TIGER TRIBUNE
T. A. BLAKELOCK HIGH SCHOOL
Principal: Dean Barnes Vice Principal: Heather Stewart Vice Principal: Rasa Baksys
Superintendent: Yaw Obeng Trustees: Don Vrooman, Kathryn Bateman-Olmstead
Be a champion, be a tiger!
Mission: The TAB community works together to inspire high achievement through quality programs, a supportive environment,
and healthy relationships. Vision: Empowering students to achieve greater things.
APRIL 2014
IMPORTANT DATES
April 17
Mid-Term Reports—In class
April 18
Good Friday—No Classes
April 21
Easter Monday—No Classes
April 24
Parent Teacher Interviews
April 28
School Advisory Council Meeting
April 30
Full Disclosure
May 15
Trivia Night Fundraiser
May 16
Letters of Concern—Mailed Home
May 19
Victoria Day—No Classes
May 23
Senior Prom at Burlington
Convention Centre
June 11, 12
EQAO Math—Grade 9 students
June 18
Last Day of Classes Semester 2
June 19
Final Exams Begin
June 25
Final Exams End
June 26
Exam Review Day
June 26
Commencement
June 26
Last Day for Summer School
Registration at T. A. Blakelock
June 27
P.D. Day
Energy SHSM and Suncor
The T.A. Blakelock Energy SHSM Team
spent many hours last year working together to create and open up a space that
will enhance our learning environment. During phase one, a wall was knocked down,
cabinets were removed, plumbing and wiring were changed all in order to create a
new lab. The Energy Team was proud to
be involved with the partnership formed with
Suncor in the fall. A very generous donation of $15,000 to the program enabled us
to improve the SHSM Program and allow for technological advancements in the
lab. The partnership has also created reach ahead experiences, by allowing students to visit Suncor in the future and to talk to
and learn from professionals in the energy
sector.
There are future plans in place for the lab such
as the completion of the phase two infrastructure – setting up the electrical, installing pneumatics and adding finishing touches to the
room. One of the most exciting plans is that
we’ll be able to continue testing and finish the
wind tunnel. Once completed, it will be used in
a wind turbine competition with grades 7 and 8
students. With Suncor’s help, we are looking
to develop and create a filtration system for our Bio-Bike. The system will be designed to remove all the impurities from the cooking oils that will be used to operate
our bike. The Suncor donation has allowed us to
purchase materials needed for these projects.
Green energy development and discovery is important to the needs of a rapidly changing world, as
people are becoming more and more environmentally conscious. The funds that Suncor has given to
us will help to prepare students for future careers in
this growing field, with many different and exciting
opportunities.
When Suncor came to Blakelock for the donation
presentation, I was able to meet and speak with the
Suncor representatives and learn more about
women in engineering. It was incredibly valuable and has heightened my desire to
become a mechanical engineer! The Energy SHSM Team would like to thank Mr.
Petti and his team for giving us an amazing opportunity and experience!
By: Shayna McDonald, Grade 12 Energy SHSM.
T.A. BLAKELOCK HIGH SCHOOL
Address: 1160 Rebecca Street Oakville, ON L6L 1Y9
Phone: 905-827-1158 Fax: 905-827-5051 Web: http://tab.hdsb.ca
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Tiger Tribune
From the Principal...
This has been a very busy but productive semester so far at T.A Blakelock inside and outside of the classroom and everyone is really looking forward to some spring weather! Our school has continued to focus on
making overall health a priority for our students and recently received great news from the Ministry of Education which is providing us with grant money to promote physical activity for students. We hope to offer more
opportunities for our students to engage in leadership and physical activities during the lunch hours or after
school, especially students who are not on a school team. Earlier this year our staff and students developed
our school mission statement: “The TAB community works together to inspire high achievement through quality programs, a supportive environment, and healthy schools” and vision statement: “Empowering students to
achieve greater things.” We look forward to involving the Oakville Recreation department and the local
Y.M.C.A. and for new opportunities for students such as martial arts, yoga and other recreational activities.
Our students and parents should take time to review comments, marks and learning skills in the mid-term report cards received today. Students should also review their personal goals for the remainder of the year and
make adjustments where necessary to help maintain or improve their academic results. You are invited to
attend our Parent-Teacher Interview Evening, which will be held on Thursday, April 24 from 6:30 – 9:00pm.
Please check our website and the letter in the report package for more details about this evening. It is our
hope that our students will reflect on their achievement and progress in this recent report card.
Our students continue to achieve success in winning championships in Athletics, and outstanding performances in the Music, and the Arts. Thank-you for your continued support at these events! I wish everyone an
enjoyable spring and look forward to continued high academic success and involvement from
our students in the upcoming months. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions,
please do not hesitate to contact myself, or either of our two Vice-Principals, Ms. Baksys, and
Mrs. Stewart.
Dean Barnes
Principal
Breakfast Club at TAB
The aim of the Breakfast Club at TAB is to provide a healthy and nutritious start to the day for
students. All students are welcome to join us in the cafeteria from 7:45 – 8:10 a.m. every day.
The Breakfast Club is sponsored through the Halton Food for Thought which is a registered
charity that supports student nutrition programs in schools and community centers in Halton.
If parents or students would like to volunteer their time, or make a donation, please contact Mrs. Clarke at
905-827-1158 or at clarkecar@hdsb.ca.
Trivia Night
Fundraiser for Halton Food for Thought
and Breakfast Club
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Sign-in begins at 6:30 p.m.
Trivia begins at 7:00 p.m. sharp
Register your team with Ms. Miller at TABTrivia@gmail.com or in the Math office
before Friday, May 2
(paid in advance or at the door)
$10 per Person ~ 4-6 people per team
Student, parent and family teams welcome
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Tiger Tribune
News from Student Services:
Thank you to parents & guardians for their help with the course selection process for 2014-15. We are just
beginning the timetabling process for the next school year.
Some students are anxious to register for summer school for the month of July. We will have information
about the courses offered for summer school in the next few weeks. Summer school begins on July 2 for full
credit courses and ends on July 29. For upgrade courses, the end date for the first half is July 15 and the
second half begins on July 16 until July 29.
"Parent Connections" has provided information to parents about "Healthy Schools", "Helping Your Teen Succeed in High School", "Transitioning to Post-Secondary Education", "Post-Secondary Education Applications
& Scholarships", "Coping with Depression", "Social Media Safety", "Safe Partying for Teens", and "Healthy
Relationships". Sessions are held from 8:10 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. in the Staff Room at TAB. If you would like
more information about these sessions, contact Sandy McDonald, Chair of TA Blakelock Parent Advisory
Council or Janet Stewart, Program Leader, Guidance, Careers & Co-operative Education.
Graduation will be the evening of Thursday, June 26, 2014. Please mark this date on your calendars if you
plan on attending.
Janet Stewart
Program Leader - Guidance
T. A. Blakelock High School
905-827-1158 Ext. 230
Both grade 10 Tech Design classes
competed March 25 at Mohawk College's annual popsicle bridge comStudent Council Update
petition. Peter Barbour, David Kilmartin, and Steven Ribble placed March 6, Student Council hosted a raffle in honour of the Blakelock
5th out of 93 groups. Congratulaalumnus and Para Olympian, Greg Westlake. Greg participated in the
tions for a job well done.
Sochi Winter Games over the March Break as the captain of the Canadian Sledge Hockey Team. The prizes up for grabs included 2 pairs of
Ms. Blouin
Raptors tickets, gift certificates to local restaurants and a high valued
hockey stick. In addition, Starbucks donated coffee and iced tea for
students and staff to enjoy. Thank you to Starbucks, the teachers and
parents who donated these generous prizes. The money collected totaled over $700 and it was given to the Hamilton Sledge Hockey Team,
the Hamilton Sledgehammers. As a bonus, the Oakville Beaver came
and took our photo! We hope successful events like the Greg Westlake
fundraiser become a tradition at Blakelock! Next up for Student Council
is an egg hunt in April and elections in May for the new Executive
Council. Happy spring! Cheers from STUD CO.
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Tiger Tribune
Music News
By: Zara Uppal
Blakelock's Senior Wind Ensemble has had a great first half
of the year and hopes to succeed even more throughout the
upcoming months! Their December concert at the Oakville
Centre for the Performing Arts was an amazing accomplishment for not only the band but also the strong community
they have to support them. This ensemble knows they wouldn't be so successful without the help and support of their
community!
The Senior Wind's also took part in a provincial music competition earlier on in the year. Though some might say that
achieving a bronze medal is a great accomplishment, it simply was not enough to satisfy this passionate group of musicians. The bronze medal at provincials only made the ensemble work harder than they have before!
This year they hope to put all their hard work to good use when they compete in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The
Senior Wind Ensemble has been accepted into the 2014 Atlantic Festival of Music, hosted by Mount Saint
Vincent University. The ensemble has had weekly rehearsals in preparation for their upcoming excursion and
they are eager to put Halifax under their belt.
We wish them the best of luck in bringing back a gold medal to add to their many accomplishments!
Model Parliament
By Mitchell Barran, Grade 11
This past February, I participated in the Legislative Assembly
of Ontario’s inaugural Model Parliament. This is a new educational program designed for civic-minded high school students who are interested in current events and provincial issues. This unique educational experience brought together
107 students in grades 9-12, representing each of the provinces ridings, for a three day Model Parliament program in
Toronto.
At the Legislative, I learned about provincial parliament; the roles of the government, the opposition and I
found out how decisions are made in Ontario’s parliament. I had the opportunity to observe the legislature in
session and meet key political figures . I’m very honored to have had the opportunity to participate in this first
ever Model Parliament.
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This year, Free The Children’s initiative is education, focusing on giving children around the world access to
education to empower them with knowledge. The Me To We Club at Blakelock has been hard at work all
year.
Two of our initiatives have been We Scare Hunger and No Can No Can Park, collecting canned food for local
food banks every Thursday in October leading up to a busy night of door-to-door collecting on Halloween. In
November we held a fun and successful coffee house as a part of An Evening of The Arts.
Recently, our Me To We Club participated in the Power of One event hosted by the White Oaks Secondary
School Free the Children Club – a rock paper scissors tournament. As you might remember, our school
worked hard to collect donations for the event, all of which went towards helping Free the Children build an
all-girls high school in Kenya. Charlotte Baynes returned from the event as the Halton Champion.
Another initiative the Club has taken part in recently is We Stand Together to help raise awareness of Aboriginal issues, making daily announcements.
The participation hasn’t slowed down yet! We still have plenty of events and initiatives planned before the
end of the year, including our next coffee house, We Are Silent, and We Create Change.
The coffee house is planned to bring even more excitement with talented performers, stunning art for sale,
and delicious deserts.
We Are Silent is a vow of silence taken on April 17 in support of girls around the world who are denied their
right to education.
We Create Change will take place in May, and Me To We will be collecting as much change as possible to
help build schools. $20 in change is equal to one brick.
Although the year might be wrapping up soon, Blakelock’s Me To We club continues to organize events to
raise awareness, collect food and donations, and make a positive difference both locally and globally.
Varsity Swimming
Junior Girls Volleyball
The Blakelock Swim Team made a big splash this
year by participating in 3 preliminary competitions and
having the whole team qualify for the All Haltons
Championship Meet. Congratulations to the 6 gold
medalists: Mert Sehri, Meredith Johnson, Chrissa
McDonald, Charlotte Paterson, Madeleine Jeffrey
(x2), who brought home some hardware for the team!
The 2013-2014 season wrapped up last month at the
OFSAA Championship in Brantford. Twelve swimmers represented Blakelock at the two day meet
where the team finished 35th out of 220 teams in Ontario. Individual highlights include Madeleine Jeffrey
winning gold in 100 breaststroke; Mert Sehri, Jenny
Hu and Taja McLean finishing 6th overall; and, in the
teams, open boys and senior girls relays finishing 6th
in the finals. Thank you to our fanTABulous coaches,
Ms. Ramos, Ms. Stewart and Mr. MacDonnell!
The T.A. Blakelock Junior Girls’ Volleyball Team had
yet another a phenomenal season, managing to go
undefeated. They won all of their league games and
crumbled Garth Webb in two straight sets. The girls
have also participated in three tournaments, winning
gold in each one. Our Tigers should be extremely
proud of their efforts and accomplishments. Congratulations on a flawless season!
By: Meredith Johnson
By: Natalia Krstic
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Tiger Tribune
Nicole Van Zutphen
Cast Member—Sherri
The audience killed themselves laughing—not literally. Every
year, schools across Halton compile their efforts to create and/or
mount productions they wish to enter into the Sears Drama Festival, a competition where each play is performed and then assessed by a single adjudicator. After each show has been put on,
the adjudicator decides on three of the nine plays that will advance to compete at the regional level. The entries can be published or student written works, but all must be under fifty minutes.
Blakelock’s contribution this year was titled A Ruthless Undertaking, written by a group of dedicated students from grades 10
to 12. The group met twice a week over the span of about three months, starting with idea pitches for a plot
to finalizing an entire script. The school has a legacy of performing personally written shows, so it was decided to continue the tradition.
When brainstorming concepts, a grade 11 student, Brennan Asbridge, brought up the idea of a family
owned funeral home who begin murdering people in order to keep their business/if not their clients, alive (oh
the irony). The other writers and supervisors, Mr. Houston and Ms. Goncalves, were intrigued and saw opportunity for a dark comedy. Soon the notion was solidified, a general plot was decided and script writing began.
The story revolved around the Butcher family and their family funeral home, Butcher and Sons. Ned, the
quirky, nerdy funeral owner struggles to keep his business from corporate takeover while his wife, Suzan,
and evil twin brother, Ted, constantly hound him. Ned’s triplet daughters Mary, Sherri and Carrie are overly
enthusiastic about the family’s lifestyle, always eager to go to body pickups with their father and prepare the
corpses for services. They embrace the “wake up and smell the formaldehyde” outlook on life. Their brother
Noah, however, isn’t as dedicated. He focuses more on his life goal of becoming a professional surfer, and
his vapid, coquettish girlfriend, Jessica. Just in the midst of serious financial downfall, the triplets find themselves in a bit of a situation when they mix up their toys with their fathers’ work supplies. What was fun and
games with their nanny takes a dark turn when an accidental murder occurs.
Catastrophe or convenience? After making serious bucks off of the old woman’s funeral, Ned and Suzan find
it difficult to see it as anything other than a genius business tactic. This is when Ted introduces the idea of
“murder-ciding”; finding old, sick, weak individuals who are just stumbling through life anxiously awaiting their
final day. At least that’s how it started. The two get carried away in the job, killing those with a common cold
or allergies in order to “make a killing”, all while Ned is oblivious.
Each pair or so of students were assigned to write a scene, either for the introduction, rising action, climax,
etc. After countless hours of editing and assembling, the script was done, auditions were held and the cast
was assembled. Rehearsals were held every day after school from mid-November to mid-February, run by
directors Ms. Goncalves and Mr. Houston.
The festival held stiff competition, Blakelock proving to be the soul student written play. Out of all the schools
only two were rewarded with advancement to Regionals and, unfortunately, the production was a runner-up.
However, the cast and crew did walk away with three awards, one being production excellence (set, costumes, sound, lights, etc.)
Overall, the entire process of creating and mounting A Ruthless Undertaking was an unforgettable experience and hard work that was well worth it. Note: No one was actually harmed or killed in the making of this
production.
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Ski Snowboard Team
By: Mitchell Barran, S&SB Club President
Ok, so we loved the weather this winter! TAB’s Ski and Snowboard team had another successful season that started with training days at Snow Valley in Barrie and
at Mansfield near Aliston.
There were two races and Blakelock had multiple finishers in the top 10 at each
race. In February, we shared a bus with Abbey Park and travelled to Craigleith Ski
Club for GHAC. Many TAB athletes did very well and Riley Kilmer-Choi placed
second in men’s level 2 snowboarding earning him a spot at OFSSA. Riley did our
school proud by placing 13th at OFSSA .
The Ski and Snowboard Team is always welcoming new
members, so join us next season for dry land training in
October. Thanks to our Parent Volunteers whose help
makes it possible to run over 250 kids down two courses
twice in one day.
Riley Kilmer-Choi at the
OFSSA Snowboard Festival.
Out of bed at 5am, on a bus
at 6am, two hours of travel,
minus 10 degrees. Jen
Black, grade 9, will tell you
there isn’t anything more fun!
Rotary Interact Club
Spring Cleaning? Think of TAB’s Rotary Interact Club
Children’s Books.
Declutter by donating your gently used Children’s books to TAB’s Children’s Book drive. These books will
go to “Books with No Bounds” which was started in 2012 by Oakville sisters, Emma & Julia Mogus. To
date, the girls have sent thousands of Children’s books to Canada’s Far North Native communities. Check
out their amazing efforts on CBC’s “Only in Canada” . What is not suitable for BWOB, will be given to local
women’s shelters. Leave books in the front office.
Eye Glasses Drive.
We are collecting gently used prescription eye glasses to send to third world countries. Drop them off in the
front office any time this spring. Our goal is over 50 pairs.
Humane Society.
Old sleeping bags and old towels are always needed at the Oakville Humane Society for the cats and dogs to
curl up on. Clean out your linen closet and drop them off in the box in the front office.
Rotary District 7080 Interact Conference.
Interact Clubs from across Halton and Peel met at Port Credit Secondary in early April for an afternoon of
guest speakers and meeting the Rotary International Exchange Students who are in our district. Inspirational
speakers talking of their efforts to eradicate Polio in Pakistan, distribute school supplies to very poor Mexican
families and inspire future business leaders with stories from “the Python pit”. continued on next page…..
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continued from last page...
Fall 2013 was great for TAB’s 35 strong Rotary Interact Club.
Tree Planting!
Mid October, 22 Interact Club members arrived at Cornwall Road and
made very fast work of planting dozens of small trees to help reforest
the wooded area by the tracks that had been razed by the Emerald
Ash Borer. The folks at the Town were so pleased with the quality
and speed of our team we were invited back in the spring.
Smiles of satisfaction after a job well done!
All Aboard the Polar Express!
In four short weeks, a team of very creative and ambitious students built a life-size train caboose during lunch
hours in Mr. Petti’s wood shop. Parade morning, the Interact members arrived in downtown Oakville
dressed in housecoats & PJs to board their Polar Express with the conductor and the Hobo. Our brand new
drum line got to be in their first parade taking turns entertaining the crowds with TAB’s stellar Jazz Band
members who rode on the float. The weather was perfect and best of all we were awarded “First Place” in
the High School Float category. We could not have done this without Petrie’s Top Soil loaning us the
trailer, truck and driver for at least the 10th year in a row.
Salvation Army’s toy drive.
The store window at TAB was full of wonderful new presents for teens brought in by staff and students to donate to the Salvation Army’s Gift Drive. Challenged by the Halton Rotaract (university age students), we
raised over $1,600 worth of teen gifts.
Donations and new volunteers are always welcome. Interact meets on Thursday mornings from 7:45 – 8:15
in room S208. We’d like to thank all those who have helped our club to grow and thrive this year.
Graham Wright and Nathan Darling
TAB’s Interact Co-Presidents
“Service Above Self”