Strathcona Script May 2019 Issue By Jasmine Chabba, Grade 10 Student Big Fish Musical Strathcona High School is known for its formidable reputation in all four of its fundamental pillars- academics, athletics, leadership, and the arts- and this year’s musical has been no exception. On April 23-27, 2019, the Scona Theatre Company brought their own rendition of Big Fish to the Arts Barn. A story that begins by recapping the unique relationship between a father, Edward, and son, William, brings the audience along on the elaborate bedtime stories told by Edward in an attempt to explain his life to his young son. As the son grows older and the father becomes terminally ill, William takes it upon himself to look into his father's stories and begins to understand the man and his relationship with storytelling. Putting on a production of this size and caliber is no small feat. Once again, however, Ms. Linette J. Smith and Mr. Mark Vetsch are up to the challenge along with musical directors Mackenzie Reurink and Stephanie Urquhart. Musical productions require a rigorous commitment from both directors, the tech team and the cast of around 60 students and part of what sets Strathcona apart from other musicals is the standard of professionalism the casts are held to. The rehearsal process began early in the school year and continued into late April with the cast rehearsing up to four or five times a week. This year, select cast members were even required to attend rehearsals at Firefly Studios to learn skills similar to ones performed by the Cirque du Soleil. With all the extra work put into the production, the result was guaranteed to be nothing less than extraordinary! The Scona Musical Theater Company not only serves to foster the development of exceptional actors, but also the development of great people. The skills that are taught within the program do not only apply to to when one is on stage, instead will continue to benefit the students throughout their high school careers and beyond. 1 By: Bohan Hu, Grade 11 Student Science Olympics Scona is infamous for its excellent sports teams, such as the Track and Field team, and award winning Arts programs. However, not many people know about the outstanding academic clubs also available at Scona. Science Olympics is one such club. The APEGA Science Olympics is an annual Science competition that takes place in many cities throughout Alberta, including Edmonton, and Scona’s very own Science Olympics teams took part in the event on April 9th! The preliminary stage of the competition began in early January, when grade 11 and 12 students formed groups of 4-5 to submit a design proposal for a working fluidized bed, and from there, four teams were selected to compete at the Science Olympics. The competition starts off with a Classroom challenge, which requires a mechanical project created beforehand and brought to the competition for testing and judging. There are also mystery challenges, which are introduced and completed during the competition. Teams will receive points for completing these challenges, and according to point thresholds, can receive either gold, silver, or bronze! The Science Olympics competition challenges students to use their problem solving skills in a stressful setting, as well as test their team building abilities. This competition also focuses on engineering and geoscience careers, and allows students to obtain first-hand experience on how their everyday lives may be impacted by these fields. As an academic club at Scona, the Science Olympics gives students “a way to express their intellectual interests.” says Ms. Lei, a teacher supervisor,“[as it] challenges students to use what they have learned [in the classroom] and apply it in unfamiliar situations.” Students work hard behind the scenes to conquer each and every challenge thrown their way, as well as work together on the spot to solve mystery problems with no previous preparation. They need to work well as a team and perform their best in a highly stressful situation. For Hannah Christie, a member of the Scona Science Olympics team, the reason she joined this team was to “[be] able to implement the skills and lessons taught in class to real world 2 situations.” To her, a challenging part of Science Olympics is taking different skills she learned from different classes and combining them to solve a single problem. Science Olympics is also challenging in many other ways. Teamwork is essential to the team’s success. “Working as a team [is] enjoyable, but it does have its difficulties at times when trying to come to a consensus,” says Ammad Hussain, another member of the team. However, “[it] has definitely helped us think outside the box and become better thinkers and problem solvers.” In addition, this opportunity also allows students to form new relationships with others that share the same interests. “I've [made] some close friends from participating and it has been quite a good experience.” Ammad adds. As a club that has existed at Scona since the early 80’s, Science Olympics is a recognized club but unlike other clubs such as athletics, “there are no practices or games leading up to the big day, but there are many days and nights of hard work that [goes] into preparing the take- home project,” says Ms. Lei. When asked about her favourite part of Science Olympics, she replied with “my favourite part is when the students hand in their posters and prototype for the take-home challenge...as a teacher, it is really gratifying to know that students are interested in applying what they have learned from you.” Science Olympics is a great place for students to unleash their creativity and make imagination become reality. With clubs like Science Olympics, Scona continues to provide environments filled with enthusiasm, and alongside people with the same passion, students are given a chance to do something they love. Congratulations to three Strathcona teams that were able to engineer a silver level performance at the event! 3 By Camilo Cortes, Grade 10 Student Scona Swim Team When one thinks of what it means to be a Lord, what it meant to go to Scona, maybe the newer generations think Bikeathon, our global initiative. Others think the green tiles that deck our walls. Maybe the tracks team 50 some consecutive years of city championships. Or, of course the Scona culture that people work so hard to cultivate. But for the past 3+ decades, the swim team has been winning championships and have also come to represent an integral part of Scona identity, swimmers and floaters alike. When this was threatened this year with the very real possibility of the pool closing down, one could really see how the swim community came together, generations bridged, to fight for something cared so deeply about, something that had touched so many people, it was worth fighting for. When the city announced the pool was on the chopping block, they also unknowingly announced a part of Scona culture was on the chopping block. In the words of Kirby, our extremely dedicated coach who goes above and beyond what anyone can even imagine and without whom we wouldn’t even have a swim team. The amazing thing about the Scona swim team is just how many people join every year from those who have never swam before to those who swim everyday, there’s never a shortage in new swimmers, eager to learn from the over 50 coaches who all volunteer their time to help. The success of the team in the swimming side speaks for itself with 33 consecutive City Championships. But the swim team is also so much more than just swim. The no-cut policy is central to this. More than 4 3000 kids have been coached by Coach Kirby alone. The sheer scale of the team means it becomes a community outside and in the water, a group of people who feel comfortable with themselves and their teammates. Even though swimming is usually an individual sport, the coaches really make sure everyone knows it truly is a team sport at heart. There's something special about watching athletes waking up every morning to train, and cheers so loud they shake the room. This year more than ever, the team aspect shone through when everyone gathered at City Hall to support those who spoke on Scona’s behalf to keep the community pool open. To see the chairs full of high school kids in swim team apparel, giving up their day off of school to fight to keep their pool open was to see what Coach Kirby described as “this endless cycle of inspiration and motivation [between coaches and swimmers] which, when taken into life, makes life AWESOME!”. It’s an exemplification of our motto “As one who serves”. The swim team is here to stay, and hopefully the 34th year is next. 5 By Neha Vyavahare, Grade 12 Student Old Meets New: First Graduating Class of New Strathcona Building Reunites It may not be known to most Scona students that this school’s journey of education did not begin in the current location in which it resides. The original building opened in 1908, the same building that is now known as Old Scona Academic High School. In 1955, Strathcona discovered a need to expand with Edmonton’s growing population, and moved to today’s current location. So began the life of what would become the present-day home to all Scona Lords. In early September of 2018, heartfelt memories were remembered when the first graduating class of the new Strathcona High School building held their 60th reunion in the school.