Saints Echo June edition by Jeremy Sayers

June Edition

Student run newspaper committed to the St. George’s community

St. George’s ranking hits all time low By Peter Ding St. George’s School rank dropped from the best school in BC to the sixth on Fraser Institute Report Card on Secondary Schools in British Columbia and Yukon in 2011. The result seems surprising but the school doesn’t appear concerned about the issue. There are seven key indicators of school performance in the Fraser Institute ranking system. Three indicators of effective teaching are average exam mark in the grade 10, 11, and 12 courses that include a mandatory provincial exam; percentage of grade 10,11, and 12 mandatory provincial examinations failed; and the average difference by which the school mark exceeds the examination mark in the courses considered above. Two indicators of practical, well-informed counseling are graduation rate and delayed advancement rate. Two other indicators are gender-gap related, which are not applicable to St. George’s. Information provided by the Fraser Institute displayed St. George’s decrease in graduation rate by 0.7 percent. This seems an insignificant drop, simply because one student did not graduate. This student left in January due to a discipline issue. However, Bud Patel, senior school principal, informed The Echo that a Grade 11 graduated early last year. Because he needs to write the English 12 provincial exam, the result comes out relatively late for his graduation. All top five schools rated higher than St. George’s showed a higher exam average, and Southridge was the only school that showed a lower graduation rate among the top five. Provincial exam results play the most important role in the whole ranking system. The statistics also shows 0.5 percent students failed provincial exams last year, while all schools ranked before St. George’s except Little Flower have 0 percent provincial exam failure. In terms of provincial exam average, St.

George’s had the lowest mandatory provincial exam average among the top six schools in Vancouver. Interestingly, St. George’s exam average dropped 1.3 percent compared to last year while all other top schools’ average rose by one or two percent. The ranking system is considered conspicuously biased by all interviewed school teachers. Patel described the ranking as a complicated

and artificial. It is hard to find a percentage or number that accurately reflects what a school offers.” Jane Jin Ling Li, the only senior school mandarin teacher, also thought the ranking was too one-sided, “Even the ministry of education argues that a school does not only look at academics.” Because only mandatory provincial exams were counted in the statistics, the Fraser Institute

Because ranking indicators were based on annually generated data, The Fraser Institute could assess not only each school’s performance in a year but also its improvement or deterioration over time. The Fraser Institute noted that in order for a school to show improvement in its overall rating, it must improve more than the average. If a school’s improvement was smaller than the

and narrow measure. William Collins, Director of Director of Studies and associate principal, argued that the ranking system is not a good measure. It only looks at provincial exam results. Verne Becott, Head of Social Studies, suggested that the ranking was absolutely predominantly focused on academic achievements and overlooked other areas of achievements. He also pointed out that the focus of the school gradually moved away from academics to more comprehensive development. Jeremy Sayers, a Georgian and senior school English teacher, considered the ranking artificial. He said, “McClean’s magazine once also ranked universities in Canada, but it does not do it any more because it realized ranking criteria was limited

seems to overlook the importance of other subjects, such as science in grade 11 and 12, that students might be good at. The ranking would have received more positive feed back from St. George’s if it had a more exhaustive approach. However, the issue would become more controversial because according to many reputable newspapers, public schools thought that the ranking was unfair and overrated private schools just to please private school students’ parents. According to the Vancouver Sun if the ranking had included consideration of extra-curricular activities, private schools would have had great advantages over public schools that do not have access to the same funding for extra-curricular activities.

average, its rating would actually show as a decline. This should be the primary reason that pulled St. George’s score in ranking down because St. George’s received full marks in four among the last five years and one 99 percent last year. According to Li, who knew some information about West Point Grey Secondary, a few years ago, WPGA was the 8th or 9th, but it tried to catch up to St. George’s every year. “Our school dropped to the sixth not because we did badly, but because the other schools improved more.” The school did not consider the drop in rank caused by students. As a social studies teacher who has worked in St. George’s for nearly 20 years, Becott compared students from the past to students now. He

said, “Students are way more academically motivated right now than before. They are also much better informed because of technology. Although technology has caused more distractions, more access to information is more beneficial to education.” Li commented that the ratio of hard-working students did not really change over the last decade. Despite the drastic drop in rank from 9.9 to 9.5, according to Collins, the average school mark and provincial exam mark did not drop significantly. “It fell a little bit, one percent maybe from last year,” Collins said. “However, the results are higher than in many previous years. We have very small changes.” Becott attributed a drop in marks to the acceptance of more athletes instead of top scholars from other schools in the past. “We have more special needs students in terms of academics. Some of them cannot graduate on time,” Becott said. Although some parents, stereotypically Asian, were very concerned about the drop in ranking, the school kept a calm stance. The fame of being the best school in Vancouver is not as significant as offering the best education. Collins said that being ranked the best school in BC is not the school’s goal. “Our goal is to provide the best education possible. We want to prepare students to be successful in all areas after they graduate.” The strategic plan for cultivating versatile students is not really definable right now, but it will come out in September. Li believes that St. George’s definitely has the potential to become the first on the rank again, but it depends on whether the school desires it or not. “I talked to a few parents. They do not pay too much attention to the ranking either.” Patel said, “I think the ranking does not bother us because we always try to do our best academically.” According to Patel, it is not necessary to change academic plans next year.

St. George’s Strategic Plan reemployed By Paul Hahn om Matthews, Headmaster of St. George’s School, has confirmed that the school will reemploy a strategic plan in order to “chart our future direction” indefinitely. “The strategic plan of St. George’s was first employed by Mr. Toy and the board, but since Mr. Toy was retiring, they decided to put it on hold for a while. “However, one of the main things that I knew that I wanted to re-employ even before I came to the school was this plan,” said Matthews.

In order to create a brand-new plan for the future, Matthews, along with 60 other members of the faculty, has spent the past six months discussing key components of the plan, culminating with a round-table discussion on April 30. For this edition, the plan will feature five aspects that will try to shape the St. George’s community into a more efficient, environmentally friendly and comfortable school. Although St. George’s teaching faculty tries very hard to keep themselves abreast of the latest teaching techniques, the first point of the strategic plan

is to focus more on all-boys-school learning. In addition, St. George’s will focus even more on its students’ character development. Matthews says that this will mean that the school will highlight key values such as integrity, discipline and other core values throughout school life. Matthews also mentioned that although the school does a pretty good job of recycling and other forms of “keeping it green”, the school would still like to focus even more on its environmental stewardship. For the future, this

means that St. George’s will invest in environmental education, as well as supplying the school with improved measures, such as light saving-light bulbs, or even solar panel. Feedback from student surveys suggests that St. George’s will also need to improve the lives of boarders. “This will include areas such as food, looking at the facilities, and also improving weekend activities,” said Matthews. Lastly, the strategic plan for the future will also encompass building on student surveys. “ We will have one of these surveys every few weeks to get feedback from

students,” said Matthews. In terms of cost, Matthews said that all changes to the school will happen inside of the school’s budget. “As a school, we can’t always depend on tuition to pay for the changes, so we will make sure that all of the changes in the next years will be inside our yearly budget.” Matthews also said that the first thing in the strategic plan will most likely be hiring a consultant to inspect the school’s environmental footprint. “The school will then see what kinds of changes we could be making.”

School news

Times at St. George’s are changing full-sized playing fields that can be taken full advantage of.

The brand new electronic lecture theatre being built in the former IT office. By Paul Hahn to an end and the portables have to been enlarged to make space for a eil Piller, Director of Opera- be removed from school property. new “cardio” room, which will feations, has confirmed that St. To cope with the lost space, the ture the ergs and spin bikes, which George’s will undergo significant school has come up with a number were also previously located within physical changes for the next aca- of different solutions. For example, the portables. demic year. the physiotherapy room, which was According to Piller, the field on “First off, we will lose the por- previously located in one of the which the portables are located will tables in the field,” said Piller. Al- portables, has already been moved be remade into a proper playing though St. Georges had a construc- into a brand new room next to the field once the portables have been tion permit for the portables for the entrance to the pool. In addition, the removed. As a consequence, St. past six years, this permit has come room opposite the fitness room has George’s will once again have two

Before the beginning of the next academic year the school store will move into room 117 of the senior school. “In addition, the school store will also be selling school supplies such as pencils and notebooks to students, when they forget or need them,” said Piller. Although Piller is unsure about where the classroom in 117 will be located next year, he is sure that the school store will be moved to the senior school. “The reason for this is that we have almost twice as many students at the senior school than we have at the junior school,” explains Piller. In addition, junior school parents, the primary user of the story, usually have access to a car, which would allow them to shop at the senior school store without much “hassle.” Although the main part of the store will be moved to the senior school, a small “satellite store” will remain at the junior school to serve the junior school students, and to help out the main store when needed. In addition, St. George’s will feature a brand-new lecture theatre with as many as 85 seats. The space for this room has come from the previous IT office, which was located close to Dixon Gym. In order to fit 85 seats into the theatre, the school had to completely clear out the pre-

vious IT office and any free space next to it. The lecture theatre will be used for large-scale presentations and viewings. The lecture theatre is not yet functional, as no furniture is present yet, but with construction almost finished, the raw outline of the theatre is already very visible. “The seats in the theatre will be provided with electricity so that students can hook up their laptops,” added Piller. Parts of Maclean Hall will also be renovated. “[Do you] know how the cushions of the chairs in Maclean Hall feel like you’re sitting on plywood? Well, we will try to refurnish our chairs to make them a little bit more comfortable for students,” said Piller. Although it is not confirmed yet, Piller also believes that the flooring of Maclean Hall will undergo some changes, in that parts of the floor will be decked with carpets, while others will have tiles. Although Piller is not sure about the costs of these changes, he estimates that they will be around $100,000, which is funded by tuition, facility rentals and other revenue sources. Piller also added that some of the money, which the school earned during the filming of Geek Charming, during spring break, will go to the school’s overall capital, and therefore the changes to St. George’s as well.

Mock election results released by socials departnent By Nathan Hawkins n Saints’ first mock federal election, faculty and students defied the national voting trend and elected Liberal Joyce Murray. The event was organized to parallel the 41st Canadian General Election that took place on May 2. Sarah Worth and Sarah Coates organized the vote with the help of several students who have an interest in politics. The intention was to make the election feel very grounded and real, so students and faculty could cast their votes for the four candidates that make up the Vancouver Quadra constituency. They chose Vancouver Quadra because the school campus lies in that riding. With 503 ballots cast, Liberal Joyce Murray was elected by the school with 33.7% of votes. Worth commented, “Our school results did not mirror what happened nationally. A Conservative majority and an NDP official opposition could not have been predicted by looking at Saint’s voter patterns.” But the patterns were reflective of Vancouver Quadra voters. They also elected Liberals first, followed by Conservatives, Green Party, and NDP. There were slight differences in the vote distribution, but the order was the same. The event as a whole was quite successful. Worth had three goals

for the election. “Firstly for students to take an interest in what was going on in Canadian politics. Secondly, replicating a real election teaches people who have never voted before how to cast a ballot in a fair and anonymous way. Thirdly, bringing greater awareness to the democratic process, including education on our rights and responsibilities to vote is important for the future of our country.” A small campaign before the election was aimed to inform student voters about the candidates and their party platforms. Then students could see how those policies aligned with their personal beliefs. While the campaign was not huge, it definitely had a noticeable effect. “The students here did take an active role in the mock election and the debates that led up to the voting day,” said Worth. Voter turnout was for the election was not ideal. Less than 55 percent of the school body (students, staff and faculty) cast ballots, compared to Vancouver Quadra’s 62.9% turnout and the 61.14% nationwide turnout. Worth was interested how “the turnout percentage decreased as the grade of students increased.” However she did note that AP exams for senior students may have affected the turnout. There is no doubt that voter apathy

is a problem within the school, just as it is a problem in Canadian politics. There are plenty of things to prevent people from voting and only one reason for them to take the time and vote. There are also people who simply do not understand how important casting a vote is. “Running a student vote is a great way to educate people about

grades. Grade eights had the highest turnout with 85.71 percent, followed by the nines with 70.86 and the tens with 59.87. The downward trend continued with Grade 11 at 43.04 and a dismal 21.52 by the Grade 12s. “We all know that voter turnout is becoming increasingly disappointing as people become

Saints particpicpated in its the importance of voting but as in reality, I think there is a long way to go in terms of teaching young people about how powerful the youth vote could be and more generally, how voting can lead to positive change,” Worth asserted. There was also a very noticeable increase in voter apathy between

first ever mock election. apathetic about politics and politicians,” Worth stated. Yet there are issues that people care very strongly about, for instance the British Columbia HST. Regardless, people squander the opportunity they have to vote, which in essence is a refusal to stand up for one’s beliefs. Worth hopes, “The 503

people who voted last week will become 503 additional votes in a future election.” The repetition of an election like this is likely but not definite. The organization that made it possible for Saints to have the election is Student Vote. They provide teachers (and students) the tools to carry out a process like a mock federal election and Worth is “sure that for future elections they will be keen on supporting our participation.” However, Worth noted that student elections are “difficult to plan because often an election is called at short notice.” This leaves teachers and students very little time to prepare. If the school does hold another student election, Worth hopes to have more time to advertise the voting process to the student body. In particular, she would like to highlight the different party platforms so students “are better informed when they come to make their decision at the polling station.” Worth hopes that “highlighting how simple it is to cast a vote may make the process more appealing for students when they become eligible to vote.” In the future there may be online voting done through the school’s website, or a more advanced voting system.

School news

Local Service Week initiative deemed a success By Paul Hahn

eather Morris, head of service and charity, has declared that a total of 219 volunteer hours were spent doing several charitable activities over spring break. The service was called Local Service Week and consisted of 45 students committing five days of their spring break to seven different charitable activities. Students helped with an ivy pull in Stanley Park. This was followed by sorting and washing donations (toys and clothes) at three of the local YWCAs. Some other students chose to help The Lookout Society, in which students prepared food, cleaned and interacted with “the needy people” they helped out.“ In addition, students helped build homes for low-income families with The Habitat for Humanity Society,”

said Morris. Other activities included helping out The First United Church Thrift Store and participating in environmental work in Camosun bog. Although Morris did not attend all of these events, she knows that the gratitude given to students by all of the people they helped usually makes it worthwhile for them. Also, Morris highlighted the fact that she has received an unbelievable number of thank-you emails and positive feedback from the organizers describing how well St. George’s boys work for charity. “Jobs for volunteers usually aren’t very glamorous. However, for this local service week we truly did what was needed, and not what we necessarily wanted to do,” said Morris. The Head of Service and Charity also believes that this kind

of work is essential for society because no one else is there to do it. Thommy Thompson, a Grade 12 at St. George’s says that his favourite part of the local charity week involved doing work that no one else usually wants to do. “They are kind of rewarding jobs that give back to the community, and the reward for that is boundless in its own way,” says Thompson. Thompson definitely believes that St. George’s should have more charity weeks because “the feeling of giving back to the community is an extremely rewarding one, especially because a lot of the time you don’t get recognition for it. It’s almost like an unsung hero sort of thing.” Thompson would really like to thank all of the teachers who devoted their time to the service week. “It

Greg Locsin, Brian Lau, James Chen, and Nico Siy. The first place experimental this year was Human Nature made by Sebastien Swic. Econception, a “mockumentary“, won an honorable mention. Twenty-five students participated in the film festival this year, a number similar to last year’s participation. Varro did expect more to join. However, insufficient public relations limited the rate of participation, despite his effort to announce the commencement of the film festival on a full-school assembly. To improve this promotions problem, Varro said that he would figure out a way between now and the next film festival. Movies at the festival were judged by a group of three adjudicators, all of whom are school teachers. Varro is unwilling to disclose the names of the judges. Without using marking rubrics, the judges were able

to evaluate the films based on their production values including cinematography, lighting, sound, and acting. Participants of the festival this year were awarded with certificates only. However, previously, student winners received cash awards. The first, second, and third places won $150, $100, and $50 respectively. Varro did not explicitly explain why there was no cash award this year but was planning on awarding cash next year. Varro said the film festival is beneficial to the school because it allows students to have an opportunity to showcase their creative talents using moving image technologies to tell their stories. Varro said, “Film making is simply an art form that uses video as a means to communicate the message or story. It is similar to painting as an art form that utilizes the technology of pigments applied

Students showcase passion for films at St. George’s Annual Film Festival By Peter Ding

s an important part of arts week, the St. George’s film festival ended with the display of award-winning films and an enthusiastic applause from the audience on April 13, 2011. The films in this festival were mostly animation and experimental. There was no specific theme set for the film festival so as to allow students to fully explore their imaginations. Among the best films this year, according to Tim Varro, the organizer of the festival as well as senior school AV coordinator and house parent, were one experimental and one animation. The animation was a creative rendition of a poem and the experimental was a social commentary on human kind. Both films illustrated excellent production qualities. The first place in animation this year is Stress in School made by

really proves that teachers do want to know the students, both on and off school property,” says Thompson. Morris in addition, would like

to really like to thank the students for devoting part of their spring break to charity and the community.

By Joseph Lu hat was once a large absence in the art department, the art club has finally hit the road. Thanks to the due diligence of co-creators Sheldon Lim and Bryan Lu, artistic enthusiasts can now share their passion every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch. The club will focus on allowing members tackle various types of art projects over the course of the year. These projects will range from activities such as life drawing to pencil sketching and creating artist trading cards. According to Lim, the club is foremost about student feedback and catering to their interests in a communal manner. Taking place in the art room, the club intends to use a multitude of different equipment to create their projects. In addition, both Lim and Lu plan to use their vast artistic knowledge to help guide novice artists as well as provide tips and techniques to more advanced members. Ultimately, Lim and Lu want to help their members expand their art portfolios. “Art club is great because it is open to all levels of skill and you don’t need to part of an art elective to make your own lunch-time masterpieces,” said grade-10 student, Philip Basaric. Lim, who is in grade 10, says that his deep love of art is what motivated him to start the club with Lu. “I feel that the arts, even to those not interested or anything, serve to enrich our experience here on this earth so much. Whether it’s music, or a live

theatre piece, or that painting on the wall, art has a place in our lives. And I feel that this is the best way I can give back to the school community, through my art,” he said. The idea for art club stemmed from Lim’s surprise that Saints didn’t have an art club, yet very successful ceramics and media arts clubs. Lim and Lu both worked out the logistics throughout the year before finally presenting the proposal to Japanese teacher and sponsor Martha Bassett whom Lim described as “very supportive.” While only in his first year at St. George’s, Lim says he can tell that Saints has an exceptional art department compared to other schools. He told The Echo, “The art department here at Saints is phenomenal. The support and love of the staff involved is inspiring and something that we should all be grateful for.” Like any proud new founder, Lim says he would love art club to be successful and “turn into something big” but chooses to remain cautiously optimistic. “I feel if we really do have something here in art club, people will come and something will happen. But we’ll see,” he said. Personally, Lim especially enjoys drawing portraits and creating work on Photoshop. One of his most famous pieces among staff and fellow students is a close-up portrait of Marilyn Monroe. “Ever since I could remember I had my crayons out and a sheet of paper in front of me,” Lim said.

to be held the following day; they’ll definitely be celebrating. These two games aren’t the only ones causing an issue for students; Game 5 on Friday, June 10, is set so start just shortly after the conclusion of Senior Prize Day, which Grade 11s and 12s are not happy about at all, and weren’t scared to show their displeasure. Grade 11 student Devan Dass told The Echo, “They should’ve rescheduled Senior Prize Day. This could be the game where we lock up the Cup

for the first time ever, and most of us are going to miss puck drop ‘cause of prize day? That really ticked me off.” The school, of course, has not made any changes to its scheduling or formatting for exams or prize day, perhaps with principal Bud Patel being a Calgary Flames fan; however, it is certain is that most students who live for the game this city loves will be trying to finish and get out of their exams as soon as possible.

New Art Club hits Saints

Canuck craze sending Saints into stress mode By Samir Javer ith the Canucks just inches away from their first-ever Stanley Cup, many die-hard fans who are also Saints students are being faced with the ultimate conflict: hockey or studying? For the majority of fans, of course, the answer is simple; the premier. However, for students in crucial years such as Grade 11 and 12, the Canucks’ Cup run is creating a serious headache. All final exams count for a significant chunk of students’ final grades, thus they cannot merely be shrugged off. The majority of examinations count for 25% of final grades, or the equivalent of one of the three terms. Provincial exams, fortunately, don’t commence until nearly a week after the last possible Stanley Cup Final game is played, which gives some students relief, with exams

such as the English 12 Provincial counting for a substantial 40% of students’ English 12 mark. The two must crucial games of the series, Game 6 and Game 7, scheduled for June 13 and 15 respectively, are the ones that have students worried the most. For Grade 11s, the Physics and Earth Science 11 exams on the 13th don’t conclude until 4:45, which will undoubtedly cause an issue for those who have to commute a long way to get back home. Grade 11 student Zaafir Ladha told The Echo, “The Physics exam is going to be a big issue for me, it’s the late exam, ending just before game time. I live all the way in Ladner so I’m definitely going to be missing a big chunk of the game. It sucks.” Game 6 is also the night before many big exams, such as Physics 12, Math 12, Math 11, Math 10, and

Science 9. Also facing this conflict for Game 6 are students writing the Mandarin 10, Latin 9, German 9, Japanese 9, French 8 and L.E. 8 exams, all scheduled to come to a close just 15 minutes before the game is set to commence. Game 7, meanwhile, which if played, of course, will be the most important game of the entire season, is scheduled for June 15, causing an issue for many Grade 8 and 9 students. Sadiq Jiwa, a Grade 9 student told The Echo, “I’m really upset because my math exam doesn’t end until 4:45 that day and I’m a huge fan so here’s to hoping there’s no Game 7!” If there is indeed a Game 7 and the Canucks do come out victorious, it is sure that many die-hard fans won’t have much time to be studying for their language exams that are

Creative writing

Creative Writing and Editorials

Sports Day 2011 reviewed as a great success By Kevin Li very school year students look forward to the Sports Day Championship. This year was no different. The entire grade 8 and grade 9 student body was split up into teams representing countries such as Holland, Belarus, and China. Some new tweaks were implemented, including Mind Games and new activities. Other than some instances of cheating, Sports Day 2011 was a great success! The day started off well, with a bright sunny day and not a cloud in the blue sky. After signing in to attendance, the students hurried to the gym. There, our teams all sat together. After a quick speech from our PE teacher, they all rushed out the gym door and went to their specific stations. One such station was the obstacle course. It looked simple enough. Players had to spin five times with their forehead touching a baseball bat, then run though 4 tires. A balance board followed and then a barrel roll under a limbo stick. A quick touch and the next guy in line was allowed to start. The instructor talked the players through the course and after a dry run, the race was started. Ready! Set! GO! The first teammate rushed through the course. He sprinted back and as soon as he touched the next in line’s hand, he was off. After the race was

over and were given 10 minutes of rest and we were off to our next station. The next activity was Erging. On the edge of the field I spotted a couple of erg machines and jogged towards them. Soon the rest of my team arrived and we began warming up. The instructor told us that we would be racing against each other, covering a distance of 2000 meters. Each of us would row 250 meters, switch people, and then row another 250 meters. After practicing a quick change routine, the instructor counted down. Ready! Set! ROW! The rowers rowed like crazy. As soon as one rowed 250 meters, he quickly slid off the machine and the next sat down. When we had finished, I heard my team leader yelling for us to gather around. He started to split us up, some of us going to a new activity called Mind Games and some of us going to Ultimate. Mind games had never been done before and the players chosen headed into into the gym. The two gyms were now filled with tables and the various countries filed into the bleachers. Mr. Cohee walked up and led us through the various activities. First he demonstrated a game that lay in front of us. It involved putting a pantyhose with a baseball inside on one’s head. You are supposed to bend over, swaying the baseball

in a way that knocked over all the plastic water bottles that lay on the ground in straight lines. All the games would have to be completed in one minute as shown on the game clock. We moved on as Mr. Cohee demonstrated the games one by one. When he was finished, players were put at specific stations and given directions to the next one. The first one involved blowing up a balloon only once and using it to blow 8 cups lined up horizontally. Seemed simple enough. The buzzer rang out. The first person blew the balloon up, lined it up with the first cup and pushed on the balloon. A stream of air came out but the cup wouldn’t budge. He released his fingers on the balloon’s neck and all the air inside rushed out. The cup flew off the table like a rocket. However, there was no air left inside the balloon. The buzzer rang. He sighed. The next person couldn’t do it either. Groups traveled around the gym to the various stations. Even though some were lost and some were won the general morale was high. The challenges were unique and fun. One involved placing an OREO cookie on your head and trying to get it into your mouth! Another station involved trying to knock over a marker with a marble. After the final buzzer rang Mr. Cohee praised us for our good spirit and dismissed us. Finally, it was lunch time. The

grills had been tantalizing for the entire day. You had to get a token from the cafeteria. The staff gave you a bun and a patty and whisked you off to the condiments line. After eating, the teachers called all the teams in for a meeting. There was going to be a Balloon War! Each team had a chosen player to be the mummy. He was to be wrapped up in toilet paper and he sat in a chair in the middle of a ring that extended 1 and a half meters around him. Two players were designated as blockers and were the only ones allowed in the ring. They would try to block all balloons. The object of the game was to hit the mummies with water balloons and try to get all the toilet paper off. The mummy with the most toilet paper left on him wins. All of the team’s players grabbed two water balloons and as soon as the whistle was blown there was a mass rush. It was chaos. Balloons were flying everywhere. The smart ones held on to their balloons in hopes of catching the mummy with his blockers off guard. The others just waited for a mass of people to clump and and hurled balloons into the fray, hoping to hit someone. At the end of the battle, two mummies were soaked, two were kind of soaked, and one with superb blockers was completely dry! The next and final activity was the infamous tug of war. The teams faced off in this test of leverage

and strength. Team Belarus was the victor. With every shout of PULL, they pulled the rope back. And soon the tag on the rope passed over our line and they won. Everyone cheered and high-fived each other. They did the same thing to the next team...and the next....and the next. Pretty soon Belarus was in First Place. The teachers announced that Belarus would be facing the Grade 9’s next! This was it. The moment of truth. Ready! Set! Go! They pulled and pulled. But it was useless as the team members lurched forward with every pull from the Grade 9’s. Someone tripped and the entire line fell over like dominos. Needless to say, Belarus lost. Badly. This was the last event. Everyone walked into the gym for the final speech. During the speech, they brought in a large styrofoam box. This started a low murmur about what it might be. They announced that the winning team was Belarus and all of the members lined up beside the mysterious box. They opened it….....and handed out cold drinks to everyone. Finally, we were dismissed. Sports Day 2011 was a great day! The coach told the Grade 8’s that our feedback was going to be taken into consideration for the next one in 2012 and it was going to be even better. Everyone had lots of fun and there was some great sportsmanship and leadership on display.

S t u d e n t s d e s e r v e t h e o l d S a i n t s C a f é Saints service club:

By Joseph Lu igh school is all about developing personal accountability. Whether that means getting to class on time, staying on top of studies, or choosing the right crowd to hang out with, high school is a place where students transition from dependent children to independent men. Therefore, removing the junk food from the school is a misguided move that takes away both the freedom and responsibility that St. George’s students deserve. In light of the recent changes made to the Saint’s Café and vending machines around the school that removed less nutritious favorites , many students are outraged over the new ‘healthier’ menu, as they should be. One’s diet is a personal matter and shouldn’t be controlled by the schoo.

Obviously, a more nutritious and balanced diet will benefit a student in a variety of ways. However, students at Saints are generally more athletic and active than the average Canadian teen and can afford the novelty of a few extra calories. In addition, Saints students today are more ‘babied’ than ever before. Taking away personal accountability and the consequences that go along with it is only going to leave the student unprepared for the future. Once a boy leaves the halls of St. George’s, he will not have learned healthy eating habits, but rather have grown dependent on others to make dietary decisions for him. It is not hard to see why the school decided to revamp the Saint’s Café menu. The correlation between nutritious foods and health is undeni-

able. In theory, healthier minds and bodies will be able to better contribute to the community. Also, according to Statistics Canada, 26 percent of adolescents are overweight nation wide. Surely, St. George’s is looking for methods to remain ahead of that statistic. At the core of the movement, the school is simply looking out for the students’ best interests and one cannot fault them for that. But the fact remains, the considerably shorter lunchtime lineup at the Saint’s Café is a sign of students resisting the change to the more nutritious snacks that now predominate the Café’s shelves. If students can’t get their fix for apple turnovers or Miss Vickie’s at school, the more likely students will look for these foods at home in larger quantities so they can bring and sell them at school. The solution is simple: reinstitute the Saint’s Café to the way it was three weeks ago. To conclude, St. George’s is already an institution laden with restrictions such as uniforms, hair styles, and mandatory games choices. High school is a place of self discovery and independence. Therefore, students deserve some liberty and should be able to choose what they want to eat.

Keeping Vancouver spectacular By Dannis Wang he St. George’s School Service Club is doing a litter pick up for the Keep Vancouver Spectacular event, started by schools and neighborhoods throughout the city. The litter pick up is happening on Wednesday May 25, 2011 around the school and near Dunbar. It will count for service hours and the Keep Vancouver Spectacular organization will be providing all the tools. This litter removal will be the last chance for a person to add to their service hours this year since the due date for service booklets, if one wants their service pin on prize day, is May 26, 2011. Volunteers will be split into 4 different groups working in different zones. The zones will be the Junior School, the Senior School and places around Dunbar.

Keep Vancouver Spectacular occurs all throughout May and is a continued effort to keep Vancouver clean. It is a campaign with volunteers and block captains that work together to pick up litter and clean up areas all across this beautiful city. Last year 16,000 volunteers in 150 groups participated and took garbage off our streets. The majority

of clean ups take place in May, but some groups organize different litter removal all year long. Anyone can join and Keep Vancouver Spectacular will provide tools and gloves. Keep Vancouver Spectacular has been around for 15 years, and first started with around 1,500 volunteers collecting a total of 90 tons of garbage. In the first year, people from 400 different blocks of Vancouver participated. Keep Vancouver Spectacular is a great initiative for the community and it is very easy for everyone to participate. Everyone should try to take part in this initiative and keep our city spectacular! On the day of the litter pick, it was a very rainy. The majority of the people attending were from the service club. There were 4 groups that worked around Dunbar and Chaldecott Park. During the litter pick, Mr. Patel joined in and helped on group pick up garbage. The majority of the garbage found was cigarette butts and receipts. The litter pick was a huge success and the majority of the bags were filled to the brim. Hopefully, next year another litter pick just as successful can be organized.

Sports news

Past and present Saints participating in the 2011 Canadian Ismaili Games By Samir Javer s soon as their last exams are over, most students will be kicking back and relaxing for a long, well-deserved summer. However, for a group of Ismaili Muslim boys, the end of provincial exams will mark the start of the 2011 Canadian Ismaili Games- a national sports tournament held every three years in a different Canadian city. This year’s tournament will be held in Edmonton from June 30 to July 3 at the University of Alberta’s athletic facilities. Brothers Rahim and Aly Shivji (Grades 10 and 12 respectively) will be competing for BC in soccer after making it through a number of rigorous tryouts. Also hitting the pitch for British Columbia is Zaakir Jiwa ’09, brother of senior student Aalim Jiwa, who has established himself as an elite Ismaili soccer player in the province. On the hardwood, Grade 11 student Zaaﬁr Ladha will be representing BC in basketball, despite nursing a severe knee injury, while Samir Javer is set to suit up for his province in hockey. The tournament pits the country’s best Ismaili athletes against one another, province on province, in a long list of sports, most prominently headlined by basketball, golf, hockey, soccer, tennis and volleyball. British Columbia is best known for its dominance in basketball at this tournament. Following the Canadian games, the best of the best in each sport will be selected to compete for Canada in the Golden Jubilee Games, joined by hundreds of other Ismaili athletes around the world, to be held in the summer of

Zaakir Jiwa, wearing blue in the front, participates in a soccer match during SportsFest last summer.

2012 in Syria. What is most remarkable about this group of boys making these teams is that the minimum age to compete in this tournament is 16, with the bulk of the talent coming from players in their 20s and 30s. However, there are some true veterans in each and every sport who seem to be ageless whenever they suit up for their respective squads. Rahim and Aly’s father is one such veteran, who will be one of the key players on the soccer team when the games are off and running. Ra-

Ski Team snags its eighth consecutive provincial title By Paul Hahn fter several hours of intense competition Feburary 28 to March 2, the St. Georges ski team emerged victorious with another provincial title under their belt. In fact, the Saint George’s team received six medals, the most gained by any other school in the province. Justin Hayto, the school’s deputy head boy, came first overall in skiing. Alex Smith, from grade 11, came fourth overall. Philip Basaric, from grade 10, completed his races and captured fifth place overall. Hubert Wohlgemuth, the school’s head Ski/Snowboard coach, was present at the provincials, and says that he is very happy with his team’s efforts and their overall results. According to Wohlgemuth, the highlights of the provincials included: “Justin winning both races and getting the overall individual for the second year in a row. Also, the boys winning their eighth consecutive Provincial Championship was pretty

impressive.” For Basaric, the best memory was not winning the competition, but spending time with the rest of the ski team and getting the chance to ski in deep powder snow. Jeremy Sayers, the assistant coach of the ski team, agrees that Hayto is a great skier. In fact, Sayers even mentioned watching Hayto ski as one of the highlights for this season because, “He was just dominant in all of his races, and usually won all of his races by a few seconds over second place.” Sayers also agrees that even without Hayto, the team will still have a very good chance of winning the provincial title next year. “Hayto is a huge asset to the team. There is no doubt about that. Having said that, we do have a lot of very strong, young skiers on the team who have the potential to do very well at the provincials. For example, Phillip Basaric and John Craig look very promising for our next seasons.”

him told The Echo, “It’s obviously a huge honour to represent BC in soccer, and I’m really happy they changed the minimum age to 16, as there’s a lot of talented athletes that are around my age who I know have been dying for this opportunity.” The inaugural Canadian Ismaili Games tournament was held in Vancouver in 2008, with the majority of the events taking place at facilities the University of British Columbia. In 2008, the tournament was held over the Victoria Day long weekend in May; however, the tournament

was shifted over to the start of summer this time to allow for an even bigger turnout. Aly commented on the date change, saying, “I really like how they’ve moved it to just after summer starts; it’ll be nice having just graduated and being stress-free, then heading to Edmonton to play soccer for a few days.” Ladha, meanwhile, went through a different path than everyone en route to making his team. He had suffered a serious knee injury a while back, and thus was unable to participate in

any of the tryouts, which were held in April. A few weeks ago, however, Ladha contacted the coaches and was given an opportunity to showcase his talent for them and thus was selected for the basketball team. He is a member of the Saints Varsity basketball team, and will look to take the skills learned there with him on the way to Edmonton to put forward his best game for BC. He told The Echo, “I’m very grateful the coaches gave me this opportunity and I won’t let them down. Obviously the knee is a bit of a concern, but I’m conﬁdent it’ll be good to go by the end of June. Representing my province in the sport I love is a surreal thought.” As a result of being selected to their respective teams, the players must now attend either early-morning or late-night practices twice a week in the time leading up to the tournament, which kick offs June 30. The Canadian Ismaili Games received lots of media attention during its debut in Vancouver in 2008; everyone’s favourite Canucks anthem singer, Marc Donnelly, sang the Canadian national anthem at the opening ceremonies with a handful of high-proﬁle guests such as Sam Sullivan in attendance. Ismailis across the nation hope that this year’s tournament will be even more of a success, with the opportunity to play their sport at the national level in Syria in just a year’s time on the line. For anyone interested in the event, more information on the tournament can be found at http:// cig.theismaili.org/.

Thank you for reading and supporting The Echo this year. Enjoy your summer.

The 2010-11 Journalism Team (L to R): Jeremy Sayers (sponsor), Joseph Lu, Nathan Hawkins, Peter Ding (co-editor), Eldon Chan (co-editor), Samir Javer, Dustin Patara, Paul Hahn.