Near North District School Board

NSS Student Wins Javelin Title at OFSAA

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Northern Secondary School’s Brent Couchie went the distance, winning the 2018 OFSAA Midget Boys Javelin title on June 8, 2018 at the Toronto Track and Field Centre at York University. With a field of over 20 athletes from across the province the 15-year-old from Nipissing First Nation threw his personal best of the year with an impressive 44.94-meter throw.

With strength and finesse from an athletic and artistic background, Couchie picked up the art of Javelin throwing naturally. He spends his winters on the ice playing defense in hockey and is a head grass dancer who travels to pow-wows across the country. He began his throwing career this year and has added almost 10 meters to his throw since the NDA finals in May.

Northern Secondary School is not new to developing high level javelin throwers. Last year, Timothy Hatton won the OFSAA Senior Boys Javelin Throw with a mark of 56.56 meters. Hatton’s mother Catherine is currently the head coach of the track and field team and is a teacher at Northern.

Fore more information please contact:

Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick, B.Sc., OCT, NCCP
Occasional Teacher, P/J/I/S
Trojans Coach
Kaitlyn.Fitzpatrick@Nearnorthschools.ca

Highlanders on Top at OFSAA

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Almaguin Highlands Secondary School Students had a great weekend at OFSAA beating previous personal bests.

Aidan Anger finished 4th in the Senior Boys Pole vault amongst a very tight field of over 20 athletes from across the province.  Anger, from Burks Falls, beat his own personal and school record in the highly technical vault event with a final jump of 4.30 meters. He has come a long way since his OFSAA performance last year where he placed fifth with a result of 3.95 meters.

The charismatic senior student graduates this year and has an exciting athletic and academic career ahead of him. This summer, he will be competing at the Junior/Senior nationals in Ottawa. He will then be attending the University of Guelph in the fall, where he plans to study Business Marketing and Management. He continues to compete in the Pole Vault event as a member of the university’s varsity squad.

Clarista Ardiel, a multi sport athlete who runs multiple distances, was 3rd in the Girls 100-meter Intellectual final on Friday with a time of 14.99 seconds. On Saturday, she dominated in the 800 finished ten seconds ahead of the second-best competitor with a time of 2.55.12 minutes.

Hudson Booth, also a multi sport athlete, was 2nd for the Boys 100-meter Ambulatory Race race with a time of 13.51 seconds. He finished fourth in Saturday’s 800-meter Ambulatory run with a time of 2.29.95 minutes and competed in the Shot-Put event. Hudson is in his final year of high school and will be competing at the Cerebral Palsy World Track and Field Games in Spain this summer.

Long time coach and teacher Bob Hildebrandt, along with other Almaguin coaches, have been very successful this year, sending multiple athletes to OFSAA for Track and Field despite being a small rural school. The coaches also been instrumental in developing Almaguin’s special Olympic athletes who also competed at OFSAA this weekend.

For more information please contact:

Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick, B.Sc., OCT, NCCP
Occasional Teacher, P/J/I/S
Trojans Coach
Kaitlyn.Fitzpatrick@Nearnorthschools.ca

Widdifield Arts Teacher Accepted into Art21 Education Program

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May 23, 2018 – The Near North District School Board is pleased to announce that Widdifield Secondary School Visual Arts Teacher Samara Paleczny has been accepted into the Art21 Educators Program.

Art21 is a PBS series featuring contemporary artists which provides successful applicants with a year-long professional learning opportunity resulting in six graduate credits from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. The program is open to teachers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and involves a lengthy application progress. Samara Paleczny is one of only two Canadians accepted in the program for 2018-2019.

The Art21 Educators Summer Institute will take place from July 6–11, 2018 at the New York Public Library and will focus on the educator as researcher. Teachers will be provided with the opportunity to challenge themselves, take productive risks, and engage with Art21 artists to learn more about utilizing contemporary art to teach about big ideas and the important questions facing us today. Teachers in attendance—both the new cohort and program alumni—will be able to utilize both the librarians’ knowledge and the library’s vast collection to explore critical research questions that will impact their classroom teaching during the 2018–2019 school year.

In order to qualify for the program Samara Paleczny was required to submit unit plans, lesson plans, a video application, and examples of how the Art:21 Program is referenced in her classroom.

“The Near North District School Board is extremely proud of Samara Paleczny and this significant achievement. This achievement showcases the superior quality of our teachers and their continuing dedication to ensuring that our students are provided with the highest quality of education.”
Jackie Young, Director of Education, Near North District School Board.

For more information, please contact:
Mairghread Knought
Information/Communication Officer
Near North District School Board
P. (705) 472-8170, extension 5010
E. Mairghread.Knought@nearnorthschools.ca

Chippewa Band Performs at Atlantic Music Fest

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May 14, 2018 - The Chippewa Intermediate Secondary School Band recently traveled to perform at the Atlantic Music Festival in London, Ontario, hosted by Western University.  Band members participated in instrument-specific workshops taught by renowned musicians, had the opportunity to perform, and received a silver star rating.

In addition, the band was able to experience a live jazz performance at Humber College. The show was put on by the College’s band, “The Yellowjacket Project”, which consisted of recent Chippewa graduate, John Kervin, on the piano and band leader Shirantha Beddage, a talented professor at Humber and a Chippewa Alumnist (1997).

Chippewa’s Junior and Senior bands have had a successful year, in which they competed in multiple events such as the Northern Ontario Music festival. Highlights of the years’ achievements include:

  • Obtaining a spot to perform at Music Fest Canada, which Chippewa has been invited to for over 20 years.
  • Receipt of a Gold Rating for both bands at the local Kiwanis Music Festival.
  • The Senior group scored the highest ranking in the Secondary Band category.

The Junior and Senior Band, consisting of over 60 students, will conclude this fantastic year with their Spring Concert on Wednesday, May 30th at 7 pm in the Chippewa Theatre.

For more information, please contact:
Marla Sunstrum, Chippewa Secondary School Music Department
Phone: 705-475-2341 ext. 8532, Email: marla.sunstrum@nearnorthschools.ca

Chippewa Students Get Innovative

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students working hard on posters and presenting their workMay 7, 2018 – On Monday, April 30th, grade 10 Chippewa Secondary career studies students participated in a day-long workshop that focused on the global competencies of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship (ICE).

The ICE challenge is a concept that was originally generated in the Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program, but Ontario's Ministry of Education is working with teachers across the province to modernize the curriculum. ICE is a component that has been proposed as part of a new curricular push towards integrating 21st century global competencies into career studies.

Throughout the day, students had an opportunity to develop application prototypes, hear a keynote presentation from local entrepreneurs and participate in a Shark Tank type panel that served to provide feedback for student-generated prototypes.

The efforts from the students who participated will be documented and shared with Ministry staffers to help guide the design of new curriculum. Near North was one of the only boards participating in the pilot project that tested the new curriculum using an ICE Challenge outside of school.

Students, teachers and entrepreneurs contributed to the overall success of the event assisted by the North Bay Chamber of Commerce for finding local entrepreneurs to inspire students.

For more information, please contact:

Greg Deschamps, Program Coordinator E. Greg.Deschamps@nearnorthschools.ca P. (705) 472-7015, extension 5039

students working hard on posters and presenting their work

 

Northern SS Receives New Civic Si for Manufacturing Program

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A class trip for Northern Secondary School students has resulted in a very generous donation from Honda of Canada Manufacturing that will benefit students for years to come. Their donation of a 2018 Honda Civic Si and two 4-cylinder turbo charged engine transmission assemblies will allow for learning opportunities that align with the current automotive manufacturing job market, 21st Century Learning and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education.

In November 2017, Grades 11 and 12 students in Kevin Baker’s Technological Design visited the Honda of Canada manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ontario to learn about robotics, the manufacturing process and careers in the automotive industry.

“This tremendous donation will bring an awareness to our students about post-secondary opportunities which includes employment, apprenticeships, college and university pathways. It is a great experience for the students who took part in the trip to be able to see transition of the vehicle being built in the assembly plant and having the final product back in their school,” said Northern principal Laurent Paquette.

The Near North District School Board is extremely grateful to Honda of Canada Manufacturing for their generous donation as well as Lafond Towing and Recovery Limited in Sturgeon Falls.

For more information, please contact:
Laurent Paquette, Principal, Northern Secondary School
E. Laurent.Paquette@nearnorthschools.ca
P. (705) 472-5322

Biindigen

Mii gwi Anishinabek wewena nkenmaaminak dependajig maa kiing.
"We acknowledge in a good way, the original people of the land here"
We value the cultures, histories and relationships with the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (North America)

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Near North District School Board
963 Airport Road, P.O. Box 3110, North Bay, ON P1B 8H1
[P] 705-472-8170   [TF] 1-800-278-4922   [F] 705-472-9927