate the Bastille Day holiday, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a middle-aged man under the orders of the Islamic state, drove a cargo truck through a large crowd in the Promenade de Anglais, resulting in the deaths of at least 84 people, and the impairment of 303. He was stopped during a gunfight between him and the police where the police succeeded in killing him. Many took to social media with hashtags #PrayForNice and #JeSuisNice to show their sympathyc and grief. Some even offered survivors places to stay for a short while.
Written by: Kate Huang & Jeffrey Shen Graphic by: Emily Liang
SK PRESIDENT SCANDAL
South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye for her involvement in a political scandal. The scandal, which has generated huge protests, is based on her relationship with an old friend; she was accused from participating in cult activities, influence-peddling, and leaking classified information. The scandal has caused outrage, riots, and protests from all across the country.
US ELECTION
In the recent US Presidential election, with a voting turnout rate of 55.3%, Clinton won by popular vote, beating Trump by more than 3 million votes. However, when it came to stateby-state turnout, Trump still won more states than Hillary. Trump won more than thirty states, including major states such as Florida, as well as Democrat-favorite states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. Trump is one of the few presidents in history who has no previous political experience. Yet, he is already planning to renegotiate trade agreements with China and Canada.
12 SCHOOL THE ROAD TO DEATH FOR PINETREE’S 5 BLOCK SYSTEM
Block Schedule Changes
Am I the only one getting dizzy from this?
New Semester: New Rotation. What are the pros/cons?
Photo courtesy of barrykibrick.com
where I asked him questions students submitted on our online poll. Now I would like to mention before I continue that the following information consists of my own views and opinions. Will this new schedule be the Benjamin Connor beginning of the end of Pinetree’s five-block schedule? Writer As we know, Pinetree’s schedule is unlike any other in the school district, with a rotating five-block system, We’ve all probably heard about the new block schedule in comparison to the more common stagnant fourchange that will be put into place next semester – the block system. Yet, I’m wondering if this change to change from our rotating schedule to the static blocks a static schedule is the first step towards converting one through five every day. I write this very troubled Pinetree to a four-block system. I discussed this idea by the matter and I know I share this view with many with Mr. Clarke and he mentioned it was a possibility of the students at our school; I think it’s fair to say for Pinetree’s future, as they are looking for ways that we’re disappointed that we did not have more of to shorten the day. However, whereas changing the a voice in the process. I also think that many students rotation of the schedule does not require parent have a lot of questions about what’s in store for consultation or a collective agreement with staff, Pinetree’s future because until recently, we’ve heard changing the start and end times of the day does little about the rationale behind this change. I took the require that meaningful consultation. Therefore, liberty to try and clear up some of the most popular students and parents should expect consultation if a questions, and give everyone a clearer picture of the block were to be removed in the future. thoughts of the administration. Following this article To clear up any questions about the importance of is an interview that I conducted with Mr. Clarke, the five-block system, it all revolves around electives.
School In a year, each student has a total of ten block spaces available. With five blocks in a day, the school can offer more electives to students since there are more available spaces. More importantly, there is a lower chance of blocks conflicting with each other, allowing students to take all or most of the courses they want without having to choose between courses. This is especially important for year-long courses such as Band, Math 10 and 11 Honours, AP English 11, and AP English 12, to name a few. Yet, perhaps many of you are wondering why we have a rotating five block system in general? When Pinetree was formed, the goal was to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Those who designed the schedule had research that supported the idea that the rotating schedule was better for student learning. It’s a harder system for the staff, but more importantly, it’s a better system for students. There was already a step in normalizing Pinetree’s unique schedule two years ago with the elimination of long blocks and nutrition breaks, in turn for the hour and twenty minute blocks. We’re also in the midst of changing to a new curriculum, so this seems like an opportune moment to change the block system as well. I think I know the reason why many of us are unhappy, and I believe it’s because the student body as whole did not get a forum to allow their opinions to be heard. Admin has noted this and it is something they told me they would to do differently next time. This brings me to the importance of having all voices recognized in decision-making processes. The August 2015 “Welcome Back” letter explains the change to the hour and twenty minute blocks, and it explicitly states that “it is not Pinetree’s normal practice to make significant changes without meaningful consultation with students, parents, and teachers.” This idea is something that both Mr. Clarke and I acknowledged could use some more work next time. A school represents a community that involves stakeholders in our education. In order to decide the best change for the students, I’m going to argue that all stakeholders – staff, parents, and students must have a role in the decision making process.
13 I wanted to write down a couple reasons why the current schedule is important to me, and I know many students have similar opinions. Below are some my top reasons: 1. Flexibility. The rotating block schedule gives me the ability to plan events in my life around my school schedule. For example, getting off early one day a week allows me to get to my job early, and finish work early, while at the same time allowing me to get home with enough time to complete my homework. I plan appointments when my off-block is connected to lunch so that I can avoid missing my classes. I can run errands at the mall and the grocery store because I have the flexibility to get to places at different times during the week. If 9:30 a.m. doesn’t work one day, maybe 1:00 p.m. will work the next. It gives me the ability to complete tasks that would be impossible in a standard schedule. 2. Fairness. Since this new system favours block five, everyone will want block five off since most people will want to go home early every day; however, we all won’t be able to get block five off. The current system works because everyone has one day that they are allowed to go home early, and that one day motivates people. For example, I may have a day that’s terrible, and it’s motivating to know that I’m getting off early that day, or in at least a few days. It’s something to work towards, and it is reassuring to know that it is there. 3. Keeps the week interesting. Every day would blur together and get boring if I had the same schedule. Having two blocks before lunch one day and three the next keeps me focused and motivated because if I don’t particularly enjoy certain classes, some days of the week I can get them over with right away. Also, some classes have components to them that work better during different parts of the day. I would also like to speak about the school administration’s rationale for the changes. The changes are based primarily on creating a safer school environment. They state in their attachment sent on December 6, 2016 that the change will help to “strengthen the safety and well-being of our student population, to increase safety in our building; to help
14 SCHOOL us know who is supposed to be where and to have more ease in recognizing who should not be here.” There will always be students who wander to the mall or Douglas College during their off-block, and I don’t think any changes to the schedule will prevent that. I would need more information to fully understand how the new system is a safer one. Could it mean the total elimination of off-blocks? It is a possibility that will be discussed in the future. With the stagnant system set to be put in place in the second semester, there’s little the students and staff can do to delay or prevent it. Will Pinetree ever return to a rotating block system? That’s a question that’s up for debate. If you skip to the last question of my interview with Mr. Clarke, he states that even if there were a student poll that comes back with mostly negative opinions towards the change to the stagnant system, it will still be in place next year. Mr. Clarke feels that people need to try it out for an extended amount of time to see if it might be something that they like. My only fear with that idea is that after a while, there will only be few students who remember the old system, and they would therefore be unable to give an accurate opinion. Pinetree’s schedule does seem initially confusing, but as one of the many students who have experienced it for years, I think we’ve grown very attached to it. It’s a part of Pinetree. Could it contribute to better grades for the students? Possibly - we have yet to see how a new system will affect students. I would like to end with a bit of advice for all of the students. More changes are coming down the road and the administration would like students to be more involved in the process, so if there is ever talk about shortening the day, make sure you voice your opinion. They won’t know how you feel unless you tell them. This is your school and your learning environment. You are entitled to have a say in how it runs. If you ever feel like you cannot make a change, or like your voice is not heard, keep in mind that there are three stakeholders who have a voice – staff, students, and parents – in the decision making process. I feel that parents are sometimes forgotten, and that students sometimes underestimate the power of their voice.
THE DECISION-MAKING
Interview with Mr. Clarke Benjamin Connor Interviewer *PTP = Pinetree Post C = Mr. Clarke
PTP: In your opinion, why is the static block system better or preferable to the current rotating system? C: We look at changing the schedule to give students flexibility. In coming in and listening to staff and talking to our counselors and looking at students that need some different support to be successful at school, the fixed schedule gives us more flexibility. For example, with some students struggling with health, we have some students who cannot attend a full day because of different health reasons [sic]. Having that fixed schedule, we can schedule them for mornings or maybe it’s the opposite - they can’t get here in the morning and can come in the afternoon. Some students want to access district Ace-it programs [Apprenticeship Programs]. Some students don’t have an opportunity to access those with our rotating block. Some of our grade twelve students, they don’t need to be here all the time - they’ve got more than enough credits to graduate. They don’t need to be here for a full day. By having a schedule that doesn’t rotate, they can take a concurrent course at Douglas or get a part time job. We weighed the pluses and minuses, and spoke to staff, and there were some staff that didn’t agree, but we felt for the students, we really wanted to help them get through and have the opportunities to graduate - this gives them the best tools to help them. PTP: Why is the change halfway through the year opposed to say the beginning of next year? C: Part of it is that we’re a school with one of the
School
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longest days; our days are here quite a bit longer than days at nearby schools. Some of the other schools start at 9:00 and finish earlier than us, but for some of our students the days are quite long. There was talk of schedule changes before I arrived based on how we can support students better. We continued that conversation. There we two parts to it. One was, “what can we do short term and what can we do long term.” Changing to a fixed schedule is something we feel would not have too big of an effect on people. We always tell our students that second semester can change. We thought we could do it part way through the year and we can make it so we can do some of the things to support students. So while from a student perspective, I’ve had a few - not a lot - talk to me that [sic] they were disappointed that it happened part way through the year. They felt that they were not listened to about that and I’ve taken that feedback and I’ve realized that I’ve got to do something different moving forwards. That was something about the decision making process that wasn’t the best. We make mistakes. We felt we could really help some of those students who are at risk and need that flexibility of not being here all day or being able to access other services and programs.
staff. Part of it involves the collective agreement with teachers. Part of it involves the Ministry of Education, and what you can physically handle within your building. We could go to a four-block system, but we don’t know yet. We’re nowhere near getting to that process. If we don’t, we’re looking at ways to support our younger students. So a grade twelve student having an off-block in the middle of the day, that doesn’t worry me, you’re responsible, you’ve been here, you know how to manage your time, but I have a child going into highschool next year. She’s a good student. But I’m not sure I want her having an off-block attached to lunch so she has two hours in the middle of the day to do something on her own in her first year of high school, coming from middle school where everything is quite contained. I don’t doubt a lot of grade nines can handle freedom, but I think we have to be careful with how much freedom we give people when they’ve come from no freedom. Often when grade nines struggle at school it’s because of the initial freedom they get and that amount of time, they don’t know about using that time wisely, going to the library [sic]. There’s a sky train close by, they hop on the sky train and go to the mall, they’re wandering the school doing things they shouldn’t be doing.
PTP: I’ve heard this fixed schedule being referred to as a stepping stone to a four-block schedule, is that a possibility for Pinetree’s future?
PTP: Going back to your point about having this two hour time period in the middle of the day - if a grade 9’s off-block is attached to lunch is not the best thing for them, looking at second semester, we will have grade 9’s who will have that two hour off-block.
C: So we are always looking for a way to shorten the day. There are challenges if we go and look to reduce the amount of our day. Part of the reason why we have a five block schedule is because at one point, Pinetree’s enrollment was so large you couldn’t fit everyone in the day. Students have to take four classes a day to meet the minutes of instruction. By having that fifth block for some people their day is quite long. So we’re working with staff - and we’ll include students. We’re looking at a process for which there is an option for us to shorten our day in some way. So that could be moving to a four block system, it could be changing what we do with PACK, or changing what we do with start and end times. That is a bigger process. Every time you look at start or end times you need to look at parent consultation, student consultation and
C: Our counsellors have worked really hard, we couldn’t change our start and end times for second semester, but we could look at changing the rotation. With grade 9’s who are struggling we can make it so they start later. Some of our grade nines could handle that, but not everyone can. We’ve looked at shortening our day because it’s a long day for staff and some students. I was here yesterday from seven to late, part of that was because I had a PAC meeting. Even on a regular day I like to get to work early and so do most teachers. Having a fixed day gives them the flexibility to go home early. Part of it for me is recruitment. Teachers do get choices where they work in our school district. New staff and teachers we were interview-
16 SCHOOL ing were asking about the length of our day because they’re comparing us to other schools with different schedules. We haven’t made any decisions to go to a shortened day. PTP: Concerning the potential shortening of the day, what implication does that have on electives? C: Electives still run at schools who [sic] have a fourblock day. PTP: Would you say they have as much diversity as Pinetree does? C: Some have more diversity than Pinetree. Some have the same and some have less. So it’s about what we decide to do with our school. We already have courses that run outside of our timetable. Electives will still be fine. Will students have to make choices, will there be conflicts – yes – but there are conflicts already. When we schedule now, there are always students having to make a choice. I don’t think it would be a huge impact, but we don’t know. That’s part of what we would look into. We don’t want all of a sudden a huge impact on the Tech-Ed department and five courses are cancelled [sic]. The bottom line is students only take four courses in a day. I’ve worked in another school that had a four-block system and I had lots of the students have way more than eight courses in a year. Some schools run their AP course linear after school once a week up until the AP exam in May. Some schools do Peer Tutoring at lunch. Saying that for sure it wouldn’t affect it wouldn’t be true. I don’t think it would be the death of electives. PTP: A lot of students expressed that they were upset that they weren’t to part of the consultation process. They were wondering why didn’t they get that opportunity to give their feedback on the block system before it was implemented. C: We’ve heard that and we’ve taken that feedback. In hindsight we should have had a process that gave more input from students [sic]. However, when I make a decision as a principal, sometimes when people get the chance to express their opinions, they’re
not going to like what happened. It’s not like we didn’t talk to any students. We did on a small bases talk to some students that we thought this change will really benefit. Students with health issues or struggling with school in general and need a reduced day. We talked to those students. We could change the schedule five different ways and the rest of the students would still be successful. It doesn’t meant they should have a voice, but when I make a decision I take the needs of everyone into consideration, but I believe I have a duty to help our most vulnerable students. We know we should have maybe had something bigger in far as input from students, which we will get more feedback from if we start reducing our schedule. PTP: On the newspaper we conducted a poll of students to see their thoughts on the block changes. We have about 208 responses with 85.5% saying that they don’t want the static schedule with only around 8% saying they want the static schedule. Would you be open to doing a poll with students just to get a more feedback from Pinetree for next year? Doing one at the end of the year for example and comparing opinions on the rotation and stagnant block schedule. Would that be a possibility for next year? C: We would definitely look at getting some feedback from students, but I’m going to be honest. That doesn’t mean if it comes back as 70% saying that they really liked first semester better than second that we would change our decision. Often it takes time for something to work for a school. We’re not going to go back to a rotating block schedule for next year. We would take in factors that the majority of the population doesn’t know. It may be helping other students. Yes, we would look at getting feedback from other students about how they’re feeling about it. If we did do a survey, it doesn’t mean that if it came back as negative, that all of a sudden we would change back.
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School STUDENT/STAFF’S VOICE: For the Change: - Static schedules work better for those with who have work/sports training so that those students are able to make consistent work/training times - Easier to book doctor’s appointments in your offblock - Positive step forward into implementing bigger changes for the school, allowing more options for classes and TOCs Against the Change: - Us students are the ones learning in this facility so we should at least have our opinions be heard and be recognized - It takes away our school’s unique individuality - I have experienced this type of schedule before at a different school and it depressed the students--it’s the same routine every single day - How is “safety” going to be provided with this schedule. Will they personally monitor every student in the school to ensure “everyone is where they should be”? There’s a lack of transparency and a lack of communication between students and staff - Rotating blocks provide teachers/students an equal chance of taking each class when they are most awake (some work better in the morning and vice versa)
BOY, I’M STARVING!
Brand New: Local Eateries
Shirley Wang Writer (Soruce: 17 yrs food eating exp.)
Snowy Village: This café’s main attraction is “bingsoo,” which is Korean shaved ice. They serve light and sweet shaved ice, covered in different toppings such as fruit syrup, red beans, real fruit, powders, and rice cakes. They also sell taiyaki, which is a fried pastry with a sweet filling (red bean is my favourite), and standard café drinks such as tea, coffee, and fancy lattes. The inside of the shop itself is hot, which is why it’s fine if you want to eat shaved ice right now. I went in with my winter jacket and I was sweating in minutes. They also have a small number of tables and chairs, but the bingsoo itself is best when fresh, so pray you can get a table. You can take it to-go, but then it’s only available in the large size, so keep that in mind if you don’t eat much. The prices are reasonable as well, so go give this place a try. Bubble World: As a person who is used to going into a bubble tea shop, buying my drink, and then leaving, the idea of a bubble tea restaurant was weird at first. Apparently, not many people shared my thoughts, and the restaurant has been insanely popular since the first day it opened. It starts service at 6:00 p.m. every day, and from start to finish, there’s always people waiting outside for a table so make sure to get their quick if you want to try it. The prices are standard and consistent with other bubble tea shops in the neighbourhood. They have quite a large and extensive menu of different flavours. They sell mainly Taiwanese food such as hot pot, Taiwanese snacks, rice meals, and different kinds of noodles.
18 OTHER CLASSLESS REVIEWS OF THE CLASSICS: THE GODFATHER
The “Good-father
Jeez Michael, you can’t just show up to a black tie event dressed like that. Courtesy of The Daily Mail I’m gonna write him a movie review monologue about ungrateful friends asking for favours, a salty staple of cinema befitting of the winter he can’t refuse. holidays. Here is the basic premise of the movie: In Emily Liang post-World War II New York, the organized crime in Writer the city is run by the Five Families, one of which is the Corleones. The titular “Godfather” is Vito Corleone. [NOTE: Full spoilers for The Godfather ahead, You can instantly tell that Vito is an upstanding guy because the majority of my jokes in Classless Reviews because his voice is wheezy and he shames a mortician are based on an intimate and detailed knowledge pretty brutally in the film’s opening sequence. When about the film. That’s how reviews work when you’re he refuses to allow drugs to be part of his family’s not famous enough to write 100 vague words that unscrupulous dealings (actually, the audience never don’t mean anything- I mean, a spoiler-free review.] sees any down and dirty scenes of the organized crime After a three black and white movie streak, I’ve that makes the Corleones powerful) you know that decided that Classless Reviews should return to the Godfather is more than just another mob boss. its origins in colour, with a review of Francis Ford Never mind that this is a strategic refusal so as to not Coppola’s 1972 film, The Godfather. Which is ironic alienate his political allies, Vito Corleone is a man of because this newspaper has been on a black and conscience and wants heroin out of schools. white streak for three years now. It’s also doubly ironic On the contrary, his youngest son, Michael because discolouration in The Godfather was a big Corleone, is a traitor to the family. He spent the past issue in the restoration of the original negatives, after few years as a Marine instead of being involved in being damaged by mass reprinting. Color scheme organized crime, like a downright disappointment. His (or lack thereof) aside, I must admit that this movie sheltered youngest son lifestyle starts to crack when a choice is something of a cop out for me. I’ll take any cop breaks his jaw at a hospital. Later, he steps up to excuse to brush up on my memory of Vito Corleone’s
Other assassinate said cop and an accompanying drug baron, mostly in retaliation for an assassination attempt on Vito, but at least partially for messing up his face real bad for the next 20 minutes of movie. Deaths pile up on Michael, his first wife, his eldest brother, and even his father, and by the end of the film, he becomes the new Don Corleone, finally fulfilling his full potential of hair grease usage and cold stares. It’s a beautiful story of one young WWII veteran caterpillar going into the cocoon of family member death and emerging as a mob boss butterfly migrating to Las Vegas. Imagine a coming of age story, except everyone is already an adult and more loved ones die than a Newbery Medal judgement committee can keep up with. More than transformation, The Godfather digs into the insider/outsider dichotomy. For example, when Michael prepares for Baby’s First Mafia Hit, one of his targets tries to speak in Italian to exclude the other police officer from their conversation. Michael, in true secondgeneration immigrant style, doesn’t have a solid enough grasp of Italian to reply, and switches back to English. Actually, now that I think about it, The Godfather is kind of a story about immigrants. Kind of a weird thing to forget because the movie includes a traditional Sicilian wedding, cannoli, and a character whose lines are mostly anti-Italian pejoratives. When things get too spicy in New York, Michael even seeks safety in Sicily. The cultural and linguistic barrier is apparently not enough to stop him from getting married to a local woman, before the universal message of a car bomb shows him that when your roots are from one of the most powerful crime families in America, you really can’t get away from them. There’s a complex message in The Godfather about duty and destiny that I’m too dense to really understand, but I think it has something to do with family. As much as Vito would like keep college-educated and delicate-jawed Michael out of the family business, he needs Michael to become Don Corleone. Family is important in the film in obvious ways, like a brother beating up his sister’s abusive husband with a trash can lid, and in more subtle ways, like closing the door on a wife when the caporegimes come to visit. It’s crazy, you order the brutal assassination of like seven guys at the same time as your nephew/godson’s christening, and suddenly everyone wants to kiss your hand. Michael’s
19 status as a Corleone demands that he do things that would have made him call the cops on himself before, but now are simply part of who he is as a person. But at the same time, Michael is not entirely slave to destiny here. Quite the opposite really. He enters the world of organized crime of his own volition and actively builds a new identity for himself. Blood has nothing to do with it, except when it splatters across the clothes of traitors to the Corleones, of course. It’s loyalty to family. Michael doesn’t see the family business as any of his business until his old man gets gunned down in a fruit market. Then, it’s personal. There is also an element of the desire to belong in Michael’s transformation. His brothers poke fun at him for being an outsider, rather than for the usual brotherly reasons, like being slightly shorter or having ungelled hair. Heck, even Michael’s informally adopted German-Irish brother is Vito’s consigliere, his closest advisor. In order to truly become part of the family, he has to make being a Corleone his primary motivation, as well as start talking in threatening euphemisms and being super into revenge. When Michael becomes the new don, he is welcomed into the family of organized crime, and he leaves his non-Mafia family behind, showing exactly what it means to be part of the family as a Corleone. The Godfather is a gangster film that also manages to be a three hour long family drama, a bildungsroman, and an immigration story all at the same time. It makes you question things like: “Would I kill two entire guys for my dad who is really old anyway?” Or “Why aren’t there any subtitles for the Sicily scenes?”. Overall, just a top-notch movie, even if it took me an excessive amount of Googling to understand Mafia power structures and why the movie is so orange. It was all worth it, I assure you, especially for the dramatic quotes to be sent to friends or family members at any slight inconvenience. C’mon. Watch The Godfather. It’s a suggestion you just can’t refuse.