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Festival of Lights starts holidays on celebratory
note - December 17, 2008
Once again Linden's annual Festival of Lights
provided a great kick-off to the holiday season, allowing
students to showcase the skits, songs and artwork they worked
so hard on throughout the first term of the school year.
The festival featured performances by the
Linden Band, our three steel pans groups and several music
classes; each grade also prepared a special presentation to
share with the audience, ranging from vocal performances by
Linden's youngest students to a Linden-themed rendition of
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" by its eldest. This
year's event also included a holiday bake sale organized by
the grade 11s, the proceeds of which will go towards the 2008-2009
grad trip.
Thanks to everyone who joined us at this
year's festival - we hope you had fun!
Linden student raises $440 for Toy Mountain
- December 16, 2008
Last week's Toy Mountain fundraiser, orchestrated
by grade 6 student Hannah B., raised a grand total of $440
to buy Christmas toys for children in need.
As part of her unique fundraising proposal,
Hannah asked members of the Linden community to bring in jars
filled with candy, pens, stickers and other fun items. Students
were then encouraged to buy raffle tickets to win one of 16
jars (or groups of jars) of their choosing, with 50 cents
buying one ticket and two dollars buying five. Raffle sales
boomed all week, culminating in a very well-attended draw
for the winners on Friday at lunchtime.
Hannah created the fundraiser in support
of Toy Mountain,
a joint initiative of the The Salvation Army and CTV. Toy
Mountain collects toys for children in need all over the Toronto
area, distributing them in time for Christmas.
Thanks to all of the parents, grandparents
and students who donated jars, and congratulations to Hannah
for organizing a very successful fundraiser!
Wen-Do an empowering experience for grade
7 students - December 16, 2008
As part of their Physical & Health Education
unit on Personal Safety, Linden's grade 7 students completed
a two-day basic Wen-Do course last week.
The course, which is offered by Wen-Do
Women's Self Defence, teaches a variety of physical and
verbal self-defence techniques, awareness and avoidance of
threatening situations, and discussions of psychological,
social and legal issues involved in self-defence. Once they
had completed 15 hours of basic Wen-Do training (over two
days), each girl also got the chance to break a board (with
the guidance and supervision of the instructor). The girls
kept their broken boards as proof of all they accomplished.
Though we hope they will never have occasion
to use their new skills, the course encouraged the girls to
feel more confident in every situation they face, and showed
them they have more power than they knew.
Thanks to Elizabeth, the grade 7 Physical
& Health Education teacher, for organizing this great
opportunity!
Grade 3/4 students learn unique art of
Shibori Dying - December 16, 2008
On Tuesday, December 9, Linden's grade 3/4
class learned about the beautiful Japanese art of Shibori
dying. The activity was part of a novel study the girls recently
completed, and each girl got to take home her own raw silk
scarf at the end of the day.
Two special guests for the day, Liz and
Kathleen, explained the intricacies of the art to the girls,
telling them what each of the dyes they were using was made
of and demonstrating how to create patterns on fabric using
string, elastics, marbles and other items. After the girls
applied a base colour to their scarves (using a dye bath made
of onion skin or tea), they were able to create their own
unique patterns on the fabric, and then choose whether to
apply an orange or purple dye for the final colour. The end
results, some of which are included in the photo above, demonstrated
each girl's creativity and individuality.
Thanks very much to the girls' special guests,
Liz and Kathleen, for leading such an interesting and fun
activity!
Linden graduate receives journalism honour
- December 9, 2008
On Thursday, November 20, Thandiwe Vela
(Linden '05) added a $1,000 scholarship from the Canadian
Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) to her already impressive
roster of accomplishments.
CABJ is a national organization of African-Canadian
journalists who work in broadcasting, publication and media,
and who are committed to bringing greater diversity to Canadian
newsrooms through mentorship, advocacy and education, especially
for African-Canadian youth. The association presented the
award to Thandiwe in recognition of her commitment to journalism,
demonstrated by her studies in the journalism program offered
jointly by the University of Toronto and Centennial College.
Thandiwe's dedication to her chosen career
path extends beyond the classroom - she was recently invited
by the Dean of her program to be one of two students on the
steering committee for all U of T and Centennial joint programs,
and she works part-time in the Toronto Star's newsroom. She
is also an elite athlete, competing at the varsity level for
U of T's track and field program.
Congratulations Thandiwe, and we wish you
continued success!
Grade 3/4 class brings Medieval times to
life- December 5, 2008
Yesterday, Linden's grade 3/4 class created
their very own Medieval village for A Day In The Life Of...,
a presentation for Linden students, parents and friends. As
a culmination of their unit on Medieval times, which they
have been working on since September, each girl took on the
persona of someone who lived during this time period, developing
a backstory for herself consistent with her knowledge of what
Medieval life was like. The girls explored many social classes
and occupations with their roles, embodying peasants, knights,
artisans, clerics and royalty.
Visitors had a chance to listen to each
girl's story and ask questions about her life, as well as
look at the many Medieval projects the girls worked on (such
as coats of arms and a model village). They also enjoyed some
yummy and authentic food as part of a Medieval feast.
Congratulations to the girls and their teacher,
Christine, for a wonderful job, and to all of the parents,
students and friends who came out to admire their hard work!
Linden collects 1,000 items for Sistering
- December 4, 2008
With the help of the Linden community and
the leadership of the grade 8 class, The Linden School collected
1,000 items this November in support of Sistering,
a Toronto organization that provides support to homeless,
underhouse and low-income women. The school has been organizing
an annual donation drive for Sistering for over 10 years.
Each of our eight families worked on collecting
donations all through the month, and received generous support
in the form of clothing, housewares, toiletries and other
much-needed items. After the final count on December 3, the
grade 8 students discovered that their efforts had broken
the thousand-item barrier.
Thanks to the grade 8 students for spearheading
the campaign, and to everyone who put in time, effort and
donations to make our donation drive a success once again.
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